EU pledges to aid Serbia amid energy crisis: EC president

NIS, Serbia, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) pledged to allocate 165 million euros (165 million U.S. dollars) to aid Serbia amid the ongoing energy crisis, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said here on Friday.

She made the remarks after she met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a gas infrastructure construction site near the city of Nis in Serbia.

Vucic and Von der Leyen toured the construction work at the Serbia-Bulgaria gas interconnector, which should be completed by September 2023, the Serbian president's office said in a press release.

Von der Leyen called on Serbia to join the EU's joint procurement of natural gas and highlighted the importance of diversification of gas procurement as well.

Vucic hailed that the EU allocated support worth 500 million euros for the Western Balkans, related to investments in electrical transmission interconnection between countries in the region, and the EU co-financed the construction of natural gas pipeline interconnector with Bulgaria. (1 euro = 1 U.S. dollar)