Kosovo allows Serb premier's visit ahead of election

Published March 28, 2017  Associated Press


PRISTINA, Kosovo –  Kosovo's foreign minister says Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic can visit the country this week to meet with the ethnic Serb minority there.

Enver Hoxhaj on Tuesday said that Vucic, a candidate in Serbia's presidential elections this Sunday, is being allowed "as a sign of good will to international friends like Germany and the European Union."

Pristina and Belgrade are holding EU-brokered talks to reconcile their differences. They have agreed to give each other advance notice of planned visits by their respective government representatives.

In January Pristina denied a request from Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic to visit Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia has not recognized it.