Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 71 new cases, one death (media)
• Zemaj urges parents, teachers to adhere to COVID-19 measures (media)
• Trump: Vucic and Hoti made their countries, Balkans and world safer (media)
• “Grenell says Trump plans to visit Kosovo” (Klan Kosova)
• Osmani: Democracy in Kosovo undermined by minority governments (Telegrafi)
• Romania’s position on Kosovo’s independence remains unchanged (Zeri)

Serbian Language Media:

• State Department posts Trump praise of Vucic, Hoti (media)
• Palestinian ambassador conveys to Vucic the concern over embassy relocation to Jerusalem (Beta, N1)
• Grenell: Vucic is tough negotiator, fights for Serbian people (RTS, Serbian Radio Chicago)
• EU: Washington documents mean Belgrade & Pristina commitment to US (N1)
• Belgrade to Berlin: US talks open room for ordinary people reconciliation (FoNet, N1)
• Vucic spoke with Patriarch Irinej, informed him on Kosovo negotiations (RTS)
• Fatherland Movement on Washington agreement (Radio KIM)
• Church in Babin Most, near Obilic, desecrated (Kosovo Online, B92, KIM radio)
• North Macedonia PM: Meeting with President Vucic about ‘mini-Schengen’ (N1)

Opinion:

• Trump’s Balkan agreement does Israel more harm than good – opinion (The Jerusalem Post)

International:

• Kosovo’s Legal Aid for War Crimes Suspects Raises Concerns (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

COVID-19: 71 new cases, one death (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health announced that 608 samples were tested for coronavirus during a 24-hour period of which 71 resulted positive.

Meanwhile, 199 recoveries and one death were recorded over the same timeframe.

The highest number of new infections (20) is in the municipality of Pristina. 

Zemaj urges parents, teachers to adhere to COVID-19 measures (media)

Kosovo’s Health Minister Armend Zemaj made an appeal to teachers and parents as the new school year began to respect protective measures in place against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Any negligence towards anti COVID recommendations endangers the general health and will not be tolerated,” Zemaj wrote on social media.

Zemaj also reacted to images from some schools across Kosovo showing parents and teachers not respecting distancing measures saying they are ‘regrettable’. “I urge parents and teaching staff to be responsible and accurately continue to respect the measures.”

Trump: Vucic and Hoti made their countries, Balkans and world safer (media)

U.S. President Donald Trump said today that the agreement on economic normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia will make these countries, the Balkans and the world safer. “It has taken tremendous bravery by President Vucic of Serbia and Prime Minister Hoti of Kosovo to embark on these talks and to come to Washington to finalize these commitments. By doing so, they have made their countries, the Balkans, and the world safer,” Trump said.

“Grenell says Trump plans to visit Kosovo” (Klan Kosova)

The U.S. special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia negotiations, Richard Grenell, is quoted by several online media outlets saying that President Donald Trump plans to undertake a visit to Kosovo but that no date has yet been set.

“President Trump has said he looks forward to a visit,” Grenell is quoted to have told a Serbian radio in Chicago, Klan Kosova reports. 

“We still don’t have a date or details but we have already overcome the first hurdle, that the White House officially agrees to it,” he added.

Osmani: Democracy in Kosovo undermined by minority governments (Telegrafi)

On the International Day of Democracy, Kosovo Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani warned that the will of the majority of citizens of Kosovo is being manipulated.

“Democracies today risk being undone by the minority representation or by ignoring the will of the citizen majority. In many world countries certain political representatives have managed to manipulate democracy by manipulating the will of the citizen majority. The danges becomes higher when this manipulation is also done through derailing of laws to achieve certain political gains. Such is the election of minority-led governments which disregard the will clearly expressed by the citizens. A scenario which is unfortunately well known in our country,” Osmani said. 

She called on the people to be more active as a prerequisite for survival and consolidation of democracy.

Romania’s position on Kosovo’s independence remains unchanged (Zeri)

Romania will not change its position against recognising independence of Kosovo despite the recent agreement signed in Washington for normalisation of relations, Zeri reports. 

“Romania expresses hope that the declared commitment from the two sides during the dialogue facilitated by the EU and meetings in Washington will lead to full normalisation of relations between the two parties and strengthen EU integration perspective for the whole region,” the country’s foreign ministry told the paper.

