Romania and Greece Support Balkan Hub Project and Western Balkans’ European Integration
12 March 2018 News
In a joint declaration, the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece supported the construction of the Balkan Gas Hub and the European integration of the Western Balkans. The declaration was adopted at a joint meeting in Bucharest between the three countries’ chief diplomats: Ekaterina Zaharieva, Teodor Meleşcanu and Nikos Kotzias. That was the tenth successive meeting in this trilateral format.
“The three countries express their readiness to cooperate for the development of the Balkan Gas Hub, which will contribute to security of supplies and to the diversification of gas routes and sources,” the declaration states.
The three Foreign Ministers also supported the Bulgaria-Romania and the Bulgaria-Greece gas interconnectors.
“I am glad to have received unconditional support from Teodor and Nikos for the key foreign policy priority of the Bulgarian Presidency: the European perspective for our neighbours and friends of the Western Balkans,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva. “I am sure that our Romanian partners will keep the Balkans as a key priority of their Presidency.” She and her Greek and Romanian colleagues reconfirmed their conviction that EU enlargement is key for promoting stability and prosperity in the region, and they expect all six Western Balkan countries to have the chance to move forward on their respective European paths in the coming years. Sofia, Athens and Bucharest stated further that establishing and applying fair criteria and assessing progress according to the own merits’ approach are key principles of the enlargement policy.
“The forum in May in Sofia will be the first EU Western Balkans summit in 15 years. I hope that we will not wait for another 15 years before the next such meeting, but instead make them a regular affair,” the chief Bulgarian diplomat added.
“We congratulate Bulgaria on promoting the region during the Presidency, and we assume a commitment to carry this on during our Presidency,” Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said. His Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias also thanked the Bulgarian Presidency for placing the region high on the EU agenda.
“Connectivity in the region is crucial. I am glad that we developed a large part of our transport corridors,” Minister Zaharieva told a news conference after the trilateral meeting. “We want to work a little bit more on the Struma Motorway, to link Sofia and Thessaloniki. We will build the express road to Vidin. We also need one more bridge at Rousse – the existing one is an old facility, you can often see trucks waiting in miles-long lines there.”
The ministers also expressed support for the Eastern Partnership countries. They stressed that a full Schengen membership of Sofia and Bucharest would bring an important added-value to internal security of the EU and the fight against irregular migration, human trafficking and terrorism.
Later in the day, the Foreign Ministers were received by Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dăncilă.