The editor-in-chief of the Novi Magazin, Nadezda Gace, assesses that engaging lobbyists is always an important activity, but that Ivica Dacic's statement that they should be engaged in representing Serbia's interests in resolving the Kosovo problem comes late and that it comes from the wrong man, reports regional broadcaster N1.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that Serbia should hire a lobbyist to defend the interests of Serbia in resolving the Kosovo problem.

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), Patriarch Irinej, travelled to Moscow at the invitation of Russian Patriarch Kirill.

Patriarch Irinej will attend a ceremony and receive a prestigious award for special contribution to strengthening the unity of Orthodox nations.

The award is given by the International Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Christian Nations, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, TV Hram reported on Tuesday.

The head of the Serbian Church will be in Russian capital until May 25.

The western international community should think about division of Kosovo as least bad solution, treating it as a unique case, Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS) Director, Jelena Milic said, Serbian media reported.

Milic told Tanjug news agency if the West is that much afraid of Russian influence, then unresolved Belgrade-Pristina issue “is one of the great channels of influence Russia could use.”

She also added, she expected that once Serbia signed Brussels agreement, EU and NATO members state that have not recognized Kosovo, would do so, however it did not happen.

Russia and China have once again opposed initiatives coming from some UN Security Council members to change the format of the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK.

They hold the same position when it comes to attempts to change the format of the Council's sessions dedicated to Kosovo. In this way, they supported Serbia's stance on the issue.

My first reaction to the statements of Aleksandar Vucic and Vladimir Putin that Russia has the power in UN to prevent the joining of Kosovo is - nobody ever doubted it. It's a fact.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that he asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for help in solving the Kosovo problem in international organizations.

“No solution can be found in the United Nations without Russia’s approval and in that sense Russia will very actively monitor our talks and everything that could happen and will react on time,” he told reporters in Moscow, adding Moscow will not be directly involved in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue under European Union auspices.

Foreign policy commentator Bosko Jaksic and Chair of the Centre for Strategic Alternatives Aleksandar Mitic told TV N1 that Russia is in favour of maintaining “status quo” in Kosovo.

Both interlocutors agreed Kosovo would be a dominant topic in Vucic-Putin meeting in Moscow, but they disagreed when it comes to Serbia’s position related to Kosovo, TV N1 reported.

Media in Serbia announces today that the United Kingdom takes over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council in August. Serbian national broadcaster, RTS reports that the Serbian foreign minister confirmed that London could ask for the sessions on Kosovo to be abolished or to be closed to the public.

The Western Balkans region has become a recruiting ground for the Islamic State, Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a conference on terrorism in Russia yesterday, TV N1 reported.

 A press release from the Serbian Internal Affairs Ministry said that Stefanovic told the conference that most of the combatants the Islamic State recruited were from Bosnia and Kosovo with about 800 of them going to Syria and Iraq.

Arne Sannes Bjørnstad, the Norwegian Ambassador to Belgrade, said that calling Presevo and Bujanovac “the eastern Kosovo” was the same as calling Kosovo Serbia, adding such statements were not helpful, TV N1 reported.

He commented on the Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj’s remark about the two southern regions in Serbia with predominantly ethnic Albanian population describing them as a part of Kosovo.