Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 181 new cases, eight deaths (media)
• Lajcak meets Hyseni and Djuric (RTK)
• Hoti: Technical dialogue is over, today the dialogue for mutual recognition starts (RTK)
• Assembly endorses five international agreements (media)
• Assembly does not endorse neither LVV’s nor PDK’s resolutions on COVID-19 (media)
• Heldt: I leave a major piece of luggage in Kosovo (media)
• Geci: I was warned from Brussels that my life is in danger (Telegrafi)
• Hoti meets Telecom trade union representatives, promises solution (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 21 new cases of Covid-19 infection in Serb areas in Kosovo (Kosovo-online)
• Janjic: The topic of today’s talks between Belgrade and Pristina is not recognition (NMagazin, TV Prva)
• Vucic: Two new Covid-19 hospitals; Something strange in the region; New government by the end of August (media)
• Anniversary of killing of 14 Serb harvesters in Staro Gracko marked (Kosovo-online)
• Serbian DefMin Vulin discusses military cooperation with Russian ambassador (N1, Beta)
• WHO Director: Coronavirus trend in Balkans and South Europe worrying (FoNet, RTS, N1)
• Damon Wilson: Russia wants status quo in Kosovo (RFE)
• “No serious negotiations without USA and Russia, there’ll be none in a hundred years” (B92)
• NATO Week in Belgrade: Only nine pct of people support membership (N1)
• KOMS: 36 percent of young people think de-recognition campaign on Kosovo should continue (KoSSev)
• Covic: The only capital of the Albanian nation is Tirana (Radio Mitrovica Sever, TV Most)

Opinion:

• Why the opinion of the International Court of Justice did not put a seal on Kosovo’s independence (KoSSev)
• A fork in the road for Serbia (euobserver.com)

International:

• Questions Shadow Kosovo’s Financial Support for War Suspects (Balkan Insight)
• Hague Prosecutors Summon North Macedonia’s Albanian Leader (Balkan Insight)
• Turkish-Financed Mosque Sparks Rival Protests in Kosovo (Balkan Insight)
• Kosovo Court Ruling Pushes Telecom Closer to Bankruptcy (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Asylum Outsourced: McKinsey’s Secret Role in Europe’s Refugee Crisis (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

COVID-19: 181 new cases, eight deaths (media)

The National Institute of Public Health has announced that from 420 samples taken in the last 24 hours, 181 samples resulted positive. The Institute also informed that eight patients have died from the virus. 

Positive cases are from: Prishtina municipality 77 cases, Gjilan municipality 17 cases, Peja 13 cases, Mitrovica 10 cases, Vushtrri 10 cases, Viti 8 cases, Drenas 6 cases, Fushe Kosove 6 cases, Lipjan 6 cases , Podujeve 6 cases, Dragash 4 cases, Decan 3 cases.  Municipalities of Ferizaj, Malisheve Obiliq, Prizren, Skenderaj, Suhareka have two cases each. Istog, Kacanik and Kamenice have one case each. 

Lajcak meets Hyseni and Djuric (RTK)

The EU Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak met today in Brussels with Skender Hyseni and Marko Djuric.

Lajcak published pictures from these meetings on his official Twitter account.

“Today, we continue our political discussions at expert level. Pleased to welcome the negotiators of both parties, Skender Hyseni and Marko Djuric this morning,” Lajcak wrote.

Hoti: Technical dialogue is over, today the dialogue for mutual recognition starts (RTK)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said today before the beginning of the meeting of Kosovo’s And Serbia’s coordinators in Brussels, that the dialogue has no alternative, and that the technical dialogue is over.

“The dialogue does not have an alternative. However, the technical dialogue has concluded. Kosovo has now started the dialogue for mutual recognition, and drafting of this agreement starts today in Brussels.

Rejecting approach towards the dialogue and towards our friends from the recent past, has isolated us. A house cannot be kept without friends.

Kosovo has a Prime Minister who is exercising constitutional authorisations without allowing any interference on those authorisations, but by coordinating the state agenda of Kosovo with the institutional stakeholders, coalition partners and opposition, as well as by keeping the wider public completely informed.

Assembly endorses five international agreements (media)

Kosovo Assembly MPs voted today in favor of five international agreements. These agreements passed only after the MPs from the Vetevendosje Movement decided to support them. Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani said all the agreements had the support of more than 80 MPs.

The Assembly voted the following agreements:

Review of the Draft Law on ratification of the Financing Agreement between Kosovo and the International Development Association for the Financial Sector Strengthening Project.

Review of the Draft Law on ratification of the Loan Agreement between Kosovo and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the Wastewater Development Project in Gjilan.

