Balkan leaders discuss EU membership, migration
582 views · Published 27 December 2018 · 3:19 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(22 Dec 2018) The leaders of Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece met in Belgrade on Saturday to discuss regional matters, such as migration, cooperation on trade and infrastructure, and putting forward a bid to host either football's European Championships or the World Cup. At a joint news conference following their meeting, Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said that her country, which is about to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union council, would be looking to bolster Serbia's bid to join the bloc. Romania takes over the presidency on 1 January for six months and in that capacity has a fair degree of leeway in setting the agenda. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomed the prime minister's statement, saying that he and the other Balkan nations seeking to join the EU hoped that the bloc "under her guidance would pay a lot of attention to the continuation of the EU integration". The leaders also stressed the need for a joint regional policy on handling the influx of migrants, with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov saying it was a issue that could "sink the Balkans" if not tackled with a united front. His Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, warned, however, that first reception countries had to share the burden with all the other EU member nations, rather than facing "principles and values 'a la carte', such as the principle of solidarity". Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6fc7b0209a2137cfd27c1e39ed86f122
