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☆ Aiming for Rosier Ties, Xi Wraps Up Europe Visit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Andrew Higgins | Chris Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, received a gift of fine cognac at the Élysée Palace in Paris and was cheered in Belgrade by Serbians waving Chinese flags, albeit most of them were bused-in government workers. And by the time he left Hungary on Friday at the end of a six-day European tour, the clouds over his country’s relations with the West looked much less dark, at least from China’s perspective. Mr. Xi told President Emmanuel Macron of France that relations would be “as vibrant and thriving as springtime.” At his next stop, he said the “tree of China-Serbia friendship will grow tall and sturdy.” In Hungary, Mr. Xi told Prime Minister Viktor Orban that their countries were poised to “embark on a golden voyage.”The Chinese state-run news media, never less than glowing about Mr. Xi, went to strenuous lengths to present his European meetings as a triumph.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi, Emmanuel Macron, Viktor Orban Locations: Paris, Belgrade, Hungary, France, China, Serbia

☆ A can of paint. Stolen license plates. Odd messages. How the FBI charged a Florida man with kidnapping his wife in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-09 | by ( Faith Karimi | Al Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But the FBI said this week they’ve arrested the mystery man who entered her Madrid apartment building that night: her estranged husband. Knezevich’s attorney, Kenneth Padowitz, told CNN in February that his client is innocent and “has never been to Spain.” Padowitz declined to comment Wednesday after Knezevich’s arrest. She was planning a trip to Barcelona with her friends on February 5, her brother told CNN, making her sudden lack of contact more concerning. Spanish firefighters entered her apartment for a welfare check and she was nowhere to be found, court documents said. And they were written with the help of another Colombian woman Knezevich had met on a dating app months earlier, court documents said.

Persons: Ana Maria Knezevich, Henao, they’ve, David Knezevich, he’d, Kenneth Padowitz, “, ” Padowitz, Knezevich, ” Henao, Padowitz, Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, Manu Fernandez, James Marshall, they’re, ” Marshall, ”, Sanna Rameau, ” Rameau, she’d, — Knezevich, Knezevich’s, CNN’s Pau Mosquera, Denise Royal, Carlos Suarez Organizations: CNN, FBI, Miami International Airport, EOX Technology Solutions Inc, Peugeot, AP FBI Locations: Madrid, Spain, Florida, Barcelona, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Serbia, Spanish, Turkey, Belgrade, Salamanca, Colombia, Colombian, Bogota

☆ In Serbia, Xi Underlines Close Ties With Ally That Shares Wariness of U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China and Serbia on Wednesday proclaimed an “ironclad friendship” during a visit to Belgrade by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, underlining the close political and economic ties between two countries that share a wariness of the United States. Mr. Xi arrived in Serbia late Tuesday — the 25th anniversary of a mistaken 1999 airstrike involving the U.S. Air Force during the Kosovo war that destroyed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Three Chinese journalists were killed in the strike. “This we should never forget,” Mr. Xi said in a statement published on Tuesday by Politika, a Serbian newspaper, recalling that “25 years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese Embassy.” He said that China’s friendship with Serbia had been “forged with the blood of our compatriots” and “will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples.”Mr. Xi appeared briefly on Wednesday morning with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, before a cheering crowd gathered in front of the Palace of Serbia, the former headquarters of the now defunct government of Yugoslavia that now houses Serbian government offices.

Persons: Xi, Mr, ”, “, Aleksandar Vucic Organizations: Wednesday, U.S . Air Force, Embassy, Politika, NATO flagrantly, Serbian Locations: China, Serbia, Belgrade, United States, Kosovo, Serbian, Yugoslavia

☆ These snakes not only fake their own deaths, they use gory special effects to do it
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Dice snakes can fake their own death when being attacked by predators, putting on a theatrical display that includes smearing themselves with their own poop and letting blood ooze from their mouths. To test this, the researchers traveled to Golem Grad, an island in a lake in North Macedonia, where the snakes are common. They observed that some snakes played dead by leaving their mouth wide open, some smeared themselves with poop and others oozed blood from their mouth, too. Overall, the snakes spent between about six and 24 seconds playing dead. While the snakes don’t squirt blood directly at their predators, like horned lizards do, bleeding from the mouth signals their apparent death to the predator.