Review of the Draft Law on ratification of the Project Financing Agreement for Real Estate Cadastre and Geospatial Infrastructure between Kosovo and the International Development Association.

Review of the Draft Law on ratification of the Agreement between the European Union and Kosovo on the Participation of Kosovo in the Union Program ‘Customs 2020’.

Review of the Draft Law on ratification of the Agreement between the European Union and Kosovo on the Participation of Kosovo in the Union Program “Fiscalis 2020”.

Assembly does not endorse neither LVV’s nor PDK’s resolutions on COVID-19 (media)

Kosovo Assembly MPs did not vote on recommendations proposed by the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) on managing the situation with COVID-19.

Only 21 MPs voted for this resolution. PDK MP Bekim Haxhiu spoke about the points of this resolution. “After the debate that we had on managing the pandemics and the situation with COVID-19, PDK listed six recommendations. 1.The committee is authorized to bring the law on COVID-19 for endorsement to the Assembly as soon as possible; 2. We request from the government to urgently come up with a special decision for increase of the salaries of the healthcare professionals, this decision should include all officials who confront COVID-19. 3. The Ministry of Health should enable employment of additional one thousand and five hundred healthcare workers,” he said.

Due to the disagreement on voting, the resolution of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) for management of the pandemics has not passed either. 84 MPs were present, however only 25 of them participated in voting. 

Heldt: I leave a major piece of luggage in Kosovo (media)

The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Christian Heldt, will be leaving Kosovo on Friday, after completing his three year mandate.

“Before leaving #Kosovo tomorrow: Thank you for making me discover, for making me appreciate and, to those who grew close, thank you for your friendship. It is a hard cut under Corona circumstances, so not “farewell”, but definitely “auf Wiedersehen”. Faleminderit, hvala, Danke!” Heldt wrote on his Twitter account.

“In German they have a saying “I still have a suitcase in Berlin,” which means that you leave behind something that you return to. Well, I definitely leave a major piece of luggage here in Kosovo,” Heldt said in a video recording. 

Geci: I was warned from Brussels that my life is in danger (Telegrafi

Former MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Gani Geci, informed on Wednesday that he was informed by some individuals from Brussels that his life is in danger.

“Yesterday at around 18:00 hours, I received a phone call from some individuals from Brussels and Netherlands. After the interviewing of the President of Kosovo, Brussels has information that my life is in danger. I was told yesterday to be careful because my life is in danger,” Geci said. 

Hoti meets Telecom trade union representatives, promises solution (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti met today with the leaders of the Telekom trade union, after the created situation at this public enterprise.

“The Prime Minister of the government of the Republic of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti hosted today a meeting with heads of the Telecom Trade Union. He assured them that the government of Kosovo is committed to find a favorable solution for this company with strategic interest for the economy of the country, in an optimal time,” reads a press release issued by the Office of the Prime Minister.  

Hoti also requested from Telekom to continue offering its services to the citizens, while the government will give priority to the stabilization and revitalization of Telekom.  

Serbian Language Media

21 new cases of Covid-19 infection in Serb areas in Kosovo (Kosovo-online)

21 new cases of Covid-19 infection were registered in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, over the last 24 hours, epidemiologist Aleksandar Antonijevic said in a press conference today Kosovo-online portal reports.

He added, out of 60 samples sent for testing, 21 came positive while two persons have been cured meanwhile.

Three cases are in Mitrovica North, three in Zvecan, four in Leposavic and one in Zubin Potok. Ten cases were registered in the Serb-populated areas south of the Ibar River, two in Gnjilane, two in Priluzje and three each in Strpce and Gracanica.

Antonijevic also noted the issue with tests had been resolved, and they would continue testing 60 new samples per day, as long as epidemiological situation requires such an approach. 

A total of 115 patients have been hospitalized. Out of this number 104 patients are at the Clinical Hospital Center in Mitrovica North, two in Belgrade, three in Kragujevac, five in Nis and one patient is staying at the Clinical Center of Serbia. 360 persons are in self-isolation.

At the moment there are 483 active cases of Covid-19 infection in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo.

Since March 12, a total of 3.061 persons have been tested in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo and out of this number 680 persons were positive on Covid-19.  

Janjic: The topic of today’s talks between Belgrade and Pristina is not recognition (NMagazin, TV Prva)

The director of the Belgrade Forum for Ethnic Relations Dusan Janjic said that during today’s meeting in Brussels, between Serbia and Kosovo delegations, expert talks would be held and that there would be no more technical dialogue, but political dialogue. He said it was clear based on information announced from the European Union.

