• COVID-19: 28 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Government: PM Kurti has been open and transparent about dialogue (Telegrafi)
• EU: Kosovo and Serbia agreed to hold monthly meetings at negotiators’ level (Kallxo)
• Everything changing for the better in Kosovo, Kurti tells Diaspora members (KP)
• Serwer: International community to react to “Serb World” idea (media)
• RAEPC: Text messages in Decan from MTS operator will not be sent again (Koha)
• LDK’s candidate for Pristina pelted with eggs at event (media)
• Kusari-Lila comments on possibility of running for mayor in Gjakova (Telegrafi)

COVID-19: 28 new cases, no deaths (media)

28 new cases of COVID-19 and no fatalities from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 18 persons have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 114 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

To date, 333, 705 vaccine have been administered in Kosovo.

Government: PM Kurti has been open and transparent about dialogue (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu commented on Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s representation at the dialogue with Serbia in Brussels saying he has been transparent about the topics that were discussed.

“Prime Minister Kurti Prime has spoken after each meeting about the content, proposals and documents that the Republic of Kosovo has presented in those meetings,” Kryeziu said, adding that as far as the first meeting goes, the government made public the four proposals that Prime Minister Kurti presented in Brussels and regarding the second, recent meeting, the public was informed of the “the two documents presented in that meeting by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi and the books that the Prime Minister gave but that Vucic did not accept which describe and document Serbia’s crimes against the Albanian population.”

“The citizens are aware of the proposals, requests and documents presented by the Republic of Kosovo in these meetings, because Prime Minister Kurti has been open and transparent,” Kryeziu noted.

EU: Kosovo and Serbia agreed to hold monthly meetings at negotiators’ level (Kallxo)

A spokesperson for the EU’s foreign policy and security told Kallxo.com that after the last meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the parties have agreed to continue the dialogue.

“As EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak said after the meeting on Monday, it was a difficult meeting and demonstrated very different approaches of the two sides regarding normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. However, both sides agreed to continue the dialogue. They agreed to meet at the main negotiating level every month to address current issues and prepare for high-level meetings,” the spokesperson said.

Everything changing for the better in Kosovo, Kurti tells Diaspora members (KP)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti met members of the Kosovo Diaspora in Pristina and spoke about the government’s work in the four months since taking office.

“In these four months we have proved that different and better is truly possible,” Kurti said. He noted that Kosovo in this period has made progress not only in the fight against corruption but also in the economic front. “For the first time, Kosovo Customs in the first five months of this year exceeded the level of 500 million euro in revenues, 28 percent more than last year,” Kurti said, adding that exports have also increased, by 66 percent. “We expect the Kosovo budget, at 2.5 billion, to enable us through good governance to conclude the year with at least 7.9 percent economic growth.”

Serwer: International community to react to “Serb World” idea (media)

Daniel Serwer, the U.S. analysts on the Balkans from the Johns Hopkins University, told Sarajevo-based paper Dnevni Avaz that the U.S. the European Union and NATO should categorically oppose the ideology of a “Serb World” as undemocratic.

“Aleksandar Vulin has become the loudest proponent of the ‘Serb World’ idea which is attributed to President Aleksandar Vucic. This idea is a hot version of the ‘Great Serbia’ of Slobodan Milosevic which failed to materialise,” Serwer said, adding that chances for such a scenario to happen are slim. “Vucic’s statements that no bullets will be fired are empty. If he really believed in this, he would not arm Serbia with Russian and Chinese weapons. He thinks that if Serbia becomes strong enough, its neighbors will give up territory and will not risk war. There is no reason to think that this will happen or that Serbia will not use weapons if it thinks, like Milosevic, that it can win.”

Serwer said Vucic’s ambition is to take 15 percent of Kosovo’s territory and 49 percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s and that it is final time for Brussels to tell Serbia that EU membership will not be possible for a country that nurtures territorial ambitions towards other countries and that Washington should give clear signals that NATO will protect all Serbia’s neighbours.

RAEPC: Text messages in Decan from MTS operator will not be sent again (Koha)

The Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications (RAEPC) clarified in a statement provided to Koha the text messages sent to the Decan residents living in the area surrounding the Orthodox Monastery by the Serb mobile operator, MTS.

“This happened as a result of the implementation of the roaming agreement between IPKO operator and that of Serbia MTS. Messages in question were not sent by MTS, but by IPKO to its clients when they receive roaming in a different country,” RAEPC said. The regulatory authority added that they raised the issue with IPKO mobile operator and were assured this will not happen any longer within the territory of Kosovo.

LDK’s candidate for Pristina pelted with eggs at event (media)

Perparim Rama, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate for Pristina mayor, has been egged at an event in the capital’s neighbourhood by a group of unidentified persons who, according to the party, were chanting ‘Vetevendosje’.

Rama took to Facebook to say that while there are a lot of discontent people in Pristina, “there is no room for panic”.

Vetevendosje Movement has meanwhile rejected allegations that its activists were behind the incident. “The actions of our activists have always been public. Therefore once again we underline that these actions have not been organised by the Vetevendosje Movement,” the party said in a statement.

Kusari-Lila comments on possibility of running for mayor in Gjakova (Telegrafi)

The acting head of the Vetevendosje Movement parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, commented on reports that she will be running for Gjakova mayor come fall elections.

She said the party is in the final stage of discussing candidacies for Kosovo mayors and that she personally has not decided yet whether to run. “Citizens from all parties are asking me to join the race in Gjakova, but I have not yet decided. I have never detached myself from Gjakova,” she said in an interview with RTV Dukagjini.