Ulrike Lunacek has said that she is "not an enemy of Serbia" and that she is "certain Serbia will not join the EU without recognizing Kosovo."
Speaking in Belgrade on Thursday, the European Parliament (EP) vice-president and rapporteur for Kosovo added this was true "not because she claims it, but because of the experience that the EU has with Cyprus."
- The overwhelming support of the voters in Kosovo, given to the Serbian Progressive Party in this parliamentary election points to their, first of all, support to the policy of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, says the President of Active Serbia Dusan Janjic, commenting on the fact that the SNS received about 66 per cent of the vote in the territory of Kosovo.
Prosecution of War Crimes in Serbia has exchanged so far 351, evidence and information in war crimes cases with countries in the region and relevant institutions.
As of January 2016 the Prosecution exchanged 173 with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina 57, Montenegro 14 and EULEX / UNMIK 107.
Prime Minister Vucic has requested permission from the Kosovo Government to visit Kosovo Serbs with dual citizenship, who will vote in Serbian elections. Such permission is given, and we regret that this opportunity has not been used to promote better neighbourly relations but to spread the false statements in connection with the property, said to Danas daily, the Acting Head of Kosovo Foreign Ministry Petrit Selimi, commenting on the visit and the rhetoric of the Serbian Prime Minister during his visit to Kosovo.
Although the government and the largest part of the opposition continue to emphasize that Serbia will not recognize Kosovo independence, and PM Aleksandar Vučić is preparing to visit the southern province on Sunday, the Kosovo issue doesn’t have such importance in this election campaign. As estimated by the experts on politics, Kosovo issue was overshadowed by the other topics, primarily the position towards the European integration of Serbia and the promise for a "better life" of citizens.
We are currently witnessing the growth of right-wing populism and development of nationalist tendencies all over the EU, in which countries instead of united appear as distant from each other, says in an interview for Danas Hedvig Morvai, Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans, answering to the question whether the Western Balkans and the EU are able to cope with challenges relating to migrant crisis.
Coalition of displaced persons from Kosovo will perform in the elections on the list gathered around the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), Danas unofficially learned.
The sources of the daily newspaper Danas state that "there was a mood" to enter into the coalition alliance with the Movement of Socialists led by Aleksandar Vulin, but on the eve of the announcement of early elections, there was a change of the decision.
Kosovo, over the past few months, has lost several diplomatic battles, leading to the frustration of the people of Kosovo, especially the opposition. The high level of support that Kosovo has had over the last fifteen years from Western countries culminated in 2008, when Kosovo declared independence.
After the possible election of Hashim Thaci for president of Kosovo, I don’t expect anything good to happen regarding relations between Serbia and Kosovo, said Ivica Dacic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. When asked why, Dacic explained that the political chaos in Kosovo is an excuse for not fulfilling the obligations undertaken by signing the Brussels agreement. “And it will continue,” said Dacic, adding that the EU should put pressure on Pristina to fulfill its obligations.
Interview: Tomislav Nikolic, President of the Republic of Serbia
Will we be in a position to recognize Kosovo as a condition for our entry into the EU?