Speaking to the press at Serbia's mission to the European Union in Brussels, Borislav Stefanovic said there was no agreement on Friday night and that in the meantime, the Serbian team received additional details and guarantees regarding the border crossings, stressing that he could now say an agreement had been reached.

The agreement will go into force when the state bodies in charge adopt it and when its enforcement is possible, he said.

Integrated control of the border crossings, which Serbia calls only administrative crossings, envisages only one checkpoint at each crossing and no state insignia on them, said Stefanovic.

The agreement envisages the presence at the crossings of one representative of the EU mission to Kosovo, representatives of Serbia's interior and finance ministries, a representative of the Kosovo police, and a representative of Kosovo's customs in the capacity of witness and observer, said Stefanovic.

The agreement does not apply to Jarinje and Brnjak, two border crossings in north Kosovo which prompted local Serbs to set up roadblocks in September because they do not want the Kosovo authorities, which they do not recognise, to control the crossings. Jarinje and Brnjak will have special status, with a representative of the EU mission having executive powers there.

Stefanovic said the agreement was satisfactory, as it "doesn't prejudge the status of Kosovo or turn an administrative border into a state border." He said the reaching of the agreement strengthened Serbia's foreign policy position ahead of the December 9 vote on whether it would be granted EU accession candidate status.

Stefanovic said the agreement was especially successful because Serbian police and financial staff would return to Kosovo and do their job there, "which is in line with Resolution 1244."

He said negotiations with the Kosovo team on other outstanding issues, such as Kosovo's representation at regional conferences, were expected to resume next week.