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☆ Factbox: Key facts on Kosovo, independent for 15 years from Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are key facts about the small western Balkan republic:POPULATION: Around 1.8 million, according to the most recent census in 2011, which local Serbs boycotted. HISTORY & PEOPLE: Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Serbia in the early 13th century, with a mixed population of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Vlachs. Mutual expulsions and migrations to and from neighbouring Albania in the early 20th century changed Kosovo's ethnic makeup. He accused Kosovo Albanians of persecuting local Serbs and restricted their rights in education and local government. It backs nationalist minority Serbs in north Kosovo boycotting the state, creating a de facto partition.

☆ NATO soldiers on guard in Kosovo Serb town following clashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ZVECAN, Kosovo, May 30 (Reuters) - Dozens of NATO troops secured on Tuesday a municipal building in the Kosovo town of Zvecan, where the previous day 30 NATO soldiers and 52 Serb protesters were injured in clashes. On Monday, Serb protesters in Zvecan threw tear gas and stun grenades at NATO soldiers. The NATO force, known as KFOR, said 30 of its soldiers were hurt in the clashes. In another Serb-majority town, Leposavic, an ethnic Albanian mayor was unable to leave his office for more that 24 hours because of protesters outside, media reported. Tensions have risen since ethnic Albanian mayors took office in northern Kosovo's Serb-majority area after elections the Serbs boycotted.

☆ NATO peacekeepers secure Kosovo town halls in standoff with Serb protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] U.S. KFOR soldiers stand guard in front of the municipality office, while ethnic Serbs gather to protest, in the town of Leposavic, Kosovo, May 29, 2023. KFOR troops also acted to protect the town halls in Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica from possible threats. Serbs refused to take part in local elections in April and ethnic Albanian candidates won the mayoralties in four Serb-majority municipalities with a 3.5% turnout. Serbs have called on the Kosovo government to remove ethnic Albanian mayors from town halls and allow local administrations financed by Belgrade return to their duties. NATO peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo after the alliance's 1999 bombing campaign that drove Serbian security forces out of Serbia's then-southern province, ending a brutal counter-insurgency campaign.

☆ NATO urges Kosovo to de-escalate tension with Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The resulting clashes on Friday between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to the ethnic Albanian mayors prompted Serbia to put its army on full combat alert and to move units closer to the border. "We urge the institutions in Kosovo to de-escalate immediately and call on all parties to resolve the situation through dialogue," said Oana Lungescu, a spokeswoman for the transatlantic military alliance, in a Twitter post. She said KFOR, the 3,800-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, would remain vigilant. It is also the right of citizens to be served by those elected officials," Kurti said on Twitter on Saturday. Ethnic Albanians form more than 90% of the population in Kosovo, with Serbs only the majority in the northern region.

☆ Serbs in north Kosovo boycott local elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A Kosovo Albanian man prepares to vote at a polling station in the village of Qabra, Kosovo, April 23, 2023. REUTERS/Valdrin XhemajZUBIN POTOK, Kosovo, April 23 (Reuters) - Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections on Sunday in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met, in another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia last month is not working. The main political party in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serbian List, called on Friday on the Serb community not to vote on Sunday. Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs are demanding the creation of an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities, in line with a decade-old EU-brokered deal with the Kosovo government in Pristina, before they take part in the vote. On Tuesday Kosovo's elected prime minister Albin Kurti said Belgrade was intimidating Serbs from the north not to participate in the elections.

☆ Contractors Face Homicide Charges After Worker Crushed by Cinder Blocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Liset Cruz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly four years after a Bronx building collapse killed an Ecuadorean construction worker crushed under 1000 pounds of debris, three contractors have been charged in his death, one of a series of worksite fatalities that have raised alarms about a perilous industry. The contractors, Augustine Adesanmi, 67, Akhlak Choudhary, 54, and Abazi Okoro, 66, were all accused of criminally negligent homicide, among other charges, in the death of Segundo Huerta, a laborer at the building site on East 208th Street in Norwood, the Bronx district attorney said on Wednesday. “The horrendous death of Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela, who was buried under cinder blocks and metal sheets, was entirely preventable,” Darcel D. Clark, the district attorney, told reporters after the arraignments on Wednesday. “The construction site at 94 E. 208th St. was a death trap waiting to happen,” she added. Two of the contractors were arraigned on Tuesday in the Bronx Supreme Court; both were put on supervised release.

