Kosovo

Tensions over vehicle licence plates and anti-smuggling operations, between authorities in Kosovo and Serbia, in recent weeks, may contribute to unravelling “steady but fragile progress made in rebuilding trust among communities” in Kosovo and Serbia. The warning came from Special Representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Zahir Tanin, in a briefing to the Security Council on Friday.  

Several ethnic Serbs and police have been injured in clashes after an operation targeting smuggling gangs in northern Kosovo. Regional tensions remain high after a standoff between Serbia and Kosovo over border controls.

Serbia and Kosovo have reportedly agreed to end a standoff at their border that was ignited by a dispute over license plates.

In an interview with DW, the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, confirms her commitment to EU integration and NATO. She also emphasizes the country's full support of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court.

Amid rising infections, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and leaders of political parties could not agree to accept a recommendation by the country’s Public Health Institute to postpone local elections scheduled for October 17.

EU spokesman Peter Stano confirmed for the Tanjug agency that two days of technical talks will be dedicated to "the current open issues and the next steps in the dialogue".

A report published on Tuesday by the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development, KIPRED, about the potential for Russian media disinformation to undermine Kosovo’s statehood urges the authorities to address UN member states with an appropriate strategy to counter it.

A pre-trial judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague rejected a legal challenge by Kosovo’s former President Hashim Thaci to the indictment charging him with war crimes and crimes against humanity.