BELGRADE -- German MPs visiting Belgrade last week told the country's officials that Serbia will not start talks to join the EU until it implements the Brussels agreement.

Another message they relayed was that Serbia will not join the EU "until Kosovo becomes a full-fledged member of the UN."

"About 70,000 citizens from Kosovo have sought asylum in the EU," the Priština-based Albanian language daily Zeri is reporting on Thursday.

The newspaper described this as "a cancer" when it comes to Kosovo's visa liberalization bid.

"The inability to secure social safety in Kosovo" is what is prompting thousands of Kosovo residents to seek ways to move to EU member-states, in the hope they would be allowed to stay, according to the daily.

 German parliamentarians led by CDU deputy Andreas Schockenhoff have said in Belgrade that Germany persists in the seven demands it put before Serbia.

 "We asked when the opening of the first (EU) negotiation chapter was expected and we got the answer that they stood by the seven demands. They seek full implementation of the Brussels agreement and in particular to convict the instigators of the burning of the German embassy 2008," opposition NDS party MP Aleksandar Senić said.

Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Đurić was on Tuesday prevented from entering the territory of the province.

He was turned back by the Kosovo police, from the Jarinje administrative crossing. According to Tanjug, Đurić will shortly make a statement for the media.

The official was headed for Banjska, to attend a groundbreaking ceremony there for housing units financed by the office that he heads.

Đurić was also to visit Zvečan and the mining complex Trepča, and confer with representatives of Serbs in northern Kosovo.

BELGRADE -- Dejan Pavićević says the fact he was banned from entering Kosovo constitutes "serious obstruction of the implementation of what has been agreed in Brussels."

Belgrade's liaison officer in Priština, who was prevented from entering the province by the Kosovo authorities, "urged the EU and international community to solve the issue as soon as possible."

BELGRADE -- Belgrade continues to financially help Serbs in Kosovo, but that support should go to development, rather that serve to "pay them to stay (in Kosovo)."

This is what the head of the Serbian government's media office, Milivoje Mihajlović, told B92 TV on Wednesday.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- KFOR has welcomed the removal of a barricade built on the main bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica as a positive step that can be beneficial to reconciliation.

The NATO-led forces in Kosovo stated that hard work should be done to support dialogue and democratic discussions that lead would lead to stability of Kosovo.

BERLIN -- German Chancellor Angel Merkel has said she is "looking forward to the visit by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić to Berlin."

According to her, they will discuss Serbia's further pathway.

Vučić will pay a visit to Berlin on Wednesday upon the invitation of the German chancellor.

In a video message at the website of the German parliament, she underlined that "all Western Balkan countries have a clear European perspective," and commended Serbia in particular "for the progress in relations with Priština."

BELGRADE -- Elections in Kosovo are "a job of national importance for Serbia and an important form of political struggle," says Office for Kosovo Director Marko Đurić.

He told B92 TV on Friday that it was "extremely important that Serb representatives win as many seats" in the Kosovo assembly - "so that the state has a lever of influence and pressure" when Kosovo talks resume in Brussels.

VIENNA -- Austria's FM Sebastian Kurz has said that 100 years since the beginning of the First World War "we must work together to create a common European future."

The EU enlargement is of great importance not only to countries that aspire to become EU members, but also to its member-states, he was quoted as saying.