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.

Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade on November 10, Albania's Edi Rama urged Serbia to accept the independence of Albanian-majority Kosovo, saying, "The sooner you recognize it, the sooner we can move ahead."

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.

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.

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.

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. Thaçi has won early parliamentary elections on Sunday 8 June, but it does not have enough votes to form the government alone.

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.

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.