• COVID-19: 478 new cases, 16 deaths (media)
• Government silent over “difficult compromises” with Serbia (RFE)
• Tahiri: Government must not make compromises in dialogue (media)
• Koha publishes 2015 draft statute of Association of Serb-majority municipalities
• Collaku: Kurti deserves everyone’s respect if he can reject Association (media)
• Gorani: Kurti government will be forced to accept compromise (media)
• Kurti: Cultural differences must unite us, not divide us (media)
• Albanians from Presevo Valley expect Kurti to include them in dialogue (media)
• Rama: Mini-Schengen aimed to dissolve border with Kosovo (Euronews Albania)
• PDK denies it is behind offensive graffiti against its former MP (media)
• Editor: Brussels confirmed they received document from Jansha (media)
• Bosnian Serbs urge talks on Country’s potential ‘disintegration’ (BIRN)

COVID-19: 478 new cases, 16 deaths (media) 

478 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths have been reported in Kosovo over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 957 recoveries from the virus were also recorded during this period. 

There are currently 12,529 active COVID-19 infections in Kosovo. 

Government silent over “difficult compromises” with Serbia (RFE) 

Representatives of Vetevendosje Movement, the ruling party in Kosovo, believe that the dialogue with Serbia must be restarted with clear and firm principles. This position comes after U.S. President Joe Biden sent a letter to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani calling on Kosovo to focus on the normalisation of relations with Serbia toward a final settlement that requires flexibility and difficult compromises. The Kosovo government has yet to come out with an official position on President Biden’s request.  

Albert Krasniqi, policy researcher with the Prishtina-based Demokracia Plus, said the Kosovo government must treat the dialogue with Serbia as a priority because it is not an issue that can be neglected.  

Mimoza Kusari-Lila, head of Vetevendosje’s parliamentary group, said there must be clear principles to restart the dialogue with Serbia and that the process requires unity among Kosovo’s political landscape. “This is a competency of the Kosovo Government and the government is soon expected to present its position on the dialogue,” she said.  

Tahiri: Government must not make compromises in dialogue (media) 

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group chief Abelard Tahiri said on Tuesday that the Kosovo government must not make any compromises in the dialogue with Serbia and that it must cooperate with the United States of America in the process. Asked by reporters to comment on U.S. President Joe Biden’s letter to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Tahiri said: “we don’t believe the United States will ask Kosovo to make compromises.” 

Koha publishes 2015 draft statute of Association of Serb-majority municipalities

The foundation of the establishment of Association of Serb-majority municipalities were laid in 2016 through a draft statute that was never made public. In addition, a decree on the Constitutional Court ruling of 2015 were also circulated in the government of Kosovo led at the time by Isa Mustafa, Koha writes, noting that for the first time it was publishing the content of these documents which were not presented in Brussels due to the refusal of the Serbian side to accept the formation of the Association based on the Constitutional Court ruling.

According to the draft statute, the Association will represent the general interests of its members, local authorities, the interest of the Serb community and other communities living in the territory that this mechanism covers. The Association was set to have own bank account and emblem. “The goal of the Association is strengthening the local democracy and guaranteeing the rights of communities and its members, to be closer to the citizens and offer the citizens the possibility of taking effective part in decisions that have an impact on their daily environment,” Article 2.4 of the draft statute reads. It notes in one of the subsequent articles that the membership in the Association shall be voluntary and not limited only to municipalities with Serb majority.

Article 3.5 refers to the competencies of the Association, a point which Koha says generated a great deal of debate. “In addition to the prerogative of the Association of Municipalities from Article 4 of the First Agreement for full oversight in the fields of economic development, education, health, urban and rural planning, the Association of Municipalities organizes and coordinates the activities of its members in the sphere of investments, economic development, healthcare, welfare and social services, conflict resolution, improving services for citizens, as well as in the sphere of cooperation with sister associations, bordering regions and with international regional and universal organizations.”

Koha also reports that the author of the documents is the former president of the Constitutional Court Enver Hasani who explained that the basis for the draft statute was not the 25 August 2015 Agreement but rather the Constitutional Court ruling. At the same time, the current government of Kosovo said it has not inherited any document relating to the statute of the Association.

Collaku: Kurti deserves everyone’s respect if he can reject Association (media) 

Kosovo’s former Minister for European Integration, Bekim Collaku, said on Tuesday that if Prime Minister Albin Kurti manages to reject the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities he deserves the respect of the entire political landscape.  

“Personally I would like his approach and cause toward the whole process of the Brussels Agreement and the dialogue in general to be implemented in practice because I think it would be in the interest of the Republic of Kosovo not to make any compromises, but to conclude this process with mutual recognition,” Collaku said.  

Gorani: Kurti government will be forced to accept compromise (media) 

Political commentator Dukagjin Gorani said in Klan Kosova on Tuesday that the Kurti-led government will be forced to accept a compromise in order to conclude a final settlement between Kosovo and Serbia. He said that if there is no other offer, the international community will force them to accept the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities too. “This government will have to accept a compromise and in the lack of other options even the Association. Of course, this would not be the end of the process. Any solution in Brussels needs to have the support of 2/3 of the Kosovo Assembly,” he said. “From the early discussions of the opposition it is clear that they don’t plan to join the process. But we all know the procedure and the routine how the international community in the end builds a discourse.” 

