• COVID-19: 14 deaths, 259 new cases (media)
• Osmani: 17 October remains the date of the elections (media)
• Serbia, Kosovo urged to publish ‘deal to open up war archives’ (BIRN)
• Merkel: The Balkans have a long way to go toward EU (Radio Free Europe)
• Merkel visits Tirana today, expected to meet Kurti too (Koha)
• Escobar: Kosovo, Serbia should not avoid dialogue (RTK)
• Enlargement standstill, political calendars delaying breakthrough in dialogue (EWB)
• President Osmani received Ambassador Kosnett in a farewell meeting (media)
• Salih Mustafa, first ex-KLA member to stand trial in the Hague (Express)

COVID-19: 14 deaths, 259 new cases (media)

14 deaths from COVID-19 and 259 new cases have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. 870 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 17,000 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Osmani: 17 October remains the date of the elections (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani spoke about the meeting with representatives of political parties regarding the possibility of postponing the local elections on October 17.

She said in a press conference that despite the recommendations of the National Institute for Public Health to postpone the elections, the prevailing opinion of opposition political entities was against the postponement of the elections.

“Since there was no agreement between the ruling and opposition parties, there is not enough ground for postponing the elections,” Osmani said.

“Despite the recommendation of health experts, regarding the impact of the electoral process on the epidemiological situation, political parties did not agree with the postponement of the elections. I will respect this, but by no means does it mean that I agree with this. The election date remains as it was,” Osmani said.

Serbia, Kosovo urged to publish ‘deal to open up war archives’ (BIRN)

Rights activists urged Serbia and Kosovo to make public a reported agreement to open up or exchange material from their wartime archives, which could reveal the whereabouts of the remaining missing persons from the 1998-99 conflict.

Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia and Kosovo on Monday called on the authorities in both countries to publish the details of a deal on revealing the contents of secret wartime archives that was reportedly made during negotiations in Brussels last week.

The two NGOs said they “demand that Belgrade and Pristina’s negotiating teams publish as soon as possible a document in Serbian and Albanian on the exchange and/or opening up of secret archives and, above all, that the families of the missing be informed about further steps in the search for missing persons”.

After the latest round of ongoing technical-level negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia on September 7 and 8 in Brussels, Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said that Serbia had agreed to open up its military archives, including those on the former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

However, Bislimi said that Serbia’s claims that the KLA had its own military archives were based on a misunderstanding of a footnote in a book by an activist named Nysret Pllana which refers to the KLA’s archives.

Bislimi insisted that the footnote actually refers to Kosovo’s State Archives, and added that Kosovo has offered Serbia “full access to those archives”, Kosovo news outlet Koha reported.

Meanwhile the head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic said after the meeting in Brussels that “there has been some progress” on the war archives issue but did not give more details.

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Merkel: The Balkans have a long way to go toward EU (Radio Free Europe)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that one of Germany’s goals is to see the six Western Balkan states join the European Union, but added that they all have a “long way to go”. Merkel made these remarks in Belgrade during a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

Earlier, Merkel held a meeting with Vucic, where they discussed political and economic co-operation between the two countries, as well as the EU integration process. “I encourage you to move on towards the rule of law, towards a pluralistic society,” Merkel said.

Merkel said that Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence is an issue that will be resolved “at the end of a process”. “Some issues will be resolved at the end of a process. Everyone knows that some EU member states have not recognized Kosovo. The issue needs to be resolved. It makes no sense to talk about completing a process before other things are resolved and then the whole process,” Merkel said.

Merkel visits Tirana today, expected to meet Kurti too (Koha)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive in Tirana, Albania, today as part of her Balkan tour for the Berlin Process. Merkel will meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama after at 10:30 followed by a meeting between the delegations of the two countries. Merkel will then hold meetings with other leaders of the Balkans, including Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Escobar: Kosovo, Serbia should not avoid dialogue (RTK)

United States Envoy for the Western Balkans and the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Gabriel Escobar, said on Monday that the US have a very clear objective to see all of the Western Balkans joining the European Union. He said that the US will work closely with the EU to convince all sides that this is the only path forward.

In a panel organised by the Brussels-based European Policy Center, Escobar said that membership in the EU brings many benefits and that countries become more democratic and prosperous.

Asked about Washington’s approach to the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Escobar said the US will send messages of support to the EU Special Representative for the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and that the State Department will work through embassies in the region to reach agreements that will be implemented and for the parties not to avoid the dialogue.

On the final objective of the agreement for the normalisation of relations, Escobar said that in addition to mutual recognition, there is also EU membership, for a peaceful and functioning region as part of the European Union.

Enlargement standstill, political calendars delaying breakthrough in dialogue (EWB)

Standstill of the Western Balkans’ EU integration and the negative impact it has for the Kosovo-Serbia normalisation process was one of the focuses of today’s policy dialogue organised by the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

The role of the United States in the process was also discussed.

