WASHINGTON – As Hoyt Brian Yee, the deputy assistant secretary of State stated yesterday that Serbia “cannot sit on two chairs at the same time,” referring to Serbia’s relations with Russia and the EU, the statement provoked many reaction.

Daniel Serwer, the director of the Conflict Management Program at the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies in Washington DC and former diplomat stated in his Op-ed that he agrees with the Yee’s claim, although he is more interested in the other question.

*Op-ed by Filip Ejdus, speaker at the panel “The EU as a crisis management actor: CSDP in the neighbourhood” on the Belgrade Security Forum 2017.

In June 2016, the EU extended the mandate of the Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) until June 2018. While the fate of the mission after that date is still uncertain, the coming end of the current mandate provides an excellent opportunity to take stock of a decade long and over a billion € worth of EU investment in Kosovo’s rule of law.

One of the first issues on the agenda of the new Kosovo Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, was the resolution of the territorial dispute with Montenegro.

PODGORICA – Professor at the American John Hopkins University and expert for the Balkans, Daniel Serwer, believes that Moscow will never give up Montenegro and says that it is not certain that all countries of the region will follow the footsteps of Montenegro and join NATO.

The issue of demarcation between Montenegro and Kosovo will remain at a standstill for a time, after the Kosovo elections. However, later on, a way would be found for the Demarcation Agreement to be ratified in the Kosovo parliament, said political analyst from Kosovo Azem Vlasi, CdM reports.

European Western Balkans carries the speech of the Head of the EU Office in Kosovo/EU Special Representative, Nataliya Apostolova,  on Europe Day 2017:

Good morning Kosovo citizens,

Mirëdita,

Dobar dan to all,

on Europe Day in Kosovo!

On 9 May we celebrate peace and unity in Europe. On this day, we reconfirm our common values of solidarity, democracy, rule of law, and freedom.

John McCain, United States Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, talked to European Western Balkans about the importance of the accession of Montenegro and the Russian influence in the region. Asked about his opinion about the importance of the accession of Montenegro into NATO despite its small size and an army of less than 2000 soldiers, senator McCain talked about his meeting with General Scapariotti, the Head of the United States European Command on Thursday.

EWB Op-Ed by Tanja Fajon, member of the European Parliament

While I’m at the Gare de Paris Est station, waiting for the train to Strasbourg, where the final plenary session of the European Parliamant before the summer break is about to happen, I am trying to summarize the impressions from the Civil Society Forum held today in Paris, as a part of the summit of the Western Balkans region.

The European Western Balkans portal carries the peace below, which was originally published on the Ifri  (French Institute for International Relations) web page.

German’s policy towards the Western Balkans is marked by continuous commitment that put different emphasis in different phases: reconstruction, stabilisation, consolidation of rule of law and market economy as well as member-state building.