European Union (EU) Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele stated on Wednesday that the European Commission (EC) is planning to give its opinion on Serbia's EU candidacy bid in second half of 2011, and expects that Belgrade will answer the EU questionnaire by end of January.

In an exclusive interview for the Belgrade-based TV B92, Fuele said that the EC would like the opinion on Serbia's candidacy bid to be part of the annual report on the EU enlargement, which will be released in 2011, and added that this will depend on the quality of Serbia's answers. We expect that Belgrade will deliver the answers by the end of January, which will be analyzed from February to May.

In case of vague issues, we may even send expert teams to Serbia. There may even be some additional questions. Overall, a dynamic period is before us. Moreover, we will write our opinion on Serbia's candidacy bid between May and September, Fuele said.

The EU commissioner said that when it comes to Kosovo, there are two parallel processes. The first one is the delivery of the EC's opinion on Serbia's EU candidacy bid. This process is not related either to Kosovo or to the Stabilization and Association Agreement. Whenever a question on Kosovo arises, it will be considered in the light of neutral status and in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

The second parallel issue is the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina which is a continuation of the progress in relations that led to the adoption of the Serbia-EU Resolution on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in the UN General Assembly, which was proposed by 28 European countries, including Serbia, and all EU member states.

We hope that the dialogue will not only open but also resolve numerous practical issues, Fuele said. When asked when the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue should start, Fuele expressed hope that it will be opened as soon as possible.