The Belgrade based Danas daily awarded two journalists for being professional in “all but easy time for media,” the newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The editor of the KoSSev website from North Kosovo’s Mitrovica town Tatjana Lazarevic and an editor of the BIRN website and a journalist with the Vreme weekly Slobodan Georgijev will receive “Stanislav Stasa Marinkovic” award on June 9, upon the occasion of the Danas’ anniversary.

The Coalition of journalists’ and media associations called on public on Thursday to defend professional media and journalists who had been exposed to insults, serious threats and whose safety was jeopardised, the Beta news agency reported.

In its statement, the Coalition said that in the last several days only, some journalists were publicly lynched on social networks which had been masterminded and organised "in the manner of Joseph Goebbels."

The Pristina-based Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) has called for Kosovo Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli to be sacked.

CDHRF requested the dismissal because Pacolli used "sexist and racist" language when he spoke before Kosovo Assembly's foreign affairs committee to describe "the way Serbia lobbied against Kosovo's membership in Interpol."

If Serbia and Kosovo manage to solve their decade-long dispute, the five EU countries that did not recognize Kosovo may have to adjust their foreign policies fast.

The five EU countries that have not recognized Kosovo might find themselves embarrassed and having to adjust their policies rapidly if Serbia and Kosovo agree on a final solution and get support for this from the West.

Slovakia, one of the five EU states that withheld recognition, says it is already preparing for a rethink.

By Perparim Isufi, Maja Zivanovic BIRN Pristina, Belgrade

Analysts say recent heated rhetoric about the possibility of border changes will affect the popularity of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci - but probably not enough to unseat them.

The recent intensive exchange of statements about border ‘corrections’ between Serbia and Kosovo will affect the popularity of both presidents, analysts believe.

Only a small proportion of those found guilty of corruption in Kosovo end up in prison, the 12th court monitoring report produced by BIRN and Internews Kosova finds.

Few corruption-related court cases in Kosovo end with a prison sentence, BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova's annual court monitoring report for 2017, presented on Tuesday, said.

Since the first such report, 12 years ago, the project has monitored over 10,000 court sessions, revealing important evidence of violations and failings within the judiciary in Kosovo.

The OSCE wants renewed efforts to uncover the truth behind the kidnappings and murders of Serb and ethnic Albanian journalists connected to the 1999 war.

OSCE ambassador to Kosovo Jan Braathu said on Tuesday at the unveiling of a memorial plaque to two Serbian reporters who were kidnapped in 1999 and never found that the European organisation will support increased efforts to find the perpetrators of crimes against journalists in the country.

Murdered Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic named Milan Radoicic – a debt collector and truck owner close to Serbia’s ruling party - as a key figure in the intimidating system of power in northern Kosovo.

In his last interview with BIRN in October, Oliver Ivanovic, the Kosovo Serb politician murdered in January, named Milan Radoicic as the key figure and a real power-holder in the Serb-run north of Kosovo.

A series of workshops for journalists beginners from Kosovo and those who want to pursue journalism will start in March, and will end with study visits to influential and professional media outlets in Belgrade and Pristina in April, reports KIM radio.

Journalists and local media editors from Kosovo, colleagues from the Insajder, BIRN and N1 newsrooms will be transferring their experiences and introduce trainees with the basics of journalism and professional standards in their work.

Aleksandar Vucic says he has asked Serbia's ally, Russia, to join the Kosovo negotiations if the US also joins the table – and President Vladimir Putin has indicated his willingness to do so.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had asked Russia to join the negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, if the US attempts to join the dialogue, and President Vladimir Putin had agreed to do so.