Serbia is hopeful that it can sign a pre-entry deal with the European Union at the end of the month, the country's foreign minister said Thursday, insisting that Belgrade has already fulfilled the EU's conditions, according to The Associated Press. Slovenia, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said earlier this week that it favors a quick signing of the so-called Stabilization and Association Agreement _ possibly in the next few weeks. Still, EU officials say the signing depends on whether Serbia cooperates fully with the U.N. war crimes court on former Yugoslavia in The Hague. «We very much hope this (signing) is going to become the reality come Jan. 28, and if not Jan. 28 at the next earliest opportunity,» Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said after meeting German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. «We believe that the conditionality for the signing of the ... agreement has been met,» he said. «We believe in Serbia that there is a full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, that Serbia is doing everything ... to make sure that all the remaining indictees are located arrested and handed over to the Hague.»
