Balkans

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders are set to offer Serbia a fast track to candidacy for membership in the bloc and pledge to step up preparations for a police mission to stabilize Kosovo, a draft statement for Friday’s EU summit said.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned the European Union on Tuesday that sending a supervisory mission to the breakaway province of Kosovo could damage relations with Serbia.

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.

Today marks the official end of the four-month Kosovo status negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will submit a report given to him by the mediating Troika to the UN Security Council. The report on the Kosovo talks states that Belgrade and Pristina promised to …

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.