Germany on Monday called for "visible" progress in implementing a landmark deal between Serbia and Kosovo before securing Berlin's backing for Belgrade's bid to join the European Union. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed the April 19 EU-brokered agreement to normalise ties between Serbia and its former southern province as "historic" but said momentum needed to be continued. "Such historic circumstances do not occur every day, and when they occur they have to be grabbed," Westerwelle told reporters after meeting top Serbian officials in Belgrade.

Germany on Monday called for "visible" progress in implementing a landmark deal between Serbia and Kosovo before securing Berlin's backing for Belgrade's bid to join the European Union. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed the April 19 EU-brokered agreement to normalise ties between Serbia and its former southern province as "historic" but said momentum needed to be continued. "Such historic circumstances do not occur every day, and when they occur they have to be grabbed," Westerwelle told reporters after meeting top Serbian officials in Belgrade.

In Europe, the end of winter and an increasing number of spring vacations and mini-breaks have led to rising hotel rates in several cities for the month of May, according to the Trivago-Relaxnews report. Compared with April, rates are going up in Venice (+38%) ahead of the Art Biennale (June 1-November 24), Prague (+35%), Istanbul (+29%) and Barcelona (+22%). Compared to May last year, however, rates are generally lower or stable with only Instanbul and Prague showing increases of double-digit percentages. Destination Average price per night

By Christian Lowe and Grzegorz Szymanowski GARTZ, Germany (Reuters) - Like most people in Szczecin, a port city on the western edge of Poland, businessman Zbigniew Sawicki thought that when his country joined the European Union a decade ago, wealthier German neighbors would pour in and buy up the city.