BELGRADE, April 7 (Reuters) - Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo will not participate in local elections due to be held later this month - a move likely to aggravate current disagreements over Pristina's rule. The elections for municipal bodies were postponed in December 2022 after Serbs blocked roads and border crossings. Representatives of Serbs from northern Kosovo, including the Belgrade-backed Serbian List party, want to see an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities set up before they take part in the vote. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has repeatedly called on Serbs to participate in the local vote. Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Fatos Bytyci in Kosovo; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A special Kosovo court set up in The Hague indicted Thaci in November 2020 on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, murder, torture and enforced disappearance of people among other things during the uprising. Thaci, 54, resigned as president shortly afterward and was transferred to detention in The Hague. As the fighting abated and Serbian forces withdrew under NATO bombardment from Kosovo, Thaci traded in his green uniform for a blue suit and tie. Milosevic went on trial before a separate U.N. tribunal in The Hague for war crimes against Kosovo Albanians in the conflict, but he died in 2006 before a verdict was reached. Some senior Serbian officials including then-army chief Nebojsa Pavkovic and deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic were sentenced to long prison terms over war crimes in Kosovo.

☆ Kosovo, Serbia leaders arrive for EU-backed talks on deal to normalise ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I am optimistic," Kurti said ahead of the meetings, taking place in the lakeside town of Ohrid in North Macedonia. Kosovo and Serbia agreed in Brussels last month to a Western-backed deal to normalise relations, following nearly 10 years of EU-mediated dialogue during which little progress was made. "The eyes of the EU & the Western Balkans are on Ohrid today," Borrell tweeted. Belgrade and Pristina need to mend bilateral ties for both to achieve their strategic goal of joining the EU. "I want to caution that we may not have a final agreement," Gabriel Escobar, the senior U.S. diplomat for the Western Balkans who is also attending the Ohrid talks, told Pristina-based RTV21 station.

☆ Kosovo, Serbia agree on "some kind of deal" to normalize ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/3] Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks to the media, in Ohrid, North Macedonia March 18, 2023.REUTERS/Ognen TeofilovskiOHRID, North Macedonia, March 18 (Reuters) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Kosovo and Serbia have reached "some kind of a deal" on implementing a Western-backed deal to normalize ties on Saturday. This is not the final deal," Vucic told reporters in Ohrid. He said that despite disagreements on some issues, talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti were "decent". He said Serbia's path towards EU membership will be conditioned on implementing the deal. Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU hopeful that Kosovo and Serbia will reach deal this month
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRISTINA, March 9 (Reuters) - The European Union expects former wartime foes Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final deal next week on normalising relations after both endorsed a peace plan, the bloc's envoy said on Thursday. The nations' leaders are due to meet on March 18 in North Macedonia to discuss implementation of an 11-point EU plan after agreeing last month that its contents needed no further talks. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising brought an end to repressive Serbian rule. The EU plan does not commit Serbia to acknowledging an independent Kosovo but it would recognise documents such as passports, diplomas and licence plates. He was to travel next to Serbia for talks with President Aleksandar Vucic.

He also declared he will not sign anything that recognises Kosovo "formally or informally" and would never agree to its membership of the United Nations. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after war brought an end to Serbian rule. While Vucic says he will not even "informally" recognise Kosovo, such a definition is ultimately a matter of interpretation. A senior EU official said an overall deal would be final only "when we also know exactly how it will be implemented - within what timelines, by whom". The official said the two sides had made significant progress but "the last mile is always the most difficult".

Speaking after hosting talks in Brussels between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Borrell said the leaders agreed "no further discussions" are needed on the deal between the former wartime foes. But Serbia still regards Kosovo as a breakaway province and flare-ups between the Balkan neighbours have stoked fears of a return to conflict. Under the new deal, Serbia stops short of recognising Kosovo as an independent state but agrees to recognise official documents such as passports, diplomas and licence plates and not to block Kosovo's membership of any international organisation. Borrell said the annex was an "integral part" of the new deal but it had not yet been agreed. Vucic has insisted Kosovo establish an association of Serb-majority municipalities, as agreed by a previous Kosovo government.

