18 Nov 14 As the opposition coalition starts falling apart in a tussle over which party should get the Prime Minister's post, Hashim Thaci's party is eyeing its chances of forming another government. Pristina

18 Nov 14 Women across the Balkans face a battle to overcome discrimination and exercise their legal rights to inherit. Jeta Abazi Gashi Pristina, Podgorica, Aracinovo and London During the Kosovo conflict, Serbian policemen killed Shyhrete Berisha’s husband, Nexhat, and her four children in front of her eyes. Her youngest child was less than two years old, and her oldest was two months shy of 16. Shyhrete was shot in the stomach.

18 Nov 14 A protected witness told the court on Monday that Hashim Thaci personally told Sylejman Selimi and other defendants in the so-called Drenica Group trial to kill alleged collaborators with the Serbian authorities. Petrit Collaku, Behar Mustafa BIRN Pristina, Mitrovica A protected witness, codenamed Witness A, told the Basic Court in Mitrovica on Monday that Hashim Thaci, current Prime Minister of Kosovo, directly ordered Sylejman Selimi "to kill these people" - meaning alleged collaborators with the Serbian government. The witness further said that Selimi had told him that the US w

17 Nov 14 Albania prosecutors are helping their Kosovo counterparts investigate corruption allegations against EULEX judge Francesco Florit, BIRN can reveal. Aleksandra Bogdani and Flamur Vezaj BIRN Tirana Documents obtained by BIRN show that Tirana District Court on September 19 approved a prosecutor’s office request to assist the Kosovo judicial authorities in investigating an Italian EULEX judge and two others suspected of corruption. According to the legal assistance request presented by the prosecutor’s office to the Tirana District Court, Kosovo authorities believe that between 2009

14 Nov 14 Pressure is growing on Kosovo's outgoing Prime Minister to give ground politically, now the four-party opposition coalition has relinquished its demand for the post of speaker BIRN Pristina Pressure is mounting on Kosovo's outgoing Prime Minister to compromise with his political rivals after signs of movement in the months-long tussle over which bloc should elect the new speaker of parliament. For over five months, the two major blocs created in and after the 8 June elections have disputed the right to nominate the candidate for the post of speaker. However, the four-party opposi

12 Nov 14 A witness told the trial of the Kosovo Liberation Army’s ‘Drenica Group’ cell, accused of assaulting prisoners during the 1998-99 war, that politician Sami Lushtaku carried out a revenge murder. Petrit Collaku BIRN Mitrovica Lushtaku (right) and his lawyer. The protected witness codenamed ‘D’ told the court in Mitrovica on Wednesday that Lushtaku, who is now the mayor of Skenderaj/Srbica in Kosovo, murdered a man in 1998 out of revenge because the victim killed his cousin. Testifying via video link, the witness said that he was with Lushtaku on the day of the killing, which happen

07 Nov 14 Brothers Slobodan and Srecko Martinovic and Svetlana Stojanovic were acquitted of mistreating two Kosovo Albanians from the town of Novoberdo during the war in April 1999. Petrit Collaku BIRN Pristina The district court in Pristina on Thursday cleared former Yugoslav Army cook Srecko Martinovic, his brother Slobodan, a former army driver, and civilian Svetlana Stojanovic of war crimes against Kosovo Albanians Selatin Beqiri and Haqif Demolli. The case was being retried after the defendants were previously acquitted in 2011.

05 Nov 14 Brussels' foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she will send an independent legal expert to look into corruption allegations at the EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX. Petrit Collaku BIRN Pristina Mogherini told a news conference in Brussels on Tuesday that an independent expert will probe allegations that a EULEX judge took bribes to shut down cases against people accused of serious crimes. “I took the decision today to appoint a legal expert, an independent legal expert, to look at and review the mission’s mandate implementation.

04 Nov 14 Kosovo faces another difficult winter for energy following the June blast in a worn-out power plant, the power supply company, KEDS, has warned. Pristina

31 Oct 14 The European Parliament’s Vice President, Ulrike Lunacek, said allegations that an official at the EU's Kosovo law mission EULEX took bribes to shut down cases must be investigated. Nektar Zogjani BIRN Pristina Lunacek said that allegations by a suspended EULEX prosecutor, Maria Bamieh, that a official judge took bribes to close certain high-profile cases “cast a dark shadow” on the reputation of the EU's rule-of-law mission. The claims “must be duly investigated by an external and independent body and the reasons why she has been suspended must be clarified and immediately disclo