The European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) adopted a draft resolution, on 1 March, commending Serbia’s progress towards EU integration. The adoption by a large majority of MEPs is a clear signal that “Serbia has a great friend in the European Parliament, which now once again sent a positive signal to both Belgrade and the European Council, which in turn now needs to formally adopt the decision to grant candidate status to Serbia,” said Jelko Kacin (ALDE, Slovenia), Parliament’s rapporteur on Serbia. “We also sent a clear message to the representatives of Romania at the European Council that they should act constructively and support the candidacy of Serbia,” he added. The EU’s heads of state and government were expected to formally approve Serbia’s candidacy late on 1 March.