• License plates agreement: Sticker regime to enter into force today (media)
• Serbs lift roadblocks in Kosovo as NATO moves to end car plate row (Reuters)
• Kurti says they will work for full reciprocity with Serbia, addresses gas project (EO)
• “KFOR ready to perform its duties in support of local and regional stability” (media)
• U.S. commends progress in implementation of Kosovo-Serbia agreement (media)
• Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti meets management of the Kosovo Police (media)
• “The era when the Republic of Kosovo is oppressed is over,” says minister Svecla (euronews.al)
• Mehaj: National security challenged and provoked by Serbia (media)
• Shala in op-ed: Four lessons from the North of Kosovo (Klan Kosova)
• Phillips: Kosovo was late with reciprocity, Serbia to stop seeking preferential treatment (Telegrafi)
• Kurti to attend EU-Western Balkans summit in Slovenia (Kosovapress)
• Kandic: Serbia not ready to punish war crime perpetrators (Kosovapress)
• Kosovo Court urged to convict Serb ex-policeman of wartime killings (BIRN)
• COVID-19: Two deaths, 23 new cases (media)

License plates agreement: Sticker regime to enter into force today (media)

The Brussels agreement on license plates between Kosovo and Serbia stipulating that the cars from both sides will be able to travel by covering state symbols of their plates with stickers is set to begin implementation as of today. The move follows the dismantling of roadblocks put up by local Serbs and the withdrawal of the Kosovo Police special units over the weekend and the deployment of KFOR troops to the border crossing points in Bernjak and Jarinje.

The next step of the agreement, scheduled for 21 October, will see working groups from the two sides sitting down in Brussels and trying to find a permanent solution to the issue.

Head of EULEX, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, said the situation in the north of Kosovo is stable and that the mission, alongside KFOR, is observing it. “@EULEXKosovo continues to patrol and observe the situation in northern Kosovo together with @NATO_KFOR and at the request of the Kosovo Police. Situation is stable and the new sticker regime will be introduced by both sides tomorrow 4 October. We will monitor this too,” he wrote on Twitter.

Serbs lift roadblocks in Kosovo as NATO moves to end car plate row (Reuters)

Kosovo’s border crossing with Serbia was reopened on Saturday as Serbs removed trucks and cars and NATO troops moved in under a European Union-mediated deal to end a dispute between the neighbouring countries over car licence plates.

Kosovo special police forces withdrew from the border crossing in the north of the country nearly two weeks after Serbs blocked roads to protest at Kosovo’s decision to introduce temporary licence plates for all cars from Serbia.

The Kosovo government said the licence plate requirement was imposed in retaliation for Serbian measures taken against drivers from Kosovo since 2008, when Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

“From this weekend and for the next two weeks, KFOR will maintain a temporary, robust and agile presence in the area, in accordance with the mentioned arrangement,” said a statement by the NATO-led peacekeeping force, called KFOR.

Read more at: https://reut.rs/3CZGNFE

Kurti says they will work for full reciprocity with Serbia, addresses gas project (EO)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti spoke to Ekonomia Online news website and noted that the Government of Kosovo is working to establish full reciprocity with Serbia so that relations between Kosovo and Serbia rest on equality.

“Reciprocity is not intended as revenge, but we consider that it is a principle of good neighborly relations, stemming from the concept of equality. Kosovo and Serbia cannot have unequal asymmetric relations, therefore as an independent state, as a Government, we will be making efforts to have full reciprocity that would bring justice to the country in terms of our relations, and at the centre of this reciprocity should be mutual recognition, namely the day when Serbia recognizes Kosovo,” Kurti said.

He also commented on the gas pipeline project and rejected claims by the opposition that the decision of the Kosovo Government not to move forward with the project, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), impairs relations with the U.S. “Allegations are not true, we are in contact with MCC, we are also discussing what is the best way at this stage to use the finds that will help us in our energy policies. So if we said that we need more information and studies, this does not mean we have refused but rather that we are responsible. American funds are welcomed and desired and will be used by our Government.”

“KFOR ready to perform its duties in support of local and regional stability” (media)

KFOR Commander, Major General Franco Federici, visited the border crossing points of Bernjak and Jarinje in the north of Kosovo yesterday. He said KFOR is ready to carry out its duties in support of the local and regional stability.

“Over the last days we held talks with all parties involved and provided regular updates for the EU Special Representative for the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and my chain of command in NATO. I thank Kosovo institutions, mayors of northern municipalities and all actors who contributed to the de-escalation of the situation,” Federici said.

