King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III returned to public duties on Tuesday, visiting a cancer treatment charity and beginning his carefully managed comeback after the monarch’s own cancer diagnosis sidelined him for three months.

The event marks the king’s first formal public engagement since Feb. 6, when Buckingham Palace announced that he would be taking a break from public duties to focus on his treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.

It will be the first of several public appearances Charles will make in the coming weeks as he prepares to host a state visit by the emperor and empress of Japan in June.

It is unclear how many of the summer’s traditional royal events, including the king’s formal birthday parade and the horse racing at Royal Ascot, Charles will attend as his treatment continues. The palace said last week that doctors were “very encouraged” by the king’s progress, but his schedule would be adjusted as needed to protect his recovery.

For now, Tuesday’s appearance gives Charles another opportunity to raise awareness of the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other health problems as he has done throughout his illness.

Unlike most royals before him, Charles chose to publicly disclose details about his health when he first underwent treatment for an enlarged prostate and later when he was diagnosed with cancer. The decision raised awareness of these issues.

The National Health Service in England said the number of people seeking advice about prostate problems increased 11-fold in the weeks after Charles’ announced he was undergoing treatment.

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive for a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The King, Patron of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, and Queen Camilla visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, meeting patients and staff. This visit is to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and will highlight some of the innovative research, supported by Cancer Research UK, which is taking place at the hospital. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive for a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The King, Patron of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, and Queen Camilla visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, meeting patients and staff. This visit is to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and will highlight some of the innovative research, supported by Cancer Research UK, which is taking place at the hospital. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave as they arrive for a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The King, Patron of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, and Queen Camilla visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, meeting patients and staff. This visit is to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and will highlight some of the innovative research, supported by Cancer Research UK, which is taking place at the hospital. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave as they arrive for a visit to University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The King, Patron of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, and Queen Camilla visited the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre, meeting patients and staff. This visit is to raise awareness of the importance of early diagnosis and will highlight some of the innovative research, supported by Cancer Research UK, which is taking place at the hospital. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

FILE - Britain's King Charles III waves as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, March 31, 2024. Buckingham Palace says King Charles III will resume his public duties next week following treatment for cancer. The announcement on Friday April 26, 2024, comes almost three months after Charles took a break from public appearances to focus on his treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer. (Hollie Adams/Pool Photo via AP, File)

King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity

King Charles III returns to public duties with a trip to a cancer charity

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The European Union on Tuesday reprimanded Kosovo over the unilateral closure of six branches of a Serbia-licensed bank, saying the move would negatively impact the life of the ethnic Serb minority living in northern Kosovo and damage Kosovo-Serbia normalization talks.

On Monday, Kosovo police closed the branches of the Postal Saving Bank in line with the decision to ban the use of the Serbian dinar currency in the country. They also confiscated 1.6 million euros ($1.74 million) and some 75 million dinars ($700,000), which the judiciary will later decide what to do with.

Starting on Feb. 1, the government required areas dominated by the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo to adopt the euro currency, which is used in the rest of the country, and abolished the use of the Serbian dinar.

Pristina postponed the move for about three months, following pressure from the EU and the United States, concerned that the decision would negatively impact the ethnic Serb minority in northern Kosovo.

An EU statement from Brussels, which was emailed to The Associated Press, considered the move as “escalatory … against the spirit of normalization,” adding that such “uncoordinated actions" by Kosovo put chances of reconciliation “at risk.”

The State Department also was “disappointed” with Kosovo’s lack of coordination with international partners for the move, fearing it would escalate tensions.

“The United States reiterates its clear concerns about the implementation of the amended Central Bank of Kosovo regulation that restricts the import and use of the Serbian dinar in Kosovo,” said a statement.

The British embassy in Pristina also warned that the move would “risk escalating tensions and making a long-term solution to the currency issue in Kosovo more difficult.”

Kosovar Finance Minister Hekuran Murati said everything was done in accordance with the law.

“There is justified suspicion that such activity was conducted without the proper financial license, something which is illegal and should suffer legal consequences,” said Murati at a news conference.

Murati said Pristina has offered alternatives but they were not accepted by Belgrade “because they have had other intentions, not aiming at helping citizens' life.”

Brussels and Washington are pressing both countries to implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti reached in February and March last year.

The EU-facilitated normalization talks have failed to make progress, especially following a shootout last September between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and ratcheted up tensions.

Most of Kosovo uses the euro, even though the country isn’t part of the EU. Parts of Kosovo’s north, populated mostly by ethnic Serbs, continue to use the dinar. Many Serbs there rely on the government of Serbia for financial support, often delivered in dinars in cash.

“In the continued absence of sustainable alternatives, this will have negative effects on the daily lives and living conditions of Kosovo Serbs and other communities eligible for financial transfers from Serbia,” the EU statement said.

Serbia's and Kosovo's chances of joining the EU one day are jeopardized by their refusal to compromise, according to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

The EU again urged Kosovo and Serbia to return to the negotiating table.

Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in what was then the province of Kosovo. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign pushed Serbian forces away. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Belgrade doesn’t recognize.

FILE - A man withdraws Serbian Dinars from a bank cash machine in northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, on Jan. 31, 2024. The European Union on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, reprimanded Kosovo over the unilateral closure of six branches of a Serbia-licensed bank, saying the move would negatively impact the life of the ethnic Serb minority living in northern Kosovo and damage Kosovo-Serbia normalization talks. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)