Albanian Language Media: 

• Osmani’s legal team conducting analysis constitution of assembly (media)
• COMKFOR meets Osmani, hopes for resolution of parliamentary deadlock (RTK)
• Haxhiu: Parliament cannot be held hostage by Serbian List (media)
• Citaku responds to Haxhiu: Serbian List has no leverage over us (media)
• Serbian List and Serbian Democracy certified, VV reacts strongly (RTK)
• Supreme Court strongly condemns CEC member’s language (media)
• War veterans say Basha’s apology not enough, call for dismissal (media)
• Gervalla meets UK envoy, reaffirms Kosovo’s aspiration for NATO (media)
• Plenkovic slams EU on Banjska attack: “We pretended it didn’t Happen” (RTK)
• Police arrest two minors in Mitrovica North for nationalistic slogans (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Petkovic: Detention of two minors a true face of Kurti’s democracy (Kosovo Online, Tanjug, Radio Mitrovica sever) 
• Radojevic: Children in the north are being arrested for supporting sports clubs, repression against Serbs continues (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Serbian Democracy: Fan symbols cannot be grounds for arrests (KoSSev, KiM radio)
• Arsenijevic on detention of two minors over shirts (Danas) 
• The Kosovo Alliance presented candidates for the local elections (KiM radio)
• CEC: Changes in voter lists linked to activation of address system (Kosovo Online)

International:

• Relatives record their memories of Kosovo’s wartime missing (PI)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani’s legal team conducting analysis constitution of assembly (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani received on Monday the newly elected Speaker of the Assembly, Dimal Basha, who presented his position regarding the constitution of the Assembly. “President Osmani informed President Basha that the legal team of the Presidency is conducting an analysis regarding the process of the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo. Madam President emphasized that, as always, she will act in full compliance with the Constitution and the laws in force, guaranteeing institutional stability and respecting the will of the citizens of Kosovo,” a press release issued by Osmani’s office notes.

COMKFOR meets Osmani, hopes for resolution of parliamentary deadlock (RTK)

KFOR Commander, General Enrico Barduani, met on Monday with President Vjosa Osmani at KFOR Headquarters in Pristina, where they discussed the security situation, regional stability, and cooperation with Kosovo’s institutions. “General Barduani expressed hope for a swift resolution to the parliamentary deadlock and emphasized the importance of regular coordination and stable communication between KFOR and Kosovo’s security organizations,” the statement reads.

Haxhiu: Parliament cannot be held hostage by Serbian List (media)

Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly from Vetevendosje, Albulena Haxhiu, stated that the situation following the Assembly Presidency meeting is far from ideal. According to her, the Assembly has the necessary legitimacy and capacity to carry out its mandate, despite the ongoing disagreement over the election of the fifth deputy speaker from the Serb minority. “The situation is not ideal. We are aware it’s not ideal. Ideally, the Assembly would have succeeded in electing Nenad Rasic as deputy speaker, and if the opposition had participated, if a few had voted in favor, I believe Rasic would have been elected to the Assembly Presidency. But that didn’t happen; we couldn’t secure the six votes needed,” Haxhiu said.

She emphasized that, despite these circumstances, the Assembly’s work should not be brought to a halt, as the institution has the foundation to function normally. “In these conditions, we must be clear: we have to move forward. The Assembly has the legitimacy and capacity to carry out its mandate. In addition to the Speaker, there are four deputy speakers already elected. Even if we had only one of them, we could still hold Presidency meetings, as four members are required for the meeting to proceed. We cannot allow the work of Kosovo’s highest representative body to be paralyzed. This Assembly cannot be held hostage by the Serb List,” she said.

Vetevendosje has announced plans for an extraordinary meeting of its General Council, where Albin Kurti's nomination for Prime Minister of the new government will be put to a vote. After the vote, his name will be formally submitted to the President, Vjosa Osmani. When asked by reporters about the government formation process, Haxhiu confirmed that the party is taking concrete steps. “We said during the last constitutive session that we would explore options to move forward. We first need to hold a General Council meeting to vote for the nominee, and then Arberie Nagavci, as chair of the Council, will submit Prime Minister Kurti’s name to President Osmani. Then we expect President Osmani to act accordingly, in the interest of ensuring the democratic functioning of Kosovo’s institutions,” Haxhiu explained.

She added that this meeting will be extraordinary and will be held soon due to the current political circumstances.

Citaku responds to Haxhiu: Serbian List has no leverage over us (media)

Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, has responded to Vetevendosje's Deputy Speaker, Albulena Haxhiu, following Haxhiu’s accusations that opposition parties failed to enable the election of a deputy speaker from the Serb community. “Albulena, the Serbian List has no way to blackmail us, because we have never made secret or dirty deals with them, neither against war veterans nor through failed bargaining over Constitutional Court judges,” Citaku wrote.

