Kosovo said it had filed an application to join UNESCO amidst Belgrade's insistance that this would entail 'indirect recognition' of its independence. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci announced on Thursday that Kosovo had applied to join the UN's culture arm, UNESCO, marking another step to achieve full recognition of its independence. “We have just applied for membership in UNESCO, the UN agency for education, science and culture.

• Opposition to use protests and political actions against special court (Koha) • Zbogar: Economic development, crucial for Kosovo (dailies) • Nishani: Albanians are existential factor in Macedonia (Koha) • Selimi calls for support for Kosovo’s UNESCO membership (Zeri) • Special war in Presevo Valley (Zeri)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa met the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous with whom he discussed the political situation in Kosovo and the region. Prime Minister Mustafa informed Ladsous about priorities of the Kosovo government, about sustainable economic development, rule of law, fight against corruption and organised crime and Euro-Atlantic integration. The Kosovo government is part of the war against terror and extremism and it has drafted a strategy for fighting such phenomena.

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said today that ahead is a serious fight of Serbia over Kosovo's intentions to join some international organizations, since it is expected of the Kosovo authorities to apply for membership in the Council of Europe and UNESCO. Dacic said at a session of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, when submitting a report on the work of his ministry in 2014, that it was important for Serbia to have an active approach to this problem and to do more to prevent it. "We are expecting a tough fight over Kosovo's membership in some international institutions.