Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 30 deaths, 685 new cases (media)
• Kurti: We acted based on Health Institute recommendations (media)
• Health Ministry proposes school year to be postponed to September 26 (Telegrafi)
• “With current pace, Kosovo can vaccinate 70 percent of population” (Koha)
• European Union deploys Election Observation Mission (media)
• Haradinaj: Kosovo doesn’t have KLA files; we gave everything to NATO (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Djuric with Escobar: I am looking forward to working together (Kosovo Online)
• Pec double homicide, a part of a long list of political assassinations in Kosovo; Beqaj: Unsolved assassinations encourage new ones (KoSSev)
• Petkovic: Families deserve the truth and victims deserve peace (Kosovo Online, KiM radio)
• Spahiu: Community of Serbian municipalities a path towards the final agreement, Kosovo needs recognition not Serbia (Kosovo Online)
• Office for KiM: House of Mirjana Dedic from Orahovac stoned (TV Most, RTV Puls)
• Petkovic: False accusations of hate speech (KiM radio)
• Belgrade and Washington agree: Fighting terrorism successful only in partnership (N1, Beta)
• Serbs’ expectations from opening Kosovo’s and the former KLA archives (KiM radio)
• Online school in Serbian communities and next week (KiM radio)

International:

• Deputy PM’s threats shake Montenegro’s fragile coalition govt (BIRN)
• Work Starts in Serbia on Chinese Sinopharm Vaccines Factory (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 30 deaths, 685 new cases (media)

30 deaths from COVID-19 685 new infections were recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. 1,384 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 19,923 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Kurti: We acted based on Health Institute recommendations (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook video today that the situation with COVID-19 changed rapidly and that in every situation the authorities followed the recommendations of the National Institute for Public Health.

“Today it may seem that we could have done more in June and July, but the situation then was completely different. If we had taken extreme restrictive measures when the numbers were very low, it would be an excessive reaction. Then and now we acted in line with the recommendations of the National Institute for Public Health and the situation on the ground, when there was a very low number of new cases until August and even in the first ten days of August,” he said.

Kurti said the government took measures and is acting in real time and mentioned the frightening spike in fatalities from the coronavirus in a few days. “For example on August 8 there was no fatality. On August 13 there was only one fatality, whereas on August 28, so 15 days later, there were 36 fatalities. A surprising and unexpected spike. The experts were expecting a wave from the Delta variant but not so early nor with such a spike,” he said.

Kurti also said that the spread of the Delta variant is not progressive but explosive. “The infection bears a high risk and vaccination lowers this threat by 95 percent. Vaccination and tests, masks, physical distance and hygiene, will help us emerge from the pandemic and this healthcare emergency,” he said.

Health Ministry proposes school year to be postponed to September 26 (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, proposed today in a meeting with mayors of municipalities to postpone the start of the new school year until September 26. Sazan Ibrahimi, chairman of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, who attended the meeting, told the news website that pre-university education has been suspended until September 26. 

“With current pace, Kosovo can vaccinate 70 percent of population” (Koha)

Over 1 million doses of anti COVID vaccines have been administered in Kosovo to date and with the current pace 60 percent of the population could be vaccinated by the end of the year as the government has pledged. According to the Ministry of Health, this figure could even reach 70 percent. 

Faik Hoti, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told the news website today: “On average, 20,000 doses are administered daily. I believe that starting from this weekend, as there will be vaccinations on Sundays too, the number of vaccinated people will increase. This will help us maintain a very good pace of vaccination and although we have started later compared to other countries, Kosovo has a good chance of reaching a high percentage and meet the government’s objective of vaccinating at least 60 percent of the population. Although we were the last to start the vaccination, we could reach 60 or 70 percent of vaccination among the population in the region,” he said.

Hoti called on pregnant women to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as several pregnant women have succumbed to the virus in the last couple of weeks. “We call on pregnant women to get vaccinated because there is no scientific proof that vaccination has any negative effects on pregnancy,” he added.

European Union deploys Election Observation Mission (media)

In response to an invitation by the President of Kosovo, the European Union (EU) has decided to deploy an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the local elections scheduled for 17 October 2021.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, has appointed Mr. Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament as Chief Observer of the 2021 EU EOM to Kosovo. The Mission started to deploy to Kosovo in the beginning of September.

