French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Brussels on Monday that European Union foreign ministers agreed that Serbia had met the requirements for EU membership candidate status.
The agreement was reached today, there are no more objections to granting Serbia candidate status, said Juppe, who was taking part in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
The Foreign Affairs Council is to give a political opinion on Serbia's EU membership application on Monday and the General Affairs Council will decide on it on Tuesday. The decision is to be approved by EU heads of state at their summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
In December, Germany blocked the decision to grant Serbia candidate status and asked Belgrade to make progress in the normalisation of relations with Kosovo.
Last week, as part of Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, an agreement was reached concerning Kosovo's participation in regional initiatives. Under the agreement, Kosovo's representatives will attend regional meetings under the name of Kosovo, which will be marked with an asterisk and a footnote explaining that the name does not prejudge its status, citing UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the opinion of the International Court of Justice that Kosovo's declaration of independence was not in violation of international law.
