ALEKSANDAR VUCIC

About 200,000 Russians have left their homeland for Serbia since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Serbia’s populist president has warned during a chaotic parliamentary session that the Balkan nation could become a European “pariah” state if it rejects a Western plan for normalizing relations with Kosovo.

Serbia’s president says that his country would face a halt in European Union integration and economic and political isolation if it rejects a new Western plan for normalizing relations with Kosovo

Serbia's president says that his country would face a halt in European Union integration and economic and political isolation if it rejects a new Western plan for normalizing relations with Kosovo.

Western envoys are visiting Kosovo as part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions with Serbia, and possibly reach a reconciliation agreement

Western envoys have visited Kosovo and Serbia as part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions and help secure a reconciliation agreement between the two.

A senior U.S. envoy expressed strong concern Thursday about the activities of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group and its alleged attempts to recruit soldiers in Serbia and elsewhere in the world. U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said he voiced these concerns during talks in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “We have seen that the Wagner Group is seeking to recruit soldiers from Serbia and elsewhere and that’s something we think cannot stand,” he told reporters after the meeting.

More assertive diplomacy is needed to prevent another Balkan war.

Serbia’s president says NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected its demand for Serbian security forces be allowed to return to the breakaway province amid ongoing tensions

Serbia's president says NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo have rejected its demand for Serbian security forces be allowed to return to the breakaway province amid ongoing tensions.

Kosovo closed the border to Serbia after ethnic Serbians created a blockade and fired at authorities, but Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic helped to relax the situation.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic says Serbs will start removing their barricades in Kosovo on Thursday in a move that deescalates tensions that triggered fears of new clashes in the Balkans.

Three decades after the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, the ethnic hostilities that ignited the conflict linger on. Kosovo declared its independence from former Yugoslav republic Serbia in 2008, but Serbia refuses to let it go. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added a new dimension to the standoff. And now, Serbia’s army has been ordered on high alert after weeks of rising tensions between authorities in Kosovo and the local Serb minority there.

Glorion Goga/ReutersAs Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine heads towards its one-year anniversary, another European flashpoint is in danger of reigniting a second war on the continent.Kosovo was at the center of the last all out-war in Europe in the late ‘90s and tensions there have never fully dissipated.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has this week put his army on its “highest level of combat readiness” to protect ethnic Serbian areas in northern Kosovo he says are under threat from Kosovo.

Serbs have erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier

Serbs have erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier.

Serbs on Tuesday erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier, a day after Serbia put its troops near the border on a high level of combat readiness. The new barriers, made of laden trucks, were put up overnight in Mitrovica, a northern Kosovo town divided between Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians, who represent the majority in Kosovo as a whole. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he ordered the army's highest state of alert to “protect our people (in Kosovo) and preserve Serbia.”

A former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army has been found guilty of arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners perceived as supporters of Serbia during the country’s 1999 war of independence, and murdering one of them

A former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army has been found guilty of arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners perceived as supporters of Serbia during the country’s 1999 war of independence, and murdering one of them.

Serbia has formally demanded that its security troops return to the breakaway former Serbian province of Kosovo, despite warnings from the West that such calls are unlikely to be accepted and only add to tensions in that part of the Balkans.

Serbia on Thursday formally demanded that its security forces return to the breakaway former Serbian province of Kosovo, despite warnings from the West that such calls are unlikely to be accepted and only add to tensions in that part of the Balkans. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state RTS television that the government asked the commander of NATO-led peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo since 1999, when the Western alliance pushed out Serb troops from the region, to allow the return of up to 1,000 Serbian army and police officers to the Serb-populated north of the country. “The request says that a certain number of (Serbian troops), from one hundred to up to 1,000, return to Kosovo,” Vucic said.

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew during the past week after Serbs erected barricades on the main roads in the north of the former Serbian province to protest the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb police officer.

Shots and explosions rang out overnight in northern Kosovo, and ethnic Serbs have blocked roads with heavy vehicles and trucks.

Tensions were high in northern Kosovo on Sunday, with Serbs blocking roads as shots and explosions rang out and the Serbian president warned that Serbian troops are ready to defend their “homeland” if peace doesn't prevail. The roads in Serbia's former province of Kosovo, which proclaimed independence in 2008, were blocked with heavy vehicles and trucks a day after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he would ask the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo to permit the deployment of 1,000 Serb troops in the Serb-populated north of Kosovo, saying they are being harassed there.

EU leaders and their counterparts in the Western Balkans have worked to strengthen their partnership during a summit in Albania as Russia's war in Ukraine threatens to reshape the geopolitical balance in the region.

The war in Ukraine has put the European Union’s expansion at the top of the agenda as officials from the Western Balkans and EU leaders prepare to meet Tuesday

The war in Ukraine has put the European Union’s expansion at the top of the agenda as officials from the Western Balkans and EU leaders prepare to meet Tuesday.

Serbia's government announces that it has named a staunchly pro-Russian politician as the Balkan state’s new spy chief.

The European Union’s top diplomat is holding talks with Serbian and Kosovo officials in Brussels

The European Union’s top diplomat has held eight hours of unsuccessful talks with the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo.

Hungary will not support a European Union plan to provide Ukraine with billions in budget assistance next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.

Austria, Hungary and Serbia have held another top-level meeting dedicated to curbing migration, including by sending more than 100 police officers, vehicles equipped with night vision cameras and drones to the border with North Macedonia.

Kosovo has accused neighboring Serbia of trying to destabilize the country through pressuring members of the ethnic Serb community to resign from their posts for not accepting Pristina’s decision to change illegal vehicle license plates.

The European Union is in the midst of yet another goodwill trip through the Western Balkans to drum up support for the 27-nation bloc.

French President Emmanuel Macron and over 40 European leaders have sought to show the unity of the continent faced with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Austria says it will start checks at its border crossings with Slovakia following a similar decision by the Czech Republic.

The European Union and the U.S. have questioned Serbia’s commitment to join Europe’s 27-nation bloc after Belgrade signed an agreement with Moscow pledging long-term “consultations” on foreign policy matters amid the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Hungary’s governing party says it wants to poll the country’s citizens on whether they support European Union sanctions imposed against Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Hungary's justice minister is urging her European Union partners to be “tolerant” after the EU’s executive branch recommended suspending billions of euros in funding to the country.

The European Union’s executive branch has recommended that the bloc suspend around 7.5 billion euros (dollars) in funding to Hungary.

Riot police clashed with soccer hooligans in Belgrade, where an international Pride march has been held despite threats from anti-gay groups and an official earlier ban in theconservative Balkan state.

Organizers of European LGBTQ events held in Belgrade this week have said they will hold a planned Pride march on the streets of the Serbian capital Saturday despite a police ban and threats from anti-gay groups.

Serbia’s police have banned a Pride march planned amid pan-European LGBTQ events being held this week in Belgrade, citing a risk of clashes with far-right anti-gay activists.

Thousands of opponents of a pan-European LGBTQ event planned for this week in Belgrade marched through the Serbian capital on Sunday despite an announced ban of Europe’s largest annual gay gathering.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope a recent agreement settling a travel document dispute between Serbia and Kosovo can help further stabilize the troubled Balkans

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed hope a recent agreement settling a travel document dispute between Serbia and Kosovo can help further stabilize the troubled Balkans.

Anticipating a tough winter in light of the war in Ukraine, three Balkan states have agreed to help each other with potential food or energy shortages

Anticipating a tough winter in light of the war in Ukraine, three Balkan states have agreed to help each other with potential food or energy shortages.

Serbia’s populist leader says a government decision to cancel the holding next month of a pan-European LGBTQ event will be enforced despite criticism and organizers’ pledge that they will gather anyway

Opposition parties in Serbia and international rights groups have denounced a decision by populist President Aleksandar Vucic to cancel next month’s pan-European LGBTQ EuroPride events because of what he said were threats from right-wing extremists.

The European Union's foreign policy chief says Serbia and Kosovo have agreed on how to resolve a dispute over identity documents.

Serbia's president says the country won’t allow a pan-European LGBTQ Pride event to take place in its capital next month.

U.S. and European Union envoys have met with Serbia’s president as they seek to defuse tensions with Kosovo after a meeting last week in Brussels ended with no agreement on a dispute between the former Balkan war foes.

Serbia’s interior minister has met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in a rare visit by a state official from Europe.

Serbia’s president has called on NATO to “do their job” in Kosovo or he says Serbia will have to protect its minority in the breakaway province.

Serbia’s president called on NATO on Sunday to “do their job” in Kosovo or he says Serbia itself will move to protect its minority in the breakaway province. The fiery televised address to his nation by President Aleksandar Vucic followed the collapse of political talks between Serbian and Kosovo leaders earlier this week mediated by the European Union in Brussels. Serbia, along with its allies Russia and China, has refused to recognize Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence.

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo didn't reach an agreement on longstanding border and mutual recognition issues that have spiked tensions in the Balkans and added to Europe’s instability during the war in Ukraine.

Wartime rivals Serbia and Kosovo will hold high-level crisis talks which the European Union mediators hope will de-escalate growing tensions in the Balkans.

Serbia, Kosovo and the EU must prevent the latest tensions from getting mixed up in Vladimir Putin’s war against the West.

The NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission said it is monitoring the protests over a new ID law and is prepared to intervene "if stability is jeopardized.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to justify his war by pointing to the legacy of the NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia in 1999, but Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani sees a different parallel.

Kosovo’s government is acccusing neighboring Serbia of trying to destabilize the country as ethnic Serbs block roads and conduct other incidents in the north

Kosovo’s authorities have postponed a decision to implement a law on vehicle license plates and identity documents after minority Serbs rioted by blocking roads, turning on air raid sirens and firing their guns into the air.

Spain’s prime minister has kicked off his tour of the Western Balkans with a visit to Serbia.

Egypt and Serbia have agreed to boost political, economic and other cooperation as the two countries look for ways to deal with the global impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Serbia’s interior minister is advocating a “Serbian world” that would unite all Serbs living in the Balkans into a single state, rejecting a U.S. warning that such calls could lead to more tensions in the still-volatile region.

Serbia says that a planned visit by Russia’s foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place

Serbia and Russia say a planned visit by Russia’s foreign minister to the Balkan country will not take place.

Aleksandar Vucic has been sworn in for his second 5-yar term as Serbia’s president, pledging to keep the Balkan country on its European Union membership path and hinting that a new government might consider joining Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

The Serbian president has refused to explicitly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Serbia has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.

The Serbian president has refused to explicitly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Serbia has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.

The Serbian populist president has announced that he has secured an “extremely favorable” gas deal with Russia.

As the war in Ukraine rages, Serbia's president announced that he has secured an “extremely favorable” natural gas deal with Russia during a telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has refused to explicitly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Serbia has not joined Western sanctions against Moscow.

Slovakia and Hungary say they won't support sanctions against Russian energy that the European Union is preparing over the war in Ukraine.

Serbia has displayed a recently delivered sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft missile system at an event at a military airport near Belgrade, the capital.

Serbia on Saturday publicly displayed a recently delivered Chinese anti-aircraft missile system, raising concerns in the West and among some of Serbia’s neighbors that an arms buildup in the Balkans could threaten fragile peace in the region. The sophisticated HQ-22 surface-to-air system was delivered last month by a dozen Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes in what was believed to be the largest-ever airlift delivery of Chinese arms to Europe. Although Serbia officially seeks membership in the European Union, it has been arming itself mostly with Russian and Chinese weapons, including T-72 battle tanks, MiG-29 fighter jets, Mi-35 attack helicopters and drones.

Only months ago, Robert Golob was virtually unknown in politics, didn’t belong to any party, but had a clear goal: remove Slovenian populist Prime Minister Janez Jansa from power and stop a democratic backslide in the tiny Alpine state.

A U.S. Senate delegation on Tuesday urged Serbia to join the rest of Europe and impose sanctions against Russia for its bloody campaign in Ukraine. “We understand Serbia has a long cultural and economic history with Russia,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) after the three-member bi-partisan delegation met Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic. “But this is a moment where there is great risk if we, as a democratic community, don’t send a united message about the consequences of Russia’s behavior in Ukraine,” he told reporters.

