Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: The government will help reduce the gap between communities (Koha)
• KIA Chief Petrit Ajeti reports to the supervising committee (media)
• Minister Mehaj gives details about the released from the hospital in Croatia (Zeri)
• Croatian Court sentences driver of crashed bus with one month detention (media)
• Economy committee votes proposal for ERO board members (media)
• Maas: A German citizen among the victims of the bus crash (media)
• 55 patients are being treated with oxygen therapy, one in serious condition (Koha)
• COVID-19: 42 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 58% of Serbian citizens support the EU-mediated BG-PR dialogue (KoSSev)
• Stefanovic: Serbia grateful to Indonesia for support and non-recognition of Kosovo (Kosovo-online)
• In Serbian communities in Kosovo one Covid-19 case (KoSSev) 

Opinion:

• The genocide campaign (Danas, KoSSev)

International:

• Minuto-Rizzo: Balkans has regained a priority status for NATO (EWB)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Summer School on Transitional Justice in Prizren (RTK2)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: The government will help reduce the gap between communities (Koha)

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology this year for the first time will allocate a fund of 200 thousand euros for community-based civil society organizations that support the work of learning centers, said in a statement of the Office of the Prime Minister.

This year, in cooperation with international partners, scholarships have also been awarded to 596 high school students.

“There is a wide gap between Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children on the one hand and other communities in terms of achievements in the field of education. This gap has increased even more during the pandemic, as the opportunities for children of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities to attend online education have been more than limited,” said Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in a meeting organized to raise funds for construction of a new Community and Learning Center in Fushe Kosove.

“Learning centers like yours have contributed and will continue to contribute to reducing this gap, mobilizing the community’s potential to help its members. But you will also have the government of the Republic of Kosovo on your side, which will not hesitate to support such initiatives,” Kurti said.

The center, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, aims to support about 300 children in education, to expand knowledge and to become agents of positive change for their community. 

KIA Chief Petrit Ajeti reports to the supervising committee (media)

The director of Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA) Petrit Ajeti, reported behind closed doors to the Assembly Supervising Committee.

Immediately after the meeting, the chairwoman of the Committee Ganimete Musliu held a press conference.

“Today we had the director of the Intelligence Agency Petrit Ajeti on the regular report for the first 6 months of the year. It was generally reported on the work, the activity of the KIA and the security situation in the country.

Based on the information received from Mr. Ajeti as director of this agency, the security situation in the country is stable and there is no room for concerns or any additional concerns of the citizens of Kosovo,” Musliu said.

Minister Mehaj gives details about the released from the hospital in Croatia (Zeri)

The Minister of Defense Armend Mehaj announced that 26 injured from the bus accident in Croatia have been released from the hospital, while 15 others are still being treated, and one of them is in serious condition.

“Yesterday, as well as during the evening hours, I was in constant contact with the Croatian defense authorities, as well as in full coordination with Minister Svecla and Minister Vitia. Our attaché, Colonel Hoxha, has been fully engaged all the time and has constantly informed me about the process of managing the circumstances created after the tragedy. So far, 26 of the injured have been released, while 15 are still being treated in hospital, of which only one is in serious condition,” Mehaj said.

He stressed that the released and those that will be released soon from the hospital will be offered accommodation and transportation to their hometown via airlines from Osijek airport.

“We will be close to the families who lost their loved ones and ours, as well as to the injured until the end. This is our mission and this is our task,” he said.

On this occasion, he thanked Croatian ministers Banozic and Bozinovic, as well as all state and local authorities of the Republic of Croatia, who did their best to manage this tragedy, which they feel to be common.

“Friendship and alliance with the Croatian state and people is natural and will always be so,” he concluded.

Croatian Court sentences driver of crashed bus with one month detention (media)

The District Court in Slavonski Brod decided to sentence the driver of the bus that crashed in Croatia leaving ten people dead and 40 others injured, to one month in detention.

The Deputy State Attorney, Kopunic District, said the reason for the detention was prevention from escaping from Croatia.

“The investigating judge ordered detention for one month, due to the eventual possibility of leaving the Republic of Croatia, so, escape. He will now be sent to prison. Today he only made the statement about the detention, he did not give any evidence,” he said.

The driver’s lawyer stated that his client never said he dosed off during the accident.

Later on, Zeri reported that the driver was once again brought in front of the court, this time to participate in the hearing of the testimonies of the survived passengers. 

