European Union nations are close to an agreement to move forward on Serbia’s application to join the bloc after Belgrade made a gesture towards Kosovo, a senior diplomat said Thursday.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was a “good chance” a deal would be reached at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

Serbia applied for membership in December. The foreign ministers of the 27-nation EU will discuss Monday whether to hand the application to the European Commission for a formal review.

All eyes are on what position will be taken by the Netherlands after it formed a new right-wing government this month following elections.

The Dutch have so far blocked Serbia’s candidacy as long as fugitive genocide suspect Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb general wanted by a U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, remains on the run.

The Netherlands want Serbia to at the very least show it is fully cooperating with the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in efforts to capture Mladic.

To reassure the Netherlands, EU governments are considering a compromise in which a declaration would be attached to the candidacy indicating that it does not end the need for Serbia to cooperate with the court, the diplomat said.

A majority of EU states want to reward Serbia for reaching out to Kosovo in a joint U.N. General Assembly resolution with the EU. calling for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on key issues.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, a move that Serbia and five EU nations have refused to recognise.

October 21, 2010
AFP

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