High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell said: “The European Union remains committed and engaged to support Kosovo on its European path and in strengthening its democratic governance. Already for the third time, we will be observing municipal elections in Kosovo through an EU Election Observation Mission. I trust that the Mission’s presence will contribute to an inclusive, credible and transparent election process, as well as help the necessary future electoral reform efforts. We look forward to continue working with Kosovo authorities to strengthen the electoral process, in line with the findings and recommendations of our successive missions.”

The Chief Observer Mr. Lukas Mandl said: “I am pleased to have been entrusted with the responsibility of leading this EU EOM. I am confident that the mission will bring added value to the electoral process. I look forward to meeting and engaging on the ground with authorities, political parties, candidates, civil society and other electoral stakeholders.”

The Core Team of the EU EOM consisting of 10 election experts, arrived in Pristina on 5 September. In mid-September, 22 Long-Term Observers will join the mission and will be deployed across the country. The mission will be reinforced with short-term observers during election day. The EU EOM will remain in the country until the completion of the electoral process, including for the possible second round of mayoral elections on 14 November.

In accordance with the EU election observation methodology, the mission will issue a preliminary statement and hold a press conference in Pristina shortly after the elections. The final report, which will include a set of recommendations for future electoral processes, will be presented and shared with stakeholders after the finalisation of the entire electoral process.

Haradinaj: Kosovo doesn’t have KLA files; we gave everything to NATO (media)

Daut Haradinaj, former KLA commander in the Dukagjini zone and candidate for Prishtina mayor in the upcoming October local elections, said in an interview with Radio Prishtina today that the KLA did not have files and that all materials were given to NATO during the demilitarisation of the KLA.

“It is surprising that files are being discussed in 2021. As far as I am informed, the KLA never had any closed files; they were public, and a large part of those materials were given to NATO during the demilitarisation and transformation of the KLA into the Kosovo Protection Corps. I personally led this process in the Dukagjini zone, where all materials, files and weapons were given to KFOR,” Haradinaj said.

Serbian Language Media

Djuric with Escobar: I am looking forward to working together (Kosovo Online)

Serbian Ambassador Marko Djuric met with Gabriel Escobar, the new US Special Envoy for the Balkans, who took over as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the State Department’s Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs on September 7, replacing Matthew Palmer.

Djuric stated that he had the honor to “personally greet and congratulate Escobar, immediately after he officially took over the new function earlier this week”, reported portal Kosovo Online.

“I look forward to working with him and his team at the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs on our joint mission to advance relations and cooperation. His experience, expertise and energy will significantly contribute to strengthening bilateral relations and accelerating the progress of our entire region,” wrote Djuric on Twitter.

Pec double homicide, a part of a long list of political assassinations in Kosovo; Beqaj: Unsolved assassinations encourage new ones (KoSSev)

PDK candidate for mayor of Pec/Peja, Astrit Ademaj, and former candidate for mayor of Decani, Blerand Kadriaj, were shot dead in Pec last night. According to media reports, it is presumed that Kadriaj killed Ademaj, after which Ademaj’s brother, who was also wounded, gunned down Kadriaj. Ademaj’s brother was then arrested.

According to the initial information, a discussion about the local elections in Kosovo scheduled for October 17th resulted in a confrontation between the two party colleagues.

Top Kosovo officials called on the competent authorities to shed light on the case as soon as possible.

This was not the first time a politician was murdered during the pre-election and post-election campaign in Kosovo.

On the same day – January 16th, four years apart (2014-2018), two mayoral candidates, Dimitrije Janicevic and Oliver Ivanovic were gunned down from behind in North Mitrovica. Their murders, which had a strong impact on Kosovo Serbs, still remain unsolved.

In November 2013, also in North Mitrovica, a candidate of the Civic Initiative Srpska for the mayor of North Mitrovica, Krstimir Pantic, was attacked, as he claimed, by two masked assailants in front of the building where he lived. At the time, Pantic told reporters in Belgrade that they intended to assassinate him. The then politician from Kosovo, Petar Miletic, was also wounded in a shooting in North Mitrovica.

Almost at the same time, a councilor candidate from the ranks of AAK, Bekim Birinxhiku, was killed in Srbica/Skenderaj.

