Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Kosovo among first to side with democratic world in sanctions (media)
• ESI: 47 again? Russia out, Kosovo in (media)
• Aliu: Important meeting of ministers from region in Prishtina tomorrow (Indeksonline)
• Vetevendosje MP sentenced to prison time for abuse of power (media)
• Caplan: I fear Kosovo and Serbia are heading toward a frozen conflict (Express)
• COVID-19: four new cases (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Borrell hopes for a meeting between Vucic and Kurti before summer (KiM radio, Tanjug)
• Kosovo Minister of Culture announced Kosovo’s application to UNESCO for 2023 (Danas)
• Serbian PM Brnabic: Pristina’s CoE membership bid comes amid greatest violations of Serb rights (Tanjug)
• Selakovic: Szijjarto called for offering Serbia EU membership immediately (Tanjug, media)
• Dacic with Bakoyannis on Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe (KiM radio)
• Vulin: Serbia being targeted by ‘special warfare’ (Tanjug)

International:

• EU Foreign Affairs Council discusses the impacts of war in Ukraine on the Western Balkans (EWB)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Serbian-Albanian friendship website launched (KiM radio)
• Record increase of prices in Kosovo (Telegrafi)
• More Illegal Migrants Caught at EU Borders, as Detections at Western Balkan Route Spike Up By 130% (schengenvisainfo.com)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Kosovo among first to side with democratic world in sanctions (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post today that Kosovo was “among the first to side with the democratic world in imposing economic and financial sanctions against the Russian federation after the invasion and military aggression in Ukraine”. “In line with the situation there and the package of sanctions adopted by the EU and US, we imposed additional sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. We also imposed limiting measures against the Wagner Group – a private military entity based in Russia,” Kurti said. “With the aim of protecting peace, democracy and human rights, we imposed restrictive measures for terrorism against ISIL, Al-Qaeda and other physical and legal persons, entities and structures linked to them”.

ESI: 47 again? Russia out, Kosovo in (media)

Most news websites report that the European Stability Initiative (ESI) called on foreign ministers of member states of the Council of Europe on Monday to accept Kosovo’s membership bid and to process it to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 

“It is striking how differently Russia and Kosovo have been treated by the governments of Council of Europe member states in recent years.”

“Russia, a nuclear superpower with a population of 146 million and a landmass stretching across nine time zones, joined the Council of Europe in 1996. As a Council of Europe member, Russia waged wars in Chechnya (1999-2000), invaded Georgia (2008), annexed Crimea (2014), triggered war in Eastern Ukraine (from 2014), bombed civilians in Syria (from 2015) and then launched an assault against the whole of Ukraine in February 2022.”

“Kosovo, one of Europe’s smallest democracies with a population of less than 2 million, with a territory that is 0.05 percent that of Russia, declared its independence in February 2008. This was recognised by a large majority of members of the Council of Europe (34 of 46).”

“In October 2008, the General Assembly of the United Nations turned to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague with a simple question: “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?” In July 2010, the ICJ concluded that “the declaration of independence of Kosovo adopted on 17 February 2008 did not violate international law”. 

“Unlike Russia, Kosovo has seen peaceful transfers of political power following free and fair elections. Unlike Russia, independent Kosovo never had political prisoners. Unlike Russia, it has not waged any wars.”

“And yet, for many years, Kosovo governments have been actively discouraged from applying for Council of Europe membership by other members. The result: Kosovo remains outside. It is today the only European democracy which is not yet a member of the Council of Europe.”

Read full newsletter here: https://bit.ly/3sE5aG2

Aliu: Important meeting of ministers from region in Prishtina tomorrow (Indeksonline)

Kosovo’s Minister of Environment, Infrastructure and Spatial Planning, said today that a meeting with ministers from the region will be held in Prishtina tomorrow focusing on regional transport. “We have an important meeting tomorrow. We will host ministers from the region in Prishtina, similar to earlier meetings we had in Brussels, focusing on coordinating transport in the region. We will talk about corridors and accesses. The Republic of Kosovo chairs this committee this year and we will host guests from the region tomorrow,” he said.

The news website recalls that Aliu attended the Western Balkans Rail Summit last year in Belgrade, where together with ministers from the other five countries of the region signed agreement on connecting the region through railways.

Vetevendosje MP sentenced to prison time for abuse of power (media)

An MP from the Vetevendosje Movement, was sentenced by the Basic Court in Prizren to three years in prison on abuse of power charges for actions while employed at the Prizren Municipality in 2019.

The court found the now MP and another municipal official guilty while acquitted four other persons accused in the same case.

Head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, said they need to undertake consultations in the light of the court’s ruling citing the sensitive nature of the case, Klan Kosova reported.