Kurti: Cultural differences must unite us, not divide us (media) 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke on Tuesday evening at the closing of the Rolling Film Festival saying he is honored to speak at an event that promotes the life, diversity and experiences of the Roma community in Kosovo and elsewhere in the world. “I highly appreciate the fact that Rolling Film Festival has become an important artistic event in Kosovo, reflecting the lives of the Roma community, supporting the Roma arts and culture and helping fight stereotypes and hate speech,” he said.  

Kurti said members of the Roma community are a comprising part of society with equal and guaranteed rights but also faced with numerous problems. “Education, employment, participation and integration are problems that concern the Roma community and we need to solve them together,” he added.  

Albanians from Presevo Valley expect Kurti to include them in dialogue (media) 

Deputy mayor of the municipality of Bujanovec in southern Serbia, Shqiperim Musliu, said Albanians from Presevo Valley expect the Kurti government to include them in the dialogue with Serbia in Brussels. “The most important resource is the human resource,” he said in an interview with RTV Dukagjini.  

Musliu said the first government led by Kurti made several steps to improve the position of Albanians in Presevo Valley. “The Kurti 1 government allocated €500,000 to improve the position of Albanians there,” he said. 

Rama: Mini-Schengen aimed to dissolve border with Kosovo (Euronews Albania)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke about relations with Kosovo in a TV show and stressed that the Mini-Schengen initiative was aimed to be a way for the border between Kosovo and Albania be dissolved.

“The first regional Schengen was articulated by Fatos Nano, at a time that this seemed like mad talk. I have reintroduced it because the probable conditions were created. The Regional Schengen intends the removal of borders between Albania and Kosovo, but until those in Kosovo actually understand this, it will have been years and Kosovo will have lost time,” said Rama, while adding that he has been amongst the participating leaders that has encouraged the mini-Schengen idea.

“I have been one of the first leaders to encourage the mini-Schengen idea and there’s witnesses to this. Since we have met in Berlin for the first,” said Rama.

PM Rama also spoke on the dialogue in Kosovo, saying that it should be a priority so that Kosovo can elevate on an economic and social level.

“We should see how the process in Kosovo will go. For me, the future of Kosovo without the willingness to finish the dialogue process is a blurry one, not in the sense of its independence but in the sense of its capacities that could be placed in a position to elevate Kosovo on another level in the economic and social aspect,” said Rama.

When asked by journalist Ilva Tare regarding the PM of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, Rama refused to voice his opinion at least until April 26th, which marks the day after the general elections in our country.

“I am not commenting on Albin Kurti. You entered Albin Kurti in this conversation, I have no comment regarding Albin Kurti, not until April 26th. Then, I can speak,” said Rama, refusing to answer to several questions asked by journalist Ilva Tare, including Rama’s stance regarding a possible unification of Albania and Kosovo, to which Kurti has admitted he would not be opposed to.

PDK denies it is behind offensive graffiti against its former MP (media)

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has denied allegations that it was behind offensive graffiti sprayed at the wall fence of the house owned by the family of Adelina Grainca, former PDK MP who joined the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) parliamentary group.

LVV MP Tinka Kurti accused the PDK for the act saying that it constituted a crime.

Editor: Brussels confirmed they received document from Jansa (media) 

Primoz Cirman, editor-in-chief of the Slovenian newspaper which published the non-paper for border changes in the Balkans, said Brussels confirmed they received the document from Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa. Cirman said in an interview with Albanian Post: “when news broke out on Monday, our colleague from the newspaper Dela, a correspondent in Brussels, asked Michel’s office they confirmed they had received the document talking about the breakup of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but half an hour later the same office called and said they can neither deny nor confirm they received the letter”.  

Cirman also said he is not pleased that the Slovenian government became part of the plan. “I personally think that Slovenia should not be involved, but I’m afraid it already has and we will see the consequences in the future.”  

Bosnian Serbs urge talks on Country’s potential ‘disintegration’ (BIRN) 

Taking advantage of the tensions caused by a controversial document predicting the dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb political leaders said on Tuesday that they want to formally discuss the future of the country with Croat and Bosniak politicians.  

The announcement came after leaders of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, met to discuss the issue at Villa Mrakovica in central Bosnia, which belonged to Josip Broz Tito, the former Yugoslav leader, before the war. 

The meeting followed heightened tensions in the country over a controversial document that was allegedly sent by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa to European Council President Charles Michel, which suggested redrawing the borders again in the former Yugoslavia.  

The document reportedly suggests the unification of Kosovo and Albania, which it claims that Serbia would support if large parts of Republika Srpska are merged with Serbia. However, the existence of the document has not been confirmed by any EU institution or politician.  

The party headed by Republika Srpska’s leading politician, Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite Bosnian presidency, has published videos on YouTube in recent days advocating the ‘peaceful break-up’ of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  

In the videos published by the Alliance of the Independent Social Democrats, Dodik and others say that “an independent Republika Srpska has today become a solution that is increasingly talked about around the world”, and that “peaceful separation is the only solution for this Bosnia”.  

After Tuesday’s meeting, Dodik said that Republika Srpska is planning to form a negotiating team to initiate talks with the other Bosnian entity, the Bosniak- and Croat-dominated Federation and the other two major ethnic communities, Bosniaks and Croats, about the country’s future. 

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