Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 44 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Curfew expected to be lifted as part of new measures against COVID-19 (media)
• Abdixhiku: Kurti has changed position on several topics of dialogue (Koha)
• Opposition call for US involvement in the dialogue (Prishtina Insight)
• Remains of at least nine people exhumed from mass grave in Serbia (BIRN)
• Konjufca: Identities of perpetrators of massacres to be revealed (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Tanaskovic: Pristina’s attempts have no chance of success (RTS)
• Vecernje Novosti: Kurti has visions of tanks in Medvedja (Kosovo Online)
• Jovanovic: US created Kosovo; they can ‘break it up’ if it is in their interest (Kosovo-online)
• Kamberi: Only the United States can force Vucic (B92, Kosovo Online, Euronews) 
• Brnabic: Serbia supports Swedish OSCE priorities (N1)
• Exhumation process in Kizevak concluded (Radio KIM)
• ”The obligation that 50 percent, of registered voters must go to the polls for the referendum, will be abolished” (Vecernje Novosti)
• The second protest held in Stanisor village in Novo Brdo municipality (Kontakt plus radio)  
• Western Balkans a Priority of Slovenia’s EU Council Presidency (Beta, STA)
• Rakic, Mladenovic on implementation of law on use of languages (Kontakt plus radio)
• Serbian Government to financially support families affected by floods in Kosovo (Kosovo-online)

Opinion:

• Western Balkan Border Changes Must Remain An EU Red Line (globalsecurityreview.com)
• Spain’s Impact on Kosovo’s Accession Process into the EU (EWB)

Humanitarian/Development:

• City official says almost half of Serbian capital’s adults vaccinated (N1)
• Brnabic: Environment, green economy are priorities (N1)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 44 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 44 new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 152 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 3,255 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Curfew expected to be lifted as part of new measures against COVID-19 (media)

The Association of Kosovo Municipalities said in a statement today after meeting Health Minister Arben Vitia that the curfew is expected to be lifted as part of new relaxed measures against COVID-19. Vitija thanked the mayors of municipalities for their cooperation saying that their work holds high responsibility as they are the first doors for the citizens and that municipalities often bear the load of decisions made by the central government.

Vitija also said that the main issue is the vaccination against COVID-19 and that another 100,000 are expected to arrive in Kosovo on Friday.

As part of the new possible measures, eateries and bars are expected to be allowed to work until 23:00 and if the coronavirus situation remains stable then events and weddings are expected to be allowed from mid-June.

Abdixhiku: Kurti has changed position on several topics of dialogue (Koha)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku said today that Prime Minister Albin Kurti has changed position on several topics related to the dialogue with Serbia. After meeting Kurti, Abdixhiku said that the Prime Minister has changed position on the demand for an apology from Serbia, reciprocity and internal before external dialogue. “I noticed that the Prime Minister has changed position not only on reciprocity [with Serbia] but also on many other topics in the dialogue. But now is the time for him to prove himself. There are the issues of reciprocity, the apology [from Serbia] and internal before external dialogue,” Abdixhiku told reporters.

Abdixhiku said they talked about the dialogue in the meeting and that he presented the position of the LDK. “We clarified that documents [on the dialogue] were submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office and we confirmed once again that the previous government has submitted all documents related to the dialogue, and if they have lost them they can look for them again. We made a request [Kurti] for presenting the political position at the Assembly. Kosovo must know what the government’s position in the dialogue is,” he said.

Abdixhiku also said they made an offer to Kurti by submitting a document on the political position the government should hold in the dialogue with Serbia. He said the document contains the four guiding principles: the International Court of Justice has ruled that the declaration of Kosovo’s independence was not a violation; Kosovo’s territorial integrity is non-negotiable; Kosovo’s constitutional arrangement is untouchable; and that the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia should result in mutual recognition, Kosovo’s recognition by the five non-recognising EU member states and Kosovo’s membership of the United Nations.

Abdixhiku said that the involvement of the United States of America in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is unquestionable. He said that there should not even be any dialogue with Serbia if the US is not involved. 

