Former US official who caused a storm with his statements, Brian Hoyt Yee, is no longer listed as an employee of the US State Department, Sputnik is reporting.

The website also said that Yee told Greek media no decision had been made to appoint him as US ambassador in one of the Balkan countries - something Serbian media previously often speculated about.

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.

Belgrade based Tanjug news agency reports that Serbia from 2013 until now requested from the eight contracting bodies of United Nations that UNMIK reports on the application of the standards of valid conventions on the territory of Kosovo.
Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights Suzana Paunovic said yesterday and called on the UN Human Rights Council to inspect the human rights situation in that part of territory, reports the agency.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says he supports the dialogue with Pristina and is hoping for a compromise solution.

But Vucic, speaking for Sputnik in Davos, added that he did not have much hope that this would happen by the end of 2018.

https://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2018&mm=01&dd=25&nav_id=103343

Edi Rama says although Serbia is ahead of Albania in the process of EU accession, the two countries could join the EU together.

Speaking in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, the Albanian prime minister said this could happen "under the assumption that Serbia recognizes Kosovo."

"This is a performance-based process. Serbia has advantage because it is already negotiating and we hope to start negotiations this year," Rama said.

The Enlargement Strategy, entitled “Credible Perspective of Enlargement to the Western Balkans”, will be presented on 6 February during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Following of the adoption of the official text of the document by the College of Commissioners, the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, will present a Strategy before the members of the European Parliament when it will be also publicly disclosed.

A tragic death could spark a lasting peace in the Balkans’ most restive region.

In March 2003, a sniper enlisted by a powerful criminal gang shot dead Serbia’s young reformist prime minister, Zoran Djindjic. In an instant, the promise of a clean break — for Serbia and for the region — from the Slobodan Milosevic era was dashed. Djindjic’s successors returned Serbia to the self-pitying past, most notably on the emotive issue of Kosovo.

President of the Social-Democratic Party (SDS), Boris Tadic told Serbian media that since Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came into power, Serbia’s European path is not conditioned with the progress and level of achieved reforms, but with “the trade of the authorities, in which they are fulfilling requests related to Kosovo for the sake of an international applause and remain in power,” KiM Radio reported.

Tadic also said that during his presidential mandate, “political hardliners were in power” in Pristina so there was no much space for policy of reconciliation and compromise.

The process of settling the status of Kosovo, which recently received an unexpected turn after the murder of one of the leaders of Kosovo Serbs Oliver Ivanović, is entering the final phase. This, according to experts, became even more obvious after the interview of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić given to the Serbian state television channel RTS on January 14. In it, Vučić for the first time expressed concern that a decision on the Kosovo and Metohija issue cannot be made within the framework of the existing constitution of Serbia.

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric said the result of Serbian President Vucic’s visit to Kosovo is that Serbia is getting united aiming to help our people in a southern province, as the Serbs in Kosovo are also getting united in a wish to strive for their survival jointly, supported by the state, RTS reported.

Djuric also said, the visit provides a crucial contribution to overcome a difficult challenge and a great anguish, and he is convinced this is the right way, RTS reported.