Albanian Language Media:

• COVID – 19 report: 276 new cases, eight deaths (media)
• President Thaci meets State Coordinator for Dialogue, Skender Hyseni (media)
• Hyseni briefs Prime Minister Hoti on Brussels meeting (media)
• PM Hoti admits difficulties with law enforcement in the north (media)
• President Thaci meets Kosovo Security Force Commander (media)
• Kosovo signs cooperation agreement with EUROPOL (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 11 new cases of Covid-19 infection registered in Serb areas on Saturday (Radio kontakt plus)
• Vucic: Word of Albanians from Pristina means nothing (BETA, N1, RTS)
• Dacic: Does dialogue make sense if Pristina acts this way (Prva TV)
• No international reactions to Hoti’s statement (Kosovo-online)
• New incident targeting Serb returnee family in Klina (Radio KIM, Kosovo-online)
• Serbian Anti-corruption Agency to initiate procedure against Kosovo Serb officials for not reporting incomes (CINS, N1)
• Specialist Chambers published 2019 report (Kosovo-online)

Opinion:

• Metohija: An expression of cultural heritage, not “territorial claims“ (KoSSev)

International:

• For Whistleblowers in Kosovo, Protection on Paper but not in Practice (Balkan Insight)
• Serbia Vows to Retaliate If Kosovo Seeks Membership in International Organizations (Exit News)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Families of missing persons from Kosovo request opening of all archives, including that of international community (N1, KoSSev)
• Health system suffers as COVID-19 cases rise (Prishtina Insight)
• OpisMEDIJavanje: Why identity of persons in self-isolation is not public information (KoSSev)
• Pisonero: Serbia included in Joint Procurement Agreement (N1)

Albanian Language Media

COVID – 19 report: 276 new cases, eight deaths (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health Director, Naser Ramadani, told a press conference in Prishtina that a record-setting 276 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. Eight people have died from the virus in this period. There are currently 3,276 active coronavirus cases in Kosovo. The total number of deaths from the virus is 196.

“The situation is very serious. All healthcare professionals are overloaded. This is all a result of the negligence to follow the three measures that are not being properly respected,” Ramadani said.

President Thaci meets State Coordinator for Dialogue, Skender Hyseni (media)

All news outlets cover today’s meeting between Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and State Coordinator for Dialogue with Serbia, Skender Hyseni. The latter briefed Thaci on what was discussed in last week’s meeting with the Serbian delegation in Brussels.

Thaci’s office issued a media statement after the meeting saying that the President has welcomed Hyseni’s appointment to the post. “I have welcomed your appointment as coordinator for the dialogue, because I strongly believe in your experience and broad-based approach with the whole political landscape in the country,” Thaci said.

Thaci also said that the talks in Brussels must be held only for a final agreement that will result in mutual interstate recognition between the two countries.

“President Thaci and coordinator Hyseni reiterated that achieving political unity is crucial for success in the process of dialogue,” the press release notes.

Hyseni briefs Prime Minister Hoti on Brussels meeting (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti was briefed today by the State Coordinator for dialogue, Skender Hyseni, about last week’s meetings with the Serbian delegation in Brussels.

Hyseni also briefed Hoti about other meetings, including that with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Reeker.

No other details were revealed from Hoti’s meeting with Hyseni.

PM Hoti admits difficulties with law enforcement in the north (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said today that for quite some time now there have been actions in the northern part of the country that are not in line with Kosovo’s legislation. He made these remarks when asked about the ongoing projects by the Serbian Government in Mitrovica north.

“In the northern part of Kosovo, for quite some time now, there have been many actions that are not in line with Kosovo’s laws. We don’t have any other approach but to insist on the enforcement of the laws of the Republic of Kosovo. This means that there are no double standards, and that the same legislation applies throughout the country. I know that we have problems with the full enforcement of the law in that part of the country, but we will never give up, nor will we allow the situation to go on like this forever,” Hoti said.

