The five states that emerged from the former Yugoslavia initialed a wide-ranging agreement on Friday on the division of the old state's assets, a decade after the break-up of the federation.
The deal, hammered out after nearly two weeks of negotiations in Vienna and the culmination of 10 years' of on-and-off talks between the successor states, is expected to be signed within the next three weeks.
"The conclusion today is significant for the fact it is the first agreement the five states have concluded between themselves since the break-up of Yugoslavia," Arthur Watts, international mediator in the talks, told reporters.
"It marks a very important step in the improvement of relations," he said.
The division of former Yugoslavia's assets has been a stumbling block for years in establishing full relations between rump Yugoslavia and its four newly independent neighbors.
The so-called succession talks have also been an imperative for Belgrade to rejoin the International Monetary Fund.
The former Yugoslavia broke up in 1991 when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, followed by Bosnia and Macedonia. Rump Yugoslavia now comprises Serbia and Montenegro.
The umbrella agreement, which Watts said was not easy to reach due to the breadth of matters included, covers seven key issues -- VIENNA, Austria (Reuters)
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