Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 58 new cases, two deaths (media)
• Over 55,000 persons vaccinated so far in Kosovo (media)
• Kurti on ambassadors’ dismissals: Step towards foreign service reform (media)
• PDK’s Hoxhaj will not attend meeting called by Kurti (media)
• LDK’s Abdixhiku accepts Kurti’s meeting invitation (media)
• DPM Bislimi lists government’s plans for EU integration process (Klan)
• Government approves initiative enabling regional free movement (media)
• Agreement on KSF deployment to the north can be renegotiated, experts say (Telegrafi)

Serbian Language Media:

• RFE: There are no vaccines for Serb communities in Kosovo (RTK2, Kontakt plus radio) 
• Jacimovic’s house in Vitina stoned again, again minors are suspects (KoSSev)
• Kosovo Government silent on Quinta request to implement court decision on Visoki Decani Monastery (Kosovo-online)
• Blakaj: The issue of the missing is humanitarian, not political (RTK2)
• Serbia donates 100.000 Pfizer vaccines to Czech Republic (N1)
• Vucic: Many problems and pressure on Serbia regarding Kosovo (Kosovo-online)
• Memorial tournament “Dimitrije Popovic” on June 1, in Gracanica (Radio KIM)

Opinion:

• A feminist revolt against sexual violence (Prishtina Insight)

International:

• Covid still a threat to Europe – travel should be avoided, says WHO (The Guardian)
• Deeply Divided Montenegro Marks 15 Years of Independence (Balkan Insight)   

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 58 new cases, two deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 58 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths in the last 24 hours. At the same time, 156 recoveries have been confirmed over the same time period. 

There are 3,840 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Over 55,000 persons vaccinated so far in Kosovo (media)

Niman Bardhi, coordinator of the largest vaccination centre in Kosovo, “1 Tetori” in Prishtina, said at a news conference that so far over 55,000 citizens have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Bardhi said the vaccination is going to plan and that today over 500 vaccinations have been carried out throughout Kosovo. 

Meanwhile, Telegrafi reports that a new consignment of more than 3,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, part of EU’s assistance to Kosovo, is expected to arrive next week.

Kurti on ambassadors’ dismissals: Step towards foreign service reform (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti spoke today about the recent decision of Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla to relieve of duty all politically appointed ambassadors. 

Kurti said the move is the first step in the reform of Kosovo’s foreign service and that together with Gervalla, President Vjosa Osmani and the committee on foreign affairs, they will launch procedures for appointment of new diplomatic personnel, majority of whom, he said, will be career diplomats. 

“The ambassadors relieved of duty have given their contribution for the country, for which we are grateful. However, the past governments have overcrowded the foreign service with political diplomats by exceeding the legal quota. Therefore, this is a step to restore legality in this department,” Kurti said in a Facebook post.

“Lawfulness, structural reforms and establishment of mechanisms of professionalism and meritocracy are the pillars of which our governance will build a dignified representation of our Republic in the international arena,” he concluded.

PDK’s Hoxhaj will not attend meeting called by Kurti (media)

Acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj has said he would not be participating in the meeting that Prime Minister Albin Kurti plans to hold next week with leaders of opposition parties. 

Hoxhaj said in a letter to Kurti that the issues proposed to be discussed in the meeting following Kurti’s visit to Brussels, should be tackled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. “If, however, with ‘major issues’ you mean another important topic, I invite you then to be more specific and transparent so that the citizens of Kosovo are well informed. You need to call topics by their names.”

LDK’s Abdixhiku accepts Kurti’s meeting invitation (media)

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), has confirmed participation in a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti next week.

“Yes, I will attend,” Abdixhiku told Gazeta Express and Koha media outlets. 

Earlier, the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj also confirmed his participation in the meeting to which Kurti invited opposition leaders to discuss coordination on issues of national interest. 

DPM Bislimi lists government’s plans for EU integration process (Klan)

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has been entrusted with the responsibility to coordinate activities of  respective ministries towards the EU integration process.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti asked ministers of his cabinet to treat standards that the EU seeks Kosovo to uphold with priority and implement them without delays.

Bislimi presented a list of actions aimed at implementing EU-required actions. He said the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) sets out steps Kosovo needs to undertake to strengthen its economy, approximate its legislation with that of the EU, strengthen democratic order and the rule of law. Bislimi noted that the European reform agenda rests on three pillars which have been embodied in the governing programme. 

The first pillar covers the rule of law and good governance and includes four priorities: fight against organised crime and corruption; public administration reform; protection of fundamental freedoms of citizens; promotion of democratisation and necessary reforms in the election process. 

The second pillar focuses on economy and employment and the third includes post-Covid recovery. 

Government approves initiative enabling regional free movement (media)

The Government of Kosovo unanimously endorsed the proposal for signing an international agreement on freedom of movement for nationals of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. 

