19/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Romania will not use its minority to block membership. On Thursday 18 October, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said that he will not evoke the right of the Romanian minority in Serbia to delay Serbia's membership of the EU, although Romania had used this argument when Serbia obtained candidate status. “Romania must be a support and not an obstacle”, for Belgrade, Ponta said after a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic. He added that he did “not intend to link the question of the Romanian minority in Serbia to the (membership) negotiations process” (our translation). At the General Affairs Council in February, Bucharest had given its agreement - at the last moment - to candidate status for Serbia, after obtaining guarantees for its Romanian minority. (CG/transl.fl)