Nato chief announces further measures as situation in Serb-majority north remains ‘fragile’
Nato has said it will send 700 extra troops to try to curb the violence in Kosovo a day after 30 alliance-led peacekeeping soldiers and more than 50 ethnic Serbian protesters were injured in clashes.
On Monday, Nato peacekeepers in riot gear had secured a town hall in the town of Zvecan as the situation remained tense.
Continue reading...Dozens of Italian and Hungarian soldiers from Kfor mission and more than 50 Serbs were injured in clashes over ethnic Albanian mayors taking office
More than 30 Nato peacekeeping soldiers defending three town halls in northern Kosovo have been injured in clashes with Serb protesters, while Serbia’s president put the army on the highest level of combat alert.
The tense situation developed after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo’s Serb-majority area after elections that the Serbs boycotted – a move that led the US and its allies to rebuke Pristina on Friday.
Continue reading...Albin Kurti warns rising tensions only benefit Putin as ethnic Serbs set up road blocks in north of country
Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, has warned of Russia inflaming tensions between his country and Serbia due to the war in Ukraine faltering, as Belgrade took its first step in deploying troops to the region.
Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo, where they are in the majority, have had barricades set up for more than a week, preventing the free movement of the Kosovan authorities, despite US and EU calls for the illegal road blocks to be dismantled.
Continue reading...Trucks and agricultural machines used as roadblocks, heightening recent tensions in the region
Hundreds of ethnic Serbs erected barricades on a road in northern Kosovo on Saturday, blocking the traffic over the two main border crossings towards Serbia, police said.
Trucks, ambulance cars and agricultural machines were used as roadblocks, heightening recent tensions which included explosions, shootings and an armed attack on a police patrol which saw one ethnic Albanian police officer wounded.
Continue reading...Serbia to abolish entry-exit document for Kosovo ID holders and Kosovo agrees not to introduce them
Serbia and Kosovo have agreed on an arrangement for free movement between their countries, the EU’s foreign policy chief announced Saturday.
Serbia agreed to abolish its entry-exit document for Kosovo ID holders, and Kosovo agreed to not introduce them for Serbian ID holders, said Josep Borrell.
Continue reading...Power blackouts after wholesale prices soar as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Soaring international energy prices have brought power blackouts to Europe as Kosovo said it could no longer afford to import electricity, adding to fears that tensions with Russia will plunge the continent into crisis this winter.
Consumers in the Balkan state have been told they will be allowed six hours of power at a time, punctuated by two-hour breaks, according to a spokesperson for its energy distribution company, KEDS.
Continue reading...Protesters set up roadblocks and shots were fired after Pristina brought in rules that would mean Serbs in Kosovo must use Kosovo licence plates
The Kosovo government postponed implementation of a decision that would oblige Serbs in the north of the country to apply for car license plates issued by Pristina institutions after tensions rose between police and local communities.
Late on Sunday protesters parked trucks filled with gravel and other heavy machinery on roads leading to two border crossings, Jarinje and Bernjak, in a territory where Serbs form a majority. Kosovo police said they had to close the border crossings.
Continue reading...Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina urge western leaders to ‘engage more actively and strongly’ in the region
Russia is likely to expand its confrontation with the west by pressuring Serbia into undermining the independence of Kosovo and other western Balkan states, regional leaders have warned in interviews with the Guardian.
They also called for the EU and Nato to speed up their approach to applications for membership from Balkans countries, and bolster defences against Russian interference.
Continue reading...Behind a seemingly minor dispute, the long unresolved enmity with Serbia simmers
At an abandoned petrol station, half a mile from Kosovo’s Jarinje border checkpoint with Serbia, a giant Serbian flag had been laid out on the roof. In the former forecourt, a group of young people sat on upturned beer crates, sharing bottles of water and homemade rakija in small plastic cups. “This is our squad, our special forces,” one joked, as four tall, muscular men walked over to join them.
The mountain road next to them, flanked on either side by groups of protesters around tents and smouldering campfires, had been well and truly blocked by the men’s heavily laden trucks.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms from Thailand to Texas
Continue reading...Travellers from Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, and North Macedonia also affected by move
The EU has removed six countries, including the US, from a Covid “white list” of places whose tourists should be permitted entry without restrictions such as mandatory quarantine.