Persons: Jozef Kaut, ” Vukašin, ”, Bjelica Organizations: CNN, University of Belgrade, Golem Locations: North Macedonia, Serbia

☆ Russians are so desperate to see Western pop stars, they are paying to go on 'concert vacations' abroad
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Mikhaila Friel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The company has sold 150 concert vacations since last year, according to The Telegraph. Russian music fans, however, appear to be so desperate to see their favorite artists that they are paying thousands to go on "concert vacations" abroad. A spokesperson for the operator told The Telegraph that it had sold 150 concert vacations since it launched its packages in the fall of last year. One of the packages — a five-day trip to see Ed Sheeran perform in Belgrade, Serbia, in August — costs around $1,123. "Western superstars don't perform in Moscow anymore," Jonny Tickle, a British man living in Moscow, wrote on X.

Persons: Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, —, Snoop, Sheeran, Jonny Tickle, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Adele, Tickle, Guy Berryman, hadn't, Coldplay, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, Elzy, Vakarchuk Organizations: The, Service, Express, The Telegraph, Scorpions, Ukraine, Europa, Coldplay, Russian Express Locations: Russian, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Zagreb, Croatia, Dubai, Belgrade, Serbia, Moscow, British, Dua, Munich, Budapest, Vienna, Ukrainian, Brussels

☆ In Europe, Xi looks to counter claims it’s aiding Russia in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | Xiaofei Xu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“China is neither the creator of the crisis, nor a party to it or a participant. The trip will also see Xi visit Serbia and Hungary, with the leader’s visit to Belgrade coinciding with the 25th anniversary of NATO’s bombing of the Chinese embassy in the city that killed three. Beijing has defended its trade with Russia as part of normal bilateral ties; it also says it does not provide weapons to parties in conflict. It has not been accused of sending lethal weapons to Russia, but rather goods with military use. Beijing supports efforts recognized by both Russia and Ukraine, with “equal and just discussions of all possible peace plans at the conference,” he said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der, “, ramped, Macron, Xi “, he’s, ”, ” Macron, presser, Xi, Vladimir Putin, von der Leyen, Putin Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, French, European, NATO, Biden, Kyiv Locations: Hong Kong, Ukraine, China, Europe, Moscow, “ China, Paris, Washington, Beijing, Russian, Serbia, Hungary, Belgrade, Serbian, Balkans, Russia, France, “, Israel, Switzerland

☆ China’s Xi is visiting Europe for the first time in five years – his goodwill tour will be an uphill struggle
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Major breakthroughs with China’s toughest critics will be hard to come by unless Xi is ready to make surprise concessions. And the trip could instead serve to underscore divisions – not only between Europe and China – but those within Europe that could play to China’s favor, analysts say. Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron visit a garden in Guangdong during Macron's state visit to China last April. Putin has said he plans to visit China this month, according to Russian state media. Xi may also look to highlight Chinese investments in both Belgrade and Budapest in a message to the rest of Europe.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Andrea Bocelli, –, Xi, China –, ”, Noah Barkin, Hungary –, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Von der Leyen, Olaf Scholz, Chong Ja Ian, “, Chong, Jacques Witt, China’s, Macron, Russia …, Wang Yiwei, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Aleksandar Vučić, Viktor Orban – Organizations: CNN, European Union, Ukraine, German Marshall Fund of, EU, “, National University of Singapore, Getty, Beijing’s Renmin University, NATO, Reuters, EV Locations: China, Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, “ China, Europe, Berlin, United States, Serbia, Hungary, Beijing, Paris, “ France, North America, Guangdong, Ukraine, Switzerland, Barkin, “, Belgrade, Budapest, Balkans, Balkan

☆ The extraordinary ancient secret places hidden under Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Lisa Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Less obviously visible but equally impressive are the historical treasures, some more than 12,000 years old, that can be found underground. Unlike the Basilica, this underground chamber was completely forgotten about until less than 15 years ago. Other than locals herding their livestock through the ruins of a garrison city dating to the 6th century, few people went there. Now, the site has given up numerous treasures including rock-cut tombs, an olive processing workshop and a series of underground cisterns. Yeraltı, literally meaning underground, was originally a dungeon in the basement of a fort built by the Byzantines in the 8th century CE.

