Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said Friday that the messages which European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso brought to Belgrade are encouraging, but that the ICTY condition will be the greatest challenge for Serbia in the process of European integration in the months to come.

Summing up the results of Barroso visit Thursday, Djelic said in a statement to the Tanjug news agency that full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague is a condition for obtaining the EU candidate status.

He added that it is necessary that competent authorities act in accordance with suggestions, so that progress in cooperation with this tribunal could be noted and the next report of Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, scheduled for December 9, could be positive.

He said that in the upcoming period, Serbia should also focus on things that are completely under its control, such as the reform agenda, and meet the deadlines in this field.

The next evaluation of results will be on June 10, when the plenary session of the Enhanced Dialogue with the EU will be held in Belgrade. For this occasion, Serbia will prepare a report on the action plan for acquiring the EU candidate status , Djelic said.

Speaking about the problem of false asylum seekers, the deputy prime minister said that the measures taken to address this problem have resulted in reducing the number of requests for asylum.

Serbia proposed some measures, such as shortening the deadlines for decisions on granting asylum status and providing efficient exchange of information on false asylum seekers, he added.

We will present the legislative changes to our European partners, so that everything is in line with European standards and respect for human and minority rights, Djelic said.

He said that during talks between Serbian officials amd Barroso on Thursday, greater EU financial support for the Western Balkans in the next budget period, which begins in 2013, was also discussed.