The agreement would enable citizens of Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina to enter one another’s territory with biometric identification cards, media highlight. 

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said the draft agreement for creation of common interests in the framework of regional cooperation is part of the commitment Westen Balkans countries made in the Sofia summit of November 2020. “As a result, the citizens of the parties to the agreement will have the right to freely, enter, transit, and stay in the territory of other parties for the period specified by administrative procedures through biometric identification cards,” he said. 

Agreement on KSF deployment to the north can be renegotiated, experts say (Telegrafi)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said at the Assembly session yesterday that he has referred to the prosecution the agreement then president Hashim Thaci had signed with NATO in 2013 whereby Kosovo Security Force is not permitted to deploy to the north of Kosovo without prior consent from KFOR. 

Mentor Vrajolli from the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies said the agreement between Kosovo and NATO can be amended. “That agreement was never ratified at the Assembly of Kosovo. It is not an agreement that cannot be reviewed, the review of its contents can be performed as it is not a permanent agreement but one that refers to specific circumstances,” he told RTV Dukagjini. 

Gezim Shala from the Kosovo Law Institute said that if Prime Minister Kurti considers the agreement with NATO to be damaging to Kosovo, “he can start negotiating with NATO the withdrawal from such an arrangement”. However, Shala added, the jurisdiction over the entire territory of Kosovo remains with NATO as per the UN SC resolution 1244 and “there is nothing the prosecution can do about it.”

Serbian Language Media

RFE: There are no vaccines for Serb communities in Kosovo (RTK2, Kontakt plus radio)

There are no open centers for vaccination in the fight against Covid-19 in Kosovo’s Serb-majority areas. Although the Serb population has mostly been vaccinated in Serbia, there is confusion among the Albanian population living in those Kosovo municipalities about where to get vaccinated, reported Radio Free Europe (RFE).

Elvis Ahmeti from Klokot, a Serb-majority municipality near Gnjilane in southeastern Kosovo, does not know where to receive the coronavirus vaccine, as no immunization center has been opened there.

Bajram Haziri from Klokot says the same for Radio Free Europe.

“I think I will receive it (the vaccine) in Vitina (neighboring municipality), because there is no center in Klokot,” he says.

Based on municipal data, more than 4,000 citizens live in Klokot, 35 percent of whom are from the Albanian community.

After large crowds were noticed in front of the vaccination center in Pristina on May 14, because citizens came from other municipalities, the Ministry of Health appealed to citizens to go to vaccination centers in their municipalities, in order to get the necessary information and get vaccinated.

Such centers have been opened in 29 of Kosovo’s 38 municipalities. There are ten municipalities with a Serb majority in Kosovo, and, except in Novo Brdo near Gnjilane, Kosovo has not opened immunization centers in any other

Municipalities where vaccination centers against COVID-19 have not been opened are Gracanica, Strpce, Klokot, Ranilug, Partes-Pasjane, North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok.

Life in one municipality, treatment in another municipality

Silvia Rexhepi, deputy mayor of Klokot municipality for community affairs, told RFE that Kosovo’s health system does not function in the local self-government, adding that Albanians are being vaccinated in neighboring Vitina.

“We also receive injections, insulin, in Vitina. Everyone is familiar with that,” says Rexhepi.

The mayor of Klokot, Bozidar Dejanovic, and the director of the health department, Goran Marinkovic were not available for a statement on the topic of vaccination carried out by the Kosovo health system.

On the other hand, the mayor of Novi Brdo, Svetislav Ivanovic stated that they received about 200 vaccines from the Kosovo Ministry and that they will be received mainly by citizens from the Albanian community, because “Serbs have already been vaccinated”.

“We started with (vaccination) people older than 80, so the people from health care who oversee that work, are in the field. In any case, vaccination has started among people who want it, mostly people from the Albanian community,” says Ivanovic.

Pleurat Sejdiu of the Kosovo Medical Chamber declined to comment on the fact that vaccination centers were not open in Serb-majority municipalities, saying it was a “political issue”.

RFE also sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Health with the question why the centers for vaccination of citizens were not opened in all municipalities with a Serb majority, but the answer did not arrive until the publication of this text.

No Kosovo vaccination centers in Serb-majority municipalities

Donika Emini, executive director of the CiviKos platform, estimates that the Ministry of Health of Kosovo is recording failure after failure when it comes to the immunization process and notes that a very bad message is being sent now because vaccination centers are not open in Serb-majority municipalities.

“If the Government of Kosovo assumed that Serbs from Kosovo would be vaccinated in Serbia or by Serbia, it is even worse. A clear message is being sent that they cannot provide basic assistance to them,” Emini told RFE, adding that with this move, the competent Ministry is only pushing the Kosovo Serbs away instead of attracting them.

