Dacic: Unacceptable for Serbia to join EU in one package with others

Foreign Minister and First Deputy PM Ivica Dacic says the idea of the whole region joining the EU "as one package" is unacceptable to Serbia.

Speaking late on Tuesday in Brussels, Dacic pointed out that "everyone should advance at the speed that they deserve."

Dacic told reporters, after a meeting of foreign ministers of EU member-state and candidate countries, that the decision to open new chapters in membership negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro was welcomed - but that there was a danger of EU members "not wanting to recognize that these two countries are leaders in European integration."

"There is a danger that now there is a little bit of a desire to avoid emphasizing that Serbia and Montenegro are leaders in the process of EU accession, instead that the whole region should be in one package. That would not be acceptable to us, because our position is...