{{Serbia and its former province of Kosovo struck an historic deal on Friday to settle their fraught relations, opening the door to European Union membership talks for Belgrade in a milestone for the region\u2019s recovery from the collapse of Yugoslavia.}}<\/p>\n
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the prime ministers of both sides had initialled an agreement during talks in Brussels, capping six months of delicate negotiations after over a decade of deep animosity since Kosovo broke away in war.<\/p>\n
\u00ab It\u2019s very important that now what we are seeing is a step away from the past and for both of them a step closer to Europe, \u00bb Ashton told reporters.<\/p>\n
Kosovo\u2019s EU\u2019s integration minister, Vlora Citaku, tweeted: \u00ab And the white smoke is out! Habemus pactum! Happy:))) \u00bb<\/p>\n
Serbian officials said the deal remained subject to approval by \u00ab state bodies \u00bb back in Belgrade. \u00ab We will inform the EU by letter on Monday whether we accept the deal or not, \u00bb Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters. EU diplomats said there was very little chance of Serbia reversing course.<\/p>\n
The pact tackles the ethnic partition of Kosovo between its Albanian majority and a small Belgrade-backed pocket of some 50,000 Serbs in the north, a schism that has dogged regional stability since Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008.<\/p>\n
It will also likely open the door to greater international integration of the young state, the last to emerge from the ashes of federal Yugoslavia but which Belgrade considers the cradle of the Serb nation.<\/p>\n
Serbia hopes it will be enough to win the green light on Monday from the EU\u2019s 27 members for the start of talks on Serbian accession to the bloc.<\/p>\n
That process could unlock Serbia\u2019s potential as the largest market in the former Yugoslavia and lure much-needed foreign investment to its struggling economy.<\/p>\n
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