“Our policy towards the Balkans is to see them as the part of the EU. Full stop. They are a part of Europe”, said Gabriel Escobar, newly-appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of state.

“From our perspective, and this has not changed over administrations, and our message to the EU is that there is very little risk in enlargement… For the countries of the region – EU candidacy is the way to go”, he added.

Commenting on the dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, he said that it should be resolved immediately and that it should not be blocking the whole enlargement process.

Asked how the US was going to help the Kosovo-Serbia normalisation process, Escobar said that the US Embassies in both Belgrade and Pristina will continue to monitor the implementation of the agreements and encourage the leaders to move forward in the process. He also stressed that he might join EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak in a future visit to the region if the epidemiological situation allows.

Lajcak, who was also participant of the panel, conceded the fact that EU had to deal with many unexpected issues, including COVID pandemic, Brexit and migrant crisis, which is why the enlargement has not been high on the list of priorities.

“But nobody has said that it is not the strategic goal”, Lajcak said.

He added that there is not a cause for excuses and that there is no better alternative for Serbia and Kosovo than to normalise their relations.

“There are no technicalities, everything is about political impacts. There is a dialogue at the level of leaders, at the level of chief negotiators, but everything is political”, he added.

Lajcak said that, in the dialogue, the sides are currently dealing with two things at the same time – the text of the comprehensive of agreement and all past agreements.

“Right now, we are reshaping the dialogue with PM Kurti and Deputy PM Bislimi so that it can reflect their priorities, but the past agreements need to be implemented”, he stressed.

MEP Viola von Cramon, EP Rapporteur for Kosovo, said that, talking with the people on the ground, one gets the impression that the normalisation will never happen.

“PM Kurti has a strong mandate, and one would expect that he would use this to the dialogue. But he hasn’t used it thus far”, von Cramon said.

She pointed at the political calendar and the fact that there are local elections scheduled for October in Kosovo and parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia in April next year.

“There is frustration with the entire enlargement process, the credibility of EU as such is damaged, so the younger generation, at least in Kosovo, do not see the process being successful”, von Cramon said. She added that the reforms, ultimately, should be done for the citizens of the candidate countries, not the EU.

Read full article here: https://bit.ly/3Cbg9ZS

President Osmani received Ambassador Kosnett in a farewell meeting (media)

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, received in a farewell meeting the Ambassador of the United States of America Mr. Philip S. Kosnett.

While thanking him for his tireless work and the extremely active commitment during his mission in Kosovo, Osmani said that the work of Ambassador Kosnett and his staff are also important contributors in terms of keeping Kosovo high on the foreign political agenda of the USA.

“The parties also discussed about the deep and strategic relations between the two countries, where President Osmani assessed that we are already in a new stage of bilateral cooperation, which creates extraordinary opportunities for the opening of new chapters of cooperation in the years to come.

On this occasion, Ambassador Kosnett expressed his deep gratitude for the assessment of his work and confirmed that the relationship between Kosovo and the USA will always be strong and undisputed.

At the meeting, the parties highly praised the fact that the relationship between our two countries is gradually developing with a new and promising dynamic, where Kosovo is becoming more and more an active partner and contributor in various strategic processes. In this context, the recent decision of the Kosovar institutions to host the Afghan citizens, the engagement of the KSF in peacekeeping missions alongside the US Army, and the active engagement of Kosovo in the fight against terrorism were apostrophized.

As a sign of deep gratitude, President Osmani awarded Ambassador Kosnett the Order “Dr. Ibrahim Rugova”, for his contribution to peacebuilding and the development of democracy in the country,” reads a press release issued by the Office of the President.

Salih Mustafa, first ex-KLA member to stand trial in the Hague (Express)

Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member, Salih Mustafa, will appear before the Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) on Wednesday, 15 September 2021. This is the first case before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers to commence trial proceedings. Mustafa is facing charges of illegally detaining, torturing and killing prisoners during the war in Kosovo in 1999.

According to an announcement published in the official website of the KSC, during the first hearing the Specialist Prosecutor will have three hours for his opening statement and the Victims’ Counsel has been given one and a half hour for her opening statement. Trial Panel decided that the first two witnesses called by the Specialist Prosecutor will be heard between Monday, 20 September 2021, and Tuesday, 28 September 2021.

Salih Mustafa was Commander of a BIA guerrilla unit, which operated within the Llap Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The indictment against Mustafa was confirmed on 12 June 2020 and the final version was made public on 28 September 2020. The indictment charges Mustafa on the basis of individual criminal responsibility and superior criminal responsibility with crimes committed by certain KLA members against persons detained at the Zllash detention compound. Mustafa was arrested and transferred to the Detention Unit of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on 24 September 2020.

Mustafa’s initial appearance took place on 28 September 2020 before the Pre-Trial Judge, Nicolas Guillou. At his further appearance on 28 October 2020, Mustafa pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment.