海角大神

聽won the green light on Friday to start negotiations by January on joining the European Union, capping a remarkable transformation in the prospects of the biggest former Yugoslav republic since the 1990s wars.

The decision, taken at an EU summit, rewards聽聽for an April deal to improve relations with its former province of聽, which broke away from聽聽in a 1998-99 guerrilla war.

EU leaders also agreed聽聽should launch negotiations with聽聽on a so-called association agreement, which covers trade, economic and political relations and is a step on the path to eventual EU membership.

The leaders agreed talks would start in January 2014 "at the very latest" with聽, which was long treated as a pariah because of its central role in the wars that tore through the聽聽after the 1991 collapse of聽.

"We are at a historic moment for the聽聽and for聽聽as a whole,"聽听笔谤别蝉颈诲别苍迟听聽told a news conference, noting that the decisions on聽听补苍诲听聽came as聽聽prepares to join the聽聽on Monday.

"These ... decisions are an immediate result of the courageous agreement聽听补苍诲听聽reached last April," said Van Rompuy, who will travel to both capitals on Monday.

听补苍诲听聽have been at odds since聽聽seceded in 2008 with Western backing. After months of EU-brokered talks, the two sides reached an agreement in April aimed at ending the virtual ethnic partition of聽聽between its ethnic Albanian majority and a pocket of some 50,000 Serbs in the north.

The agreement still has to be fully implemented, and EU governments will assess progress before giving a final, formal go-ahead to talks later this year.

The EU negotiation process should help drive reforms in聽, the largest country to emerge from the former聽, luring investors to its ailing economy.

Prime Minister聽, leader of the co-ruling Socialists and ex-spokesman for late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, said his government had worked hard for the EU bid.

"The date for (EU) accession talks is the first step of this great journey we are about to undertake," Dacic said in a live broadcast of a cabinet session.

Defence Minister聽, head of the conservative Serbian Progressive Party, said the Balkan state must do more to consummate reforms. "This is the turning point in our modern history.聽聽has demonstrated that no one can stop its way forward," Vucic told ministers.

滨苍听聽about 2,000 hardline nationalists rallied peacefully against EU accession and demanded the resignation of the government.

CURRENCY BUOYED

The Serbian dinar swung upwards to 113.5 to the euro after the EU agreement from a low of 114.05 earlier in the day, currency traders in聽听蝉补颈诲.

, head of research at Erste Bank in聽, said the date for EU membership talks would be a major support for reforms and improvement in the business climate, and would boost investor confidence and foreign investment.

"This will have a stabilising effect for financial markets and the foreign currency market, but I also expect structural reforms," said聽, the deputy head of the Serb Statistics Office.

NATO Secretary-General聽聽welcomed the EU's decision and said KFOR, the NATO-led聽peacekeeping force, would "continue to play its role by ensuring a safe and secure environment for all people in聽". KFOR, in聽聽since June 1999, comprises 5,000 troops from 31 countries.

Dacic said this week he hoped聽聽could wrap up membership talks in 4-5 years, although the widely held view in聽聽is that it is unlikely to be admitted before 2020.

In the past few years,聽聽has made notable strides towards the EU thanks to progress on democratic reforms and the capture of fugitives wanted for crimes during the Yugoslav wars.

Serbs consider聽聽the fount of their nation and Orthodox 海角大神 faith, but聽聽lost control over the territory in 1999 when NATO conducted 11 weeks of air strikes to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians in a counter-insurgency campaign by Milosevic's security forces.

聽is now recognised by 100 nations, including the聽聽and 22 of the EU's 27 members.

翱蹿听's fellow ex-Yugoslav republics,聽聽joined the EU in 2004,聽聽follows on Monday and tiny聽began membership talks last year.聽聽is a candidate, while Bosnia has yet to apply.

($1 = 0.7691 euros) (Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in聽聽and Ethan Bilby in聽; Editing by Mark Heinrich)