“Recognition is not the topic. The fact that Pristina is forcing this story is obviously an internal political calculation. The government is shaken, it should acquire itself a support in every way possible,” Janjic told Belgrade based TV Prva. 

He added that the topic was a continuation of what was politically agreed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdulah Hoti and the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic. “It is up to the experts to turn this framework agreement on all these points into a paper with annexes and to complete that work, as I was informed, by September 15 at the latest, when the political leaders of the dialogue would look at the paper, and initial it or not,” said Janjic.

Asked whether Pristina would continue to emphasize mutual recognition, which they point out as the only solution, he said that it was Pristina’s political and negotiating weakness.

“If you ask every time and every time it fails, it means that you have to wait for some other circumstances,” he said, adding that he was not sure whether the format about mutual recognition was the right one to talk to Belgrade. 

The first expert meeting within the political dialogue on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which was scheduled during the first round of talks held last week on July 16, will be held in Brussels today. As announced, the Belgrade delegation will be led by the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of Serbia, Marko Djuric and the Kosovo delegation will be led by the coordinator for dialogue Skender Hyseni.

Vucic: Two new Covid-19 hospitals; Something strange in the region; New government by the end of August (media)

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic told last night Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that more people were discharged from hospitals yesterday than admitted, and that it meant that the health system could withstand the pressure due to COVID-19.

He added that Serbia became the fifth or fourth country in Europe in terms of the number of people tested, and  overtaken Germany in that respect. 

“We have overtaken Germany; we are testing more than Germany per 100.000 inhabitants. Only Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and another country are ahead of us,” Vucic told RTS.

He explained that Serbia made a different decision compared to others in the region, Croatia, Bulgaria, because it wanted to identify the disease and took care of people’s health and lives, disregarding politics and preferences of the population.

“When you test a lot, of course you will find more sick, and you will have more dead, because when you don’t test them for the coronavirus, you don’t know which disease they died of,” he said.

“We are going for maximum testing, on the edge of our health system. It costs us up to 100 euros per PCR test,” he said.

He announced that he would try to go for more tests, exceeding 12.000 per day.

He also announced that in the next seven days, the construction of two COVID hospitals will begin, in Belgrade and Krusevac, a total of 1.500 beds for the most severe cases.

“We will be ready for autumn and winter,” Vucic underlined.

“We will have those hospitals by December 1, and we will be prepared even if we do not receive the vaccine by December 1. We must be ready to protect people,” Vucic said.

“We will try to be among the first 20 countries to receive the vaccine,” Vucic announced, adding that the state can pay for it.

He said that he wanted to stop meaningless attacks and stories about what the Crisis Staff was doing.

“Do you know anyone better than Kon, Pelemis, Jankovic, Stevanovic, Kisic Tepavcevic,” Vucic asked.

“Dr Goran Stevanovic has not been out of the hospital since March 6. He is not coming out of his medical suit; he is fighting for people’s lives. Do you know what the pressure is on him,” said Vucic.

“They want the same, they want an independent Kosovo”

He said that Serbs would like the most if someone else could fight for Kacanik on our behalf, because we are “ready to fight for cafes, one percent of the population wants to fight for Kacanik.”

“We are not opposing the Albanians there, it is completely the same whether we are talking to them or the representatives of the EU or America. They want the same thing, they want an independent Kosovo,” he said, adding that they want to reduce Serbia’s our “room for maneuver”.

“Everyone around Kosovo and Metohija wants Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence. If we don’t go to the talks, we will be denounced. At some point, we will be pressured to do it. I am a political veteran and I know what consequences I will face, but I will protect the country, not myself,” he said.

“They will create a single local government against Serbs in Bujanovac, and in my country, Albanian representatives asked us to integrate them into state bodies,” Vucic stated.

He adds that he was happy about that, but that they then went to Albania, where they were told to form a government without 42% of Serbs, and to expel the SNS.

“Disperse Serbs at the local level, asking on the other hand for one percent participation in Belgrade at the central level. That theory is a little strange,” Vucic pointed. 

He said that he would not allow it, and he is not interested, as he says, in protesting.

“I am interested in the will of the people, not the will of force and thugs. I will not flatter anyone,” he underlined.

Vucic said only that those at the time when Kosovo declared independence did not say what should be done, at the time when the International Court of Justice made such a decision, at the time when Ranko Panic (journalist) was killed.

The Russian portal Sputnik reported that the authorities in Pristina have been negotiating for months with the German intelligence services on the procurement of cannons and anti-tank missile systems for the so-called Kosovo army, with the approval of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Vucic said tonight that he asked the Military Intelligence Agency for information as soon as he saw the Sputnik’s news. 

