Belgrade Media Report 17 July 2019
United Nations Office in Belgrade
Daily Media Highlights
Wednesday 17 July 2019
LOCAL PRESS
• Vucic, Wolters: Serbian Army-KFOR communication key to stability (Tanjug/RTS/RTV/B92)
• Vucic congratulates Ursula von der Leyen on election (Beta)
• MPs with Spanish Ambassador: Excellent relations between two countries (Tanjug)
• Nathalie Loiseau: Balkans not ready to join EU (Beta)
REGIONAL PRESS
Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Regular session of B&H Presidency held; Dzaferovic, Komsic voted to file lawsuit against Croatia to stop construction &f Peljesac bridge; Dodik invoked Serb vital ethnic interest (BHT1/N1)
• Croatia, B&H sign contract on construction of bridge across Sava River (ATV)
• FB&H HoR adopts law on rights of demobilized veterans and budget rebalance (N1)
• Grabar-Kitarovic: No illicit activity is being carried out at borders (BHT1)
• Walters and Pendes discuss security situation in B&H and region (Hayat)
Republic of North Macedonia
• VMRO-DPMNE accuses Zoran Zaev of being at the top of the criminal enterprise (Republika)
• Katica Janeva called a former diplomat and threatened to release wiretaps to avoid arrest (MKD)
• EU Ambassador to Macedonia comes out in support of the criminal investigation which led to the resignation of Katica Janeva (Republika)
• Von der Leyen makes no mention of Macedonia, or EU enlargement, in her speech before the European Parliament (Republika)
Albania
• Why Albania does not have a functional Constitutional Court? (ADN)
• Rama’s order for newly elected mayors (ADN)
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES
• Ambassador Lähdevirta: Finland is committed to a credible enlargement perspective (European Western Balkans)
Haradinaj careful during his response to Veseli’s statement (Express)
The Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj responded to Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli with regards to the statements of the latter made on Tuesday during an interview on VoA. Veseli said that the tariff on Serbian goods should be temporarily lifted and criticized Haradinaj for breaching relations with the EU and the U.S. by […]
Read More →Veseli meets Engel: Serbia should recognize Kosovo (RTK)
Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, met significant personalities during his visit in the U.S. Today he was waited at a special meeting with the U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel. They discussed close cooperation between the U.S. and Kosovo, political developments in Kosovo, strengthening Kosovo’s role in international arena, U.S.’s support for Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic perspective. Veseli expressed […]
Read More →Debate sparks after three public universities lose accreditation (Prishtina Insight)
Local and international actors clashed over the decision to withdraw accreditation of three public universities in Kosovo on Tuesday, which left thousands of students uncertain about their enrollment plans for the next academic year. Government officials condemned the decision of the National Quality Council, NCQ, to withdraw the accreditation of public universities of Peja, Mitrovica […]
Read More →Muzafer Shala appointed Minister of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (media)
Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj appointed today Muzafer Shala to the post of Minister of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “After wishing him success in his job, we discussed with the new minister continuation of projects in this department,” Haradinaj wrote on social media after meeting Shala. Shala was nominated by the leader of the Democratic […]
Read More →President Vucic met NATO General Wolters (B92, RTS)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met today with the Commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Tod Wolters, B92 reports. President Vucic said during the meeting he is satisfied with good cooperation with NATO, which is developing along with the respect of Serbia’s military neutrality. He pointed out that international peacekeeping […]
Read More →Kosovo officials to meet Montenegrin counterparts over border demarcation (media)
Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj had a meeting today with members of the commission for demarcation of border with Montenegro. In a Facebook post, Haradinaj said they agreed to begin preparations for meeting officials in Podgorica “to delineate and correct the state border with the Republic of Montenegro.”
Read More →Hoxhaj: Timeframe for dialogue and mutual recognition in final settlement (media)
Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, met today in Pristina with a delegation from the British Foreign Office, and discussed political developments in Kosovo and the region, with special emphasis on the political dialogue with Serbia. Hoxhaj said the process of dialogue is very important for the Kosovo Government and that it needs clarity and […]
Read More →Dacic to attend conference on promotion of religious freedom in Washington (Serbian Government, media)
At the invitation of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic will represent Serbia at the Ministerial Conference on the Promotion of Religious Freedom, which will take place on 17-18 July in Washington, Serbian Government announced on its website. The conference is an opportunity to […]
Read More →Hoxha: Disappointing if visa liberalisation is linked to the political dialogue with Serbia (media)
Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, said in an interview to Radio Free Europe that it would be disappointing if the visa liberalisation process for Kosovo is linked to the political dialogue with Serbia. “It would be disappointing to see such tendencies, although we must admit that we had requests, to suspend the tariff […]
Read More →Von der Leyen: Western Balkans is very important for the European Union (TV N1 Belgrade, TV N1 Zagreb)
Ursula von der Leyen, former German Defense Minister and a prominent member of Germany’s Christian Democrats, talked to N1’s Ivana Dragicevic on Tuesday evening shortly after the European Parliament confirmed Von der Leyen as the new European Commission president. Asked to comment on the future composition of the European Commission, especially regarding officials from Eastern […]
Read More →French MEP: Balkans not ready at all to join EU (BETA, TV N1)
Former French Minister of European Affairs and current member of the European Parliament (EP) Nathalie Loiseau said on Tuesday the Balkan region “was not at all ready” to join the European Union, as the bloc was not fit to take in those countries, the Paris France Inter reported as carried by BETA news agency. Speaking […]
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