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• September 24, 2014, 4:55 AM ET

2014 Tougher for the Balkans–So Far

ByLaurence Norman

While 2013 was a year of unusual progress for Serbia and Kosovo — both in developing bilateral ties and in steps towards European Union membership — 2014 has been grueling.

Last December, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was buoyant about the reconciliation talks between Serbia and Kosovo, its former province that declared independence in 2008. A historic agreement was signed in April 2013 pledging to normalize the situation in the Serbian-dominated northern enclave of country where ethnic Albanians are in a majority.

Ms. Ashton was eyeing a second agreement that could ramp up Pristina-Belgrade ties. There was even talk that Ms. Ashton and the Serbian and Kosovo leaders were in the running for a Nobel Peace prize.

Acknowledging that progress, the EU agreed in June 2013 to start accession talks with Belgrade this year and embarked on a pre-accession accord with Kosovo.

However, so far this year, progress has been sporadic at best.

EUROPE

24 September 2014 Last updated at 11:08 ET

Ukraine crisis: Nato sees 'significant' Russian troop pullback

Nato says it has observed a "significant" withdrawal of Russian troops from eastern Ukraine, but adds that some forces still remain there.

Nato spokesman Lt Col Jay Janzen says it is difficult to determine the number of soldiers in Ukraine, as pro-Russian rebels control some border crossings.

Moscow denies arming the rebels and sending Russian troops to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

UN officials say 3,245 people have been killed since fighting began in April.

A shaky ceasefire has held since 5 September, and the two sides have since agreed to set up a 30km (19 miles) buffer zone.

But there were reports of overnight shelling in Donetsk, Avdiivka and Debaltseve.

In March, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea southern peninsula - a move condemned by Ukraine and the West.

The European Union and the United States later imposed sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.

Scottish independence referendum poll: the latest tracker

What are the odds that Scotland will become an independent country? Here we track the latest polls as the day of the independence referendum edges closer.
Scottish independence referendum: will Alex Salmond (top) or Alistair Darling
(bottom) win the campaign?
By Michael Wilkinson

Here you can track the latest poll of polls to get the most accurate
picture of how people are likely to vote in the Scottish
independence referendum.
How the polls have changed
Polls for the Scottish referendum continue to indicate a tight vote
on Thursday, with a survey conducted exclusively for The
Telegraph showing on September 17 a narrowing of the No
vote's advantage from six points to four.
With the Opinium research for the Telegraph poll concluding on
Monday, the referendum battle appears to be poised for the closest
possible result.
Overall, some 8 per cent of voters remain undecided. Among
women, however, an increasing number are coming down in
favour of voting No.

UPDATE 2-Ukraine slashes power to Crimea as electricity crisis deepens
Wed, Sep 3 2014
* Power market is in state of emergency
* Fighting in eastern regions halted coal supplies to power plants
* Ukraine supplies 80 pct of Crimea's electricity (Adds quote on possible blackouts, expected coal imports)
By Pavel Polityuk and Svetlana Burmistrova
KIEV/MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine reduced electricity supplies to consumers in Crimea on Wednesday and threatened to cut power altogether if quotas were breached, as it battles a power crisis on the mainland that threatens to cause rolling blackouts across the country.
Kiev has declared a state of emergency on the electricity market after months of fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces disrupted supplies to thermal power plants (TPP), which provide around 40 percent of Ukraine's electricity.