She added that PDK’s position remains principled and is aimed at protecting the constitutional order. “Our stance is principled, in defense of the constitutional order, which you continuously undermine. You may try to relativize the truth, but you cannot erase it,” Citaku stated.

Serbian List and Serbian Democracy certified, VV reacts strongly (RTK)

The Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Kreshnik Radoniqi, has announced that the CEC has implemented the decisions of the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), officially certifying the Serbian List and Serbian Democracy for participation in the upcoming elections.

However, members of Vetevendosje within the CEC have fiercely criticized the Supreme Court's ruling, calling it an "interference in the autonomy of the CEC."

Sami Kurteshi from Vetevendosje stated that the Supreme Court has “delegitimized” the CEC members by stripping them of their authority to vote on whether to certify or reject electoral entities. “The Supreme Court didn’t address the merits of the case at all; it simply delegitimized CEC members from reviewing complaints,” Kurteshi said, adding that the Court’s ruling had a direct impact on the certification process. Regarding the second party, Srpska Demokracia, Kurteshi noted that its representative, Aleksandar Arsinijevic, a former candidate for municipal mayor, is known to have fled Kosovo authorities and is under investigation for possessing war materials and weapons found on his property. Kurteshi added that Arsinijevic has not cooperated with Kosovo institutions and has ignored all official summons. “He submitted a candidate list and could now receive votes and become a mayor, despite never responding to authorities for criminal charges,” he warned.

Another VV representative in the CEC, Alban Krasniqi, went further, accusing Western ambassadors in Kosovo of trying to “legalize” the Serbian List for the local elections scheduled for October 12, 2025. During the CEC meeting, Krasniqi described the Supreme Court's decision as an act that “delegitimized” CEC members. He called the ruling an unacceptable level of international pressure being placed on Kosovo.

Krasniqi also called the Supreme Court’s decision a “criminal coordination of our judicial institutions,” labeling it unacceptable. “Shame on them,” he said, warning that those responsible “will be held accountable sooner or later.” He concluded by saying that the certification of the Serbian List causes serious harm to the electoral process on October 12 and could undermine the integrity and credibility of future elections in which the Serbian List plans to participate.

Supreme Court strongly condemns CEC member’s language (media)

The Supreme Court of Kosovo has issued a strong response to statements made by Central Election Commission (CEC) member Alban Krasniqi, representing Vetevendosje, condemning what it called “unacceptable language” directed at the Court and one of its judges, Zenel Leku. “The Supreme Court strongly condemns this unprecedented and unacceptable form of expression, which constitutes not only a violation of basic standards of discourse but also a direct attack on the integrity of a judge and the justice system in Kosovo,” the statement reads.

According to the Court, the public mention and comparison involving Judge Zenel Leku represents a low attempt to damage his reputation and undermine public trust in the judiciary. “The fabrication of conspiracy theories, defamatory labeling, and attempts to discredit Supreme Court judges, especially within an institution like the CEC, where maturity, clarity, and respect are expected, demonstrates a lack of political culture. The people of Kosovo need representatives who respect institutions, not those who try to delegitimize them with baseless accusations,” the Court emphasized.

The Supreme Court also reiterated that its decisions are always based on the Constitution and the law and that it will never serve short-term political interests.

War veterans say Basha’s apology not enough, call for dismissal (media)

The organization of KLA War Veterans said in a statement on Monday that the apology from Kosovo Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha about a paper he coauthored in 2012, which includes remarks against the KLA, is not enough. “His positions expressed in a scientific paper in 2012, which violated our liberation war and the KLA, go against the constitutional oath he made as an MP and as Speaker of the Assembly, and against the respect for the foundations of our state, built upon the sacrifice of martyrs and freedom fighters. For this reason, our position remains clear: Dimal Basha must be immediately dismissed from the post of Assembly Speaker. We are waiting for the initiative from members of the Kosovo Assembly, and we have already sent them an official request on the matter,” the statement notes.

Gervalla meets UK envoy, reaffirms Kosovo’s aspiration for NATO (media)

Deputy Prime Minister and caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla, reiterated Kosovo’s commitment to NATO membership during a meeting with Dame Karen Pierce, the UK’s Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, held on the sidelines of the Bled Strategic Forum. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gervalla emphasized the strong and focused cooperation between Kosovo and the United Kingdom in the fields of security, stability, and economic development. “She briefed Ms. Pierce on Kosovo’s progress in the rule of law, democratic reforms, and Euro-Atlantic integration, underlining Kosovo’s clear objective to join NATO,” the ministry’s statement reads.

