PASULJANSKE LIVADE, Serbia (Reuters) - Under the keen eye of President Aleksandar Vucic and foreign diplomats, Serbia’s military flexed its muscles on Thursday, firing live ordnance in a mock attack on insurgent positions at a training ground east of Belgrade.

The training drill, dubbed Synergy 2018, came three days after Kosovo police used force to scatter Serb protesters in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica in Kosovo’s restive North and briefly detained a Serbian government official.

Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabic rejected allegations that the establishment of the ZSO is a compensation for Kosovo membership in the UN, Tanjug news agency reported.

She reminded ZSO is part of the Brussels agreement and it has to be implemented.

“Agreements must be honoured. There are no further negotiations about ZSO. We will give nothing more, as it is included in the Brussels agreement,” PM Brnabic told Serbian Parliament.

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric "should be in Kosovo" on April 20.

Beta agency reported this on Friday, citing an article published by the daily Danas, which quoted sources in the government.

April 20 is when Serbs in Kosovo said they will start forming the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO) - and the newspaper's sources also said that Djuric "has an obligation to travel to Kosovo as the head of the Office."

All diplomatic representatives of Russia have been instructed to express their concern over the recent events in Kosovo.

Daily Vecernje Novosti is reporting this, adding that Russian diplomats have been instructed to point out to the failures of KFOR and EULEX - the NATO and EU missions in Kosovo - as well as to the violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 - all with the aim of "reinforcing Belgrade's position."

EU Delegation to Serbia head Sem Fabrizi says the perspective of candidate countries will also depend on definitive solutions to disputes with neighbors.

In addition, Fabrizi said, presenting the new EU strategy for the Western Balkans to the members of the Foreign Investors Council, membership will depend on the strong political will, and implementation of real and sustainable reforms.

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Air pollution in this tiny young nation rivals big cities like Beijing, Mumbai and New Delhi. The dirty air here is so bad that it has spawned protests, apps and even its own hashtag.

Two coal-fired power plants a mile outside the capital in the town of Obiliq spew the rancid smell of burning coal year-round, with wood stoves adding smoke to the mix. Pedestrians in Pristina, with 200,000 people, don masks when they go outside during the winter.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke on Wednesday for Prva TV about his phone call earlier in the afternoon with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Vucic stressed that the conversation was "long and rich in content."

"If I may say - and I've met with him many times - today in his words I felt probably the highest degree of support, as well as in (his) reactions, because I know him well," the president said, adding that he asked Putin "what his advice was."

Serbia's president asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for advice Wednesday on how to counter Kosovo's "violence and aggression" against Serbs — a development that could complicate Western attempts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Balkans.

Aleksandar Vucic's office said in a statement that he informed Putin about the "brutal attack" by Kosovo police on Monday against a senior Serb official who was arrested and expelled after entering the country without an official permit.

Serbian media report this morning on security alert USA Embassy in Kosovo posted on its website on 27 March 2018, referring to heightened risk of terrorist attacks in Kosovo, particularly during holiday seasons.

The statement is available here: https://xk.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-pristina-kosovo-march-27-2018/

According to a new survey, a huge majority of Serbia's citizens would pick Kosovo if they had to choose between Kosovo and the EU.

The choice in question refers to "accepting Kosovo's independence as a condition for EU membership" - and as many 81 percent of respondents in the poll, conducted by the Institute for European Affairs NGO and Ninamedia, said they would not.

11 percent would "accept the offer," according to the results.