A European official told Serbia on Wednesday that it might become a candidate for membership in the European Union next year and could receive trade concessions even sooner. It was the most upbeat and specific statement yet on Serbia’s prospects for joining the 27-nation European bloc. The comments, from José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, suggested to the government in Belgrade that things could move quickly if Serbia removed the main remaining obstacle to its application for membership: the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander.
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