She points out that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti after coming to power in March this year, said on several occasions that he would advocate an internal dialogue with Kosovo Serbs, and underlined that his Government “is now doing the opposite.”

Kosovo has so far received about 60,000 AstraZeneca vaccines from the World Health Organization’s COVAX program, which aims to deliver vaccines to poor countries, as well as over 7,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines, as a donation from the European Union.

Life in Kosovo, vaccination in Serbia

In Serb areas in Kosovo, health institutions function in the Serbian system, so Serbs from Kosovo have been vaccinated in cities in Serbia since the end of last year. Citizens living in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo are vaccinated in Raska, those from Kosovsko Pomoravlje go to Bujanovac and from central Kosovo to Kursumlija.

So far, about 15,000 Serbs from Kosovo have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in those cities, and 12,300 have received the second. These are the data of the Institute for Public Health in North Mitrovica, which functions in the system of Serbia.

Health institutions, which operate according to the Kosovo system, started immunization at the end of March by vaccinating health workers, people over the age of 80 and the chronically ill.

The second phase of immunization is currently underway, during which the vaccine will be given to people aged 65-79, as well as teaching staff, security forces, who were involved in managing the situation during the coronary virus pandemic.

In the third phase, mass vaccination of citizens will begin, and the Ministry of Health of Kosovo states that immunization of 50 to 70 percent of the population is planned.

Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo were formed following the 2008 decentralization process, which was envisaged in the Ahtisaari plan, the document based on which independence was declared.

Jacimovic’s house in Vitina stoned again, again minors are suspects (KoSSev)

The house of the Jacimovic family in Vitina was stoned again yesterday. The news about the new incident against the family was first announced by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, while later this evening the spokesman of the Kosovo Police for the region of Gnjilane/Gjilan, Ismet Hashani, confirmed for portal KoSSev, stating that two minors were identified again.

The house of the Jacimović family was the target of an attack for the first time three weeks ago, on Easter.

The Jacimovics then decided to install video surveillance around the house for personal safety.

According to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the cameras recorded yesterday’s incident at 5:30 PM. The footage was handed over to the Kosovo Police.

Hashani confirmed it, saying that the cameras filmed several students with school rucksacks, who were seen throwing stones in the direction of Jacimovic’s house.

Today, the Jacimovics were questioned by the police, and investigators with the school police were engaged in identifying the suspects.

Hashani adds that the identified minors will be questioned before the prosecutor tomorrow in the presence of their parents.

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

Kosovo Government silent on Quinta request to implement court decision on Visoki Decani Monastery (Kosovo-online)

The Kosovo Government has not commented on Quinta’s request to implement the Constitutional Court decision on Visoki Decani Monastery land case, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Pristina-based Ekonomija online.

Quinta member states (US, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain) in a joint statement issued on May 19 said that upholding Constitutional Court decision on returning 24 hectares of land to the Monastery would be one of the key tests for the new Kosovo executive power in implementing reforms and respecting the rule of law, Kosovo-online portal recalled.

The decision has not been implemented for five years.

Decani Mayor Bashkim Ramosaj told Radio Free Europe on Thursday that he will not implement the Constitutional Court decision, thus confirming that municipal authorities have not changed their stance on the decision, the portal added.

“The decision of the Constitutional Court prevents citizens of the municipality from achieving their interests and economic development. In case a decision of the Constitutional Court is implemented, the Kosovo Government must undertake realization of many requests from the municipality”, Ramosaj said according to Kosovo-online.

The Association of Kosovo Historians “Ali Hadri” yesterday publicly opposed implementation of the Constitutional Court decision.

Earlier Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kuriti wrote to Europa Nostra, that included Visoki Decani Monastery on its list of the seven the most endangered localities in Europe in 2021, saying that Monastery is in good state and faces no threats, while few days ago Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla and Minister of Culture Hajrulah Ceku also wrote to Europa Nostra regarding the same matter.    

Blakaj: The issue of the missing is humanitarian, not political (RTK2)

“I hope that the governments in Pristina and Belgrade will be proactive in finding more than 1,600 people, who are still listed as missing,” said Bekim Blakaj, executive director of the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Center, commenting on the soon resumption of dialogue in Brussels and the issue of missing as a part of these talks, reported RTK2. 

“Institutions in Kosovo constantly accuse Belgrade that it is responsible for crimes and that it should open archives, which is true, but on the other hand, very rarely or almost never does Pristina mention Serb and other non-Albanian victims, for which it is directly responsible,” said Blakaj in the RTK2 show Razgovor (The talk). 

“Both sides must really make an effort and see this issue as humanitarian, not political, and reveal those locations. Unfortunately, the practice of other countries tells us that almost nowhere after those wars was the fate of all the missing discovered. Most likely it will be the case with Kosovo, but at least a large number of families, if they found out about the fate of their loved ones, would be a good result,” said Blakaj, RTK2 reported. 

