Doruntina Baftiu is a journalist with RFE/RL's Balkan Service based in Pristina.
A simple asterisk on most diplomatic documents and reports on Kosovo has made it easier for Pristina to interact with international organizations and countries. But it also highlights that Kosovo's final status remains unclear, thanks, in part, to ongoing talks on normalizing ties with Serbia.
Fully one year after it was introduced in Kosovo's parliament, protesters claim religious interests have hijacked a debate over draft legislation to clear the way for wider access for women to in vitro fertilization.
As the new year chimed in, Kosovo's new visa-free relationship with the EU began, a measure long desired by Pristina and the country's citizens. However, a sluggish economy has meant that not all of Kosovo's 1.8 million people are ready to hop on a flight right away.
A troop of costume-clad volunteers brought presents and joy to a group of children battling cancer at a university clinic in Pristina as part of an annual Christmas ritual.
Hundreds of Roma spent years in temporary UN-run camps widely known to lie atop dangerously poisoned soil and vegetation. Decades later, the United Nations continues to stonewall.
The Israeli men's national soccer team was warming up at a Pristina stadium guarded by the police on November 11, a day before facing Kosovo in a postponed qualifying match for the Euro 2024 tournament. The game will be the Israeli team's first international appearance since the Hamas attacks.
Amid what local police say is a surge in ethnic tensions, North Mitrovica's Bosnian Quarter has lost much of the population of the ethnic group that gave the neighborhood its name.
Cases of Romany kids begging in Kosovo are rising, police in the Balkan country report. Experts say the marginalized community is facing even worse poverty in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of women were raped in Kosovo in the conflict that erupted 25 years ago between Serbian and ethnic Albanian forces for control of the now independent country. Today, many women are still learning how to cope, confronted by shame and stigma.
Heavy rains caused rivers in Kosovo to overflow recently, filling streets and homes with water in several towns. The floods have now receded, but hundreds of residents remain homeless with recovery efforts in the South Mitrovica area focused on restoring power and finding those who went missing.
