BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia held a military parade on Friday to mark Victory Day, the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in an apparent show of force amid rising tensions with Kosovo. The parade in the southern city of Nis included 4,000 troops, 300 military vehicles and 40 aircraft, including two Russian battle helicopters flown by Russian crews — a display of the growing political and military alliance with Moscow. See at: https://thepublicsradio.org/article/serbia-holds-military-pa

Thousands of protesters supporting Albania's opposition have surrounded the parliament, demanding the government's resignation and early elections and accusing the Cabinet of corruption and crime links.

See at:https://www.foxnews.com/world/thousands-surround-albania-parliament-demand-new-elections

BELGRADE, Serbia — Kosovo is moving to build itself a regular army, angering neighboring Serbia enough to talk of military intervention — a seemingly empty threat.

In a vote set for Friday, Kosovo’s 120-seat parliament is expected to approve draft government-submitted legislation to turn an existing 4,000-strong paramilitary force, known as the Kosovo Security Force, into an expanded, lightly armed army.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - A U.S. call for the withdrawal of a UN peacekeeping mission from Kosovo would leave Serbia no choice but to "protect" its people in the former Serbian province, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Wednesday. See at: https://www.pahomepage.com/news/world-news/serbian-president-issues-veiled-threat-over-kosovo/1530612051

PRISTINA, Kosovo — A Kosovo court has put a suspect under a month’s detention for allegedly taking part in terror groups in Syria as a foreign fighter.

A statement from the capital Pristina court on Tuesday said the suspect, identified only as M.D., took part in paramilitary or police units in Syria “with organizations declared terrorist groups by the United Nations.” It said that since March 2013 he had travelled several times to Syria via Germany.

The EU has announced that it signed an agreement with Albania that will allow its border patrols to be present and work in that country.

According to AP, cited by Tanjug, this is "the first time the bloc has concluded such an accord." The deal is aimed at tackling irregular migration, in particular sudden changes in migratory flows, and cross-border crime, it was stated in Brussels on Friday.

A senior Russian diplomat says Moscow is working on a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters Thursday that Moscow and Washington are discussing a possible meeting at the U.N. General Assembly in New Rork next month but that they haven't agreed on the time or agenda yet.

Serbian media reported yesterday that Albania would be hosting an informal meeting of the heads of the Western Balkan governments, citing a statement of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's cabinet.

The cabinet's statement reads that the topic of the meeting will be "regional economic integration", the development of a common vision for EU accession, implementation of the regional economic zone and other issues.

The United States is warning its citizens to "exercise increased caution in Kosovo due to terrorism" and listed some areas Washington thinks are at increased risk.

The State Department warning issued Friday said that "terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in the Balkans region, including Kosovo."

The State Department says the U.S. is pulling out of UNESCO because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and need for “fundamental reform” of the U.N. cultural agenc, reports AP.

In a statement, the State Department said it notified UNESCO director Irina Bokova on Thursday of the decision. The U.S. will seek to have a “permanent observer” status instead.