Earlier, in a statement to the press, KFOR said: “As from this weekend and for the next two weeks, KFOR will maintain a temporary robust and agile presence in the area, in accordance with the mentioned arrangement and in line with its mandate – derived from the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999, to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities living in Kosovo.”

U.S. commends progress in implementation of Kosovo-Serbia agreement (media)

The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo published a statement attributed to the Charge d’Affaires Nicholas J. Giacobbe regarding the implementation of the recent agreement reached by Kosovo and Serbia on the issue of license plates.

“Good progress by Kosovo & Serbia implementing the EU-brokered agreement at the border. Kosovo Force – KFOR’s presence is temporary, in two weeks we expect border operations to return to normal. Time to build upon this momentum and reengage earnestly in the Dialogue,” Giacobbe said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti meets management of the Kosovo Police (media)

A press release issued by the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo informed that “after the successful implementation of operational planning and implementation of decisions of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, and in particular for the engagements in the northern part of the Republic of Kosovo, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Albin Kurti together with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Xhelal Svecla, received in a meeting the senior management staff of the Kosovo Police, headed by the General Director, Mr. Samedin Mehmeti.”

Kurti thanked all employees of the Kosovo Police who, he said,  showed professional behavior, unparalleled commitment to the protection of border crossings proving that the Kosovo Police is built according to European standards.

“With this self-sacrifice and professional attitude in every action of every employee of the Kosovo Police, it was proved that among the key objectives of the Kosovo Police remains the implementation of the law, maintaining public order and free movement by guaranteeing open, well controlled and safe borders,” said Prime Minister Kurti.

“The era when the Republic of Kosovo is oppressed is over,” says minister Svecla (euronews.al)

The Minister of Interior of Affairs of Kosovo, Xhelal Svecla, was quoted as saying “The era when the Republic of Kosovo is oppressed is over,” when asked about his stance on the row over the license plates.

According to minister Svecla, the message has not only been conveyed to Belgrade but Brussels, too.

“Kosovo has a new sovereign government, who no one can blackmail because of involvement in corruption of crime”, he said.

He also praised police forces for showing professionalism and “readiness to protect the country’s sovereignty”.

He maintained that the reciprocity measure is a “positive step” for Kosovo.

The interior minister emphasized that “sovereignty and legitimacy” will extend throughout the territory of Kosovo “at all costs”.

Mehaj: National security challenged and provoked by Serbia (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence Armend Mehaj said that during the past days the security in Kosovo has been challenged by Serbia, by provoking tensions.

Mehaj also described the steps that are being taken to provide a calm and safe environment. He stressed that it the Ministry of Defence’s legal obligation to protect the constitutional order of Kosovo. “We carry out monitoring, analysis, as well as continuous assessment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, of all threats and dangers that threaten our security and defense system,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Based on these assessments, we plan our capacities, measures, as well as our operational actions with proper decision-making. The Ministry of Defence together with our state institutions, and in cooperation and coordination with KFOR, has a legal obligation to maintain the constitutional order of the state, institutions as well as the life and well-being of all citizens of the country,” Mehaj continued.

Shala in op-ed: Four lessons from the North of Kosovo (Klan Kosova)

Blerim Shala, former coordinator in dialogue with Serbia, said in an opinion piece that four lessons can be learnt from the recent events in the north of Kosovo with the first being that the dialogue in Brussels cannot continue this way by transforming into a process that will treat special crises which then end in temporary agreements.

“Everything that unfolded in these recent weeks only confirms and supports the position of the Government of Kosovo and Prime Minister Kurti, but also of the entire political spectrum of the country, that talks between highest level of Kosovo and Serbia from now on should focus on the achievement of a Comprehensive Agreement for normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia which is centred on mutual recognition between the two countries,” Shala writes.

The second lesson, he adds, is that the cooperation between the United States Biden administration and the current leadership of the European Union should be intensified and that a direct role of the U.S. in the process is ‘unavoidable’. The third lesson, which Shala says is nothing new and known to all, is the role of the state of Serbia in the north of Kosovo and what Belgrade is capable of doing to, as he said, incapacitate the role of Kosovo authorities.

“The fourth and final lesson has to do with the way Kosovo’s political spectrum got positioned in light of this challenge that carried multifold dangers in itself,” Shala writes. “It was proven that in such cases the political unity or consensus is quite easily achieved between all relevant forces in the country for protection of the interests of the state of Kosovo.”

