Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 14 new cases, one death (media)
• Kurti and Abdixhiku to meet on Wednesday (media)
• Minister Haxhiu received today the Italian Ambassador, Nicola Orlando (RTK)
• Kurz to meet Lajcak today to discuss Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Insajderi)
• Kosovo marks the President’s Day (media)
• Minister Gervalla to report to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday (media)
• Haxhiu suspects COVID-19 death numbers are being manipulated (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• Serbian top officials react to Pristina UNESCO letter (media
• Serbian Orthodox Church Council, Kosovo one of the topics (KiM radio, Tanjug)
• Bishop Teodosije: Inflammatory rhetoric of Kosovo leaders directly raises ethnic and religious tensions (KoSSev)
• Visoki Decani Monastery on Pristina officials UNESCO letter (KoSSev)
• Minister Aliu: I oppose Decani-Plav bypass, it is a dangerous precedent (KoSSev)
• Davenport in Visoki Decani: OSCE to support SOC to preserve its cultural and religious heritage (KoSSev)
• Samardzic: Institutions failed in respecting the Law on Languages (KiM radio, Slobodno Srpski)
• Petkovic in two-day stay in Kosovo (Radio KIM)
• Why five EU members will not recognize Kosovo (Sputnik, B92)
• Godfrey: The United States still want everything agreed in Washington to be implemented (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
• Belgrade sees Beijing as one of main allies in fight for Kosovo (N1)
• Organized crime a major security threat in the Western Balkans (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)
• Zaev: Although we are a member of NATO, I cannot say that I am not afraid of Greater Albania (KoSSev, Kurir)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Joint exhibition of young Serbs and Albanians in Pristina (Kosovo-online)
• Foreigners vaccinated in Serbia will get green digital certificate (N1)
• Kon: Serious easing of pandemic measures in Serbia in mid-July (N1)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 14 new cases, one death (media)

Kosovo has recorded 14 new cases of COVID-19 and one death in the last 24 hours. At the same time, 93 recoveries have been confirmed over the same time period.

There are 3,551 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Kurti and Abdixhiku to meet on Wednesday (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, will meet with the leader of theDemocratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku, on Wednesday. The meeting was confirmed by the LDK spokesperson Sibel Halmi.

 “The meeting will be held on Wednesday (May 26) starting at 11:00,” Halimi told Express.

Abdixhiku, also confirmed his participation in this meeting.

Also, the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK0 Ramush Haradinaj stated that he will participate in the meeting invited by Kurti.

Enver Hoxhaj, chairman of Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) will not participate in the meeting with Kurti. He made this known through a status on Facebook, where he wrote that he sent a letter to Kurti to tell him that he will not go to the meeting.

“When there are major issues, PDK is ready to meet,” it is said, among other things, in the letter of the PDK leader.

One of the key issues that is expected to be discussed with the leaders of opposition parties is expected to be the dialogue process with Serbia. The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti said that he will meet with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic in mid-June. They are expected to discuss the way of moving forward with the dialogue. Speaking after an informal meeting in Brussels with Western Balkan leaders, Kurti said he wants a well-prepared dialogue and that its conclusion should be mutual recognition between the two countries.

 Minister Haxhiu received today the Italian Ambassador, Nicola Orlando (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, received today in a meeting the Italian Ambassador, Nicola Orlando. They discussed the priorities of the Ministry.

The Italian Ambassador, Nicola Orlando, congratulated Minister Haxhiu for her duty, and offered the support of the Italian Embassy towards strengthening the law and the rule of law as an uncompromising commitment of the Minister, respectively the government of Kosovo.

Both sides expressed their congratulations on the recent joint action against organized crime, emphasizing the readiness for future cooperation in the fight against crime and corruption, as well as in the areas in which mutual cooperation is required.

Kurz to meet Lajcak today to discuss Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Insajderi)

Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, is expected to meet today in Brussels with the European Union envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, reports Insajderi.

As reported in the Serbian media, this meeting will take place to support Lajcak in his efforts to resume the dialogue.

“It has to do with support for envoy Lajcak in his efforts in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, as well as with the vaccines that the EU is donating to the Western Balkans,” Kurz’s office reportedly told Serbian media.