In mid-June of 2014, a PDK MP candidate, Elvis Pista, was killed in Orahovac/Rahovec. He was gunned down from behind while leaving a restaurant with his wife.

In November of last year, early in the morning, the charred remains of a former member of the KLA, Qerim Kelmendi, were found in his car in the village of Zahac in the municipality of Pec. Kelmendi was one of the first members of the KLA, the brother of politician Ibrahim Kelmendi. According to unofficial information, Qerim Kelmendi was a potential witness in The Hague.

Kelmendi, however, was not the first potential witness to be eliminated. In the spring of 2016, a former member of the KLA, Bedri Curri, who was also believed to be one of the potential witnesses, was found dead in a mountain near the school in Gornja Korotica. The issue of protection, i.e. the elimination of witnesses, has been one of the most sensitive issues during the past two decades.

In November 2000, an assassination attempt was made on Xhemail Mustafa, Ibrahim Rugova’s adviser. Mustafa was found dead at the entrance to the building where he lived in Pristina. In January 2002, Smajl Hajdaraj, an LDK MP and former FARK member, was killed 37 days after taking the oath of office in the first post-war Kosovo Assembly.

The current president of the Kosovo Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, said at the time that his party did not hide the fact that political assassinations had taken place and that they had not been solved these past 20 years. He also revealed that up to 40 political assassinations were recorded in just three years in the late 1990s and the post-war period.

“There have been many political assassinations in Kosovo. The Self-Determination never hid that, even though someone in Kosovo has been constantly trying to hide it… And Behajdin Allaqi and Xhemajl Mustafa and Smajl Hajdaraj. Thirty or forty of them might have been killed in Kosovo in 1999 and 2000, up to 2001.”

Beqaj: Light must be shed on unsolved murders to avoid new ones

Political scientist and university professor, Belul Beqaj, stated that the largest number of unsolved political murders took place in the region of Dukagjini – Metohija, namely Pec, Decani and Istok.

“It is neither harmful nor accidental, I may be wrong, but that should be taken into account,” he told KoSSev.

In his words, this shows how much Kosovo society and politics are “deeply steeped in crime, corruption, and unresolved political issues”.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3CddX4n

Petkovic: Families deserve the truth and victims deserve peace (Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic said today that the truth about all the missing must be found out, that families deserve the truth, and that the victims deserve peace, reported Kosovo Online.

“It must not be forgotten. On this day exactly two years ago, on September 10, 2019, the remains of a five-member Sutakovic family were buried – father Nedeljko (63), mother Darinka (58) and three minor sons Aleksandar (17), Djordje (15) and Radoman (10), who were brutally executed by members of the KLA,” Petkovic wrote in a  Twitter post.

He recalled that they were abducted on June 12, 1999 in Djakovica and that their remains were found in a mass grave at the “Bunker” location, as much as 20 years after the abduction.

“The commission determined that they were killed by execution, and their bodies were hidden in the landfill so that the brutal truth would never be revealed,” Petkovic added.

He emphasized that because of Nedeljko, Darinka, Aleksandar, Djordje and Radoman, the truth about all the missing must be found out.

“Because of them, it is good that the KLA archives will be opened. ‘Bunker’ was the last location, whose search was made possible by Pristina, and we are looking for 9 more locations. Families deserve the truth, and victims deserve peace,” Petkovic wrote, the portal cited.

Spahiu: Community of Serbian municipalities a path towards the final agreement, Kosovo needs recognition not Serbia (Kosovo Online)

Political analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu told portal Kosovo Online that the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) could lead to a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

According to Spahiu, the way to reaching a comprehensive agreement is the progress but only in the case if Belgrade and Pristina take an approach that differs from the previous one.

“Unfortunately, the approach of parties that are not willing to touch on the main topic has proven to be the wrong one. The issue of missing persons can be considered regardless of whether Kosovo is recognized by Serbia or not, it can be continued even after recognition. This topic is independent of the status of Kosovo, because what the world is asking of us is a recognition agreement, but as things stand, it seems that we are not approaching that, but going in the opposite direction,” Spahiu said.

Spahiu opined that the ZSO was an option that could lead to a final agreement, although both Serbia and Kosovo refuse to say so openly.

