Balkans

An offhand comment by President Vladimir Putin during his recent swing through the North Caucasus should have alerted both Russians and the world of a very serious problem: Besides some speeches and press releases filled with bravado, Moscow has done very little to prepare for the Sochi Olympics.

Russia’s gas export monopoly Gazprom threatened on Tuesday to cut gas supplies to Ukraine by 25 percent from March 3 over arrears, two weeks after the two ex-Soviet states agreed on how to settle the problem.

BAKU – Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has asked parliament to vote to withdraw the ex-Soviet country’s peacekeepers from Kosovo, an Azeri official said on Thursday.

PRISTINA – Kosovo told Serbia on Tuesday it would not yield one inch of its territory, and a violent protest by ethnic Serbs in Bosnia against Kosovo’s secession highlighted continued volatility in the Balkan region.

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia – Hundreds of protesters tried to attack the United States consulate in Bosnia’s Serb Republic on Tuesday, smashing shops in the city centre after they were pushed away by riot police.

BELGRADE – Serbia should stop servicing Kosovo’s foreign debt now the territory has declared independence, and instead spend the money on Serbian communities there, Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said on Tuesday.

UFA, Russia – A deal to bring Serbia into Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline project was a show of support for Belgrade over Kosovo, Dmitry Medvedev, the man likely to be elected Russia’s new president, said on Tuesday.

BELGRADE – Serbia intends to rule parts of Kosovo where “loyal citizens” still look to Belgrade for government, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday.

BELGRADE – Russia’s likely next president, Dmitry Medvedev, told Serbian leaders on Monday there would be no shift in his country’s support for Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo.

Pieter Feith confirmed on Saturday his mission had moved its staff from the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica. An international official told Reuters on Friday the small EU team had been relocated a week ago due to security concerns.