The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, mediated by the European Union, is expected to resume in the middle of next month, respectively around 22 June.

Kosovo marks the President’s Day (media)

Media widely report on the activities of the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, marking the President’s Day. Osmani reportedly met with three former Presidents of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu, Behxhet Pacolli, and Atifete Jahjaga and placed flowers at late President Ibrahim Rugova’s monument. She also announced the opening of the’ Presidential Library Dr. Ibrahim Rugova.’

Osmani also visited late President Rugova’s family.

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, also visited the “Independence House” on President’s Day.

“The rest is a glorious story that survives time. The founding father of the state of Kosovo, Dr. Rugova, survives time,” Abdixhiku wrote.

The acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj, said that on President’s Day, with ‘mind and heart we belong to President Hashim Thaci’.

“Waiting for the President!

On President’s Day we are with President Hashim Thaci. The one who had a vision, courage and activity for an independent Kosovo. He, who led the struggle for liberation and the path to independence. The president that Kosovo is missing more than ever. Until the big and inevitable day of returning to the Homeland, we will be waiting for the president,” Hoxhaj wrote on the social network Facebook.

Minister Gervalla to report to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday (media)

Kosovo Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora will hold a meeting on Tuesday.

Media report that the Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Mrs. Donika Gervalla-Schwarz will be reporting regarding the legislative plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and its priorities.

Haxhiu suspects COVID-19 death numbers are being manipulated (RTK)

In the last two days, Kosovo has recorded zero deaths from Covid-19. During today’s meeting of Kosovo Assembly’s Committee on Health, the MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Bekim Haxhiu, who is also member of this committee, raised a concern that there are suspicions of manipulation of the numbers of deaths from coronavirus.

The chairwoman of this committee, Fatmire Kollçaku said that it is meaningless how MPs are not happy that there are no cases of fatality from COVID-19 in the last two days and that these suspicions put blame on health professionals.

The former Minister of Health who is also that member of this committee, Armend Zemaj said that if the death cases are post COVID-19 and ended in fatality but were not included in the list, this is a scandal.

Whereas, MP Haxhi Avdyli asked not to politicize this situation, and if there are such cases then to undertake adequate measures.

In this meeting, the Committee for Health has reviewed the work plan of the majority with a majority of votes and voted

Serbian Language Media

Serbian top officials react to Pristina UNESCO letter (media)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic reacting to the letter Pristina top officials sent to UNESCO demanding four Serbian Orthodox Church monasteries in Kosovo be removed from the World Heritage in Danger List and Kosovo be responsible for them instead of Serbia, said “the letter Albin Kurti sent to UNESCO represents a peak of hypocrisy and cynicism”, Serbian media report.

“The monasteries are under constant attention of KFOR, in particular Visoki Decani Monastery. It can’t be said that their security is not endangered while the constant pressure on the monkshood and the Serbian Orthodox Church continues”, Brnabic told RTS.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia will preserve monasteries in Kosovo. “Let them do their job, and we shall do ours”, he said after being asked to comment on Pristina’s letter to UNESCO.

Asked if he is afraid over this latest development, Vucic responded that he is not afraid, but that he is concerned.

“I am afraid of nothing, but I am concerned. We will fight and we will preserve Decani, Gracanica, the Holy Mother of Ljevis, Banjaska, Pec Patriarchate (…)”, he told TV Pink.

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said the request of Pristina officials to exclude the Serbian heritage in Kosovo and Metohija from international protection “is the latest Pristina’s aggressive campaign”.

He told RTS that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti “perceives the Serbian Orthodox Church exclusively within the context of the Albanian history and Albanization of the Serbian cultural heritage”.

He noted Kurti and Pristina “want to depict Kosovo as an oasis of peace, and Pristina as someone who needs to take care of and protect the Serbian cultural heritage”.

“It is about a completely hypocritical act by Pristina and deceit of the international community. When Kurti tells Pristina has desire and knows how to safeguard the Serbian churches, I would remind him that since 1999 up to date more than 134 churches and monasteries have been burned down or destroyed”, Petkovic said.  He recalled Pristina is not able to implement its own court’s decision (on Visoki Monastery land case) and yet it claims it was ready to protect the monasteries.  

