BRUSSELS—Serbia took a major step toward winning European Union backing to open accession talks Friday after it reached a deal with Kosovo on regional cooperation and joint border management.
EU member states are set to decide Tuesday whether to give Serbia so-called candidacy status, meaning accession talks can begin. That could still leave actual Serbian accession to the EU many years away.
"These agreements are a major step forward," Catherine Ashton, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, and Stefan Fuele, EU Commissioner for enlargement, said in a joint statement. "They are important not just for Serbia and Kosovo but for the stability of the region."
The commission also proposed to launch a feasibility study for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo. The agreement is the first formal step in the often-lengthy process for winning EU membership.
The EU's member states said in December that they supported granting Serbia candidate status in principle, but set a number of conditions to giving the green light. Those conditions included completing a regional cooperation accord with Kosovo, a deal on integrated border management, and active cooperation with the EU rule-of-law mission, EULEX, and the North Atlantic Trade Organization-run KFOR peacekeeping force.
During talks in Brussels on Thursday, seven of the EU's 27 member states hadn't signed off on approving Serbia's candidate status—including Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K.—according to one EU diplomat. But there were signs that this resistance was softening, especially after Friday's deal. For Serbia to win candidacy status, all member states must approve.
In a statement Friday afternoon, U.K. Foreign Minister William Hague welcomed the Serbia-Kosovo deal, and said it was "crucial for ensuring that both Kosovo and Serbia continue their progress toward future membership of the European Union."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement Friday that the Kosovo-Serbian deal was "an important step for setting the course" for Tuesday's debate on Serbia's candidate status.
Meanwhile, in a letter Wednesday, the Italian, French and Austrian foreign ministers said the EU should "honor our promises made in December…and grant Serbia candidate status."
Friday's deal between Serbia and its one-time province of Kosovo focuses on two main issues: allowing Kosovo to represent itself in international conferences and detailing how the two will manage their joint border and crossings.
"This is important as it makes Kosovo a full participant in its own right in regional meetings and events, and will allow for further progress to contractual relations with the EU," the announcement said.
Distrust between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo runs deep. NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to stop attacks by the Serbian military on ethnic Albanians. In 2004, rioting across Kosovo destroyed Serb property and forced many Serbs to leave their homes. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia, along with several EU member states, doesn't recognize it.
Tensions have mounted in northern Kosovo since last summer, as Serbs there fought to prevent the country's ethnic-Albanian-dominated central government from asserting control over the area. Serbs have built roadblocks and clashed repeatedly with international peacekeepers. That violence stalled Belgrade's bid for official membership candidate status in December. Serbia had first applied to join the EU in 2003.
If the EU opens the door to accession talks Tuesday, it will be the latest step in efforts to incorporate the Western Balkans within the regional bloc. Last year, the EU completed accession talks with Croatia, set to the become the EU's 28th member in 2013. The EU also gave Montenegro candidate status in December.
—Alessandro Torello and Gordon Fairclough contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@dowjones.com
Kosovo, Serbia, regional cooperation, member states, member states, candidate status, candidate status, Albanians in Kosovo, European Union
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