Vucic said that he did not think that Albanians in Kosovo would get “leopard” tanks, but that he did not rule out the possibility of getting weapons for the destruction of anti-tank vehicles.

“We procured Belgian rifles, we make our modular rifle. That is why I want to tell our people in the weapon industry to get serious, they will get new help from the state. Something strange is happening, everyone is arming themselves throughout the region,” he said.

Vucic said that there was a huge problem with the training and additional armament of the so-called Kosovo army, but he said that Serbia would be protected.

He claimed that the United States did not abandon the Kosovo negotiations. According to Vucic’s expectations, “there will be even bigger participation of Americans on that issue”.

“The fact that, at one point, the Americans said that there was a possibility of them leaving Bondsteel, it led to other NATO partners wanting to invest more in support and assistance to the Albanian army – than it was the case in the past. It only causes uncertainty and insecurity, but we will be able to save ourselves and our country and people,” Vucic concluded.

New government by the end of August

Vucic told RTS that the provincial parliament will be formed by August 1, and the republic parliament by August 3 or 4.

“The Government should be constituted at the end of August, that’s how I expect it to be,” Vucic said.

He told citizens not to trust media reports like “the SPS will have two ministers, three ministers… there will be these or those ministers, some are recommended, so they modestly say that they do not expect that, but that they are available if needed… Everything is a lie,” Vucic said.

As he said, according to the information he got from Ana Brnabic, three quarters of the ministers were on vacation or they acted as if they were on vacation.

Anniversary of killing of 14 Serb harvesters in Staro Gracko marked (Kosovo-online)

The 21 anniversary of the killing of 14 Serb harvesters in the village of Staro Gracko was marked today, Kosovo-online portal reports. Perpetrators of this crime were not found until today, while Pristina Special Prosecution closed the investigation of this case three years ago.

A small number of people attended the memorial service served by Serbian Orthodox Church priest Srdjan Stankovic in front of a memorial plaque in the center of the village, due to the measures related to the coronavirus pandemic.  

Kosovo Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic attended the service and said the question as to who were the perpetrators of this crime was asked today and the question would be asked over and over again until the perpetrators are found.

“I urge the international community to reopen the case and we shall insist on it and keep asking until we get the response, which we have been waiting for 21 years,” Jevtic said.

On July 23, 1999, 14 Serb harvesters were killed in Staro Gracko. The youngest victim was 17-year old.

Members of the families voiced bitterness and sadness over closure of the investigation and they expect that the Specialist Court for KLA crimes would take over the case.

Initially, UNMIK opened the investigation and later handed over the case to EULEX. Seven Albanians, members of the former Kosovo Liberation Army were under investigation related to this crime. In 2007, police arrested an Albanian from the village of Veliki Alas, Lipljan municipality under suspicion that he took part in the killings of the harvesters however, he was released from detention two months after due to lack of evidence. 

The portal recalled that the cemetery in Staro Gracko where the harvesters were buried was desecrated and mined several times.

Among the crimes committed against the Serbs in Kosovo that no one was held accountable for are the murder of children in Gorazdevac, killing of Stolic family in Obilic and explosion of the Nis-express bus near Podujevo which left 12 people dead and dozens injured.

Investigations into all these cases have been closed, Kosovo-portal reported. 

Serbian DefMin Vulin discusses military cooperation with Russian ambassador (N1, Beta)

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin met with Russia’s Ambassador Alexander Botsan Kharchenko to discuss military-technical cooperation and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue just a day after he criticized Germany for approving the sale of arms to Kosovo, reported Belgrade based agency Beta. 

Vulin issued a statement on Wednesday following a report on the Russian news portal Sputnik that the German authorities had approved the sale of arms and training for the Kosovo Security Forces.

A Defense Ministry press release said on Thursday that Vulin and the ambassador said that bilateral relations between Serbia and Russia were at the highest level and cooperation between their armed forces “at a historic high”.  

Vulin is reported to have accepted an invitation by his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu to the opening of the International Military Games. Serbian military personnel will be taking part in the Tank Battalion and Military Rally events in Russia and Sniper Limits in Belarus.

See at: https://bit.ly/3fUIeKm

WHO Director: Coronavirus trend in Balkans and South Europe worrying (FoNet, RTS, N1)

Michael Ryan, the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Programme, told the Irish Newstalk Radio on Wednesday that the trends of the coronavirus epidemic in the Balkans and South Europe were worrying, FoNet news agency reported.