“ZSO is conceived as the last price that Kosovo will pay for receiving recognition from Serbia. Belgrade wants to talk about the Community but does not want to mention the possibility of recognition, in that sense Pristina avoids that topic because it is a bargaining chip for recognition, that is why the parties are drifting apart. The ZSO should be discussed, but an item should be added-that it will come into force when Serbia recognizes Kosovo, that approach could lead to an agreement,” Spahiu said.

“Efforts to resolve the long-standing independence dispute between Kosovo and Serbia do not lead to mutual recognition, but to reaching a final agreement,” he added, and said that Serbia didn’t need the recognition of Kosovo, but vice versa.

“It is not about mutual recognition because Serbia does not need to be recognized by any state, it was recognized by the Berlin Congress on July 13, 1878, but Kosovo needs the recognition of Serbia. Even after reaching that agreement, Kosovo and Serbia, as neighboring countries, must continue talks on various topics, but the most important thing is to resolve that main issue,” Spahiu concluded.

Office for KiM: House of Mirjana Dedic from Orahovac stoned (TV Most, RTV Puls)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija informed the public yesterday afternoon that the house of Mirjana Dedic (74) from Orahovac was stoned two nights ago after midnight.

According to the press release, Mirjana lives alone and this attack on her home and security brought strong worry and justified fear into her home.

The case was reported to the police, and Mirjana was visited by the president of the Interim Municipal Council of Orahovac to talk to her and agree on repairing the damage that the Office for KiM will compensate.

“Considering the fact that there are security cameras near her house, we demand that the perpetrators are uncovered in the shortest time possible and adequately sanctioned. How can anyone be bothered by a woman in the eighth decade of her life, who became a target only because she is a Serb?” the office said.

“As a rule, such attacks are further fuelled by irresponsible statements by Priština politicians who incite hatred with anti-Serb statements and numerous accusations against Serbs, but also by the policy of impunity for the perpetrators. That is why we insisted on the security of Serbs during the last, but also every previous round of dialogue in Brussels, and we will continue to speak as long as the Serbian people in the southern province are not provided with a peaceful and secure life,” the Office said.

Petkovic: False accusations of hate speech (KiM radio)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic stated that the accusations of the Pristina negotiator Besnik Bislimi that he used hate speech during his recent visit to Kosovo are false, cited KiM radio yesterday.

By threatening to permanently ban him from visiting Kosovo, the Pristina authorities were sending a message that they did not care about dialogue, said Petkovic.

“False accusations that I used hate speech or provocations during any visit are easily verifiable, because there are audio and video recordings of each of my speeches in Kosovo and Metohija, which Mr. Miroslav Lajcak was informed of, as well as Bislimi, to whom, I have released an integral version of my address during the laying of the foundation stone in Kosovska Mitrovica. To such evident evidence, Besnik Bislimi just fell silent “.

Petkovic believed that such statements served the election campaign.

He also pointed out that Besnik Bisljmi’s messages, which come after the talks in Brussels, are just a continuation of the policy of provocations. Petkovic noted that during the conversation, the Pristina negotiator ran away from the topic of the ZSO, then energy, justice, freedom of movement and license plates.

“What is important is that progress has been made on the issue of the missing and that Pristina has finally recognized the existence of the KLA archives and agreed to open them, which will no longer remain hidden. The families of the victims have the right and interest to find their loved ones and Belgrade made an immeasurable contribution in that direction, by searching 22 locations and thus, responding to all the requests received so far, among which is the last Kizevak”.

That was why, he said, today’s message from Pristina that Belgrade was frivolous in its requests for searching locations in Kosovo was ” the pinnacle of cynicism and shows a one-sided approach to this important topic”, reported KiM radio, citing the announcement.

Belgrade and Washington agree: Fighting terrorism successful only in partnership (N1, Beta)

Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Parliament Speaker, and Antony Godfrey, the US ambassador to Belgrade, agreed on Friday that the successful fight against terrorism was possible only in cooperation and partnership among countries.

The conference, organised by the Serb-American Friendship Congress and East-West Bridge, under Serbia’s Parliament auspices, started with Pastor Nenad Savic saying a prayer for all September 11 terrorist attacks’ victims.

Godfrey thanked Serbia for its cooperation with the US and other countries in fighting terrorism during the conference ‘We Remember and Stand by US’ ahead of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,

“We confront terrorism by building partnerships and friendships. Our partnership with Serbia lies in our past and the common vision of the future,” Godfrey said.

