Austria, France, Italy urge granting of candidate status

Source: B92

BELGRADE -- Foreign ministers of Austria, France and Italy sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, calling on candidate status to be granted to Serbia.

"At its upcoming meeting the council is called upon to decide on granting candidate status to Serbia. The European Council conclusions of December 9 are clear about what Belgrade has to do," the letter, signed by Michael Spindelegger, Alain Juppe and Giulio Terzi Di Sant’Agata said.
"Progress must be made in the implementation of agreements reached in the dialogue, a settlement must be reached with regard to Kosovo's participation in regional forums. Besides, Belgrade is asked to cooperate with EULEX. We have conducted a thorough analysis of Serbia's progress and have come to the conclusion that the conditions have been met. Decisive progress has been realized in implementing agreements reached so far in the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština, the latest being the recognition of diplomas", the letter further stated, and added:

"On the IBM, a technical protocol will pave the way for its full implementation. Belgrade has made very constructive proposals to include Kosovo in regional cooperation, recognizing each party's position on status. Belgrade has actively cooperated to enable EULEX and KFOR to execute their mandates. We should thus honor our promises made in December, give credit to Serbia’s recently redoubled commitment and efforts and grant Serbia candidate status."

The three chiefs of diplomacy concluded by writing that "conditionality is at its most effective when it is both rigorous and fair":

"Indeed the credibility of the EU's enlargement policies depends on our own predictability. We expect that with this decision Serbia will also be encouraged to continue towards overall normalization of its relations with Kosovo, in line with the conditions of the Stabilization and Association Process."