The integration of the Western Balkans into Europe means fundamental not territorial changes, Regional Cooperation Council Secretary General Majlinda Bregu said on Tuesday, BETA news agency reports. “The European Union is the most important force in the region in the promotion of democracy, rule of law and respect for human and minority rights.

Commenting on a letter Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj sent to the world leaders saying “that Kosovo negotiates with Serbia as a sovereign state”, Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said Haradinaj is unaware of the situation he is in, Blic daily reports. “If it is so, why they do not become a UN member, join Interpol or UNESCO, why 13 countries have revoked recognitions of Kosovo, and why the USA and the EU accept to look for a compromise,” Dacic told Vecernje Novosti daily.

Analyst Janusz Bugajski from Washington Center for European Policy Analysis does not exclude a possibility that Kosovo issue is resolved by changing the borders, Tanjug news agency reports. “Let’s see if both sides are serious, and the way I understood it, in line with such agreement, Serbia should recognize Kosovo as an independent state.

Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said that the resignation of US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell was " bad news." As Dacic stated, Mitchell understood that the US should open a door to a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina. "Clearly it's a curse posting. Whoever deals with us, has their political career ruined," Dacic told reporters in Belgrade. Dacic had also had a remark concerning the fate of the EU. "I have expressed my fear that if the EU does not collapse now, it will collapse when all the Yugoslav peoples join it," Dacic said.  

Leader of Peoples’ Party Vuk Jeremic in an interview to Vienna-based Der Standard said that Serbia is no longer a democratic state but “a corrupted autocracy” in which the President of the Republic grabbed all leverages of power, while he secretly negotiates on redrawing the borders in the region, Danas daily reports. “Regional stability and good relations between peoples cannot be established by mongering rhetoric that divides people.

EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn said "the relationship between Serbia and Kosovo has improved." He added that there have been events in the past few weeks that would in the past would have lead to "both sides reaching for their weapons." "Today, the presidents reach for the phone and call each other," the EU official has been quoted as saying. According to him, these are some positive moves when observed over a longer period of time. "Of course, in the meantime, on the one side and on the other, there have been steps backwards, but we should not allow this to discourage us.

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic commenting on yesterday’s statements of his Slovenian counterpart Cerar on protests in Serbia, Putin’s visit and EU path, said that Cerar speaks about political crisis in Belgrade and they barely managed to form a government, Vecernje Novosti reported. “It came as a surprise to me that Miro Cerar did not raise the question about Slovenia’s EU future when in 2016 in Vrsic he stood steady next to Vladimir Putin, or when his counrty, not so long ago, pushed hard to host the Russian President Putin offering their readiness to host a historic meeting wi

Serbian Assembly Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Chairperson Milovan Drecun thinks taxes on goods from central Serbia will be abolished, Tanjug news agency reported. Drecun added that Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj now tries to act in line with USA wishes, but at the same time “avoid the embarrassment.” Asked if Ramush Haradinaj is that strong to resist requests by European and world officials saying taxes will be lifted once Belgrade recognizes Kosovo, Drecun replied “of course he is not” adding that Haradinaj knows where the limit is, but tries to gain as much as he can now, in t

The latest developments in Serbia raise the question of whether Belgrade is still on the European path, Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar has said. Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Slovenian Parliament, Cerar added that Serbia should declare its stance on European orientation, STA is reporting.

Institute for European Studies Professor, Slobodan Zecevic told RTS Germany is interested that Serbia joins the EU, but also to resolve the Kosovo issue, since Serbia cannot enter the EU with unresolved relations with Albanians. He also assessed that Pristina by refusing to lift taxes, despite requests from USA and EU, became some sort of “fugitive” in relation to the international law and international relations. Speaking for the RTS morning news edition, Professor Zecevic termed as “interesting” what Ramush Haradinaj said yesterday, indicating that Pristina in fact listens to no one, it is