The European Council decided on Friday that Serbia would be granted European Union membership candidate status in March 2012, provided greater progress is achieved by then in Serbia's dialogue with Kosovo, Belgrade's electronic media said.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said at a conference in Brussels the next assessment of whether Serbia should be granted candidate status would be made on February 12 and that a final decision by the Council could be expected the following month, adding that until then, the evaluation of the state of affairs and Serbia's achievements would continue.
Van Rompuy said the EU remained committed to the integration of the Western Balkans, adding that Serbia had made considerable progress in its cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal by arresting fugitives, and that Belgrade-Pristina dialogue had been launched and had started producing results.
Citing draft conclusions which EU leaders are expected to adopt at today's summit, Agence France-Presse said the EU decided to postpone the decision on whether Serbia should be granted candidate status until March, by which time Serbia must confirm that it was meeting requirements and making progress in the implementation of an agreement aimed at normalising relations with Kosovo.
According to AFP, Germany objected to Serbia being granted candidate status already today.
