By Edward McAllister, Fatos Bytyci and Aleksandar Vasovic OBILIC, Kosovo/BELGRADE (Reuters) - For 30 years, Shemsi Gara operated a giant digger in a Kosovo coal mine, churning up toxic dust that covered his face and got into his airways.

Ukraine is closer to joining the EU than Serbia or any other candidate country, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

By Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Xhelal Svecla announced on January 15 the closure of Serbian municipal offices and parallel institutions operating within the country,

BELEX15, the blue-chip index of the Belgrade Stock Exchange, fell on Thursday for second consecutive session, with civil engineering company Energoprojekt Holdi

European Union observers will monitor Kosovo’s parliamentary election on Feb. 9, which is expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti

PRISTINA : Kosovo’s police raided 10 Belgrade-linked local government offices in ethnic Serb areas, the interior ministry said today, as Serbia denounced the move as a “dangerous escalation” just weeks ahead of parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

Kosovo's security forces receive assistance from the Turkish army deployed in the Balkan country. Turkish soldiers serving in NATO's Kosovo

Kosovo authorities say they have closed all so-called parallel institutions used by the ethnic Serb minority and supported by neighboring Serbia in a move condemned by the European Union

NATO-led international peacekeepers, KFOR, said more than 200 Italian troops will assist their 4,300-strong force during the election period.View on euronews

Ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo have denounced raids by authorities on municipal offices in 10 Serbia-backed areas. The January 15 raids are part of an effort by the government in Pristina to close so-called parallel institutions that give neighboring Serbia leverage in its former province.

European Union observers will monitor Kosovo’s parliamentary election on Feb. 9, which is expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

NATO on Saturday said it had strengthened its peacekeeping force in Kosovo amid mounting tensions ahead of parliamentary elections early next month.