Gervalla also expressed deep gratitude for the UK’s continued support in strengthening Kosovo’s statehood, economy, and institutions.

Plenkovic slams EU on Banjska attack: “We pretended it didn’t Happen” (RTK)

At the Bled Strategic Forum, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic addressed the political situation in the Western Balkans and the challenges facing the EU enlargement process. Among other issues, he brought up the terrorist attack in Banjska, where Kosovo police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed.

Speaking during a panel alongside the prime ministers of Slovenia, Albania, and Montenegro, focused on the future of EU enlargement, Plenkovic cited the Banjska attack as an example of the European Union's failure to respond appropriately to serious developments in the region. “You have the Banjska incident, which in 2023 passed without any serious remarks or articulation from anyone in the EU, as if we were pretending it didn’t happen. That’s the reality. We need to be truly clear-eyed about enlargement and the shifting global context. I support enlargement, and I believe everyone is trying to join [the EU], but they need political stabilization,” Plenkovic stated.

He also spoke of the “harsh political reality” in the Western Balkans, highlighting what he described as severe internal turmoil in Serbia. “You have North Macedonia, which is blocked. You have Serbia, which has been experiencing more than two years of major, intense, and serious internal unrest and protests, on the brink of civil war,” the Croatian prime minister said.

Police arrest two minors in Mitrovica North for nationalistic slogans (media)

Several news websites reported on Monday that police arrested two minors in Mitrovica North on Monday as they had nationalistic slogans in their jackets such as “The northern chetniks” and “You fight, the north will burn”. Petrit Fejza, head of operations for Kosovo Police in the north, the minors were sent to a police station and interviewed in the presence of workers of the Center for Social Work. 

Serbian Language Media

Petkovic: Detention of two minors a true face of Kurti’s democracy (Kosovo Online, Tanjug, Radio Mitrovica sever) 

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, reacted to the detention of two Serbian minors by the Kosovo Police, stating that this represents “the true face of Kurti’s democracy before the eyes of the international community.”

“This is how Kurti ‘congratulates’ Serbian students on the start of the school year—by sending his police phalanxes to detain Serbian minors over slogans on T-shirts. The true image of Kurti’s ‘democracy’ before the eyes of the international community. Where else in the world are children detained because of pictures on T-shirts,” Petkovic wrote on the social network X.

Radojevic: Children in the north are being arrested for supporting sports clubs, repression against Serbs continues (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Serbian List (SL) Presidency member Milan Radojevic, stated after yesterday’s detention of two minors in the north by the Kosovo Police that repression against the Serbian people continues, and that this time children were arrested only because they wore T-shirts of certain fan groups and supported particular sports clubs.

Radojevic recalled that last school year ended with the drowning of a high school graduate on the Mitrovica promenade, and that repression by the KP continued today, so that Serbs cannot even rejoice at the start of the new school year.

“Today the Kosovo Police detained two minors, two boys aged 15, only because they were wearing supporter group T-shirts. They did not commit any criminal act. The children were on the bus when two plainclothes Kosovo Police officers entered, took them off the bus, confiscated their mobile phones, and took them to the police station where they issued them fines. They did not even notify their parents or a lawyer, which they were required to do by law. The parents were only informed afterwards, once the children had already left the police station,” Radojevic stated.

He emphasized that this is proof that repression against the Serbian people in Kosovo is still being carried out, and that in the north children are being arrested simply for wearing T-shirts of certain supporter groups and supporting sports clubs.

“Just yesterday in Leposavic, a young man was arrested on charges of putting up posters. On the other hand, we still do not know where the individuals who committed the triple murder in Gnjilane are. A warrant has been issued for them, and interestingly, their photos with the acting prime minister and the acting interior minister are circulating on social networks. Yet, they are still being sought, while repression against Serbs in northern Kosovo continues,” Radojevic concluded.

Serbian Democracy: Fan symbols cannot be grounds for arrests (KoSSev, KiM radio)

The Serbian Democracy party condemned what they described as “the latest rampage of the monoethnic Albanian police against children in the North of Kosovo.”

“After the choking of a high school graduate on the promenade, the cocking of weapons near Tsar Lazar, and other incidents in which the main perpetrators were precisely Albanian police officers, we have now witnessed a new form of abuse,” the party said in a statement.

They argued that the minors were simply wearing shirts with fan symbols.

“Wearing fan symbols that neither insult anyone nor break the law cannot be grounds for the arrest and traumatization of children,” the party underlined. Serbian Democracy also called on the international community to react:

“To intervene, to deploy KFOR soldiers and EULEX police on every corner, and for embassies to urgently install their outposts in the North of Kosovo so that their very presence could prevent future assaults on young people and other citizens.”

