The European Parliament (EP) will vote at a plenary session Tuesday to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bozidar Djelic told Tanjug before leaving for Strasbourg that ratification of the agreement in the EP is certain.

The European Union decided in June 2010 to start the ratification process, and 11 out of 27 EU member countries have ratified Serbia's SAA so far. Spain was the first to do so, on June 21 last year.

The EP, which is in session until Thursday, will hold a debate and then vote to ratify the SAA. Djelic, who started his three-day visit to Strasbourg with an address to the EP Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, will attend the debate.

Djelic told the EP Foreign Affairs Committee that Serbia's central strategic goal is achieving candidate status for EU membership in 2011 and setting a starting date for accession talks in the spring of 2012.

EP rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin will also speak before the EP Tuesday.

The EP will debate Tuesday, and vote Wednesday, on Kacin's draft resolution on Serbia's EU integration.

Kacin's report on Serbia's progress, which recommends the ratification of the SAA, was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee on December 1, 2010 with 51 members voting for, three against and two abstaining.