Thaci laid a wreath on Wednesday at the memorial to the Serbs who were killed 17 years ago in Staro Gracko/Gracke and said that everyone who committed crimes during the Kosovo war and afterwards should be punished. “Today I pray in pain and express regret once again about all the victims during and after the war, to all communities. Every crime must be uncovered and punished.

Ratification of the controversial agreement on demarcation of the border with Montenegro is shaping up to be the biggest challenge facing Kosovo’s ruling coalition, as public opinion at home and in diaspora mobilizes firmly against it. Government announcements that it intended to forward the deal to parliament for ratification have still not been realized. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-leaders-fight-losing-battle-over-border-deal-07-15-2016

One of the highest-profile trials of recent years in Kosovo has ended on June 29 in a 13-year jail term for Slobodan Gavric, a Serbian veterinarian found guilty of planning a terrorist act in Kosovo.

The process, which started with Gavric’s arrest on December 25, 2014, in Pristina’s Arberia neighbourhood, has left several unanswered questions, however.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs has added her voice to calls for Kosovo's parliament to finalise the border demarcation deal with Montenegro.  http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/us-diplomat-calls-on-kosovo-to-resolve-border-deal-07-11-2016

Two key witnesses who survived a massacre of Kosovo Albanians in the village of Cuska in 1999 refused to testify in what they called the “farcical” war crimes trial of 10 Yugoslav Army troops. http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/two-key-albanian-survivors-reject-appearing-in-serbian-court-07-06-2016

Despite repeated calls for Kosovo's government and parliament to speedily ratify the controversial border with Montenegro, neither institution seems in any hurry to do so.  http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/border-deal-with-montenegro-disarrays-kosovo-assembly-07-07-2016

Infrastructure and youth are the states priorities of the Western Balkans Summit in Paris but the high-level meeting, starting on Monday, is likely to be overshadowed by the UK's vote to leave the EU.   http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/brexit-to-overshadow-balkan-summit-in-paris-07-01-2016  

The EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, has become officially operative again after the law extending its mandate was published in Kosovo's official gazette - allowing high-profile trials to resume. The EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, was officially operational again as of Wednesday night, when two laws extending its mandate were published in the official gazette. This gives a green light to the resumption of several sensitive trials for corruption and organised crime in which EULEX is involved. The Kosovo assembly