Kosovo to start EU integration by June if terms met

(PRISTINA) - Kosovo could take the first major step towards joining the European Union by next June if it delivers progress in four main areas and despite the row with Serbia over its independence, a top EU official said Friday.

The resumption of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina "as itself is not a precondition" for Kosovo to start negotiations with the EU on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), the first formal contract on a long path towards membership of the bloc, Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said.

"You cannot find it among the four (priorities) that I have listed for the (European) Commission to present the mandate for (Kosovo) negotiations to the member states," Fuele told reporters after meeting Kosovo prime minister Hashim Thaci.

Kosovo in 2008 unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia, despite fierce opposition from Belgrade. It has been recognised by some 90 states, including the United States and all but five EU member countries.

Under strong international pressure, Belgrade and Pristina have been engaged in a EU-mediated dialogue in order to resolve a number of everyday problems, despite the status row.

The talks were interrupted this spring as Serbia held elections.

Brussels has set the resumption of talks and a visible improvement in relations with its breakaway southern province as the key priority for Serbia, an EU candidate state, to continue its own European integration and be given a date for opening accession talks.

The European Commission released this week a feasibility study on Kosovo, saying "there is no legal obstacle... and Kosovo is largely ready to open negotiations" for the SAA, Fuele said.

However, before opening talks on the SAA "in the first half of the next year" Kosovo should deliver progress in the areas "concerning the rule of law, administration capacities, protection of minorities and trade capacities," the commissioner said.

Ethnic Albanian majority Kosovo's principal minority are the Serbs living mainly in the north, who like Belgrade refuse to recognise its independence.