[1/4] A person rides on a motorcycle with Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) flag attached to it on the day of celebrations of the 15th anniversary of Kosovo independence in Pristina, Kosovo, February 17, 2023. "Our independence was achieved through struggle and sacrifice, but our independence will only grow through work," Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said ahead of the parade. Tensions with Serbia linger as Belgrade continues to support the refusal of 50,000 minority Serbs in north Kosovo to accept the country's independence, declared almost a decade after an uprising against repressive Serbian rule. Resolving their volatile stand-off is a major condition for Serbia and Kosovo to progress towards EU membership. The anniversary was ignored in the Serb-majority town of North Mitrovica in north Kosovo.

☆ Explainer: Why Kosovo's stand-off with Serbs goes on 15 years after statehood
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

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. North Kosovo Serbs on Dec. 10 erected multiple roadblocks and exchanged fire with police after a former Serb policeman was arrested for allegedly assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest. But with nationalist hardliners powerful on both sides, not least among north Kosovo Serbs, no breakthrough is on the horizon. The area of north Kosovo where Serbs form a majority is in important ways a virtual extension of Serbia. Local Serbs fear that once fully integrated within Kosovo they could lose benefits such as Serbia's free public healthcare and be forced onto Kosovo's private healthcare system.

"International companies that were supposed to arrive for the first time in Kosovo told us that they were delaying opening shops due to the unstable situation," Fatmir Zymberi told Reuters. The main, longstanding fount of tensions is the refusal of 50,000 ethnic Serbs in north Kosovo to recognise the government in Pristina or Kosovo as a separate country. The area of north Kosovo where ethnic Serbs form a majority looks in some respects like an extension of Serbia. The Kremlin denied influencing Serbia to stir up conflict, saying Belgrade was just defending the rights of Kosovo Serbs. "I am more worried than I have been in many years about the risk of conflict in north Kosovo that could then spill into reprisal attacks on Serbs in south Kosovo.

☆ Albanian opposition protests against corruption, poverty
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] People take part in the Albanian opposition anti-government protest in Tirana, Albania, February 11, 2023. Protesters, led by opposition leader Sali Berisha, hurled firecrackers at the entrance of government offices where hundreds of police officers in anti-riot gear blocked protesters from entering the building. Berisha, a former president and prime minister, is banned from entering the United States over alleged corruption. During the protest Berisha accused Prime Minister Rama of corrupting U.S. officials to lobby against him and against opposition parties. Rama, who is in his third term as prime minister, has denied all accusations of corruption.

☆ Kosovo says 'yes' to EU's peace deal with Serbia, with caveats - PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People are pictured through Kosovo flag as they take part in celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Kosovo's independence in Pristina, Kosovo February 17, 2018. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a guerrilla uprising against Belgrade's rule. Kosovo in 2013 pledged to give more autonomy to local Serbs, who refuse to recognise its 2008 independence, through such an association as part of a peace deal. However, Kosovo's highest court said some parts of the deal violated the constitution and should be changed before it takes effect. The proposed 11-point deal would not require Serbia to recognise the independence of its former province, but Belgrade would have to stop lobbying against Kosovo's membership in international bodies.

☆ NATO declines Serbia's request to deploy its troops in Kosovo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Serbia's former province of Kosovo declared independence in 2008 following the 1998-1999 war during which NATO bombed rump-Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro, to protect Albanian-majority Kosovo. Last month, for the first time since the end of the war, Serbia requested to deploy troops in Kosovo in response to clashes between Kosovo authorities and Serbs in the northern region where they constitute a majority. Kosovo authorities condemned the incident, which has inflamed tensions. Goran Rakic, the head of the Serb List, which is the main Serb party in Kosovo, accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of trying to drive out Serbs. International organisations condemned the attacks, expected to deepen mistrust between majority ethnic Albanians and around 100,000 ethnic Serbs that live in Kosovo.

