Stabilisation and Association Process

The Serbian National Assembly on Monday passed with 132 votes in favor and 13 against a set of amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land.

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The Serbian National Assembly will on Thursday start a new extraordinary session, whose agenda contains the draft amendments to the Law on Agricultural Land.

These changes aim to limit the right of foreigners to buy arable land in Serbia.

BELGRADE - Serbia will turn to the European Commission over Croatia's decision to introduce non-tariff barriers to imports of agricultural products from Serbia and other non-EU countries, Serbian Deputy PM and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic announced on Tuesday.

Croatia's introduction of non-tariff barriers is a drastic violation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, says Serbia's trade and tourism minister.

For this reason, Rasim Ljajic explained on Tuesday, Serbia will as soon as today address the European Commission, and ask for the decision of Croatia, an EU member, to be reconsidered.

EU officials have called on representatives of the Kosovo government to abandon any further delays in establishing the Community of Serb Municialities (ZSO).

Tanjug is reporting this on Thursday, citing a statement issued by the EU office in Kosovo.

Jean-Claude Juncker's failure to mention EU enlargement in his annual address to MEPs on Wednesday has alarmed observers of affairs in the Balkans - where several countries are hoping to join the club in the next few years.

EU and Kosovo leaders hailed the entry into force of Kosovo's landmark Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union on 1 April, calling it a milestone in the relationship between the Balkan country and the 28-member EU family.

The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between the European Union and Kosovo entered into force on April 1.

The European Commission announced this in a press release on Friday.

The European Parliament on Thursday ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Kosovo.

The Beta agency is reporting that 486 MEPS were in favor, 102 against, with 81 abstaining.

Bosnian farmers will now have to pay tarrifs if they want to export their produce to the EU market after January 1, after Brussels suspended a trade liberalisation deal.

"The European Parliament decided ... to suspend the trade preferences granted unilaterally by the EU to Bosnia and Herzegovina," Zora Stanic, the spokesperson of the EU delegation in Sarajevo, told BIRN on Tuesday.