EU states to agree Serbia’s candidacy for membership

EU countries will agree this week to make Serbia a candidate to join the bloc after it resolved some long standing differences with its former province of Kosovo last week.

Granting Serbia EU candidate status is a crucial step towards opening formal accession talks. The negotiation process is aimed at harmonising Serbia’s legislation with EU standards and will take years to conclude.

“It’s done; the conditions set have been met,” French foreign minister Alain Juppe said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

He said formal approval would come from a meeting of EU ministers today and at a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday, but said: “Today, there were no objections. It’s an encouragement to Serbia to continue on its path towards the EU”.

In December, Belgrade failed to win candidate status due to opposition from several EU governments worried about border tensions in northern Kosovo.

During a round of EU-mediated talks in Brussels on Friday, the former Yugoslav states agreed to a compromise spelling out how Kosovo should be represented in regional meetings.

The formula sidesteps the issue of Kosovo’s independence, which Serbia refuses to recognise, and addresses one of the most divisive issues that have marred relations between the two since Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Northern Kosovo saw outbursts of violence last year after Nato peacekeepers (KFOR), the EU’s police mission and Kosovo authorities, which are dominated by ethnic Albanians, tried to take over two border crossings.

In response, local Serbs set up barricades and resisted KFOR’s efforts to take over the crossings. Dozens of people, including peacekeepers, were wounded in clashes and one ethnic Albanian policeman was killed.

But roadblocks have mostly been removed and tensions have subsided. Friday’s agreement spells out further steps towards improving how the two will manage joint border controls.

Underscoring growing support to push Serbia along its EU path, Germany — a major opponent last year — has already signalled it is more open to supporting it now.

Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999 and Nato bombed Serbia to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo during a two-year Serb counter-insurgency war. More than 80 countries, including the US and most of the EU, have now recognised Kosovo as an independent state.

Friday’s agreement was part of a year-long dialogue mediated by the EU and intended to reduce tensions and allow the two states to co-exist. Under its terms, Kosovo will no longer be represented in Balkan meetings by a United Nations body and will be able to sign agreements on its own.