The leaders of some of the European Union’s biggest economies, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, will offer the western Balkan countries new incentives to join the world’s largest trading bloc and stabilize the continent’s most volatile region. https://bloom.bg/2tMhF2x

As Trump belittles NATO and sends conciliatory signs to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin is stepping in. He has pledged to strengthen defense cooperation with Serbia, a traditional ally, donating six used MiG-29 fighter planes to the army.

By Gordana Filipovic and Misha Savic - Nov 10, 2014 Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic rejected an appeal by his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama to recognize Kosovo’s independence in the first visit by an Albanian leader in almost seven decades. Rama, the first Albanian senior official to visit Serbia since Cold War-era leader Enver Hoxha in 1947, said in Belgrade today Kosovo’s independence was an “unchangeable reality,” after he and Vucic agreed to join forces and clamp down on customs violations.

By Gordana Filipovic - Oct 8, 2014 The European Union said it is “crucial” for Serbia to work on normalizing relations with Kosovo and uphold the rule of law. The biggest former Yugoslav republic should implement “in good faith” all agreements reached with Kosovo, its breakaway province, for the accession talks to “proceed smoothly,” the European Commission said in its annual progress report on countries aspiring to join the 28-member bloc. Serbia “sufficiently meets the political criteria,” and the government should continue to focus on “the rule of law, full exercise of freedom of express

Sep 12, 2014 - 13:02 Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is sticking to his ambition of leading the six-year-old country for a third term following inconclusive snap elections, extending a political deadlock in one of Europe’s poorest state. The former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army leader’s Democratic Party of Kosovo is battling to stay in power against a bloc of challenging parties after he won just 37 of parliament’s 120 seats in the June ballot.

By Boris Cerni and Misha Savic - Jun 8, 2014 Prime Minister Hashim Thaci won Kosovo’s second parliamentary elections since independence from Serbia, according to early results, with voters seeking higher living standards in one of Europe’s poorest states. Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo had 30 percent with 44 percent of the vote counted, the Kosovo Electoral Commission said on its website late yesterday. The Democratic League of Kosovo led by former Pristina Mayor Isa Mustafa was second with 26 percent. Turnout was 43 percent, the Commission said.

By Boris Cerni and Misha Savic - Jun 6, 2014 Kosovo will hold a general election June 8 as the former Serbian province tries to lift an economy dependent on foreign aid and mend ties with its northern neighbor so both can accelerate European Union accession. Serbs in Kosovo’s north will vote for the first time since the mostly ethnic-Albanian state declared independence in 2008 after violence marred a ballot last year.