NATO troops back off from ethnic Serbs blockading border post

deutsche welle
KOSOVO

22.10.2011
NATO peacekeepers have retreated from a confrontation with ethnic Kosovo Serbs blockading border posts. The troops had been set to remove barriers built by protesters angry at a handover of frontier controls to Pristina.

NATO soldiers retreated from a tense stand-off on Saturday as they tried to dismantle a barrier erected by ethnic Kosovo Serbs.

Serbs in northern Kosovo had erected 16 barricades on roads leading to Brnjak and Jarinje after Kosovo authorities said in July they would replace ethnic Serb customs officers at the border with its own staff and EU officials....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15480187,00.html

NATO begins dismantling Serb barricade in northern Kosovo

deutsche welle
KOSOVO

20.10.2011
NATO-led troops have fired tear gas to disperse angry Serb crowds manning roadblocks at a contested border crossing in northern Kosovo. The soldiers have used armored vehicles to remove the barriers.

NATO troops in full riot gear moved in the early hours of Thursday to dismantle makeshift roadblocks set up by Kosovo Serbs in northern Kosovo....more....
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15474510,00.html

Police Say Serb Injured In Kosovo Clash Dies

radio free europe
November 10, 2011

Police and hospital officials say an ethnic Serb injured by gunfire during a clash between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo's north has died.
Two other injury victims, including a policeman, are still being treated.
Police spokesman Besim Hoti said Savo Mojsic died in a hospital in the Serb-run part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica on November 10 after a three-hour surgery....more..
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/police_say_serb_injured_kosovo_dies/24386488.html

In Kosovo, Smuggling Fosters Unusual Ethnic Cooperation

ny times
By DOREEN CARVAJAL

Published: October 24, 2011
MITROVICA, Kosovo — For three months, this gritty mining town has been a hot spot of Balkan ethnic tension ominous enough to prompt new deployments of armed NATO peacekeepers and action by the European Union to slow Serbia’s long-sought bid for membership.
In the long siege at makeshift gravel barricades, ethnic Serbs hurled rocks toward ethnic Albanians on the other side of the Ibar River, and this summer, hooded men in shorts and sneakers firebombed a border-control station, stoking fears among Western powers that ethnic clashes could spin out of control in northern Kosovo....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/world/europe/in-balkans-smuggling-forges-a-rare-unity.html?_r=1&ref=albania

Nato unleashes tear gas at Serbs

telegraph
2:58 PM BST 20 Oct 2011
Nato troops unleashed volleys of tear gas at Serbs trying to stop them dismantling barricades in northern Kosovo near the border with Serbia, leaving dozens needing treatment.
For nearly three months, Kosovo Serbs have been blocking roads to stop the country's ethnic Albanian leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs....more...
read more: telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/kosovo/8838836/Nato-unleashes-tear-gas-at-Serbs.html

Kosovo’s Serbs Pressed to End Autonomy Push

ny times
 MEMO FROM KOSOVO
By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

Published: September 29, 2011
MITROVICA, Kosovo — After years of impasse between the national government of Kosovo and ethnic Serbs demanding autonomy within their northern enclave in the new country, international pressure has intensified on the Serbs. And while the immediate result has been minor clashes, there is new hope for some movement toward a resolution for the last geopolitically unsettled chunk of the former Yugoslavia....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/world/europe/26iht-kosovo26.html?ref=serbia

Blocked, Northern Kosovo

the economist
An impasse that could turn nasty
SERBIA’S government has lost control of the Serbian-majority north of Kosovo. The roads are barricaded and locals are rowing with NATO peacekeepers and European Union police....more....
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/node/21534834

Serbia wants special status for Kosovo north

blic online
BORIS TADIC AT UN SESSION IN NEW YORK

Tamara Spaić

22. 09. 2011. - 02:02h
Comments 0
Serbia President Boris Tadic shall try at meetings with world leaders in New York to get their support for the settlement of the current crisis at customs checkpoints with implementation of Ban-Ki-Moon’s plan from 2008, as sources close to Tadic confirmed to ‘Blic’. It is believed that would be just a beginning for the international community to recognize ‘the north as something special’ and an introduction to autonomy or even partition....more...
read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/News/8027/Serbia-wants-special-status-for-Kosovo-north

Limaj Lawyer Urges EULEX to Give Up

balkan insight
22 SEP 2011 / 09:21

Fatmir Limaj’s lawyer called on EU prosecutors to abandon charges against his client, saying they had yet to produce any proof of corruption on Limaj's behalf while he was minister for transport.

Fatmir Aliu

Tahir Rrecaj, the lawyer representing the vice-president of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK,and former transport minister, said Limaj was innocent and would be proven so....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/lawyers-ask-eulex-to-drop-case-against-limaj

EULEX Police Arrest Two Kosovo Serbs

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 11:42

A teenager and a 20-year-old Kosovo Serb have been arrested on suspicion of shooting at the house of a Kosovo Police officer in northern Kosovo.

Fatmir Aliu Pristina

The drive-by shooting, in which no one was injured, took place yesterday in the village of Leshak in the Leposavic municipality.

Besim Hoti, a spokesman for the Kosovo Police, said that the two young people had been charged with causing general danger and illegal possession of fire arms....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eulex-police-arrest-two-kosovo-serbs

New Guide Puts Dragash on the Tourist Map

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:55

Dragash in Kosovo is one of the poorest regions in the country, but it also happens to be one of the most beautiful. A new guide will encourage hikers to these underexplored mountains and plant the seeds of a sustainable tourist industry.