Maas: A German citizen among the victims of the bus crash (media)

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made a statement about the accident of the Frankfurt-Pristina bus in Croatia that took the lives of 10 people on Sunday.

Maas said that the teams of the ministry he leads are in contact with Kosovo and Croatia to help the survivors and that among the dead is a German citizen.

“Together with our friends in Kosovo and Croatia, we mourn the victims of the horrific bus accident. Our teams are in close contact to help survivors. We now have the sad assurance that a German citizen is among the dead,” Maas wrote.

Economy committee votes proposal for ERO board members (media)

The news website reports that despite criticism from opposition lawmakers, members of the Economy Committee voted with a majority of votes on the government’s proposal for the names of candidates for chairpersons and members of the Board of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO).

Chairman of the committee Ferat Shala stressed that there are violations and political actions on the selection of the members of this board.

Pal Lekaj, MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) also criticized, stressing that the government’s proposal is purely political, and scandalous.

Whereas, the member of the committee Mimoza Kusari Lila supported the proposal of the government decision, saying that they have eliminated the names that were political.

In addition to Vehbi Sofiu, Imer Fejzullahu was also nominated for the position of Chairman of the ERO Board.

The following candidates have been proposed for Board members: Astrit Saraqini, Gani Bucaj, Arjeta Pajaziti – Qerimi and Lutfije Dervishi.

In today’s meeting, the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, also reported on the level of implementation of the law on companies.

55 patients are being treated with oxygen therapy, one in serious condition (Koha)

88 patients infected with Covid 19 virus continue to be treated in Kosovo clinics and general hospitals.

According to the official report of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, 55 patients are with oxygen therapy, while one is in serious condition.

29 patients are being treated in the Infectious Diseases Clinic and 42 patients in the Pulmonology Clinic.

In general hospitals, out of 17 patients who resulted positive with COVID 19, seven are with oxygen therapy. At present, only three regional hospitals are treating patients with Covid 19.

The hospital of Gjakova has two patients, that of Peja four patients and Gjilan 10 patients.

COVID-19: 42 new cases, no deaths (media)

42 new cases of COVID-19 and no fatalities from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 16 persons have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 195 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

To date, 374,190 vaccine doses have been administered in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

58% of Serbian citizens support the EU-mediated BG-PR dialogue (KoSSev)

Most Serbian citizens are in favor of joining the European Union and see it as a leading donor, trade and investment partner, according to a survey conducted by Ninamedia for the EU Delegation to Serbia, the EU Info Center in Belgrade announced.

Serbia’s accession to the EU is supported by 54% of respondents, while one third is against, this poll showed.

Based only on those who expressed an opinion, the referendum would lead to a result of 62% versus 38% in favor of EU accession.

The largest pro-European segment of the population consists of young people (18-29 years old) with more than two thirds who are in favor of Serbia’s membership in the EU.

When asked how they would vote if a referendum on Serbia’s accession to the EU was  organized today, 52.3 percent of respondents said “for” while 32.6 percent said “against”. 

8.4 percent of the respondents said that they would not vote, 6.2 percent of them were not sure and 0.5 percent refused to answer.

The poll also shows that a total of 58% of citizens support the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

At the same time, citizens believe that the normalization process is the most important condition for Serbia to join the EU, followed by the fight against organized crime and corruption, according to the Ninamedia poll.

Serbian citizens see the EU as a key economic and political partner when it comes to trade and investment – 42.7%, according to a survey. At the same time, more than 50% of citizens believe that they personally, as well as the state of Serbia, will gain more advantages than disadvantages by joining the EU.

More than 40.9 percent of respondents also said that the EU is the largest donor in Serbia.

32.4 percent of citizens as the largest donor see Russia, and China 20.02 percent. Then follow the USA, Turkey, Germany and Japan, while 0.5 percent of the respondents think that it is Novak Djokovic.

The survey was conducted in June 2021 on a sample of 1211 people from 40 cities and municipalities, using the CAPI method (CAPI – computer-assisted face-to-face survey).

EU Ambassador to Serbia Sem Fabrizi pointed out that the results of the latest public opinion poll are very encouraging.

“The majority of Serbian citizens continue to support joining the union and position the EU as the largest donor, trade and investment partner, including during the pandemic. In addition, more citizens believe in our strong commitment to Serbia joining us as an EU member. This additionally motivates us to continue to build stronger ties and engage in all fields in order to speed up and support the EU accession process,” said Ambassador Fabrizi.

