Belgium has ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between Serbia and the EU, the Belgian embassy in Belgrade stated on Tuesday.

The ratification was formally completed on March 20, the embassy said.

Belgium is the 25th member of the EU to ratify the SAA with Serbia. Romania and Lithuania are the only countries that have still not done it.

The SAA will enter into force once the parliaments of all the member states have ratified it.

Serbia signed the SAA in 2008, and the parliament ratified it the same year.

The EU council of ministers, however, did not decide to unfreeze the ratification process until June 2011, when Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Serge Brammertz informed the council he was pleased Serbia's cooperation.

The SAA represents the framework for contractual relations between the EU and countries of the Western Balkans. It is a part of the stabilization and association process.

Each SAA is adapted to the particular situation each country is in, while at the same time setting joint political and economic goals and stimulating regional cooperation.