The EU-Balkan Summit in Sofia, conceived as Thessaloniki 2, is very disappointing because there has been no reaffirmation of the prospects of Balkan countries' membership in the EU, says Toby Vogel, a researcher of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS) for Radio Free Europe, daily Blic reports.

According to her, the responsibility for this lies with the European Union because it was not sufficiently engaged in the region.

"There is a (foreign) influence, it is our fault, we are not sufficiently present and engaged in the Western Balkan countries," Zaharieva told European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Beta reported, quoting Radio Free Europe.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic says that her government will provide any possible assistance in investigating the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, B92 reports.

In an interview for Radio Free Europe in the wake of the killing of the Serb politician in Kosovo, Brnabic pointed out that if Serbia was not allowed to participate in the investigation, it would launch one of its own.

The decision of the Serbian List to freeze relations with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci is absurd, destructive and ordered from Belgrade, according to Thaci's Cabinet, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reports.

The Serbian list has decided to freeze every communication with the president of Kosovo, because it has determined that his policy, as far as the position of the Serbs in Kosovo is concerned, is "anti-constitutional, unlawful and at the expense of the Serbian people."

President of the Coordination Body of the Serbian Government for Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa Zoran Stanković states that that there is no parallel between solving the problem of the Serbs in Kosovo and local self-governments in the south of Serbia where Albanians live.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says his country must resolve its differences with its former province of Kosovo to establish a “permanent” solution to benefit the entire region.

Vucic said in an opinion article published in the Blic newspaper that "it is important now, more than ever, that we all find an answer together."

https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-vucic-kosovo-dispute-eu-negotiations/28636381.html

Eric Gordy, professor at the University College London, told Radio Free Europe that Aleksandar Vucic’s victory in the Serbian presidential elections will not bring anything new in the policy that Vucic has led so far as Prime Minister of Serbia and leader of the Serbian Progressive Party. “Vucic will keep playing the card as an acceptable option for the West.

Despite the agreement between Pristina and Belgrade for free and unimpeded movement, for those who carry Kosovo documents through Serbia as well as Belgrade and Nis airports, “Air Serbia” still does not accept these documents, reports RFE.

This portal further brings concrete experiences of people possessing Kosovo passports, who were rejected to use this airline to travel to different destinations, with the justification that they should possess a valid passport such as that from Serbia or Albania.

Azem Vllasi, Pristina-based lawyer, who was wounded this morning in front of his apartment in Pristina, told the news agency that “the attacker had a weapon with a silencer and based on his features was a paid assassin”. “Before 8 A.M, someone rang our bell. I opened the door and saw a man holding some papers. He told me had a property dispute. I told him that I don’t work on such cases and that he should see another lawyer across the street. I don’t know if he came from Germany or if someone sent him.

Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says there is "no turning back" from his plan to transform the Balkan country's lightly armed security force into a national army, brushing off strongly voiced concern from NATO and the United States.

The security force "will be transformed into a Kosovo army," Thaci told RFE/RL on March 8, seeming to dismiss warnings from the U.S. Embassy and the Western military alliance against making the change without amending the constitution.