Albania

A former senior adviser to the British government has defended military intervention in Kosovo, ten years later, defining it as a “just war”. David Clark, who once served as European Advisor at the UK’s Foreign Office between 1997 and 2001, argued that the conflict in Kosovo was “a response to …

The provisions from the Ohrid Peace Accord are partial and need to be widened to provide greater rights to the ethnic Albanians, says Rufi Osmani, a controversial local ethnic Albanian leader. In an interview for the local Dnevnik daily this charismatic figure, who was re-elected as mayor of the western …

A court in the city of Vlora Albania, sentenced on Tuesday, to a six-month prison term and a 500,000 Lek (€3,800) fine, an ethnic-Greek mayor who was indicted for ordering the dismantlement of road signs because they were not bilingual, causing subsequent traffic chaos and damage to public property. Mayor …

Kosovo recognitions will very much depend on the authorities’ commitment to the process, says James Rubin, Diplomatic Advisor to the US Secretary of State. In an interview for Kosovo’s private television, RTV21, Rubin declared that “the long battle for recognition will depend on the policies Kosovo’s leadership is about to …

Serbia’s President Boris Tadic on Friday urged Serbs and Albanians to live in peace during a pre-Easter visit to an Orthodox monastery in the newly-independent state of Kosovo. “Today I have a message of peace for Serbs, Albanians and for all people who live in Kosovo in our Serbia,” Tadic …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands The case at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legality of Kosovo’s independence is “the trial of the century”, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said on Friday (April 17th), as the two sides in the trial presented their arguments.

TIRANA, Albania President Bamir Topi on Sunday (April 19th) again urged all citizens to participate in the June 28th general elections, given the importance of these elections to potential EU membership.

Serbian President Boris Tadic’s visit to Kosovo over the weekend should be viewed as a private religious visit by a Serbian citizen, argues the speaker of Kosovo’s Assembly, Jakup Krasniqi. Tadic entered Kosovo on Friday after initially requesting a visit from the European Union office in Belgrade, in order to …

Recognitions of Kosovo’s independence will continue before and after the decision by the World Court on its legality, says the International Crisis Group’s Sabine Freizer. “It will be good that the decision by the International Court of Justice shall not (explicitly) outline that the declaration of independence was illegal,” said …

Saudi Arabia has recognised Kosovo’s independence, reports Kosovo’s public broadcast network, Radio Television Kosovo, RTK, on Monday. “In accordance to religious and cultural ties with the population of Kosovo, and as a sign of respect for the Kosovo population’s willpower to win independence, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notifies its …