Djuric with Odobescu: We need EU support to protect the rights of Serbs in Kosovo

Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric, on an official visit to Bucharest, stated today that he informed Romanian friends about the challenges faced by the Serbian community in Kosovo as a result of the unilateral and uncoordinated actions of Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti's regime.

Djuric expressed gratitude for Romania's principled support for Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and for its understanding of the difficult position of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

"Today, I took the opportunity to inform our Romanian friends about the challenges faced by the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija due to the unilateral and uncoordinated actions of Kurti's regime. In this regard, I conveyed Belgrade’s full commitment to resolving this issue through dialogue and the implementation of existing agreements reached under the EU’s auspices. We need the support of our European partners, including Romania, to protect what are common values: the human, political, and other rights of our people," Djuric stated.

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, on an official visit to Bucharest, expressed his gratitude to Romania for its support and solidarity regarding the recent tragedy in Novi Sad.

“Thank you for the condolences regarding the tragedy that struck our country and for the solidarity shown during these difficult times for our people. This has always been the case in history; as you know, the history of Romanian-Serbian relations is exceptionally long. We are proud of our 145 years of diplomatic relations with Romania,” Djuric stated.

He added that Serbia and Romania have agreed on a series of concrete steps to enhance their bilateral relations and a roadmap to intensify political dialogue and strengthen transport, energy, infrastructure, and economic connectivity.

According to Djuric, the goal is to deepen people-to-people connections and support each other’s national communities, particularly on regional issues.

“For Serbia, it is very important to have received an additional boost of support from Romania for European integration, and I am especially grateful for that. I am also pleased that we agreed to hold extensive consultations and meetings at the ministerial level at least twice a year, and that our ministries will conduct regular political and consular consultations to improve the status of our national communities,” said the Serbian foreign minister.

He noted that a key priority is the construction and completion of the highway that will connect Serbia, via Vrsac, to Romania, which will enable travel from Belgrade to Timișoara in such a short time that it will greatly enhance integration and create better economic opportunities, educational exchange, and cultural connections between the two societies.

“This will further elevate the current level of relations between Serbia and Romania,” Djuric observed.

“On our side, I can say that in this and the next month, we will undertake the first serious procedural steps regarding project documentation and are very committed to building this highway. This is part of our overall connection with our friendly and brotherly Romania and opens up to the broader region,” he emphasized.

Djuric reiterated Serbia’s gratitude for Romania’s support of Serbia’s European path.

“Serbia will formally complete all reforms required for EU membership by 2027. Membership remains our key priority; however, we are implementing reforms to strengthen our institutions. With pride, I can say that Serbia's economy has grown to the extent that we have more than doubled our GDP in less than a decade. Thanks to the measures implemented by President Vucic in recent years, we now have an investment rating, which has allowed Serbia to attract 65% of direct foreign investments from the Western Balkans region,” he said.

Djuric expressed confidence that integrating the Serbian and Romanian economies would lead to prosperity.

“We can bring greater prosperity to our citizens in both Romania and Serbia, and by working together in third markets, we can give a new impetus to our international economic cooperation. To this end, we discussed holding a Serbian-Romanian Economic Forum in the coming months, which will certainly be realized,” he said, adding that it will come to fruition.

He also mentioned discussions on the wider regional situation in the context of crisis hotspots.

“I reiterated to our Romanian friends that Serbia sincerely regrets the tragic war and invasion of Ukraine, and from the beginning of the conflict, we have closely monitored the consequences, especially for the civilian population. The Republic of Serbia will continue to support the people of Ukraine and remain engaged in this area. We respect international law and will continue to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. At the same time, we believe that the UN Charter and international law should be respected by all actors in the international community, as Romania and Serbia do,” Djuric stated.

Djuric and Odobescu also discussed a range of other strategically significant infrastructure projects.

“We mentioned the reestablishment of passenger rail traffic and the revitalization of railway infrastructure. Additionally, we discussed energy projects, such as the Mokrin-Arad gas interconnector and the construction of the Reșița-Pancevo power line. I conveyed Serbia's interest in involving Romanian partners in some of our projects, such as Expo 27, where Belgrade will host a major exhibition, and we would like to see Romanian companies participate in the construction of various segments of this project, which will truly change the image of this part of our country,” Djuric said.

He highlighted that more than 750 Serbian companies currently operate in Romania and several hundred Romanian companies are active in Serbia, but that this number should grow.

“We are also interested in strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector. We want as many of our citizens as possible to visit the beautiful city of Bucharest, the wonderful Timișoara, and the lovely spas in Romania,” Djuric stated.

