Albanian nationalism in Kosovo

Both the EU and the US opposed tariffs on the grounds that they are an obstacle to the resumption of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. For the first time in decades, Kosovo found itself on the receiving end of international criticism, with the West effectively succumbing to Serbia's demand for an unconditional lifting of the tariffs as a condition to resume the dialogue.

Kosovo's largest parliamentarian party, the Vetevendosje Movement, LVV, staged a march in Pristina's main Skanderbeg Square on Friday to mark the 15th anniversary of its organisation - and the 21st anniversary of Kosovo's liberation from Serbian rule in 1999.

Movement driven by protests from the start:

A Kosovo activist, Veron Hasani, has pressed charges against the bodyguards of President Hashim Thaci, after being detained for calling the president a "thief" and, he said, violently attacked.

Kosovo's parliament on Wednesday confirmed in office a new government led by Avdullah Hoti, the deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the junior party in the last government that initiated the no-confidence motion in March that toppled it.

MPs voted in the new government exactly four months after voting in Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje-led government on February 3.

Kosovo's parliament on Wednesday confirmed in office a new government led by Avdullah Hoti, the deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the junior party in the last government that initiated the no-confidence motion in March that toppled it.

MPs voted in the new government exactly four months after voting in Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje-led government on February 3.

Kosovo's parliament will vote on Wednesday morning on whether to endorse a new government led by Avdullah Hoti, the deputy head of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, only four months after the same chamber voted in a government led by Albin Kurti.

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo on Thursday ruled that President Hashim Thaci did not make an unconstitutional decision when he gave a mandate to a new prime minister to form a new administration without holding fresh elections.

He took this action after the outgoing ruling party, Vetevendosje, did not nominate anyone for the role.

As the results of Central Election Commission showed, the once dominant Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, came third, winning just over 21 per cent of the votes. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, won over 11 per cent.

He also voiced concern over the lack of "political culture" in Kosovo, and over the independence of the judiciary that will issue this potentially controversial decision.

Borg Olivier was the key legal advisor to UNMIK involved in setting up the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government in Kosovo in 2001.