• UN Security Council to discuss Kosovo today (media)
• Serbia Aims to Create Tensions in Balkans: Kosovo President (BIRN)
• EU confirms new meeting on license plates (RTK)
• U.S. senators call on Serbia to join sanctions against Russia (media)
• Freedom House: Kosovo makes progress on the democracy level (media)
• Police bust a drug lab in Zvecan, make four arrests (media)
• President Osmani set to travel to U.S. next week (Telegrafi/Klan)
• Abdixhiku: Without inquiry committee, we will not support any parliamentary initiative (Express)
• COVID-19: Three new cases, no deaths (media)

UN Security Council to discuss Kosovo today (media)

The UN Security Council meets this afternoon in New York to discuss the latest report of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

According to a statement from the Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kosovo will be represented at the session by Minister Donika Gervalla. She will speak about the progress achieved in Kosovo, Serbia’s approach and threats to the region following the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the statement said.

Klan Kosova writes that the report covers latest developments and makes mention of Kosovo authorities not allowing Serbia’s referendum and elections, Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, as well as the war in Ukraine. The EU-facilitated dialogue, the report noted, has stalled since the middle of 2021.

Serbia Aims to Create Tensions in Balkans: Kosovo President (BIRN)

Ksovo’s head of state Vjosa Osmani has accused Serbia of trying to destabilise the situation in Kosovo’s four Serb-majority municipalities in the tense north of the country.

“Serbia’s aim, helped by Russia, is to create tensions in the north because it is in Russia’s interest to widen the conflict and widen the international community’s attention and not let them just focus on Ukraine,” Osmani told BIRN in an interview.

“Militarily, Serbia’s allies are Russia and China. Serbia has been massively arming itself. They [Serbian authorities] want to serve Russia’s interests through destabilisation, mainly in Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Osmani said.

“Nobody knows Serbia better than us. We are the people who experienced a war and know what it means to have a neighbour who is constantly destabilising the situation,” she added.

Last week, Kosovo police were attacked several times close to the border with Serbia, where a road used for smuggling contraband goods was recently closed.

Belgrade officials have rejected Pristina’s claims that the attacks came from Serbian territory, while the European Union has warned against “unnecessary speculation that may add to further tensions”.

Osmani said that Kosovo’s version of the story “is not just an allegation”.

“All statements that are made by security institutions are based on reports we receive on a daily basis,” Osmani said.

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

EU confirms new meeting on license plates (RTK)

Working groups from Kosovo and Serbia will be meeting for the eighth time in an effort to find a solution to the issue of license plates, confirmed for RTK EU foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano.

“The next meeting of the Working Groups will take place on 20 and 21 April in Brussels,” Stano said. He noted that the EU expects the parties to make progress by 21 April, when the current provisional agreement is set to expire. “Any agreement on license plates will require political flexibility and compromise,” he added.

U.S. senators call on Serbia to join sanctions against Russia (media)

A delegation from the U.S. senate, called on Serbia align its foreign policy with that of the European Union and impose sanctions on Russia.

U.S. senators Jeanne Shaheen, Chris Murphy and Thom Tillis said at a press conference in Belgrade after meeting President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic that in this historic moment it is important for all democratic countries in Europe to send a clear message to Russia demanding accountability for its actions in Ukraine.

Senator Murphy meanwhile expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in the implementation of agreements between Kosovo and Serbia. “The two sides need to be able to implement these steps because they have already been outlined in the initial agreement. I think the U.S. should remain an active player in these talks,” he said, adding that he was concerned that “the talks with Serbia concerning Ukraine could prevail over the very important talks on the future relations between Serbia and Kosovo.”  Murphy said they would be traveling to Pristina this week and that they would put pressure the Kosovo government to fulfill agreed commitments.

Freedom House: Kosovo makes progress on the democracy level (media)

The U.S.-based think tank, Freedom House, that monitors democracy in the world, ranked Kosovo in its recent report “Nations in Transit 2022” in the group of hybrid/transitional democracies.

In the assessment scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being the lowest rank, Kosovo has scored 3.25, up from 3.14 last year.

Read the report: https://bit.ly/3xBb1PP

Police bust a drug lab in Zvecan, make four arrests (media)

Kosovo Police busted a drug producing lab in the village of Kamestak, Zvecan municipality, and arrested four persons during the operation: three nationals of Serbia and one Kosovo Serb.

The police said that 15 kilograms of market-ready marijuana were seized estimated to be worth €1 million as well as equipment used for growing cannabis plant, worth €450,000. According to the police, the narcotics were sold in Kosovo and in Serbia.

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla confirmed the operation via Facebook: “We continue with added and relentless intensity to fight any individual or group, without distinction and anywhere in Kosovo, that through illegal activity undermine the lives of our citizens.”

President Osmani set to travel to U.S. next week (Telegrafi/Klan)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani is expected to travel for the United States in the coming week to attend the funeral of the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Officials from the Kosovo President’s Office confirmed that Osmani received invitation from the Albright family to attend the funeral and that she is also scheduled to have other meetings while in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Klan Kosova quotes sources saying that Prime Minister Albin Kurti has also been invited to attend the funeral service.

Abdixhiku: Without inquiry committee, we will not support any parliamentary initiative (Express)

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), accused the government of “being afraid of the truth” by refusing to form a parliamentary committee to look into the energy crisis.

Abdixhiku said the request for an inquiry committee is legitimate and would shed light on how the subsidy of 100 million euros was spent. He said that the LDK would not be supporting any parliamentary initiative in protest.

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

Three new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 28 persons recovered from the virus in this period. There are 447 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.