( dpa ) - The foreign ministers of France and Sweden restated their support for Serbia to join the European Union Wednesday, and called for the lifting of visa requirements as a first step.
"We want Serbia to be given official EU candidate country status as soon as possible," Bernard Kouchner of France and Carl Bildt of Sweden said in an op-ed piece published in several European dailies including Le Figaro, The Times, La Repubblica, El Pais, Blic and the Goteborgs-Posten of Sweden.
The publication of the article coincided with the five-year anniversary of the assassination of Serbian premier Zoran Djindjic, an event that still "stunned" them, the two foreign ministers said.
Kouchner and Bildt said they were "conscious of the incomprehension of our Serbian friends when France, then Sweden, both friends of Serbia, recognized Kosovo's independence," adding that they "would have preferred the continuation of the union between the western Balkan states."
However, there was "no other solution" to recognizing Kosovo's independence and the move could "help Serbia move forward," Kouchner and Bildt said.