Kosovo

PRISTINA — When in December Serbia put forces on highest combat alert in response to increasing violence in Kosovo between police and minority Serb…

Economist Safet Gerxhaliu said Kosovo’s prospects were suffering from the lack of real peace with Belgrade and shaky rule of law. War here has not brought anything good to anyone.” “Do something for the people so they can have (good) lives. There could be reprisal attacks on Albanians in the north (too).” It’s all bound to unravel on the Kosovo side first.” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would invite the two leaders to Brussels for meetings soon. Last month, mediators urged them to accept it or face repercussions including loss of support for their EU membership bids. Teachers, doctors and public employees in the region receive their pay and benefits from Belgrade. They instead regard Belgrade as their capital, and Serbia’s constitution still treats Kosovo as an integral part of its territory. But unresolved grievances continue to prevent normal neighborly relations between Pristina and Belgrade. Intense Western diplomacy halted a feared slide back into armed conflict in the run-up to the 15th anniversary on Feb. “This meant for them Kosovo is a dangerous region.”

POPULATION: Around 1.8 million according to the most recent census in 2011, which local Serbs boycotted. Ethnic Albanians comprise more than 90 percent of the ...

Belgrade and Kosovo have since engaged in years of sporadic, inconclusive talks on normalisation brokered by the European Union, but with no breakthrough to date. Mutual expulsions and migrations to and from neighbouring Albania in the early 20th century changed Kosovo's ethnic makeup. VIOLENCE & WAR: Ethnic tensions escalated in the 1980s as federal, multinational Yugoslavia began to crumble and economic conditions deteriorated. The Nemanjic dynasty made Kosovo the spiritual heartland of Serbia, giving lands to the Orthodox Church and building monasteries that still stand today. The other significant denominations are Orthodox Christians - mainly Serbs - and Roman Catholics. Ethnic Albanians comprise more than 90 percent of the population, Serbs about 5.3 percent with ethnic groups such as Bosniaks, Turks and Roma making up the remainder.

(Reuters) - Kosovo's relations with Serbia remain fraught with tension 15 years after it declared independence, with Belgrade still not recognising th...

July 2011 – Minority Serbs in north Kosovo burn border crossings with Serbia after Kosovo Albanian police act to take control of the defiant area and implement a government decision to ban imports from Serbia. 2, 2023 – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warns parliament that if Belgrade does not accept the EU plan, its EU membership talks will be derailed and access to pre-accession funds and investments denied. April 2013 – Pristina and Belgrade sign a deal committing to an EU-mediated dialogue to resolve outstanding issues. He calls it “a good basis for further discussion and solid platform for moving forward”, provided concerns such as “international guarantees” are tackled – flagging possible conditions for local Serb self-governance. August 2015 – Kosovo lawmakers approve a special court to try war crimes cases. Tens of thousands of Serbs protest in Belgrade and a small number set the empty U.S. 6, 2023 – Kurti says yes to the EU plan, with caveats. June 1999 – After a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Serbian military targets to halt killings of ethnic Albanian civilians by Belgrade’s counter-insurgency forces, rump Yugoslavia comprising Serbia and Montenegro signs a deal to withdraw troops and police from Kosovo. Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari presents a U.S.- and European-backed plan for “supervised independence”, but Russian objections – backing Serbia’s refusal to cede sovereignty over Kosovo – block U.N. (Reuters) – Kosovo’s relations with Serbia remain fraught with tension 15 years after it declared independence, with Belgrade still not recognising the statehood of its former province. 17, 2008 – After U.N.-mediated negotiations break down, Kosovo, backed by the United States and most EU member countries, declares independence. Given Russia’s veto in the U.N.

Interior Minister says illegal marijuana labs raided by police in Mitrovica North on Sunday are run by the same people who were behind recent disturbances ...

Delevic was wounded as a consequence. Two suspects were arrested while police said investigations are continuing. In his first comment, Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Xhelal Svecla, said the owner of one of the laboratories is a person “who attacked the Kosovo police officers last month” and accused him of “being part of gangs who take orders from organised crime in Serbia”.

Fifteen years after Kosovo declared independence, 50000 minority Serbs in the north bordering Serbia refuse to recognize state institutions, ...

The area of north Kosovo where Serbs form a majority is in important ways a virtual extension of Serbia. and EU envoys are pressing Serbia and Kosovo to approve a plan presented in mid-2022 under which Belgrade would stop lobbying against a Kosovo seat in international organizations including the United Nations. The alliance says it would intervene in line with its mandate if Kosovo were at risk of renewed conflict. Serbs in north Kosovo vent their rejectionism by refusing to pay the state utility for energy they use and often attacking police who try to make arrests. Serbs in Kosovo seek to create an association of majority-Serb municipalities operating with considerable autonomy. Serbia, however, still formally deems Kosovo to be part of its territory and denies suggestions it is whipping up strife within its neighbors borders.

By Fatos Bytyci and Ivana Sekularac PRISTINA (Reuters) - When in December Serbia put forces on highest combat alert in response to increasing violence...

Economist Safet Gerxhaliu said Kosovo’s prospects were suffering from the lack of real peace with Belgrade and shaky rule of law. It’s all bound to unravel on the Kosovo side first.” And this failure today is being paid for by Kosovo citizens,” Gerxhaliu said. There could be reprisal attacks on Albanians in the north (too).” “Do something for the people so they can have (good) lives. Teachers, doctors and public employees in the region receive their pay and benefits from Belgrade. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would invite the two leaders to Brussels for meetings soon. They instead regard Belgrade as their capital, and Serbia’s constitution still treats Kosovo as an integral part of its territory. Intense Western diplomacy halted a feared slide back into armed conflict in the run-up to the 15th anniversary on Feb. Last month, mediators urged them to accept it or face repercussions including loss of support for their EU membership bids. But unresolved grievances continue to prevent normal neighbourly relations between Pristina and Belgrade. “This meant for them Kosovo is a dangerous region.”

(Reuters) - Fifteen years after Kosovo declared independence, 50,000 minority Serbs in the north bordering Serbia refuse to recognise state institutions, ...