NEWS WATCH: Support for Balkans’ EU Membership Growing
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Budapest
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- The Visegrad Group of European Union Foreign Ministers have agreed to support Serbia and other western Balkan countries to become full fledged members of the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, despite remaining nationalistic tensions in the region, even among officials. They made the decision at a special ministerial meeting in Budapest, Tuesday, October 6.
Hungary Asks Court To Probe ‘Islamic State’ Crackdown On Christians
By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Hungary's foreign minister says his country has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the "brutal actions" committed against Christians by the Islamic State group.
NEWS WATCH: Ethnic Fighting Rocks Kosovo Town
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISTINA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- A tense calm returned Sunday, January 4, to Kosovo's second largest and most ethnically devided town of Mitrovica, following clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in which at least six people were injured.
NEWS WATCH: EU’s Ashton Expects Breakthrough In Kosovo Dispute
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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISTINA/BELGRADE (BosNewsLife)-- The European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says Serbia and Kosovo are close to a deal to end the ethnic partition of the former Serbian province.
NEWS WATCH: US Envoy Condemns Kosovo Partition Plans, Ethnic Tensions
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISTINA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon has concluded a four-nation trip through the Balkans, where he expressed concern over ethnic tensions and unresolved war crimes. He also said the U.S. does not accept the partition of Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
NEWS WATCH: Kosovo Prime Minister Claims Victory In Tense Elections
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISTINA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Incumbent Prime Minister Hashim Thaci claimed victory Sunday, December 12, in Kosovo's first parliamentary elections since it declared independence from Serbia, but the vote was overshadowed by ethnic tensions and allegations of fraud.
NEWS WATCH: Serbia Discovers Largest Mass Grave In Years
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
BUDAPEST/BELGRADE (BosNewsLife)-- Officials in Serbia say they have uncovered a mass grave containing the bodies of hundreds of ethic Albanians who were killed during the war of the 1990s in nearby Kosovo. It is one of the largest mass graves discovered in Serbia since 2001.
NEWS WATCH: ICJ: Kosovo Independence Does Not Violate International Law
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
BUDAPEST/BELGRADE (BosNewsLife)-- The United Nations International Court of Justice has ruled that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 does not violate international law.
NEWS WATCH: NATO Concerned Over Kosovo After Deadly Border Clashes
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISITINA/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- The United Nations Security Council is holding an emergency session to discuss Kosovo, where the NATO military alliance and the European Union are struggling to restore a tense peace after border clashes near Serbia killed one ethnic-Albanian policemen and injured four others. NATO says its peacekeepers have taken control of two contested border crossings, but concerns remain about the future.
NEWS WATCH: Kosovo Elections Overshadowed By Violence
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
PRISTINA, KOSOVO (BosNewsLife)-- Less than half of Kosovo's 1.8 million voters have dared to participate in local elections, which have been overshadowed by violence. On the Serb-side of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica a group of masked men broke into the main polling center.