He also said that the LDK is part of the institutions and that Kosovo does not need a broad-based negotiating team because it has the government. He said he will hold the government accountable in the Assembly about the dialogue with Serbia.

Opposition call for US involvement in the dialogue (Prishtina Insight)

LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku and AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj have both backed strong US involvement in the EU-mediated dialogue with Serbia following meetings with Prime Minister Albin Kurti this week.

LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku told the media on Wednesday that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia should not take place without US involvement, following a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

“US participation in the dialogue is incontestable,” he said. “Without its participation there should be no dialogue.”

Abdixhiku’s comments followed a similar statement from AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj, who met Kurti on Tuesday. Haradinaj requested that a US representative be present in the talks, which are mediated by the EU and expected to resume in June.

Former prime minister Haradinaj stated that the lack of a clear US presence in the dialogue was “not a good situation for Kosovo” as it “upset the balance of interests.” The AAK leader added that it would be very useful for US President Joe Biden to nominate a representative for the dialogue.

Haradinaj also criticised what he described as confusion over the agenda, with some issues being addressed through the Berlin process and others addressed through the dialogue.

Abidxhiku meanwhile stated that he had submitted a document to Kurti outlining LDK’s view on the position Kosovo should maintain in the dialogue. He highlighted three key principles: Discussions held on the basis of the 2010 ICJ decision on Kosovo’s independence, territorial integrity and the constitutional order.

“As long as the Prime Minister has this document he can use it as his platform,” Abdixhiku said. “As long as he operates under it, the LDK is fine.”

Last week, Kurti also extended an invitation to PDK leader Enver Hoxhaj, who rejected the offer. Hoxhaj stated on Monday that the prime minister should publish a written platform on the dialogue with clear principles, goals and deadlines, before a meeting could take place.

Publicist Veton Surroi also revealed on Monday that he will be part of an advisory team established by the government to assist the negotiation team in the dialogue. 

Speaking to Klan Kosova, Surroi stated that any final agreement reached in the dialogue must lead to a “full normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia” and “open the door to NATO and EU integration.”

Remains of at least nine people exhumed from mass grave in Serbia (BIRN)

The exhumation process at a mass war grave in southern Serbia has been completed with the remains of at least nine individuals recovered, including two identified as victims of the Rezalle massacre in 1999.

The Kosovo Government has announced that the exhumation process at a mass war grave discovered in the Kizevak mine in southern Serbia, has been concluded. Excavation and exhumation at the site, suspected to contain the remains of victims of the Kosovo war, began on November 30, 2020, before being suspended on December 9 due to bad weather.

The process resumed on May 5, 2021, when, according to the Kosovo Government, a full assessment of the location was made, ensuring that any human remains present at the site were exhumed. 

The government’s press release adds that “based on anthropological examinations, it was found that the minimum number of exhumed individuals is nine.”

The International Commissions for Missing Persons, who worked on the exhumation site alongside Kosovo forensic officials and experts from EULEX, told BIRN in April that the identities of two people whose remains were discovered at Kizhevak had been confirmed. 

Director of the Kosovo Institute of Forensic Medicine Arsim Gerxhaliu confirmed to Prishtina Insight on Wednesday that they are both victims of the Rezalle massacre, in which at least 80 civilians were killed.

According to a Human Rights Watch report from 2001, Kosovo Liberation Army fighters reported that bodies from the Rezalle massacre left in shallow graves were later dug up with bulldozers and replaced with the carcasses of dead cows

Speaking at a press conference held in Kizevak on Tuesday, Ibrahim Makolli, Chairman of the Working Group of the Kosovo Delegation for Missing Persons stressed the need to continue to search for the 1,600 persons still missing from the Kosovo war.

“There are a number of suspected locations in Serbia that we believe will be addressed in the coming months and weeks,” Makolli said. “According to Serbian officials, there are suspicions of 16 mass graves. This is the fifth location. We demand answers for 11 other locations where there may be bodies of those killed.”

Over 900 bodies have been found in five mass grave sites in Serbia since the end of the Kosovo war 22 years ago. The site at Kizevak is not far away from the Rudnica mine, where a mass grave was found in 2013 containing the remains of 52 people, all Kosovo Albanians.

