Serbian Vice Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Oct. 3 that he was convinced the European Commission would award Serbia candidate EU member status on Oct. 12, but that the situation in northern Kosovo made it unlikely that a date for broaching negotiations would be set too.

He said the unrest in Kosovo had brought down support to EU membership by the Serbian population to 46 percent, the lowest level since Oct. 5, 2000, adding that this was a weighty warning for Serbia's European partners.

"If they want to see pro-European policies in Serbia, there must be a positive European agenda," Djelic said, stating further that Euro-skepticism was a consequence of unilateral action in northern Kosovo.

He went on to say that Serbia should not turn back on its European path, and that the issue was not one of inclination, but of state interests.

Vincent Degert, who heads the European Union's Delegation in Serbia, said on Oct. 3 that he could not foretell the content of the European Commission's report on Serbia's progress in fulfilling candidate member requirements, but that additional advancement was expected by Oct. 12.

Jelko Kacin, European Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, has stated that it was in the EU's interest for Serbia to get the go-ahead for candidate status, but that the Serbian political elite must be more ambitious about the date for launching negotiations.