The number of Serbs interested in joining the Kosovo Police remains consistent, officials said, despite reports that Serbs have been asking to quit the Kosovo Security Force amid political tensions.

Despite reports that Serbs have been asking to leave the Kosovo Security Force amid an upsurge of political tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, the number of Serbs who want to join the Kosovo Police remains similar to 2014, the force said.

Amid growing nervousness in Serb-majority northern Kosovo, NATO commander says the alliance is more than ready to deal with any trouble on the streets.

The Commander of NATO’s Allied Joint Force in Naples, Admiral James Fogo, has said that NATO is ready to react if violent incidents erupt in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo – after a leading Serbian Orthodox cleric in Kosovo, Abbot Sava Janjic, warned of the risk of “staged” violence there.

Many Serbs living in Kosovo may not benefit from the visa liberalisation with the EU that Kosovo is hoping to secure soon, rights activists are warning.

Holders of Serbian passports in Kosovo may not be able to travel to and around the EU's visa-free Schengen zone once the EU relaxes its travel regime with Kosovo, experts warn.

Kosovo prosecutors are discussing amending the criminal procedure code so that they could try war crimes suspects in absentia, as an extradition deal with Serbia seems unlikely.

Kosovo’s judicial authorities are considering changes to the criminal code in order to prosecute war crimes suspects in absentia, as they see little chance of Kosovo signing an agreement with Serbia on judicial cooperation.

Serbia said it would ask Montenegro to hand over a former Serbian fighter accused of war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 and arrested in the Adriatic republic last week.

Serbia’s justice ministry told BIRN on Tuesday it would ask neighbouring Montenegro to extradite Predrag Vukovic, a Yugoslav Army veteran accused of involvement in the massacre of 46 ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo in 1999.

Kosovo is preparing to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission - but while some believe it could build dialogue between Kosovo’s Albanians and Serbs, critics claim it’s a political tool for President Hashim Thaci.

See at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/can-kosovo-s-wartime-truth-commission-achieve-reconciliation--06-25-2018

A judge in Kosovo says his new role in coordinating cases involving journalists shows the judiciary is serious about protecting media freedom.

The man tasked by Kosovo’s judiciary with overseeing court cases involving attacks or threats against journalists says his appointment is evidence of a renewed commitment to protect media freedom in the country, where reporters have frequently come under fire.

Arben Hoti was given the new brief at the Pristina Basic Court on June 18 following a spate of high-profile attacks on journalists.

Accepted by his family but rejected by the state, a transgender man in Kosovo is going public about his struggle to officially change his first name in his ID documents from female to male.

Born a girl, Blert Morina always felt like a boy.

“There wasn’t any particular moment when I thought, ‘now I feel like a boy, or a man.’ Since I was a kid I have taken it for granted… I’ve always seen myself as a man,” Morina told BIRN.

But for Kosovo’s conservative society, that’s not enough.

Ahead of Sunday's meeting between the Kosovo and Serbia Presidents, the two countries are still arguing over the agenda – while Germany has denied seeking Federica Mogherini's replacement as chief negotiator in the process.

Germany’s ambassador in Belgrade, Axel Dittmann, has denied that Berlin wants EU foreign police chief Federica Mogherini replaced as the organiser of EU-led negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo on normalisation of relations.

Europol report highlights return of foreign terrorist fighters from conflict areas to the countries of the Western Balkans as a matter of concern.

Europol's latest report on the terrorist threat in the EU says one of main threats to the countries of the Western Balkans is the return home of foreign terrorist fighters, FTFs.