He added that “we appreciate the honest gesture by Dacic, Congress and East-West Bridge as a solidarity of our friends and hosts today when we remember almost 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks”.

Dacic said that those attacks showed the world’s countries should be persistent in fighting terrorism, adding Serbia was a part of the global community against extremism.

He also said, “it is known the Balkans is one of the regions where the extremists are recruited from,” for fights in different parts of the world.

See at:https://bit.ly/3E5M1Rl

Serbs’ expectations from opening Kosovo’s and the former KLA archives (KiM radio)

The announcement of the President of the Commission for Missing Persons in Kosovo on access to the “state archives of Kosovo” was sharply criticized by the Kosovo public, and above all by former members of the KLA. On the other hand, Serbs, and above all those whose family members were killed or kidnapped, do not have much faith that they will learn the truth about their loved ones from the KLA archive. 

Kosovo authorities have offered EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak full access to “Kosovo’s state archives” in order to eliminate any doubts about “finding the KLA archives”. They claim that the archives were, and still are, open today.

What can be found in those documents and will the truth be found out about the victims of Serbian nationality who are still being searched for?

“It’s not the first time we’ve been given some hope and then told ‘Here, it is moving on. The first step has been taken’. However, after that first step, we expect to go backward,” said Silvana Marinkovic, president of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija.

Sasa Perenic, the brother of the missing journalist Ranko Perenic and the vice president of this association, does not expect too much from the initiative launched in Brussels two days ago. “I do not see any step forward by looking at those archives. Everything depends on good will. If it is in the interest of the Albanians, they will give it, and if it is not, then there will be no archive,” says Perenic.

While Serbs do not have high expectations from the announcement of access to the archives of the former KLA, former leaders of this paramilitary formation, Agim Ceku and Enver Hoxhaj, sharply criticized the actions of the Kosovo negotiating team, emphasizing that the KLA did not have archives, but ” have documented Serbian crimes”.

However, Marinkovic is convinced that there are archives of the former KLA. 

“We all know that there was a KLA army, that they killed, kidnapped, demolished and set fire to houses, monasteries, they didn’t even leave the dead alone, they demolished their monuments. It is normal that there is an archive in Kosovo, but they will not recognize it as they do not even admit that there were crimes against Serbs in Kosovo,” says Silvana Marinkovic.

“The participants themselves announced. All of them are participants in that, and honestly who will jump against themselves, put a healthy hand in the fire,” says Sasa Perenic.

“The crimes committed against Serbs in Kosovo are a forbidden and controversial topic,” says historian and analyst Aleksandar Gudzic.

“Kosovo’s political elites and today’s actors of the Kosovo political scene, especially the former ones, directly participated in the second break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and they built their position on a narrative of exclusive Serbian guilt and heroic struggle of the KLA and Albanians, and this story about the missing Serbs do not fit into the narrative that was carefully nurtured after the war in 1999,” Gudzic said.

However, the data show that the largest number of crimes against Serbs in Kosovo has been recorded since the arrival of international KFOR forces. Representatives of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have insisted on inspecting their documentation over the years.

“KFOR has an archive. The International Committee of the Red Cross says they got those archives. Did anyone look at those archives? Did anyone look at those papers? Experience tells us that everyone wants this to be forgotten, especially because the main suspects are before the Special Court. It is normal that they will not open the archives because they would have direct evidence against people suspected of crimes.”

Marinkovic also reminds that there have been requests for excavation of locations for a long time, which are suspected to be potential graves, but that there was no will to do that.

“Fear of testifying”

The families of the abducted and missing persons and their associations did not meet with the President of the Specialized Chambers, Ekaterina Trandafilova, during her recent stay in Kosovo, but followed her statements, especially those concerning witness protection before the Special Court.

“Many witnesses are scared and that is normal because it happened that some witnesses lost their lives, that they were killed, so many witnesses are afraid to testify,” says Marinkovic.

Disappointed in political representatives

Representatives of the Association of Families of the Kidnapped and Missing are disappointed in all government structures, both domestic and international.

