The US-based human rights watchdog Freedom House in its annual Freedom in the World report ranked Kosovo among the partly free countries. For the first time however, Kosovo was included in the group of countries with electoral freedom due to the comparatively successful conduct of June elections and subsequent agreement by rival parties to form a coalition government. Regional countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia – have also been classified as partly free while Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, are among free countries.

November 10, 2014 by RFE/RL's Balkan Service The prime ministers of Albania and Serbia have traded sharp words during a landmark visit aimed at reducing tensions over Kosovo and minority rights.

By RFE/RL's Balkan ServiceSeptember 17, 2014 http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo-arrests-terrorism-recruiting/26589932.html Fifteen influential Muslim leaders have been arrested across Kosovo in a crackdown targeting what authorities say is a recruiting network for Islamic State militants and Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front. Authorities in Pristina told RFE/RL that those arrested on September 17 include Shefqet Krasniqi, the imam of the Grand Mosque of Pristina, as well as imams at mosques in several other Kosovar cities and towns. They include Enes Goga, who heads a mosque i

by RFE/RL's Balkan Service Serbs in Kosovo have again blocked a bridge in the divided town of Mitrovica, one day after removing a barricade across the span. Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci condemned what he called a "shameful act" and said that "sooner or later" those responsible would face justice. He called on local Serb leaders "to be reasonable" and remove the barrier, consisting of shrubs planted in concrete flower beds. Mitrovica is divided between Serbs and ethnic Albanians on either side of the Ibar River. Serbia, and Ser

June 12, 2014 The European Union has extended its rule of law and justice mission in Kosovo by two years, until June 2016. The 2,000-strong EULEX unit was launched in 2008 just months after Kosovo broke away from Serbia, in a bid to help Pristina build state institutions and assert the rule of law. EU governments, in a statement on June 12, said the mission will now start to "phase out its executive functions in the justice sector," noting that EULEX prosecutors do not plan to take on any new cases. The statement said the mission will now focus on "capacity building throughout Kosovo, secu

Next challenges for Kosovo government are considered to be talks with Belgrade, economic development and rule of law, for political analysts, these are considered biggest challenges for the new Kosovo government. Political analysts in Kosovo have different opinions for that what is being evaluated as a challenge for Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK) and for the head of PDK, Hashim Thaci, to form governing coalition. Party of Mr.

Voting has ended in Kosovo's early parliamentary elections, which were called after the legislature was dissolved last month. Hashim Thaci is bidding for a third term as prime minister in the June 8 vote. Thaci said after casting his vote in the capital, Pristina, that the poll shows that democacy "is evolving" in Kosovo. The former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army currently is the caretaker prime minister and leads the Democratic Party of Kosovo. An exit poll gave PDK a narrow lead with 33 percent.

May 29, 2014 by Amra Zejneli PRISTINA -- Jeta, a Kosovar Albanian from rural Drenica Valley, used to spend most of her days in the kitchen, sometimes baking as many as 17 loaves of bread a day to feed her husband, children, and grandchildren. The early autumn days of September 1998 were not much different. The men of her village, including Jeta's husband and elder son, had departed en masse to hide from Serbian and Yugoslav forces that had been fighting Kosovo Albanian rebels since February.