Kosovo

U.S. President Donald Trump's new special envoy to the stalled talks between Serbia and Kosovo made his first visit to the troubled Balkan region Wednesday. … Kurti, who is poised to become Kosovo's next prime minister, has said he is in no rush to restart formal talks with Serbia and won't lift the previous government's 100% tariff on Serb imports.

Well-administered and transparent elections affected by an uneven playing field, and marred by intimidation and lack of competition in the Kosovo Serb areas.

New U.S. Special Envoy to the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer said Washington expects talks between Serbia and Kosovo to restart after Kosovo’s Oct. 6 election. In an interview with VOA on Wednesday, Palmer said the U.S. is hopeful that the new Kosovo government is “one that's prepared to suspend the tariffs that are an obstacle to the resumption of the dialogue process.”

Kosovo's president has set snap parliamentary elections for October 6 following the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj in July.

Lawmakers in Kosovo have voted to disband parliament, clearing the way for President Hashim Thaci to call early general elections following the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. … The snap elections are to be held near the end of September or in early October.

In a joint statement, the governments of the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy called on the neighbours to “restart the EU-led Dialogue with urgency … The status quo prevents progress on Kosovo’s and Serbia’s path towards the European Union (EU) and is simply not sustainable”, it added.

Kosovo's outgoing Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is calling on the international community, the United States and the European Union to stop pressuring his country to remove tariffs against Serbia as a precondition for negotiations between the countries.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj abruptly resigned Friday after being summoned as a suspect before a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, a development that could lead to snap elections and affect prospects for reconciliation talks with neighboring Serbia. Haradinaj said he was called to appear next week in court as a prime minister or private citizen and chose the latter.

[President Aleksandar] Vucic also said [supreme commander Tod] Wolters agreed to set up an emergency communications hotline between Serbian forces and the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) to rapidly defuse tensions or episodes of violence.