(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 21 - "We need to keep the Western Balkans region as close to Europe as possible until the countries that are part of the region are included into the European Union," Italian ambassador to Serbia Carlo Lo Cascio told ANSA today.

"The accession negotiations are complex, and require difficult decisions and for this reason Europe must push the candidate countries" such as Serbia and Montenegro "to behave virtuously," Lo Cascio noted. (ANSA).