The question of Kosovo is a crucial issue because it is necessary to know how to live with a neighbour to be able to exist within the European Union, Knut Fleckenstein, a member of the European Parliament (EP) told N1 morning show on Tuesday.
He has insisted that the EU does not want to import rivalries and that is why Belgrade and Pristina have to find a way to solve their problems.
The employment of members of minority communities in public institutions at the central level is not satisfactory, some representatives of the Turkish and Bosniak communities say. Others assess that the situation has improved in recent years.
Unemployment in Kosovo is a long-standing problem. According to the official data of the Kosovo Statistics Agency, in the second quarter of this year, the unemployment rate was 29.4 percent, while in the first three months it was 26.5 percent.
Serbian media reported on fires and burglaries on the property of returnees in Kosovo. Belgrade-based daily Blic reported that in the village of Zac near Istok, parts of the forest were burned due to the fire that spread from surrounding fields. The daily added that attacks on the property of Serbian returnees in Kosovo were recorded in the village of Novake near Prizren.
After visiting Belgrade, (Sebastian) Kurz headed for Pristina and, prior to meetings with Kosovo officials, said that Austria would support Kosovo in Interpol.
Peace and co-existence have no alternative and all the issues standing on the way towards a better future between Serbs and Albanians should be resolved in dialogue, outgoing Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic said during the meeting with a head of the French Foreign Ministry Department for continental Europe, Florence Mangin, KIM Radio reports.
Serbia will not lodge a protest with France over the displaying of the flag of Kosovo at the Notre-Dame cathedral, said Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
Dacic explained the absence of any official reaction of Belgrade by the announced visit to Serbia by the French president.
"Bearing in mind the upcoming visit by Emmanuel Macron, the first visit of a French president to Serbia after 18 years, it is my opinion is that this should be left for discussion," Dacic told Belgrade-based daily Politika.
Former Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte said there is a lot more work to be done in relation to punishing war crimes in former Yugoslavia, Danas daily reports.
At this moment, only four people know the solution for Kosovo, says journalist Jaksa Scekic.
Appearing in the TV Prva Morning program, he said that Serbia is not in a position to tighten up at this moment, because it is quite delicate time.
Leader of Peoples’ Party Vuk Jeremic said it is wrong to insist on hasty solutions to the Kosovo issue, respectively, to willingly accept redrawing of borders based on ethnic principle, BETA news agency reported. Jeremic added such solutions cannot be sustainable on the long term.
Commenting on a potential referendum on Kosovo, Jeremic noted he believes Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will not miss a chance “to hide behind peoples’ will” and that he would call for extraordinary elections and, in this way, “try to simulate peoples’ support for his agreement with Hashim Thaci.”
“A key topic of debate in Belgrade is the ‘land swap’ proposal; a ‘comprehensive deal’ that would allow Serbia regain disputed territory (North Kosovo) in exchange for Serbia recognising Kosovo as a state. It is, however, not clear whether the Vucic-Thaci talks are going anywhere; nor whether any deal could be sold in Kosovo.