FLORENT BAJRAMI

Albin Kurti, president of the left-wing Vetevendosje! party, makes statements following results of a parliamentary election, in Pristina, Kosovo, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj, File)
Kosovo’s new lawmakers are sworn in but Parliament fails to elect a new speaker
Kosovo’s legislature has sworn in the 120 lawmakers who will sit in the newly elected Assembly, or Parliament, after procedural disputes between the political parties but failed twice to elect a new speaker, a process which may take the country into a prolonged legislative crisis.
 
Kosovo’s parliament faces post-election deadlock after opposition blocks minority ruling party
The first session of Kosovo’s newly-elected parliament had to be cancelled after it failed to constitute new lawmakers, a necessary move which could take the country into a prolonged legal saga before the new cabinet is formed.
 
Dragi Stojanov, left, cries holding a photograph of his son Tomche Stojanov, one of the victims of a massive nightclub fire, during a vigil joined by hundreds in the town of Kocani, North Macedonia, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Fatal North Macedonia nightclub inferno sparks outrage, disbelief and calls for punishment
North Macedonia’s leaders are vowing to hold those responsible to account after a nightclub fire in the eastern town of Kocani left 59 people dead and 155 injured.
 
El secretario general de la OTAN, Mark Rutte, durante una conferencia de prensa conjunta con los miembros de la presidencia bosnia en Sarajevo, Bosnia, el lunes 10 de marzo de 2025. (AP Foto/Armin Durgut)
NATO chief assures Western Balkans of alliance support and urges flexibility in Kosovo, Serbia talks
NATO’s secretary general, in his first trip to the once-volatile Western Balkans, has underscored the alliance’s “steadfast commitment” to its security. He also urged Kosovo and Serbia to be flexible in their normalization talks.
 
Mimoza Kusari-Lila, left, head of Vetevendosje! Parliamentary group, Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, Kosovo's Foreign Minister, stand at Mother Teresa's square in Pristina, Kosovo, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)
EU observers hail Kosovo’s peaceful election but criticize the polarization of political debate
European Union observers have hailed Kosovo’s “peaceful and competitive” parliamentary election. But it also criticized Tuesday the left-wing government that won the most seats for polarizing the political debate.
 
Lumir Abdixhiku addresses supporters during a campaign rally ahead of the parliamentary election in Istog, Kosovo, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (Ermal Meta/LDK via AP)
Kosovo elections will decide who will lead stalled talks with Serbia and manage a battered economy
Kosovo goes to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti after his party won in a landslide four years ago.
 
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is pictured Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Frozen USAID funding strands groups that support marginalized people in the Western Balkans
Many non-governmental organizations in the Western Balkans have been left stranded after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly froze foreign aid for three months. Some of the groups used funding from the U.S.
 
EU sends election observers to monitor Kosovo’s parliamentary polls on Feb. 9
European Union observers will monitor Kosovo’s parliamentary election on Feb. 9, which is expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
 
Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti arrives for a bilateral meeting as part of a series of meetings with EU-Western Balkans leaders at the European Council in Brussels, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt, Pool Photo via AP)
Kosovo’s ethnic Serb party says its ban from a parliamentary election is ‘political violence’
Kosovo’s main ethnic Serb party says its ban from taking part in the upcoming parliamentary election is political and institutional violence against the ethnic minority.
 
Kosovo census shows shrinking population as many Serbs heed political party calls to boycott
A census shows Kosovo’s population to have shrunk to 1.6 million from 1.74 million 13 years ago. The results of the second census conducted in post-independent Kosovo earlier this year were released Thursday.
 
Children dressed as superheroes greet Kosovo alpinists disguised as super-heroes of modern times delivering New Year's gifts to children patients in Pristina hospital on Friday, Dec. 13, 20124. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Bringing hope and joy: superheroes for children with cancer in Kosovo
As the year draws to a close, a remarkable initiative involving “superheroes” clad in unique costumes brings unexpected joy — not only to the sick children but also, perhaps even more deeply, to their parents.
 
Kosovo’s parliament speaker ejects ethnic Serb lawmakers because of their truancy
Kosovo’s parliament speaker has ejected several lawmakers of the ethnic Serb minority from the chamber because of their several recent absences. The move could spark new frictions in the tense relations with neighboring Serbia.
 
