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☆ China’s Xi Jinping highlights Europe’s divisions ahead of expected Putin visit
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese state media played up the warm diplomacy, with headlines proclaiming China’s “ironclad” bond with Serbia and “golden friendship” with Hungary. Both are sure to closely watch any summit between Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in China, expected to happen soon. Chinese leader Xi Jinping is welcomed at the airport in Belgrade on May 7 for his two-day state visit. Xi also marketed a shared worldview during his meeting with Orban in Hungary, which is a member of both the EU and NATO. Chinese leader Xi Jinping talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest on May 9.

Persons: Xi, Peng Liyuan, Aleksandar Vucic, Viktor Orban, China’s, Vucic, Orban –, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der, Vladimir Putin, Orban, Hungary “, ’ ”, Philippe Le Corre, ”, Putin, Le Corre, Xi Jinping, Dimitrije Goll, Xi’s, Serbia’s Vucic, ” Vucic, Bruno Le Maire, BYD, Liu Dongshu, Vivien Cher Benko, Tamas Matura, Mark Rutte, Olaf Scholz, Matura, Von der, “ Orban, Gabor Scheiring Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Russia, Ukraine, China, Europe …, Asia Society, Center for, Forum, Anadolu, Getty, EU, NATO, ”, Xi, Hong Kong’s City University ., Hungarian, Central, Dutch, Georgetown University Locations: Hong Kong, France, Ukraine, China, Belgrade, Budapest, Paris, Serbian, Hungarian, Serbia, Hungary, Europe, Russia, Russian, ”, Europe … Hungary, Center for China, Beijing, United States, EU, Hong, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, Moscow, Qatar, “ Hungary

Most of Kosovo uses the euro, even though the country isn't part of the EU. But parts of Kosovo's north, populated mostly by ethnic Serbs, continue to use the dinar. The Central Bank reported on Wednesday that Serbian bank Komercijalna Banka AD Beograd closed its branches in Kosovo. Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in what was then the province of Kosovo. Kosovo eventually declared independence in 2008, but the government in Belgrade doesn't recognize its neighbor as a separate country.

Persons: Kosovo's, Aleksandar Vučić, Alexander, Botsan, ” Vucic, ”, Besnik Bislimi, Albin Kurti, Miroslav Lajčák, Josep Borrell, ___ Llazar Semini Organizations: Union, Serbian, Kosovo’s Central Bank, Western, The Central Bank, NATO, Belgrade doesn't, European Union, Kosovo, Kosovo police, EU Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, Serbian, Kosovo's, Serbs, Serbia, Russia, Russian, Belgrade, Pristina, Metohija, Kosovo Serbs, ” Kosovo, Komercijalna Banka, Beograd, Brussels, EU, United States, Vučić, Balkans, Kosovo’s, Tirana, Albania

☆ Serbian president says reports about troop build up on the Kosovo border ‘not fully accurate’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Sugam Pokharel Claire Calzonetti Duarte Mendonca Sana Noor Haq | Sugam Pokharel | Claire Calzonetti | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Soldiers with the NATO-led international peacekeeping force, the Kosovo Force, in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, on September 28. A top Kosovo Serb politician, Milan Radoicic said this weekend that he took part in the gun battle, Reuters reported. The confrontation comes months after ethnic Serbs attacked dozens of NATO peacekeepers in the town of Zvecan, in northern Kosovo, in May. The violence has ratcheted tensions in the Balkan region as the EU and US mediators attempt to finalize yearslong talks to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo. Following his first-round victory against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Djokovic wrote “Kosovo is the [heart] of Serbia.

Persons: Aleksandar Vučić, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Vučić, “, ” Vučić, Stringer, Vjosa Osmani, Milan Radoicic, Radoicic, “ I’m, yearslong, Novak Djokovic, Djokovic, American Aleksandar Kovacevic Organizations: CNN, Serbian, NSC, National Security Council, NATO, ”, Kosovo Force, Getty, Kosovar, Kosovo Serb, Reuters, European, EU, American, “ Locations: Serbian, Kosovo, United States, Mitrovica, AFP, Serbia, Banjska, Belgrade, European Union, Brussels, Pristina, Zvecan, “ Kosovo

Pristina accuses Belgrade of backing the “terrorists,” an accusation Serbia denies, saying they are Serbs from Kosovo protesting the government there. Two of the gunmen and four Serbs discovered nearby with communication equipment were arrested and are being investigated for terrorist acts. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the gunmen were local Kosovo Serbs “who no longer want to stand Kurti’s terror.”Vucic condemned the killing of the Kosovo policeman, but still said the clash was the result of “brutal” pressure on Kosovo Serbs by the Kosovo government. Serbia will never recognize the independence of Kosovo, that monster creation that you made by bombing Serbia,” Vucic said, referring to the 1999 NATO intervention which led to Kosovo separating from Serbia. In February, the EU put forward a 10-point plan to end the latest round of heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.