It added: “Romania will only support a solution to Kosovo’s status that is based on agreement between the two parties involved, contributes to regional stability and is in line with international law.”

Serbian Language Media

State Department posts Trump praise of Vucic, Hoti (media)

The US State Department posted a picture of President Donald Trump on its Instagram profile with a caption saying that it was a historic day when Serbia and Kosovo committed to economic normalization.

The post also quoted President Trump as saying that “It has taken tremendous bravery by President Vucic of Serbia and Prime Minister Hoti of Kosovo to embark on these talks and to come to Washington to finalize these commitments. By doing so, they have made their countries, the Balkans, and the world safer”.  

The post comes some 10 days after Vucic and Hoti signed an agreement to normalize economic relations between Serbia and Kosovo in the Oval Office in front of Trump. The agreement included Serbia moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Israel recognizing Kosovo.

See at: https://bit.ly/3kiE7cH

Palestinian ambassador conveys to Vucic the concern over embassy relocation to Jerusalem (Beta, N1)

Palestinian Ambassador Muhamed Nabhan told Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that the country had received the news of the possible relocation of the Serbian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem with concern.

Ambassador Nabhan expressed his belief that the leadership of Serbia “in the spirit of traditional friendship” will respect the views of the Palestinian people, the Cabinet of the President of Serbia announced.

Today, Vucic informed the Palestinian ambassador about the talks that the Serbian delegation had in Washington and Brussels.

He told Ambassador Nabhan that Serbia respects and preserves friendship with Palestine and the Palestinian people and that it supports the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.

“Serbia is committed to improving relations with both Israel and Palestine and wants a sustainable solution based on international public law norms established at the United Nations, which would bring peace, stability and progress to all,” said President Vucic.

“This was a misunderstanding that was harmonized. What was in Washington is now over, we have to get over it, and that is finished,” Ambassador Nabhan told Tanjug news agency after meeting with President Vucic.

“We discussed the development of friendship between Palestine and Serbia, which will gain in intensity in the near future,” Nabhan said, adding that they also discussed the situation in the Middle East.

He expressed his belief that the “strong friendship” between Serbia and Palestine cannot be shaken, and that it will continue and strengthen.

As he stated, he expects the development of relations between the two countries in all directions.

Grenell: Vucic is tough negotiator, fights for Serbian people (RTS, Serbian Radio Chicago)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic was a very tough negotiator, US Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Richard Grenell told Serbian Radio Chicago. Grenell also said that Vucic truly fights for the Serbian people, RTS reports.

He made these remarks talking about his impressions on the White House meetings, which resulted in an agreement on normalization of economic relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

RTS further reported Grenell confirmed that US President Donald Trump intends to visit Serbia, which would be the first visit of the US President after the one of Jimmy Carter (Carter visited the-then Yugoslavia and its capital Belgrade in June 1980).

“We must work now on finding the date that would suit the White House and the National Security Council, which would also be involved in organization of the visit”, Grenell said.

Asked about the upcoming opening of the American Development Fund Office in Belgrade, the first and the only one in the region, which Serbian Radio Chicago saw as an indicator of Serbia’s leadership in the region, Grenell noted that “Serbia has an excellent economy”.

He said there are a number of projects being worked on, and that “amount of work” was the reason to open the office.

“We try not to deal with symbolism; we do not deal with political symbolism, which many politicians do. Our Development Fund Office and the agency in the US considered there is enough work, where we can have a team on the ground which would be able to complete all projects in Serbia. These are all economically led projects we want to achieve, and that is why we placed the office in Belgrade. Not because of the symbolism, but rather to respond to a great number of projects we already have”, Grenell said.

He also added that President Trump since the very beginning thought that economy and creation of new employment opportunities is something that he can do well.

Grenell also said that the US President Administration likes the idea of ‘mini-Schengen’ and wants that all take part in it.

“That is why we included it into these negotiations, to see that both Serbia and Kosovo take part in mini-Schengen. And we truly like the idea, it is a good idea of commercial cooperation and building multilateral organizations based on creating the profit and employing the people, in a struggle for capitalism”, Grenell said.

I told the leaders in the region who are not part of the EU, Grenell continued, there are many ways by which they can create employment opportunities and a vibrant economy, just because they are not part of the EU.

