Kosovo

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday that Serbia sees both Ukraine and Russia as friendly countries, and expressed hope that Ukraine's problems will get a political solution.

We regret the latest developments and I hope that a political solution will be found for these problems, Dacic told reporters.

Opposition MPs condemnd the decision of the Kosovo government to increase salaries for employees in the public sector by 25 to 50 per cent on Thursday.

BELGRADE - Deputy Secretary of the Election Commission of Serbia Veljko Odalovic said on Thursday the Kosovo Serbs will be able to cast their vote in the Serbian parliamentary election on March 16 at 90 polling stations across Kosovo, just like in the 2012 election.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic condemned on Thursday the forcible freeing of Serb Slobodan Sovrlic from the police station in Zubin Potok, northern Kosovo, stressing that there must be order.

"There must be order and therefore such events are not good and must be met with condemnation," Dacic told reporters.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Councilors of the North Mitrovica municipality, northern Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), have adopted their municipal charter and the newly-elected mayor Goran Rakic was sworn in.

Of the total of 18 councilors present at the meeting late on Wednesday, 13 voted in favor and five voted against the document.

BELGRADE - The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rejected the objection filed by the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) which requested that the decision be revoked according to which the Kosovo team is allowed to play friendly matches.

ZUBIN POTOK - Municipal charters have been adopted in three municipalities in northern Kosovo-Metohija, while in northern Mitrovica the debate on adoption of this document is still underway.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Serbian Minister without Portfolio in charge of Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Aleksandar Vulin stated in Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday that it is through investments that the Serbian government is taking care of its citizens in KiM.

BELGRADE - Moscow's view concerning Kosovo remains the same and relies mostly on UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the Russian embassy in Belgrade has stated.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has said that Pristina’s announcement about forming a Kosovo army calls for a new annex to the Brussels agreement.

Appearing on a Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) talk show late on Tuesday, Nikolic said that it has been four months since he brought the issue of the so-called Kosovo Armed Forces before EU officials.