Romanian FM stresses importance of political will in regional development

Political will and cooperation are sometimes more important than financial resources in the regional development, Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said Tuesday. "Political will, regional coordination and cooperation between the states in the region are first among necessities," said the foreign minister during a meeting of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Bucharest. "If we have cooperation in the region ..., we are headed towards possibilities and very concrete projects of economic development," added the minister. According to him, the SEECP states can aspire in the future to become an integrated region in the European and Euro-Atlantic family, after positive example of Benelux in the European Union (EU) or other established formulas. Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said "We are a very rich region, composed of both candidate states but also members of the EU and NATO. This relationship between those already in the Euro-Atlantic club and those outside wishing to join is crucial for the success of our regional cooperation and in this context, Romania has a very important role, being the largest country in our region that is a member of the EU." The second informal foreign ministers' meeting of the states participating in the SEECP was held Tuesday, organized by Romania that holds now the one-year SEECP chairmanship. The SEECP is a regional framework of cooperation initiated in June 1996, with the objectives of promoting and strengthening good neighborly relations between SEE countries and transforming the region in the zone of peace, security, stability, and cooperation. The SEECP has 12 members: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey.