8 million people Feb 13, 2020 · The EU-led dialogue with Serbia also hit its longest pause after Kosovo imposed a 100-per-cent tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods, mainly in response to Serbia’s campaign to push countries to Jan 3, 2024 · Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. Kosovo needs a steely-eyed response to the malign intentions of Russia and, more importantly, China, and the US can help. The Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre said the sentences handed down by a Serbian court to seven Yugoslav Army ex-soldiers N. ”. January 23, 2024 07:17. As Kosovo readies to enforce a euro-only policy, its Central Bank is floating a plan for commercial banks operating in Kosovo to convert Serbian payments to euros Nov 16, 2023 · Xhorxhina Bami. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti claimed that a Serbian-backed group of “heavily armed” men had attacked the police, killing one and wounding two, before Dec 7, 2023 · Kosovo journalist Valon Syla (left) in courtroom on Ddecember 7, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/POOL. Nov 24, 2023 · Kosovo Serbs will cast votes in Serbia’s December 17 legislative elections on the territory of Serbia, not in Kosovo, Serbia’s Election Commission said on Thursday. Accelerating the rate of socio-economic convergence will require a holistic and growth oriented approach Feb 8, 2024 · ICG analyst tells BIRN that Serbia-run institutions in Kosovo are a recognised ‘problem’ – but Kosovo’s latest unilateral action against them is a threat to many people’s livelihoods. The law in Kosovo recognises the ‘right to be forgotten’, but most people in the country don’t know they can seek the removal of their personal data from the KOSOVO INSIGHT. Seven years after being established, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague handed down its first verdicts in 2022, while a court in Kosovo itself delivered a Jan 15, 2021 · Sasa Dragojlo and Perparim Isufi. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday that Serbia will continue to fund Kosovo Serbs – in public-sector salaries, social help and Feb 14, 2017 · More recently, several trials held in Kosovo have convicted a number of guerrillas, but the process has long been hampered by the nature of Kosovo’s close-knit society of 1. Back to BalkanInsight About Premium Subscription Advertise Newsletters Contact Sign in Apr 9, 2024 · Kosovo opposition parties are upping their demands for extraordinary elections before Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government finishes its four-year mandate. Kosovo War Crime Trials Feb 9, 2024 · BIRN. Photo: BIRN. In an interview with BIRN, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said Serbia is trying to destabilise the Serb-majority north of Kosovo as well as Bosnia and Montenegro, with Dec 23, 2022 · BIRN. May 29, 2024 07:21. , who is suspected of committing war crimes in Kosovo in 1999 Apr 26, 2024 · The Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre said the sentences handed down by a Serbian court to seven Yugoslav Army ex-soldiers for massacres of Kosovo Albanian civilians in 1999 didn’t reflect Dec 4, 2019 · Kosovo has around 27,000 certified nurses, according to the Chamber of Nurses, though only 21,000 are employed in the country. Dec 27, 2023 · Kurti spoke three days after Serbia’s government decided to allow Kosovo official “RKS” licence plates in Serbian territory from January 1, 2024, putting an end to a long dispute over the Feb 9, 2024 · Kosovo’s former Prime Minister tells BIRN that his successor’s mismanagement of the dialogue with Belgrade has brought the country to a standstill – and led to isolation and economic decline. Belgrade, Pristina. They communicate more than they want to show. Pristina Basic Court on Thursday sentenced three defendants for the attack against a Kosovo Jan 18, 2024 · Photo: BIRN/Milica Stojanovic. Feb 6, 2024 · February 6, 2024 07:51. September 21, 2023. Kosovo Serbs in three out of four municipalities in the north have submitted requests to start the process of removing their disputed mayors via citizens Jun 26, 2024 · Kosovo Convicts Four Over Serb Opposition Politician’s Murder. September 24, 2023 15:04. December 8, 202314:33. Qendresa’s case is one of more than 1,700 cases of gender-based online violence cases reported to authorities in Kosovo, mainly involving blackmail, violence and Balkan Insight is the successor of BIRN's "Balkan Crisis Report" newsletter. Kosovo has taken a necessary step to ensuring membership of an important international organisation and the benefits will be manyfold – from joining multiple Jan 31, 2024 · Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, said on Wednesday that a regulation enforcing a euro-only policy for cash payments will enter into force as planned on February 1, while Mar 13, 2024 · A 2016 court ruling confirmed that 24 hectares of disputed land belongs to the 14th-century monastery of Visoki Decani, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. BIRN Apr 24, 2024 · Belgrade. Polling stations will be 6 days ago · June 28, 2024. Photo: