This will help the region become more engaged in the Euro-Atlantic family, said Scheffer, underlining that Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina must intensify cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal.
A decision on including the three Balkan countries in Partnership for Peace was made by NATO leaders at a summit in Riga last month, despite previously strong differences of opinion among NATO countries regarding the admission of Serbia. The United States at the last minute agreed to make it possible to sign the agreement with Serbia as well.
Unlike NATO, the European Union said it intended to resume negotiations on cooperation with Serbia only after Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic were arrested, according to France Presse.
Dpa quoted Serbian President Boris Tadic as saying at the signing ceremony that the agreement was "just the first step in a process which will culminate with the region's full integration into the Alliance. The decision to invite us into the Partnership is of historic significance, not just for my country and our region but, in my opinion, all countries represented here".
Tadic reiterated Belgrade's position that it was possible to find a compromise about Kosovo's independence. "Regardless of the outcome, Serbia will continue to be committed to peacekeeping in the region," he said, adding that Serbia's accession to the NATO programme could only contribute to that.
Tadic told the press "the Serbs intend to defend their interests and their borders, but in the European way, through negotiations, not war".
Regarding the war criminals wanted by the Hague tribunal, Tadic said the Serbs were working on their extradition. "The moral imperative is that all those running from the law, especially Ratko Mladic, should be located, arrested and extradited to The Hague".
Scheffer said full cooperation was expected of Serbia in this issue.
Bosnian President Nebojsa Radmanovic said after the signing of today's agreement that Bosnia's dream had come true. "It is symbolic that we are signing this agreement 11 years after the signing of the Dayton agreement (which ended the war in Bosnia). I hope that by entering Partnership for Peace, and later the EU and NATO, we will cement over any ethnic conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina for good".
Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic said "We consider this decision to be an acknowledgement of our accelerated democratic progress and the progress in defence and security reforms that we have made. These reforms have resulted in full civilian and democratic control of the armed forces, which is in the best interest of all citizens. All our efforts have been reaffirmed today".
Scheffer said that Montenegro's accession to Partnership for Peace was a historic moment for an old nation and a young democracy. He declined to make a statement on the three countries' possible accession to NATO, saying that the date of entry into the alliance depended on potential candidates' progress in reforms.