Serbia moves closer to EU membership

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) -- Serbia has moved a step closer to membership in the European Union.
The European Union Council, the main decision-making body of the European Union, has referred Serbia's application for EU membership to the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.
The commission plans to review Serbia's application, submitted in December 2009, with a particular focus on Serbia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, said Stefan Fule, the European commissioner for enlargement and European neighborhood policy.
The European Union Council "also calls for progress in the process of dialogue between" Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 -- a declaration Serbia opposes, the council said in a statement.
Serbia can demonstrate its cooperation with the tribunal by helping authorities arrest two of the remaining fugitives from the war in the Balkans in the early 1990s, the statement said.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Serbia applied to join the European Union in 2009
Its cooperation with a war-crimes tribunal will be reviewed

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http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/10/25/serbia.european.union/index.html