The party concluded by pledging that it would “stand with the people on the ground, as always.”

Arsenijevic on detention of two minors in N. Mitrovica over shirts (Danas) 

Aleksandar Arsenijevic, the president of the Serbian Democracy and the party's candidate for the mayor of North Mitrovica, commenting on the detention of two minors in the north of Kosovo by the Kosovo Police because of t-shirts with fan motifs, said that "the Chetniks and the Partisans bother them, and the only thing that doesn't bother them is their ballists".

"Chetniks and partisans bother them, and the only thing that doesn't bother them is their ballists. That's how they rehabilitated Xhafer Deva," Arsenijevic wrote on FB. 

It is unheard of, he said, that children are arrested because of motifs on their T-shirts depicting the Second World War, noting that it is complete absurdity and shame.

"Come on, international community, come on, democracy, what is this ballistic movement doing in the north?!", said Arsenijevic.

Danas recalled that after being detained, the minors were released with misdemeanor charges.

The Kosovo Alliance presented candidates for the local elections (KiM radio)

The Kosovo Alliance has presented candidates for mayors in five majority-Serb municipalities in Kosovo. The candidate for the president of the municipality of Gracanica is Goran Marinkovic, reported KiM radio.

The candidates of the Kosovo Alliance for mayors are: Goran Marinkovic – Gracanica, Stevo Vulovic - Zubin Potok, Sladjan Mladenovic – Partes, Bojan Arsic – Ranilug, Goran Marinkovic – Klokot.

"I hope that we will succeed in our plan to change this and this kind of government that has represented us until now," said the president of the Kosovo Alliance, Goran Marinkovic.

Several members of the Kosovo Alliance stated that they are currently under pressure from the Serbian List.

Honorary member of the Kosovo Alliance, Zarko Ristic, stated that this is an opportunity to build a democratic society in which there will be no blackmail.

The Kosovo Alliance has 23 candidates in total for the local elections scheduled for October 12.

CEC: Changes in voter lists linked to activation of address system (Kosovo Online)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) emphasized that compiling the voter list for each municipality in the upcoming local elections on October 12 is a process regulated by law and by-laws. According to the CEC, changes regarding the voter lists are linked to the activation of the address system by the Kosovo Civil Registration Agency and the Kosovo Cadastral Agency.

Following media reports that a large number of voters from Pristina had been transferred to the list in Gracanica, the CEC, considering it necessary to clarify the situation, stated in a press release for Kosovo Online that the compilation of the voter list for each municipality in Kosovo is a process regulated by law and by-laws.

“After media reports regarding the compilation of the voter list and the allocation of voters to polling centers for the local elections on October 12, 2025, the Central Election Commission believes it is necessary to clarify this situation. According to published information, various citizens who voted in one municipality in past election processes have now noticed that they will be voting in another municipality. The CEC clarifies that the compilation of the voter list for each municipality in the Republic of Kosovo is a process regulated by law and by-laws,” the CEC stated.

They added that for several years, annual reports on the CEC’s work had highlighted the importance of integrating a unified address system into the Central Civil Register, through which voters could be allocated as close as possible to their place of residence, as prescribed by the Law on General Elections.

According to the CEC, certain changes in voter lists are a reflection of the activation of the address system, which began in October last year. This led to the determination of polling stations based on citizens’ residential addresses, and, they added, has affected many municipalities in Kosovo.

“Based on Law No. 08/L-228 on General Elections, the CEC maintains and updates the voter list on the basis of accurate and updated data from the Central Civil Register. In this process, the list is systematically cleaned of individuals who have died or who have renounced citizenship of the Republic of Kosovo. The observed changes are linked to the activation of the address system by the Civil Registration Agency and the Kosovo Cadastral Agency, which began in October 2024. This process has naturally been reflected in the determination of the polling center according to each citizen’s residential address, and this has affected a number of municipalities in the Republic of Kosovo,” the CEC stated.

International

Relatives record their memories of Kosovo’s wartime missing (Prishtina Insight)

To mark the International Day of the Disappeared, BIRN Kosovo launched a campaign to document the stories and trauma of families still searching for loved ones lost during the 1998–99 war.

More than a quarter of a century after the war in Kosovo, around 1,600 people are still missing, and their memory remains an open wound for their loved ones, who are still looking for answers.

On Friday, BIRN Kosovo launched a campaign to record their voices, preserve their trauma, and remind the world that the missing are not statistics, but lives cut short and stories untold.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4h7htur4