Phillips: Kosovo was late with reciprocity, Serbia to stop seeking preferential treatment (Telegrafi)

David Phillips, director of the program on peace building and rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, told RTV Dukagjini that he believed the Government of Kosovo was late in introducing reciprocity towards Serbia although within its right to do so.

“Reciprocity is one of the leading principles in international relations. The Government of Kosovo has the right to demand Kosovo license plates for cars coming in from Serbia. If the Government of Kosovo has made one mistake it is that it waited very long for this decision,” he said, adding that Serbia should stop seeking preferential treatment from the international community. “Double standards are not enforceable. KFOR forces are there to maintain stability, and they should make it clear that the aggression from the Serb state will not be tolerated any longer.”

Kurti to attend EU-Western Balkans summit in Slovenia (Kosovapress)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti will travel to Slovenia this week to attend the EU-Western Balkans summit. The news website reports that the summit will focus on reaching agreement between six Western Balkans countries on movement of persons with ID cards and recognition of diplomas.

Kosovo Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu confirmed Kurti’s participation in the summit: “We support regional cooperation in the framework of the Berlin Process. We have already expressed our readiness to reach agreements on free movement with ID cards and recognition of diplomas, but always on the basis of equal treatment between the signatory countries and their citizens.”

Kandic: Serbia not ready to punish war crime perpetrators (Kosovapress)

Natasa Kandic, founder of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Centre, said that Serbia is demonstrating it is not ready to convict perpetrators for crimes committed in Kosovo and underlined the importance of a political agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on the issue of missing persons.

Until 2011 Serbia, I would say, was on a good path in prosecuting war crimes, one of the best trials being immediately after the fall of Milosevic of crimes against children and women in Podujeva, crimes carried out by the Scorpions police unit, but Serbia today is much different from the post-October Serbia. Today, Serbia rarely files indictments, there are no new indictments for crimes in Kosovo, and if we assess that as part of the political rhetoric about what happened in the past, I would say that Serbia is not ready to accept the fact that seriously accuse it for the crimes in Kosovo, and this seems to me to be a problem,” she said.

In an interview with Kosovapress, Kandic also said that she dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has not been well prepared by Brussels and what while it has been expected for the U.S. State Department to be more involved in the process, “this is not seen for the time being.” “We see the situation is unchanged but I think it is good there are not more land swap discussions.”

Kosovo Court urged to convict Serb ex-policeman of wartime killings (BIRN)

In closing arguments at Pristina Basic Court on Thursday, the prosecution said it had been incontrovertibly proved that 13 ethnic Albanian civilians were killed in the village of Sllovi/Slovinje in the Lipjan/Lipljan municipality of central Kosovo during an attack by Serbian forces in April 1999, and called for Goran Stanisic to be found guilty of involvement.

Prosecutor Drita Hajdari said that on the first count of the indictment, two witnesses had testified that Stanisic was among a group of uniformed men who killed five members of the Gashi family in Sllovi/Slovinje on April 15, 1999.

Two other witness testified that he was involved in another murder in the village on the same day by opening fire on the victim, she continued.

She said that “not just one, but several witnesses” had further testified that Stanisic was one of the men who took another six ethnic Albanians from a column of people who were leaving the village because of the attack on April 15, 1999 and put them up against a wall.

“They all were murdered,” Hajdari said.

Another witness testified that Stanisic was involved in a further murder the day afterwards, she added.

She argued that his alibi should be rejected because there were contradictions in the testimony of the defense witnesses, who are close relatives of the accused.

In the defence’s closing arguments, Stanisic’s lawyer Lubomir Pantovic questioned the credibility of the prosecution witnesses.

Pantovic argued that in the statements given by the witnesses after the end of the war, to the UN mission UNMIK and the EU rule-of-law mission EULEX, Stanisic’s name was not mentioned.

“The evidence provided by the prosecution is not convincing as the prosecution claims, because there are inconsistencies and ambiguities in the testimonies of the witnesses,” Pantovic said.

The defence lawyer told the court that he does not deny the fact that innocent civilians were killed on April 15 and 16, 1999 in villages in the Lipjan/Lipljan municipality.

But he said although the families of the victims are waiting for and deserve justice, Stanisic was not guilty and should be acquitted.

Stanisic also addressed the court and said that he felt sorry for the residents of the village but he was not guilty and did not assist the crime in any way.

The verdict will be handed down on October 5.

COVID-19: Two deaths, 23 new cases (media)

Two deaths from COVID-19 and 23 new cases with the virus have been confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 114 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 2,237 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.