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The European Union is racing against time -- and some of its own member states -- to create incentives for Serbian voters to choose a Western future when they go to the polls for parliamentary elections on May 11. The EU, whose image was tarnished in the eyes of many Serbs when most members backed Kosovo's independence, is dangling the prospect of future membership to Serbia. But Brussels is struggling to give the offer a definitive shape. The main problems boil down to two names and one abbreviation -- Kosovo, Mladic, and an SAA.

Wish List The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Oliver Dulic, who was in Brussels last week, handed the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee a detailed wish list. The pro-European politicians whom Dulic represents want the EU to sign an SAA with Serbia by the end of this month, give it candidate status by the end of the year, ease visa restrictions by early 2009, and launch accession talks with Serbia in the second half of 2009. Dulic says such tangible offers could sway Serbian voters on May 11. He said the EU must err on the side of generosity, if anything, to compensate for a feeling in Serbia that the country is always fated to get the sharp end of the stick.

- The main tasks of Kosovo's new embassy in Brussels will be to lobby the EU for wider recognition of the country's independence and to raise awareness of Serbia's attempts to sabotage the young state, Kosovo envoy Ilir Dugolli told EUobserver. "Negotiating the question for more recognition of Kosovo is the absolute priority. In the case of the EU, all the other steps go through this step. You cannot really make much progress in negotiating with the EU unless this hurdle is overcome," Mr Dugolli said. "That for some time will continue to exhaust a considerable part of our energies."

The Balkan country proclaimed independence from Serbia in February and has been recognised by 21 out of 27 EU members, with Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Slovakia holding out for now. The partial recognition means that Kosovo cannot establish formal legal relations with the EU or launch a feasibility study for a future Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Mr Dugolli also plans to keep the EU institutions informed about Serbian attempts to sow division in Kosovo. Belgrade is currently opening new "Co-ordination Centres" in ethnic Serb enclaves that could act as rallying points for anti-government opposition.

The international community has pledged to invest €1.2 billion toward the rebuilding of Kosovo, with the European Commission alone putting aside €508 million to fill in the gaps in Pristina's financial needs from 2009 to 2013.

Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia in February of this year, is one of Europe's most under-developed economies and is highly dependent on foreign subsidies. From 1999 to 2007, when under the direct administration of the United Nations, Pristina benefitted from over €3.5 billion in reconstruction assistance. However, the official unemployment rate remains a worrying 43 percent, with youth unemployment estimated even higher, at around 60 percent. Kosovo's economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2007, with an inflation rate of 13.6 percent as of April, 2008. The largest chunk of money for Kosovo is to come from the European Commission, followed by an American contribution of some $400 million. Beyond the EU's own funds, member state Germany has pledged €100 million, and the UK has confirmed an aid package worth £23 million.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has called on Serbia to refrain from linking its EU integration process to demands on the Kosovo issue.

But Commissioner Rehn said such linkages should not be made. "It is disappointing that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement is misrepresented in the Serbian political debate," Mr Rehn told Reuters in an interview. "It is sad that Serbia's European future is being offered up on the altar of domestic power games," he continued.

With Serbia determined to reject the UN plan for Kosovo, the European Union has conceded it may postpone planned consultations on the plan until a new government is formed in Belgrade. An EU delegation to Belgrade, led by foreign policy chief Javier Solana, enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and separately Britain’s Europe minister Geoff Hoon, gave ground on February 7 after meeting Serbia’s president Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic. After urging them to form a democratic government and take part in planned consultations over the Kosovo’s final status, they indicated they might push back the timetable.

Kosovo is set to seek "clear signals" on its eventual membership prospects as early as next week's meeting EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg (28-29 April) - something that could cause a political headache, given that a number of EU member states refuse to recognise the infant country. Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain and Slovakia are seen as most reluctant to approve Kosovo's unilateral move towards independence.

EU foreign ministers are next week also due to discuss Serbia's EU bid, currently hanging by a thread.

