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542,606 Results for "Kosovo-Serbia tension remains high"
542,606 Results for "Kosovo-Serbia tension remains high".
Senior US official travels to Kosovo to revive Kosovo-Serbia talks after tensions over currency
A senior U.S. official will visit Kosovo in the next days to put “back on track” talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after tensions escalated over Kosovo’s decision to ban the use of the Serbian dinar.
 
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prepares for a public address in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Serbia will seek an urgent session of the UN Security Council to discuss escalation of crisis in its former province of Kosovo after its government decided to ban the use of the Serbian dinar and introduce the Euro currency in the areas where minority Serbs live, the Serbian president said Friday. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia will seek a UN Security Council meeting over latest escalation of tensions with Kosovo
Serbia’s president says the country’s government will seek an urgent session of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the escalation of tensions with its former province of Kosovo after its government decided to ban the use of the Serbian dinar and introduce the euro in areas where minority Serbs liv
 
Kosovo shuts 6 Serb bank branches over use of the dinar currency in a move that could raise tensions
Kosovo police have closed six branches of a Serbia-licensed bank in line with the decision on the ban of the use of the Serbian dinar currency in the country.
 
FILE - Kosovo Serbs protest against a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Feb. 12, 2024. A senior U.S. official on Wednesday March 13, 2024 reassured top officials in Kosovo that the burdens of normalizing relations with longtime rival Serbia would be borne by both sides. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar met with officials in Kosovo in the latest American effort to restart talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after Kosovo made a controversial decision to ban ethnic Serbs in its territory from using the Serbian dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
A US envoy urges Kosovo and Serbia to make tough decisions to restart talks on normalizing ties
A senior U.S. official has urged Kosovo and Serbia to make tough decisions to restart talks on normalizing ties.
 
President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Dominique Hasler, center, opens the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers at the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, Friday, May 17, 2024. Kosovo on Friday criticized the Council of Europe's decision against holding a vote on its membership, saying it deprived its people and especially its ethnic minorities of democratic tools offered by the continent’s top human rights body. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Kosovo criticizes Council of Europe for not holding a vote on its membership, blames Serbia lobbying
Kosovo has criticized the Council of Europe’s decision against holding a vote on its membership, saying it deprived its people and especially its ethnic minorities of democratic tools offered by the continent’s top human rights body.
 
FILE - Kosovo Serbs protest against a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Feb. 12, 2024. A senior U.S. official on Wednesday March 13, 2024 reassured top officials in Kosovo that the burdens of normalizing relations with longtime rival Serbia would be borne by both sides. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar met with officials in Kosovo in the latest American effort to restart talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after Kosovo made a controversial decision to ban ethnic Serbs in its territory from using the Serbian dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
Kosovo will conduct a nationwide census that includes surveying the ethnic Serb minority
Kosovo’s government has begun its first nationwide census since 2011 which will include surveying the ethnic Serb minority in the north.
 
EU envoy urges Kosovo and Serbia to step up normalization efforts before the bloc’s June elections
The European Union’s envoy for the Western Balkans has urged Kosovo and Serbia to push ahead with faltering normalization talks before elections for the European Parliament in June.
 
Kosovo police officers patrol an area near Banjska Monastery during a ongoing police operation in the village of Banjska on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Kosovo on Monday observed a day of mourning for the Kosovar Albanian police officer killed by Serb gunmen who then barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery in a siege that further raised tensions as the two wartime foes seek to normalize ties. In the north, where most of Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority lives in four municipalities around Mitrovica, police were patrolling in search of the armed assailants after they left the monastery. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
What is behind renewed tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew over the weekend when some 30 heavily armed Serbs barricaded themselves in an Orthodox monastery in northern Kosovo, setting off a daylong gunbattle with police that left one officer and three attackers dead.
 
People line up at a cash machine in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The European Union on Thursday called on Kosovo to postpone an effort to force ethnic Serbian-dominated areas to adopt the same currency as the rest of the country, as rules that would block use of the Serbian dinar went into effect. Most of Kosovo uses the Euro, even though the country is not part of the EU, but parts of its north populated mostly by ethnic Serbs continue to use the dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
Leaders of Serbia and Kosovo spar at the UN over the latter’s ban of the Serbian dinar
Serbia’s president has accused Kosovo’s government at a heated U.N. meeting of banning the use of the Serbian currency in areas where minority Serbs live in Kosovo with the ultimate goal of making living conditions unbearable for them and expelling them.
 
In this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, third right, welcomes Italian diplomat Alessandro Cattaneo, left, French President's Advisor Emmanuel Bonne, second left, European Union envoy Miroslav Lajcak, third left, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, second right, and German Chancellor's Advisor Jens Plettner, right, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged on Saturday Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. This is the first such visit since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. (Serbian Presidential Press Service via AP)
EU and US envoys urge Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue in order to defuse tensions
The envoys of the European Union and the United States are urging Kosovo and Serbia to resume their dialogue on normalizing relations before the bitter tensions between the two sides trigger more violence.
 