He also said that Pristina by all means attempts to make continuation of the dialogue difficult.

“We have seen that they have canceled meetings in Brussels several times (…)”, Petkovic said, adding that Pristina by seeking membership in Interpol and UNESCO undermines the dialogue. 

Serbian Orthodox Church Council, Kosovo one of the topics (KiM radio, Tanjug)

A two-day regular session of the Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church will begin today in the Church of Saint Sava in Vracar (Belgrade), the first since the election of Patriarch Porfirije, reported news agency Tanjug.

The situation in Kosovo and the security of the Serbian population is a permanent topic of the SOC Assembly. The session will be held only two days after the Pristina authorities asked UNESCO to omit four Serbian cultural monuments in Kosovo from the category “in danger”, which are on the World Heritage List. 

Namely, Pristina is asking for a change of the country of origin where these monuments were erected, and they have again expressed their readiness to join that UN organization, which they have not been able to do so far, quoted KiM radio. 

These are the monastery of Visoki Decani, the Patriarchate of Pec, the monastery of Gracanica and the church of St. Petka in Prizren.

It is to be expected that the hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church will refer to this request of Pristina and take a church position.

The previously planned enthronement of Porfirije in the throne of the patriarch in the Patriarchate of Pec at this council was postponed due to epidemiological reasons.

It is expected that the main topics of this highest legislative church body will be the election of the Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana, the Bishop of Montenegro-Primorje, as well as the Bishop of Valjevo.

The topic of the SOC Council will certainly be the Basic Agreement on the Protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, which, as announced, will be signed by the Patriarch Porfirije and the Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapic.

This agreement should put an end to misunderstandings regarding the attitude of the Montenegrin state towards the Serbian Orthodox Church and the protection of its property in Montenegro.

The session of the Holy Synod of Bishops will begin with the Holy Liturgy of the Bishops, which will be served by Patriarch Porphyry with the bishops.

Bishop Teodosije: Inflammatory rhetoric of Kosovo leaders directly raises ethnic and religious tensions (KoSSev)

As a Serbian Orthodox Bishop of Raska-Prizren, the Diocese which comprises the area of Kosovo, Metohija and Raska regions, I find it necessary to express my deepest disappointment with the absence of any constructive reaction and compromise from the Kosovo institutions on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of their refusal to implement the decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court which recognized the land of Visoki Decani Monastery, Bishop Teodosije said, KoSSev portal reports.

While pointing out that the heads of the EU and OSCE Missions in Pristina, as well as the leading Ambassadors of the US, France, Italy, Germany, and United Kingdom, have already issued their statements on this issue – reminding the Kosovo institutions of their obligation to respect judicial decisions and the rule of law, Bishop Teodosije underlined that Kosovo leaders have “ignored all criticism.”

“Kosovo leaders sent a letter to UNESCO requesting the removal of 4 UNESCO World Heritage Monuments in Danger (all four Serbian Orthodox sites: Pec Patriarchate, Visoki Decani, Gracanica and the Holy Virgin of Ljevis) from the World Heritage in Danger list under the pretext that the Orthodox Christian heritage in Kosovo is allegedly fully safe”, Teodosije said.

He recalled that the Kosovo Minister for Spatial Planning Liburn Aliu openly stated that he was against the construction of the bypass road leading to Plav (Montenegro) which would go around the Special protective zone of Decani Monastery.

“In practical terms, this means that Minister Aliu as an ex-officio co-chair of the Implementation Monitoring Council (IMC) directly rejected the IMC decision which his predecessor together with other members of the IMC and the Decani Mayor signed in November 2020. This is a serious blow to the international community which invested lots of energy in reaching this agreement”, the statement further reads.

In this way the Minister is openly calling for the violation of law and construction of a transit road through the Special Protective Zone of Decani Monastery, which seriously complicates the security situation, the Bishop Teodosije warned.

“With such irresponsible behavior Kosovo leaders are completely undermining their message to UNESCO. They show that Kosovo institutions are not only unable to protect the Serbian Orthodox Heritage in Kosovo and Metohija but that this heritage must be protected primarily from themselves and their overt violations of laws and court decisions”.

