The International Monetary Fund praised Kosovo's new prime minister on Monday for defying a strike threat and sticking to plans for steep public sector pay hikes. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, who took power two weeks ago, has vetoed a pledge by his predecessor to raise public sector salaries by 25 percent annually for the next four years, following a similar raise this year. Legislators in the 120-seat Parliament in the first round of balloting on Monday cast 73 votes in favor of the 2015 budget of 1.57 billion euros, which is 8.1 percent bigger than the previous year.

Trade unions in Kosovo threatened on Friday to go out on strike after the impoverished Balkan country's new prime minister vetoed annual 25-percent public sector pay hikes promised by his predecessor. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa told Reuters on Thursday a promise by his predecessor Hashim Thaci to raise wages by 25 percent per year over the next four years would be "impossible" to keep, but that they would rise in line with economic growth. "You have started running the country very badly, Prime Minister Mustafa," the head of Kosovo's union of teachers, Rrahman Jasharaj, wrote in a public lett

By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:25pm EDT (Reuters) - Kosovo is on track to take part in its first ever Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 after the region in the Balkans was granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday. It could now achieve full membership as early as the IOC session in December, the IOC said in a statement on Wednesday. The decision angered Serbia's Olympic Committee which has lodged an official protest with the Olympic body. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO went to war

BY FATOS BYTYCI Lawmakers in Kosovo will vote in a new government on Monday led by former Pristina mayor Isa Mustafa, with outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci becoming foreign minister, a senior aide to Thaci said. The deal ends six months of wrangling between Kosovo's two biggest parties, Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), since an inconclusive election in the young Balkan state. "Kosovo's new PM will be Isa Mustafa.

Thu, Nov 20 2014 By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - A former minister-in-exile during Kosovo's 1990srebellion against Serbian rule is poised to become the state's next prime minister, a senior party ally said on Thursday. It comes after the United States helped broker a deal to end more than five months of political deadlock. "The only name that LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo) has nominated is Isa Mustafa," Lutfi Haziri, a senior LDK official, told Reuters. Mustafa is leader of the LDK, a former mayor of the capital Pristina and once finance minister-in-exile in the 1990s, when majori

By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's two biggest parties agreed "in principle" on Wednesday to form a government, the Balkan country's president said, signalling an end to more than five months of damaging political deadlock. President Atifete Jahjaga made the announcement after meeting outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Isa Mustafa of the rival Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). "Thaci and Mustafa agreed in principle to form a coalition between PDK and LDK, to build institutions of the

Mon, Nov 17 2014 PRISTINA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The government of Kosovo has picked a French consortium which includes Compagnie des Alpes to develop the country's only ski resort, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Monday. The project will create thousands of jobs in one of Europe's poorest countries. The consortium will invest 410 million euros to develop more than 100 kilometres (miles) of ski slopes and multi-use facilities at Brezovica to attract tourists throughout the year.

7:25am EST BELGRADE (Reuters) - Albania's prime minister, the first to visit Serbia in 68 years, urged Belgrade on Monday to accept the independence of majority-Albanian Kosovo and was accused by his Serbian counterpart of "provocation". "The sooner you recognize (Kosovan independence) the sooner we can move ahead," Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said in comments translated into Serbian during a tense press conference with Serbian premier Aleksandar Vucic. Vucic said Rama's remarks represented a "provocation" and that Serbia would never recognize Kosovo, which declared independence in 200

Thu, Nov 6 2014 By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - The U.S.

Thu, Oct 30 2014 By Fatos Bytyci PRISTINA (Reuters) - The president of Kosovo on Thursday turned down an invitation to make what would have been a historic first trip to former master Serbia, citing a political crisis that has left the young Balkan state without a new government for almost five months. Atifete Jahjaga had been invited to take part in a meeting in Belgrade of the Trilateral Commission, a biannual gathering of influential business leaders, academics and policymakers, starting on Friday. The visit would have been the first by a Kosovo head of state since the former Serbian pro