EU set for Serbia membership talks

28 June 2013 Last updated at 08:02 ET

EU leaders have agreed to open accession talks with Serbia, whose bid to join the EU was long delayed by a dispute over Kosovo.

EU-Serbia negotiations will begin in January 2014 at the latest, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said at a Brussels EU summit.

In April, the EU brokered a key deal between Serbia and Kosovo, which broke away from Belgrade in a war in 1999.

Talks on an EU association agreement with Kosovo will also get under way.