President Thaci meets Kosovo Security Force Commander (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci met today with Kosovo Security Force (KSF) Commander General Rrahman Rama. “I had an informative meeting today with the commander of the Kosovo Security Force, General Rrahman Rama. The Kosovo Army yesterday received another contingent of 42 U.S military vehicles ‘Humvee’. The recruitment of new soldiers will also start soon. The freedom, the independent state and the army give us the identity and pride of liberty and democracy,” Thaci wrote in a Facebook post. 

Kosovo signs cooperation agreement with EUROPOL (media)

Kosovo and EUROPOL have signed a cooperation agreement today aimed at fighting serious crimes and it will help advance and strengthen Kosovo’s capacities in combating crime.

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Agim Veliu, said the agreement will provide the Kosovo Police the same treatment with other police forces in the region. He added that Kosovo so far was handicapped by the lack of real-time information to prevent crime.

“With the signing of this agreement, Kosovo Police and other law enforcement agencies will have the necessary tools to combat transnational crime and close a gap that has existed for years now. This will help maintain and strengthen security not only in the Republic of Kosovo but in the region and Europe too. The agreement creates cooperation between Kosovo’s law enforcement agencies, represented by Kosovo Police, and EUROPOL, to aid Kosovo in preventing and combating serious crimes. The agreement we have signed today is the basis and we will soon sign two more memorandums that will support the implementation of the agreement,” he said.

Veliu also said that Kosovo will very soon send a liaison officer from Kosovo Police at EUROPOL headquarters at The Hague.

EU Head of Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova said the agreement would not have been signed without political readiness. She also said the agreement represents an asset and that it will conclude negotiations with EUROPOL to initiate actions aimed at preventing serious crimes.

Serbian Language Media

11 new cases of Covid-19 infection registered in Serb areas on Saturday (Radio kontakt plus)

In what appears to be the latest announcement on the number of Covid-19 infection cases in Serb-populated in Kosovo, Radio Kontakt plus reported on Saturday that 11 new cases of were registered, one person passed away, while 20 persons have been cured. Deceased person was from Leposavic.

Out of 60 samples sent for testing on Friday, 11 were positive. Out of this number three cases each are in Mitrovica North and Zvecan, while two cases were registered in Leposavic.

In Serb-populated areas south of the Ibar River three cases of Covid-19 infection were registered. One case was registered each in Kamenica, Priluzje and Strpce.

Meanwhile, 20 patients have been cured, ten in Mitrovica North, five in Zvecan, two in Leposavic, two in Pec and one in Zubin Potok.

A total of 104 patients have been hospitalized. Out of this number 94 patients are at Clinical Hospital Center in Mitrovica North, two in Belgrade, three in Kragujevac, four in Nis and one person is staying at Clinical Center of Serbia in Belgrade.

394 persons are staying in self-isolation.

Since June 18, 2020 a total of 588 new cases of Covid-19 infection have been registered in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo.

Since March 12, 2020 a total of 20 persons have passed away from Covid-19 infection, in the Serb-populated areas. Five persons were from Mitrovica North, five from Zvecan, six from Leposavic, three from Zubin Potok and one person was from Priluzje.   

Vucic: Word of Albanians from Pristina means nothing (BETA, N1, RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the word of the Albanians from Pristina means nothing nor does their signature on the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities or their word given to US President’s Special Envoy Richard Grenell, BETA news agency reports.

Asked to comment on Kosovo Prime Minister Avdulah Hoti’s statement that he would continue lobbying for Kosovo membership in the international organizations, Vucic said he was not surprised. “Many were surprised and asked – how is it possible that no one from the international community, neither the EU nor the US reacted to this? But I was not surprised”, Vucic said.

“Not because they are delighted but because they all find it normal that Albanians demand further recognition of their independence and further memberships in the international organizations,” he said.

