President Traian Basescu has said any separation of Bulgaria and Romania concerning their EU accession would be "a political mistake".

While welcoming Austrian President Heinz Fischer on Tuesday, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, Basescu believed it is for the good of both neighbouring countries to join the bloc together.

The Austrian President opened an official two-day visit to Romania on Tuesday for talks about the country's bid to join the European Union.

Franz Fischer said "it is correct, useful and in the EU's interest" said after the meeting at the Cotroceni presidential palace in Bucharest.

Romania's head of state expressed his conviction that the problems in the field of judiciary reform alerted by Brussels to Bulgaria could be rapidly solved so that the country becomes a full-fledged member of the EU next January.

"Romania does not support any separation from Bulgaria and stands by a joint entry on 1 January 2007," Basescu has also said.

On his part, Austrian President Fischer denied making any commentaries ahead of the EC monitoring report expected on May 16.

Among the topics of discussion between the two heads of state was also the widespread flooding along the Danube, which strongly affected the Bulgarian stretch of the river as well.

Fischer expressed compassion for victims of recent flooding and pledged Austrian help in rebuilding communities hit worst by the floods.

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