European Union leaders have granted Serbia "candidate status", at a summit in Brussels.

欧盟领导人在布鲁塞尔举行的峰会上批准塞尔维亚的“候选国身份”。

Mr Barroso (right) earlier told the Serbian president Boris Tadic that Belgrade "deserved" candidate status
Belgrade has made a series of democratic reforms and captured war crimes suspects to satisfy EU demands. It applied¹ for EU membership in 2009.

The summit came two days after foreign ministers from the 27-member bloc² recommended accepting Serbia.

The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, described the move as a "remarkable³ achievement".

He said it was the result of improved dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, which Belgrade still regards as a breakaway territory.

Serbia recently made a series of concessions⁴（让步） on Kosovo - which has been a major stumbling block（绊脚石，障碍） .

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Serbia's candidacy "shows that the EU remains⁵ very attractive ... [because it and other countries] want to join this project of freedom, responsibility and solidarity⁶".

War crimes arrests

Earlier Romania withdrew its objections to Serbia being allowed to start the process of joining the EU after reaching a deal on minority rights.

A decision had been expected on Tuesday, but Bucharest said it would not allow Belgrade to take the next step towards EU membership until assurances were given on respect for 30,000 Romanian-speaking Vlachs in Serbia.

Diplomats⁷ on Thursday said an agreement between the two countries had been signed. Romanian President Traian Basescu was understood to have given the green light for Serbia's candidacy.

Serbia's path to becoming an EU candidate was given a boost last year when two war crimes suspects, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, were arrested.

Last week, Belgrade agreed to allow Kosovo to take part in west Balkan regional meetings, despite refusing to recognise its independence.

The two sides also agreed to manage jointly⁸ their border, scene of recurrent violence between Nato peacekeepers and ethnic⁹ Serbs who make up the majority in northern Kosovo.

Some 80 countries have recognised Kosovo since it declared independence in 2008, but a still larger number have withheld¹⁰ recognition.