Persons: James Bond, Theodosius II, Theodosius, Derinkuyu, tufa, émigrés, Han, Rümeli Han, Sarıcazade Ragıp Pasha, Sultan Abdülhamid II’s, Sancaklar, Göbeklitepe, Yeraltı, –, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Grand Vizier Bahir Mustafa Paşa, dervish Organizations: CNN, Love, UNESCO, Şanlıurfa Archaeology Locations: Turkey, Europe, Asia, Russia, Faith, Istanbul, Constantinople, Fatih, Belgrade Forest, Valens, Dara, Mardin, Nevşehir, Cappadocia, Derinkuyu, Taksim, stairwells, Sancaklar, Büyükçekmece, Mecca, Göbeklitepe, everyone’s, Şanlıurfa, Karaköy, Yeraltı, Ottoman, Grand

☆ Can China play a role in avoiding an all-out war in the Middle East?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Nectar Gan | Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“China calls on the international community, especially countries with influence, to play a constructive role for the peace and stability of the region,” the ministry added. The decision by Iran’s leaders to strike at Israel directly has pushed the shadow war between the two regional foes into the open. That’s why China does not condemn Iran,” said Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank. Beijing meanwhile denounced the strike as a “barbarian act,” with protests erupting outside US diplomatic compounds across China. “For China, had US applies enough pressure on Israel, neither the Israeli attack nor the Iranian retaliation would have taken place.

Persons: Beijing’s, Antony Blinken, Wang Yi –, Saudi Arabia –, ”, William Figueroa, Figueroa, “, Xi Jinping, China’s, Iran ”, Israel, ” Figueroa, Wang Wenbin, Wang, Yun Sun, Bill Clinton, Jiang Zemin, ” Sun, Kishida, Jaishankar, Israel Katz, Hossein Amirabdollahian Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Foreign Ministry, Washington, US State Department, Hamas, Beijing, Tehran, University of Groningen, Global Security Initiative, CNN, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Stimson, NATO, Embassy, Japan’s, Israel’s Foreign, Iranian Locations: China, Hong Kong, East, Iran, Israel, Beijing, Gaza, Tehran, Damascus, Republic, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian, Red, Tehran –, Netherlands, underinvestment, United States, Israeli, Syria, Quds, Washington, Belgrade, That’s, Yugoslavia, Asia, ”, India, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia

☆ Serbia's Vucic Nominates Ally Vucevic as Prime Minister Designate
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( March | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday nominated his close ally Milos Vucevic to be prime minister and to lead a new government through a time of war in Europe and tensions with Kosovo. The nomination comes more than three months after their party, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), won the most votes in a national election on Dec. 17. Vucevic took over leadership of the party after Vucic stepped down last year. "I propose to parliament Milos Vucevic as candidate for prime minister of Serbia," Vucic wrote on Instagram. A lawyer by profession, Vucevic was deputy prime minister and defence minister in the government of his predecessor Ana Brnabic.

Persons: Aleksandar Vucic, Milos Vucevic, Vucevic, Vucic, Ana Brnabic, Ivana Sekularac, Giles Elgood Organizations: BELGRADE, Reuters, Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, Socialists, Hungarians, European Union, EU, United Nations, Moscow Locations: Serbian, Europe, Kosovo, Serbia, Russia, China, Ukraine

The movement is in stark contrast to Croatia’s recent past, when it was part of the former Yugoslavia, a Communist-run country that protected abortion rights in its constitution 50 years ago. As a result, many women have traveled to neighboring Slovenia for an abortion over the years. Pushed forward by a women’s organization born out of World War II, the right to abortion was later included in Yugoslavia’s constitution. Elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia, Serbia and Slovenia have included the freedom to choose whether to have children in their constitutions. Bosnia’s women can legally obtain abortion during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, though economic impediments exist in the impoverished, post-war country.

