• COVID-19: Two deaths, 61 new cases (media)
• Zemaj: We will soon have a 500-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients (media)
• Trump: We are stopping mass killings between Kosovo and Serbia (media)
• Grenell: Implementing Kosovo-Serbia agreement, top priority (media)
• U.S. government delegation to travel to Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Israel (media)
• Thaci: Kosovo, Turkey to strengthen strategic partnership (media)
• Pacolli welcomes Grenell’s visit, “strong proof of engagement” (media)
• Zogiani: Hoti helped Serbia to not recognise Kosovo (media)
• Abazi: Hoti-led government, a threat to national security (media)
• Haradinaj: Developments on the “Files” case do not help Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Media Highlights

COVID-19: Two deaths, 61 new cases (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Sunday that two deaths and 61 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours.

119 patients have recovered from the virus.

The highest number of new cases are from the municipality of Prishtina (19).

There are currently 2,121 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Zemaj: We will soon have a 500-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Health said that a hospital with a 500-bed capacity for patients of COVID-19 will be ready in the coming days.

Zemaj said Kosovo institutions are in communication with the World Health Organisation in efforts to secure possible vaccine and he also criticised the failure of Kosovo Assembly to pass the law on economic recovery. 

Trump: We are stopping mass killings between Kosovo and Serbia (media)

United States President Donald Trump said during a campaign rally on Sunday that he could qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

“Next story I’m sure it’s a Nobel Peace Prize for peace. We are stopping mass killings between Kosovo and Serbia. They have been killing each other for so many years. They are going to stop killing. I said ‘fellas let’s get together’. You know, they’ve been doing it for hundreds of years frankly under different names,” Trump said. 

Grenell: Implementing Kosovo-Serbia agreement, top priority (media)

The United States Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Richard Grenell, said on Thursday that implementing the Kosovo-Serbia agreement reached in Washington on September 4 is a top priority.

“Implementing the agreement made by Kosovo and Serbia is a top priority for the Trump Administration. See you in Pristina and Belgrade this week!” Grenell wrote in a reply to a Twitter post by Kosovo’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vlora Citaku.

The latter had tweeted “great to see that @AdamUSDFC and @RichardGrenell will be in Kosovo tomorrow. This visit comes less than three weeks after the agreement on #EconomicNormalization between #Kosovo and #Serbia was signed in #WashingtonDC”.

U.S. government delegation to travel to Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Israel (media)

A U.S. government delegation led by U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler will travel to Athens, Greece; Pristina, Kosovo; Belgrade, Serbia; and Jerusalem, Israel from September 20 through September 25 to advance economic cooperation and development.

Boehler will be joined by Special Advisor to the President on Serbia-Kosovo Ambassador Richard Grenell; Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bonnie Glick; President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly Reed; and other senior government officials from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Commerce. The delegation will hold meetings with senior government officials and private sector leaders.

The delegation’s trip comes on the heels of the historic Abraham Accords between Israel, the U.A.E., and Bahrain and the economic normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. DFC, America’s development bank, facilitates private sector investment and offers a principled financing alternative to authoritarian regimes. DFC works closely with USAID, EXIM, and other government agencies to promote development and advance U.S. foreign policy through its financing tools.

The delegation will advance strategic investments that support diversity of supplies and reinforce energy independence in Greece and the wider region.

DFC will lay the groundwork for opening an office in Belgrade to facilitate implementation of projects that will support economic growth in the region. DFC and EXIM recently signed Letters of Interest (LOIs) with Serbia and Kosovo to help finance the important projects identified in the September 4 agreements.

The delegation will also assess opportunities to expand investment in the region to enhance stability and economic cooperation in the Middle East.

Thaci: Kosovo, Turkey to strengthen strategic partnership (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said on Sunday during a visit to Turkey where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that Kosovo and Turkey will further strengthen their strategic partnership. “Thankful to President @RTErdogan for the warm hospitality and productive conversation on all issues of mutual interest, including bilateral cooperation, regional and global issues. Our two nations enjoy friendly relations and will further strengthen the strategic partnership,” Thaci wrote on Twitter.

New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) leader Behgjet Pacolli, who accompanied Thaci, wrote on Twitter: “Today in #Istanbul together with #Kosovo President @HashimThaciRKS had a great meeting with #Turkish President @RTErdogan who is a great friend and ally of #Kosovl. #Kosovo-#Turkish relations are a pillar of stability and prosperity in the region.”

Pacolli welcomes Grenell’s visit, “strong proof of engagement” (media)

New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) leader and Kosovo MP, Behgjet Pacolli, said on Sunday that U.S. Special Envoy Richard Grenell’s visit to Kosovo on Monday is “strong proof of the U.S. engagement in full support of the White House Agreement on Economic Normalisation”.

“These US – funded projects will change the way of doing business and will open new development opportunities for Kosovo,” he said.

Zogiani: Hoti helped Serbia to not recognise Kosovo (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) representative Avni Zogiani told a press conference on Sunday that the Berlin Process too had envisaged projects included in the Washington agreement, but that Prime Minister Hoti reduced these regional projects to those of only Kosovo and Serbia.

Zogiani also said: “For a long time, the President and the Prime Minister said that this [the Washington meeting] would the finale, but it was not so, the final moment passed, and we didn’t get the recognition from Serbia. Hoti helped Serbia not to recognise Kosovo and this is the result. Negotiations were always held on Kosovo’s back. The core of the agreements is that Kosovo continues to act as a non-state entity.” 

Abazi: Hoti-led government, a threat to national security (media)

Former Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Haki Abazi took to Facebook on Sunday to argue that the Hoti-led government is a threat to national security and the existence of the state.

“This illegitimate government and these spineless people who are inferior to Serbia are a threat to national security and the existence of the state,” Abazi wrote.

Haradinaj: Developments on the “Files” case do not help Kosovo (media)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj commented on the files that the KLA war veterans’ associations claimed to have received concerning the work of the Specialist Chambers saying he was deeply concerned that “the ill-intended Files spectacle is creating the impression that Kosovo is standing on the opposite side of justice.”

“Recent developments on this issue, that are feeding the media debate, do not help Kosovo, its truth, or local and international justice. Whoever comes upon sensitive documents of investigation and courts should immediately hand them over to relevant institutions and not feed the continuation of media spectacles that damage development of justice and implementation of the rule of law for all,” Haradinaj wrote on Facebook.

He added that the people of Kosovo and KLA have consistently been on the right side of justice and the truth and that this will continue to be the case.