He invited Serbs to visit Romania and Romanians to visit Serbia, where, he emphasized, they would be welcomed warmly.

He noted that hospitality, temperament, and a love for food and life are shared traits between the two peoples.

“For this reason, Serbia and Romania are ideal partners, and in the coming period, our relationship on an interstate level will be even stronger,” Djuric concluded.

Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu began by offering condolences on behalf of the Romanian authorities for the tragedy in Novi Sad. She noted that Djuric’s visit comes in a special context, as this year marks the 145th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Romania and Serbia.

“This figure speaks volumes about our long and rich shared history,” she said.

She emphasized that she discussed priorities for bilateral cooperation, Serbia's EU accession process, and the security situation in the region with Djuric.

“Romania and Serbia are neighboring countries with strong historical and cultural ties, as well as similar visions for the future, considering Romania's status as an EU and NATO member and Serbia's goal of joining the EU. This gives us a solid foundation for enhancing bilateral cooperation,” she said.

The aim of today’s talks, as she highlighted, was to agree on a more dynamic and pragmatic approach to the political, diplomatic, and economic dialogue between Romania and Serbia.

“I have agreed with the Minister that we will meet twice a year, both in Bucharest and Belgrade. We agreed on enhancing dialogue between our ministries. A concrete example is the Memorandum of Understanding that we have just signed, which fosters cooperation at the level of our diplomatic institutes. On the economic front, I welcomed the more than threefold increase in bilateral trade over the past decade, reaching €2.67 billion in 2023, which is a satisfying achievement,” she stated.

She reiterated the mutual commitment to strengthening bilateral and economic cooperation.

“We have also agreed to expedite projects that concern the interconnection of our countries and, by extension, the connection of Serbia with the EU. A positive example in the field of energy infrastructure is the signing of the Memorandum for the Arad-Mokrin natural gas project. Regarding transportation, we want progress in both road and rail components,” said Odobescu.

Concerning the construction of the Timișoara-Belgrade highway, it was agreed that significant strides need to be made, Odobescu conveyed.

“Many Serbian citizens use Timișoara Airport due to its connections to various European cities, and having a highway would be of great help to them. Most importantly, it would facilitate cross-border business initiatives, generating economic growth in the area,” she explained.

Odobescu reiterated the importance of revitalizing direct railway connections between Serbia and Romania, specifically between Timișoara-Vrsac and Timișoara-Kikinda.

“We work well together and wish to continue in this way in the areas of border protection and migration, and there are also projects for intensified cooperation in emergency response,” she stated.

She emphasized that establishing Cultural Institutes in Belgrade and Bucharest, with branches in Vrsac and Timișoara, is an important goal of the dialogue.

“Negotiations on the bilateral agreement officially began after Romania recently completed internal approval procedures. This project will bring significant advantages for people-to-people contacts and will contribute to a much-needed mutual understanding among our citizens,” said Odobescu.

She added that the Romanian community in Serbia and the Serbian community in Romania are strong bridges between the two countries and authorities, and they must work on strengthening the role of both minorities in the overall bilateral relationship.

“In this sense, I emphasized the role of the joint Romanian-Serbian intergovernmental commission on national minorities, which provides an optimal format for dialogue to find practical solutions to existing issues. We agreed that its activities must resume as soon as possible,” she said.

The minister reiterated that Romania supports Serbia on its European path.

"We discussed the European path, and I reiterated Romania's steadfast support for Serbia's accession process, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a steady pace in Serbia's reforms and EU integration efforts. We highlighted our commitment to working together, promoting proactive communication with citizens about the tangible benefits and responsibilities of the European integration process, and enhancing the visibility of EU support. Observing Romania’s progress in recent years, we can genuinely say that the European path is worth every effort. Moving to the next stages will require serious efforts in terms of political and human resources, as well as adequate administrative capacities. Therefore, we reaffirmed our full support for Serbia in areas where it is needed. This support is extended from us to all Serbian citizens,” she stated.

She also discussed with Djuric the consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"I reminded of Romania’s efforts in supporting Ukraine and reiterated our firm commitment to continuing this support. Together with our partners, we will continue to support Ukraine in its fight for independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty,” she emphasized.

She assessed that the Western Balkans represents a region of strategic importance for Romania.

Regarding security, she noted Romania’s significant contributions in the region, with military presence in the EUFOR Althea mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in KFOR in Kosovo.

The meeting also addressed the victory of President Donald Trump.

“Romania has been and will remain a strategic partner of the United States. Europe and the U.S. are natural partners, and it is now most important that we collaborate to ensure that our relations remain at the same level,” concluded the Romanian foreign minister.