A political storm in Vienna caused by the Austrian vice-chancellor's statement that Kosovo is a part of Serbia is not dying down, Tanjug is reporting.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's session of his cabinet, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Austria was "a friend that supports the Western Balkans and is trying to contribute to the normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations."
European Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic today did not want to comment the statement by Austrian Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strahe regarding the status of Kosovo, stressing that the issue of recognition concerns only the member states, reports TV Most.
Kosovo is without a doubt a part of Serbia, says Austrian Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache.
In an interview for Belgrade-based daily Politika ahead of his visit to Serbia, Strache said it would be desirable if northern Kosovo had the right to "self-determination or autonomy" - and that it would be wrong to pressure Belgrade to recognize Kosovo.
"I think that recognition of Kosovo a matter for Serbia alone. To pressure on the country because of that would be wrong," he said.
More than three weeks have passed since the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, leader of Civic Initiative, Freedom, Democracy, Justice, and apart from political statements, there are still no details as to who and with what motives shot at him on January 16, TV N1 writes today on its website.
The Serbian Coordination Centre passports have been issued since August 2009 for the citizens of Serbia living in the territory of Kosovo, and these passports are not part of the Serbia’s visa liberalization process.
At a session dedicated to Kosovo, UN Security Council ambassadors called on Belgrade and Pristina to continue their talks.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received on Wednesday in Belgrade EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.
European Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner, Johannes Hahn told Tanjug news agency it is still too early to speak how the legally binding agreement between Serbia and Kosovo would look like.
Belgrade received not a single information related to the Ivanovic murder probe, Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric told Serbian media.
Commenting on the claims from the prosecution office in Mitrovica that they are ready to cooperate with Belgrade and they have sent information from the investigation to it, Djuric said he has contacted representative of all state bodies and they confirmed that they received nothing from Pristina, Tanjug news agency reported.Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Tuesday EU's enlargement strategy for the Western Balkans "considers Serbia as a leader."