PMs of Serbia, Romania confer with Romanian minority

BOR - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Romanian counterpart Victor Ponta visited Bor in eastern Serbia on Thursday, where they conferred with representatives of the Romanian minority at Bor Lake.

Ponta and Vucic stated that this was a historic meeting between the two countries' prime ministers in eastern Serbia which is home to the Romanian minority.

Ponta expressed satisfaction that he had a chance to talk in his mother tongue with members of the Romanian minority who are loyal citizens of Serbia and want to stay in the country, and said that he wishes for the people of Serbia and Romania to be the citizens of a joint Europe as soon as possible.

We want to make sure that people both here and in Romania live better and have jobs, schools, hospitals and better living standards, and are able to profess their chosen religion, which means respect of minorities, Ponta said.

The Serbian minority in Romania has an MP in the parliament who has always supported the best possible relations between the two countries, Ponta said and added that the Thursday dialogue between the two prime ministers with minority representatives would be very important.

My main message is that I am certain we can solve all issues if we stay friends, respect each other and engage in joint projects, Ponta underscored and added that he is certain the Serbian government will respect minority rights and that the Romanian language would still be used in eastern Serbia in some 50 to 100 years just as the Serbian language is spoken in Romanian Banat.

Vucic said that Serbia wants to protect rights of national minorities and all other rights that have to be respected in the European community of nations in keeping with the...