EU Urges Further Serbian-Kosovar Dialogue

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic (right) at a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Belgrade on March 18

The European Union's commissioner for enlargement and neighborhood policy has welcomed "the new, dynamic" Serbian-Kosovar dialogue but said Belgrade must continue to improve those relations if it hopes to set a date for EU accession talks.

Stefan Fuele was speaking in the Serbian capital after meeting President Tomislav Nikolic.

His visit comes ahead of another round of expected talks this week between Serbian and Kosovar Prime Ministers Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci.

Belgrade is hoping that formal talks on accession to the bloc can begin this spring, following a European Commission progress report next month.

Fuele said Serbia must also "intensify" judicial reform and anticorruption and anti-discrimination efforts.

Nikolic said Serbia "has done a lot and it is absolutely open to do a lot more."

Fuele heads to Pristina next.

With reporting by B92