BELGRADE (Reuters) - The failure to revive talks between Serbia and Kosovo on normalizing relations could destabilize the Western Balkan region still recovering from the wars of the 1990s, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday.

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PARIS (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Tuesday urged Kosovo to rescind, or at least suspend implementation of 100 percent tariffs that Pristina has slapped on Serbian goods, warning against any further escalation of tensions.

Maas, speaking in Paris at a meeting on curbing the spread of small arms from the Balkans, said he also regretted the withdrawal of minority Serbs from government in the northern Kosovo region surrounding Mitrovica.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he would seek a guarantee that his country would join the European Union in 2025 as part of any deal with neighboring Kosovo which would pave the way for both states to enter the bloc.

Radomir Laban, who escaped central Serbia to avoid going to jail on a corruption conviction, has been named a judge of the Kosovo Constitutional Court.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci ruled out on Tuesday partition of the country with Serbia along ethnic lines, an idea raised in Belgrade to settle a long-running dispute that is hindering both sides’ ambitions to join the European Union.

Albania’s Balfin Group has agreed to buy Kosovo’s sole ferro-nickel producer Newco Ferronikeli in a rescue deal aimed at restoring operations that were halted when the heavily indebted company ran into financial difficulties.