Albanian Language Media:

• Kosovo’s leaders pay homage at Monument of Missing Persons (media)
• Prattipati joins remembrance of victims of enforced disappearance (media)
• Names carved on wood: Memorial for missing from the war in Kosovo (RFE)
• Osmani: New assembly and government must be formed urgently (media)
• EU calls for swift completion of the Assembly's constitution (media)
• Kurti: Our problems today are from previous govts, not Basha’s article (media)
• War veterans call on parliamentary groups and MPs to dismiss Basha (media)
• Court rejects Vetevendosje’s appeal against Serbian List certification (media)
• Rasic: MPs hesitate to vote for me thinking they’ll violate Constitution (media)
• “Neither the place nor day” Kurti asked to comment Aliu’s resignation (media) 
• Graffiti calling on Kurti to go to the prosecution appear in Pristina (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: There will be many problems with elections in Kosovo, Kurti wants to prevent Serbian List participation (Kosovo Online, media)
• Vucic receives Lebanese Ambassador for a farewell meeting, expresses gratitude over her country stance on Kosovo (media)
• Djuric: It is important for Serbia to advance its position in Japan, we also discussed Kosovo issue (Tanjug)
• EU: Deputy speaker from Serbian community should be elected in line with Constitution (media)
• Sljuka: Opposition to election of Serbian List representative constitutes degradation and destruction of institutions (media)
• Bisevac: Decision to repurpose land in Mikronaselje contrary to interests of Serbian community (Kosovo Online)
• Kamp met civil society and media from non-majority communities, discussed challenges and their work (media, social media)
• Another protest held outside Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy: Students, professors demand dean’s resignation (N1)
• Letter with three bullets sent to Minister Dacic, police identified sender (N1)

International:

• Mystery of Kosovo girl’s wartime disappearance still ‘mired in shame’ (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

Kosovo’s leaders pay homage at Monument of Missing Persons (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha and caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti paid homage today at the Monument of Missing Persons on the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance. Foreign ambassadors in Kosovo, families of missing persons and people also paid their homages.

Albanian Post reports that according to the latest data of the International Red Cross Committee, until January this year there were 1,612 missing persons from the war in 1998/99. A joint Kosovo – Serbia committee for missing persons was formed after an agreement reached last year in the EU-facilitated dialogue for the normalization of relations, to implement the Declaration on Missing Persons. The declaration was adopted in 2023. Some of the pledges in the declaration include: full access to credible information, including classified information; making available all documents that are important for resolving the fate of missing persons, and joint work through an EU-established committee. In practice, none of the points of the declaration was implemented, despite calls from the European Union.

Ekonomia Online quotes Osmani as saying today: “on the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance as every year we stand together with the families to call for justice, and to raise our voice against this continuous crime by Serbia, and I call it a continuous crime because beyond the crimes that Serbia committed in 1998-99, the enforced disappearance of the loved ones of many families here in Kosovo is a crime that Serbia commits every day by keeping them in mass graves, by failing to respect the agreements reached in Brussels to resolve the fate of victims of enforced disappearance. Serbia every day commits a crime against humanity and every day violates international conventions for human rights”.

Assembly Speaker Basha said resolving the fate of missing persons is a moral and international obligation of Serbia but also the responsibility of the international community. “This is both a moral and an international obligation for Serbia to disclose the location of all massacres and the location of all the bodies of missing persons as soon as possible … I also call on the international community to exert more pressure on the authoritarian regime there to disclose information about the fate of missing persons,” he said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Kurti said that Kosovo’s authorities have engaged in many activities to search for mortal remains, whereas Serbia is obstructing the process but not carrying out excavations in its territory. “This year we had 18 activities searching for the mortal remains of our most loved ones, which Serbia not only killed but only exhumed and abducted their bodies. At the same time, excavations in different locations in Serbia have not resumed yet although two days have passed since an agreement was reached in Brussels and a joint declaration was adopted. Denying justice for our victims of the war is in fact preceded by Belgrade denying the crimes committed by Serbia in Kosovo,” he argued.

Names carved on wood: Memorial for missing from the war in Kosovo (RFE)

The names of over 1,600 missing people from the last war in Kosovo have been carved on two wooden plaques. The families wrote the names of their missing loved ones on paper, while artists Dea Gjinovci and Armand de Benoist de Gentissart turned the writings into a memorial.