Persons: ”, Ana Sunic, Tanja Ignjatovic, Sanja Sarnavka, “, Muzevni, Mirela Cavajda, Cavajde, Jasenka Grujić, Grujic, ” Grujic, ” Ignjatovic, Sabina Niksic, Predrag Milic Organizations: Catholic, European Union, Autonomous Women’s Center, Associated Press, Gec Locations: ZAGREB, Croatia, Catholic Croatia, European, Slovenia, Yugoslavia, Communist, Zagreb, Croatia's, “, France, Balkans, Belgrade, Serbia, Croatian, Sarajevo, Bosnia, Podgorica, Montenegro

☆ Jared Kushner's $500 million investment deal in Serbia mirrors plans Donald Trump had a decade ago
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Jared Kushner is partnering with Serbian officials to build a luxury hotel in Belgrade, per the NYT. The $500 million contract mirrors plans Donald Trump had made nearly a decade ago, per the outlet. AdvertisementA tentative deal has been struck between Jared Kushner, his investment firm Affinity Partners, and Serbian officials to build a luxury hotel in Belgrade. Bloomberg reported Kushner recently ruled out re-joining the Trump administration if his father-in-law wins his reelection bid. Even after distancing himself from the Trump administration, Kushner has made big money through his investment and development firms.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald Trump, Kushner, —, Kushner's, Trump, Trump's, Ivanka Organizations: Serbian, Service, Affinity Partners, New York Times, Times, Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, Trump Organization, Trump, Business, Trump White House, Bloomberg, White Locations: Belgrade, Serbia's, Serbian, Saudi, Persian

In 2013, two years before he began running for president, Mr. Trump — Mr. Kushner’s father-in-law — told a top Serbian government official that he wanted to build a luxury hotel on the site. Associates of the Trump Organization traveled to Belgrade to inspect the location. The project did not come together before Mr. Trump’s election in 2016, and after being sworn in he vowed to not do any new foreign deals. But developing the site would again draw interest from Mr. Trump’s circle. Richard Grenell, whom Mr. Trump had appointed as a special envoy in the Balkans, pushed a related plan during the Trump administration that Serbia and the United States jointly work to rebuild the Defense Ministry site.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald J, Trump, Kushner, Kushner’s, —, Richard Grenell Organizations: Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, NATO, The New York Times, Serbian, Associates, Trump Organization, United, Defense Ministry Locations: Belgrade, Serbian, Balkans, Serbia, United States, American

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald J. Trump, confirmed on Friday that he was closing in on major real estate deals in Albania and Serbia, the latest example of the former president’s family doing business abroad even as Mr. Trump seeks to return to the White House. Mr. Kushner’s plans in the Balkans appear to have come about in part through relationships built while Mr. Trump was in office. Mr. Kushner, who was a senior White House official, said he had been working on the deals with Richard Grenell, who served briefly as acting director of national intelligence under Mr. Trump and also as ambassador to Germany and special envoy to the Balkans. One of the proposed projects would be the development of an island off the coast of Albania into a luxury tourist destination. A second — with a planned luxury hotel and 1,500 residential units and a museum — is in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, at the site of the long-vacant former headquarters of the Yugoslav Army destroyed in 1999 by the NATO bombings, according to a member of Parliament in Serbia and Mr. Kushner’s company.