“We will now wait to see the first organization they want to join or a country that wants to recognise Kosovo independence. On the day when we learn about any of this, and unless their mentors don’t calm them down, we will resume our activities on the recognition withdrawal,” Vucic stressed.

He also said that Serbia would be five times more successful in action to revoke recognitions of Kosovo if Pristina authorities decide to launch a campaign to secure further recognitions or membership in international organizations. Vucic added that Pristina acts take the region to instability,

“I am just kindly asking them to take care because everything they do brings additional uneasiness, additional uncertainty and takes an entire region into an absolute instability,” Vucic noted.

He said nothing can be achieved by raising the tensions and that Serbian services are not to be underestimated.  

Dacic: Does dialogue make sense if Pristina acts this way (Prva TV)

“Serbia will, for the time being, show restraint and wait for reactions of the international community to the announcements of Pristina it will continue campaigning to join international organizations”, Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic told Prva TV.

“If there is no reaction, if we see Pristina applying for international organizations, we would continue with our actions”, Dacic added.

He stressed the dialogue must continue, since there is no other solution, noting that the dialogue is based on a presence of large mistrust.

The question arises does the dialogue make any sense, if Pristina acts this way, Dacic said, adding that Serbia has no trust in EU institutions and intentions of some states that they would be impartial, stressing that he does not include here high EU officials Josep Borrel and Miroslav Lajcak.

“I have not heard anyone condemning the statement of Avduallah Hoti”, Dacic said. He also recalled that the US Special Envoy Richard Grennel announced he got assurances from the both Belgrade and Pristina on mutual moratorium (the first one to cease de-recognition camping and the latter one to cease applying for international memberships and new recognitions)

“In the agreement with President Aleksandar Vucic, we both concluded that we do not trust Pristina at all and that it will happen. First – Pristina is lying, second – no one reacts to it, and third – we need to think what we shall do.

“I can hardly wait for the president to say – let’s go ahead, to the campaign to revoke recognitions. They (Pristna) are not aware; they live in a castle which is neither in heaven nor on the ground. It will not resolve the political issue of Kosovo, but rather define new positions”.

Dacic further said Kosovo cannot become a member of UNESCO, until this government is in force, and his and Vucic’s cooperation, nor it can become a member of Interpol or UN, because Pristina has no longer necessary majority of 97 UN member states.

No international reactions to Hoti’s statement (Kosovo-online)

There was no reaction of international officials yet to Kosovo Prime Minister Avduallah Hoti statement that Kosovo would continue campaigning to join international organizations and secure further recognitions, Kosovo-online portal reports.

There are no reactions from Brussels or Washington either, despite Hoti’s message being a direct violation of the agreement reached with US Special Envoy Richard Grenell prior to the continuation of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Asked if he has any comment on Hoti’s violating the promise he has made, Richard Grenell through his media advisor Dick Custin told briefly Kosovo-online “that he has no any new information in this regard”.

At the same time there are no reactions from European Union in Brussels. So far neither Miroslav Lajcak nor Josep Borrell, but also Viola Von Cramon made no statement.

The portal recalled that Prime Minister Hoti on Friday said “there would be no suspension of our activities, we have agreed with our partners to work together with them on our membership in international organizations. That is the truth”. He added that deputy ministers, his deputies and advisors were in Brussels with him because of that.

New incident targeting Serb returnee family in Klina (Radio KIM, Kosovo-online)

A threatening note in English language “killer” was written late Sunday afternoon on a wall surrounding a family home of the Serb returnees Aleksandar and Vesna Pesic in Klina town, president of the Serbia-run Interim Municipal Council of Klina, Bozidar Sarkovic told Kosovo-online portal.

He added the case has been reported to the Kosovo police that came to the spot after one hour.

Sarkovic stressed that such threatening messages caused fear among the family members of Aleksandar Pesic who lives in Klina with his wife, four children and father Dobrivoje.

