The European Union foreign ministers decide Monday whether to invite Serbia to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which offers a path to EU membership.

According to officials, the EU wants to conclude the deal quickly, as Serbia has been turning increasingly away from the West, which is likely to recognize an expected declaration for the Kosovo province independence.

However, the Netherlands and Belgium are opposing the move, saying the Balkan country has not cooperated with the United Nations war-crimes tribunal, which still is insisting for the transfer of Radko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, accused of genocide during the Bosnia's civil war.

The discussions come less than a week before the second round of the presidential elections on February 3, at which voters will choose between current pro-Western president, Boris Tadic and nationalist Tomislav Nikolic.

According to Tadic, Serbia will not turn its back on Kosovo or its European prospects, as the province status discussions and Serbia's EU integration were two separate processes.

Declaring Kosovo's independence is a matter of days, former guerrilla leader and current PM of the province Hashim Thaci said last week after meeting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels.

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