Kosovo

SARAJEVO - European Parliament's special rapporteur for Serbia Jelko Kacin said on Wednesday the EU's current neutral position on Kosovo's status was a temporary compromise, but he refused to speculate on what the ultimate solution would be and when it would come about.

BRUSSELS - Representatives of Belgrade and Pristina have managed to bring their positions closer on the judiciary, Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic has said, announcing that an agreement will be finalised in the coming days.

BELGRADE/BEIRUT - Marko Blagojevic, Serbian Foreign Ministry (FM) secretary general, and Vladimir Maric, head of the Foreign minister's cabinet, met in Beirut Wednesday with Lebanese Foreign Ministry Secretary General Wafic Rehaime, who said that Lebanon has no plans to recognize Kosovo independence.

BELGRADE - The movement Dveri submitted to the Serbian Electoral Commission on Wednesday its slate containing 250 candidates for the snap parliamentary election in Serbia set for March 16.

LEPOSAVIC - Around 200 workers of the Lola forging factory in Lesak, Kosovo-Metohija, gathered in protest on Wednesday near the Jarinje crossing in the north of the province after their company's bank account has been blocked.

The workers want the bank account to be unblocked.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A craft fair displaying works by disabled people entitled “Creativity paves way to jobs” was held at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday.

The fair is organized by the National Employment Service (NSZ) and Kosovska Mitrovica-based Narodna tehnika.

PARIS - Serbia ranks 54th among 180 world countries according to the degree of freedom of the media, while Macedonia and Montenegro are the lowest ranked countries in the Balkans according to the Press Freedom Index for 2014, Reporters without Borders organisation released.

Last year, Serbia claimed the 63rd place on the list.

BELGRADE - The arrest of Kosovo Serb political leader Oliver Ivanovic - whom the Serbian government wants to be released pending trial - will be one of the topics of Wednesday's round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the head of the government press office, Milivoje Mihajlovic, has said.

BELGRADE - The Bosnian scenario is not looming over Serbia, and the elections will not affect the negotiations with the European Union, said Hannes Swoboda, president of the faction of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (EP).

BELGRADE - The Belgrade High Court War Crimes Chamber convicted nine former members of the paramilitary group Sakali (Jackals) of the killing of ethnic Albanian civilians during the conflicts in Kosovo-Metohija in 1999.