“In addition to pressure against those who live here, such threatening messages are a clear signal to all Serbs wishing to return to their places of origin not to do so. The Pesic family is visibly scared, because they have a son in the seventh grade of primary school, two daughters attending the secondary school, while the oldest one is attending university in Mitrovica North”, Sarkovic said.

He also urged all responsible bodies to find the perpetrators of this act as soon as possible and prosecute them.

The Serb returnees in this area were targets of unknown attackers many times, and in addition to threatening graffiti and physical assaults, numerous robberies of the Serb–owned properties also took place, while the perpetrators largely remain unknown and unpunished.  

Serbian Anti-corruption Agency to initiate procedure against Kosovo Serb officials for not reporting incomes (CINS, N1)

Serbian Anti-corruption Agency started the procedure against Goran Rakic, local Kosovo Serb politician, who is also a minister in Pristina Government and the director of the public utility Standard Company for failing to report his income and property to the Agency, Serbian Centre for Investigative Journalism (CINS) reported on Monday, Belgrade-based N1 reports.

CINC investigated the case and found out that certain Serb officials who have leading positions in the Serbian institutions in Kosovo do not respect their obligations to report the incomes to the Serbian Anti-corruption Agency. The CINS reported it to the Agency, asking for answers.

The Agency told CINS it also launched procedures against two other local Serb officials for not reporting the incomes, flats, houses, land and vehicles in their possession. The fine varies from EUR 425 to 1,200.

However, if it’s established their motive was to hide the property, they face six months of imprisonment, demission and ten-year-ban of holding a public office.

The Agency told CINS it was still checking whether there was evidence for procedures against three more officials, who, according to the Agency, also failed to report incomes and properties.

It added that two other officials reported those data after the CINS investigation, but without the dates when they were provided.

See at: https://bit.ly/39xz2cu

Specialist Chambers published 2019 report (Kosovo-online)

Kosovo Specialist Chambers more known as a Special Court for KLA crimes published its annual 2019 report, along with an annual report of the Specialist Prosecution in all three official languages of this intuition – Albanian, Serbian and English, Kosovo-online portal reports.

The report describes the crucial achievements in the work in 2019, although the first indictments that should be topics of discussion and trial were raised this year only and are not referred to in the report.

The indictments that the public was informed about were raised in February, and then at the end of April against the Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and others, whom prosecution deem responsible for more that 100 murders.

The report notes that among other in 2019 judicial activities in the Specialist Chambers have increased, involving the legal matters that the Specialist Chambers of the Constitutional Court have resolved, including those related to legal aid. The report touched upon communication with people in Kosovo and the region about the topics related to the mandate and work of the court.

The full report is available at: https://bit.ly/2X0O99h

Opinion

Metohija: An expression of cultural heritage, not “territorial claims“ (KoSSev)

By Archimandrite Sava Janjic, Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery

While following the discussion on the meaning of the name “Metohija,” especially with the recent articles by Petar Ristanović and Agon Maliqi, I felt the need to examine this issue in the broader context of the position of Serbian Orthodox heritage in the region, since the word Metohija and its historical meaning is not a product of recent history. It is rather part of a centuries-old cultural and spiritual tradition, which has been unjustly targeted by political calculations and media manipulation. This is best seen in the recent reaction of the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the book “Christian Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija,” published by the US-based Sebastian Press, which was judged to be a “chauvinist book” without any basis or justification, one which allegedly promotes “ethnic cleansing and territorial claims” (see Minister Meliza Haradinaj’s tweet on July 16th).

At the end of the armed conflict in Kosovo, the remaining Serbs, and particularly the Serbian Orthodox Church, were confronted with the systematic destruction of spiritual and cultural Orthodox heritage. This campaign, led by members of the KLA, had the clear goal of removing traces of Serbian historical and spiritual heritage from the early Middle Ages to the present day.

