Serbs vote this Sunday in Serbia in a presidential election seen to shape the Balkan state's future direction amid rising tensions over the status of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo.

Balkan-watchers are looking to Serbia's presidential elections on Sunday as a sign of the country's future alignment. Will it embrace EU integration, as favored by incumbent Boris Tadic? Or will it withdraw from the West and strike a Slavic partnership with Moscow, as Radical Party candidate Tomislav Nikolic has suggested?

Finnish theatrical hard rock band Lordi have been added to the billing of the upcoming Castle Festival in Serbia.

Serbian President Boris Tadic says his country will do all in its power to maintain Kosovo as part of Serbia but will also continue efforts to build ties with the rest of Europe.

In Kosovo, the question is no longer if the province will declare independence, but when. In an interview with RFE/RL Pristina bureau chief Arbana Vidishiqi, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu says no date has been fixed. But, he insists, "the process needs to come to an end as soon as possible."

Kosovo is ready to declare unilateral independence, but will coordinate its moves with the U.S. and the EU, the leader of the province's Democratic Party said on Friday.

Kosovo Albanian and Serb leaders failed to reach an agreement on Kosovo's status during three days of tense negotiations in an Austrian spa town, but pledged on Wednesday to refrain from violence.

Serbian President Boris Tadic says there is still room for compromise on the status of his country's breakaway Kosovo province if both sides make concessions.

A Serb leader in Kosovo criticized the decision to boycott elections in the province. He said that it would make things worse for the beleaguered minority.

The trial of Serb-Nationalist leader Vojislav Seselj has opened at the U.N. war crimes Tribunal in The Hague. He faces nine charges related to his use of hate speech and recruiting paramilitary groups, what prosecutors call part of his attempts to create an ethnically pure Serbian state. Lauren Comiteau is following the proceedings and reports from The Hague.

The EU and Serbia initialed a key document paving the way for the Balkan country to join the 27-member bloc, the EU press service said on Wednesday.

Serbia will push for a solution to the Kosovo problem following the example of Hong Kong, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an interview with the Tanjug news agency on Tuesday.