Caplan: I fear Kosovo and Serbia are heading toward a frozen conflict (Express)

Richard Caplan, Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, said in an interview with the news website today that he does not see any threats from Putin’s war in Ukraine to spill over in the Western Balkans, namely in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He added that between Ukraine and Kosovo there are three NATO member states and that moreover Russia is not winning the war in Ukraine.

Commenting on the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Caplan said he does not expect any significant development. He argued that Washington and Brussels need to continue asking Kosovo to implement the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and at the same time demand from Serbia to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Caplan said that Brussels and Washington can be successful only through a joint initiative for a final settlement, but also asked whether Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would be willing to engage in such a process.

Caplan also said that the status quo between Prishtina and Belgrade could slip into a frozen conflict similar to the case of Cyprus.

COVID-19: four new cases (media)

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. There are 282 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Borrell hopes for a meeting between Vucic and Kurti before summer (KiM radio, Tanjug)

EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell called for respect and implementation of all agreements reached so far within the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as for the continuation of talks under the auspices of the EU, reported KiM radio, citing Tanjug agency.

“We need constructive engagement and rapid progress towards the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Everyone agrees on that, but when they sit down together, they have a problem progressing. We need to create trust,” Borrell said last night.

Borrell said that the EU foreign ministers discussed the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina at yesterday’s meeting in Brussels as part of the debate on the Western Balkans, concluding that it was necessary to create a “better atmosphere” in the talks, “engage in positive steps, build trust and avoid one-sided moves”.

“I hope that before the summer we will be able to hold another meeting at the highest political level between the Prime Minister of Kosovo and the President of Serbia,” Borrell added.

Kosovo Minister of Culture announced Kosovo’s application to UNESCO for 2023 (Danas)

Kosovo has a place in UNESCO, and the next chance to apply for membership in this organisation is the General Conference of UNESCO in the second half of 2023, said in an interview with Gazeta Express Kosovo Minister of Culture Hajrulla Ceku, reported daily Danas.

“Kosovo has a place in UNESCO. There is not even a legitimate reason why Kosovo should not be a member of UNESCO. In terms of cultural heritage, we are consolidating institutional structures and policies to be as technically prepared as possible at the time of applying for membership. The next opportunity to apply is at the General Conference of UNESCO, which will be held in the second half of 2023,” Ceku said.

When asked about the Serbian cultural assets in Kosovo, Ceku answered that “the Orthodox Churches in Kosovo are an exceptional cultural treasure of all citizens of Kosovo, as well as of all humanity”.

The Kosovo Minister also stated that the government of which he is a member has one of the most advanced models in the world for the protection of Orthodox cultural heritage and that they regularly commit Orthodox churches, clergy in all temples and all believers to enjoy these rights arising from the legal framework. “Kosovo has done a lot over the years to increase the level of security, restoration and functioning of Orthodox churches,” he also said.

The answer came from the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, who responded to the allegations of the Kosovo Minister of Culture on his Twitter account with photos from the Church of Christ the Savior in Pristina.

“It is true that your cultural heritage is the house of the Nazi collaborator Xhafer Deva, and the UN and the EU have withdrawn from its restoration. The shrines of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija are Serbian and have much to do with you as you have demolished over 135 of them, including ones on the #UNESCO list. The most advanced model of Orthodox heritage protection?! According to this, the Church of Christ the Savior in Pristina is in graffitis, Samodreza was turned into a toilet, and you forbade the renewal of the Archangel. Not to mention the return of the land to Decani,” Petkovic wrote.

Serbian PM Brnabic: Pristina’s CoE membership bid comes amid greatest violations of Serb rights (Tanjug)

Serbian PM Ana Brnabic said that “the so-called Kosovo had submitted a Council of Europe (CoE) membership bid in a year when Pristina had committed the greatest violations of the rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs by banning them from voting in Serbia’s January 16 referendum and April 3 elections in the territory of the province”.

“That is the utmost cynicism, it is not a violation of agreements – we have already become accustomed to that, and it goes without saying. They (Pristina) have said clearly they have no plans to implement the Brussels Agreement, but now, with help from friends, they are applying for membership in the CoE – a protector of human rights – after annulling all the rights of Kosovo-Metohija Serbs,” Brnabic told Pink TV, reported Tanjug.

She said she was particularly interested to see how the Quint states, which strongly protested Pristina’s decision to ban Kosovo Serbs from voting, would vote on “the so-called Kosovo’s CoE membership application”.

She said 2022, the year of Pristina’s CoE membership bid, was “the year of the greatest violations of Serb rights”.

“I expect the Quint states to stand by their words and say no to them, but we will see. The Quint states issued a strong statement after Pristina banned Serbs from voting in Kosovo-Metohija – how are they going to support Pristina’s CoE accession after that statement? It is not possible, but if they do support it, they would have to explain how the two can go together,” Brnabic said.

