Tanjug

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic starts a three-day trip to Russia on Tuesday accompanied by an entourage of ministers and around 100 Serbian businessmen - a visit likely to be dominated by economic issues.

The executive board voted on Wednesday by 27 to 14 for Kosovo's bid to join UNESCO to move to the next stage, despite opposition from Serbia, which sees it as a further unacceptable step towards recognition of its former province's independence.

"It was a small but emotional step forward in a long road," Kosovo's Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi wrote on Twitter after the vote.

Serbia expects the European Union to clearly define its policy towards migrants, the country's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday.

Every country addresses this issue in a different way, and Serbia's reaction will certainly not be to build a 'counter-wall', Tanjug news agency quoted Dacic as saying at a news conference in Belgrade.

At a meeting of the EU-facilitated high level dialogue on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina on Tuesday, Serbia and Kosovo marked a progress in their relations after signing four key agreements.

Serbia's prime minister hinted Aug. 19 at a possible snap election, confident of winning a new four-year mandate with his opponents close to disarray, the state news agency reported. 

Aleksandar Vucic took office in April 2014 after a resounding election win by his conservative Serbian Progressive Party. 

Studio B, a symbol of media freedom in the era of Slobodan Milosevic, has been sold for just over half a million euros.

The station is the largest media outlet in Serbia to be sold so far under the recent media privatisation programme.

The sales of two other major media companies, Tanjug news agency and the Novi Sad-based daily, Dnevnik, failed due to the lack of bidders.

Vulovic stepped down on Thursday after one of the numbers in the winning combination was shown during the televised draw, sparking allegations that the numbers had been decided in advance.

He said he was quitting because it was his "moral obligation".

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will attend the commemoration of the Srebrenica massacre, which is to take place on July 11.

Vucic announced that his government unanimously decided on Tuesday for his visit to Srebrenica, Tanjug news agency informs.

The Serbian prime minister highlighted that Serbia stood ready for reconciliation, but not humiliation.

Relations with Kosovo are expected to dominate meetings between Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Serbian officials on her visit to Belgrade on July 8-9.

The road constructors' plan to cut down the 600-year-old oak in the village of Savinac in western Serbia to allow the continued construction of the Corridor 11 highway to Montenegro has provoked protests from local residents and environmental organisations in the area.