Talk of "border correction" by Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo's Hashim Thaci is a distraction from what is really going on behind the scenes - blackmail of the EU for political and personal reasons. The border idea - for Pristina to give north Kosovo (an ethnic Serb enclave) to Belgrade, in return for the Presevo Valley (an Albanian enclave in Serbia) - was first floated by Vucic (although in different terms) last year. See at: https://euobserver.com/foreign/143000  

Serbia will never recognise Kosovo, Serbia's foreign minister has said, as the Western Balkans heads into a new period of turbulence. "You know when it will happen? When Kosovo will enter the UN, to recognise them as a country? When a grape grows out of a willow tree," Serb foreign minister Ivica Dacic told press on Monday (17 September), using a Serbian cliche that means "never". See at: https://euobserver.com/

By Edmond Krasniqi Kosovo has accumulated plenty of domestic problems since the 1998-1999 independence war, but the US and EU are just making things worse by pressuring its leaders to ratify a border agreement with neighbouring Montenegro. The border delineation was agreed in August 2015 and ratified by Montenegro's parliament four months later. But Kosovo's opposition has expressed serious doubts over the deal, claiming that over 8,000 hectares of land will be lost. Before Montenegro ratified the deal, its government offered to renegotiate.

A festive atmosphere broke out in Pristina on Wednesday (4 May) as the European Commission announced it would recommend to scrap visa requirements for Kosovars.

Prime minister Isa Mustafa updated his Facebook profile with a picture of the EU and Kosovo flags.

https://euobserver.com/migration/133344

By Jakup Krasniqi - former speaker of the Kosovo parliament and former spokesman of the KLA

There’s no doubt that Kosovo’s current government has made many internal and foreign policy errors. There’s equally no doubt the people in charge have taken care of their private interests while forgetting the needs of ordinary Kosovars.

By ANDREW RETTMAN

he Netherlands has formally agreed to host an EU-funded tribunal on Kosovo war crimes, with “sensitive” trials of former Kosovo guerrilla chiefs to start “this year.” The Dutch government took the decision on the Kosovo Relocated Specialist Judicial Institution (KSJI) on Friday (15 January). Details remain to be approved by Dutch and Kosovan parliaments.

Opinion piece by Jeton Zulfaj Few would question that the EU-mediated negotiations have brought Kosovo and Serbia closer to each other and are contributing towards a more stable Balkans. The high-level dialogue has broken down communication barriers and addressed essential issues, on freedom of movement, customs, border control, education, and telecommunications. In a TV debate called Surroundings, Serb prime minister Aleksandar Vucic recently noted that good relations between Albanians and Serbs are key to stability in the region. All this is good.