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Kosovo, Serbia seal deal on key issues
BRUSSELS: Serbia and its one-time province of Kosovo reached agreement Friday on two key issues that will significantly enhance Serbias chances of becoming an official candidate for EU membership next week. The agreements allow Kosovo to represent itself in international conferences and spell out the technical details of how Serbia and Kosovo will manage their joint borders and border crossings.The EU wanted Belgrade to make new progress in the talks with Kosovo before backing its bid to join the bloc. EU foreign ministers will meet next week to consider whether Serbia has fulfilled conditions required to be a candidate for membership. Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, used to be a province of Serbia. Belgrade has vowed to never recognize its secession but the two sides have been in regular talks for the past year on normalizing ties. One of the key sticking points has been Kosovos insistence that it be represented in international forums as an independent state, something Serbia has opposed. A compromise proposed by the EU and accepted by both sides states that Kosovos nameplate at meetings will be followed by an asterisk. This would have a footnote attached referring to a UN Security Council resolution that makes no mention of Kosovos independence, and a ruling by the International Court of Justice saying Kosovos declaration of independence is legal. Posted by: Steve White 2012-02-25 |
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