NATO's Rasmussen Urges Kosovo, Serbia For Calm

radio free europe
September 15, 2011

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the military alliance will not allow the Balkan region to slip back into violence amid simmering tensions between Kosovo and Serbia over a border dispute.
Rasmussen made the comments during a brief visit to Pristina, a day before Kosovo authorities are to deploy police and customs officials at two disputed border crossings with Serbia....more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/nato_rasmussen_urges_kosovo_serbia_calm/24329540.html

L'OTAN demande des troupes supplémentaires au Kosovo

le monde.fr

A la Une > Europe

LEMONDE.FR avec AFP

02.08.11
15h21 • Mis à jour le 02.08.11
15h40
En raison de tensions entre Serbes et Kosovars depuis la semaine dernière, la mission de l'OTAN au Kosovo (KFOR) a demandé le déploiement de troupes supplémentaires sur le terrain, a annoncé Hans Dieter Wichter, son porte-parole. "Nous avons demandé un bataillon, c'est suffisant pour soulager" les troupes, a-t-il déclaré. Un bataillon comprend 500 militaires, et la KFOR comprend actuellement 6 000 militaires....more...
read more: le monde.fr
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2011/08/02/l-otan-demande-des-troupes-supplementaires-au-kosovo_1555444_3214.html

Kosovo: Nato sends in reinforcements

independent

Reuters

Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Nato announced yesterday that it will send hundreds more troops to Kosovo after an escalation of violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs last week.

A battalion of troops, mainly from Germany and Austria, will join the Kosovo Security Force KFOR in coming days. Nato's force in Kosovo numbers nearly 6,000....more...
read more: independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kosovo-nato-sends-in-reinforcements-2330742.html

Kosovar Prime Minister Announces Deal With NATO On Border Posts

radio free europe

August 05, 2011

Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci says his government has made a deal with NATO over two disputed border posts that were the recent scene of deadly violence in Serb-majority northern Kosovo.
Thaci today said that the deal foresees the disputed crossings named military security zones and manned by NATO's KFOR troops....more..
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo_border_posts_deal_thaci/24288265.html

NATO To Send Extra Troops To Kosovo

radio free europe

August 02, 2011

NATO will deploy additional troops in Kosovo following an escalation of violence in the disputed region.
The alliance, however, said on August 2 that the deployment was intended to relieve NATO forces currently engaged in maintaining security and was not tied to last week's clashes, sparked by a Kosovo police operation to seize two border crossings with Serbia....more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/nato_to_send_extra_troops_to_kosovo/24284510.html

Tensions simmer at Kosovo border posts after Serb-NATO deal stalls

deutsche welle
KOSOVO

05.08.2011
Ethnic tensions simmer over disputed border posts in northern Kosovo after progress on a NATO-Serbian deal to end the crisis has stalled. Pristina accused Serbia of seeking to partition Kosovo along ethnic lines.

NATO and Serbian negotiators failed to conclude an agreement aimed at defusing ethnic tensions centered on two disputed border posts in northern Kosovo, leaving the region blockaded by ethnic Serb barricades....more..
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15297745,00.html

NATO brokers deal to end Kosovo standoff

deutsche welle
KOSOVO

05.08.2011
After days of deadlocked talks, NATO and representatives from Kosovo and Serbia have struck a deal that will ease tensions at border crossings. The deal sees NATO troops controlling the crossings for the time being.

NATO's peacekeeping mission to Kosovo has brokered a deal to end a two-week standoff between Belgrade and Pristina in Kosovo's Serb-dominated North. Talks had been deadlocked for days, but on Friday, the commander of the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission, German General Erhard Bühler, found common ground with Belgrade's negotiator Borislav Stefanovic....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15299178,00.html

Kosovo rejects NATO-Serbia deal

deutsche welle

KOSOVO

04.08.2011
NATO forces and Serbian officials have reached an accord on the disputed crossings in Kosovo's north. The government in Pristina, however, has rejected the deal out of concern that its sovereignty could be weakened....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15294917,00.html

Kosovo says will not accept NATO-Serbia deal

reuters

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA

Thu Aug 4, 2011 5:55am BST
(Reuters) - The NATO mission in Kosovo said Wednesday that it had drafted an agreement with Serb representatives to move roadblocks in northern Kosovo, but the Pristina government said the deal was unacceptable....more...
read more: reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/uk-kosovo-nato-agreement-idUKTRE7726RH20110804

L'OTAN décrète une zone militaire entre la Serbie et le Kosovo

le monde.fr

A la Une > Europe

LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters

28.07.11
08h47 • Mis à jour le 28.07.11
20h24
L'OTAN a décrété, jeudi 28 juillet, une zone militaire interdite autour de deux postes-frontières situés à la frontière du Kosovo avec la Serbie, en menaçant de recourir à la force dans ce secteur après des violences commises la veille par des Serbes. "Les soldats peuvent recourir à la force, ils peuvent utiliser leurs armes pour se défendre, pour défendre toutes personnes, les biens, la zone militaire. Aucune personne non autorisée à travailler dans les deux périmètres ou à franchir les barrières ne doit se trouver à proximité", a expliqué le commandant de l'OTAN Erhard Buhler lors d'une interview à Reuters....more...
read more: le monde.fr
http://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2011/07/28/flambee-de-violences-entre-la-serbie-et-le-kosovo_1553557_3214.html

Ethnic Serbs blockade NATO troops in north Kosovo

reuters

By Fatos Bytyci and Aleksandar Vasovic

PRISTINA/BELGRADE

Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:35pm BST
(Reuters) - Ethnic Serbs from Kosovo's north said on Friday they had blockaded NATO troops who took control of border posts with Serbia this week to halt violence provoked by a customs dispute with Belgrade....more...
read more: reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/07/29/uk-kosovo-violence-idUKTRE76R82Q20110729

Nato intervenes after Kosovo murder -video-

ny times
Kosovo
Nato troops monitor Serbian border crossings in Kosovo after the shooting of a policeman escalates ethnic tension in the area.

