Normalization of relations with Pristina is an issue directly affecting further progress of Serbia in the accession process, said Johannes Hahn, who welcomed Vucic’s initiative for internal dialogue on Kosovo, Danas daily reported.
The EU Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner, Johannes Hahn is in two-day visit to Serbia.
The EU will try to, through accession talks chapter 31, "force Serbia to change its attitude towards Russia - but Belgrade could still remain close to Russia," Sputnik reported.
It further said that Serbia will start negotiations on the chapter, that relates to alignment of foreign and security policy, in October.
This chapter is particularly sensitive to Serbia because it is military neutral and because it has close ties with the Russian Federation - and has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.
America and its NATO allies are preparing for a fierce anti-Russian media offensive in our country, writes the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.
The paper said it learned that a portion of the USD 250 million that the US Congress has allocated to the Countering Russian Influence Fund for fiscal years 2017 and 2018, will soon arrive in Serbia.
Russia will continue to try to influence the events in the Balkans, where Serbia is its most important link that serves as a launching ground.
This is according to Beta, which quoted Mark Galeotti of the Institute of International Relations Prague, who spoke for Radio Free Europe's Bosnia-Herzegovina/Serbia/Montenegro service.
The EU, too, intends to press Serbia over the Serbian-Russian Humanitarian Center (RSHC), Vecernje Novosti daily reported today.
The Belgrade newspaper adds that the shutting down of the center, located in southern Serbia, could be made a condition for chapter 31 in Serbia's EU accession negotiations.
On the occasion of the International Day of Missing Persons, gatherings would be organized in Gracanica and Pristina today.
As it was announced, gathering in Gracanica would start at 11.00, while in Pristina this day would be marked by laying flowers at the monument dedicated to the missing persons nearby the Kosovo Assembly.
"I think that the relations between Serbia and Albania are doing better than any time. This is a very positive sign. Certainly, it is really, first and foremost, thanks to Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Aleksandar Vucic," the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, has said.
Leader of the CI SDP Oliver Ivanović assesses for the regional TV N1 the internal dialogue on Kosovo as the most important issue for the Serbs.
Ivanović reminds that in 2006 he proposed the Cypriot model for Kosovo, not as a model of status, but as a model for resolving the conflict.
A key initiative in the region is infrastructure connectivity.
Pristina authorities have already begun preparations for building a 22 km long highway from Pristina to Merdare, which should be continued from Merdare to Niš. Pristina says that the road is of strategic importance because it links Pristina to the European highway network.
The project for the construction of the Pristina-Niš highway was officially made at the last Summit for the Western Balkans held this year in Trieste.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, accepted the invitation of Tomislav Nikolić to visit Serbia. In order for this visit to be realized, the invitation should be renewed by new President Aleksandar Vučić, but an agreement should also be reached with the Serbian Orthodox Church" – says Archbishop Luciano Suriani, Apostolic Nuncio in Serbia, in this interview for CorD Magazine.