Kosovo

Scheduled local elections in four northern mainly Serbian districts of Kosovo were thrown into crisis on Wednesday when the Central Election Commission, CEC, failed to certify candidates from the main Serbian party in Kosovo, Srpska Lista.

Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said after talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow that "Serbia cannot defend its state interests without the assistance of the Russian Federation."

Kosovo courts have taken over war crimes cases from EULEX, the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo. Beside the war crimes committed by the ethnic Albanian KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army"), Kosovo courts will also deal with the alleged crimes committed by Serbs against Albanians.

A senior U.S. envoy has urged feuding neighbors Serbia and Kosovo to stop provoking each other and to resume talks aimed at normalizing relations. David Hale, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, on March 8 also called on Kosovo to withdraw its 100 percent tariff on Serbian goods to allow European Union-led talks between the former wartime foes to restart.

Belgrade has accused Kosovo of killing off the EU-led dialogue process with its new 11-point platform for negotiations - but has promised a 'moderate' response.

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj stated that Kosovo has cut communication with the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK.

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has proposed an international conference to work out a final deal for his country and Serbia to normalize relations. Haradinaj published a letter on Facebook on January 28 that outlines the proposal. He said it was sent to the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and Britain.

[…] Putin was speaking at a news conference in Belgrade after holding talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on January 8 met with Kosovo's recently appointed negotiators for Pristina's dialogue with Belgrade and urged them to revoke customs tariffs imposed on Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina last year.