BRUSSELS, 12/18/2013 (Tanjug) - EU foreign ministers adopted at their Tuesday meeting the negotiating framework for Serbia and concluded that Serbia's accession talks should definitely begin in January, states a release issued by Brussels.

Chair the General Affairs Council and Foreign Minister of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius stated at a news conference in the seat of the EU Council that the European Council is looking forward to the intergovernmental conference in January. He underscored that the foreign ministers commended Beograd and Priština on their progress in the dialogue, and stated that the two sides should continue investing efforts because many issues still remain open.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said on Tuesday Greece planned to schedule the first intergovernmental conference between the EU and Serbia for January 21, during that country's presidency of the EU. Greek officials have informed us that they plan to schedule the intergovernmental conference with Serbia for January 21, he told Tanjug, adding that Greece will take of the EU presidency on January 1.

Fuele did not answer directly to the question of whether the mention of a legally binding document in the framework for the talks meant the EU expected Serbia to recognize Kosovo at the end of the negotiations. Conclusions should not be rushed, he stated. This is above all about evaluating the progress in the normalization of the relations between Beograd and Priština. The whole framework for the talks should be read, as it clearly states that the EU expects further steps towards the normalization, he told a news conference after a ministerial meeting.

Rapporteur of the European Parliament (EP) for Serbia Jelko Kacin welcomed the decision of EU foreign ministers to stage the first intergovernmental conference between the EU and Serbia in January 2014, adding that the decision sends a highly encouraging message to Serbia to pursue its reform path.

Kacin commended Serbia on the results achieved so far, especially in terms of the normalisation of relations with Kosovo. In a press release, Kacin welcomed the Tuesday decision which at the same time symbolises the initiation of Serbia's EU accession talks.

The EP rapporteur underscored that the issue of normalisation of relations with Kosovo will remain of vital importance for the pace of the accession talks. In a release, Kacin expressed the belief that Serbia has already done a lot of work in this area and added that an uninterrupted course of the talks on EU membership and conditions for the inflow of foreign investments would be guaranteed by the implementation of the agreements reached so far and finding the solutions to the remaining open issues such as the missing persons issue. He also called on the authorities to persist in internal reforms. The EP will continue providing strong support to Serbia on its historic path, Kacin said.