Persons: Jared Kushner, Donald J, Trump, Kushner’s, Kushner, Richard Grenell Organizations: Mr, White House, Yugoslav, NATO Locations: Albania, Serbia, Germany, Balkans, Belgrade

☆ A passenger jet smashed into runway lights as it took off, flew for 60 minutes, then landed with a gaping hole in its fuselage
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Air Serbia flight knocked into runway lights as it took off on Sunday, sustaining heavy damage. It flew for about an hour before finishing an emergency landing at high speed, flight data shows. Right: An earlier iteration of the same flight shows the aircraft using the full runway length. AdvertisementAs the E195 departed Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport, the bottom of its fuselage hit a set of runway lights for an opposite runway, per Tango Six. It then immediately began descending, looping around the area for the next 40 minutes before making its emergency landing, per FlightRadar24.

Persons: —, Nikola Tesla, Thierry Monasse, TangoSix, It's, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Organizations: Air, Service, Air Serbia, Greek, Marathon Airlines, Embraer E195LR, Sunday, Press, Belgrade Nikola, Business Locations: Air Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia, Düsseldorf, Germany

Greece has become the first majority-Orthodox Christian nation to legalize same-sex marriage under civil law. Public opinion in majority Orthodox countries has mostly been opposed, too. Civil unions may become more common among Orthodox countries gravitating toward the European Union. Greek Orthodox showed relative tolerance, with half of Orthodox saying homosexuality should be accepted and a quarter favoring same-sex marriage. As head of the Russian Orthodox Church, he oversees the world's largest Orthodox flock.

Persons: ”, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, “, George Demacopoulos, ” Demacopoulos, —, Vladimir Putin, “ perversions, Putin, Kirill, Moscow, Tiny Montenegro, Aleksandar Vucic, ″, ___ Smith, Yuras, Stephen McGrath, Illia Novikov, Veselin Toshkov Organizations: European Union, Pew Research Center, Orthodox Christian Studies Center, Fordham University, Ukrainian, of, of Human, Russian Orthodox Church, Kremlin, Russia’s, Levada, MONTENEGRO Serbia, Balkan, Serbian Orthodox Church, of Human Rights, Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Associated Press, Gec, Lilly Endowment Inc, AP Locations: Greece, Montenegro, Cyprus, Russia, Eastern Europe, Washington, New York, European, UKRAINE, Ukraine, RUSSIA, Russian, BELARUS, Belarus, SERBIA, MONTENEGRO, Serbia, ROMANIA, MOLDOVA Romania, Romania, Bucharest, Moldova, BULGARIA, Bulgaria, Pittsburgh, Tallin, Estonia, Belgrade, Kyiv, Sofia

☆ Interpol Issues Arrest Warrants for Gunmen in Last Year Kosovo Attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Global police agency Interpol has issued international arrest warrants for ethnic Serb gunmen accused of storming a village last year in north of Kosovo and battling police in a shootout, which left four dead, Kosovo's interior minister said on Friday. Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said Interpol has informed that all suspects of the Banjska attack have been added in the arrest warrant. Kosovo blames Serbia of being behind the shootout but Belgrade has denied such accusations. They have often clashed with Kosovo police and international peacekeepers, but last September's violence was the worst since Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Kosovo is still not a member of United Nations and all arrest warrants for Interpol are handled through a UN mission that arrived in Kosovo in 1999 when the war ended.

Persons: Xhelal Svecla, Svecla, Fatos Bytyci, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Global, Interpol, Reuters, Milan, Kosovo Serb, Facebook, Belgrade, Kosovo police, United Nations, UN Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, Serbia, Serbian, Banjska, Belgrade

(AP) — Montana Republicans gathered in a hotel ballroom this weekend aiming to unite ahead of the 2024 election and defeat three-term incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. Rosendale's move laid bare deep fissures within the Montana GOP at a time when Republicans can ill afford it. Outside observers and even some Republicans say an intraparty skirmish leading up to Montana's June primary could undermine those hopes. Rosendale’s entry into the Senate contest capped months of speculation that the hard-right lawmaker wanted a rematch six years after losing to Tester in 2018. Those Democrats are egging on the division in the GOP Senate race, hopeful it will drain Republican funds and alienate independent voters before the general election.

