Balkans

Russia's war in Ukraine has been a major war and gets a vast majority of coverage. However, the current tensions in Kosovo and in an area of the Caucasus called Nagorno-Karabakh also matter.

Ethnic Serbs have barricaded roads in northern Kosovo in protest against recent arrests for over two weeks.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti warns that "we will respond to aggression with all the power we have” as tensions rise with Serbia.

Kosovo's decision to apply for EU membership soon and Russia’s interests in provoking tensions in the Balkans are coming together this winter.

The tensions come as Kosovo begins to implement a decision to replace Serbian license plates with Kosovo plates.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he felt as if this part of history is almost buried and not discussed.

The recent gunfire, sirens and border closings between the two Balkan countries have raised alarms. Here is an explainer on the region's complex history.

Fourteen years after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, some 50,000 Serbs in the north still use license plates and documents issued by Serbian authorities, refusing to recognize the state.

The recent diplomatic moves by Russi are all about removing America from the powerful position it obtained in 1999, in the wake of the Kosovo War.