Romania Pledges To Support Serbian Bid During Upcoming EU Presidency

The prime ministers of Romania (Viorica Dancila, 2nd left), Bulgaria, (Boyko Borisov, left), and Greece (Alexis Tsipras, right) meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on December 22.

Romania says it will work to bolster Serbia's bid to join the European Union when it takes over the bloc's rotating presidency on January 1.

Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila made the comments on December 22 following a meeting in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, with the leaders of Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece.

"Romania is supporting the European pathway for Serbia," Dancila said. "We all have to involve ourselves in supporting Serbia."

She added that EU enlargement was "a general priority" for Romania.

The four leaders also discussed trade and migration during the regional talks.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic added that agreement had been reached on forming a commission to prepare a joint bid to host either the European soccer championship in 2028 or the World Cup in 2030.

Based on reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AP