European ministers agree to grant Serbia EU candidate status

“There was agreement today," Juppe told reporters on Monday during a break in ministerial talks in Brussels, adding, "At last, there were no further objections today."

The decision to grant Serbia a candidate status is to be formally taken up by the European Affairs ministers on Tuesday and endorsed by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on March 1 and 2.

Juppe, however, said that there remains "a long road" ahead before Serbia is given the green light to ultimately join the Union.

"This will encourage Belgrade to progress on its path towards rapprochement with the EU" although he said there is "still ground to cover.”

During a visit to Brussels on Monday, Serbian President Boris Tadic hailed the foreign ministers’ move, saying his country is "deserving" of the candidate status because Serbia is "doing everything that is possible in order to reach peaceful solutions" to its many challenges.

“We are fulfilling all the conditions in order to create better conditions for ordinary people," he said. "This is about Serbian people, Serbian citizens.”

Belgrade strengthened its chances of winning entry into the bloc by striking a deal with the partially-recognized Republic of Kosovo on Friday that would give Pristina more authority to represent itself in official regional meetings and organizations in its own right.

Establishment of better relations between Serbia and Kosovo is viewed as a precondition for progress by Belgrade towards EU membership.

Meanwhile, Kosovar Albanians protesters took to the streets of Pristina on Monday against the European Union-brokered agreement with Serbia, saying it undermined the independence of Kosovo.

Kosovo, a predominantly ethnic Albanian former province of Serbia, has been struggling to gain full international recognition since it declared independence in 2008.

Ethnic Serbs in Serbia as well as the Serbian minority in Kosovo, however, reject Kosovo's declaration of independence and regard the region as an integral part of the Serbian territory.