Ex-Italian Foreign Minister to Advise Serbia on EU Path

Former EU justice commissioner and ex-Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini has agreed to advise Belgrade on its path towards membership of the European Union, the Serbian government said Monday.

"Thanks to his exceptional and long experience at the highest level in European and world institutions, as well as his credibility within the international community, Mr Frattini will help the government of Serbia in the process of European integration," the government said in a statement.

Frattini, EU justice commissioner between 2004 and 2008, will focus in particular on requirements relating to the judicial system and human rights, it said.

These two areas will likely be high on the agenda during Serbia's accession talks with the EU, expected in January. Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012.

According to the government statement, Frattini "will conduct his activities without any compensation."

Frattini, who also served as Italy's foreign minister in former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's cabinets from 2002 and 2004 and 2008 and 2011, confirmed the information on his Twitter account.

Last month, disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and former Austrian chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer also accepted Serbian government invitations to become advisers on economic recovery and EU integration respectively.

The only countries from the former Yugoslavia to have successfully joined the EU are Slovenia and Croatia.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair will advise Albania, another would-be Balkans EU member, in its efforts to join the bloc, its prime minister announced on October 3.