Stefanovic: Serbia grateful to Indonesia for support and non-recognition of Kosovo (Kosovo-online)

Serbian Minister of Defense, Nebojsa Stefanovic in a meeting with the Strategic Intelligence Agency of the Armed Forces of Indonesia, led by Lieutenant General Joni Supriyanto said the two countries for several decades are linked not only by cooperation but also by friendly relations, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Stefanovic added that “Serbia remains grateful to Indonesia over its support and principled stance it demonstrated not to recognize so-called Kosovo”.

Stefanovic also said he hopes for continuation of military scientific and military technical cooperation and extended an invitation to the officials to visit Belgrade on the occasion of the Non-Aligned Summit due in October this year as well as arms fair.   

In Serbian communities in Kosovo one Covid-19 case (KoSSev) 

Out of a total of 18 tested samples in Serbian areas in Kosovo, according to the latest data, one case of coronavirus was registered, the Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced.

The infected person is from Zubin Potok. The number of active cases is 2.

The last report for Serb communities in Kosovo was published on July 24.

Opinion

The genocide campaign (Danas, KoSSev)

By: Bojan Djokic

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted in 1948 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The lawyer Rafael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide,“ was one of its authors. The term genocide is derived from the words genos (Greek γένος- family, tribe, or race) and accidere (Latin word – to kill).

This neologism was introduced during the Holocaust, although Lemkin was inspired by the massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

The Armenian genocide was recognized by the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, and over 30 countries in the world, but the Republic of Serbia is not one of them.

It did not even officially recognize the suffering of the Serb and Roma population during Ustasha regime in Croatia (WWII), which had the characteristics of genocide.

Recently, the debate on Kosovo genocide lawsuit against the Republic of Serbia has been brought to the fore.

This genocide idea is not recent. It is linked to Hashim Thaci and his attempt to homogenize and mobilize the electorate, in order to avoid the adoption of the Law on Specialist Chambers in The Hague and face the crimes of KLA members.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3x8Y6Rl

International

Minuto-Rizzo: Balkans has regained a priority status for NATO (EWB)

Conference “Black Sea and Balkan Perspectives: A Strategic Region”, organised by the NATO Defense College Foundation, is taking place on Wednesday, 28 July. On this occasion, we interviewed Ambassador Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, President of the NATO Defense College Foundation and a former Deputy Secretary General and acting Secretary General of NATO, who will also deliver the welcome remarks at the Conference.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3x2E4rr

Humanitarian/Development

Summer School on Transitional Justice in Prizren (RTK2)

The director of the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, Bekim Blakaj told RTK2 that the organisation, even after two decades, is not satisfied with the results of the Kosovo War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office.

“We are not satisfied at all, that mechanism has yet to bring justice to the victims. That has not happened so far, 22 years after the war in Kosovo. If we talk about Kosovo, we have 41 people convicted of war crimes. On the other hand, we have tens of thousands of victims. That pillar of transitional justice has failed so far, it is very difficult, and we cannot expect that all victims will receive justice soon, or at all,” said Blakaj, reported RTK2.

Blakaj said that opinions and views about the past of the younger generations of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo are totally different. Therefore, the Kosovo HLC traditionally organizes a summer school on transitional justice.

“Each side has its own narrative, so one side does not see the other side, victims of the other side are not recognized. That is why we implemented the project and as part of that project, every year we organize a traditional summer school of transitional justice, which is always held in Prizren during DOKUFEST. Therefore, we cooperate with DOKUFEST. It is a very good opportunity for young people, in addition to listening to lectures on transitional justice, they will have the opportunity to participate in various debates on human rights, transitional justice, but also on art, films and it will give a chance for them to expand their horizons.”

The Kosovo HLC, within the project “Transforming Perceptions of Conflict through Increasing the Participation of the Civil Sector and Communities in Kosovo”, is organizing a summer school on transitional justice in Prizren from August 9th to 13th. The Summer School of Transitional Justice will have 20 participants from all ethnic communities in Kosovo. Selected students will have the opportunity to learn about the mechanisms of transitional justice such as: the right to justice, the right to truth, the right to compensation (reparations) and institutional reforms from international and domestic experts in this field.