In that process, which culminated, but did not completely end, with clearly organized March 2004 riots, despite the presence of tens of thousands of members of international peacekeeping forces, 142 Serbian Orthodox Churches (and surrounding buildings) were destroyed or severely damaged. Among the destroyed churches were several gems of medieval church art, including the church of the Mother of God of Ljeviš (Lyevish) from the 14th century — a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Furthermore, at least 342 cemeteries were desecrated during this period (according to a 2011 OSCE report) in areas where Serbs were forced to leave after the armed conflict in 1999. Numerous icons, books, and other treasures were stolen from these gutted churches. A similar precedent of violence outside a war conflict in recent European history can perhaps only be found in the pogrom against Orthodox Christians in Constantinople in September 1955 and the violence of Turkish forces during the 1974 invasion of Northern Cyprus.

Of course, we cannot ignore the fact that dozens of mosques were also destroyed or damaged in Kosovo by paramilitary units of Milošević’s regime during the 1999 armed conflict, which rightfully is to be condemned. Several leading figures from the Milošević regime have already been held accountable at the International Court of Justice for precisely these crimes, in addition to their other war crimes charges.

While all crime and vandalism is, of course, morally unacceptable, I still would point out the severity of this whole series of post-war violence, precisely because it was committed during international peacetime, and despite the presence of numerous international peacekeeping teams led by NATO forces and the UN civilian mission. Cultural heritage is often targeted in wars, which was also the case in this area, especially during World War II. After the end of the 1995 war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, there was no organized destruction of mosques or churches. In this regard, the position on the cultural and religious heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo is a historical exception and represents a shameful example in the history of peacekeeping missions. Unfortunately, to this day, only a part of our destroyed heritage has been restored.

See more at: https://bit.ly/301dYI3

International

For Whistleblowers in Kosovo, Protection on Paper but not in Practice (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo has one of the best laws in Europe when it comes to protecting whistleblowers but still they face recrimination for speaking out.

When Murat Mehmeti went on television in Kosovo in 2016 and blew the lid on a large-scale tax evasion scheme, little did he know his fight was only just beginning.

Mehmeti, an inspector in the Tax Administration of Kosovo, TAK, and a former police officer, went public on BIRN’s Life in Kosovo show out of frustration at what he said was pressure from his superiors to drop an investigation into a tax scam that had cost the state millions of euros in lost revenues. Prosecutors, he said, were making no progress.

“According to the law, if you cannot find a solution by going to the prosecutor and the Anti-Corruption Agency, you can go to the media,” Mehmeti told BIRN. “So that’s what I did.”

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

Serbia Vows to Retaliate If Kosovo Seeks Membership in International Organizations (Exit News)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has vowed to retaliate if Kosovo seeks membership in any international organization.

“On that day, if their mentors do not warn them, we will continue our [lobbying] campaign [for Kosovo’s derecognition] and I promise them that we will be five times more successful,” Vucic reportedly told journalists on Sunday.

His statement comes after Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti told the parliament that his government has not suspended the work to join international organizations.

See at: https://bit.ly/2OYXgD0

Humanitarian/Development

Families of missing persons from Kosovo request opening of all archives, including that of international community (N1, KoSSev)

They do not divide victims on ethnic, religious or national background. All they want to know is what happened to their closest family members, Belgrade-based N1 said, reporting on the associations of families of missing persons from Kosovo.

Milorad Trifunovic has been looking for his brother for 22 years.

“My father passed away in 2004, my mother died in 2008 without knowing what happened to their son. And I am still living. Living the way I can….living in a hope and that is why I am doing this, to find at least a single bone of him, and bury him decently as a human,” Milorad Trifuovic said.

Bajram Qerkinaj saw his son last time more than 20 years ago. How the families feel, he says, it is hard to explain.   

“For 21 years when we hear some noise at the door during the night, when something is heard, a voice – we always think our beloved are coming”, Qerkinaj said.