Unless the application is rejected, “the strong Quint statement is a dead letter”, she said.

Selakovic: Szijjarto called for offering Serbia EU membership immediately (Tanjug, media)

Serbian FM Nikola Selakovic said late on Monday a Brussels meeting of EU and Western Balkan FMs earlier in the day had addressed the situation in the region, as well as the Ukraine-Russia conflict, reported Tanjug.

Selakovic said all Western Balkan FMs had taken the opportunity to present their positions, as well as to hear the stance of EU member states in that regard.

“Some member states, including Poland and Baltic states, took the opportunity to make it known in a very explicit way that we are expected to align with the EU foreign and security policy, which also implies imposing sanctions on Russia,” Selakovic said.

Selakovic noted the words of Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto, to whom he referred as a proven friend of Serbia.

“He said the EU should not expect Serbia to make such a difficult decision until it offers something to Serbia that will be at least equivalent to the damage to be suffered by Serbia by resorting to such a decision,” Selakovic said.

Szijjarto said the EU should immediately offer Serbia full EU membership as the country “has long been mature enough to become an EU member state,” Selakovic said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3sASqA7

Dacic with Bakoyannis on Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe (KiM radio)

President of the Assembly of Serbia, Ivica Dacic talked with the Head of the Greek Parliament Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Dora Bakoyannis and presented Serbia’s position that Kosovo’s accession to the Council of Europe would be contrary to international law, UN Security Council resolution and the values represented by that organization, reported KiM radio yesterday. 

According to the Serbian Parliament, Dora Bakoyannis, as a member of the PACE, was appointed by the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy as the rapporteur to prepare a report on the situation in Kosovo.

In the conversation, on the sidelines of the session of the Committee in Crete, Dacic mentioned the importance of that issue concerning the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

In light of Kosovo’s recent request for membership in the Council of Europe, Dacic said it was important for Serbia that the future report address all issues in the field of PACE work – the state of democracy and institutions in Kosovo, the rule of law and human rights while maintaining a status-neutral approach. 

He particularly expressed the expectation that the future report would analyze the situation of the Serb population in Kosovo, especially considering the constant denial of their basic human rights.

Dacic reminded that the citizens of Serbia in Kosovo were not allowed to freely express their will and participate in the recently held referendum, parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia.

Dacic underlined once again that Serbia is firmly committed to peace and stability, as well as to reaching a compromise on the issue of Kosovo through dialogue.

He expressed regret that the dialogue with Pristina is almost non-existent, because the other side obviously does not want a dialogue, as evidenced by Pristina’s unilateral moves, the statement added, reported KiM radio.

Vulin: Serbia being targeted by ‘special warfare’ (Tanjug)

Commenting on a recent string of false bomb alerts in Serbia affecting dozens of schools, public building and airport yesterday as well as Air Serbia flights and a premises, Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin the country was targeted by “a special warfare” aimed at putting an end to its independent policy and forcing it to make decisions under pressure and in fear, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, Tanjug news agency reports.

“From various (email) addresses from several European countries, threats are coming in to the addresses of institutions, news organisations and businesses. The attacks on our country have neither been launched nor carried out by any single individual – they are mass, organised and very expensive hacker attacks run from various hybrid warfare centres”, Vulin is quoted as saying.

Vulin called on citizens to be disciplined, exercise restraint and not yield to panic, as well as to comply with orders given by police.

“Serbia is being targeted by special warfare and we must be prepared to endure”, he added.

Earlier in the day, dozens of Belgrade schools – including one in the city’s landmark Beogradjanka building – received bomb alerts. The majority of the threats turned out to be false.The Belgrade Waterworks, several shopping malls and four bridges were also targeted by bomb threats. A bomb alert sent to the Constantine the Great Airport in Nis yesterday morning was also found to be a hoax. Monday’s football match between Serbian Superliga teams Vozdovac and Partizan, originally scheduled for 4.30 pm, was postponed until 8.30 pm due to a bomb scare.

Serbian Ministry of Education said that a total of 173 out of 258 primary and secondary schools in Belgrade received false bomb threats yesterday. An online-lessons were introduced in 88 affected schools, pending detailed checks to be carried out.  

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic also linked false bomb threats with Serbia’s position not to impose sanctions on Russia. 

Bojan Perkov from Share Foundation told N1 there are certainly mechanisms of international legal aid that Serbian security forces could use to identify senders of those threats. According to him, Serbian security institutions should address Europol and FBI in the US, as well as the states where providers used to transmit threats were located. 

International 

EU Foreign Affairs Council discusses the impacts of war in Ukraine on the Western Balkans (EWB)

BRUSSELS – The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union held a strategic discussion on how the EU can help mitigate the impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine on the Western Balkans on Monday.

