BRUSSELS (AFP) – EU nations yesterday hailed the re-election of pro-West Serbian President Boris Tadic as a move toward Europe, while planning for the expected independence declaration by its breakaway province of Kosovo.

“Yesterday saw a victory for democracy in Serbia and for the European values we share,” European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso enthused in a letter to Tadic. “We wish to accelerate Serbia’s progress toward the European Union,” he added.

There were messages of satisfaction from many EU capitals, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter hailing Tadic’s “European vision.” His re-election shows that “he has united the majority of citizens behind him with his vision of bringing the country closer to Europe,” Steinmeier said in Berlin.

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema said he was convinced that the victorious Tadic would work toward “growing stabilization in the region and his country’s full return into the international community.” Meanwhile, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said Tadic’s victory “will ease Serbia’s path toward the European Union.” “We’d like to see Serbia get as close as possible as fast as possible” on the road to EU membership, echoed the EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Solana said he hoped that an interim agreement between the EU and Serbia could be signed “in the coming days.” The interim deal was drawn up after the Netherlands blocked moves to sign a broader Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), the first formal step to EU membership.

In the European messages of congratulation and satisfaction there was little mention of Kosovo, whose independence plans are opposed by both Belgrade and Moscow. Tadic has voiced opposition to the scheme, but is deemed an easier partner than the nationalist Nikolic for the West to deal with.

Baton Haxhiu, director of the Express newspaper in Pristina, was in no doubt about the significance of Tadic’s re-election.

“Tadic will be against independence, he will be forced into that stance by public opinion in Serbia, but he will not take radical measures against any implementation of independence,” he said.

He said the most likely date for a Kosovo declaration of independence was February 15-16. Other observers have said it could be any time up to early March.

Meanwhile, the European Union yesterday gave the green light for a mission to help ease Kosovo’s transition to independence from Serbia, but with no launch date given, diplomatic sources said.