In 2014, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague sentenced former senior Serbian police official Vlastimir Djordjevic to 18 years in prison in part for his role in concealing the bodies of ethnic Albanians killed in Kosovo. However, no Serbian court has ever convicted anyone of involvement in the cover-up.

Konjufca: Identities of perpetrators of massacres to be revealed (media)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca said today on the 22nd anniversary of the massacre of 27 unarmed Albanian civilians by Serbian forces in the Tusus neighborhood in Prizren, that the identities of perpetrators of massacres in Kosovo must be revealed. He said that the Kosovo Assembly has recently changed the legislation and that Serb criminals, although they are in Serbia, can be tried in absentia. “The new institutions of the country must work hard in revealing the identities of those that committed the massacres and to call on the international community to find them and put them to trial,” he said.

Konjufca also said that the massacre in Tusus was one of the worst atrocities of the Serbian Army in Kosovo. Prizren Deputy Mayor Visar Shehu said that the Serb criminals must be brought to justice as soon as possible. Another senior municipal official said that the families of the victims already possess all the documents and facts to initiate procedures for seeking justice.

Serbian Language Media

Tanaskovic: Pristina’s attempts have no chance of success (RTS)

Prof. Dr. Darko Tanaskovic, a philologist and diplomat, told RTS that Pristina’s request to remove four Serbian monasteries from the list of world heritage in danger shows rudeness and is an indicator of the continuity of the Self-Determination government.

Darko Tanaskovic, as a guest in the RTS morning News, said that Pristina’s request to remove four Serbian medieval Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo, under the protection of UNESCO, from the list of risk category, is just a different tactic of the same strategy.

“This is a different approach than in 2015, when the so-called Kosovo tried unsuccessfully to become a member of UNESCO, when they experienced a fiasco. This letter states that this failure should not be a permanent punishment for Kosovo. They are trying to go the other way – to create conditions beforehand for their attempt to gain credibility, to change the attitude towards our cultural heritage, especially these monuments that are in danger, and to respect the fact, which they constantly stated, that they can be the only ones to preserve that heritage,” said Tanaskovic.

According to him, that has no chance of success. “That is the continuity of this administration, and I would call it insolence,” Tanaskovic added.

He points out that this problem in Kosovo is of a political nature.

“Everything is the shadow of politics, the situation on the ground is related to political relations. They are trying, from an illegal situation – they are illegal as a state, they are not recognized, from their scandalous attitude towards Serbian cultural heritage, to get some kind of international recognition and convince UNESCO that they will be the ones to take care of it,” the diplomat said.

Serbia, conditionally speaking, he says, is in a good position.

He said that persistently should be worked because the credibility of the authorities in Pristina has been so damaged in previous years, and that they were left with only the bare political support of the states that continue to support Pristina ”due to their restless conscience”. 

According to him, one should not be an expert and see that the authorities in Pristina are permanently obstructing the dialogue.

“They don’t want it. As soon as you get to more serious things, first the creation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, they don’t want it. They refused to include the issue of Serbian cultural heritage in the talks in Brussels; they are only interested in Kosovo’s independence. Now, however, they see that the possible inclusion of this topic could help to obscure it,” Tanaskovic said.

He believes that it is impossible to make an Orthodox church in Kosovo that would not be Serbian.

“Observe the facts”

When it comes to numerous documents that have appeared recently, and in which a possible change of borders in the Balkans is mentioned, Tanaskovic believes that the general public should not pay attention to that.

“We need to see the facts and in which direction they are going. I think that there is no significant change in the attitude of those countries that are also the most deserving of the condition we have now, that is there is no readiness to move to radically different solutions. What can be seen is a change at the global and regional level and an objectively strengthened position of Serbia in the international community, which is far from ideal, but the Serbian position must also be considered,” Tanaskovic emphasizes.

Vecernje Novosti: Kurti has visions of tanks in Medvedja (Kosovo Online)

The suspension of fictitious addresses in the municipalities in the south of Serbia is something that has been being worked on for several years, Vecernje Novosti writes.

