Politics of Kosovo

The fact that the "big five" came to Pristina and Belgrade means that we are further from the status quo and that we are getting closer to either peace or war, says Professor Nejmedin Spahiu.

STRASBOURG - The European Parliament passed a "Resolution on the recent developments in the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue" on Thursday.

The document is not legally binding and any recommendations in it require a consensus of EU member states.

NEW YORK - The UN Security Council session on the next semiannual report on the work of UNMIK, the UN mission in Kosovo-Metohija, will be held on October 23.

The session has been rescheduled from October 18.

Tensions in Serbia's southern province have escalated since the most recent session on the mission's work, held on April 27.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday he had had an important discussion with representatives of Quint states in one of the most difficult moments for Serbia and that he had requested that Kfor take over care of all security issues in the north of Kosovo-Metohija from the so-called Kosovo Police.

BRUSSELS - The EU on Friday refuted Pristina PM Albin Kurti's claims that he tabled the only proposal at Thursday's meeting of the Brussels dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

BELGRADE - At a meeting with the German government's special Western Balkans envoy Manuel Sarrazin, Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic noted the significance of a soonest possible establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo-Metohija.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Srpska lista leader Goran Rakic said on Tuesday he had met with the new head of the Eulex mission Giovanni Pietro Barbano to discuss a withdrawal of special units from the north of Kosovo-Metohija and greater presence of Eulex and Kfor patrols.

The United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Germany are using significant armament of Pristina to use Kosovo Albanians as a tool for NATO to discipline Belgrade. The emergence of the Kosovo army also points to potential instability in the region, according to Sran Graovac, an analyst at the Center for Social Stability.

Senior lawmakers from the United States and Europe are calling for a change in the Western diplomatic approach toward Serbia and Kosovo amid concern that tensions between the two could rapidly spiral out of control.

BRUSSELS - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has welcomed a decision to withdraw 25 pct of so-called Kosovo Police troops deployed in and around municipal buildings in the north of Kosovo-Metohija, made at a meeting of representatives of the so-called Kosovo Police, Eulex and Kfor in Bratislava.