Cyprus says Kosovo must not hamper Serbia's EU bid

(NICOSIA) - Cyprus said Friday it is time for the European Union to open accession talks with Serbia, and that the issue of Kosovo's independence must not be allowed to hamper the process.

"Serbia itself feels it's ready and its application for membership to the European Union should be evaluated on the same criteria as other candidate countries," Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou told reporters after talks with his Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic.

Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004, refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, as declared by its ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament in February last year.

The only other members of the 27-nation bloc with the same stance are Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.

"Cyprus supports the immediate implementation of the EU-Serbia association agreement and we are disappointed over the delay observed on this issue by the European Union," said Kyprianou.

He was referring to the Netherlands' decision to block an EU trade and aid pact with Belgrade until genocide suspect Ratko Mladic, widely thought to be hiding in Serbia, is brought before a UN tribunal in The Hague.

Jeremic said in Brussels on Thursday that Belgrade intends to formally apply for EU candidacy before the year's end. Other Serbian officials repeatedly express confidence that Mladic will be arrested within the same timeframe.

In Nicosia on Friday, Jeremic said Cyprus was Serbia's "best and closest" ally within the European Union, membership in which he stressed was his country's strategic goal.