Kosovo

Thaci "makes noise to chase away his fear" - Kosovo Office

BELGRADE -- Hashim Thaci is "making noisy statements to chase away his fear caused by the anxiety over the foundation of a special (war crimes) court."

Thaci says he wants Serbia "to apologize"

VIENNA -- Hashim Thaci has said that he is "seeking an apology from Serbia for the victims of the war in Kosovo in the 1990s."

Thaci, a former leader of the KLA who now serves as Kosovo's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, has also announced "a genocide lawsuit."

STRASBOURG - The European Parliament (EP) commended at a plenary session in Strasbourg the progress Albania has made in the process of EU integration, but criticized Prime Minister Edi Rama for his speculation on unification with Kosovo.

PRISTINA - Representatives of the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosovo and Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS) in Kosovo announced in Pristina that a memorandum of cooperation between the two associations should be signed.

Two weeks after a report was published concluding that the EU rule-of-law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) had reacted appropriately to corruption claims within its ranks, the prosecutor who unearthed the claims described the document as a disappointment.

BERLIN - A further normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina will be achieved through the formation of a community of Serb municipalities (ZSO), director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric said in Berlin on Thursday.

BRUSSELS - The European Commission (EC) Thursday adopted the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) proposal for Kosovo and sent it to the Council for consideration, but it still not mean that Kosovo could soon become a candidate for membership of the European Union, Tanjug learned in Brussels.

Bekim Collaku, Kosovo's Minister of European Integration, said the European Commission had adopted a Stabilization and Association Agreement, SAA, proposal with Kosovo  on Thursday and sent it for approval to the Council of European Union.

"We welcome such a decision, which brings Kosovo closer to signing an SAA and closer to EU integration," Collaku told BIRN.

EC approves proposal to sign SAA with Kosovo

PRISTINA -- Head of the EU Office in Kosovo Samuel Zbogar says the adoption of the proposal to sign the SAA "is an important step in EU-Kosovo relations."

BELGRADE - The President of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman has said that he does not believe that Serbia needs to recognise the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo to become a full member of the European Union.