A new report on the mass resignation of Serbian members from the Kosovo Security Force blames the Serbian government and accuses it of 'brutal interference' in a Kosovo institution.
The integration of the courts in the north into the Kosovo judicial system has failed to resolve the problem of delayed trials and stalled cases – and may have made it worse, experts fear.
Belgrade and Beijing agreed on a $3 billion package of economic investments and military purchases which will boost China’s growing influence in Serbia.
See at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/new-agreements-boost-china-role-in-serbia-09-18-2018
Some former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters have expressed anger after seeing their names on a list of people who allegedly falsely registered as war veterans.
Ex-fighters who saw their names on the list of ‘fake’ war veterans that was published by media at the weekend have described it as an insult to their “dignity and integrity” as former KLA members.
By: Gezim Krasniqi
The contradictory reactions to proposals to resolve the Kosovo issue through border changes has exposed the international community’s confusion over what its priorities are.
Recent announcements by the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, that they are considering border changes to reach a historic peace settlement, have sent shockwaves across the region.
Advocates of territorial exchange as a solution to the Serbia-Kosovo dispute should remember that Bosnia’s de-facto partition, at Dayton in 1995, has failed to bring about true stability.
See at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnia-offers-lessons-for-kosovo-land-swap-talks-09-10-2018
On his two-day visit to Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied the two countries were near a solution to their dispute, and was prevented from visiting a Serb-majority village.
“Do we have any draft solutions in Brussels? We do not, we are not even close to it,” President Aleksandar Vucic said in a speech before thousands of Serbs in the Serb-run northern half of the divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica on Sunday.
Although it had been announced that the Serbian and Kosovo presidents would meet on Friday to continue their EU-led dialogue, Serbia's leader has now called off the meeting – while his visit to Kosovo this weekend is also in doubt.
After separate bilateral meetings between the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, Serbian President has scrapped a planned meeting with his Kosovo counterpart, Hashim Thaci, in Brussels.
Vucic’s announced visit to Kosovo this weekend is now also uncertain, Serbian media reported.
Serbian-American right-wing diaspora organisations and clergymen wrote a letter to the US Congress and administration opposing any exchange of territories between Serbia and Kosovo.
Leaders of Serbian Orthodox congregations and Serbian-American organisations have appealed to Congress members and the US administration to protect the rights of Kosovo Serbs and expressed "strong opposition to the proposed ethnic partition of the territory", Serbian media reported on Monday.
Ahead of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s Kosovo visit, there are reports of Kosovo Serbs who work for Belgrade-funded institutions being compelled to attend his rally.
Some Kosovo Serb representatives say that employees of institutions funded by Serbia in Kosovo are being pressured to attend a rally in support of President Aleksandar Vucic, and fear reprisals if they do not show up.