Albania–Serbia relations

A Kosovo parliamentary commission approved a draft resolution accusing Serbia of committing genocide against ethnic Albanians during the 1998-99 war, although experts questioned whether it has any practical purpose.

Sarcevic pointed out that the meeting focused on way to improve the learning opportunities for the Serb minority in Albania, the Ministry of Education announced on Monday.

Serbian right-wingers have begun a concerted campaign against BIRN project coordinator Sofija Todorovic since she defended the rights of an ethnic Albanian baker in her hometown of Borca - himself the subject of nationalist attacks - sharing hate speech, insults and threats to her on social media and attempting to hack her account on Twitter.

Whatever the reason, on April 27, nationalists gathered in front of the bakery, shouted nationalistic slogans, played Serbian patriotic songs and put stickers reading "Kosovo is Serbia" on the windows.

Groups of them twice stormed into the bakery but were escorted out by police, who secured the premises.

Ethnic Albanians could play a key role in deciding who wins the North Macedonia presidential poll run-off on May 5, but the first round of the elections showed that no party can claim to control their votes.

Currently, a group of 108 women and children from Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia want to return to the Balkans from the Al Hol camp. There are a small number of ethnic Albanian families in two other camps in Syria.

Gashi said there were 30 people in her house when the attack started, including some who had already been displaced from other villages in Kosovo by the fighting.

The judge reads the acquittal decision in Zajic's case on Friday in Peja/Pec. Photo: BIRN.

Zajic was found not guilty of taking part in the killing of two people - one with disabilities - and of forcing ethnic Albanians out of a village in 1998 during the war in Kosovo.

The judges said the reason for the acquittal was the witnesses' "contradictory" testimonies.

Kosovo started its three days of commemorations for KLA commander Adem Jashari and the army which fought against Serbian forces in the 1998-99 conflict with a parade of the Kosovo Security Force.

According to Zakharova, there was a hysterical campaign in the western media that went on for months, focusing on alleged mass oppression of (Kosovo) Albanians - while glossing over the terrorist activities of "Kosovo fighters, and their crimes, including the kidnapping of people for the purpose of illegal organ trafficking."