"We would like to become an official candidate by the end of the year," the president said at a news conference after signing the agreement.
Earlier Tuesday the EU and Serbia signed a Stabilization and Association Agree, the first step for the Balkan country to EU membership.
For the agreement to come into force, EU members' parliaments need to ratify the document which political scientists say could be difficult.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the agreement "does not include Kosovo."
Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, pointed out that further cooperation between the EU and Serbia depends on the country's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal.
