Kosovo

On the first anniversary of violent protests in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo that left 93 peacekeeping troops injured, NATO's Kosovo mission KFOR called for the perpetrators to face justice.

EU and U.S. officials have expressed mounting concern at uncoordinated actions by Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government that threaten to further raise tensions with ethnic minority Serbs in the north of that Balkan country.

[…] Prime Minister Albin Kurti told a press conference on Wednesday that Russian hackers’ aim was “a hybrid war which, if successful, would result in the destabilisation of Kosovo’s security, stability and welfare institutions”.

Balkan states Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia have tumbled down the latest press freedom rankings compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which highlighted on Friday the threat around the world from political authorities. … Kosovo and Bosnia register significant decline.

The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo traded accusations on April 22 at a session of the UN Security Council in New York called to consider a report on the work of UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

The parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights body, voted on Tuesday to recommend membership for Kosovo, a major milestone in the young country’s international integration since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008. 

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has called on Kosovo to engage more in raising awareness among non-majority communities, as the census, which started last week, saw its first problems in the field.

Belgrade-backed party surprisingly announces boycott of April 21 vote to dismiss northern mayors, claiming Prime Minister Kurti has 'done everything for the vote to fail'.

Tensions are rising in Kosovo’s restive Serb-majority north, as Pristina enforces its writ against the backdrop of continuing disputes with Belgrade. The parties and outside supporters should first work on defusing the short-term risk of violence and then look for ways to foster lasting stability.

Report by rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis advises positive response to Kosovo's Council of Europe membership bid, after it met key criterion when it granted disputed land to a Serb Orthodox monastery last week.