Serbia wishes to have good co-operation with Bosnia and Herzegovina and with all three newly elected members of its presidency, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today in Kraljevo.

Asked to comment on the statement of a Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Zeljko Komsic who said that for him Kosovo is an independent state and would be wise if Bosnia recognizes it, Vucic replied he is not happy because of that statement, but will not use every opportunity to respond.

Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met on Friday in Banja Luka with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Dacic and Lavrov assessed on this occasion that the level of trust and high dynamics of Russian-Serbian contacts show that relations between the two countries are continuously and productively evolving, the Serbian government has announced.

The two ministers agreed that the relations between Moscow and Belgrade are progressing in each field, assessing that mutual relations have reached a very high level of strategic partnership.

If Kosovo becomes a member of the UN and other international institutions, Banjaluka would request the same, President of Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik told Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti.

“The Assembly of Srpska adopted resolution, saying that in case of establishing of a new international principle and practice in recognizing the right to self-determination, we would insist on determining our state status. This document is still in force and we would not give up on it,” Dodik told Vecernje Novosti.

Leader of Peoples’ Party Vuk Jeremic told TV Nasa, Serbian President and SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic by surrendering to the West vital Serbian national interests pays for his remain in power, acts humbly towards internationals in order to do “whatever he wants” in Serbia.

Jeremic went on saying Vucic intends to give Pristina a seat in the UN this year, then to accept to disenfranchise Republic of Srpska, bring Serbia into NATO, but would request from internationals not to criticize him during that period “over small matters” such as rule of law issues and media control.

The Western Balkans region has become a recruiting ground for the Islamic State, Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic told a conference on terrorism in Russia yesterday, TV N1 reported.

 A press release from the Serbian Internal Affairs Ministry said that Stefanovic told the conference that most of the combatants the Islamic State recruited were from Bosnia and Kosovo with about 800 of them going to Syria and Iraq.

Serbian member of Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Mladen Ivanic is paying a three-day visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church Monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, Serbian media reported.

Ivanic visited the Pec Patriarchate and Visoki Decani Monastery and spoke with the Abbess Haritina and the Abbott Sava Janjic.

Reporters on corruption and organised crime in the Balkans are subject to a range of different pressures and challenges – as our comparison of reporting on such cases in Bosnia, Kosovo and Serbia shows.

Organised crime and corruption are among the key challenges facing the societies of the Western Balkans, with corruption in particular being a key grievance for ordinary citizens and voters.

As in any democracy, the media play a crucial role when it comes to informing the public on these subjects and shaping public debates.

Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj, has reacted to the reiteration of statements of the Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Igor Crnadak, that Bosnia will not recognize independence of Kosovo. He took to Twitter to condemn “destructive statements” which according to Hoxhaj are being made to satisfy Serbia.

“Destructive statements from Bosnia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs against Kosovo’s statehood to satisfy Serbia. This attitude goes against regional cooperation and good neighboring,” Hoxhaj wrote.

The Austrian Foreign Minister's claim that women in Bosnia and Kosovo are being paid to wear full veils has drawn criticism from political and religious leaders there.

Religious and political authorities in Bosnia and Kosovo have dismissed a statement of Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz that women in Bosnia and Kosovo are being paid to wear full veils.

Turkey's president says "the ideas of some about the unification of Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo into a Greater Albania" are "bad, and unacceptable to Turkey."

According to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is loudly advocating "respecting sovereignty and integrity of countries in the Balkans."