The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik announced in Belgrade today that one of the possible solutions of the Kosovo issue is for the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo to remain in Serbia with Republika Srpska also joining the Republic of Serbia. ''If that is the solution, I will not oppose it,'' he told Belgrade's TV Prva, which was then picked up by Belgrade media.

Washington has taken the first step to shake up the European Union which is focused on its own problems and the initiative taken by US envoy Matthew Palmer should motivate the countries of the Balkans to find a solution for their problems, former High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling told Deutsche Welle on Tuesday.

Russia has received backing from the Council of Europe's assembly to return to the body. Moscow had its voting rights suspended five years ago over the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has voted in favor of restoring Russia's voting rights, five years after they were revoked over its illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Germany will keep its soldiers in Kosovo as part of KFOR for another year because the situation there is unstable, Deutsche Welle reported.

The German government took the decision to keep the Bundeswehr troops in KFOR because it feels that the potential exists for conflicts, especially in the north of Kosovo, it said.

The Angela Merkel's foreign policy legacy is also in the play in the Kosovo-Serbia conflict and the stability of Europe and the future of the Western ally, believes Bodo Weber.

A senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council, a transatlantic research center based in Berlin, reminds Deutsche Welle (DW) that the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia on a comprehensive agreement, launched in 2012 at the initiative of Chancellor Merkel herself, has seen a major US diplomatic offensive since the beginning of the year.

Bosnian Serb leader and tripartite Presidency Chairman, Milorad Dodik, redrew the borders between Bosnia and Serbia, saying that some kind of integration between Serbia, Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity and what he said is a Serb-dominated part of Montenegro must happen in the future.

“I know it won’t happen right now, but I'm sure it will happen in this century. One doesn’t have to be a genius to know that conditions will be met for this. This is our political wish,” Dodik told the Serbian Espreso.rs portal.

The Trump administration has downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union's delegation to the United States, an EU official has confirmed to DW. The demotion happened at the end of last year without notice.

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Tens of thousands have turned out for a fourth week of anti-government demonstrations in Belgrade. The protesters accuse President Aleksandar Vucic of gagging mainstream media and sidelining critical voices.

People have taken to the streets to protest against a labor law in Hungary, against tuition costs in Albania and against state violence in Serbia. Germany, meanwhile, has seen its first "yellow vest" style demonstration.