MP from the Serbian List in the Kosovo Assembly Velimir Rakic (63) from village Sočanica in northern Kosovo, died in a car accident near Leposavić/Leposaviq on Wednesday night.
The accident occurred around 20:00 near the petrol station at the entrance of Leposavić/Leposaviq after vehicle with Rakic collided with the heavy truck, reported TV Most. Rakic succumbed to injuries in North Mitrovica Hospital.
Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment, Social Affairs and Veterans Aleksandar Vulin said in Kosovska Mitrovica that the ministry is fully operational in Kosovo and Metohija adding that it will not be changed.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in Belgrade on Friday that the organization she represents "sees Serbia's European future."
She stated that she was "ready for the first negotiating chapters to be opened this year."
"And my main message here is not only that Serbia is firmly on the path towards the European Union, but also that the Union is ready for the opening of negotiating chapters this year. It is of mutual importance," she during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic spoke by phone last night with the Prime Minister of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina, Isa Mustafa, about the future cooperation between Belgrade and Pristina and the position of Serbs in Kosovo, Tanjug learned.
Vucic and Mustafa agreed that through dialogue all problems should be solved, and that after establishing direct contact, in the future, they communicate directly about any potential problems.
The normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina happens every day, said today liaison officer of the Government of Serbia in Pristina, Dejan Pavicevic, pointing out that it is important that this process takes place.
- Although a lot has been implemented, there is still much to be applied - said Pavicevic at the panel discussion "Four years of negotiations: the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina."
House owned by a Serb in village Dugenjive near Klina/Klinë in Kosovo and Metohija was burglarized between 19 and 22 March. The incident has caused anxiety amongst Serb returnees in the village area, said officer for integration of communities in Klina/Kllinë municipality, Ranko Kostic.
Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic said that hatred in Kosovo must stop and that "there are no negotiations on the freedom". “We Serbs want to live normally and this time we are sending a clear message that the only guiding principle of our actions is decent life. We do not accept the leftovers of the freedom, which is given to us occasionally; the freedom is not negotiable,” said Stojanovic, noting that the Serbs dream of freedom of movement throughout Kosovo.
"I would be happy if we closed that page yesterday. But our 525 people are still missing. There is no information, everything is hidden. That's what hurts, but we will not give up," said Veljko Odalović, President of the Commission for Missing Persons. Odalović together with representatives of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons and the citizens of Kosovo and Metohija in Gracanica participated in the marking of the pogrom that took place on 17 and 18 March 2014.
Vucic said that the State of Serbia and the Serbian people in Kosovo should lead "wisest and most responsible policy" in order not to repeat the suffering of 17 March 2004.
“17 March, violence and destruction of religious sites must never repeat again,” said Vucic on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the mass attacks on Kosovo Serbs. During the attacks were killed 19 people, 35 churches and monasteries were destroyed, and several thousand Serbs fled Kosovo.
Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment, Social Affairs and Veterans Aleksandar Vulin said that the Serbian IDPs did not return to Kosovo since the international community "has done nothing" so that could happen. "The government can be proud of its achievements, but cannot be satisfied because the Serbs could not return," said Vulin.
Vulin said that first time this year, 17 March is officially marked at the level of the state and that this date has become "part of the official protocol," adding that in Kosovska Mitrovica will be held ceremony.