BUCHAREST, Romania, April 6 (UPI) -- Prime ministers of nine Balkan countries met in Bucharest Thursday to discuss a free trade agreement to intensify economic relations among their nations.
The summit conference was organized by the Central European Free Trade Agreement, or CEFTA, and the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, with support of the European Union, the Romanian news agency Rompres said.
The goal of the meeting was to open negotiations on creating a single free trade agreement in the region, by the simultaneous expansion and modernization of CEFTA, the agency said.
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel, the current EU president, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Stability Pact coordinator Erhard Busek were present at the conference.
The prime ministers attending the summit were Sali Berisha of Albania, Adnan Terzic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ivo Sanader of Croatia, Vlado Buckovski of Macedonia, Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, Vojislav Kostunica of Serbia, Vasile Tarlev of Moldova, Sergei Stanishev of Bulgaria and Calin Popescu-Tariceanu of Romania.
