Kosovo

Most Balkan countries do not meet the "minimal required standards" in fighting human trafficking but are demonstrating substantial efforts to achieve them, said the annual report published by the US State Department on Monday.

After Germany, Britain has also been criticizing Kosovo politicians, demanding from them progress in the dialogue with Belgrade, according to the daily Blic.

Ivica Dacic had separate meetings with foreign ministers of Spain and Mali, who said their countries will not change their stance on Kosovo.

They will also not back Pristina's attempt to join UNESCO as a member, Tanjug reported.

A document in Cyrillic was rejected on Monday during a meeting of the Kosovo parliament's commission for legislation, with its head Albulena Haxhiu saying that the format was not "typical" and requesting a legal interpretation of the issue.

Kosovo's membership in UNESCO would be a precedent that would harm the future functioning of this organization, Tanja Miscevic said on Monday.

The head of Serbia's team in EU membership negotiations added that the country sees UNESCO as "crucial for the protection of its cultural heritage."

Serbia will fight against UNESCO membership for Kosovo, Serbian Minister of Labor Aleksandar Vulin stated in Prizren on Sunday.

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the intention of Kosovo to become a member of UNESCO.

In it, he underscored that this would be unacceptable for Serbia because Kosovo cannot be considered a state.

A former EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo prosecutor who made claims of corruption said she has been threatened with criminal prosecution if she speaks publicly about her case against her ex-employers.

Cars from Kosovo can move through central Serbia only if they have "status-neutral plates (KS)," Milovan Drecun has said.

The MP from the ruling SNS party and chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Kosovo and Metohija said on Friday that Pristina has "interpreted an agreement on insurance in a way that is unacceptable to Serbia."

UNESCO has not received Kosovo's application for membership, the secretariat of the UN organization in Paris has confirmed for Vecernje Novosti.