• Kurti: Political change requires a movement: a cause, organisation, struggle (media)
• In Antalya, Kurti has meetings with Borrell, Lajcak (media)
• Osmani: Regional and global cooperation enables peace and stability (media)
• Gervalla calls on Serbia to make its position on Ukraine clear; rejects resignation reports (media)
• Kosovo-Serbia working groups meet in Brussels, no agreement on license plates yet (media)
• Kosovo-Serbia dialogue under the shadow of war in Ukraine (RFE)
• Ukrainian ambassador says position on Kosovo is unchanged (Koha)
• Von Cramon: Russia’s disinformation campaigns fly easily in Serbian tabloids (Koha/Express)
• Pro-Russian graffiti sprayed in the north of Kosovo (media)
• COVID-19: 32 new cases, two deaths (media)

Kurti: Political change requires a movement: a cause, organisation, struggle (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said during a panel discussion at the Diplomacy Forum in Antalya that political change requires a movement: a cause, an organisation and a struggle. The panel, which also included Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov, President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, focused on the youth, justice, and employment.

According to a press release issued by the Government of Kosovo, Kurti also met in Antalya Latvia’s Deputy Prime Minister Artis Pabriks and discussed Russian invasion in Ukraine and security implications for Europe. Kurti also met Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Christian Schmidt and Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic. “Prime Minister Kurti stressed that we should never surrender to autocrats anywhere. Only a united, active democratic world will stop Putin and prevent other despots in the future,” he is quoted.

In Antalya, Kurti has meetings with Borrell, Lajcak (media)

In the margins of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti had separate meetings with the EU Special Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and the EU Special Representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajcak.

Kurti commented on Twitter about his meeting with Borrell: “We have a war in Europe. Sanctions against Russia are the bare minimum we can do. I asked EUHR @JosepBorrellF @AntalyaDF for more attention on WB6 and not to ignore the Russian proxies and hybrid war in our region.”

At the same time, Lajcak said he had a “useful” discussion with Kurti “about concrete next steps in order to take our common agenda forward in the current circumstances.”

Osmani: Regional and global cooperation enables peace and stability (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani said at a panel of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum that peace and prosperity are closely linked and are preconditions for a progressive and developed society.

“Establishing regional and global cooperation will enable peace and stability, which favours economic development, prosperity and progress,” Osmani said, as quoted in a press release issued by her office. She also underlined the “imperative” need for the Western Balkans region joining the Euro-Atlantic structures. “Despite the extraordinary progress that Kosovo has made as a state, but also our continent, today we all clearly see the threats to peace and security, which are continuous and active.”

At the sidelines of the forum, President Osmani met with the OSCE Secretary General, Helga Schmid, the nominated Prime Minster of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, and the member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sefik Dzaferovic.

Gervalla calls on Serbia to make its position on Ukraine clear; rejects resignation reports (media)

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum that five out of six Western Balkans countries have expressed clear support with Europe and the world in condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine. “There is one, Serbia, which has not done this and which should make its position clear. You cannot sit in two chairs, with Russia and with Europe at the same time,” she said.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, the main topic of Gervalla’s meetings in Antalya was strengthening of Kosovo’s international subjectivity. She is said to have underlined Kosovo’s firm stance against Russian aggression in Ukraine and thanked the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for supporting Kosovo’s NATO membership bid.

At the same time, on Facebook, Gervalla reaffirmed that Kosovo’s institutional leaders have never been more unified and coordinated in efforts to strengthen Kosovo and improve the lives of citizens. Her comments are said to be in response to media reports saying that Prime Minister Kurti has asked Gervalla to hand in her resignation from the post of foreign minister allegedly citing “continuous scandals”.

Kosovo-Serbia working groups meet in Brussels, no agreement on license plates yet (media)

The sixth meeting between expert delegations of Kosovo and Serbia on the issue of license plates took place in Brussels on Friday, said the European Union Special Representative for Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. “EU experts assisted both delegations in identifying all existing options & their technical implications. It’s time now to engage in finding common ground,” Lajcak wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo-Serbia dialogue under the shadow of war in Ukraine (RFE)

The war in Ukraine will have an impact on the West’s approach to the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Radio Free Europe reports quoting Albanian and Serb political commentators, Agon Maliqi and Ognjen Gogic. They noted that the West’s approach will depend on the outcome of developments in Ukraine.

Maliqi said that if Russia asserts control on Ukraine, the Western Balkans will remain a zone of security alarm for the West and if Russia withdraws troops from Ukraine, the influence of Russia on the Western Balkans will diminish and unlock the potential for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. “In principle, I see the possible return of Serbia towards the West as positive for the region, but also for Kosovo. But not without challenges for Kosovo, in case it remains in the current position, rigid and with even moments of confrontation with the West”, said Maliqi.

Gogic said that the EU is concerned with the fact that Serbia is the only country that has not imposed sanctions on Russia but at the same time the EU cannot put fierce pressure on Serbia fearing it could lose it entirely. “In this situation, all scenarios are possible. For its part, the EU can insist that an agreement be reached as soon as possible between Belgrade and Pristina, so that Kosovo and Serbia become part of the European Union and possibly NATO. But if they encounter resistance from local players, they will not be able to put a lot of pressure, precisely because Serbia will not grow even more distant,” he said.

Ukrainian ambassador says position on Kosovo is unchanged (Koha)

Ukrainian Ambassador to Serbia, Oleksandr Aleksandrovych, has said that his country is not about to change its position on independence of Kosovo.

Speaking to a Serbian media outlet, Aleksandrovych said Ukraine has not received a request from Kosovo for recognition of its state, and that Ukraine’s position is unchanged. “As far as I know, we have not received such a request. Ukraine’s principled position on respecting the territorial integrity of other countries, including Serbia, is known and unchanged,” he said.

Von Cramon: Russia’s disinformation campaigns fly easily in Serbian tabloids (Koha/Express)

European Parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon, reacted to a Twitter post of Kosovo’s former foreign minister Petrit Selimi who quoted a Belgrade-based newspaper, which he said is owned by the Government of Serbia, for claiming that Ukraine forces are killing their own people in Mariupol.

Von Cramon said that disinformation campaigns coming from Russia “fly easily in the Serbian tabloids”. She added: “As an EU candidate I expect that the leadership in Serbia condemns that brutal Russia war in Ukraine and aligns with EU sanctions. That’s the minimum we require.”

Pro-Russian graffiti sprayed in the north of Kosovo (media)

The letter Z, which has become symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been spotted sprayed on several places in the north of Kosovo, several media outlets report. The media also carry pictures of the letter seen sprayed in road signs and building walls and report that the pictures were taken in Mitrovica North and other locations in the Kosovo’s north.

COVID-19: 32 new cases, two deaths (media)

32 new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said in its daily report. 69 persons recovered during this time. There are 709 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.