He added that the North and South America were the biggest hotspots and that the pandemic was speeding up in Africa as well, the state RTS carried the report by the Reuters news agency.

“While the countries in Western Europe put the disease under control, the situation in Southern Europe and the Balkans causes concerns,” Ryan said.    

See at: https://bit.ly/32NH2ES

Damon Wilson: Russia wants status quo in Kosovo (RFE)

“Russia knows that the unresolved issue of Kosovo is a challenge for the relationship between Serbia and the United States of America and the European Union, and we see Russia’s strategy that wants to maintain the ‘status quo’. The status quo undermines Serbia’s ability to enter into serious negotiations, to improve relations with Pristina,” said Damon Wilson, executive vice president of the United States Atlantic Council in Washington.

“We may even see a hybrid war against the government to discourage the possibility of reaching any agreement (Serbia and Kosovo, author’s supplement),” Wilson said at the panel “Imagine a Strategic Partnership between the United States and Serbia” held as part of the 8th Belgrade NATO Week, organized by the NGO Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies (CEAS).

“I think at this point we need to be brave and take some risks. The future of Serbia is blocked without an agreement and the benefits of our partnership cannot be fully realized. And Kosovo’s future may be even worse without an agreement,” Wilson said

‘No need to send mixed signals’

During Wilson’s address over the video link at the conference in Belgrade, he assessed that “Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the Government of the Republic of Serbia are making an effort to build relations with the United States” and added that this was recognized in Washington. He also said that Serbia has “friends in Washington who understand what Serbia is facing and want to help it.”

However, Wilson warned that “friends of Serbia outside Serbia should not be sent mixed signals.” “It sometimes confuses them, political rhetoric or talks between Serbia and Moscow, as well as where Serbia’s future will be. We all know that Russia is not an ally of Serbia. It is a rhetoric that can confuse politicians here in the US Congress, it can discourage people who support Serbia,” Wilson said.

He stated that, according to the research he saw, 65% of Serbian citizens want closer relations with the United States, and that he sees a basis for even better relations to be established there.

Wilson also stated that the position of the region of the Western Balkans in today’s Europe is “one of the last major European strategic issues”. “That region and Serbia are part of Europe and the transatlantic community, and I think that this part is the key to that vision and the key to stability in the region,” said Damon Wilson.

“We want to move forward with our partners in this region, we want to work on reforms,” Wilson said.

Head of NATO Office in Belgrade: There is no change in the mandate of KFOR

Brigadier General Tommaso Vitale, head of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, said earlier that there was no change in KFOR’s mandate in Kosovo and, as he said, the mission “meets what is required by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244”. 

“Our task is to protect all people in Kosovo, to guarantee freedom of movement for all, and I want to say that at the same time we strongly support the resumption of dialogue (Serbia and Kosovo) under the auspices of the European Union (EU) or any other international actor, so that we overcome the historical misunderstanding,” said Vitale at the panel dedicated to the cooperation between Serbia and NATO.

“KFOR has been, is and will continue to be fully committed, there will be no troop reductions. We are in a complex environment that has become even more complex with the (pandemic) COVID-19,” said the head of the NATO military liaison office in Belgrade.

“No serious negotiations without USA and Russia, there’ll be none in a hundred years” (B92)

The EU doesn’t have power to finalize the Belgrade-Pristina agreement without participation of the United States and Russia, Pristina analyst Fisnik Halimi told Kosovo-online portal.

He further told the portal that Europe does not have power to condition anyone with anything, because it has nothing to offer Belgrade, much less Pristina.

“For example, visa liberalization for Kosovo is an internal matter of Europe that it cannot solve. Without the Americans and the Russians, there are no serious negotiations and there will be none in a hundred years”, Halimi believes.

He pointed out that Pristina is in an unenviable position in relation to Belgrade, taking into account that it is represented in the dialogue by a politician who does not have enough legitimacy and who cannot form a simple majority within the assembly.

Another problem, according to Halimi, is a possible indictment against the president Hashim Thaci, which, according to his assessment, if confirmed, would have a negative effect on the dialogue process.

Commenting on the appointment of a dialogue coordinator, Halimi says that is another proof of the frivolity of Hoti’s government.

He believes that reaching a final agreement between Belgrade and Pristina would only make sense if a Kosovo negotiating team is established, which would include, in addition to the ruling party, opposition political parties, in this case the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

See at: https://bit.ly/3fUq4Iz

NATO Week in Belgrade: Only nine pct of people support membership (N1)

The survey presented during the eight NATO week in Belgrade on Wednesday showed that the significant majority of Serbia’s citizens was against the country’s membership in the Alliance.