FILE -Kosovo police officers guard road near the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, Sept. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
Trial opens of Serb gunmen accused of attacking Kosovo police
A Kosovo court has opened a trial of 45 people charged over a gunfight following an incursion by heavily armed Serb gunmen last year. The trial at the Pristina District Court is held under tight security.
 
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti speaks to The Associated Press, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Kosovo lifts ban on entry of products from Serbia at the border
Kosovo’s government says it is lifting restrictions on trade from Serbia at one border crossing, , 16 months after it halted imports to prevent what it said could be hidden shipments of weapons for Serb separatists.
 
FILE -Kosovo police officers guard road near the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, Sept. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
Kosovo’s leader demands Serbia hand over gunmen who attacked police
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti has held Serbia accountable for trying to annex part of Kosovo following an incursion of Serb gunmen who killed a police officer last year.
 
Kosovo prosecutors charge 45 people over a deadly incursion by Serb gunmen
Kosovo prosecutors have filed charges against 45 people over a gunfight following an incursion by heavily armed Serb gunmen last year. A Kosovo policeman and three Serb gunmen were killed in the shootout in the village of Banjska in September.
 
FILE - Ethnic Albanian refugees cheer as a British tank passes next to the Stenkovec refugee camp near Skopje, Macedonia on its way to Kosovo Saturday, June 12, 1999. NATO troops entered Kosovo on June 12, 1999. A military parade and celebratory speeches, a new statue of former British prime minister, and visits from many international officials have marked Kosovo’s 25th anniversary of withdrawal of Serb forces after NATO’s air campaign Wednesday, June 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski, File)
Kosovo marks the 25th anniversary of its liberation, when Serb forces withdrew after NATO bombing
Kosovo is celebrating what it considers a liberation day, marking the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of Serb forces after a NATO bombing campaign. Thousands of ethnic Albanians had died under Serbian repression.
 
A voter is identified before he casts his vote at a polling station in North Mitrovica, Kosovo Sunday, April 21, 2024. Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities are casting their votes Sunday in a referendum to decide whether to remove their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year’s mayoral elections, overwhelmingly boycotted by the Serb minority. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities boycott vote on removing ethnic Albanian mayors
Residents of four Serb-majority municipalities have overwhelmingly boycotted a vote on removing their ethnic Albanian mayors from office following last year’s mayoral elections. The referendum on Sunday was supported by the West.
 
FILE - Kosovo Serbs protest against a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Feb. 12, 2024. A senior U.S. official on Wednesday March 13, 2024 reassured top officials in Kosovo that the burdens of normalizing relations with longtime rival Serbia would be borne by both sides. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar met with officials in Kosovo in the latest American effort to restart talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after Kosovo made a controversial decision to ban ethnic Serbs in its territory from using the Serbian dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
Kosovo will conduct a nationwide census that includes surveying the ethnic Serb minority
Kosovo’s government has begun its first nationwide census since 2011 which will include surveying the ethnic Serb minority in the north. This comes as tensions with neighboring Serbia remain high.
 
FILE - Kosovo Serbs protest against a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Feb. 12, 2024. A senior U.S. official on Wednesday March 13, 2024 reassured top officials in Kosovo that the burdens of normalizing relations with longtime rival Serbia would be borne by both sides. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar met with officials in Kosovo in the latest American effort to restart talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after Kosovo made a controversial decision to ban ethnic Serbs in its territory from using the Serbian dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
US official says Kosovo’s ban on dinar use may spark a ‘humanitarian issue’ for ethnic Serbs
A senior U.S. official has said he was “very concerned” that Kosovo’s decision to ban the use of Serbian dinar in the north could cause “an emerging humanitarian issue” for the ethnic Serb minority.
 
FILE - Kosovo Serbs protest against a ban of the use of the Serbian currency in areas where they live, in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Feb. 12, 2024. A senior U.S. official on Wednesday March 13, 2024 reassured top officials in Kosovo that the burdens of normalizing relations with longtime rival Serbia would be borne by both sides. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar met with officials in Kosovo in the latest American effort to restart talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia, after Kosovo made a controversial decision to ban ethnic Serbs in its territory from using the Serbian dinar. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic, File)
A US envoy urges Kosovo and Serbia to make tough decisions to restart talks on normalizing ties
A senior U.S. official has urged Kosovo and Serbia to make tough decisions to restart talks on normalizing ties.
 
A man withdraws Serbian Dinars from a bank cash machine in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. The ban on the Serbian currency was to start on Thursday. USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany called Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to suspend enforcement of a regulation which bans the Serbian currency in Kosovo. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)
Kosovo will impose the use of the euro in minority Serb areas, concerning Western powers
Kosovo authorities say they will impose the use of the country’s currency, the euro, and abolish the use of neighboring Serbia’s dinar in the north where most of the ethnic Serb minority lives.
 
Israel's national team warm up during a training session for the Euro 2024 group I qualifying soccer match between Kosovo and Israel at the Fadil Vokrri stadium in Pristina, Kosovo, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
Israel prepares for Euro 2024 qualifying game at Kosovo amid tight security measures
Israel coach Alon Hazan wants his team to beat Kosovo in their delayed European Championship qualifying game on Sunday to bring “some happiness to our people.”
 
US diplomat assures Kosovo that new draft of association of Serb municipalities offers no autonomy
The U.S. ambassador has urged Kosovo’s government to proceed with establishing an association of its Serb majority towns in order to unblock European Union-facilitated normalization talks with Serbia. U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey M.
 
EU envoy in surprise visit to Kosovo to push for further steps in normalization talks with Serbia
The European Union’s envoy is on a surprise two-day visit to Kosovo to talk with its leaders on further steps in normalization talks with Serbia.
 
In this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, third right, welcomes Italian diplomat Alessandro Cattaneo, left, French President's Advisor Emmanuel Bonne, second left, European Union envoy Miroslav Lajcak, third left, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, second right, and German Chancellor's Advisor Jens Plettner, right, in Belgrade, Serbia, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. The envoys of the European Union and the United States urged on Saturday Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue as the only way to de-escalate the soaring tension between the two nations. This is the first such visit since Sept. 24 when around 30 Serb gunmen crossed into northern Kosovo, killing a police officer and setting up barricades, before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police. (Serbian Presidential Press Service via AP)
EU and US envoys urge Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue in order to defuse tensions
The envoys of the European Union and the United States are urging Kosovo and Serbia to resume their dialogue on normalizing relations before the bitter tensions between the two sides trigger more violence. EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak and U.S.
 
Kosovo police officers secure the area outside the Banjska monastery in the village of Banjska, Kosovo on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Police on Wednesday allowed media into the village of Banjska, where a daylong shootout between armed Serbs and Kosovar police on Sunday left one officer and three gunmen dead. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
KFOR commander calls on Kosovo and Serbia to return to talks to prevent future violence
The NATO-led peacekeeping force has called on both Kosovo and Serbia to return to the negotiating table to resolve their issues to prevent violence like the recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region.
 
Policías de Kosovo en la carretera cerca del monasterio de Banjska Monastery durante una operación policial en la localidad de Banjska, el lunes 25 de septiembre de 2023. Kosovo guardaba duelo el lunes por el policía albanokosovar asesinado el día anterior por hombres armados serbios que después se atrincheraron en un monasterio ortodoxo en un asedio que agravó las tensiones cuando los dos países, antiguos enemigos de guerra, intentaban normalizar sus relaciones. (AP Foto/Visar Kryeziu)
Kosovo mourns a slain police officer, some Serb gunmen remain at large after a siege at a monastery
Kosovo is observing a day of mourning for the Kosovar Albanian police officer killed by Serb gunmen in the north of the country in one of the worst confrontations since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
 
FILE - From left, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak and Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti meet together in Brussels, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. Kosovo’s Prime Minister on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, accused the European Union special envoy in the normalization talks with Serbia of not being “neutral and correct” and “coordinating” with Belgrade against Pristina. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
Kosovo’s prime minister blames EU envoy for the failure of recent talks with Serbia
Kosovo’s prime minister has accused the European Union special envoy in the normalization talks with Serbia of not being “neutral and correct.”
 
FILE - In this image made from video, Kosovar police car burns in Zvecan, northern Kosovo on May 26, 2023. The European Union has summoned the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo for emergency talks on Thursday June 22, 2023 to try to bring an end to a series of violent clashes near their border that is fueling fears of a return to open conflict. (AP Photo, File)
Kosovo to partially withdraw special police officers from northern Serb-majority municipalities
Kosovo’s government has decided to reduce by one-fourth the number of special police officers and also hold new mayoral elections in four Serb-majority municipalities.
 
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