Shengjyl Osmani Pristina

Interested in exploring the beauties of Kosovo’s nature and still haven’t visited the Dragash area? Well, look no further: travel blogger and Pristina resident Todd Wassel has turned his incredible hiking experience in this forgotten region into a guide to discover and enjoy the area....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/new-guide-puts-dragash-on-the-tourist-map

Pristina Digging Itself Out of a Pot Hole

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:52

After years of neglect, Pristina’s roads are being rejuvenated with 15 million euro of investment – but not everyone is convinced traffic jams or pot holes are a thing of the past.

Liridon Alidemaj Pristina

With 80 roads currently being worked at, at a cost of 15 million euro, and Pristina’s own version of Spaghetti Junction to open soon, motorists in Kosovo’s capital hope that they may soon be spared some of the gridlock and pothole dodging which has dominated driving in recent years....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/pristina-digging-itself-out-of-a-pot-hole

Serbia Takes Kosovo Border Row to New York

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:51

As tensions fizz in the Serb-run sliver of North Kosovo, Belgrade has launched a diplomatic push aimed at forcing Kosovo to withdraw its customs officials from northern border crossings.

Bojana Barlovac Belgrade

Not even pouring rain has stopped local Serbs from manning barricades in the Serb-run north of Kosovo for the fifth day in a row, following last Friday's deployment of EU police and Kosovo customs officials on border crossings with Serbia....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/belgrade-launches-diplomatic-action-over-kosovo-north

Kosovo Court Ruling Heightens Arrest Risk for Limaj

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 08:12

Constitutional court clarification that MPs do not enjoy immunity from prosecution removes an important bar preventing EU police from arresting former minister.

Fatmir Aliu Pristina

Fatmir Limaj’s chances of being arrested rose yesterday after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that parliamentarians are not immune from prosecution if sought by the law....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-court-ruling-heightens-arrest-risk-for-limaj

A coffee with Serbian vice prime minister Bozidar Djelic -video-

waz.eu.observer.com
TODAY @ 08:17

The EU is examining Serbian-backed proposals to break the deadlock in Northern Kosovo. In this video Serbian deputy prime minister Bozidar Djelic talks about the solution that Serbia has proposed to EU foreign chief Catherine Ashton to solve the problem....more...
read more: waz.eu.observer.com
http://euobserver.com/1015/113683

Bare-Handed Kosovo Serbs Battle NATO

serbianna
Sep 20, 2011
Bare-Handed Kosovo Serbs Battle NATO
By Vojin Joksimovich, Ph.D.
On September the 16th NATO forces, overstepping their UN Security Council (UNSC) mandates, amid tensions on the administrative border between Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, have fired the first shots at bare-handed Kosovo Serbs in the village of Zupce. The Kosovo Serbs have erected barricades, in a life or death situation, to defend themselves against the Muslim Albanian onslaughts which desire to forcefully incorporate northern Kosovo into the US/EU created Republic of Kosovo, an amputated province from the Republic of Serbia. The Albanian police, aided and assisted by NATO’s KFOR, have taken over two border crossings: Jarinje and Brnjak. The Albanian customs officers, aided and abetted by EU’s EULEX mission in Kosovo, have established their control over the border crossings....more...
read more: serbianna
http://serbianna.com/analysis/archives/993

Kosovo Showdown: NATO, Serbs Set Up Competing Checkpoints

serbianna
September 16, 2011 – 1:25 am

B92/Beta News Agency

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: NATO troops in Kosovo, KFOR, tonight used barbed wire to shut down the Jarinje administrative line checkpoint
between Kosovo and central Serbia.
As a consequence of this, the traffic at the checkpoint has come to a complete halt.
A little after 19:00 CET,, local Serbs in northern Kosovo used trucks to block the second administrative crossing, Brnjak.
The trucks are placed on both sides of the administrative line.
Serbs also blocked access to Jarinje with one truck. ...more...
read more: serbianna
http://serbianna.com/blogs/michaletos/archives/1084

Western Balkans to Get $6.9 Billion as Regions Seeks EU Path

serbianna
September 9, 2011 – 7:12 am

Bloomberg By Boris Cerni and Misha Savic - Sep 9, 2011

The European Union will spend 5 billion euros ($6.9 billion) to help the Western Balkans as it seeks to integrate the region
into the world’s largest trading bloc, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said.
Van Rompuy called on Serbia to continue talks with Kosovo as the nation works to gain EU candidate status year’s end.
Serbia, the largest of the former Yugoslav republics and the slowest to embrace the EU until the arrest of the
last war-crimes suspects, refuses to recognize its former province....more...
read more: serbianna
http://serbianna.com/blogs/michaletos/archives/1079

Orthodox Christian ghettoization and anti-Serb clampdown in Kosovo

serbianna
Aug 31, 2011

Lee Jay Walker, Modern Tokyo Times

If you reside in a parallel universe then welcome to Kosovo, the land of Albanianization and Islamization and all in the name of democracy. A flick back into history tells us that the Serbs were 98% of the population of Kosovo 600 years ago but today the Orthodox Christian Serbs are between 6% and 8% depending on various figures....more...
read more: serbianna
http://serbianna.com/analysis/archives/962

Kosovo Court Ruling Heightens Arrest Risk for Limaj

balkan insight
20 SEP 2011 / 18:12

Constitutional court clarification that MPs do not enjoy immunity from prosecution removes an important bar preventing EU police from arresting former minister.

Fatmir Aliu Pristina

Fatmir Limaj’s chances of being arrested rose today after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that parliamentarians are not immune from prosecution if sought by the law....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-court-ruling-heightens-arrest-risk-for-limaj