Ukraine on Monday rejected as baseless and false the accusations made by Serbia’s president that Ukraine’s secret service is behind a series of hoax bomb threats against Air Serbia flights to Russia. The pro-Russian Serbian leader did not provide evidence for his claim.

China said Monday its military planes delivered “regular military supplies” to Serbia, in its first comments on an unusual operation in which six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed in Belgrade early Saturday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters the operation was part of the two countries’ annual cooperation plan, does not target any third parties and “has nothing to do with the current situation.” Zhao gave no further details.

There are fears in the West that the arming of Serbia by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country toward another war.

Russian ally Serbia has taken delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a semi-secret operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region

Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region. Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade's civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military. The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport.

Hungary's Viktor Orban and Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic won comfortable reelections on Sunday. That's good news for their friend in Moscow.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban easily sailed to victory against a coalition of political opponents from the left and right, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic won a second term.

With all eyes on a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending his top security envoy to the Balkans where Moscow has been trying to maintain influence mainly through its ally Serbia, according to reports. Serbia’s pro-government media said Monday Nikolai Patrushev, the powerful secretary of the Kremlin’s Security Council, is due to arrive in Belgrade in the coming days for talks with Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic.

Tennis superstar's stand on vaccinations led to his January deportation from Australia, where he lost his bid to defend his Australian Open title.

Serbian eco-activists have set up several tents in central Belgrade, pledging to camp there to press for their demand for a ban on lithium mining in the Balkan country

An Emirates plane carrying him from Australia landed in Dubai early Monday, and Djokovic was later seen on board a plane due to land in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

"They are keeping him as a prisoner. It's just not fair, it's not human," Djokovic's mother, Dijana said of his accommodation in Melbourne.

"They are keeping him as a prisoner. It's just not fair, it's not human," Djokovic's mother, Dijana said of his accommodation in Melbourne.

Australia has vowed to deport tennis world number one Novak Djokovic after he failed to provide evidence of double vaccination or a medical exemption

Sunday's protest against anti-coronavirus measures in Brussels was smaller than two previous marches, but still ended in clashes with police

Trying to defuse large protests by environmentalists, Serbia's populist government decided Wednesday to suspend two key laws that would help mining giant Rio Tinto launch a lithium mine in western Serbia. For two consecutive weekends, thousands of protesters in Belgrade and other Serbian towns have blocked main roads and bridges to decry the planned lithium mine despite an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the demonstrators. The protests are the biggest challenge yet to the increasingly autocratic rule of President Aleksandar Vucic, who has denounced the road blockades as illegal and claimed they are being financed from abroad to destabilize the Balkan country.

A public building in Kosovo was set on fire and another was hit by grenades that did not explode in what government officials described Saturday as criminal acts related to ethnic Serbs protesting a symbolic move on license plates. Serbian media quoted the head of the Zubin Potok fire department, Sasa Bozovic, as saying a fire that broke out overnight at the town's municipal building engulfed two offices. The Kosovo Interior Ministry said the blaze burned down a vehicle registration office.

Tensions soared Monday at Kosovo's border with Serbia as Kosovo deployed riot police while Serbs protested a move by Kosovo authorities to start removing Serbian license plates from cars entering the country. Kosovo special police with armored vehicles were sent to the border as hundreds of Kosovo Serbs drove to the boundary in their cars and trucks, blocking roads leading to the the crossing points. Serbian media reported said the Kosovo police fired tear gas at the protesters.

Top U.S. authorities said they stopped migrants trying to cross the southern border nearly 209,000 times during the month of August. According to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that's a 2% drop from July, when border apprehensions reached a 21-year high following sharp increases throughout the spring. CBS News Homeland Security and Justice reporter Nicole Sganga joined "CBSN AM" to break down the numbers and discuss new obstacles for Afghan refugees in the U.S.

A new book on the inner workings of the Trump presidency is shining a light on the actions of the former president's top military adviser, General Mark Milley. Republicans are calling for his resignation due to his contact with China during a period in which the book claims Milley worried for Trump's mental health. Ed O'Keefe reports.

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States is forming a new Indo-Pacific security alliance with Britain and Australia that will allow for greater sharing of defense capabilities. (Sept. 15)