Serbia's EU Candidacy Bid on Agenda October 25

08 Oct 2010 / 02:12

Serbia's EU candidacy application will be on the agenda of EU ministers on October 25, Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere has announced.

Bojana Barlovac
"I have decided to put the issue of forwarding Serbia's EU candidacy application to the European Commission on the agenda at the meeting of the General Affairs Council on October 25," Vanackere told Serbian daily Vecernje Novosti.

Vanackere said he could not predict the outcome of the meeting but said his country, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is doing its best to ensure the debate ends positively for Serbia.

"Please note that the Belgian presidency is doing everything possible so that, as soon as possible, a necessary consensus among [EU] member countries is reached," said Vanackere.

However, Serbia should remain cautious regarding the concerns of certain EU member states over the country's candidacy, he said. Vanackere was referring to Dutch opposition to Serbia's EU progress over Belgrade's failure to arrest the two remaining war crimes fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hazdic.

Serbia officially submitted its application to join the EU on December 22 last year.

The EU Council of Ministers in September decided to discuss the issue of forwarding Serbia's application to the European Commission in October.

The decision came after Belgrade, under intense diplomatic pressure from Brussels, agreed to a revised text of a resolution on Kosovo, which was then unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 9.

Once the EU Council of Ministers forwards the application to the European Commission, the EC is expected to send Serbia a pre-accession questionnaire containing 1,000 queries.

Once Belgrade returns the completed document, a response to the candidacy application will be issued.

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