Serbia

Croatia late on Thursday shut down all traffic on seven border crossings with Serbia, keeping only Batrovci-Bajakovo open.

Police official at that crossing Damir Culi told Tanjug on Friday morning that it remained open, working normally, and passable for all traffic.

Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic on Thursday took over the keys to five new fire trucks donated by the Russian Federation.

The ceremony took place at the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis, southern Serbia.

Vujacic, who was involved in forming the Serbian caucus in the US in 2004, downplayed the importance of the letter sent on the eve of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic's visit to Washington.

He told BIRN on Thursday that such caucuses are transparent informal parliamentary groups of US Congressmen or Senators who gather in relation to a country or a specific issue.

Serbia's Labour Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Thursday the government is getting ready to receive "a potentially larger inflow of migrants from Bulgaria" at Dimitrovgrad border crossing but doesn't intend to keep anyone inside the country by force.

Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has asked Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff Gen. Drago Lovric to put the army on a higher state of alert to protect the country's borders from a potential increase in migratory pressure, HINA reported on Thursday.

Refugees hold peaceful protest, shout "thank you, Serbia"

Refugees from the Middle East were on Thursday holding a peaceful protest at the Horgos 2 crossing on the border between Serbia and Hungary.

They were located some 20 meters from the barbed wire spread by Hungarian police after refugees yesterday broke through the fence at the crossing and clashed with police.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic spoke for CNN twice last night, after his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington.

He pointed out that the dramatic events at the Horgos border crossing between Serbia and Hungary "point to the urgent need of a comprehensive solution and, in particular, an appropriate response of the EU to what happened."

If Macedonia's government has its own way, Srgjan Kerim will replace Ban Ki-moon as the next UN Secretary General next year.

The visa-free regime between Serbia and the EU has not been brought into question by the refugee crisis, Michael Davenport has said.

The head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport spoke on Thursday, stressing that the Schengen Agreement has not been suspended.

Relations between Serbia and the United States are better than before, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said.

He made the comments after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Wednesday.