Serbia donates 100.000 Pfizer vaccines to Czech Republic (N1)

Serbian Government decided on Thursday to donate 100,000 Pfizer-Biotech vaccines to the Czech Republic to help it fight the coronavirus epidemic, N1 reports.

The move came after President Aleksandar Vucic’s recent visit to Prague, during which his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman apologized to Serbia for the 1999 NATO bombing of the then Yugoslavia.

Zeman said the intervention was a mistake, even a crime.

Vucic was deeply touched and said the Czech President was the first leader to say something like that.

Zeman later told Serbian news agency Tanjug agency he spoke on his behalf, and recalled the UN gave the green light to NATO without prior approval by the Security Council, which he said “was illegal.”

See at: https://bit.ly/3u8o9q4

Vucic: Many problems and pressure on Serbia regarding Kosovo (Kosovo-online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today in Priboj that Serbian economy is doing well, but there would be many problems and pressure regarding Kosovo, Kosovo-online portal reports.

“There are many political problems and pressure on Serbia over Kosovo and Metohija. I am afraid these days they will start with different things, but we will fight, surrender is not an option”, Vucic said.

He also said the economy is doing well, pensioners would have pensions, and there would be more employment opportunities. 

Memorial tournament “Dimitrije Popovic” on June 1, in Gracanica (Radio KIM)

The 16th memorial football tournament “Dimitrije Popovic” will be held in Gracanica from 1 to 5 June, Radio KIM reports.

The tournament is organized in memory of a 16-year old Dimitrije Popovic murdered on June 5, 2004 in the center of Gracanica.

The deadline for registering the teams expires on May 31, at 18.00. The sponsor of the tournament is Gracanica Municipality.

Last year the tournament didn’t take place due to a coronavirus pandemic. 

Opinion

A feminist revolt against sexual violence (Prishtina Insight)

By Liridona Sijarina

Kosovo’s society, institutions and familial structures have allowed sexual violence to become endemic. To fight it we must take on the institutions and liberate ourselves from deep rooted patriarchal beliefs.

This week saw an uprising of girls and women against the persistent violence that has been enacted against them. For six consecutive days, girls and women expressed their anger and rejected sexual violence like never before, sharing their experiences in public spaces and taking to the streets to protest.

Following media reports of a shocking sexual assault outside of a school, two demonstrations were held this week, one organised by the Collective for Feminist Thought and Action and another by Prishtina’s high school students. A third is scheduled for Saturday in Mitrovica. 

Meanwhile, numerous threads on social media platforms have triggered a more open societal discourse on the subject of sexual misbehaviour in schools.

The protesters demanded more institutional responsibility in the fight against sexual violence in the education system, particularly in regard to hiring more security at schools and employing more school psychologists. There have also been calls for sexual education to be included in the curriculum, which were met with a fierce counter-narrative in conservative circles. 

According to these groups, the antidote to issues with sexual violence in schools is more religious education, something that can only be seen as an attempt to reinforce oppressive gender relations and reassert control over women’s bodies.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3oNStpf

International

Covid still a threat to Europe – travel should be avoided, says WHO (The Guardian)

Covid vaccines in use in Europe appear to protect against all new variants but progress in region remains “fragile” and international travel should be avoided to prevent pockets of transmission quickly spreading into “dangerous resurgences”, the World Health Organization has said.

Weekly official cases in Europe have fallen by almost 60% from 1.7m in mid-April to nearly 685,000 last week with deaths also in decline, the WHO regional director, Hans Kluge, said on Thursday, but incidence rates remained stubbornly high in eight countries.

“The pandemic is not over yet,” Kluge said. “Increased mobility and interactions may lead to more transmission … In the face of a continued threat and new uncertainty we need to exercise caution and rethink or avoid international travel.”

See more at: https://bit.ly/2QHfs8K

Deeply Divided Montenegro Marks 15 Years of Independence (Balkan Insight)

On May 21, Montenegro marks 15 years since the referendum that ended almost a century of state union with Serbia. The question of independence was settled, but the old divisions remained.

On May 21, 2006, Montenegro held a referendum in which 55.5 per cent of voters backed independence for the tiny former Yugoslav republic, effectively ending almost a century of union with neighbouring Serbia.

The fifteen years since have seen the country of 620,000 people start negotiations on joining the European Union, in 2012, and become a member of NATO, in 2017.

But this year’s milestone finds the country still divided along the same fault lines as in 2006, reawakened by the end of three decades of uninterrupted rule by President Milo Djukanovic’s Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS.

BIRN asked four prominent figures and experts to assess Montenegro’s achievements in the 15 years since regaining its independence, and why the country remains so divided:

See more at: https://bit.ly/3vex6ji