The Holy Archbishop’s Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) after the summer recess should hold a session on 30 August, however, it remains unclear whether the Synod would deal with attacks of the state officials against Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije and Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery, Father Sava Janjic, Danas daily reports today.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Telecommunications, Rasim Ljajic told Prva TV the next Vucic-Thaci meeting in Brussels is crucial to resolving the Kosovo issue.
According to Ljajic, after this meeting it would be known if the issue is resolved or it would be yet another failed attempt. He also opined that Kosovo President Hashim Thaci is in a more difficult position than Vucic, since in Kosovo everybody is against the resolution of the Kosovo issue.
Army of Montenegrin King Nikola liberated and took over the territory of current Metohija during the Balkan war (1912), Nebojsa Medojevic, Montenegrin politician and member of opposition Democratic Front wrote on his Twitter profile, B92 reported.
“Therefore, if Serbia wants to give Metohija as a gift to Albania, it is historically right that Montenegro must claim this territory, since delineation opens the process,” Medojevic added.
He recalled that territories shown in a map of so-called natural Albania, are in fact Montenegrin, not the opposite.
Annexation of the three southern Serbian municipalities populated by Albanians, by Kosovo, will not be on the agenda of the EU facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Serbian Government official in charge of the region Zoran Stankovic told TV N1.
Stankovic, who is heading the Coordination Body for Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja municipalities, added the international community representatives had told him there would be no exchange of territories (between Belgrade and Pristina) because that would trigger a chain reaction not only in the Balkans.
„Russia is always committed to the strict and accurate fulfillment and compliance with UN SC Resolution 1244. We support the actions of Belgrade aimed at fulfilling this most important international document,” Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Sochi yesterday following the meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, KoSSev portal reported.
Minister Lavrov also called on KFOR and EULEX to „prevent any attempts of violence and vandalism in Kosovo, in particular against Serbs and religious sites.“
The fate of two Radio Pristina journalists is still not known, two decades since they disappeared.
Serbian journalists on Tuesday marked two decades since the unexplained disappearance of two colleagues on a road in western Kosovo during the 1998-99 war in the former southern Serbian province.
The fate of Radio Pristina journalists Djuro Slavuj and Ranko Perenic is not known, 20 years after they disappeared on a road between Orahovac/Rahovec and Velika Hoca/Hoca e Madhe while travelling to do a report. The men were 35 and 39 years old respectively.
Serbia wants to keep the peace and protect its interests, territory and the rights of the Serbian people, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.
Vucic told the Serbian public broadcaster RTS that the main goal is “preserving peace and stability because that means that Serbian children have a future”. “Keeping the peace is better than making mistakes,” the Serbian President said.
Chairperson of Srpska Lista, Goran Rakic told Vecernje Novosti daily Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would come to Kosovo in September in order to present his stance on the Kosovo issue.
Rakic added, beforehand President Vucic would consult with Srpska Lista representatives. Rakic said President Vucic always consults with them, and now tries to ensure the Kosovo issue to be resolved in a manner that provide for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija better life and security.
Talks between Serbia and Kosovo on a possible redrawing of borders largely along ethnic lines are threatening to reignite a familiar European tinderbox.
Despite questions over whether they even have a mandate to do so, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci have embarked on high-level talks that could envision Kosovo's Serb-dominated north coming under Belgrade's rule in exchange for the Albanian-dominated Presevo Valley in south Serbia being handed to Pristina.
The Mayor of the Presevo municipality, a part of Serbia’s southern region of Presevo Valley, said late on Thursday that his fellow ethnic Albanians were against the exchanges of territories with Kosovo, “even if that means we will stay where we are now,” the Beta news agency reported.
Sqiprim Arifi said that Presevo Valley ethnic Albanians “want a strong Kosovo, and its north (with a Serb majority) even if the price we have to pay is to remain under (the control of) Serbia.”