Serbia makes 'historic' leap into EU

BELGIUM: Serbia took a "milestone" leap towards EU membership when Europe's leaders granted Belgrade candidate status Thursday, opening a new chapter in the troubled history of the Western Balkans.

"European Council grants Serbia EU candidate status," EU president Herman Van Rompuy said on microblogging site Twitter as the bloc's 27 leaders ushered in Belgrade in recognition of its efforts to defuse tension with breakaway Kosovo.

The decision to grant Belgrade official EU candidate status, a first but crucial step in an often long and rocky road to full membership, marks a historic leap for a country only 13 years ago the target of a NATO bombing campaign.

Serbian President Boris Tadic welcomed the EU's decision, saying it paves the way for "economic advance and prosperity".

However he warned that a "lot of work is ahead of us in order to launch the negotiations on the EU membership which is the next step after obtaining the status." Serbia's 2009 application, launched in the throes of the financial crisis and amid worries that the EU had expanded too far and too fast in its 2004 "big bang" enlargement, has been fraught with problems.

Seen as a shoo-in for membership after last year's arrest of Balkans war criminals Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic after almost two decades on the run, Belgrade had been suddenly held back and told to do more for regional peace by easing ties with Kosovo.

While staunchly refusing to recognise Kosovo's 2008 independence, Serbia joined an EU-sponsored dialogue with its former province a year ago, aimed at smoothing tensions and overcoming daily headaches caused by the border row -- problems such as disrupted roads, railways and telecommunications.

But Belgrade's hopes of a subsequent EU pat on the back at a December summit were dashed notably by Britain and Germany, among 22 EU nations to have recognised Kosovo. More was demanded from the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue. AFP