“GDPR rules are very restrictive and limiting for American companies, even for European ones, for certain researches and projects. And I told President Vucic to think directly about the ways how Serbia can be the center apart from GDPR regulations and the EU rules, to use the fact they are not part of the EU. I know they want to be part of the EU and it is a long process, but while they are waiting, there is a way to use that they are in Europe, and have laws and rules much more flexible and directed towards entrepreneurship”, Grenell said. 

EU: Washington documents mean Belgrade & Pristina commitment to US (N1)

The technical part of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on the normalisation of relations continues in Brussels on Thursday, with the ethnic minorities, financial claims and properties issues on the agenda, raised in Washington between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdulah Hoti, the European Commission (EC) has said on Monday, N1 reports.

Belgrade says it has signed a bilateral agreement with the US, Pristina claims it has been an inter-state deal between Kosovo and Serbia. In contrast, the White House has denied the US has signed anything and described the documents as a bilateral agreement between Belgrade and Pristina.

So far, Brussels kept saying it was the document they were aware of and that it was in line with the Brussels agreement from 2013, reiterating the European Union would lead the dialogue to its final solution.

However, the definition changed.

“Serbia and Kosovo signed their bilateral commitment to the US. Anything that can help Brussels’ process is positive. The details of their commitment expressed and signed in the US should be implemented in line with the European aspirations they both have,” Peter Stano, the EC spokesperson said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3bY2KIO

Belgrade to Berlin: US talks open room for ordinary people reconciliation (FoNet, N1)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuri told the German Ambassador to Serbia Thomas Schieb that the result of the Belgrade – Pristina meeting at the White House, as a part of their dialogue on the normalization of relations, opened room for ordinary people’s reconciliation, economic cooperation between the two cities and the prosperity of the entire region, FoNet news agency reports.

It what appears to be Belgrade’s diplomatic offensive among the European Union member states following the Washington talks which raised some eyebrows among the politician of the bloc, which had been facilitating the dialogue for years, Djuric also said Serbia would continue to insist on the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (ZSO) which Pristina avoided to do for more than seven years after the agreement on the topic had been reached in Brussels.

He added Belgrade would continue working with partners from Germany in searching a compromise solution for the regional issues.

Vucic spoke with Patriarch Irinej, informed him on Kosovo negotiations (RTS)

President Aleksandar Vucic met with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) Patriarch Irinej and informed him on Kosovo and Metohija negotiations held at the beginning of the month in Washington and Brussels, as well as about the talks with world officials, president’s press service said in a statement, RTS reports.

The two interlocutors also discussed the situation of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, Montenegro, Croatia, Republic of Srpska and in other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Fatherland Movement on Washington agreement (Radio KIM)

Peoples’ Movement from Kosovo and Metohija “Fatherland” in a statement issued today termed the agreement Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed in Washington as “scandalous” adding the concessions were made to Israel so that “by handing over Kosovo and Metohija to the separatists, (Vucic and Dodik) with the help of Jewish lobbyists could merge Republic of Srpska with Serbia”, Radio KIM reports.

The Movement said in a statement “that a few days ago Serbian President had a phone conversation with Israeli President Netanyahu, and was thrilled by his politeness. Instead of severing relations with Israel which recognized the unilaterally declared republic of Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic plans to dislocate the Serbian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This way the President rewards Jews who have recognized the self-declared republic of Kosovo. At the same time a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency Milorad Dodik requests the B&H Presidency to do the same with their embassy”, Fatherland said.

It added that by doing this “both Vucic and Dodik think they may with the help of Jewish lobbyists by handing over Kosovo and Metohija to the separatists, merge Republic of Srpska with Serbia.” The Movement also said “it is not appropriate to build happiness of one part of the Serbian people on the misery of the other part of the same people”. According to the Movement “it is much easier to defend Kosovo and Metohija, something that belongs to Serbia as per international law, then to merge Republic of Srpska with Serbia, contrary to the international law”.

The Movement also contested the claims of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that migration of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have decreased, saying that the number of pupils and students had fallen by half, that streets of towns in the north of Kosovo are half empty, and that all constructions companies along with their workers and families have left the area.

