First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Teodor Meleşcanu, who is on an official visit to Serbia.

At a joint press conference, Minister Dacic thanked his counterpart for visiting Serbia a few days prior to Romania assuming the Presidency of the Council of the EU and underlined the very friendly character of relations between the two countries.

"It is important to us to make progress in the European integration process at the fastest pace possible and we hope that the number of chapters to be opened by us during the Romanian Presidency will exceed what was achieved during the previous ones", said Minister Dacic.

He underlined that the next year was an important anniversary – 140 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Serbia and Romania.

"Our political relations have been on the rise. Serbia has an interest to continue and develop the cooperation in all areas of common interest. The trade in goods currently amounts to EUR 1.5 billion, and we expect it to increase even further", said the Serbian Foreign Minister.

The Minister stated that Serbia highly appreciated the position of Romania concerning the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country, expressing his gratitude to Romania for having recently voted against the admission of "Kosovo" to Interpol.

Minister Meleşcanu stated that his country fully supported the European path of Serbia and called on the Serbian officials to make maximum efforts in the context of European integration.

"I assure you that we will include the Western Balkans among the top priorities of our Presidency of the Council of the EU", said Minister Meleşcanu.

The Romanian Minister also underlined that the very fact that he was on a visit to Belgrade immediately prior to Romania's assumption of the EU Presidency reflected the level of importance his country attached to its relations with Serbia and its European integration.

"It is our interest that the Western Balkans becomes part of the EU", said Meleşcanu adding that it was important that the European path of the region went ahead, and also that the EU maintained its engagement in bringing the region closer to the Union.

The Romanian Foreign Minister said that the moment could not be better for the implementation of reforms and offered technical assistance of Bucharest in the alignment with European standards.

Minister Meleşcanu said that the economic ties were strong, that the trade nearly equalled its all-time high, and added that the prospects existed for joint capital infrastructure projects in transport and energy sectors, as well as border security.