The families of the missing persons since the very beginning of negotiations requested that the missing persons issue is the first topic on the agenda. During this time, Trifunovic said, negotiators have changed, political parties in power also changed, and until now no one included this topic on the agenda. He sees the latest negotiations as a last chance.

“Everybody must open the archives, it means all three sides. Not only Belgrade and Pristina, but also the international community that came to Kosovo after the Kumanovo Agreement to protect all its citizens, to help everybody stay where they are”, Trifunovic said.

“Five states screened an entire situation, how the war was ongoing. A cow gets killed in Kosovo, it is a small place, it has been marked. Why don’t they give it to us, why do they hide it, why they do not give us those satellite records? This I do not know”, Qerkini said.

He added politics lead to all of this. He thinks politicians should respect the stances of the families, which has not been the case so far.

“When they talk about our families, our children, our sorrow that lasts 21 years, about our pain, at least we need to be present, although no one is asking us anything, although this is a political issue, at least one family member from all communities should be present, to hear what was said and talked about,” he concluded. 

Health system suffers as COVID-19 cases rise (Prishtina Insight)

38 COVID-19 related deaths were recorded last week as coronavirus cases continue to increase, while the prime minister warns that Kosovo’s hospitals are running out of space for patients.

Over the weekend, more than 450 confirmed new cases of coronavirus were reported by Kosovo’s National Institute of Public Health.

On Saturday, the institute reported that in the previous 24 hours, 555 tests had been conducted with 237 positive results, while on Sunday 220 out of 472 tests returned positive. There are currently more than 3,000 active cases across the country.

Meanwhile, according to data from the Ministry of Health, eight COVID-19 related deaths were recorded on Sunday. Over the past week, 38 deaths have been recorded, bringing the total to 177 since the outbreak began in March.

The total includes three doctors who lost their lives to COVID-19 over the past week, as the effects of the health crisis continue to take a toll on the health service.

See at: https://bit.ly/3jJA3CT

OpisMEDIJavanje: Why identity of persons in self-isolation is not public information (KoSSev)

“According to journalists’ code of ethics, both ours and every journalistic code in the world, publishing health records is considered to be one of the biggest, most serious violations of the right to privacy,“ Serbian journalist Tamara Skrozza said recently for the media literacy campaign “OpisMEDIJavanje.”

After the KoSSev portal received numerous requests to publish information on the identity of COVID-19 positive patients, we remind the public that journalists are obliged to respect not only the Law on Personal Data Protection but also the Journalists’ Code of Serbia – a document written by journalists themselves.

“Journalists must respect the right to privacy because the right to privacy is one of the human rights guaranteed by all world charters and documents. Every person, regardless of what function he or she performs, has the right to a certain amount of privacy. People who are not in state office, who are not public figures, have the right to the full protection of privacy. Nothing that is private to them should be published,“ Skrozza described one of the main obligations that professional journalists have toward society back in April.

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

Pisonero: Serbia included in Joint Procurement Agreement (N1)

European Commission spokeswoman Ana Pisonero told N1 on Friday that Serbia can join in joint medical supply procurement as a signatory of the Joint Procurement Agreement (JPA) but added that no such procurement has been planned for a coronavirus vaccine before a vaccine becomes available on the market.

The United Opposition of Serbia on Thursday appealed to the European Commission to include Serbia and other Western Balkan countries in the joint procurement of COVID-19 vaccines in order to “prove that the health of everyone in Serbia is equally important”.

“Serbia is a party to the Joint Procurement Agreement (JPA) through which it can join with all or some of the many JPA signatories to jointly procure medical countermeasures. However, there is currently no joint procurement foreseen for vaccines against COVID-19 under this Joint Procurement Agreement. Indeed it would not be possible to use the JPA to procure a vaccine for COVID-19 before such a vaccine exists and is placed on the market,” Pisonero said in a written reply to N1. 

See at: https://bit.ly/3g4qsnP