Serbia's EU candidacy uncertain in March: minister

(BELGRADE) - Serbia's former European integration minister Bozidar Djelic, who stepped down on Friday, has raised doubts over whether Belgrade would get EU candidacy status by a new deadline next March.

"If you're asking me if the candidacy status is a sure thing in March, the answer is no," Djelic said, quoted by independent broadcaster B92 on its Internet site Monday.

Djelic stepped down Friday after European Union leaders announced they had delayed their decision on whether to grant Serbia EU candidacy status until February, to be confirmed in March.

Germany and Austria wanted to see a marked improvement in Belgrade's relations with Pristina after recent clashes between Kosovar Serbs and NATO-led peacekeeping troops in northern Kosovo.

Djelic told B92 that he saw little chance of relations with Kosovo normalising before the new deadline.

The two sides are trying to find a solution to the issue of Kosovo's representation in regional conferences. Belgrade refuses to attend meetings where Kosovo is described as an independent republic.

Serbia has never accepted Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence -- recognised by the United States and most, but not all, European Union countries -- and still considers the territory officially its southern province.

Djelic said it would be difficult to resolve the standoff "if they continue to insist that Belgrade renounces (UN Security Council) Resolution 1244" which established an international presence and peacekeeping force in Kosovo but also confirmed Belgrade's sovereignty over the territory.

"If the position does not change, it will not be simple to get candidacy status," he said.

Serbian President Boris Tadic has already repeatedly said that he will never accept a demand to renounce Resolution 1244.