Persons: HELENA, —, Sen, Jon Tester, Matt Rosendale, Rosendale's, Steve Daines, “ I’ve, boisterously, Greg Gianforte, Tim Sheehy, “, Donald Trump, Sheehy, ” Gianforte, Trump, Rosendale, Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, ”, I’ve, irk, Theresa Manzella, George Nikolakakos, Nikolakakos, Steve Bullock Organizations: — Montana Republicans, Democrat U.S, U.S . Rep, Montana GOP, Republican, National Republican, Committee, U.S . Navy, Senate, Montana Gov, GOP, Montana Freedom Caucus, Rosendale, GOP Senate, Democratic Party, Trump, Biden, Republicans Locations: Mont, Montana, Montana , Ohio, West Virginia, U.S, Rosendale, Helena, Belgrade , Montana, Afghanistan, Washington, Great Falls, “, Rosendale . Montana, Daines

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo sparred at the United Nations over the latter's ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where minority Serbs live, the latest crisis between the two governments. The dinar was widely used in ethnic Serbian-dominated areas, especially in Kosovo's north, to pay pensions and salaries to staff in Serbian parallel institutions, including schools and hospitals. In 1999, a 78-day NATO bombing campaign ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Serbian forces were pushed out but Belgrade never recognized Kosovo’s independence and still considers it a Serbian province. The European Union and the United States expressed concern that Kosovo’s ban of the dinar could raise tensions in an already volatile region and called for consultations and a delay in the ban.

Persons: Aleksandar Vucic, ”, Albin Kurti, ” Kurti, Linda Thomas, Greenfield, Dmitry Polyansky, Kurti Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Kosovo sparred, United Nations, . Security, NATO, Albanian, European Union, Center for Peace Locations: Serbia, Kosovo, Serbian, Kosovo's, Belgrade, Western Europe, United States, Pristina

☆ 'Stability is fragile': An overlooked European conflict zone is at a tipping point between peace and combat
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The clash broke out in the village when a group of armed Serbs blocked a bridge with two trucks. A shootout erupted after the group opened fire on police, leaving one police officer dead and another injured. Relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which have been fraught since the pair's brutal conflict in the 1990s, remain delicate one year on from a tentative agreement on a new path to normalization. We cannot take peace and stability for granted," Miroslav Lajčák, EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and Western Balkans, told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland last month. The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is a series of talks facilitated by the European Union designed to ease hostilities between the neighboring southeastern European countries.

Persons: Milan Radoicic, Vudi Xhymshiti, Miroslav Lajčák Organizations: Kosovo Police, Kosovo Serb, Milan, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images, Belgrade, CNBC, European Union Locations: Banjska, Zvecan, Kosovo, Davos, SWITZERLAND, Russia, Ukraine, EU, Serbia, Pristina, Balkans, Switzerland, Belgrade, Serbs

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers called on Thursday for an independent investigation into allegations of vote-rigging in Serbia and demanded that EU funds be cut off if the authorities in Belgrade fail to cooperate with the inquiry or are found to be implicated in election irregularities. The governing Serbian Progressive party of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić won the Dec. 17 parliamentary and municipal elections, securing 129 seats in the 250-seat assembly. The opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition finished a distant second with 65 seats. The resolution has angered Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. Vučić’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his failure to enforce EU sanctions on Moscow have dismayed many.

