Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj has promised big steps forward for Pristina before meetings in Brussels this week, such as visa liberalisation and a new Kosovo army, but observers say this is unrealistic.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has promised to deliver visa liberalisation and the establishment of a Kosovo army by March ahead of a series of informal meetings with other regional leaders in Brussels on Monday.

Kosovo’s prosecution withdrew its request to a Pristina court to allow the extradition of Ugur Toksoy, a teacher wanted by Turkey for alleged links to the so-called Gulen movement, suspending the procedure.

Kosovo prosecutor Ali Rexha on Thursday withdrew his request for the court to allow the extradition of Turkish citizen Ugur Toksoy, who was arrested on October 27 on a warrant arrest issued by Turkey.

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The secrecy surrounding a newly-built settlement in northern Kosovo highlights the problems facing Serbs who have returned to Kosovo after the war – and how they need security and jobs as well as houses.

On windswept Little Zvecan Hill, overlooking the town of Mitrovica in the north of Kosovo, protected by a barbed-wire fence and wrapped in a cloak of secrecy, a settlement called Sunny Valley is taking shape.

The US State Department said that those responsible for moving the bodies of Kosovo Albanian civilians killed in the 1999 war to mass graves in Serbia should be brought to justice.

The US State Department said on Tuesday that it has brought a report by the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre NGO about the cover-up of crimes in Kosovo to the attention of Serbia’s recently-appointed war crimes prosecutor.

After Kosovo's Foreign Minister urged Serbia to help set up a free trade zone in the divided town of Mitrovica, local businesses say they question the likely benefits.

Declaring the northern Serb-run half of the town of Mitrovica as a free trade zone might help the reconciliation of ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo and stimulate the local economy at the same time, business leaders told BIRN, following Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli's invitation to his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic to consider the idea.

Encouraged by Albania’s recent recognition of a Bulgarian minority, Bulgaria hopes for a similar result in Kosovo – although the Gorani community is claimed also by Serbia and Macedonia.

Bulgaria is pushing for official recognition of a Bulgarian minority in Kosovo, not only as a follow-on to the recent recognition of a Bulgarian minority in Albania, but as part of “regular state policy”, the head of the State Agency for Bulgarians, Petar Haralampiev, told BIRN on Friday.

On her first official visit to Pristina, the president of the new Kosovo Specialist Chambers, established to prosecute wartime and post-war crimes, said witnesses will be protected.

Ekaterina Trendafilova, the president of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, which will try former Kosovo Liberation Army members for wartime and post-war abuses, promised during a visit to Pristina on Thursday that the new Hague-based court will ensure the safety of those who testify.

Three Vetevendosje MPs, Albin Kurti, Albulena Haxhiu and Donika Kadaj- Bujupi, were arrested on Friday after they failed to show up in court to face charges of letting off tear gas in parliament.

Kosovo police arrested three Vetevenedosje MPs, Albin Kurti, former leader of Vetevendosje, Albulena Haxhiu and Donika Kadaj Bujupi, at around 10am on Friday in Pristina while they were going to parliament to attend a session.

Some media owners are using their outlets for political ends, Kosovo’s public broadcaster has been subjected to political interference, while working conditions for journalists remain poor, a new report says.

Freedom of the media in Kosovo is increasingly being threatened by political pressures which include direct interference by politicians, according to a study entitled ‘Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety’ which was published on Monday by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo.

The opposition Vetevendosje party and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, both had cause to celebrate as the results came in from the second round of local elections - as did the Prime Minister's party.

Preliminary results from Kosovo's Central Election Commission, CEC, held good news for the opposition Vetevendosje party and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK - and for the governing Alliance of the Future of Kosovo, AAK. It was bad night for the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK.