Kosovo remains the major "hurdle" blocking Serbia's path to European Union membership, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday, urging concessions from Pristina.
"The only big problem that I see as a real obstacle in our European path is the Kosovo issue," Vucic, an ultra-nationalist turned pro-European, told AFP in an interview.
UNITED NATIONS - The United States is seeking a $250 million cut to the core budget of the United Nations for 2018-2019, on top of $200 million in savings already proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, diplomats said Tuesday.
The budget is under negotiations in a General Assembly committee which is expected to adopt it before the end of December.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will continue to work with the Trump administration despite differences, a spokesman said Thursday after Washington announced it was pulling out of UNESCO.
Guterres “deeply regrets” the decision but “at the same time of course we interact with the United States very productively on a range of issues through a range of organizations and will continue to do that,” said spokesman Farhan Haq.
The official results of the parliamentary elections in Kosovo "suggest a political blockade," the French news agency AFP assessed last tonight.
AFP explained that "no one can form the government independently, and different political forces look deeply divided."
According to political scientist Bekim Kupini, Kosovo is "at the brink of a knife", and, in his opinion, AFP quotes "the most likely outcome of the crisis is call for a new elections."
In Kosovo's parliamentary election on Sunday, a former guerrilla commander will take on an economist compared to Emmanuel Macron and a popular former student leader once known as "Kosovo's Che Guevara".
The EU warned Friday that the Western Balkans risk becoming a "chessboard" in a game between major powers, as Britain accused Russia of meddling in the region.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/34578172/balkans-becoming-chessboard-for-big-powers-eu/#page1
In a telephone interview with AFP, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj, currently in France pending a ruling on an extradition request from Serbia, said that there can be no dialogue with Serbia for as long as it continues not recognising independence of Kosovo. He said it was damaging that Pristina maintains an “inferior” and “servile” position towards Belgrade. “Only one issue is open for discussion with Serbia – recognition of Kosovo. If Serbia is ready to accept it, then we can sit down and talk. If not, we will have to wait,” he said.
A British priest accused of child sex offences has been sent back to the UK from Kosovo and arrested at London's Luton airport, five years after he went on the run, police said.
Laurence Soper was detained on Sunday as he arrived back in the country, British police said in a statement.
Soper, 72, was taken into custody in London and later charged with nine sexual assault offences committed between 1972 and 1986.
He was due to appear in Ealing Magistrates' Court on Monday, London's Metropolitan Police said.
A few hundred people from Kosovo's gay and lesbian community held their first ever pride parade Tuesday, May 17, seeking acceptance and respect of their rights in the conservative society. The participants marched under heavy police presence through downtown Pristina, waving rainbow flags to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia.
Three years ago, Albert and Yassin left their homes in Kosovo and Albania to wage jihad in Syria. Now they’re back, swelling the ranks of jihadists in a region the Islamic State has called a “new front” in Europe.
Yassin, 30, who now works as a halal butcher in a downtrodden suburb of Albania’s capital Tirana, refused to give his real name out of fear of repercussions.
Wounded in Syria’s battered northern city of Aleppo in 2014, the father-of-three told AFP he left “to help the Syrian people” and hopes Allah will recognise his sacrifice, even if he did not die a martyr.