Balkan News

Kosovo Albanian leaders will immediately start talks with their Western backers on steps leading to a declaration of independence and subsequent international recognition, a senior official said on Monday.

Russia warned the West on Monday that recognizing a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) by Kosovo could set off a “chain reaction” of problems in the Balkans and beyond.

More NATO troops may be needed in Kosovo as the breakaway Serbian province moves towards independence, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday.

The clock starts ticking on Monday toward a probable declaration of independence by Kosovo after extra-time negotiations failed to break a deadlock over the future of the breakaway Serbian province.

European Union nations are overcoming their internal divisions over the future of Kosovo as it heads towards independence and will help shape its future, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU leaders are expected to agree this week that efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the Kosovo problem are exhausted, and offer to take responsibility for security and justice in the breakaway Serbian province.

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Citizens of Bosnia’s Serb Republic voted on Sunday in an early election for the mainly ceremonial post of regional president after the sudden death of President Milan Jelic.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO ministers pledged on Friday to keep their KFOR peace force in Kosovo at current strength as the Serbian province heads towards independence and to make more troops available as necessary to deal with any violence.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Ratko Mladic, the fugitive Bosnian Serb general wanted for genocide by the U.N. tribunal, is most likely hiding in Serbia, Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic was quoted as saying on Thursday.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – An independent Kosovo would be a “puppet” of the United States and NATO, Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Thursday, vowing that Serbia would never give up its breakaway province.