BIRN/Laurant Berisha. Serbeze Haxhiaj. The report from a Franco-German group of experts is the most significant, concrete Inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies depends on greater economic competitiveness. May 29, 2024 · BIRN. January 9, 2024 07:22. Unilateral steps in north Kosovo will only cause further destabilisation. December 23, 2022 08:21. As Albin Kurti’s mandate as Prime Minister enters its final year, his Jun 14, 2024 · The government has allocated 345 million euros for Kosovo’s health sector in 2024, just over 10 per cent of budgetary expenditure, with plans to spend 3. Kosovo police continued their investigations on Friday, searching five locations in three Feb 22, 2024 · BIRN. Seven years after being established, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague handed down its first verdicts in 2022, while a court in Kosovo itself delivered a Jun 10, 2024 · As Kosovo marked the 25th anniversary of the war's end, Britain's ex-Prime Minister told MPs he was glad his country helped end 'oppression and injustice'. This year, however, Vulin was only one of a number of senior officials to 3 days ago · Belgrade Higher Court on Thursday ordered up to 30 days custody for a Kosovo Albanian man identified only by the initials F. Russia has been Serbia’s primary Jan 11, 2024 · After meeting the US ambassador to Serbia on Thursday, President Vucic says he was 'disappointed' to hear Kosovo’s request for anti-tank missiles has been forwarded to Congress – but will Jan 9, 2024 · BIRN. Subscribe to Balkan An Albanian who 34 years ago jumped over an embassy wall in Tirana to escape the country’s repressive communist regime recalls his struggle to find freedom and a new home in Western Europe. The trial for the assassination of Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb opposition politician gunned down outside his party’s office, sparked claims that powerful criminals are able to Kosovo’s exports have seen a substantial increase over the three years of Albin Kurti’s government – but so have imports, with the country’s trade deficit reaching a record high of 5. BI reports from Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Kosovo , North Macedonia , Montenegro , Moldova , Romania and Serbia . High-level contact between the EU and Kosovo continues despite ‘measures’ imposed by the EU in June last year, but local EU-funded projects are suffering. Their stories highlight why social stigma and shame still Nov 5, 2012 · Balkan Insight is BIRN’s flagship English-language website and it provides daily news, as well as analytical insight and investigations, on key issues in ten countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, with occasional coverage of Turkey and Greece. 1 Jan 15, 2024 · BIRN. Eight Sep 29, 2021 · BIRN. From 2019, Balkan Insight is extending its coverage on Ukraine Mar 25, 2024 · Report by rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis advises positive response to Kosovo's Council of Europe membership bid, after it met key criterion when it granted disputed land to a Serb Orthodox monastery Feb 20, 2024 · Kosovo has repeatedly tried to keep lobbying contracts under wraps, only to be undone by US transparency rules. Back to BalkanInsight About Premium Sep 29, 2021 · BIRN. Jan 23, 2024 · BIRN. January 15, 2021 08:20. BIRN analysed nine cases of lawsuits brought against journalists in Kosovo - often simply with the aim of keeping them quiet - and found that it can take many years for Mar 8, 2024 · Kosovo’s CEC meeting on March 8 2024. Many more Sep 24, 2023 · BIRN. As Albin Kurti’s mandate as Prime Minister enters its final year, his Oct 31, 2023 · Faced with rising discontent among police officers, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced on Friday the reintroduction of hazard pay for the police force, citing the “tense situation” in Aug 30, 2023 · August 30, 2023 08:17. February 9, 2024 13:20. Back to BalkanInsight About Premium An Albanian who 34 years ago jumped over an embassy wall in Tirana to escape the country’s repressive communist regime recalls his struggle to find freedom and a new home in Western Europe. Although the gap is closing gradually, the standards of living in WB6 are well below those of the OECD and EU. 0-3. January 15, 2024 08:16. The main Belgrade-backed Serb Apr 20, 2022 · April 20, 2022 07:17. Photo: Instagram/buducnostsrbijeav. Three male survivors of wartime rape in Kosovo told BIRN how their ordeals have blighted the rest of their lives. On Wednesday, Kurti said he had acted Apr 29, 2024 · The President of Slovenia, Natasa Pirc Musar, told BIRN in an interview that her predecessor as president, Borut Pahor, is the right candidate to replace the outgoing EU special envoy for Kosovo Jan 3, 2024 · Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti. July 1, 2024 08:11. Former Kosovo Liberation Army officer Sadik Halitjaha told the trial of Hashim Thaci and other wartime guerrilla leaders in The Hague that Dec 27, 2023 · Kurti spoke three days after Serbia’s government decided to allow Kosovo official “RKS” licence plates in Serbian territory from January 1, 2024, putting an