A voter is identified before he casts his vote at a polling station in North Mitrovica, Kosovo Sunday, April 21, 2024. Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities are casting their votes Sunday in a referendum to decide whether to remove their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year’s mayoral elections, overwhelmingly boycotted by the Serb minority. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities boycott vote on removing ethnic Albanian mayors
Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities have overwhelmingly boycotted a vote on removing their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year’s mayoral elections.
 
FILE - Serbian Army soldiers perform during a military parade at the military airport Batajnica, near Belgrade, Serbia, on Oct. 19, 2019. Serbia looks set to reintroduce the obligatory military service for its young citizens, the army command said Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 in a move that comes amid rising tensions in the Balkans. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
Serbia says it is disappointed with possible US sale of anti-tank missiles to Kosovo
The U.S. ambassador to Serbia says the United States has received Kosovo’s request for the purchase of Javelin anti-tank missiles.
 
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, accompanied by North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, left, review the honor guard squad at the Government building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. NATO Secretary General arrived Tuesday on a two-day visit to North Macedonia as a part of his Western Balkans tour. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
NATO head says violence in Kosovo unacceptable while calling for constructive dialogue with Serbia
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the recent violent outbreaks in Kosovo were unacceptable and perpetrators must be brought to justice.
 
FILE - From left, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak and Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti meet together in Brussels, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. Kosovo’s Prime Minister on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, accused the European Union special envoy in the normalization talks with Serbia of not being “neutral and correct” and “coordinating” with Belgrade against Pristina. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
EU urges Serbia and Kosovo to respect their pledges after a meeting of leaders ends in acrimony
The European Union is urging Serbia and Kosovo to respect an agreement meant to end tensions between them and set their relations on a more normal path.
 
In this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, third right, poses with Italian diplomat Alessandro Cattaneo, left, French President's Advisor Emmanuel Bonne, second left, European Union envoy Miroslav Lajcak, third left, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar , second right, and German Chancellor's Advisor Jens Plettner, right, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged on Saturday Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. This is the first such visit since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. (Serbian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Feuding Serbia and Kosovo leaders set for talks Thursday on the sidelines of an EU summit
The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have been invited to meet with top European Union officials to try to breathe life into talks aimed at normalizing their relations.
 
Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte listens to a question during a press conference after talks with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel at the Serbia Palace, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, July 3, 2023. Rutte and Bettel are on a one day visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Dutch and Luxembourg PMs urge Serbia and Kosovo to defuse tensions under shadow of war in Ukraine
The prime ministers of the Netherlands and Luxembourg have urged Serbia and Kosovo to act to defuse recent tensions that have threatened to push the Balkan region into instability as Europe faces Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
 
Politician and wealthy businessman Milan Radoicic, center, Serb List leader Goran Rakic, left, and former mayor of the Serb part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica Milan Radojevic attend a special session of Serbia's parliament about the negotiating process with Kosovo, in Belgrade, Serbia on Feb. 2, 2023. Serbian police on Tuesday detained an ethnic Serb leader Milan Radoicic from Kosovo who was the alleged organizer behind a recent shootout with Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
Serbia releases from custody a Kosovo Serb leader suspected of a role in ambush of Kosovo policemen
A court in Serbia has released from a brief detention a Kosovo Serb leader who has been linked to a clash with Kosovo security forces in which four people died, sending tensions soaring in the volatile region.
 
FILE - Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the capital Pristina, on Sept. 29, 2023. Kosovo's prime minister on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, asked NATO-led peacekeepers to increase their presence on the northern border with Serbia, saying the area was the entry point for illegal weapons and threats to stability. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Kosovo asks for more NATO-led peacekeepers along the border with Serbia
Kosovo’s prime minister has asked NATO-led peacekeepers to increase their presence on the northern border with Serbia, saying the area is the entry point for illegal weapons and threats to stability.
 
Kosovo says it is setting up an institute to document Serbia’s crimes in the 1998-1999 war
Kosovo’s prime minister said the country is setting up an institute to document Serbia’s crimes against its population in the 1998-1999 war.
 
In this image made from video, Kosovar police car burns in Zvecan, northern Kosovo Friday, May 26, 2023. Serbia put its troops on the border with Kosovo on the highest state of alert Friday following clashes between ethnic Serbs and Kosovo police that left more than a dozen injured on both sides. (AP Photo)
Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?
Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have flared anew this week after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings.
 
