The foreign ministers of Romania and Bulgaria said Saturday that they plan to lobby together for the entry of their two countries into the European Union, dpa reported. The announcement came during talks between Romania's Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu and Bulgaria's Ivailo Kalfin in the north-eastern Romanian town of Iasi. The two ministers plan to visit several European capitals to press for faster ratification of the E.U. accession agreements in each parliament. "We are sitting in the same boat and must row in coordination," Mediafax news agency quoted Ungureanu as saying. Kalfin said he was convinced that both countries would be "ready for entry at the beginning of 2007 and not be a burden to the E.U. after entry". Romania and Bulgaria signed E.U. accession agreements in April 2005. The agreements have to be ratified by the parliaments of all 25 E.U. member states. If the two countries do not implement reforms, the planned January 1, 2007 entry date can be put back by one year.