At a meeting with Pristina’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Albanian National Council President Ragmi Mustafa presented it as a problem, especially emphasizing Medvedja, which led to Kurti’s words that “in the past, Serbia used violence and tanks to try to displace Albanian-majority municipalities”, and that now it does so administratively, quoted portal Kosovo Online.

Kurti went a step further, talking about some “unacceptable campaign against the Albanian inhabitants of the Presevo Valley, which should be stopped as soon as possible”.

Otherwise, the so-called passivation implies the suspension of residence for those who are determined not to live at the address where they were registered.

According to the Mayor of Medvedja Nebojsa Arsic everything that is being done is in accordance with the laws, and he recalls the assessment from 2015, in which preparation have participated OSCE, the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government, as well as the Coordination Body, and when it was determined that 7,742 inhabitants live on the territory of the Municipality of Medvedja, of which 529 are Albanians.

“Medvedja is an example of good practice, because, for example, the working age Albanian population is employed in almost all local institutions. Their parties are not in power now, but that does not change anything, Albanians are employed in schools, the Ministry of Interior, health institutions … We place great emphasis on equality, and it is no coincidence that the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality declared us the best municipality in 2019 in terms of contributing to the creation of a community of equal opportunities,” Arsic told daily Novosti.

He adds that there have never been major ethnically motivated incidents in Medvedja and that national councils should not deal with voter lists, but with culture, education and similar topics:

“The fact that they classify us in, as they say, the Presevo Valley, is politically motivated, because we are 170 kilometers from Presevo and belong to the Jablanica district, while Presevo is in Pcinjski. Also, Serbs are the absolute majority here, but you will see in cafes that Serbs and Albanians are sitting at the same table, and someone outside Medvedja is using us for daily political manipulations.”

When the census in Serbia was conducted in 2011, councilors of Albanian nationality from Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja decided to boycott it at a joint session, wrote the daily.

Stankovic: They enjoy all the rights

President of the Coordination Body for the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Zoran Stankovic told Vecernje Novosti that Albanians living in the three municipalities in the south enjoy all rights under the Constitution, laws and international conventions, as well as all other national minorities living in Serbia and that it can be confirmed with a thousand examples:

“These three municipalities are constantly visited by representatives of various international institutions, and the OSCE is continuously present in that area and the state has shown interest in resolving all requests of Albanians in a legally prescribed manner. It is clear not only to us but also to the international community, why only the Albanian minority puts constant objections to the work of the institutions of the state of Serbia,” said Stankovic.

Jovanovic: US created Kosovo; they can ‘break it up’ if it is in their interest (Kosovo-online)

Former high-ranking Yugoslav diplomat Vladislav Jovanovic told Kosovo-online portal the US is using Albin Kurti to exert further pressure on Serbia aiming at “pushing Belgrade out of its political shelter in which it relays on international law and legality into the more open space where it would give up on its stance not to recognize Kosovo”.  

Commenting on the announced meeting of US and Russian presidents, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin due on June 16 in Geneva, Jovanovic opined that this meeting “would be dedicated to resolving sensitive issues such as protection of further increasing nuclear and missile weapons, emphasizing that the Balkans is a point of conflict of their interests, however at this moment it is not a priority”.

“Balkan is the place of the conflict of their interests, however it is not a priority at this moment. I do not believe Biden would request from Putin to take a more neutral stance when it comes to this region”, Jovanovic said.

According to him, the US would use Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurit to further exert pressure on Serbia.

“Kosovo is in American hands, the US has created it and they can break it up if it is in their interest. I think they are using Kurti, same as they used Ramush Haradinaj before whom they allowed to keep the tariffs imposed against Serbia for a year and half, without any sanction. Tariffs had a bad impact on the lives of Kosovo citizens, however they aimed at further destabilization of the dialogue and Serbia’s position in negotiations (…)”, Jovanovic said.

He added the US is not pleased with the current principled position of Serbia not to recognize Kosovo, and Kurti is there, as he said, to make Serbia lose its temper, as legality and international law are on the side of Serbia. 

Kamberi: Only the United States can force Vucic (B92, Kosovo Online, Euronews) 

Serbian MP from the Party for Democratic Action, Shaip Kamberi stated that only the USA could force Vucic to recognize the independence of Kosovo, reported portal B92, quoting Albanian Euronews. 

