BRUSSELS, Feb 24: Serbia and its one-time province of Kosovo reached agreement on Friday on two key issues that will significantly enhance Serbia’s chances of becoming an official candidate for EU membership next week.

The agreements allow Kosovo to represent itself in international conferences and spell out the technical details of how Serbia and Kosovo will manage their joint borders and border crossings.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule welcomed the agreements as “a major step forward.”

The EU wanted Belgrade to make new progress in the talks with Kosovo before backing its bid to join the bloc. EU foreign ministers will meet next week to consider whether Serbia has fulfilled conditions required to be a candidate for membership.

“These agreements ... are particularly welcome in view of the deliberations (of EU ministers) next week regarding candidate status for Serbia,” Ashton said.—AP