Serbia, Kosovo agree to normalise relations ahead of merger

Serbia and Kosovo have announced having reached an agreement on Friday to normalise relations, ending years of ethnic hostilities, clearing a hurdle for both countries to join the European Union (EU) and possibly unite.

After about 10 rounds of talks mediated by the EU, prime ministers of the two countries finally decided to sign an agreement during talks in Brussels. But they are still far from an accession deal that would merge the two countries.

A peace deal with Kosovo, a former Serbian province, which is key to stability in the region, will also clear the path for both countries to join the EU.

''It is very important that what we are seeing now is a step away from the past and, for both of them, a step closer to Europe,'' EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after the signing of the agreement.

Serbia can now expect that the EU heads of state and government to give it a date for the opening of accession negotiations by June. And Kosovo can hope for a start to negotiations on a stabilisation and association agreement, a precursor to accession talks, she added.

Serbian officials said the agreement was subject to approval by ''state bodies'' in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. European officials, however, discounted the possibility of Serbia reneging on the agreement.

The agreement hinges on the extend Kosovo agrees to cede autonomy to Serb municipalities in the north, in return for Serbia's recognition of Kosovo's authority in the area.

Serbia has been enjoying de facto control over the small Serb-majority area in the north.

Kosovo secured independence from Serbia in 2008 with NATO help, after a decade of war to push out the forces of the Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian Muslim majority who won independence after a long struggle is unlikely to cede more powers under a merger plan.

The current agreement, however, conspicuously omits any Serbian recognition of Kosovo's independence.