end to a long dispute over the Dec 4, 2019 · Kosovo has around 27,000 certified nurses, according to the Chamber of Nurses, though only 21,000 are employed in the country. No Kosovo or Serbian institutions answered questions put by BIRN about new regulations enforcing sole use of the euro and how they will be implemented in areas that Oct 23, 2023 · Belgrade’s claim that Serbs are being purposefully driven out of Kosovo is not supported by a single relevant international organisation – but that doesn’t mean its inflammatory rhetoric isn Sep 29, 2023 · The Grey Restaurant in Mitrovica, pictured in July, was searched by Kosovo police on Friday. Pristina Basic Court found Nedeljko Spasojevic, Marko Rosic, Zarko Jovanovic and Dragisa Markovic guilty of May 20, 2024 · Kosovo Police closed six offices of the Serbia-run financial institutions in four Serb-majority municipalities in the north on Monday one week after Kosovo’s Central Bank announced that a three Jun 27, 2024 · Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as independent, and the festival has always been a target for fringe right-wing groups. Chances are, most of the remaining 6,000 work in Germany. The Political Feb 27, 2024 · The report’s authors note that among the Serb population of Kosovo there has been “a dramatic population decline from 2002 to 2024 of around 22%. March 14, 2024 08:02. September 29, 2021 08:14. Russia has been Serbia’s primary Jun 27, 2024 · Sapic accused the festival of “falsifying and changing history through the promotion of so-called Kosovo cultural heritage, disregarding the fact that it is Serbian”. Kosovo Serb Jailed for 2023 Mob Attack on NATO Peacekeepers US, EU and Serbia Condemn Kosovo’s Closure of Serb Banks Vienna Summit Binds Balkan States to Broad Reforms Jan 15, 2024 · BIRN. In 2021, Kosovo’s Prime Apr 19, 2024 · Ilaz Bylykbashi, a photojournalist from Kosovo who began work in the 1970s, recounts some of the historic events he captured on camera – including the aftermath of the 1998 massacre of Kosovo Dec 7, 2023 · The international criminal police organisation Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for Kosovo Serb businessman and politician Milan Radoicic and 18 others over their possible involvement in the Jan 10, 2018 · In impoverished Kosovo, the disabled community has been pushed to the back of the line – but a new generation of activists and NGOs is determined to change things. Opinion. “Serbia was not ready to meet Kosovo’s conditions, citing constitutional Last Name. 6 days ago · BIRN. Back to BalkanInsight About May 28, 2024 · I don’t know why,” she said. BIRN. Kosovo’s relations with its key US ally deteriorated sharply as Washington said it will impose penalties until Pristina takes measures to de-escalate the tense situation that Mar 14, 2024 · BIRN. A sixth-grade classroom at May 20, 2024 · In 2023, eight indictments were filed in absentia against 61 accused. June 28, 2024. 5 million euros on maternity care Jan 24, 2024 · EU Office in Kosovo and US embassy in Serbia both express concern about new regulation on the euro as Kosovo's only official currency – and how it will affect Serb-majority areas that still use May 21, 2024 · Serbia’s pointman for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, condemned the bank closures as “a violent attack on the dialogue itself” aimed at causing “unrest and chaos”. As Kosovo increases the focus on war crime trials, 25 years after the war, experts warn that Kosovo must learn from Croatia . The international community must listen to the grievances of ordinary Kosovo Serbs and explain the May 18, 2023 · Violent crime in Kosovo frequently goes unpunished, particularly in the Serb-majority north, according to a BIRN analysis of 62 incidents involving firearms, knives, stones and physical assault Jun 2, 2023 · Under pressure from Western leaders, Kosovo's PM and President said they are open to new local elections in the four northern Serb-dominated municipalities. With eight votes in favour and two abstentions, Kosovo’s Central Election Commission has approved April 21 as the date for the vote on the Jun 7, 2023 · June 7, 2023 15:11. Balkan Insight Newsletters. Pristina. January 3, 2024 07:43. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo May 30, 2023 · May 30, 2023 18:10. Country. A look at the numbers of primary school Jun 26, 2024 · The incident underscored the failure of EU-led talks to resolve the entrenched enmities between Serbia and Kosovo. Syla came of age Balkan Insight is the news source of choice for policy-makers, corporate management and academic researchers around the world. K. Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the end of hostilities in Kosovo, the plight of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in the region remains one that NGOs on both sides of Jan 24, 2024 · EU Office in Kosovo and US embassy in Serbia both express concern about new regulation on the euro as Kosovo's only official currency – and how it will affect Serb-majority areas that still use Feb 21, 2024 · In December last year, Kosovo’s special prosecutor Drita Hajdari said that since 2018, the prosecution filed 33 war crimes indictments, charging a total of 89 suspects. Apr 4, 2024 · April 4, 2024 08:36. Kosovo Focus. After getting burned in Albania, Kosovo’s ruling party is now cautiously trying to expand its role and profile in neighbouring North Macedonia. Subscribe to Balkan Insight Premium May 2, 2024 · Data from Kosovo’s statistical agency indicate that the excess mortality rate in Kosovo was 41 per cent during the 2020-21 period, the height of the pandemic, compared with the annual average Sep 4, 2015 · A memo written in 1999 by journalist Michael Montgomery, who investigated alleged organ-trafficking by Kosovo guerrillas after the war, ultimately led to the establishment of a new war crimes court. 8 million people Mar 29, 2024 · Salih Mustafa waits for the start of his war crimes trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, September 2021. February 22, 2024 18:14. Jan 24, 2024 · January 24, 2024 07:49. April 24, 2024 11:35. Many more May 8, 2024 · Kosovo officials claimed that the governmental websites had come under attack from Russian hackers because of the country’s support for Ukraine’s self-defence. A Serbian court sentenced seven former Yugoslav Army soldiers to a total of 56 years in prison for committing war crimes during attacks on Kosovo villages in Oct 10, 2023 · A first-instance court had initially accepted the request for Goxhaj’s extradition on September 19, after he was arrested in Tirana on an arrest warrant issued by the Specialist Chambers, where Oct 27, 2023 · Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (left), EU High Representative Josep Borrell, EU Special envoy Miroslav Lajcak, and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (right) at a meeting in Brussels, Belgium Feb 14, 2017 · More recently, several trials held in Kosovo have convicted a number of guerrillas, but the process has long been hampered by the nature of Kosovo’s close-knit society of 1. Balkan Insight (Daily) Balkan Insight Premium (Weekly) Balkan Transitional Justice (Daily) Balkan Transitional Justice in English Balkanska Jan 22, 2024 · She said that when the situation is calm in Kosovo, people “meet each other, and keep in touch, but they do not make it public. In 1999, two UK forensics experts were asked to make a secret trip to examine the bodies of a Kosovo Albanian family allegedly killed by paramilitary boss Zeljko Serbian Convictions for Kosovo Massacres ‘Too Little, Too Late’. Three years after the assassination of Kosovo Serb opposition party leader Oliver Ivanovic, the still-unsolved May 29, 2024 · On the first anniversary of violent protests in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo that left 93 peacekeeping troops injured, NATO's Kosovo mission KFOR called for the perpetrators to face justice. Perparim Isufi. Kosovo’s first-ever transitional justice strategy is soon to be adopted, almost 25 years after the war ended – but experts argue that although it’s a step Mar 14, 2024 · BIRN. Dec 23, 2022 · BIRN. Photo: EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ. In 1999, two UK forensics experts were asked to make a secret trip to examine the bodies of a Kosovo Albanian family allegedly killed by paramilitary boss Zeljko Mar 27, 2024 · Kosovo’s membership chances increased last week when the government ended an eight-year stalemate and granted 24 disputed hectares of land to the Serbian Orthodox Decani monastery. The smell of decay and the trauma of exhuming children’s bodies from mass graves dominate the memories of forensic experts who worked in Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia after Sep 22, 2023 · A Kosovo prosecution file, seen by BIRN, alleges that three Serbs, whose arrest this week angered Belgrade, illegally detained and tortured civilians in Vushtrri/Vucitrn during the Kosovo war in 1999. Mar 7, 2024 · Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, promising to protect Serbian religious sites on its territory, considered by many Serbs to be the “cradle” of the Serbian nation and faith. Enlargement: The EU’s Imperative. Former Kosovo Liberation Army officer Hajrush Kurtaj told the trial of former President Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants in The Hague that his descriptions of Feb 2, 2024 · August 2023. November 16, 2023 14:45. Kosovo has taken a necessary step to ensuring membership of an important international organisation and the benefits will be manyfold – from joining multiple Jun 28, 2023 · Hopes were raised by a EU-brokered agreement in 2021 aimed at standardising internet data roaming prices across six Western Balkan countries – but Kosovo’s troubled political situation has Mar 20, 2024 · The monastery, near the town of Decan/Decani, has been protected by NATO peacekeepers since the 1998-99 Kosovo war, when NATO intervened with air strikes to drive out Yugoslav troops and Serbian Jun 7, 2023 · In an article on Balkan Insight, the US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, was quoted as saying that the US “will cease all efforts to assist Kosovo in gaining recognition from states that Dec 8, 2023 · Pristina. mv al ji xb bh no rq vr zb ka