As the Brexit referendum goes down to the wire, some in the Balkans are bemused by the possibility of Britain voting to leave a club they are banging on the door to join. Backing for the EU in Kosovo and Albania is between 80 and 90 percent, levels that British supporters of EU membership can only dream of.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-balkans-idUSKCN0Z819Q
Prosecutors in Kosovo charged 64 people including a government minister and 44 doctors with taking bribes to refer patients with heart problems – some of them already dead – to private clinics, the office of the state prosecutor said on Wednesday.
This is the biggest bribery investigation in the health sector since Kosovo became independent from Serbia in 2008.
“Some doctors received up to 500 euros in bribes from these (private) hospitals to refer a patient to put in a stent,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
European Union states held off agreeing to ease travel rules for Georgia on Wednesday, and Turkey, Ukraine and Kosovo should also expect more delays in visa waiving as the bloc turns more cautious amid immigration fears, EU delegation sources said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-eu-visas-idUSKCN0YN56F
A European Union prosecutor in Kosovo has filed indictments against 20 people over the sale of visas to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone for thousands of euros, the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. Those charged include the son of Kosovo’s late independence leader Ibrahim Rugova.
http://www.euronews.com/newswires/3195825-kosovo-charges-20-over-sale-of-eu-visas/
European football body UEFA is taking additional precautions to ensure Kosovo's recent admission to international football competitions does not cause political problems. UEFA will set up a task force to determine which teams should be kept apart from Kosovo in international competitions to avoid potential trouble, it said on Wednesday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-uefa-kosovo-idUKKCN0Y91W3
A British former priest wanted for child sex abuse lived as a historian in Kosovo, was treated to cakes by his neighbors and almost died in a freak accident a year ago, local people told Reuters on Sunday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-uk-arrest-idUSKCN0Y60L3
The European Commission proposed on Wednesday that EU governments lift visa requirements for travellers from Kosovo, allowing those with biometric passports to spend 90 days in the Schengen area without a visa.
"Kosovo has made great progress," Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told reporters, adding that he hoped governments and the European Parliament would approve the proposal quickly.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-migrants-eu-kosovo-idUKKCN0XV1A2
Police in Kosovo arrested six people as part of an investigation into an alleged land scam that cost the state 30 million euros ($34 million), European Union investigators said on Wednesday.
Azem Syla, a prominent legislator from the ruling party, was the alleged leader of the fraud which is believed to have involved 40 people, the EU police mission in Kosovo said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-crime-idUSKCN0XO1UG
Protesters firing tear gas disrupted the inauguration ceremony on Friday for Kosovo President Hashim Thaci in the midst of a political crisis over an EU-brokered agreement with old adversary Serbia.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kosovo-president-idUSKCN0X515U
Protesters hurled stones at the Kosovo parliament as new President Hashim Thaci was being sworn in on Thursday and opposition parties boycotted the ceremony, underlining the political crisis besetting the country.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/kosovo-s-new-president-th/2674784.html