At its meeting in Brussels yesterday, the European Council agreed to grant Serbia the status of a candidate country. The next step is the opening of accession talks. These talks could begin before the year is out if Serbia continues to make progress on issues of corruption and improving day-to-day relations with Kosovo. However, the final step of entry in the European Union (EU) will depend on resolution of difficult issues involving the status of Kosovo and the status of Kosovar Serbs in north Kosovo. It is likely to be at least a few years before Serbia reaches the stage of entry.
In other EU news, Romania was unable to make progress on its bid to join the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone. Some EU states believe Romania has fulfilled technical criteria for Schengen entry. However, one stumbling block is the Netherlands, whose representative stated that the Netherlands would only vote in favor of Romania’s entry after the European Commission reports that Romania has done enough to fight corruption.
(cgb)