☆ Kosovo re-opens major border crossing with Serbia, easing standoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A view of Merdare border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia which was closed by Kosovo after protesters blocked it on the Serbian side to support their ethnic kin in Kosovo in refusing to recognise the country's independence, near Podujevo, Kosovo, December 28, 2022. REUTERS/Florion Goga/File PhotoMITROVICA, Kosovo, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Kosovo re-opened its biggest border crossing with Serbia on Thursday, hours after protesting Serbs in its north promised to remove roadblocks, easing a surge in tensions that has alarmed world powers. Two burned-out trucks filled with gravel stood on a bridge close to the ethically divided town of Mitrovica, some 50 km from the reopened Merdare crossing. Two border other crossings with Serbia in Kosovo's north remain closed since Dec. 10. The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed accusations from Kosovo's interior minister that Russia was influencing Serbia to destabilise Kosovo, saying that Serbia was defending the rights of ethnic Serbs.

☆ U.S., EU, NATO urge restraint as Serbia-Kosovo border crossings close, dispute escalates
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Fatos Bytyci | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Locals walk near a roadblock in the northern part of the ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, December 28, 2022. Dejan Pantic was arrested on Dec. 10 for assaulting a serving police officer, since when Serbs in northern Kosovo have exchanged fire with police and erected more than 10 roadblocks, demanding his release. Serbs in northern Kosovo, which they believe to be still part of Serbia, resist any moves they see as anti-Serb. Around 50,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo refuse to recognise the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a separate country. Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independence with the backing of the West, following a 1998-99 war in which NATO intervened to protect ethnic Albanian citizens.

☆ Kosovo closes main border crossing after roadblock in Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PRISTINA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Kosovo closed its biggest border crossing on Wednesday after protesters blocked it on the Serbian side to support their ethnic kin in Kosovo in refusing to recognise the country's independence. With two other crossings on the Serbian border closed by similar protests on their Kosovar sides since Dec. 10, only three entry points between the two countries remain open. Serbs in Serbia used a truck and tractors on Tuesday to create the latest roadblock, close to the Merdare crossing on Kosovo's eastern border, Belgrade-based media reported. Around 50,000 Serbs living in ethnically divided northern Kosovo refuse to recognize the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a country separate from Serbia. Since Dec. 10, Serbs in northern Kosovo have exchanged fire with police and erected more than 10 roadblocks in and around Mitrovica.

☆ Tensions rise in northern Kosovo, Serbia puts army on alert
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MITROVICA, Kosovo, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Protesting Serbs in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo erected new barricades on Tuesday, hours after Serbia said it had put its army on the highest combat alert following weeks of escalating tensions between Belgrade and Pristina. Since Dec. 10, Serbs in northern Kosovo have erected multiple roadblocks in and around Mitrovica and exchanged fire with police after the arrest of a former Serb policeman for allegedly assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest. Around 50,000 Serbs live in the northern part of Albanian-majority Kosovo and refuse to recognise the Pristina government or the state. They see Belgrade as their capital and are backed by Serbia, from which Kosovo declared independence in 2008. The local Serbs are demanding the release of the arrested officer and have other demands before they will remove the barricades.

☆ Why ethnic tensions are flaring again in northern Kosovo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Kosovo won independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against Belgrade's repressive rule. Serbia, however, still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory and rejects suggestions it is whipping up tensions and conflict within its neighbour's borders. Ethnic Serb mayors in northern municipalities, along with local judges and some 600 police officers, resigned in November in protest at the looming switch. Serbs in Kosovo want to create an association of majority-Serb municipalities that would operate with greater autonomy. Serbia and Kosovo have made little progress on this and other issues since committing in 2013 to the EU-sponsored dialogue.

☆ Shots fired near NATO patrol in Kosovo's volatile north, NATO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PRISTINA, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Shots were fired near a NATO patrol in the northern part of Kosovo where local Serbs have set up roadblocks to bar police from Pristina from patrolling the area marred by ethnic tensions in recent months, NATO said on Sunday. No one was injured and the car was undamaged when the shots were heard in the area of Zubin Potok, NATO's mission, KFOR, said in a statement. Local Serbs, a population of around 50,000 in Kosovo's north, set up barricades after police on Dec. 10 arrested a former Serb police officer on charges of assaulting serving police officers during a previous protest. Kosovo's government has asked KFOR, which maintains a neutral role, to remove the barricades. Reporting by Fatos Bytyci in Pristina; Additional reporting by Ivana Sekularac in Belgrade; Editing by Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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