Serbia is to submit a formal application today to join the European Union’s 27-nation bloc, the BBC reports.
President Boris Tadic will fly to Stockholm, where he will submit the application to Swedish Prime Minster Fredrik Reinfeldt.
The EU recently unfroze a free trade agreement with Belgrade, but Serbia still has to cross a major hurdle, the capture of two remaining war fugitives, before membership negotiations will begin in earnest.

Citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro can travel visa-free to all countries that have signed the Schengen Agreement – which is most of the EU, the BBC reports.
From Saturday, citizens of the three former Yugoslav republics who hold biometric passports will not need visas to enter the borderless Schengen area. The UK still requires visas, because it is outside the Schengen zone.
Former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia gained visa-free travel shortly after their independence …

According to Lonely Planet’s world’s top 10 party cities list, the best place to party in the world is Serbian capital Belgrade.
Lonely planet say that foreigners are now realizing what locals always knew – that Belgrade really rocks. “With an exuberant population and its legacy as an intellectual hangout, Belgrade offers varied nightlife, ranging from eclectic watering holes for those in the know, to the busy restaurants and bars of the Skadarlija district and the …

Serbian war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic will have a defence lawyer imposed on him after United Nations judges ruled that he had”’substantially and persistently obstructed” his trial for genocide and war crimes, but proceedings against him will now be delayed until March 2010 to give the court-appointed counsel time to study the case, the Daily Telegraph reports.
“The trial chamber hereby determines that the overall interests of justice are best met by the appointment of counsel,” …

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic made his first appearance at his trial in The Hague today for genocide and war crimes, the BBC reports.
He boycotted the start of the trial last week, saying he needed more time to prepare his defence, but, in a letter to the judge yesterday, he agreed to attend a special procedural hearing.
Presiding Judge O-Gon Kwon will decide how to proceed if Karadzic continues to refuse to attend the hearings. …

The genocide and war crimes trial of Radovan Karadzic has begun in The Hague 15 months after the former Bosnian Serb president was captured in Belgrade, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Karadzic himself is boycotting the opening of the trial in a defiant gesture against what he considers a rush to justice by the UN court prosecuting him. His refusal to show up at the Yugoslav tribunal is a blow to survivors who hold him responsible for tens …

Serbian authorities have for long claimed that one of the world’s most wanted war criminals – Ratko Mladic – is out of their reach. Now pictures have emerged that prove that the war criminal is dancing right under their noses, but he’s still in liberty and Serbian authorities are doing absolutely nothing.
Daily Mail today published photos where Mladic celebrates with his friends at a family wedding, and in one shot he’s seen wearing a shellsuit. …