Albania–Serbia relations

Ethnic Albanians in Serbia's southern Presevo Valley fear they will have even fewer eligible voters in Serbia's April 3 elections than before, in part thanks to an alleged practice of declaring addresses inactive.

A protected witness told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Tuesday that he saw five or six people beating a prisoner who was being held in an improvised detention facility in the village of Zllash/Zlas, some 30 kilometres east of Kosovo's capital Pristina, during the war in 1999.

"Balkanistica was originally designed as a bilingual programme and its content will be unique. It is not only about the scientific aspects of the languages in the Balkans, but also the cultural, historical and literary aspects," Rugova told BIRN.

US President Joe Biden has nominated retired diplomat Christopher Hill, a veteran of American involvement in the Balkans in the 1990s war years, as his country's new ambassador to Belgrade, the White House announced on Friday.

Hill, whose appointment must be confirmed by the US Senate, has previously been an ambassador in Albania, North Macedonia, Poland, South Korea and Iraq.

Russia considers the statement of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on the unification of Albania with Kosovo unacceptable and expects an appropriate reaction from the West on that occasion.
This was stated by the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.

With this statement, he reacted to the statement of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama that the goal of his political career is to "unite Albania with Kosovo".

Pristina Basic Court found Goran Stanisic guilty on Tuesday of war crimes against ethnic Albanian civilians in the town of Lipjan/Lipljan during the Kosovo war in 1999 and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

A protected witness told the trial of Salih Mustafa at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday that he was detained for 17 days in a cowshed in the village of Zllash/Zlas, some 30 kilometres east of Kosovo's capital Pristina, during the war in 1999.

"We are in a pandemic era, and people are dying every day in spite of their age and health. I am afraid I might die without my status being resolved," he said. "My family doesn't deserve this humiliation."

A protected witness told the trial of Salih Mustafa at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday that he was detained in 1999 in the village of Zllash/Zlas, some 30 kilometres east of Kosovo's capital Pristina.