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Vucic "under tremendous US pressure because of Vulin" (B92, Vecernje Novosti)

Vecernje Novosti is reporting that Aleksandar Vucic is under tremendous pressure from the US not to have Aleksandar Vulin become Serbia's defense minister.

However, continues the Belgrade-based newspaper, the Serbian president and leader of the ruling SNS party is determined to entrust him with that duty.

UN chief: US will be replaced if it disengages from world (AP)

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Trump administration on Tuesday that if the United States disengages from many issues confronting the international community it will be replaced — and that won’t be good for America or for the world.

Guterres made clear to reporters at his first press conference here since taking the reins of the United Nations on Jan. 1 that proposed cuts in U.S. funding for the U.N. would be disastrous and create “an unsolvable problem to the management of the U.N.”

An Old Nightmare Returns: The Balkans Simmer Again (The National Interest)

One of the problems that emerges when U.S. officials and the news media are focused on a small number of foreign-policy issues is that troubling developments can occur below the radar in other areas. That appears to be happening in the Balkans, a region that was a foreign-policy priority of the Western powers in the 1990s, but which has faded to near invisibility in recent years.

Haradinaj: Mutual recognition a condition for the dialogue; Dačić: You know what Serbia thinks of Haradinaj (media)

Most online media in Kosovo and Serbia reported on an interview of Tirana based Top Chanel with Ramush Haradinaj, candidate for Prime Minister, saying that when it comes to Kosovo-Serbia talks there is one condition and that is Belgrade’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence. He further argued that the framework of talks was wrong because it focused on Kosovo’s internal arrangements.

US Balkan Policy Will Eventually Catch Up With Reality (Balkan Insight)

At some point, Washington will be forced to re-engage with the Balkans and work out a new policy that is in tune with political reality.

Not everything about Donald Trump is unpredictable. At least towards the Balkans, his policy so far has be­en entirely consistent in its general indifference.

US to send 130 more soldiers to Kosovo (B92, Blic)

Analysts say the US announcement of sending an additional 130 troops to Kosovo to support KFOR and NATO is a message to warmongering politicians in the region.

The troops in question are members of US special units of the Tupelo-based 1st Battalion, "highly trained for emergency response," the daily Blic is reporting.

McCain Calls for Greater US, EU Engagement in Balkans (VoA)

Increased U.S. and European engagement in the Western Balkans will be critical to countering an increasingly assertive Russian in the region, Republican Arizona Senator John McCain told VOA Wednesday.

McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made the comments shortly after returning from a tour of the region, which included a stop in Montenegro, whose U.S.-backed accession to NATO has been vigorously opposed by Russia.

Albania pitches itself as bastion against Russian influence (B92, Tanjug)

Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, who is visiting Washington, says that his country has "the most developed democracy in the Western Balkans."

In addition, Bushati says that Albania is "a bastion against Russia's influence in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Croatia."

"If we said we'd form union with RS - what would you say?" (B92)

Edi Rama's statement about a union between Albania and Kosovo again confirms that creation of a Greater Albania is a common platform of all ethnic Albanians.

Serbian First Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said this late on Tuesday in reaction to the Albanian prime minister's interview given to the website Politico, during which he "could not rule out a union between Kosovo and Albania" if prospects of EU membership fade.