06 December 2007 As the Serbian authorities prepare measures against Kosovo and the countries that will recognize its expected unilateral declaration of independence, diplomats warn such moves are likely to backfire. By Julijana Mojsilovic in Belgrade Ahead of the December 10 deadline for Kosovo’s status, there is mounting speculation about how the Serbian government is likely to respond to Kosovo’s anticipated declaration of independence.Facing the prospect of losing some 15 per cent of its territory, Serbia seems ready for a list of measures, such as sealing the border with Kosovo and severing or downgrading diplomatic ties with the countries that recognize the self-proclaimed independent state.

European Union takes over the sovereignty.

The issue of Kosovo having a foreign ministry was also not mentioned in the document but the source said it was clear that the next Government of Kosovo can set up that department

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that one of the most important tasks of Serbian diplomacy is to ensure that the Kosovo issue and EU accession remain two separate processes. In an interview with the daily Blic today Jeremic said that if these two issues become mixed, Serbia would find itself in an extremely tough situation. Safeguarding the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty is our constitutional obligation and according to my deepest convictions it must remain a priority. We will do everything in our power to ensure that we are not forced to choose between our strategic priority of joining the EU and undermining our democratic constitutional order, said Jeremic.

The European Union has given the political green-light to a 1,800-strong police and civilian mission to be deployed in Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo, although differences remain over the possible recognition of Kosovo's independence.

However, it remains unclear when precisely the EU's mission, consisting of 1,800 policemen, prosecutors and judges, can be deployed on the ground. While Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn said the mission would be deployed "just after Christmas [2007]", Bulgarian foreign minister Ivailo Kalfin indicated a less ambitious time-frame - "before the end of the summer [2008]". According to Slovakia's foreign minister Jan Kubis, the specifics of the mission should be concluded in January next year, after a round of consultations with the UN body.

Divisions on Serbia The summit also highlighted the persistent divisions among member states concerning whether to link the further integration of Serbia with the arrest of remaining war crimes suspects, notably general Ratko Mladic.

Serbia achieved a long proclaimed foreign policy goal earlier this week when it signed a pre-membership pact with the European Union in Luxembourg.But though this was declared a priority when the isolationist rule of Slobodan Milosevic ended in 2000, both the content and the timing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has brought deep controversy.

Some leaders have seen the agreement as triumph. "This is a historic moment for Serbia," foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said after deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed the SAA with the EU's enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and foreign ministers of all 27 EU nations. Jeremic and Djelic belong to the Democratic Party (DS) of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who also attended the ceremony. The DS was part of the coalition government led by conservative outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). The DSS wants all ties with nations that recognised Kosovo to be cut. Besides the 17 EU countries, that would mean also the United States and other countries.

Published: Wednesday 4 July 2007 | Updated: Thursday 5 July 2007 Serbia has to adapt to the EU and not the other way round if it wants to become a member, argues David Gowan in a June 2007 paper for the Centre for European Reform (CER). Related: LinksDossier:   EU-Western Balkans relations The EU must stand ready to encourage and reward any shift in Belgrade’s stance towards Kosovo by resuming association talks and eventually offering candidate status, he believes. However, Serbia must earn this by genuinely and consistently demonstrating European values and maturity of behaviour if membership is to become a reality, he adds. 

After a re-run of the general election in Macedonia and the entry into force of Kosovo's new constitution on Sunday, EU foreign ministers will convene today (16 June) to review the situation in the neighbouring Western Balkans.

Ministers will likely welcome the peaceful re-run of parliamentary elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Sunday, just two weeks after ethnic violence marred the first elections on 1 June. 

While Kosovo is not on the foreign ministers' agenda, it is unlikely that they will be able to avoid the topic, after the fledgling state's constitution entered into force on Sunday.  The EU is also poised to take over policing and justice tasks from the United Nations after the UN's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week put forward proposals to "reconfigure" the activities of the UN Mission UNMIK to allow the EU to deploy its contested EU-Lex police mission there (EurActiv 29/05/08).  "It is my intention to reconfigure the structure and profile of the international civil presence [...] enabling the European Union to assume an enhanced operational role," said the secretary general in letters to Kosovo and Serbian leaders.  But the handover, which is foreseen in Kosovo's constitution, remains strongly opposed by both Serbia and Russia, who insist that the EU mission is illegal because it has not been approved by the UN Security Council.