He assessed for the Albanian Euronews that the EU could not conduct a dialogue, stating that it has been a mediator for several years and that there were no concrete results.

“We have signed some agreements that have not been respected so far. Serbia has not yet faced direct international pressure to take the last step towards Kosovo. I think the United States can force Serbia to go in this direction,” Kamberi said.

Kamberi evaluated the statements of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, that he will not recognize Kosovo, as part of the election campaign, and believed that his goal was not Kosovo, but, as he said, trade through Kosovo for the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He added that the Prime Minister of the interim institutions, Albin Kurti, did not yet invite the representatives of the municipalities of the so-called Presevo Valley to participate in the dialogue.

“The Presevo Valley should be part of the dialogue, because discrimination gravely afflicts the valley of Albanians,” Kamberi claimed. When speaking about the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, Kamberi said that it was Serbia’s goal to create an autonomous region within Kosovo.

“This is an attempt to create a situation like the situation of Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They want an autonomous area within Kosovo, which will have the power to incapacitate the state of Kosovo itself,” Kamberi believed, portal B92 quoted. 

Brnabic: Serbia supports Swedish OSCE priorities (N1)

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde that Serbia supports the priorities of the Swedish OSCE chairmanship, N1 reports.

A government press release said that they discussed those priorities, Serbian European integration process, rule of law, media freedom and the fight against organized crime.

Linde is quoted as saying that Serbia has achieved progress in reforms, but has to continue working on their implementation. Serbia has the full support of the OSCE on that path, she said.

“Brnabic asked for Sweden’s support to opening clusters in the negotiation process and pointed out that that would be a good signal for the citizens of Serbia when it comes to joining the European Union”, the press release said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3ugSB1u

Exhumation process in Kizevak concluded (Radio KIM)

The process of excavation and exhumation of mortal remains of the victims of Kosovo war (1998-1999) in Kizevak near Raska has been completed. Up to date mortal remains of nine persons have been found at this location, Radio KIM reports.

Kosovo Government Missing Persons Commission announced today the process of exhumation and excavation in Kizevak has been completed.

Based on anthropological examination it was concluded that mortal remains found there belong to minimal nine persons. Two persons have been identified using DNA method, in the first phase of exhumation, the statement said.

The exhumation and excavation process in Kizevak was carried out in two phases. First one from November 30 to December 9 last year and from May 5 to May 26 this year.

During the second phase that started on May 5, a complete assessment of a marked mass grave location was done, and all mortal remains of the victims from the war have been exhumed, the Radio said.  

”The obligation that 50 percent, of registered voters must go to the polls for the referendum, will be abolished” (Vecernje Novosti)

The limit that at least half of the registered voters must go to the referendum, in order for the whole process to succeed, will be abolished by the new Law on Referendum and People’s Initiative, which will soon be before the Serbian parliament deputies, wrote the Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti.

Thus, this act will be harmonized with the Constitution, which in paragraph 203 stipulates that the change was adopted by the votes of the majority of voters, without a “threshold” of how many should participate in the referendum.

According to the new rules, they will vote on the declaration on the change of the Constitution in the part that refers to the judiciary and the manner of electing judges. The session at which the amendment of the highest legal act should practically begin is scheduled for June 8, according to Novosti

The President of the Assembly of Serbia, Ivica Dacic said that the Law on Referendum should be changed because the existing one is not harmonized with the Constitution, although it should have been done a year from the day of passing the highest legal act

– It is 14-15 years late with the change of the law. The existing Constitution repealed the provision of the previous Constitution from the 1990s, according to which it was necessary for more than half of all voters to go out and vote to change the Constitution, and now that needs to be confirmed by law – Dacic explained.

The current law was passed in 1994 and was minimally amended in 1998. Referendum and popular initiative are rarely used, while the situation is much different in European countries.

Since the introduction of the multi-party system in Serbia, there have been only three referendums at the state level – in 1992, 1998 and 2006, and the proposer was only the Assembly, not the citizens. 

Only one people’s initiative was accepted, namely the “Tijana Juric” Foundation to change the criminal law, recalled the daily.

