NATO presses Turkey to approve Sweden's membership, eyes Ukraine security plan as summit looms

OSLO, Norway (AP) — NATO on Thursday ramped up pressure on member nation Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden's membership as the military organization seeks to deal with the issue by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet next month. The 31-member alliance...

Zelenskyy pushes for Ukraine support at European leaders' summit in Moldova

BULBOACA, Moldova (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took his quest for more arms and support to a sprawling summit of some 50 European leaders in Moldova on Thursday, becoming the focal point of an event that seeks to quell regional conflicts and shore up unity in the face of...

Djokovic struggles for set at French Open after government official critiques Kosovo comments

PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic refrained from any political messages at the French Open following a second-round victory that was a struggle for a set Wednesday night — hours after a government minister criticized the 22-time Grand Slam champion's comments about clashes in Kosovo as “not...

Efforts to defuse Kosovo crisis intensify amid more protests

ZVECAN, Kosovo (AP) — International efforts to defuse a crisis in Kosovo intensified Wednesday as ethnic Serbs held more protests in a northern town where recent clashes with NATO-led peacekeepers sparked fears of renewed conflict in the troubled region. Hundreds of Serbs repeated...

Latvian Parliament elects foreign minister as new president

HELSINKI (AP) — Latvian lawmakers on Wednesday picked the country’s long-serving and popular foreign minister, a strong backer of Ukraine, as its new head of state in a tight vote. The 100-seat Saeima legislature elected Edgars Rinkevics, the country's top diplomat since 2011, as...

Why do Kosovo-Serbia tensions persist?

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo flared anew this week after Kosovo’s police raided Serb-dominated areas in the region’s north and seized local municipality buildings. There have been violent clashes between Kosovo’s police and NATO-led peacekeepers...

Djokovic draws criticism from Kosovo tennis federation for comments at French Open

PARIS (AP) — Novak Djokovic has drawn criticism from Kosovo’s tennis federation — but not from French Open organizers — after offering his thoughts on clashes in northern Kosovo between ethnic Serbs and police and NATO peacekeepers. Djokovic is a 36-year-old from Serbia who...

NATO to send 700 more troops to Kosovo to help quell violent protests

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — NATO will send 700 more troops to northern Kosovo to help quell violent protests after clashes with ethnic Serbs there left 30 international soldiers wounded, the alliance announced Tuesday. The latest violence in the region has stirred fear of a renewal of...

US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkey to get new F-16s

OSLO, Norway (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the “time is now” for Turkey to drop its objections to Sweden joining NATO but said the Biden administration also believed that Turkey should be provided with upgraded F-16 fighters “as soon as possible.” ...

NATO's secretary-general says 700 more troops sent to Kosovo to help deal with protests, others on standby