Belgrade, 17 Dec 2013 – Prime Minister Ivica Dacic announced tonight that the accession talks of the EU with Serbia will start on 21 January.

In a live broadcast on RTS, Dacic said that the EU foreign ministers’ decision adopted in Brussels tonight to hold the first intergovernmental conference of Serbia and the EU in January is a historic event, which has been waited for by many generations and which has been the goal of many previous governments in Serbia.

All EU countries have had a high level of praise for everything that the government of Serbia has done in the past. It was unanimously decided that the conference, which formally marks the beginning of the process of negotiations, be held in January, when Greece takes over the six-month EU presidency, the Prime Minister said.

Dacic thanked the government of Serbia, First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and President Tomislav Nikolic on the hard work and political responsibility.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said tonight at a press conference in Brussels after a meeting of foreign ministers of the EU member states that negotiations with Serbia will commence on 21 January.

Fule added that the General Affairs Council of the EU accepted Serbia's progress in reforms and normalising relations with Pristina.