The Serbian Orthodox Church will inform all the relevant international and other institutions about this course of events:

“Because such behavior of the representatives of Pristina institutions constitutes a direct call for legal anarchy and the inflammatory rhetoric they use, denying even the official name of the Serbian Orthodox Church (recognized in Kosovo Constitutions), directly raises ethnic and religious tensions in the region”. the Bishop stressed.

Our Church sees this behavior as one among many examples of violations of our religious and human rights and appeals to international representatives in Kosovo and Metohija to react appropriately and prevent further escalation, he added.

The Bishop also emphasized that the Church remains open for dialogue “but only when the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo from 2016 is fully implemented with our land registered and when we return to respecting of the jointly adopted decision of the Implementation Monitoring Council which allows rehabilitation of local roads in the protective zone only with the parallel work on the bypass road around the Special Protective Zone of Visoki Decani Monastery”.

Read the full statement of Raska-Prizren Bishop Teodosije at: https://bit.ly/2T58DOW

Visoki Decani Monastery on Pristina officials UNESCO letter (KoSSev)

The Kosovo Government claims it can protect our church heritage. In fact, with their disrespect for the decisions of their own court, the law, the situation with ethnic and religious discrimination of four sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church under the protection of UNESCO has never been worse, the Diocese of Raska and Prizren said on Friday, KoSSev portal reports.

The Monastery of Visoki Decani recalled the Diocese’s words a day after top Kosovo officials wrote to UNESCO, urging it to remove this monastery and three other SOC monasteries in Kosovo from its list of endangered and to list Kosovo as the responsible state party for them instead of Serbia as it was so far.

“Respect for court decisions, the rule of law, ethnic and religious diversity, and rights are the main criteria for how mature a government is to take care of cultural heritage. Kosovo has shown that none of that applies as long as it intentionally violates the law, despite international criticism“, the Monastery of Visoki Decani tweeted.

“As the Diocese announced in its statement, all communication with the Kosovo authorities will be suspended until the rule of law is established and the decision of the Constitutional Court on the Decani Monastery is fully implemented“, Visoki Decani Monastery underlined.

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

Minister Aliu: I oppose Decani-Plav bypass, it is a dangerous precedent (KoSSev)

Kosovo Minister of Spatial Planning and Environment, Liburn Aliu, described the construction of the Decani-Plav bypass as a dangerous precedent, assessing it to be a request of the Serbian Orthodox Church, KoSSev portal reports.

“Wherever there is a special protective zone, a bypass will be required“, he furthermore added. Aliu, who is also the co-chairman of the Implementation and Monitoring Council for the implementation of the Law on Special Protective Zones – which unanimously agreed at the end of last year that a bypass should be built, said he opposes the construction of the bypass.

This minister had a heated debate with the AAK leader, Ramush Haradinaj on the disputed road during the Friday’s session in the Kosovo Assembly.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3yzOlNR

Davenport in Visoki Decani: OSCE to support SOC to preserve its cultural and religious heritage (KoSSev)

The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Michael Davenport, visited Pec, Istok and the Monastery of Visoki Decani on Friday, on World Day for Cultural Diversity, KoSSev portal reports.

The visit arrives just after the fifth anniversary of the Constitutional Court’s decision to return the land to the monastery – when Western ambassadors reminded that this decision had not been implemented yet, the portal added.

Following the meeting with the Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery, Sava Janjic, Ambassador Davenport expressed expectation that the land will soon be registered as monastery property.

“Ambassador Michael Davenport visited the beautiful Decani Monastery and spoke to Abbot Sava Janjic. OSCE Kosovo will support the Serbian Orthodox Church to preserve its cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo while we expect adjacent land to be registered as Monastery property in line with rule of law”, OSCE Kosovo tweeted.

In Istok, for the returnee village of Ljubozda, the OSCE donated surveillance cameras to the police to increase the security of the locals. While visiting the mayor of Pec, Gazmend Muhaxhiri, he emphasized the OSCE assistance in building a safe house.

