Finland's Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said Monday most European Union member countries are prepared to recognize Kosovo's independence from Serbia. VOA's Barry Wood reports Kanerva is in Washington meeting with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Serbia's relations with the EU are teetering on the brink of collapse after Belgrade spurned an EU offer to cement ties.

The international community “cannot afford to fail the people of the Balkans yet again” as Kosovo heads for independence, according to an expert at The University of Nottingham.

Russia has warned the European Union against plans for a police mission in Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province, saying such a move would first require United Nations' approval.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged European allies not to put off what she called "tough decisions" on the final status of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.

The situation in Kosovo was high on the agenda when President George Bush met Monday with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

The Serbian president said in an interview with Russian media Thursday that there is no link between European Union membership and a solution to the Kosovo problem.

Serbia's accession to the EU must not be predicated on the resolution of the Kosovo problem, the country's ambassador to Russia said Tuesday.

Serbia’s prime minister Vojislav Kostunica said Monday that ties between the U.S. and the European country are worsening because of American support of Kosovo’s independence.

New Defense Minister of France Herve Morin has made his first official trip abroad - to Kosovo - where he met his country's soldiers on Monday.

The theme of the fourth Global Electoral Organization Conference here last week was "Every Vote Counts." It brought together more than 200 of the world"s top election officials and democracy advocates in what one of the sponsors said was a "celebration of transparency in the election process."

Russian Security Council head Igor Ivanov said that a new UN envoy on Kosovo should be appointed in the wake of deadlock on the plan for the Serbian province's future.