Alastair Good

2:56PM BST 28 Jul 2011

Troops have been deployed on the bridge crossing of the Ibar River in the town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, to keep ethnic Albanians and Serbs apart.
Crossings were prevented on Thursday as troops and armoured vehicles tried to keep the peace following the shooting of a Kosovan police officer during a clash with local Serbs....more...

read more: ny times

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/kosovo/8667973/Nato-intervenes-after-Kosovo-murder.html

US official: Balkans' future is in Euro-Atlantic institutions

se times
23/06/2011

Visiting the Western Balkans, US State Department official Philip Gordon warned of unresolved political problems that impede progress.
By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 23/06/1
Two of the biggest issues in the Balkans -- relations between Serbia and Kosovo and stagnated reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- were the focus of Assistant US Secretary of State Philip Gordon's visit to the region last week.

In Belgrade, he told Serbian national TV network RTS that the EU can not accept new members that have unresolved or non-harmonised borders with neighbouring countries....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/23/feature-02

NATO Summit Highights Serb Suspicion of Alliance

balkan insight
16 JUN 2011 / 09:55

The NATO summit held in Belgrade in last three days has shown that most Serbs still oppose membership of the Alliance.

Bojana Barlovac Belgrade
Belgrade has closed a major military conference which gathered more than 50 delegations of defence systems worldwide. The conference itself did not reach any conclusions but the participants dubbed it successful as it will allow for the further development of military capabilities and relationships of the participating countries.....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/anti-nato-mood-still-prevails-among-serbs

In sign of a new era, Belgrade hosts NATO conference

se times
16/06/2011

Choosing Serbia's capital as the venue had great symbolic significance, according to analysts.
By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 16/06/11
Serbia's efforts to put the Yugoslav conflicts behind it were highlighted again this week when the country hosted a conference of NATO strategic military partners. The event, held in Belgrade through Wednesday (June 15th), brought together representatives of around 60 nations, as well as from NATO, the Partnership for Peace, Mediterranean Dialogue, Istanbul Co-operation Initiative and Russia....more....
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/16/feature-02

NATO meeting in Serbia, update, photos

serbianna.com
June 14, 2011 – 4:01 pm

Serbian Patriarch Irinej said that the NATO meeting is “filth for our wounds” and said that NATO has “left us with deep wounds.”

NATO is holding a Strategic Military Partner Conference in Belgrade until June 15 featuring representatives of 56 countries, PfP, Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.
Vocal protests in Serbia against the NATO have been labeled as “insignificant” by Serbia’s Defense MInister Sutanovac.
Here are some updates on the ongoing NATO meeting held in Belgrade from the state media....more...
read more: serbianna.com
http://serbianna.com/blogs/bozinovich/archives/1285

Serbian Soldiers Join US-Bulgarian Military Drill

balkan insight
13 JUN 2011 / 17:51

A detachment of the Serbian land forces is taking part in joint Bulgarian-US military drills for the first time, near Sliven in southern Bulgaria.

Novinite (Sofia Press Agency)
The military training, dubbed Black Sea Rotation Forces – 11, is taking place from June 12-20 at the Novo Selo military facility near Sliven....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbian-soldiers-join-us-bulgarian-military-drill

Serbia Hosts Major NATO Conference

balkan insight
13 JUN 2011 / 07:36

A NATO conference in Belgrade this week will bring together scores of defence officials from across the globe, but it will not change Serbia's neutral stance towards the alliance, the government says.
Bojana Barlovac, Belgrade
Belgrade is set to host a three-day long annual NATO conference starting on Monday, but state officials have stressed that the fact that Serbia is holding the event does not mean that the country's stance towards the alliance has changed....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/belgrade-hosts-nato-summit-on-monday

Serbia arms industry boom time detonates Nato debate

serbianna.com

By Mark Lowen BBC News, Belgrade  10 June 2011
Weapons are rapidly becoming Serbia’s most valuable export
It is sealed off with rusty old gates, some of the buildings still in ruins after Nato air strikes twelve years ago. But inside the Krusik arms factory in Valjevo, western Serbia, the ammunition produced is of the highest quality – used in theatres of war around the world.From mortars to anti-tank rockets, these are weapons made to destroy, but they are slowly rebuilding Serbia’s economy. Under President Tito, Yugoslavia was a major arms exporter to its allies in the Middle East and North Africa. As the country broke apart in the wars of the 1990s, sanctions halted sales. Many of the weapons factories, such as Krusik, were heavily bombed by Nato during the Kosovan war in 1999. The irony is that today, the arms produced here are used in Nato missions in places like Afghanistan.....more....

read more: serbianna.com
http://serbianna.com/blogs/michaletos/archives/1032

Parliament grants extension of German military missions

deutsche welle
BUNDESWEHR

10.06.2011
Germany's participation in the NATO Kosovo Force has been extended for an additional 12 months after receiving parliamentary approval. An extension of the Bundeswehr's mission on the coast of Lebanon will also continue.

The German parliament extended two of the Bundeswehr's military engagements on Thursday. Germany's participation in the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) has been extended for an additional 12 months, but will come with troop reductions....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15144647,00.html