Ministers explored possible EU actions to further focus the EU’s political engagement in the region, and considered how to help the Western Balkans partners increase their resilience vis a vis third actors and hybrid threats, the press release reads.

“All our partners feel the direct impact Russia’s war is causing around the world: on energy prices, on food shortages and inflation. We will have to adapt our financial support in line with these new needs, and on these actions we will include our partners in order to mitigate the effects of this coming crisis”, stated Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy”

During a working lunch EU Foreign Affairs Ministers were joined by their counterparts from the six Western Balkans partners, and discussed the future of the region on its path to the European Union.

Read more at:https://bit.ly/39UHcQi

Humanitarian/Development

Serbian-Albanian friendship website launched (KiM radio)

NGO Aktiv from North Mitrovica has launched the first website called “Serbian-Albanian Friendship”. The site contains an extensive internet database that provides visual, textual, and documentary knowledge of Serbian-Albanian relations in Serbian, Albanian and English, reported KiM radio.

According to the author of the site, Aleksandar Pavlovic, the goal of this page is to help people, especially young people, learn about the good sides of Serbian-Albanian relations, about which not enough is known. The material of the site includes about fifty complete books on Serbian-Albanian relations, a video database containing interviews with fifteen prominent Serbian and Albanian intellectuals, as well as local activists who answer to topics about the possibilities of living together, historical reconciliation and friendship between Serbs and Albanians.

“Here you can find various examples of stories, about Faruk Begolli, about Bekim Fehmiu, Skenderbeg, about Serbian-Albanian ties in the Middle Ages. All these links lead you to some larger content. These are not classic academic stories, they are more of a journalistic character,” said Aleksandar Pavlovic. 

The executive director of the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Center, Bekim Blakaj, said that such a site is necessary for Serbs and Albanians on the road to reconciliation.

“Most people in both Kosovo and Serbia use or receive information provided by the media, but never easily to the information that is now available on this portal. It is very important that those who are interested, especially young people, have one source of information about Serbian-Albanian relations throughout history,” said Blakaj.

After the presentation of the site, a discussion was held on the topic “Common life of Serbs and Albanians in the eyes of local activists and observers”. Human rights activist Nora Ahmetaj said that positive examples of the lives of Serbs and Albanians could hardly be seen in public.

“I don’t see a common point and a common story at all, or a positive story made by the media, or investing a lot in showing a positive story because we are poisoned and infected by these debates and politics and everyday issues of dialogue. That political level kills everything, even if something happens on the ground,” Ahmetaj said.

The executive director of the non-governmental organization Aktiv, Miodrag Milicevic, believes that the inflammatory rhetoric of Serbian and Albanian politicians has been negatively reflecting on the relations between the two communities lately.

“We have just witnessed that after all the difficult words that are uttered in a very short period, there are always some incidents on the ground, and it spills over to local communities. That is the biggest problem. If they would soften that rhetoric, completely change the approach, these people must be self-aware, to say, no matter what, all this has gone too far, that they must find the strength and find a way to articulate their views in a far healthier way, “Milicevic said.

Participants in the panel discussion agreed that the first step towards reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians should be to shed light on the fate of missing persons.

Blakaj said that every truth affects the approach. He said that ”tensions might occur for a month or two after bodies were found there or here, of course, emotions will work, but in the long run, it will affect reconciliation, the relaxation of relations”. 

“These are preconditions. We are witnesses that, unfortunately, at this moment, there is not enough interest from institutions that must primarily play a role throughout this process. This is an institutional issue that must not be left to families at any cost,” Milicevic said.

The website “Serbian Albanian Friendship” is part of the project “Improvement of Serbian-Albanian Friendship” implemented by the NGO Aktiv in partnership with the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory from Belgrade and the European Movement in Serbia, with the support of the Swiss Embassy in Pristina.

Record increase of prices in Kosovo (Telegrafi)

Bread, cooking oil, milk and electricity are the products that have experienced the highest price increase, according to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics. 

The Agency said in a report that the price of cooking oil increased in a year by 51.3 percent, followed by that of bread by 24.3 percent. Prices for milk, cheese and eggs increased by 21.7 percent while electricity by 17.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of inflation, recorded in April, reached 11.2 percent.

More Illegal Migrants Caught at EU Borders, as Detections at Western Balkan Route Spike Up By 130% (schengenvisainfo.com)

The number of illegal migrants detected at the EU borders by the standing corps officers of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has spiked up in the four first months of 2022, compared to the same period last year.

In a press release issued by Frontex on Monday, May 16, it is noted that around 57,800 illegal migrants have been detected at the EU external borders, which is an increase of 69 per cent in total compared to last year. In April alone, were registered approximately 15,000 illegal arrivals, which is 79 per cent more than in April 2021.

Read more at:https://bit.ly/3t2A9vV