Kosovo

Kosovo’s government was toppled by a no-confidence vote Wednesday (25 March) less than two months after coming to power, plunging the unstable democracy into political uncertainty as it tries to halt the spread of coronavirus. … While the US ambassador welcomed debate over the no-confidence motion, France and Germany spoke out against it, urging “political unity” to combat the health crisis.

A bilateral U.S. foreign aid agency that specializes in development assistance in Kosovo has announced its suspension of a program to help boost prospects for economic growth in that decade-old Balkan state until Pristina "resolves" its "tariff issue" with neighbor Serbia.

Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says he has met with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, at the White House to discuss ways to reach a "final agreement" between the two Balkan countries.

[…] In a tweet late on February 27, Richard Grenell, who also serves as U.S. ambassador to Germany and has recently been appointed as President Donald Trump's intelligence chief, called the move a “half measure.”

Serbian and Kosovar officials have signed a deal to restore a railway link between Belgrade and Pristina and to connect the two capitals with a highway in a step toward normalizing bilateral relations.

Kosovo’s new prime minister (Albin Kurti) says he intends to abolish punitive tariffs on Serbian goods, as the two countries struggle amid an international push for them to establish diplomatic relations.

Kosovo's parliament has voted to support a new government under Albin Kurti following four months of coalition talks between the Balkan country's two main parties.

The European Union’s top diplomat said on January 31 in Belgrade that the bloc was not competing with the United States in facilitating dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated that Brussels and Washington are “working together to achieve a result.”

While Washington obsesses about tensions with Iran and the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a pair of high-ranking administration officials has been crisscrossing Europe and the Western Balkans in pursuit of a solution to a dispute that most Americans have barely noticed.

Kosovar President Hashim Thaci has mandated Albin Kurti, the leader of Kosovo's Self-Determination Movement (Vetevendosje), to form a government. Vetevendosje and the second-place finisher, center-right opposition Democratic League (LDK), which won 28 seats, have been negotiating for months to form a government.