Kosovo

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.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he would to help relaunch talks to normalize ties between Serbia and Kosovo in the next few weeks. After meeting his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic, Macron said he would invite delegations from the two countries to Paris along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, says that Prishtina should lift the imposed import tariffs on the goods from Central Serbia, for the sake of negotiations

Kosovo’s government has denied there was a ban on Serbian officials entering the country, contradicting the Foreign Ministry and deepening confusion in Pristina. The comment by spokeswoman Donjeta Gashi came one day after an adviser to Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli announced that no officials from Serbia would be allowed to enter Kosovo.

Kosovo has banned all Serbian officials from entering the country, in another escalation of relations between Serbia and its former province. Pristina "will not allow any official from Belgrade to visit Kosovo," Jetlir Zyberaj, an adviser to Kosovo’s foreign minister, posted to his Facebook page on July 4. Zyberaj said the move was a response to "constant propaganda and false news about the country and our citizens."

Kosovo and Albania on Tuesday signed a landmark agreement to coordinate their foreign policies and unify their diplomatic missions – though some experts doubt it will mean much in practice.

[…] Serbia put its army on high alert and moved some troops near the border with Kosovo as the two sides traded allegations on May 29, after the Kosovar police operation the previous day saw 19 local police officers arrested for allegedly being involved in "criminal activities." … The European Union, the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and KFOR all quickly called for calm, but emotions continued to run high.

A spokesman for KFOR says Monday's Kosovo special police raid in northern, Serb areas was "regular" activity. "… At this moment, peace in Kosovo is most threatened by rhetoric, propaganda, provocation and sometimes false statements by politicians. I've been here for almost 20 months and there were no major incidents. The greatest threat to peace and stability is caused by the rhetoric used and abused by some leaders, as well as the media taking part in it," said [Vincenzo] Grasso.