Serbia opens new negotiation chapter with EU

At the Intergovernmental Conference the European Union-Serbia, it opens the new chapter in negotiations for membership in the European bloc.

Serbia's Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic will head the Serbian delegation at the Brussels conference, where the ninth negotiating chapter regarding financial services will open.

After the meeting, Joksimovic and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn will sign the financial agreement, The IPA, for 2018, which for Serbia envisions a fund of 179.1m euros.

Belgrade has so far opened 16 chapters in negotiations with the EU, up from 35 total.

The membership negotiations have been launched by the Western Balkan countries, Montenegro and Serbia.

Northern Macedonia and Albania remain pending the decision to start these negotiations, while Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have only Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the EU, which is the first step towards membership in this bloc. /Tch/