A majority of EU countries had reopened their borders to Americans in June, in the hope of salvaging the summer tourism season although most required a negative test ahead of travel. The move was not, however, reciprocated by the US.
Continue reading...Driver reportedly fell asleep on journey between Frankfurt and Pristina, the capital of Kosovo
At least 10 people have died after a bus swerved off a highway and crashed in Croatia, police have said.
The incident, believed to have happened when the driver fell asleep early on Sunday, has left at least 44 others injured, some seriously.
Continue reading...Hashim Thaçi was guerrilla leader during 1990s war for independence from Serbia
Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, a guerrilla leader during the country’s war for independence from Serbia in the 1990s, has resigned to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague.
Thaçi announced his resignation at a news conference in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital. He said he was taking the step “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo”.
Continue reading...Majority-Muslim Kosovo will recognise Jewish state, while Serbia promises to relocate embassy to Jerusalem
Israel scored two diplomatic gains on Friday when majority-Muslim Kosovo agreed to recognise the Jewish state and Serbia said it would move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
The decisions came after a White House-brokered agreement between the two Balkan arch-rivals to normalise economic relations two decades after they fought a bitter war.
Continue reading...White House summit irritates EU diplomats, who say deal brokered by them is near
The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia will meet at the White House on Thursday and Friday, in an encounter that some see as a push for a diplomatic win for Donald Trump to brandish during his re-election campaign.
Kosovo’s prime minister, Avdullah Hoti, will meet with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vučić, in talks that Trump aides say will be primarily about economic issues between the two countries, but may pave the way to a broader deal.
Continue reading...Court examining crimes during 1998-99 war also charges nine other former separatist fighters
A prosecutor investigating crimes committed during Kosovo‘s 1998-99 independence war with Serbia has indicted Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaçi, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The indictment was announced as Thaçi was on his way to Washington for a White House meeting with Serbia’s president organised by Richard Grenell, Donald Trump’s controversial ambassador to Germany who was also appointed as the administration’s Balkan peace envoy.
Continue reading...Albin Kurti claims Richard Grenell involved in pushing for vote that collapsed government
Kosovo’s caretaker prime minister, Albin Kurti, has launched a stinging attack on Donald Trump’s acting national intelligence director, accusing him of meddling in the country’s politics and helping to bring down his former government with the goal of delivering a quick diplomatic victory for Trump.
Kurti is staying on as PM in an acting capacity after his coalition partners turned against him in a parliamentary vote last month that was egged on by US diplomats. The upheaval was met with disbelief among many Kosovans, who wanted the government to focus on fighting coronavirus.
Continue reading...In exclusive interview, leftwinger Albin Kurti condemns the bloc’s refusal to halt Balkan enlargement
The leftwinger set to become Kosovo’s surprise new prime minister has condemned the EU’s decision to halt further Balkans enlargement, saying it showed western leaders had forgotten the lessons of two world wars and instead were in retreat in the face of fascism and populism.
Albin Kurti said the stance could damage the chances of Kovoso reaching a deal with Serbia, which has refused to recognise it as independent since the end of the 1998-99 war, as Belgrade has less incentive to act without the prospect of EU membership.
Continue reading...Ramush Haradinaj agrees to appear at Serbia war crimes inquiry but not as leader
Kosovo’s prime minister has resigned after being invited for questioning by a Hague-based court investigating crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after the 1998-99 war.
Ramush Haradinaj said he had agreed to be interviewed at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office next week and did not want to appear there as prime minister.
Continue reading...But Hashim Thaçi has no plans to lift tariffs on Serbian goods that led to suspension of talks
An agreement to normalise relations between Serbia and Kosovo along the lines of the historic deal between Greece and North Macedonia is still possible in 2019, despite severe setbacks in recent months, the president of Kosovo has said.
Serbia has refused to recognise Kosovo as an independent state since its former province broke away in 2008 after almost a decade of international administration in the aftermath of a bloody war in 1998-99.
Continue reading...