FILE - USAID Administrator Samantha Power is interviewed by the Associated Press, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, at USAID Headquarters in Washington. The United States’ top international development chief is heading to Serbia and Kosovo this week to meet with leaders there. The travel comes as U.S. and European leaders work to stabilize relations between the two former wartime enemies at a time of heightened tensions. Samantha Power becomes the first head of the U.S. Agency for International Development to travel to Serbia, which maintains close historical and cultural ties with Russia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
USAID chief Power heads to Serbia, Kosovo to lower tensions
The United States’ top international development chief is heading to Serbia and Kosovo this week to meet with leaders there.
 
Kosovo police officers secure the area outside the Banjska monastery in the village of Banjska, Kosovo on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Police on Wednesday allowed media into the village of Banjska, where a daylong shootout between armed Serbs and Kosovar police on Sunday left one officer and three gunmen dead. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
KFOR commander calls on Kosovo and Serbia to return to talks to prevent future violence
The NATO-led peacekeeping force has called on both Kosovo and Serbia to return to the negotiating table to resolve their issues to prevent violence like the recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region.
 
In this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, third right, welcomes Italian diplomat Alessandro Cattaneo, left, French President's Advisor Emmanuel Bonne, second left, European Union envoy Miroslav Lajcak, third left, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, second right, and German Chancellor's Advisor Jens Plettner, right, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged on Saturday Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. This is the first such visit since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. (Serbian Presidential Press Service via AP)
Serbia and Kosovo leaders break off talks without result despite EU pressure
The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo broke off talks Thursday without result, despite European Union pressure to persuade them to normalize their relations.
 
A man withdraws Serbian Dinars from a bank cash machine in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The ban on the Serbian currency was to start on Thursday. USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany called Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to suspend enforcement of a regulation which bans the Serbian currency in Kosovo. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
Kosovo will impose the use of the euro in minority Serb areas, concerning Western powers
Kosovo authorities say they will impose the use of the country’s currency, the euro, and abolish the use of neighboring Serbia’s dinar in the north where most of the ethnic Serb minority lives.
 
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks during a press conference after talks with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Diaz-Canel is on a two-day official visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia to seek meeting with NATO chief, UN Security Council session on Kosovo tensions
Serbia’s president has accused Kosovo of carrying out “silent” ethnic cleansing of Serbs and said his country will seek an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council to demand their protection.
 
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic listens to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a press conference after talks at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Orban is on a one day visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia’s president denies troop buildup near Kosovo, alleges ‘campaign of lies’ in wake of clashes
Serbia’s president has denied reports of a military buildup along the border with Kosovo. The U.S. and the European Union have expressed concern about Serbian army activity in the wake of a shootout in northern Kosovo that killed four people.
 
Kosovo OKs referendums in 4 Serb-majority municipalities on whether to oust ethnic Albanian mayors
Kosovo’s Central Electoral Commission has decided to hold a vote on April 21 to oust four ethnic Albanian mayors whose elections last year raised tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.
 
FILE - Serbian Army soldiers perform during a military exercise, at Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade, Serbia, on April 22, 2023. Serbia on Friday, June 23, 2023 reiterated the threat of an armed intervention in its former province of Kosovo, unless the NATO-led peacekeepers stationed there don't protect the minority Serbs there from "the great terror" of the Kosovo "regime." Serbian army chief-of-staff, Gen. Milan Mojsilovic, said that the military stands ready to fulfil its tasks "in accordance to the constitution" and orders from the army supreme commander, President Aleksandar Vucic. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File)
Serbia again threatens armed intervention in Kosovo as tension escalates
Serbia has reiterated a threat to intervene militarily in its former province of Kosovo if NATO-led peacekeepers there fail to protect minority Serbs from what Belgrade calls the terrorist threat of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian authorities.
 
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock makes statements ahead of a summit in Tirana, Albania, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans and the European Union member countries in the Berlin process, trying to raise up regional cooperation in their march toward becoming block members in the future, convene in Tirana to prepare the summit which is held in a non-EU member country. (AP Photo/Franc Zhurda)
Kosovo-Serbia tension threatens the Balkan path to EU integration, Germany’s foreign minister warns
Germany’s foreign minister has expressed the European Union’s deep concerns following the recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region.
 
People line up at a cash machine in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The European Union on Thursday called on Kosovo to postpone an effort to force ethnic Serbian-dominated areas to adopt the same currency as the rest of the country, as rules that would block use of the Serbian dinar went into effect. Most of Kosovo uses the Euro, even though the country is not part of the EU, but parts of its north populated mostly by ethnic Serbs continue to use the dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
Kosovo’s block on the Serbian currency raises alarm in the EU and US
The European Union and the United States have expressed their deep concern after Kosovo banned the use of the Serbian currency and police raided the premises of organizations working with the Serb minority in the north of the country.