See at: https://bit.ly/2T8WEjn

Samardzic: Institutions failed in respecting the Law on Languages (KiM radio, Slobodno Srpski)

The president of the Center for Social Initiatives and creator of the “VocUp” platform for learning Albanian and Serbian, Veljko Samadzic, said in the show Slobodno srpski that the coronavirus pandemic, especially at the beginning of the crisis, showed how important was the Law on the Use of Languages, and how big problem it was when the language rights of the Serbian community are not respected. 

“Unfortunately, the pandemic showed the essence of our problem. We seem to be accustomed to language inequality and gross violations of the law, which is evident at every step. The pandemic, like any crisis, has brought people together but institutions have once again shown that they are not ready to obey the law. And this time, it is a sin for them not only due to not respecting the law, not only because they have brought members of one community that does not speak Albanian to an unenviable position, but also all the others. They lost the opportunity to feel for, first of all, Serbs, but also other communities that do not speak Albanian, as part of this society,” said Samardzic, who for a while worked as an advisor to the Vice President of the Assembly of Kosovo, while Petar Miletic performed that function.

He claimed that the most responsible ones failed the most, and that was primarily the Ministry of Health of Kosovo.

“We who deal with civil society and who want to change the situation as much as possible, we have called on volunteers to help us. We were contacted by both Serbs and Albanians, language experts, and we said OK. In cooperation with the Office of the Language Commissioner, we will, if you do not want to, provide translations within 24 hours for the most urgent announcements regarding the pandemic,” reminded Samardzic of the first experiences at the beginning of the epidemic when there was no information in Serbian about on the development of the infection and the measures taken against it. 

Even though such actions not only violate the law, but also cause harmful social consequences and specific problems to citizens he did not expect anyone to be held accountable for that.

“I am afraid that this omission will go unpunished, because we are somehow accustomed to everything ending with the explanation: we did not make it, we did not have the capacity, resources. But what I always say – so, not having enough safe houses means that it is okay to have violence in the family, for example. The essence is to change the narrative, on the one hand that respect for this law is equal to respect for any other law, that it is not an insult, that the law was not created to brag about it to the international community, and that we have an advanced law that is not respected enough, but on the other hand, let’s start and put pressure on the institutions,” said Veljko Samardzic as a guest on the show Slobodno srpski, reported KiM radio.

Petkovic in two-day stay in Kosovo (Radio KIM)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic will start his two-day visit in Kosovo today, Radio KIM reports.

Petkovic will visit Leposavic municipality today at 11:00 and discuss with citizens the latest financial support of the Serbian Government to the citizens in Kosovo.

In the afternoon he will visit a six-member household of Zoran Milosavljevic in the village Crnatovo, in Leposavic municipality, whose house was renovated by the Office for KiM.

Why five EU members will not recognize Kosovo (Sputnik, B92)

Five EU member states that do not recognize Kosovo, do not intend to change their position, B92 reports citing Sputnik portal.

Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Romania and Spain firmly hold their political views on Kosovo, as otherwise they would have a problem with their territorial integrity, the portal continues.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti asked last week in Brussels from five EU member states, which do not recognize Kosovo, to do so, and said that it would “lead Kosovo towards European integration”.

The research associate of the Institute for European Studies Aleksandar Gajic told Sputnik that the reason for such Kurti’s statement was that the non-recognition of Kosovo by some EU member states is not favorable for Pristina’s negotiation moves, which are based on Serbia being conditioned to sign an agreement on the recognition of Kosovo in order to join the EU.

“He understands that this argument is in favor of Serbia and that these five countries are a stumbling stone of the whole group that pushes the recognition of Kosovo as independent. All those countries actually adhere to international law and principles and remain consistent (…)” Gajic said.

According to him, the five countries that did not recognize Kosovo – Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain, remained principled primarily due to their internal interests, i.e. existing and potential problems related to certain parts of their territories and national minorities. It is important to them that the precedent set by Kosovo does not turn into a rule that could jeopardize their territorial integrity.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3fDi28g

Godfrey: The United States still want everything agreed in Washington to be implemented (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

US Ambassador to Serbia Anthony Godfrey said today that Serbia is the economic locomotive of the Western Balkans, the economic leader in the region and one of the most resilient economies in Europe during the coronavirus pandemic, and that the US still want everything agreed in Washington to be implemented, reported Kosovo Online, quoting Belgrade based daily Politika. 