Only referendums were held at the local level, which referred to the introduction of local self-contributions, which shows that the referendum as an institution of democracy is very poorly applied. According to the changes, the required number of voters who run it in local self-governments should be reduced to five percent (so far, some local statutes have provided for 25).

The second protest held in Stanisor village in Novo Brdo municipality (Kontakt plus radio)  

Serbs and Albanians from Stanisor in the municipality of Novo Brdo protested yesterday, and the day before, because of the trucks that pass through their village every day from the surrounding quarries. Due to that, the villagers are worried about the safety of children, health, but also the collapse of the road infrastructure. The mayor of Novi Brdo provided support to those gathered, who called on the central authorities to provide the residents of Stanisor with normal living conditions.

Serbs and Albanians from Stanisor have been pointing out the problem of trucks passing through their village for seven years.

“This problem has not been solved until today, it has even expanded. Primarily the infrastructure was destroyed. This is an act against healthy and normal life, against basic human rights, the impact on farming, vegetables… People can’t get out of their houses, they can’t walk through the village,” said Igrov Vasic, a resident of the village of Stanisor.

“About 19 trucks pass in one minute. As for the damage caused by trucks, it is primarily reflected in endangering the safety of residents, damage to health, there is too much dust, and in addition there are too many quarries, six of them are in the vicinity,” said Adem Isufi, a resident of Stanisor.

The president of the municipality of Novo Brdo, Svetislav Ivanovic supported the locals and yesterday, appealed to the central authorities to find a solution and provide people with normal living conditions.

“We tried to find an adequate solution to this problem a couple of times, so we paved one section of the road. In the conversation with the locals and with the people from the quarry, it was assessed that the most expedient solution is to move the road for heavy trucks near the village. We received approval from the Forestry Agency. The Geodetic Service made the route of the road, but in the end it turned out to be a problem with a private person who is asking for a certain compensation for the passage of the road through his property and could not find a solution with the Ministry of Finance,” said Svetislav Ivanovic, president of Novo Brdo municipality.

According to the locals, the problem dates to 2014, and so far, as they point out, they have complained to the local and central authorities, while on several occasions they have organized protests that blocked the road.

For a start, those gathered are asking for a temporary solution that would ban traffic through the village with trucks over 3.5 tons.

The protest, they say, will continue until a solution is found, reported Kontakt plus radio.

Western Balkans a Priority of Slovenia’s EU Council Presidency (Beta, STA)

Slovenian Foreign Minister Anze Logar has said in Ljubljana that the Western Balkans will be one of Slovenia’s priorities during that country’s holding of the EU Council’s presidency.

After meeting with his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic, Logar told the press that during his country’s mandate an EU-Western Balkans summit will be organized to ”address numerous issues”, the STA news agency reported in the evening on May 25.

Logar expressed his hope that during Slovenia’s term progress in the Western Balkans’ EU perspective would be made through a dialogue on all open matters.

Ha also said that his Serbian counterpart had acquainted him with the reform processes in Serbia and offered Slovenia’s assistance to Serbia on its path toward EU membership.

Selakovic and Logar had agreed that both countries will recognize each other’s covid certificates. According to Selakovic, this will allow the citizens of both countries to freely travel to Serbia and Slovenia.

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

Rakic, Mladenovic on implementation of law on use of languages (Kontakt plus radio)

“Respect for the Law on the use of languages is a key to the progress of any society”, Kosovo Minister for Communities and Return Goran Rakic and Language Commissioner Slavisa Mladenovic concluded in a meeting, Kontakt plus radio reports.

Rakic and Mladenovic also noted that “mentioned law looks good on paper, but its implementation is not good”.

“In some institutions, this law is not applied at all, which is very bad”, the press statement issued by Rakić’s cabinet reads, the Radio said.

It was added that Rakic and Mladenovic “will work together on the implementation of the strategy, which will help change what is not good at the moment and the reasons as to why the law is not being applied”. 

