Saturday's protests in the Republika Srpska, Kosovo, and FYROM ended mostly peaceful and all political actors were satisfied by it. However, bearing in mind that continuation of the protests were announced, we explored whether the Western Balkan is again the powder keg.

Western Balkan countries would be worst hit by the collapse of Schengen, Slovakia's Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has warned.

Lajcak also believes the conditions have not been met for Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a candidate country for EU membership in February.

He has also called on the authorities in the Republika Srpska (RS) "to stop threatening with a referendum."

The Netherlands Foreign Minister, Bert Koenders, while speaking at the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee today said the current situation in Kosovo is somewhat unstable.  “In regards to Kosovo, we welcome the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement,” Koenders said.  He also said Serbia has made progress last year and mentioned its agreements with Kosovo. “Montenegro has continued to progress steadily in its negotiations on EU membership.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that closing borders within Europe could lead to military conflict in the Balkans as she once again sought to defend her refugee policies on Monday.

http://www.thelocal.de/20151103/merkel-warns-of-military-conflict-in-balkans

A declaration on bilateral issues has been included in the conclusions of the Summit on the Western Balkans held in Vienna, Austria.

The declaration was signed by regional foreign ministers who took part in the gathering.

Authors: Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Austria Sebastian Kurz and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Kosovo on Thursday hosted for the first time the regional meeting of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). In the framework of IPA funds for the year 2016 were allocated € 390 million. The meeting is being attended by all the Western Balkans countries, Turkey, representatives of the Regional Cooperation Council and representatives from the European Commission. The European Integration Minister, Bekim Collaku, said that joint projects of the region are good opportunities of cooperation.

The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Hoyt Brian Yee, said on Thursday that the western Balkans are a significant source of foreign terrorist fighters going to Syria and Iraq, particularly when considered as a per capita proportion of the population. “Individuals are being radicalized and motivated to fight in Syria and Iraq by a number of factors. Economic stagnation and lack of employment options are factors. This is compounded by skepticism of citizens about their governments,” said Yee.

MP of the Self-determination movement in the Kosovo Assembly, Ilir Deda said that the EU was not capable to deal with the Western Balkans, although it should be the priority.

Ilir Deda said to Tanjug that the situation in Kosovo was as in all other parts of the Western Balkans, with great economic and social problems and with a lack of real European perspective.

The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Tracey Ann Jacobson, said on Wednesday that organized crime, migration and participation in foreign wars, remain issues of concern for the security of the Western Balkans. "In this region, of particular concern are the cross-border organized crime, irregular migration and the growing trend of fighters participating in foreign wars in Syria and Iraq,” Jacobson said. According to her, the only way to prevent these crimes is the interstate cooperation in the region.