The Movement also said that over the last eight years of Vucic’s rule, all construction works being it financed by Belgrade or Pristina are done by companies close to the regime and after they subcontract Albanian companies because it is easier to make agreement with them and the remaining profit is higher, Radio KIM reported.

Church in Babin Most village desecrated (Kosovo Online, B92, KIM radio)

Portal Kosovo Online reports that the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God in Babin Most, near Obilic, was desecrated during the previous night.

The president of the temporary body of the municipality of Obilic, Goran Dancetovic told Kosovo Online portal, adding that a burglar or burglars entered the building of the Church by removing the metal grille from the window and broke in. 

According to Dancetovic, the incident disturbed the Serbs in Babin Most and reminded that a month ago, four Serb young men were beaten by Albanians in this village.

“The situation has just calmed down since that incident, now this again, it is additional pressure on the locals,” Dancetović said.

The bag of the priest who was in the church was taken away, and the case was reported to the Kosovo police.

This is the third burglary in the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God in several years.

About 800 Serbs and 150 Albanians live in Babin Most, a multiethnic village.

North Macedonia PM: Meeting with President Vucic about ‘mini-Schengen’ (N1)

North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Monday he could meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic by the end of this or beginning of next month, to discuss “the continuation of the regional cooperation project,” which include the so-called ‘mini-Schengen’ in the region, N1 reports.

Zaev added that Kosovo had recently joined the project, that Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic attended the last meetings, as well as a member of the Bosnian tripartite Presidency.

He also said the project should go one regardless of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We work a lot on removing all administrative red tapes, mostly at border crossings, to speed up the flow of goods and people. I believe that in the forthcoming meetings we will have information from Serbia when it could continue”, Zaev said.  

Opinion

Trump’s Balkan agreement does Israel more harm than good – opinion (The Jerusalem Post)

By Arthur Koll, a former Ambassador of the State of Israel to Serbia-Montenegro and a publishing expert at the MirYam Institute.

We do not know if Serbia or Kosovo will ever open embassies in Jerusalem. What we do know is that Israel is diplomatically weaker now than it was before the agreement was signed.

Kosovo and Serbia have a bloody and troubled history, and as they attempt to reduce tensions and create new economic agreements between them, Israel has been bizarrely dragged into this delicate Balkan mix.

Since its unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, Kosovo, which has an Albanian ethnic majority, has been recognized by the US and by most European Union states, but not by the United Nations. Russia and China would veto such recognition by the UN Security Council, meaning that Kosovo has yet to be admitted to the UN as a fully-fledged member. This, despite the fact that over 100 states today recognize its independence.

Even in the EU, some have refrained from recognizing Kosovo, due to concern about internal separatist movements that may be inspired to declare independence unilaterally. For example, Spain contends with a Catalonian independence movement, and Cyprus struggles with majority Turkish northern Cyprus, an entity recognized only by Turkey. Slovakia and Romania have avoided recognizing Kosovo for similar reasons.

Since declaring independence, Kosovo has pressured Israel to officially recognize it, but just like the European nations above, Israel was concerned with setting a bad precedent. Israel feared that by recognizing Kosovo’s unilateral independence (sans negotiated agreement with Serbia), Israel would grant carte blanche to the Palestinian Authority to demand the same.

See at: https://bit.ly/35EtzjZ

International

Kosovo’s Legal Aid for War Crimes Suspects Raises Concerns (Balkan Insight)

The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers only grants legal aid to war crimes defendants who prove they are unable to pay for their own lawyers – but Kosovo’s own system is much less transparent, raising concerns about the potential for abuse.

Rrustem Mustafa, one of more than 100 former Kosovo guerrilla fighters who have been summoned by prosecutors for questioning about his role in the 1998-99 war, did not succeed in convincing the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers that he ticks all the boxes to qualify for legal aid.

His request to have all his legal expenditures refunded was rejected by the Specialist Chambers, the so-called ‘special court’ which is expected to try the former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighters for crimes committed from 1998 to 2000, during and just after the Kosovo war.

Mustafa did not say whether or not the Kosovo state reimbursed his expenses instead.

The Specialist Chambers, which have yet to begin any trials, provide legal aid for suspects and defendants who can demonstrate that they do not have the means to pay for lawyers, and apply rigorous procedures when it comes to the evidence that is required.

See at: https://bit.ly/3hyDc6n