Bojan Klacar, the Director of Centre for Free Elections and Democracy, CESID, said its telephone study showed that about a half of polled would support Serbia’s membership in the European Union, while 31 percent would be against.

Regarding joining NATO, only nine percent would agree to it, while 72 percent would be against.

Serbia still remembers NATO 1999 ‘Angel of Mercy’ bombing said to have aimed at stopping Belgrade’s oppression of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, particularly since the decision was taken by the UN General Assembly and not the Security Council.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic reiterated his country’s military neutrality, adding the European integrations remained Belgrade’s foreign policy priority.

Klacar added that 65 percent of those covered by the survey CESID did with the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, the host of the gathering, supported better relations with the US, and 40 percent saw Washington’s policy toward Serbia as improved.

The participants included NATO representatives, foreign ambassadors to Serbia and some top country’s officials.  

See at: https://bit.ly/2OQpY8U

KOMS: 36 percent of young people think de-recognition campaign on Kosovo should continue (KoSSev)

Umbrella Association of Youth of Serbia (KOMS) published part of results of the Alternative Research on Stances and Needs of Youth in Republic of Serbia which focused this year on what young people think Serbia should do regarding Kosovo and Metohija, KoSSev portal reports.

According to the results published on the social profile of this organization, the highest percent of young people support continuation of the de-recognition campaign on Kosovo, 36.3 percent.

20.6 percent of young people want Serbia to work on reconciliation between Serbs and Kosovo, and the solution of the Kosovo issue to leave for later, while recognition of Kosovo as an independent state supported 5.6 percent of young people.

15.6 percent of young people would support recognition of Kosovo but involving change of the borders and in a manner that the majority of the Serbian-population in Kosovo “would be in areas that belong to Serbia.”

Almost 10 percent of respondents support some sort of compromise that Serbia would do towards Kosovo, but not to recognize it.

2.5 percent of respondents think the situation should stay as it is.

Complete results of the research on the stances and needs of young people in 2020 in Serbia would be traditionally presented on International Youth Day, August 12, KoSSev portal reported.  

Covic: The only capital of the Albanian nation is Tirana (Radio Mitrovica Sever, TV Most)

“Mitrovica is the capital of Albanian nation,” said the president of the Democratic Party of Albania, Lulzim Basha, in South Mitrovica two day ago. TV Most reported that the statement caused astonishment even among their interlocutors in Pristina, and Nebojsa Covic told TV Most that the only capital of Albanians is Tirana and that Mitrovica would certainly not be.

Although Nexhmedin Spahiu, a political analyst, opined that Mitrovica was essentially the capital of Kosovo, because all important political processes, which led to (self-proclaimed) independence, began in this city, Lulzim Basha’s statement in his view was frivolous and irresponsible.

“Such words by politicians from Tirana do not contribute to peace and stabilization of relations between Serbs and Albanians,” Spahiu stated, and did not deny that such an idea existed in the past, but that it disappeared with the signing of Ahtisaari’s plan, wrote radio Mitrovica sever. 

“Albanian politicians in Tirana, when they come to Kosovo, think that the public here in Kosovo is primitive and say everything in order to be interesting, and they often say things that they do not think and that are not serious,” Spahiu told TV Most.

For Serbian analyst Dejan Vuk Stankovic that was another dangerous and provocative statement, which did not contribute to the negotiation process. He also wondered how long the representatives of the international community would tolerate such behaviour. 

“It is obvious that Albanians enjoy that position of political superiority. They show a huge immaturity when it comes to the negotiation process, but it is also incredible how big the capacity for tolerance for such provocations among European and American partners is,” Stankovic opined.

Former Head of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojsa Covic, reminded the President of the Democratic Party of Albania that the only capital of the Albanian nation was Tirana, and that regardless of the aspirations of Albanian politicians, they must not forget that.

“That gentleman should pick up the book a little and read and understand that Kosovska Mitrovica exists south and north, as two separate local governments. If he doesn’t believe me, let him find Steiner (SRSG Michael Steiner) and let him make a deal with him. That agreement exists and the hell will they violate it at any cost. If they think that they will force Serbia to be bullied by certain international factors and according to the principles as it was done in 1998 and 1999, they can forget that (fat chance of that happening),” said Covic and concluded that now was not the time for such sensationalist statements by irresponsible politicians, but for real substantive negotiations.

Opinion

Why the opinion of the International Court of Justice did not put a seal on Kosovo’s independence (KoSSev)

By Milos Hrnjaz

Milos Hrnjaz is an associate professor in the field of international law at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade. Hrnjaz teaches several courses in the field of international law in the undergraduate and postgraduate programs. His main research fields include the International Court of Justice, the prohibition of threat of force and use of force in international law, international humanitarian law, and people’s right to self-determination.