“You saw for yourself what it was like on the International Day of the Missing on August 30. We were left alone with our pain. There are fewer and fewer people interested in our problem, from relevant structures to ordinary people.The families are alone and unfortunately it all comes down to personal tragedy. “

In contrast to marking this date in Gracanica, in Pristina, support for the families of the victims was provided by the Kosovo Prime Minister and President, as well as other government officials.

“For them, it is a national tragedy and a national problem, while for us, although we duly invited all our high representatives, unfortunately no one attended the gathering, nor addressed these sad families who have been fighting alone for twenty-three years,” said Sasa Perenic.

Online school in Serbian communities and next week (KiM radio)

Schools in Kosovo that function according to the plan and program of the Republic of Serbia will work according to the third model next week, the Ministry of Education announced, reported KiM radio.

Students from all schools in Serbian communities will follow the lessons online. This decision was announced today by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia, reported KiM radio.

International 

Deputy PM’s threats shake Montenegro’s fragile coalition govt (BIRN)

Arguments within the ruling coalition over the handling of violent protests last weekend have widened the cracks in Montenegro’s one-seat-majority coalition government.

Montenegrin PM Zdravko Krivokapic and Deputy PM Dritan Abazovic at a police training camp. Photo: Government of Montenegro

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic on Thursday threatened to overthrow the coalition government if Interior minister Sergej Sekulovic and Police Chief Zoran Brdjanin are dismissed, as his partners in government have demanded.

With four seats in parliament, Abramovic’s civic Black on the White coalition is the smallest member of the 41-member ruling coalition, which has a majority of one in the 81-seat chamber.

“I have told the Prime Minister and my colleagues in the government several times they are crossing a red line. It’s possible we will not have a new Interior Minister – but then we will have a new Prime Minister. I will overthrow the government,” Abazovic told local Television Vijesti. “I will stop giving support to the government if I think they are doing something that is unfair,” he added.

The latest political crisis in the camp of the ruling majority came after violent protests rocked Cetinje, the old royal capital of Montenegro, last Sunday, as opposition supporters and self-declared patriotic groups clashed with police, trying to stop the enthronement of a new Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan.

While police used tear gas to disperse protesters and remove the roadblocks that had been erected near Cetinje, Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije and the new Metropolitan, Joanikije, had to be transported to Cetinje by army helicopters.

The protesters claimed the location of the inauguration in Cetinje was an insult to Montenegro’s struggle for sovereignty and independence from Serbia, to which it was united from the end of World War I until 2006.

Abazovic issued his threat after PM Zdravko Krivokapic accused the Interior Minister and chief of the police of hesitating to break up the protests against the enthronement of the new Serbian Metropolitan.

On September 7, Krivokapic announced an internal investigation in the police, warning that “no one will be spared, no matter what position they have or which political party is protecting him”.

“If someone thinks that the Montenegrin police should be managed in a way that we can make some political profit, it will not happen on my back,” Abazovic responded.

But the other two blocs in government have demanded an investigation into police management, accusing the Interior Minister and head of police of refusing to implement government decisions on the protest in Cetinje.

The largest partner in the coalition government, the pro-Serbian Democratic Front, called on the Prime Minister to dismiss Sekulovic and Brdjanin.

Another partner party, Democratic Montenegro, challenged Abazovic to oust the Prime Minister, if he dared. “Be our guest and overthrow the government if you have the guts. Of course, you don’t, and your threats are just a bluff, like many times before,” it said in a press release on Friday.

Montenegro’s shaky coalition faced earlier troubles when the Democratic Front accused Krivokapic of poor cooperation with ruling parties during the appointment of police officials and on law proposals.

The government was formed on December 4 last year, after three blocs, For the Future of Montenegro, Peace is Our Nation and Black on White won a narrow majority in parliament in a watershed election in August that ended three decades of rule by the Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS.

Work Starts in Serbia on Chinese Sinopharm Vaccines Factory (Balkan Insight)

Serbian, Chinese and UAE officials on Thursday laid the foundations of a factory near Belgrade that is designed to mass-produce Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines.

Serbian leaders, the Chinese ambassador to Serbia and representatives of Chinese and UAE companies on Thursday laid the foundations of a Sinopharm vaccines factory in a suburb of Belgrade – a joint investment of Serbia, China and the United Arab Emirates worth 30 million euros.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3nmqPk7