EU nations will sign a pact on closer ties with Serbia today, after reaching a compromise to overcome objections from the Dutch and the Belgians.
Serbia's pro-European President Boris Tadic has been invited to sign the agreement in Luxembourg this afternoon.
Watch the signing ceremony from 2.55pm at www.rte.ie/live
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic hailed the deal as 'a historical day for Serbia and for the EU'.
'We believe we are irreversibly on the road to EU membership.'
EU nations want to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement - the first formal step to EU membership - to boost Serbia's pro-European parties ahead of a general election on 11 May.
Belgium and the Netherlands had insisted that Belgrade must first fully cooperate with the UN war crimes court by handing over remaining suspects, chief among them former Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic.
Under the compromise, the pact would be signed but not ratified by the 27 member states, and therefore not enter into force, until Belgrade cooperates sufficiently with the UN war crimes court.
Mr Tadic and his foreign minister Mr Jeremic have persistently called for the accord to be signed before Serbian legislative elections to boost their chances of prevailing over nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.
Meanwhile, Serbian nationalists have been incensed by the fact that most EU nations swiftly recognised the February declaration of independence of the breakaway Serb province of Kosovo.
EU-Russia partnership discussed
Discussions on EU partnership with Russia are also under way today.
Lithuania has said it is still unhappy with proposals to start the long-stalled EU-Russia partnership negotiations.
The former Soviet republic is demanding assurances on Russian energy supplies, judicial cooperation and policy towards frozen conflicts in other former Soviet states.
Most countries in the 27-member bloc are anxious to begin early talks on a wide-ranging trade and political partnership agreement with energy-rich Russia and are pressing Lithuania to agree to launching the talks.
They hope a deal on the mandate can be reached in time to launch negotiations with Russia before a 26-27 June summit in Siberia.