Godfry said for today’s Politika edition that the main drive of that locomotive is intellectual strength and that it is therefore necessary to invest a lot of energy to stop the brain drain and create conditions for long-term revaluation in order for young people to build their future in Serbia.

“The key is to help Serbia integrate and eventually join the largest and most successful economic and political union, the EU. The accession process is difficult, no doubt about it, but the reforms associated with it will help the economy to continue strengthening, thus convincing young people to build their future in the cities of Serbia,” Godfrey said.

Asked whether the Washington agreement is still valid for the current American administration, Godfrey said that the US still wants everything agreed in Washington to be implemented, and reminded that the United States has supported the process leading to a comprehensive and binding agreement on normalization of Belgrade-Pristina relations.

“The US administration will continue to treat elements of the Washington agreement as a priority. The US agrees that some of the issues are best resolved through EU-led dialogue and is ready to support the process as best it can,” Godfrey said.

He added that President Joe Biden understands very well the importance of a stable and prosperous Balkans, as well as a united and free Europe.

“We fully support Serbia’s strategic goal of joining the EU and everything it needs to do in order to succeed. Our assistance through programs in Serbia itself, as well as our clear political support for the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkans, helps Serbia implement the necessary reforms, and to move forward on its European path,” Godfrey concluded

Belgrade sees Beijing as one of main allies in fight for Kosovo (N1)

Belgrade sees Beijing as one of its main allies in the fight for Kosovo, Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said Friday. He described China as Belgrade’s leading supporter in the fight for Kosovo to remain a part of Serbia, adding he was satisfied with “excellent relationship and strategic partnership with China”, N1 reports.

Selakovic added Belgrade firmly supported the ‘one-China’ policy and remained committed to respecting the international order and non-interference with other countries’ internal issues.

In the meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, Selakovic said her country’s continued to help Serbia in the immunization of its population by delivering Sinofram vaccines against the coronavirus.

See more at: https://bit.ly/34b3dUT

Organized crime a major security threat in the Western Balkans (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)

82 percent of the citizens of the Western Balkans believe that organized crime was the main security threat, and 55 percent of the region’s residents believed that corruption contributed to its existence, the first regional public opinion poll on security issues showed, reports Tanjug.

The research was presented by the Regional Cooperation Council, and its Secretary General Majlinda Bregu pointed out that the global pandemic did not reduce security threats and that the region believed that the work on solving security challenges in the Western Balkans was important, quoted portal Kosovo Online. 

She added that 56 percent of respondents supported the work of law enforcement bodies

“When it comes to transnational organized crime, 48 percent of them are dissatisfied. Security threats for 70 percent of the region’s citizens have now been transferred to the digital world and citizens fear that their children and younger relatives could be radicalized on the Internet. Asked about the impact of misinformation, 76 percent of citizens across the region see disinformation as a new way of warfare,” Bregu said.

The Western Balkans SecuryMeter will be conducted annually.

The presentation of the research results was also attended by Brigadier General and Commander of the NATO Headquarters in Sarajevo Eric Folkestad and Director for the Adriatic Region and the Western Balkans in the Directorate General for the European Union at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Andrea Cascone.

Zaev: Although we are a member of NATO, I cannot say that I am not afraid of Greater Albania (KoSSev, Kurir)

Various non-papers for solving the Kosovo problem scare me because not all wounds in the Balkans have healed. When the EU come to a holt with all of us in the region, as soon as our integration process slows down, some non-papers appear, other, radical ideas appear, said the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, in an interview for Kurir, portal KoSSev quoted. 

Although N. Macedonia was not in non-papers, “Greater Albania” is being openly propagated, where a part of Northern Macedonia was. Are you afraid, Zaev was asked.

“I can never say ‘no’ with certainty, but that would be difficult in Northern Macedonia because we are a member of NATO and with every threat to our territory and integrity, Article 5 of the NATO Treaty would be activated, which would protect us – all for one, one for all,” said Zaev.

