Balkans

MITROVICA, Serbia – There are some new faces in the Serb-controlled slice of northern Kosovo, the breakaway province where 2 million Albanians will declare independence from Serbia within days.

SARAJEVO – Police in Bosnia’s Serb Republic, an ally of Serbia, are on alert in case of unrest over the proclamation of Kosovo’s independence this week, local media reported on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS – The European Union is set to complete authorization of a big supervisory mission in Kosovo this week, just before the territory is expected to declare independence from Serbia, diplomats and EU officials said.

WASHINGTON – Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said on Monday he was optimistic Europe’s main election watchdog will be able to stay in Kosovo, perhaps with a narrower mandate, if the region declares independence.

BROD, Serbia – The man introduced himself as the village historian, reaching into his jacket and producing a notebook scrawled with figures for Kosovo’s Gorani population.

MUNICH, Germany – Russia said on Sunday that Europe risked opening a “Pandora’s box” if it went ahead and recognized the independence of the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.

RACAK, Serbia – The massacre of 44 Kosovo Albanians by Serb security forces in this village nine years ago is a reminder of why Kosovo deserves independence from Serbia, says the U.S. diplomat who reported it to the world.

PRISTINA, Serbia – Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Friday about 100 countries were ready to recognize the province’s independence from Serbia as soon as it was declared.

Serbia’s pro-Western President Boris Tadic won a narrow re-election against nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic on Sunday in a vote seen as a referendum on the nation’s future ties with the West as it faces the loss of Kosovo.

The re-election of pro-Western liberal Boris Tadic as president of Serbia on Sunday is expected to soothe investor concerns about the country’s stability ahead of the imminent declaration of independence by its Kosovo province.