The next round of Kosovo talks on June 23 "will be crucial for normalization of relations and opening of (EU) negotiating chapters for Serbia this year."

This is what European Parliament Rapporteur for Serbia David McAllister said in Belgrade on Monday.

"In order to open the first chapter this year both sides will have to demonstrate progress and the next round of dialogue in Brussels will be crucial for normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina," he said at the Serbian Economic Summit, according to a Beta agency report.

US Ambassador in Belgrade Michael Kirby stated that the visit of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to the United States was very successful, in both political and business terms.

Kirby told Radio and Television of Serbia that Washington is not asking Belgrade to disrupt its relations with Russia.

The EU is open to new members and Serbia is on the right path to becoming one, David McAllister, European Parliament standing rapporteur on Serbia, said on Monday, and added that the country has made huge progress over the past several years.

Opening the 15th Economic Summit of the Republic of Serbia at Belgrade's Metropol Palace Hotel, McAllister stated his desire that the first chapters in EU accession talks would be opened this year.

The fact that we have not opened even the first negotiation chapter with Serbia lends no credibility to the EU, says Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.

We owe that not only to Serbia, but to ourselves as well, for the sake of the authenticity of the European integration process - the commissioner for enlargement talks, Johannes Hahn, also agrees with this, Lajcak was quoted as saying in Monday's issue of Vecernje Novosti ahead of a meeting of European leaders, to be held in Brussels late this month.

Around 9,000 persons are unemployed in North Mitrovica, whereas most needed ones are those who finished pharmacists and radiologists.

Most of the 8.646 unemployed are with the secondary education, 56 per cent of them. The head of the Department for Employment and Carrier Planning Mihajlo Petković stated that the most needed profile is of those who finished pharmaceutics, who are most look for by employers, and  radiologists.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic addressed the participants of the Vienna Economic Forum held today in Tirana, after the host, the Prime Minister of Albanian, Edi Rama, and said that the appeal for the EU assistance and support has to be a joint one.

Beside Vucic and Rama, prime ministers of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo were present as well.

TIRANA - Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Goran Svilanovic qualified the visit of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to Albania as a historic occasion that constitutes a great opportunity.

It is a historic event and this is not said lightly, Svilanovic told Tanjug and added that decades have passed and no visits by Serbian government official to Tirana like this one occurred. This visit is important as it constitutes a truly great opportunity, he noted.

BELGRADE - Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, which is taking over the EU presidency in the second half of the year, said Wednesday that those who dreamt of a ‘Greater Albania’ should forget all about it.

Harmonization of the legal framework in Kosovo with the Brussels agreement remains the main prerequisite for establishment of the community of Serb municipalities (ZSO), Ljubomir Maric, the coordinator of the steering team for the ZSO establishment and Kosovo Minister of Administration and Local Self-Government, said late Tuesday.

After a meeting with officials of the European External Action Service, Maric pointed out that he has filed a report at the invitation of the EU on what has been done in terms of ZSO since the steering team was formed in 2013.

Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in New York that his country considers that international presence is still necessary in Kosovo, adding he urges further quarterly reporting by the UN Security Council on the situation in Kosovo.

It is very important for Serbia that the UNSC continuously monitors developments in Kosovo. We advocate keeping the institution of quarterly reporting, although some countries advocate reports twice a year, Dacic said after a UNSC session,