Danish Minister for European Affairs Nicolai Wammen expressed hope Monday that Serbia will be granted EU candidate status on March 1 and stressed the decision will be based on Serbia's achievements and not on any letters.

Asked to comment on the information that Pristina has sent a letter to EU member countries asking that Serbia be denied candidate status, Wammen told a news conference after his meeting with Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic that the decision will be based solely on merit and facts, not on letters.

We will review what has been done and make a decision based on that, stressed the minister whose country holds the EU Presidency until July 1.

He said important days are ahead in Brussels, both in terms of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the talks on Serbia's candidate status.

According to Wammen, progress has been made in the dialogue in the last few weeks, but the work is not done.

It is time to take the necessary steps to reach an agreement, he pointed out.

Serbian FM Jeremic said Monday that Serbia is closer to a positive decision from the Council of the EU than it was in December.

Jeremic said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will keep up intensive contacts with EU member countries in the coming days and do everything to get a positive decision for the Council of the EU.

"We should not prejudice the decision in any way at this moment. The moment is positive, but the goal has not been reached," he said.