However, the Northern Macedonian prime minister reiterates that he cannot say “a final no”.

“Because you definitely don’t know how far someone can provoke it. And that is why the solution is for every country to enter the EU. Once we reach the Schengen conditions, then there are no borders.”

He says that “radical ideas” can only end in wars, and no other way.

He expressed hope that there will never be more wars in the region, and he sees the integration of the region into the EU as a formula to prevent them.

Speaking about the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and resolving the Kosovo issue, Zaev said that everything that was acceptable for Belgrade and Pristina was good for Northern Macedonia, but that it must be a solution that guarantees peace in the Balkans, European integration, security and the future of all ethnic communities living in that territory.

Zaev also referred to the initiative of the mini-Schengen, which was initiated by him, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, as well as the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. As initially announced, the initiative aims to improve cooperation in the region.

“Our goal is ‘don’t stop, just go’ at the border. We are working on that, we need to harmonize the legislation, to transfer the trust of the institutions, so when your food agency confirms that Serbian products are good for Serbia, then there is no need to check it in Skopje, just to accept it. There is nothing to wait for at the border,” Zaev said.

He announced that the borders for the free flow of people, goods and capital will be open.

“We have already adopted several agreements, memoranda, parliaments have started to change the laws so that we can harmonize all that, and the first tendency is at least three countries – Serbia, Northern Macedonia and Albania,” he said.

The new non-paper identical to the one announced by Koha in April

The North Macedonian Prime Minister spoke about non-papers only a day after another one appeared in the media, proposing a solution to the Kosovo issue. Autonomy for northern Kosovo, special status for the Serbian Orthodox Church, mutual recognition of Belgrade and Pristina and changes to the constitution are some of the proposals contained in a document published by the Albanian Post two days ago, stating that its authors are Germany and France.

However, the document published by this media is identical to the one published by Pristina’s Koha at the end of April.

Koha also wrote at the time that the authors of the document were Germany and France, while the embassies of these countries denied it the very next day, stating that they support the dialogue managed by the EU through envoy Miroslav Lajcak.

Humanitarian/Development

Joint exhibition of young Serbs and Albanians in Pristina (Kosovo-online)

The art works of 30 young people from Serbian and Albanian communities in Kosovo would be open at “Army” cinema in Pristina. The exhibition deals with facing the past and intercultural dialogue, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Pristina-based Ekonomija online.

Young People Initiative Director Marigona Shabihu said this project aims at encouraging cooperation between young people from different communities in Kosovo.

“We are displaying the works of different young people from across Kosovo. We are glad to be able to create platforms on which young people cooperate in order to present different art pieces focused on cooperation between Kosovo and Serbian youth. The project is supported by USAID aiming at greater cooperation among young people in Kosovo (…)”, she said.

She added she hopes this would be a positive example to the society and community to respect and appreciate diversities.  

Foreigners vaccinated in Serbia will get green digital certificate (N1)

Some 40.000 foreign nationals vaccinated in Serbia against COVID-19 with any of four available shots will get the so-called green digital certificate, the head of the IT’s e-Uprava Office, Mihailo Jovanovic, has said on Friday, N1 reports.

That applies to the foreigners who don’t have a residence permit in Serbia or its ID for foreign nationals. They should apply via the Office website using the same passport as during registration for the immunization.

It is also possible for foreigners with the Unique Master Citizen Number (JMBG), such as the Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens.

The certificate will be available in Serbian-English and Serbian-Chinese languages and can be sent via e-mail or desktop and mobile phone versions.

See at: https://bit.ly/3wlQ2N4

Kon: Serious easing of pandemic measures in Serbia in mid-July (N1)

Epidemiologist Predrag Kon stated that Serbia will undergo a “serious” easing of anti-epidemic measures, but also that, in that context, wearing masks will be the “slowest” to abolish, N1 reports.

“We expect the epidemiological situation to be stable in times to come, but we will start seriously easing the measures in mid-July“, he told TV Prva.

Kon, who is also a member of the Crisis Staff of the Government of Serbia for the fight against coronavirus, pointed out that the “most important“ thing is the drop in the number of deceased.

The epidemiologist also emphasized that the graduation celebration “will probably take place“.