Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland said that the council previously expressed concern over the arrest of Marko Djuric in Mitrovica late last month, adding that the Council of Europe follows the further development of the situation, KIM radio reports.
Serbia sticks to its policy, and everyone thinking to the contrary must decide whether they're our friends and partners, or will work against Serbia.
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said this on Thursday, on the occasion of media reports that reported on France planning to send protest notes to countries that withdrew their recognition of Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence.
France is “irritated” with Belgrade lobbying that more countries in the world withdraw recognitions of Kosovo and they did not hide their “scandalous intent,” to send protest notes to the countries which do so, from Serbia’s representative in the United Nations.
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.
Deputy Chairman at the European Stability Initiative (ESI) Kristof Bender thinks that in existing circumstances, Kosovo has no EU membership perspective.
Beta agency is reporting this on Wednesday, citing Bender's interview for the European Western Balkans website.
"For Kosovo the formal accession process has hit a wall. Formally there is no way to move forward for Kosovo now," he said, adding: "With 5 EU member states not recognizing Kosovo, Kosovo has no enlargement perspective. Spain has made this very clear now."
Bloomberg is reporting that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said "a deal with Kosovo" is not imminent "as both sides remain far apart."
This is "forcing Vucic to delay his goal to unveil the proposal within weeks," the agency said, and described this "deal" as "the biggest hurdle to Serbia country joining the European Union."
Aleksandar Vucic says everything that can be heard from representatives of provisional institutions in Kosovo and Metohija "only confirms what he said earlier."
"Pristina does not intend to fulfill its obligations under the Brussels agreement, and they don't hide it," he said, referring to the formation of the Community of Serb municipalities.
According to the diplomatic source of Belgrade daily newspapers Danas, Thaci and Haradinaj have been preparing the Kosovo public for a long time to say at some point that recognition of Serbia is not the most important thing.
The same source says that Serbia should not be bothered with the ultimate goal in the state platform of Kosovo for the finalization of the Brussels dialogue, and the mutual recognition and a chair in the UN, because it will certainly not happen, writes Danas in today's edition.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel "presented some new proposals concerning Serbia's European path."
But, the president told a joint news conference with Michel in Belgrade on Tuesday - "I cannot say more about those proposals until they become a part of EU policy, and until some other factors agree with them."
Vucic observed only that the said proposals "could be interesting in the future."
Ambassadors of all 28 EU member states, including Spain, approved a draft declaration that should be accepted at the summit EU - Western Balkans in Sofia, Tanjug learns in Brussels.
"The draft of the Declaration was approved by the ambassador of Spain to the EU, and it is up to the member states to accept it," Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the EU Genoveva Cervenakova told Tanjug.