See more at: https://shorturl.at/3khJE

Prattipati joins remembrance of victims of enforced disappearance (media)

The United States Embassy in Kosovo said in a Facebook post today that “Chargé d’affaires Anu Prattipati joined Kosovans in remembering the victims of enforced disappearance during the conflict in Kosovo. We stand in solidarity with their families and reaffirm our commitment to truth and justice. Every family deserves answers about the fate of their loved ones”.

Osmani: New assembly and government must be formed urgently (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said today that the new Assembly and the new government must be formed as soon as possible and that any delay in the process damages Kosovo and its people. “The Assembly must be formed urgently, the government too must be elected urgently, as every day lost is a day lost for Kosovo, for its people, for our Euro-Atlantic future. I hope a solution that is in compliance with the Constitution will be found,” Osmani said.

EU calls for swift completion of the Assembly's constitution (media)

The European Union has called for the prompt completion of the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo, emphasizing that the election of the Serbian deputy speaker must be carried out in line with the Constitution. This comes amid ongoing debate and controversy over the recent vote for Assembly leadership positions, particularly regarding representation of the Serb community. The EU statement highlights the importance of inclusiveness, constitutional compliance, and respect for democratic procedures in all institutional processes in Kosovo.

Kurti: Our problems today are from previous govts, not Basha’s article (media)

Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti was asked by reporters today to comment on a recently surfaced paper coauthored by Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha which includes positions against the former Kosovo Liberation Army. Kurti said the public reactions to the paper are “deforming” and “misinterpreting” and that Basha did not author the chapter about the KLA. “I believe that the problems we have in Kosovo today are not from the deformation and misinterpretation of a coauthored article in which he [Basha] did not author the chapter, and it was over a decade ago. Our problems stem from when Zajednica [Association of Serb-majority municipalities] was signed in 2013, are problems stem from when Serb criminals in the north were pardoned, also in 2013, our problems derive from when the Specialist Court was voted in 2015, our problems are from when the Serbian List was formed in cooperation with Belgrade in 2013, our problems are from when Kosovo’s politicians created governments while depending on the Serbian List, our problems are from when people entered into deals to divide Kosovo – and not from this article where manipulation is being made with a chapter that he did not even author,” he argued.

War veterans call on parliamentary groups and MPs to dismiss Basha (media)

The organization of KLA War Veterans, in a public letter to heads of parliamentary groups and MPs, have requested the initiation of a procedure to dismiss Dimal Basha from the post of Kosovo Assembly Speaker. The war veterans expressed deep concern and indignation over the publication of research and papers coauthored by Basha where the KLA was portrayed in denigrating fashion “as an underground militia tied with criminal gangs and drugs”. The war veterans called on parliamentary group chiefs to take political and institutional responsibility for initiating the procedure to dismiss Basha, and to act with urgency by not allowing the Assembly to be led “by a person that has denigrating positions against the KLA and our glorious history”.

Rasic: MPs hesitate to vote for me thinking they’ll violate Constitution (media)

MP from the Kosovo Serb community, Nenad Rasic, said in an interview with TeVe1 today that members of the Kosovo Assembly are hesitating to vote for him as Deputy Speaker thinking that they could be violating the Constitution, “although I keep repeating that this is not a case where the Constitution is violated”. “I understand the political scheme; everyone has become an expert of the Constitution and is commenting. There is absolutely no violation of the Constitution, and although I don’t have the majority of votes from the Serb community, I can still run for the post. I will for a third time for the post of Deputy Speaker and if I don’t get enough votes, I don’t know what other option there will be,” he argued.

Court rejects Vetevendosje’s appeal against Serbian List certification (media)

The Supreme Court of Kosovo has rejected the appeal filed by Vetevendosje (VV) regarding the certification of the Serbian List for the upcoming local elections. VV had contested the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to certify Serbian List’s candidates, arguing that some of them are part of parallel and illegal structures in the north of Kosovo, and thus should not be allowed to participate in the electoral process.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the legal criteria for disqualification were not met, affirming the decision of the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) and allowing Serbian List to remain in the race.

This decision now clears the way for the Serbian List to participate in the October 12 local elections, despite the political and security concerns raised by Vetevendosje and other parties.

