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A strengthening of cooperation is needed at the Romanian-Serbian border
The migrant situation and the need to identify additional safety measures at the common border were among the main topics approached on Thursday in Djerdap, Serbia by the Romanian Internal Affairs Minister Petre Toba and his Serbian counterpart Nebojsa Stefanovic.
According to a release by the relevant ministry (MAI) , Toba stressed that the collaboration development between the Romanian and the Serbian authorities will lead to an increased safety of their own citizens.
"The two officials agreed to forge in the following period the legal framework to organize joint patrols made up of Romanian and Serbian border police officers, and to intensify the exchange of data and information through the operationalization of the Joint Contact Point at the Iron Gates [editor's note - site of a hydro power dam on the Danube shared by Romania and Serbia]" the said release says.
Minister Toba underlined the very good collaboration between the MAI structures and the similar ones of Serbia, and also between the intelligence services of the two states, as regards the data exchange on cross-border crime, organized crime and terrorism, and also as regards the armed fighters phenomenon.
"Romania has taken additional measures to boost safety at its borders, since it has an extra responsibility as state that is administrating 2,070 km of EU external border. In this context, a strengthening of cooperation is needed at the Romanian-Serbian border, too," said minister Toba, according to the MAI release.
The two ministers have also analysed the functioning of the readmission agreement between the two states and had agreed on the need to increase its efficiency.
Toba restated Romania's support for Serbia's accession process to the European Union, saying that Romania sustains the opening in the near future of some very important new negotiation chapters, including Chapter 24 - Justice, Freedom and Security, a field where Romania could offer its expertise.
Toba also invited Stefanovic to participate in a trilateral meeting of the home affairs ministers of Romania, Serbia and Hungary, hosted by the MAI.