Balkans

KFOR members removed on Tuesday morning barbed wire from the Brnjak administrative crossing, which was shut down on September 16. German and French troops of the NATO forces in the province removed the barbed wire from the checkpoint.

In a letter to Brussels, Pristina warns that it will reactivate its trade ban with Serbia if Belgrade fails to honour the September 2 deal. Kosovo’s government on Monday sent a letter to the European Union, calling

The UN envoy in the Greece-Macedonia ‘name’ talks, Matthew Nimetz, has no plans to visit Athens and Skopje any time soon, Greek media report him as saying in New York. Greek media reported that Nimetz said this after a meeting in New York with the Greek Foreign Minister, Stavros Lambrinidis, …

Bozidar Djelic started a two-day visit to Brussels on Monday to lobby for Serbia in the run-up to the expected publication of a European Commission “opinion”, or “avis” on Serbia’s possible candidate status. After meeting Enlargement Commissioner Fuele, Djelic said Fuele had especially commended Serbia’s good results in reforming justice, …

The Serbian government has decided to bring North Kosovo back into Serbia’s tax system, cancelling the regulation about customs procedure at border checkpoints, which actually means that Serbia will collect VAT in North Kosovo again.

Serbian Deputy PM Božidar Đelić began his two-day visit to Brussels, where he will hold bilateral meetings with officials of the European Commission and parliament. He will also open the “Serbia Days in European Parliament”.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Kosovo officials that “Kosovo institutions should coordinate their activities with the international missions”. Ban said they should “coordinate with KFOR and EULEX in establishing peace in north Kosovo” – according to a statement issued in Priština.

EU candidate Turkey has again threatened to freeze relations with the bloc over the thorny topic of Cyprus. Ankara is angry at plans to give internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot authorities the EU’s rotating presidency next July.

The Greek government prepared for crisis talks with European and International Monetary Fund officials Monday amid intensifying fears of potential default after euro-zone finance ministers last week further delayed a decision on the nation’s next round of financial aid.

All major roads in northern Kosovo remain blocked but the situation remains calm following the deployment of EU police and Kosovo customs officials to border crossings with Serbia last Friday. Serbs in northern Kosovo have strengthened barricades on major roads and are reportedly refusing to remove them until Kosovo police …