Persons: Aleksandar Vučić, watchdogs, “, ”, Ana Brnabić, ” Brnabić, Vladimir Putin, ___ Dusan Stojanovic Organizations: —, Union, Serbian Progressive, Serbian, Violence, Organization for Security, Cooperation, Parliamentary, of Europe, Serbia’s National Assembly Locations: BRUSSELS, Serbia, Belgrade, Europe, Strasbourg, France, Moscow

☆ Serbia's Parliament Convenes as Opposition Protests Vote Result
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

On Dec. 17, President Aleksandar Vucic's populist Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) secured nearly 47% of the votes in the parliamentary election and the opposition alliance Serbia Against Violence (SPN) almost 24%. At the opening session, opposition lawmakers blew whistles and waved banners reading "Election fraud" and "You stole elections", trading insults with their SNS counterparts. Radomir Lazovic, an opposition lawmaker, said plainclothed police and the parliament's security detail had stepped up checks at the parliament building to intimidate the opposition. Since the election, the SPN, other opposition parties and civil society groups have staged protests to demand a rerun of the vote. Serbia's opposition and rights watchdogs accuse Vucic and the SNS of stifling media freedoms, violence against opponents, corruption, and ties with organised crime.

Persons: Aleksandar Vucic's, Radomir Lazovic, Marinika, Vucic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Ros Russell Organizations: BELGRADE, Reuters, Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, European Union Locations: Serbia

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Kremlin dismisses threat from anti-war election hopeful; Zelenskyy visits front-line war hot spot
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

As part of the Western Balkans block waiting for EU-membership, Serbia is caught in a geostrategic rivalry between its Western allies and Russia. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine brought fresh political momentum to the European Union and its plans for enlargement in the Western Balkans. "I see the European Union more ready for the Balkans than the Balkans for the European Union," Miroslav Lajčák, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and Western Balkans, told CNBC last month. Within days of Russia's invasion, Ukraine, neighboring Moldova and, soon after, nearby Georgia applied for EU candidate status — which they were granted in quick succession. "Now, it's very clear that the European Union is serious."

Persons: Russia's, —, Miroslav Lajčák, Lajčák, — Karen Gilchrist Organizations: EU, European Union, Belgrade, Pristina, CNBC, European Locations: Ukraine, Belgrade, Serbia, Balkans, Russia, Western Balkans, European, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Europe, Yugoslavia, Moldova, Georgia, European Union

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine has had an unlikely consequence — it has revived the EU's plans to get even bigger
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People hold a banner and Ukrainian flags during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. As part of the Western Balkans block waiting for EU-membership, Serbia is caught in a geostrategic rivalry between its Western allies and Russia. Davos, SWITZERLAND — As spiking geopolitical tensions thrust the European Union into the spotlight, attention has turned to the strategically important Western Balkans. The Western Balkans, comprised of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia, represent a notable gap in the map of EU membership in southeastern Europe. "I see the European Union more ready for the Balkans than the Balkans for the European Union," Miroslav Lajčák, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and Western Balkans, told CNBC last month.

Persons: —, Miroslav Lajčák, Lajčák Organizations: EU, Union, European Union, Belgrade, Pristina, CNBC Locations: Ukraine, Belgrade, Serbia, Balkans, Russia, Davos, SWITZERLAND, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Europe, Yugoslavia, European, Western Balkans

☆ Serbian Journalists Protest Acquittal of Suspects in 1999 Killing of Colleague
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Dozens of Serbian journalists and rights activists protested peacefully in Belgrade on Monday against the acquittal of four men who had previously been sentenced over the 1999 killing of opposition journalist and newspaper publisher Slavko Curuvija. The Belgrade-based Appellate Court announced the acquittal last week of four State Security operatives, including Radomir Markovic, the former head of the agency. The protesters carried a banner reading "You killed justice, but truth lives on," which they left in front of the building housing the Appellate Court in downtown Belgrade. Dusko Milenkovic, the head of the Appellate Court, said the court had concluded that the prosecution "did not provide enough evidence to prove the indictment." The Supreme Court has the power to overturn the Appellate Court's decision and order a retrial.

Persons: Slavko Curuvija, Radomir Markovic, Curuvija, Slobodan Milosevic's, Markovic, Dusko Milenkovic, Ivan Stambolic, Vuk Draskovic, Aleksandar Vasovic, Timothy Heritage Organizations: BELGRADE, Reuters, State Security, Journalists ' Association of Serbia, Milosevic, NATO, Serbia Locations: Belgrade, Curuvija, Kosovo

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