By: Adnan Cerimagic

I made a personal plea to the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo — but it fell on deaf ears.

On a stage with the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia at the weekend, I appealed directly to both of them not to make a fatal mistake and destabilize the whole Balkan region.

I spoke not just as a policy analyst but in personal terms as a citizen of the Balkans, telling the story of how my birthplace in Bosnia and Herzegovina was destroyed by war but reborn as a multiethnic community once again.

At summit with regional leaders, French president says thoughts of enlargement have ‘weakened Europe.’

SOFIA — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday sounded a skeptical note on enlarging the European Union to include countries from the western Balkans — at a summit meant to strengthen ties between the region and the EU.

You were expecting a welcome mat? Here’s a bucket of cold water instead.

The European Commission’s new strategy for the Western Balkans holds out the prospect that two countries from the region, Serbia and Montenegro, could “potentially” be ready to join the EU by 2025. It also offers increased support for the four other would-be members from the region that was engulfed by war and civil strife in the 1990s.

Top Kosovo politicians are getting edgy as a special court prepares to issue indictments for war crimes.

Out of the blue, a group of MPs tried late last month to suspend a law regulating the new court. And Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, who was instrumental in getting parliament to approve the court in 2014 under heavy international pressure, now says he would sign such legislation.

http://politi.co/2CrmySd

The chief judge at an EU organization tasked with improving the rule of law in Kosovo quit and accused other senior members of the mission of corruption and malpractice, Le Monde reported Thursday.

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that the future of the Western Balkans lies “in the West.”

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The European Union was hoping to get a firm grip on the Western Balkans at a summit Wednesday, but all it got was a limp handshake.

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When the leaders of six Western Balkan countries — and a few EU heavyweights — gather in the Italian city of Trieste this week, they’ll be doing so in a period of relative calm.

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Serbia’s president-elect on his critics, Merkel and the outlook for the region.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić sat down with POLITICO on Wednesday for his first extensive interview since winning his country’s presidential election in a landslide.

Hashim Thaçi wants an army — but the West says he needs to get the Serb minority on board first.

http://www.politico.eu/article/hashim-thaci-kosovo-leaders-military-maneuvers/