European Council President Donald Tusk has praised Macedonia's efforts to reconcile with its neighbors as it accelerates its bid to join the European Union, saying such efforts are needed across the Western Balkans and are "important" for Europe.

Speaking at a regional summit in Skopje on April 27, Tusk singled out the festering dispute between Serbia and Kosovo over Pristina's declaration of independence 10 years ago, which Belgrade has never recognized.

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Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj, said that the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities should happen at the same time as Kosovo getting a seat at the United Nations. “Since the Association aims to advance the position of Serbs in Kosovo, I think its establishment de facto needs to happen parallel to Kosovo’s membership in the UN, when Kosovo gets a full legal status and international recognition,” Hoxhaj said.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), assessed the platform for dialogue with Serbia, presented on Thursday by the government as poor and as a document which does not define issues to be discussed, principal or deadlines.

A senior U.S. official has warned of what he called Moscow’s "increasingly destructive role" in the Balkans, saying that Russia is undermining democracy in the region. Wess Mitchell, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, made the comments in Pristina on March 12, following talks with Kosovar President Hashim Thaci.

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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called on Kosovo to ratify a border demarcation agreement with Montenegro and seek better ties with Serbia.

Juncker, together with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, continued his tour of the six Balkan countries that remain outside the European Union with a stop in Kosovo on February 28.

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As investigators tried to piece together the motive in a grenade attack on the U.S. Embassy in Montenegro, concerns that the incident could shatter improved stability in the Balkans showed just how fragile the situation remains as the West and Russia battle for influence in the region.

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Mitrovica has been gripped by shock and fear since the killing of a moderate Serbian politician in that northern Kosovo municipality with an ethnic Serbian majority.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg condemned the killing of ethnic-Serb leader Oliver Ivanovic in Kosovo, and said the Western military alliance would continue to be on hand to help keep the country stable. The Kosovar Serb politician was buried in Belgrade two days after he was gunned down in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, on January 16, raising tensions between ethnic groups in the divided city. Speaking on January 18 during a scheduled visit to nearby Macedonia, Stoltenberg called for calm.

European Union welcomes the readiness of President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to continue dialogue for normalisation of relations, said EU foreign policy spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic, in reference to the recent telephone conversation between Thaci and Vucic. Kocijancic added that efforts are underway to set the date for the next meeting of the technical dialogue after the previous one failed to take place following the killing of Kosovo Serb political leader, Oliver Ivanovic.

A Kosovar court has found four opposition lawmakers guilty of repeatedly disrupting parliament by releasing tear gas in the chamber and has handed down suspended jail sentences for the legislators.

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