Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The Latest on tensions between Serbia and Kosovo (all times local):

11 a.m.

The NATO-led Kosovo Force mission is calling on all people in the country to stay calm, adding that it is closely monitoring a police operation in the north.

KFOR spokesman Col. Vincenzo Grasso told The Associated Press on Tuesday that they are monitoring the situation and coordinating with the authorities, but NATO troops are not on alert.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has ordered its troops to full alert after reports that Kosovo police entered Serb-populated regions of the former Serbian province.

Serbia’s state TV said Tuesday that Kosovo’s special police “burst into” northern Kosovo and made several arrests. There was no confirmation of the action from Pristina.

Serbian government official Marko Djuric says the Kosovo police action is designed to intimidate and expel Serbs from Kosovo and presents a “not only a threat to stability but the most direct threat to peace.”

BELGRADE, May 11. /TASS/: Serbia is one of Russia’s key partners in Europe and in the world, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's (upper house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev stated on Saturday in an interview with Serbia’s RTS channel.

BELGRADE, April 19. /TASS/. Despite foreign pressure, Serbia will never impose sanctions on Russia and will stay out of any military bloc, including NATO, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a pro-government rally in Belgrade on Friday evening.

20 Apr 2019; DW: Tens of thousands of people gathered in Belgrade on Friday to show support for President Aleksandar Vucic, countering five months of weekly anti-government protests.

Critics accuse Vucic of being an autocrat who has overseen a gradual erosion of democratic rights in the small Balkan country.

But supporters from across Serbia and neighboring countries shouted slogans such as "support to Vucic" and "Aco (Aleksandar abbreviated) the Serb" as they marched through the capital.

BELGRADE, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's global cooperation project has emerged as a major factor in the infrastructural and economic development of Serbia and the Western Balkans, fostering regional partnership and mutual benefits, said keynote speakers of an international scientific conference dedicated to the sixth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) here on Monday.

The international conference "Belt and Road Initiative: Six Years After" opened on Monday with the participation of academics from both Serbia and China.

5 Apr 2019; DW: A Serbian court on Friday sentenced four people to up to 30 years in prison for their involvement in the assassination of journalist and news publisher Slavko Curuvija in 1999.

Former secret police chief Radomir Markovic was handed a 30-year sentence along with Milan Radonjic, who headed Belgrade's intelligence branch at the time. Two other intelligence officers received 20-year sentences, one of them in absentia.

BELGRADE, March 24./TASS/. Members and supporters of the Serbian Radical Party staged a rally in Belgrade on Sunday, March 24, the day that marks 20 years since NATO launched its military operation against Yugoslavia. Party leader Vojislav Seselj burned flags of NATO and the European Union during the Sunday rally, Tanjug news agency reported.

BELGRADE, March 23. /TASS/. Another rally, during which protesters demanded the resignation of President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic ended without major incidents on Saturday evening, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.

10 Mar 2019; DW: Several thousand protesters surrounded Serbia's state broadcaster RTS headquarters on Saturday, as part of continued anti-government protests. The move was a call from demonstrators for greater media freedom in country.

The protests against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic entered their fourth month with another large rally in the capital, Belgrade.