The nine South East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) member states agreed Wednesday to strengthen regional cooperation in a declaration issued at the end of a one-day summit. Romanian President Traian Basescu said 2005 brought increased responsibilities for Balkan states, and called for more "regional solidarity" and a stepped up effort to fight crime, according to DPA. Speaking in Bucharest, Basescu told SEECP members that increased cooperation among nations in the region especially in tackling organised crime and corruption would help to forge greater integration with Europe and wider transatlantic relations. Member states also want greater cooperation on regional transport and energy projects. "A look at the past leads to division, mutual distrust and conflict. A joint look at the future simplifies cooperation," Basescu told the eighth SEECP summit. He said that the Bucharest-based SECI centre for combating trans- border organised crime would in the future be strengthened in order to work more closely with European institutions such as Europol and Eurojust. Last month, Romania along with Bulgaria, another member of the SEECP, signed an accession treaty with the European Union (E.U.), paving the way for the two former communist states to join the bloc in January 2007. --More 2251 Local Time 1951 GMT
