By Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia ended a one-day regional meeting in Thessaloniki port city in northern Greece on Wednesday.
They pledged to further strengthen cooperation on the European course and invest in common development by promoting key projects in the transport and energy sectors across the Balkans.
"The Balkans must become a region free of nationalism which will flourish through collaboration," Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during joint statements at the end of the 4th quadrilateral meeting of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia.
A year ago, the image of the region was quite different, as Greece was struggling with the economic and refugee crisis and Albania and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) went through serious political crises, said the Greek leader.
Tsipras hailed the significant agreements struck lately aimed to resolve differences between states in the region, as well as the "very successful" Bulgarian EU presidency.
On his part, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the support his country has received from his interlocutors during Wednesday's meeting as well on its European course was most important.
Wednesday's meeting also reiterated support to Bulgaria's and Romania's bids to join the Schengen visa free travel zone in the EU.
Moreover, Vucic, Tsipras as well as Bulgarian Premier Boiko Borisov and his Romanian counterpart Viorica Dancila underlined that the new railways connections planned linking Greece to Belgrade in Serbia and Ruse in Bulgaria, as well as pipelines such as the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, will benefit the wider region.
