North Kosovo crisis

The situation in the Western Balkans is (once again) cause for concern. In Kosovo, tensions between the ethnic-Albanian majority and ethnic Serbs are a near-daily occurrence, while in North Macedonia, the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party is expected to win in presidential and parliamentary elections.

BELGRADE - The director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Monday the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities was the backbone of the Brussels Agreement and that Pristina had rejected Belgrade's constructive proposal of a draft statute of the Community.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija said on Friday the Albin Kurti-led authorities in Pristina had banned its Director Petar Petkovic from entering Kosovo-Metohija to spend the Orthodox Easter holidays with Serbs in the province.

BRUSSELS - Another round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue will be held in Brussels on Thursday, with Pristina's unilateral decision to ban the Serbian dinar in Kosovo-Metohija expected to be the main topic of discussions.

Belgrade's delegation, which includes many experts, will again be headed by the director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija, Petar Petkovic.

Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities on Sunday overwhelmingly boycotted a vote on removing their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year's mayoral elections.

Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities are casting their votes Sunday on removing their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year's mayoral elections, overwhelmingly boycotted by the Serb minority.

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Internal and External Trade Tomislav Momirovic said on Tuesday he had written to the trade ministers of EU member states, the UK, the US and CEFTA to warn, for a third time in a year, that Pristina's ban on trade in Serbian goods remained in force in Kosovo-Metohija.

BELGRADE - The director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic met with ambassadors and representatives of the Quint states - the US, the UK, France, Italy and Germany - and the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia on Friday to inform them of the political and security situation in Kosovo-Metohija, focusing on the most recent round of the Brussels dialogue.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with the EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak at the Presidency of Serbia in central Belgrade shortly after 6 pm on Friday.

The meeting is also attended by the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic.

BELGRADE - In a reaction to Pristina's removal of Cyrillic road signs in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Thursday Pristina's PM Albin Kurti could not sever the unbreakable ties between Serbs in the province and their state, Serbia.