“Neither the place nor day”, Kurti asked to comment Aliu’s resignation (media) 

Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti did not respond to questions by reporters about the resignation of Lundrim Aliu as Minister of Infrastructure after Dimal Basha was elected Kosovo Assembly Speaker. “This is neither the place nor day to talk about this,” Kurti said after paying homage on the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance.

Graffiti calling on Kurti to go to the prosecution appear in Pristina (media)

Several news websites report that graffiti calling on Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti to “hand himself over the prosecution” have appeared in Pristina. 

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic: There will be many problems with elections in Kosovo, Kurti wants to prevent Serbian List participation (Kosovo Online, media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned last night there will be many problems with local elections in Kosovo, where Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, is trying to prevent Serbian List from participating, while at the same time seeking to appoint Nenad Rasic as deputy speaker of parliament, even though he should appoint Slavko Simic as the candidate of the Serbian List, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“We will face many problems in elections in Kosovo and Metohija, where Kurti is preventing the Serbian List from being allowed to participate and is attempting to appoint Nenad Rašić as deputy speaker of the Assembly, even though the obligation is to appoint Slavko Simic, who is the nominee of the Serbian List”, Vucic said.

As he added, this is something that must be endured in order to preserve peace and stability, for which Serbia will do everything in its power.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/Oe1cb

Vucic receives Lebanese Ambassador for a farewell meeting, expresses gratitude over her country stance on Kosovo (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received the Lebanese Ambassador to Belgrade, Nada Al-Akl, for a farewell meeting and expressed to her his sincere gratitude for everything she did during her tenure to improve and strengthen friendly relations between the two countries, Kosovo Online portal reported.

"We especially appreciate Lebanon's consistent position to respect territorial integrity of Serbia and non-recognition of unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. Such support, based on the principles of international law and mutual respect, has a deep meaning for our people and country", Vucic said during the meeting. 

Djuric: It is important for Serbia to advance its position in Japan, we also discussed Kosovo issue (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said today his visit to Japan is important in order to improve Serbia's position in one of the four largest economies in the world, adding he also informed his interlocutors of Serbia's views on Kosovo issue, which, as he said, differ, Tanjug news agency reproted. 

"This is an important visit to strengthen Serbia's position in Japan and a prelude to further high-level visits to this country next month. Japan is an important partner of Serbia and that is why it is important that today's meetings I had with officials in Japan were in a positive tone", Djuric told the media.

Djuric met the Japanese Economic Security Minister and Japan-Serbia Parliamentary League Secretary General, Minoru Kiuchi. Previously, as part of his two-day visit to Japan he spoke with his counterpart Takeshi Iwaya and started the visit by meeting Chair of Japanese External Trade Organization Susumu Kataoka.

EU: Deputy speaker from Serbian community should be elected in line with Constitution (media)

EU welcomed the fact that Kosovo Assembly, after months of logjam, elected Speaker, reiterating its call for swift completion of a process to fully constitute this legislative body by electing deputy speaker from Serbian community, noting it should be done in line with Constitution and relevant procedures, Kosovo Online portal reported citing Pristina-based Reporteri.

"The European Union is encouraged by the fact that the Assembly Speaker has finally been elected and reiterates its call for a swift constitution of the Assembly by electing a deputy speaker representing the Serbian community. This should be done in full accordance with the letter and spirit of the Constitution and relevant rules", the European Union is quoted as saying.

The EU also called on political representatives to cooperate and find the necessary majority in the interest of Kosovo, "its multi-ethnic society and its European future".

Sljuka: Opposition to election of Serbian List representative constitutes degradation and destruction of institutions (media)

Aleksandar Sljuka, New Social Initiative associate opined that refusal to elect a deputy speaker of the Assembly from ranks of Serbian List demonstrates the “degradation and destruction of institutions” and represents part of Self Determination’s strategy, which “is not ready for new elections”, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“There had been hope that the issue would be resolved with the election of Assembly Speaker, but now we face a problem with electing the deputy speaker from the Serbian community. I think this indicates that Self Determination essentially does not want new elections, probably because they fear that once the process of constituting the Assembly is completed, the next step would be forming a government for which they do not have, and likely will not secure, support. Since there are specific deadlines, if they are not met, new elections would follow – and Self Determination is not prepared for that”, Sljuka said.

Sljuka believes that the procedure for electing the deputy speaker from the Serbian community was not respected from the start and has revealed the “degradation and destruction of institutions”.