Persons: Afrim Bunjaku, Bunjaku, Xhelal Svecla, “ It’s, logistically, Albin Kurti, Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Serbs “, ” Vucic, Vucic Organizations: —, Kosovar Albanian, Sunday, Kosovo, Kosovar, Police, Kosovo Interior, Kosovo Serbs, NATO, European Union, United, EU Locations: PRISTINA, Kosovo, — Kosovo, Pristina, Mitrovica, Serbia, Banjska, Belgrade, Serbian, Kosovo Albanians, EU, Brussels, Kurti, United States, Balkans, Tirana, Albania

☆ The West’s ‘see no evil’ approach to Serbia’s Vucic is destabilizing the Balkans
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

The result is that, despite Serbia’s professed hopes to join the EU, Vucic has continued to walk a tightrope between Moscow and western powers. A Pristina government official told CNN that they did not want to “surrender” official government buildings to protesters. A decade on, these municipalities have not been created, leaving disputes to fester over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo Serbs. After such episodes, Joseph told CNN that the “see no evil” approach to Vucic’s regime may be starting to crack. “The situation is clear who the bully of the Balkans still is,” Meliza Haradinaj, Kosovo’s former foreign minister, told CNN.

Persons: Moscow’s, Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, Daniel Mihailescu, ” Jasmin Mujanovic, Vucic, “, Mujanovic, Alicia Kearns, ”, –, Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, Albin Kurti, Serbia’s, you’ll, Kearns, wouldn’t, Putin, Viktor, Orban, ” Majda, you’re, Quint, ” Kurti, Kurti, Edward Joseph, Laura Hasani, He’s, Shqiprim Arifi, Arifi, Ben Kilb, ” Dusan, Milorad Dodik, Oliver Bunic, Boris Grdanoski, ” Joseph, Viktor Oban, Joseph, Biden, Aleksandar Vulin, ” “ He’s, ‘ we’re, ’ He’s, I’ve, ” Vucic, Meliza Organizations: CNN, European Union, Putin, Belgrade, Getty, Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, NATO, National Security, United Nations, Kosovo's, EU, Anadolu Agency, Gazprom, Serbian, European Council, Foreign Relations, ”, US, Kosovo Serbs, Kosovo’s, Johns Hopkins University, …, Kosovo Serb, Reuters, British, Kosovo, Kosovar Business Alliance, Kosovar, Serbs, “ Association of, Bloomberg, ASM, Russian, AP, Serbia ”, KFOR, NATO’s Kosovo Force, Red Star, Red Star Belgrade soccer Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Serbia, Europe, Belgrade, West, Kosovo, Kosovo’s, Kosovar, AFP, Russian, Balkan, Western Balkans, British, United, EU, Brussels, Belgium, Moscow, ” Kosovo, Serbs, France, Germany, Italy, Balkans, Pristina, … Serbia, Zvecan, Serbian, Presevo, Albanian, Leposavic, Republika Srpska, ” Republika Srpska, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dayton, Banja Luka, Kurti, Ohrid, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, appeasing Serbia

☆ ‘A problem in the political culture": Serbians call for more than disarmament to end violence after mass shootings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Despite having one of the world’s highest rates of gun ownership in the world, mass shootings like this are extremely rare in Serbia. Most people simply inherited weapons from their parents and grandparents – remnants of the sort of violence that no longer plagues the region. While the two “gratuitous” acts of violence that shocked the country this month were without precedent, O’Donnell said, other types of violence are more banal. ‘Serbia against violence’Since the shootings, tens of thousands of Serbians have taken to the streets in opposition-led “Serbia against violence” marches, demanding the resignation of several government ministers. Against this public demand for a mellowing of the political culture, Vučić has seemed unsure how to respond.

Belgrade, Serbia CNN —Serbians are reeling and demanding answers after two mass shootings in less than 48 hours left multiple people dead, with widespread calls for tough action to prevent any further repeat of such tragedies. You could never dream that this would happen here,” Belgrade resident Marko Kovacevic told CNN. “This is the worst thing that happened in Serbia since the bombing in 1999,” another resident, David Stevens, told CNN at a vigil in Belgrade. The murderer had no empathy or remorse,” he told CNN in an interview on Thursday. His deputy, Milan Pašić, told CNN his boss had offered his resignation, but it was not clear if it would be accepted.

☆ Serbia asks Russia to end recruitment of its people for Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BELGRADE, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Russia should halt its efforts to recruit Serbs to fight alongside its Wagner paramilitary group in Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said. Vucic criticised Russia's websites and social media groups for publishing advertisements in the Serbian language in which the Wagner group calls volunteers to join its ranks. Serb volunteers took part in the fighting alongside pro-Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015. Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic also warned Serbs against joining Russian ranks in the war against Ukraine. Serbia is entirely dependent on gas imports from Russia and its NIS oil retailer is owned by Russia's Gazprom.

☆ Kosovo calls for NATO intervention after weekend of violence amid rising ethnic tensions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Niamh Kennedy Cnn Reuters | Niamh Kennedy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Kosovo’s Prime Minister urged NATO peacekeeping troops to intervene after minority Serb protesters blocked roads and unknown gunmen exchanged fire with police over the weekend amid rising ethnic tensions in the country’s restive north. In recent weeks, minority Serbs in northern Kosovo have responded with violent resistance to moves by Pristina that they see as anti-Serb. On Sunday, Vucic said Serbia demanded the release of all arrested Serbs from northern Kosovo, but also seeks to defuse tensions in the region. Vucic accused authorities in Pristina and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Kurti of stoking tensions by making “countless unilateral moves.”“Whenever one would think we have something solved, another problem emerges,” Vucic said. “Kosovo police has nothing to do in the north…especially people armed…up to their teeth,” Vucic said.

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