Serbian Government to financially support families affected by floods in Kosovo (Kosovo-online)

Serbian Government has secured financial aid in the amount of 120.000 RSD (slightly above EUR 1.000) per family for those affected in the floods that hit Kosovo in January this year, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Eight local self-governments in Kosovo functioning within the system of the Serbian Government reported damaged residential objects, while three local self-governments reported damaged infrastructure.

Sandra Nedeljkovic from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said the verification process was completed, they have visited locations and checked the records, adding she expects the financial aid to the citizens to be delivered in a month’s time.

She also explained it is about a program to support citizens whose residential objects have been damaged, however, auxiliary, economic and business objects were not included in this program.

She also explained that another program of the Serbian Government relates to the damaged general infrastructure under responsibility of local self-government, such as local bridges, roads, drainage system, infrastructure for defense against floods and so on.  

Opinion

Western Balkan Border Changes Must Remain An EU Red Line (globalsecurityreview.com)

Anyone who glances at a European Union map will immediately notice the conspicuous exclusion of most of the Western Balkan states. Despite being surrounded by EU members on all sides, the countries of this region (apart from Croatia) have so far failed to successfully attain membership in the bloc. There are many reasons for this, including both the region’s ongoing struggle to develop democratic institutions, as well as the European Union’s own “enlargement fatigue.” The continued existence of ethnic heterogeneity in Western Balkans, however, is not to blame. In fact, any consideration of border changes as a solution to the region’s stagnant EU path suggests a betrayal of the very values that lie at the heart of the European Union.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3frmxE5

Spain’s Impact on Kosovo’s Accession Process into the EU (EWB)

Since the declaration of independence in February 2008, Kosovo has considered the accession into the European Union (EU) as one of the key strategic priorities of its foreign policy. However, the accession process has shown to be rather cumbersome and complicated. Although twenty-two EU member states have recognized Kosovo’s independence, the five non-recognizers – Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Cyprus and Spain – continue to block Kosovo’s accession to the EU. As a result, Kosovo lags considerably behind the rest of the countries from the region, as the last country to sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in 2015, and the only one in the Western Balkans without freedom of movement of its citizens. The insistence of the five non-recognizers on the EU’s status-neutral position towards Kosovo’s independence has in addition to undermining Kosovo’s state-building, has also basically made its further progress towards the EU impossible regardless of the fulfilment of the accession criteria.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3wyYd8J

Humanitarian/Development

City official says almost half of Serbian capital’s adults vaccinated (N1)

Belgrade Deputy Mayor Goran Vesic said Wednesday almost half of the adult population in the Serbian capital had been inoculated against the coronavirus, N1 reports.

Vesic said in a Facebook post that 681,028 people had received at least one vaccine shot and that 580,949 people had received both doses, which is 48.9 percent of the city’s adult population. He also claimed that 78.4 of the population between the ages of 65 and 74 have been vaccinated as of Tuesday.

A total of 1,251,977 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Belgrade to date – 766,242 doses of Sinopharm, 246,856 Pfizer, 190,856 Sputnik V and 83,161 AstraZeneca.

According to Vesic’s post, 54 percent of the vaccinated are women.

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

Brnabic: Environment, green economy are priorities (N1)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic told an online conference on green industrial policies that the environment and transition to a green economy are priorities for the government, N1 reports.

She said that Serbia is capable of financing the start of large-scale projects and added that some investments have already been launched. The conference was organized by the Embassy of Germany and the German-Serbian Initiative.

“We will launch the construction of water purification facilities in 28 local communities this year as well as projects to improve and protect air quality in places where it is worst because of the use of fossil fuels and coal for central heating”, she said.

Brnabic also noted that Serbia needs to invest up to six billion Euro for water management to reach European Union standards and invited German companies to join in those projects, saying that “there is a lot of room for public-private partnerships”.

German Ambassador Thomas Schieb told the online conference that the European Union wants to become climate neutral by 2050 and added that this is an ambitious goal for Serbia as a candidate country.

“To achieve climate neutrality over the next 30 years, all current and future EU members have to reduce the emissions of toxic gases by establishing circular economies and intensifying efforts to protect the environment”, he said and warned that the modernization of the economy could lead to losses of jobs and the disappearance of some industries.

See at: https://bit.ly/2RMgrF8