After Lithuania withdrew its decision to object the status, Romania remains the only country blocking Serbia's EU aspirations.
"26 countries, including Lithuania, agreed to give a green light to the candidate status," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis told BNS in a telephone interview from Brussels.
"Lithuania only did this after Lithuania's relevant demands were included into draft conclusions of the General Affairs Council," the minister said.
"A separate document was adopted, in which the Commission clearly says that special focus will be placed on improving business and investment environment. This was Lithuania's key demand," Ažubalis said.
In his words, the document was settled in shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
"Romania is still blocking the decision. They have a stance of their own on the matter, and I and some of my colleagues have not thoroughly studied the stance – it is the issue of national minorities. EU leaders are talking with Romanian leaders in an effort to come up with an acceptable solution, yet one has not been reached yet," the Lithuanian diplomacy chief told BNS.
Lithuania has recently criticized Serbia over undue treatment of investors from Lithuania, the countries are also locked in a bitter spat with Serbia over the chairmanship of the UN General Assembly.
In the discussions over the candidate status for Serbia, Lithuania publicly questioned Serbia's fulfillment of its obligation to regulate the Kosovo situation. In Ažubalis' words, the European Commission pledged "to monitor Serbia's progress very closely and carry out monitoring before announcing its performance in October."
Earlier this week, Lithuania was astonished by Serbia's decision to compete in the election to the high post in the United Nations (UN). In informal circles, Lithuanian diplomats say they do not doubt there are Russian interests behind the Serbian steps. Russia has publicly supported Serbia's candidacy for the post.
Lithuanian diplomats maintain they announced their intentions to seek the post of the UN General Assembly president back in 2004. Ambassador Dalius Čekuolis is nominated for the position.
Nevertheless, Serbia recently proposed Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremič for the post. Both countries are part of the Eastern European group, which will delegate a chairman this year in accordance to the principle of regional representation.
Lithuanian diplomats have also emphasized their dissatisfaction with Serbia's treatment of Lithuanian investors.
Lithuania's Foreign Ministry said this week that Alita, Arvi and Sanitex had been the biggest Lithuanian investors in Serbia before their contracts in Serbia were denounced.
"Having this in mind, we stress that a country seeking EU membership should uphold the principles of rule of law which are one of the basic values shared by the members of the European community," Giedrius Puodžiūnas, director of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's Information and Public Relations Department, said.