On this very day back in 2010, the International Court of Justice issued an Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence. This serves as another reason for different interpretations of the legal and political scope of this Advisory Opinion – not only among the Kosovo and Serbian political elite, but also within Serbia, which is wandering around in an attempt to establish and defend its national interests.

This text offers an answer to the question of whether the ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence (the terms ‘Kosovo’ and ‘Kosovo and Metohija’ are both used in the text) really placed a stamp on Kosovo’s independence – something which can frequently be heard in the media. The text also offers an answer as to whether the opinion represented, at the time, a Serbian foreign policy victory or defeat. The answer is simple, although the explanation is complex: the Advisory Opinion did not put a stamp on Kosovo’s independence, but it does represent a defeat of Serbia’s foreign policy when it comes to preserving Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia.

The Declaration of Independence of Kosovo was adopted on February 17th, 2008. This event represented the culmination of a long historical process whose beginning is not easy to recognize, but one that is also subject to different historical interpretations. At that point, Serbia had two main foreign policy goals: EU membership and maintaining the status of Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia (at least some of the key political actors in Serbia might have been informally ready for some kind of compromise regarding the status of Kosovo and Metohija, however, it was not the case officially). A logical question arose – what foreign policy means are available to Serbia in order for it to achieve the goal of keeping Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia. There were great challenges along the way. One of them is the fact that by the end of February 2008, 22 countries had already recognized Kosovo. An additional 23 countries had done the same by October 8th of the same year. Another, even more significant, challenge was the fact that some of the most powerful countries in the world were openly trying to get as many countries as possible to recognize Kosovo. To complicate matters even further, the most powerful EU member states were among them – on whom the realization of Serbia’s second foreign policy priority – EU membership – largely depended on. Finally, there were serious political factors in Serbia at that time that prejudged any “creative solutions” regarding the compromise status process of Kosovo.

See at: https://bit.ly/3eUC2Rl

A fork in the road for Serbia (euobserver.com)

By David L. Phillips

The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue recently resumed after a hiatus of 20 months. Successful negotiations must be informed by knowing the interests of both sides as the basis for compromise.

We know what Kosovo wants. Prime minister Avdullah Hoti insists that Serbia recognise Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state within its current frontiers, and for Kosovo to join international organisations such as the United Nations.

Visa-free travel by Kosovo passport-holders would be an important confidence-building measure, creating a positive atmosphere for negotiations.

What Serbia wants is less clear.

Efforts to date have rested on the assumption that Serbia will normalise relations with Kosovo in exchange for EU membership.

Though vague, ‘Chapter 35’ essentially conditions Serbia’s EU aspirations.

Every major step – from acquiring the candidate status, through starting negotiations, to opening chapters for negotiation – requires compliance with Chapter 35.

According to a survey by the Bureau for Social Research in Belgrade, nearly half of Serbs support EU membership.

An even larger number seeks employment and access to European markets. The EU represents 63 percent of Serbia’s total trade.

President Aleksandar Vucic publicly supports Serbia’s EU accession, but does he really want Serbia to join the EU?

Vucic wants to have his cake and eat it too.

See at: https://bit.ly/30HyZ9N

International

Questions Shadow Kosovo’s Financial Support for War Suspects (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo has set aside millions of euros to help former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas if they are tried in The Hague, but officials won’t explain how the money is being spent, while ex-fighters claim that the politically-connected are getting special treatment.

After Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was questioned for four days by international war crimes prosecutors in The Hague this month, he insisted that he didn’t commit any crimes and lauded the Kosovo Liberation Army’s armed struggle against Serbian forces in 1998-99.

But Thaci didn’t reveal any details about the questioning, or which cases and charges he was asked about. The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Prosecution has charged him, along with Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK chairman Kadri Veseli and other former KLA fighters with crimes including murder and torture.

Thaci also hasn’t yet revealed any details about how his legal expenses are being funded. Thaci has engaged a high-profile US lawyer, Pierre-Richard Prosper, to represent him.

Prosper is a former prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and also served as US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues from 2001 to 2005.

Neither the president’s office nor the Ministry of Justice answered when asked who paid for Thaci’s lawyer and travel expenses.

See at: https://bit.ly/2ZSUwxm

Hague Prosecutors Summon North Macedonia’s Albanian Leader (Balkan Insight)

War crimes prosecutors in The Hague have called for questioning the veteran head of North Macedonia’s Democratic Union for Integration party, Ali Ahmeti, who was a guerrilla fighter during the Kosovo conflict.

