Serbian Construction and Infrastructure Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Monday that a contract to build a highway between Nis and Pristina would be signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) later this week, TV N1 reports.

She said that the contract to build the highway between Nis (via Merdare crossing) and Pristina would be signed on Thursday in Belgrade during the visit of European Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc who will open the offices of the Transport Community in Serbia on Friday.

Leader of Peoples’ Party (NS) Vuk Jeremic called for the boycott of elections in Serbia, arguing that in that case all decisions made by the institutions elected after the poll and international agreements that the authorities would sing, including the eventual agreement on “delineation” by which Pristina would get seat in the UN would be illegitimate, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Belgrade based daily Blic writes today that the great American diplomatic return to the Balkans, obviously initiated by the EU’s inability to unravel the Kosovo knot, has sparked nervousness in the EU, and emissaries come to see what can be done after Mogherini's diplomatic collapse.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that those who boycott the elections in Belgrade are not doing that in Pristina because, as he said, “the conditions seem to be perfect over there.”

He thanked the Serbs who showed support to the Serbian List, which runs in the Kosovo elections, and he added that a lot of pressure was exerted on all others to run only to seize votes from the Serb List.

Kosovo Serbs should participate in the elections gathered around Srpska Lista, Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic reiterated once again on Sunday morning, KoSSev portal reports.

The portal added that according to the President Vucic some foreign representatives, who are “posing as our greatest friends“ are “offering the money in taverns and offices“, to those who are running against Srpska Lista.

Milos Zeman, the Czech Republic’s President, said on Friday he did not exclude the possibility of Prague’s withdrawal of the recognition of Kosovo’s independence, adding “it would be difficult, but still one day” not impossible, the Beta news agency reported.

In an interview with Parlamentnji Listi, a pro-Russian website, Zeman, whose administrative role is more of a ceremonial one, while decisions on such things are within the Government responsibility, has said that “war criminals shouldn’t lead any country in Europe.”

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin told Friday’s Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti that demarcation between Serbs and Albanians should be implemented as soon as possible.

The sooner we achieve demarcation, the sooner Serbia can focus on itself and the Serbs outside its borders, he said and added that he would like to see his stand adopted by the president and government.

The Basic Pristina Court sentenced six people to a total of 25 years in jail for planning terrorist attacks on the members of the NATO-led KFOR, the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and discotheques in Serb-populated parts of Kosovo, the KoSSev website reported on Wednesday.

The individual sentences vary from ten years to 12 months in prison.

The Russian ambassador to Serbia Alexandar Botsan – Kharchenko said on Wednesday that if his country was involved in solving the Kosovo issue, Moscow would insist on international law and still valid UN Security Council Resolution 1244 “or everything else would be in vain,” the FoNet news agency reported.

He told the Russian Sputnik media outlet that he did not see a favourable international situation for solving the Kosovo issue right now, "especially since the US and some other countries want a quick result."

Serbia aims to reduce the number of countries which recognise Kosovo’s independence to bellow a half of the UN member states and that will happen by the end of the year, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said on Wednesday, the Beta news agency reported.

His words came despite the newly appointed US special envoy for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer’s warning to Belgrade to stop campaigning against Kosovo’s eventual membership to the international organisations.