 It is one of five current EU candidate countries, together with Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Turkey.Negotiations with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro) intensified following the election defeat and ousting of Slobodan Milošević in 2000, and the EU officially declared the Balkan states potential candidates for membership following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki on 21 June 2003.On 7 November 2007, Serbia initiated a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union.