By IRNA
Berlin : Talks between German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic will focus on promoting Serbia’s rapprochement process with the European Union amid the unsettled question over the final status of the breakaway province of Kosovo, a German official said here Wednesday.
Talking to journalists in Berlin, Germany’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said that Thursday’s meeting will dwell on ways to open the way for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
He linked the key trade and aid pact to Serbia’s cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal.
Jaeger stressed that Berlin was “closely monitoring” the developments in Serbia.
He quoted the European Council as saying that Kosovo was also tied to the question of European security.
Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leaders are expected to announce their independence from Serbia in early February.
While most of the 27 EU countries are willing to signal green light for such a plan, the bloc is also interested in helping Serbia save face by speeding up Belgrade’s accession process.
Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, a nationalist, warned last week the EU would have to choose between closer relations with Serbia and backing for an independent Kosovo.