BELGRADE - The political chapters- 23, 24 and 35, should be the first to be opened this year in the EU integration process, Serbian Minister without Portfolio responsible for EU integration Jadranka Joksimovic said on Tuesday.

In a live broadcast on Radio-Television of Serbia, Joksimovic said that the year behind us was marked by the reforms and major efforts aimed at creating a successful and modern state.

“We are not putting reforms in place so that we break records in chapter opening, but rather to set a new record in reforms, if possible,” Joksimovic said.

Kosovo's government said on Friday it planned to take over the giant Trepca mine complex to save it from bankruptcy and restore it to its former glory, angering the country's former master Serbia.

Serbia said the plan, which is expected to be debated by the Kosovo parliament on Monday, would threaten a fragile thaw in relations with its former southern province which it lost control of in 1999.

The Trepca mine is a giant, rusting complex of lead, zinc and silver mines that once employed 20,000 people and accounted for the majority of the former Yugoslavia's mineral wealth.

British Foreign Secretary Hammond has said Serbia should implement the Brussels agreement on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

The implementation of the Brussels agreement on normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina is important for Serbia’s membership into the European Union, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Thursday.

Hammond made the remarks after meeting Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

The Minister without Portfolio, Edita Tahiri, met with the Ambassador of France in Kosovo, Maryse Daviet as well as with the leading officials of the international airport “Adem Jashari.”

They valued friendly relations between Kosovo and France and expressed joint determination to deepen cooperation in the fields of mutual interest.

Foreign Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, stated that Kosovo has no chance to be accepted at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE,) prior to reaching some kind of a political agreement, which will not be reached in Vienna. Speaking at a press conference, Dacic said that Kosovo’s demands to become member of OSCE are not new. “Decisions at the OSCE are reached by consensus. It is well known how difficult it is to reach a consensus,” said Dacic on Thursday while receiving officially Serbia’s presiding of this Organization.

France will not extradite to Serbia the former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Genc Zogaj, arrested pursuant to an international arrest warrant issued by Serbian authorities. Serbia has charged Zogaj for war crimes allegedly committed during the Kosovo conflict.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has called on Serbs to live in peace with their Albanian neighbors as he began his official visit to Kosovo. His call came on Wednesday after he attended the opening ceremony of a maternity hospital in Pasjane municipality, east of the capital Pristina, where many Serbs live.

Kosovo visit of Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia's prime minister, signals a new chapter in the history of both countries.

Serbia's prime minister is making a landmark visit to Kosovo on Wednesday, signifying the first step towards normalising relations between the two countries.

After inaugurating the maternity hospital in Pasjan, Serbia’s Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, held a speech in front of the gathered population. Once again, he could not refrain from nationalist statements. “Kosovo is the cradle of Serbia. We will never forget Kosovo. We, as the government of Serbia, will continuously engage to create as many jobs as possible here, as well as a well-being for Serbs,” said Vucic.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will meet local Serbian political representatives this week on his first visit to Kosovo since taking up the premier's post last year.

Serbian officials said that Vucic will pay his first visit to Kosovo this week since becoming Prime Minister of Serbia in April 2014, most likely on Wednesday.

Marko Djuric, head of the Serbian government office for Kosovo, said Vucic planned to visit Gracanica, a large Serbian enclave near Pristina, as well as Serb-run municipalities in central Kosovo, Pasjane and Strpce.