EU to make Serbia "frozen candidate"?

Austrian FM Michael Spindelegger believes Serbia should be given "provisional candidate status" at the EU Summit later this week.

Izvor: B92

Monday, 05.12.2011.

17:19

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Austrian FM Michael Spindelegger believes Serbia should be given "provisional candidate status" at the EU Summit later this week. Under his proposal, the EU Summit in March would officially confirm the status, if Belgrade implements the agreements reached with Pristina in the meantime, Austrian news agency APA reported. EU to make Serbia "frozen candidate"? In a statement to reporters ahead of Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, he said he intends to present the proposal to his colleagues from other EU member countries. If we now start applying the break on EU enlargement, I believe it will be hard to quickly move forward again, he explained. The Austrian vice chancellor believes granting more than trial status would not be appropriate right now. Regardless of the agreement on joint border control, there are worrying tones in the statements of the Serb mayors in northern Kosovo, Spindelegger said. He added he has not discussed his proposal with Germany. Meanwhile, a debate is ongoing on Monday at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, where B92 has learned that France and Sweden have voiced their support for making Serbia a candidate for EU membership unconditionally, while "some countries" remain opposed to such an outcome. Our source in Brussels interprets the Austrian proposal as a plan to make Serbia a candidate, and then immediately freeze that status. The decision would be activated and implemented only after the situation in northern Kosovo "has been solved". In late April 2008, the EU granted Serbia the signing of the SAA agreement, but immediately suspended the deal pending the country's full cooperation. Michael Spindelegger (Tanjug)

EU to make Serbia "frozen candidate"?

In a statement to reporters ahead of Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, he said he intends to present the proposal to his colleagues from other EU member countries.

If we now start applying the break on EU enlargement, I believe it will be hard to quickly move forward again, he explained.

The Austrian vice chancellor believes granting more than trial status would not be appropriate right now.

Regardless of the agreement on joint border control, there are worrying tones in the statements of the Serb mayors in northern Kosovo, Spindelegger said.

He added he has not discussed his proposal with Germany.

Meanwhile, a debate is ongoing on Monday at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, where B92 has learned that France and Sweden have voiced their support for making Serbia a candidate for EU membership unconditionally, while "some countries" remain opposed to such an outcome.

Our source in Brussels interprets the Austrian proposal as a plan to make Serbia a candidate, and then immediately freeze that status.

The decision would be activated and implemented only after the situation in northern Kosovo "has been solved".

In late April 2008, the EU granted Serbia the signing of the SAA agreement, but immediately suspended the deal pending the country's full cooperation.

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