Bisevac: Decision to repurpose land in Mikronaselje contrary to interests of Serbian community (Kosovo Online)

Serbian List Presidency member Nemanja Bisevac said Mitrovica North Municipal Assembly councillors, with decision to convert the agricultural land in Mikronaselje into construction land in order to build a school for students of Albanian ethnicity there, once again trampled on recommendations of the ministry that such decisions should not be made after the announcement of local elections. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani called for local elections in June this year and they will take place on October 12. 

Bisevac told Kosovo Online a children's playground has been located in that area for almost a decade, built with European Union funds as part of the Green Mitrovica project.

"At yesterday's Municipal Assembly session, a decision was made to repurpose the land. This area, where we are today and where a children's playground was built from 2015 to 2017 as part of Green Mitrovica project financed by the European Union, the illegal and illegitimate assembly decided to turn it into a place to build a school for students of Albanian nationality", Bisevac said.

He is convinced that following local elections on October 12, legally and legitimately elected representatives will annul all decisions, which, as he said, were not made in interests of the majority community living in this area. 

Kamp met civil society and media from non-majority communities, discussed challenges and their work (media, social media)

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Christophe Kamp spoke with non-majority civil society organizations and media outlets representatives during his visit in Kosovo about their work and challenges they face.

“Later in the day, @OSCEKosovo hosted a meeting with non-majority community CSOs and media representatives to discuss their work and challenges. @oscehcnm Kamp underlined their vital role in promoting inclusion, dialogue, trust, and amplifying community voices in Kosovo”, OSCE Mission in Kosovo said in a post on X social platform. 

Another protest held outside Novi Sad Faculty of Philosophy: Students, professors demand dean’s resignation (N1)

Following a call from students, on Thursday evening, students, professors, and members of the general public gathered outside the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad for another protest, rallying under the slogan “Novi Sad, the Faculty of Philosophy is Calling You”, N1 reported.

The demonstration was marked by a heavy police presence, with riot police forming a cordon to block access to the faculty building, where Dean Milivoje Alanovic and a group of employees remained inside.

The standoff began Tuesday morning when Dean Alanovic, accompanied by ten employees, entered the blockaded faculty, changed the locks, and announced that disciplinary actions would be taken against anyone disrupting the faculty’s operations. Since then, the dean has remained inside, while students and faculty members demand his resignation.

Letter with three bullets sent to Minister Dacic, police identified sender (N1)

A letter containing three bullets addressed to Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic was delivered to the Serbian Government on Thursday, and the Internal Affairs Ministry (MUP) announced a day later that the police had identified and located the person who mailed the package, N1 reported.

“During the regular sorting of mail at the Government of the Republic of Serbia building on August 28, 2025, an envelope addressed to Deputy Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic was noticed. During a security scan of the package using an X-ray device, three bullets were found inside the envelope”, Serbian MIA said in a statement. It added it was determined that the package was mailed on August 26, 2025, at a Post of Serbia branch in Pozarevac, and that police have identified and located the sender.

N1 recalled that almost two months ago, its newsroom received a threatening letter by mail, and the police have not yet identified the sender. The letter, which arrived on July 11, “reminded” the N1 newsroom of the attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 employees were killed. That letter was sent from Post Office 11118 in Belgrade, N1 said. 

International

Mystery of Kosovo girl’s wartime disappearance still ‘mired in shame’ (BIRN)

Aged 15, Arjeta Uka was taken from her family by Serbian police in May 1999 and last seen in a police truck, wearing a police belt, yet she is no longer listed as missing.

For years, Lutfije Uka has visited the offices of a women’s rights centre in Kosovo’s Drenas/Glogovac municipality, to talk and find solace.

Her voice is weak and her hands tremble in her lap as she speaks of the 26-year mystery surrounding her missing daughter, Arjeta, ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.

Raped repeatedly during the Kosovo war, Arjeta disappeared in May 1999, aged 15; the last time Lutfije saw her, seven days after she was taken away by Serbian forces, she was tossing food packages to women and children from the back of a truck, a Serbian police belt around her waist.

“I called to her, but she didn’t look at me,” she said. “That was the last day I saw Arjeta.”

The war ended the following month and Serbian forces withdrew, but Lutfije’s nightmare was only just beginning.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/RDtT2