Independence of Kosovo

BELGRADE - Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Greek Ambassador in Belgrade Konstantinos Ikonomidis agreed on Monday that it is in the interest of both countries to step up the political dialogue and improve relations even further.

Eighteen people have been arrested for the clashes in Kosovo’s divided Mitrovica region on June 22.

They will be charged with hooliganism, attacking officials, theft, and illegal possession of weapons, BalkanInsight reported.

Serbian president meets with Barroso

BELGRADE -- Tomislav Nikolić and Jose Manuel Barroso have concluded that Serbia and the EU hold different views on world events "in some 50 percent of the cases."

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has thanked European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso for the support for Serbia on its path towards the EU, adding that Barroso has come to visit "Serbia, the next member state of the EU."

Police said that those arrested are suspected hooliganism, attacking officials, theft and illegal possession of weapons.

The arrests followed violent incidents on June 22 when Kosovo Albanians, angered by new barricades erected by Serbs on the main bridge in Mitrovica, clashed with police.

GRACANICA - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said at the Monastery of Gracanica on Saturday that Serbia should pursue a prudent policy in Kosovo-Metohija, and underscored that anyone who deems that the future could be built by making war is seriously mistaken.

BELGRADE - The foreign ministers of Serbia and the Holy See, Ivica Dacic and Dominique Mamberti respectively, signed on Friday an agreement on cooperation in the field of tertiary education, and agreed that Serbia and the Holy See have common interests, and that cooperation should be encouraged.

BELGRADE - The key to stability in the Western Balkans is to promote Serbian-Albanian relations, and stability has been reached in Kosovo-Metohija, it was stated on Friday at a conference dubbed "Safety aspects of normalization of relations between Belgrade, Pristina and Tirana", which saw the presentation of the report on the integration of police in north Kosovo.

Oliver Ivanovic, accused of war crimes against Kosovo Albanians and murders after the 1990s conflict, will be held in custody for two more months despite Belgrade’s protests.

The authorities in Kosovo and Serbia must show stronger political commitment to finding more than 1,700 people still missing since the 1990s conflict, a UN delegation said in Pristina.