Ali Ahmeti, the leader of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the junior party in North Macedonia’s ruling coalition, who was also a fighter in the 1998-99 Kosovo war, said on Wednesday evening that the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office has asked to interview him.

Ahmeti confirmed that he has accepted “without any hesitation” the request from the prosecutors who are probing wartime and post-war crimes by Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighters.

“I have always been a supporter of non-selective justice and I am fully available to justice institutions to prove the purity of liberation war of Albanian people facing the genocide of the Serbian regime of [Slobodan] Milosevic,” Ahmeti wrote on Facebook account.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office declined to provide information on why Ahmeti was summoned to The Hague.

“The Specialist Prosecutor’s Office does not provide information about his investigation, so I can neither confirm nor deny anything,” Chris Bent from the Special Prosecutor’s Office replied told North Macedonia’s Nezavisen newspaper.

Ahmeti served in both the KLA, which fought for the independence of Kosovo from Serbia, and then in the Albanian National Liberation Army, NLA, which fought against North Macedonia’s security forces during a short-lived armed conflict in 2001.

See at: https://bit.ly/2ZQ0oat

Turkish-Financed Mosque Sparks Rival Protests in Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

The erection of a large new mosque in the Kosovo capital, financed largely by Turkey, has split local citizens into opposing groups.

Rival protests occurred in Kosovo on Wednesday concerning construction of the new Turkish-financed Central Mosque in the Dardania neighborhood of the capital, Pristina.

Opposing groups of citizens also protested earlier, on Monday, in front of the construction site, near the Telecom building, with one group supporting and the other against construction.

The building of the mosque started on July 15, and will be financed by the Islamic Community of Turkey. The Islamic Community in Kosovo has welcomed the idea and has thanked Turkey as well as the authorities in Kosovo.

See at: https://bit.ly/3fSPPcd

Kosovo Court Ruling Pushes Telecom Closer to Bankruptcy (Balkan Insight)

The state-owned Telecom company is risking total collapse, leaving thousands of people unpaid, after all its money was withdrawn to repay debts it owes.

Kosovo’s state-owned Telecom company faces potential collapse due to likely bankruptcy after a court ruling to withdraw 26 million euros from its account, and after the temporary board of Telecom announced its joint resignation on Tuesday.

The board quit after a privately contracted bailiff for the Kosovo-based company DardaPhone asked for Telecom’s accounts to be blocked until it repaid its debt of around 26 million euros. The money has since been withdrawn.

DardaPhone, established by the Devolli Corporation and US-based C-Com Group, is the parent company of Z Mobile, a telephone products and service company with which Telecom terminated a 10-year contract in June 2019. Critics had claimed that the contract with Z Mobile effectively allowed it to compete with Telecom’s own mobile arm, Vala, using Telecom’s own system.

In an interview for the local TV channel KTV, the head of Telecom’s workers union, Lahmi Balaj, on Tuesday warned that the collapse of Telecom’s services could create a national security problem.

See at:https://bit.ly/32NjTCo

Humanitarian/Development

Asylum Outsourced: McKinsey’s Secret Role in Europe’s Refugee Crisis (Balkan Insight)

In 2016 and 2017, US management consultancy giant McKinsey was at the heart of efforts in Europe to accelerate the processing of asylum applications on over-crowded Greek islands and salvage a controversial deal with Turkey, raising concerns over the outsourcing of public policy on refugees.

The language was more corporate boardroom than humanitarian crisis – promises of ‘targeted strategies’, ‘maximising productivity’ and a ‘streamlined end-to-end asylum process.’

But in 2016 this was precisely what the men and women of McKinsey&Company, the elite US management consultancy, were offering the European Union bureaucrats struggling to set in motion a pact with Turkey to stem the flow of asylum seekers to the continent’s shores.

In March of that year, the EU had agreed to pay Turkey six billion euros if it would take back asylum seekers who had reached Greece – many of them fleeing fighting in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – and prevent others from trying to cross its borders. 

The pact – which human rights groups said put at risk the very right to seek refuge – was deeply controversial, but so too is the previously unknown extent of McKinsey’s influence over its implementation, and the lengths some EU bodies went to conceal that role.

According to the findings of this investigation, months of ‘pro bono’ fieldwork by McKinsey fed, sometimes verbatim, into the highest levels of EU policy-making regarding how to make the pact work on the ground, and earned the consultancy a contract – awarded directly, without competition – worth almost one million euros to help enact that very same policy.

See at: https://bit.ly/30Cll80