The accession of Serbia to the European Union is the process of the Republic of Serbia being admitted into the framework of the European Union as a full-fledged member state. Serbia officially applied for European Union membership on 22 December 2009. The European Commission recommended making it an official candidate on 12 October 2011, following its successful application for the EU membership. Despite its setbacks in the political field, on 7 December 2009 the EU unfroze the trade agreement with Serbia and the Schengen countries dropped the visa requirement for Serbian citizens on 19 December 2009. The government of Serbia has set a goal for EU accession in 2014, as per the Papandreou plan - Agenda 2014. European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot seems to back this initiative, predicting Serbia's EU accession within 5 to 7 years following its formal application. Following stalled talks with Serbia, the European Union in October 2010 is said to be willing to move accession talks forward. On 7 November 2007, Serbia initialed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union, i.e. agreed on the final version of the text to which no or little changes are to be made, which is the step immediately preceding the official signing that was expected to take place in 2008. This was a milestone in Serbia's accession negotiations and was executed following the advice of chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who advised the EU that the country was complying adequately with the tribunal but Ratko Mladić must be in The Hague prior to any official signing being able to take place. Mladić was subsequently arrested on 26 May 2011, and has since been extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to stand trial. On 20 July, Goran Hadžić became the last indicted fugitive to be arrested. After the vote of the 27 EU foreign ministers on 28 February 2012, where with 26 votes for and 1 vote against a candidate status recommendation was issued, Serbia received a full candidate status on 1 March.
Read more about Accession Of Serbia To The European Union: Serbian Government Stance, European Union Stance, Negotiations, Negotiation Progress, Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Visa Liberalisation Process, Key Events in Serbia Accession To EU
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