Albanian Language Media:

• Open Balkan summit enters its second day (media)
• On Global Open Day, calls made for greater participation of women in decision-making processes (media)
• AAK requests removal of tax on oil, staple items (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• The Open Balkans are expanding despite Russian obstructions (Danas)
• Vucic: This is initiative of people from Balkans, and it is unstoppable (Kosovo Online)
• Escobar: “Include all six countries in the Open Balkan”, Varhelyi: “Initiative that accelerates the path to the EU” (Danas)
• Vucic speaks with Borrell, receives invitation to EU-Western Balkans summit (Tanjug)
• Selakovic confirms he accepted Lavrov’s invitation to visit Moscow (Danas)
• Botsan-Kharchenko: Moscow does not change stance on Kosovo (Radio KIM)
• Arifi: US promises special treatment of the issue of Albanians from Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja (KoSSev, N1, Beta)
• Belgrade schools receive fresh bomb threats (RTS, N1)
• Abazovic to visit Belgrade on June 29 (RTS)

Albanian Language Media  

Open Balkan summit enters its second day (media)

The leading story in the media today is the second day of the Open Balkan summit in Ohrid, North Macedonia. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said today that the Open Balkan initiative will help resolve outstanding problems in the region. “We need to talk openly about the Open Balkan. The war in Ukraine makes the Open Balkan more important and open, although some may think differently. Last night I met with Ambassador Chris Hill who is a great witness of the necessity of this initiative. I am very happy for Dritan from Montenegro and Zoran from Bosnia. I am also happy for Commissioner Varhelyi and our friend Escobar. But beyond all friends and partners, the Open Balkan is important for our people. This initiative will have our fates in its hands in the future. The impact of the Open Balkan is now known, because from the war in Ukraine, we have learned that Russia and Serbia have a special past and between Serbia and Kosovo there is an unresolved conflict. We are confident that we can resolve outstanding problems if we get closer. Crisis in agriculture, food and energy, cannot be solved through conflict but through relations and discussions,” Rama said.

Rama also said “I believe the closer we get the greater are the chances to resolve conflicts and to make peace between Serbia and Kosovo. I do not agree with Vucic on Kosovo. The solution is simple. Either disagreement becomes a permanent conflict in all gaps that remain in our economy and security, or the opposite happens. We need to get close in order to understand one another and ultimately people will realise that the future is more important than the past.”

U.S. Special Envoy Gabriel Escobar said that for the Open Balkan initiative to be successful it needs to be open for all six countries of the Western Balkans to be included at the same level. “The United States supports the Open Balkan. Work must be done not only in regional economic cooperation, but also in cooperation for integration in European structures. There are many initiatives for economic integration. Every initiative for economic integration, must include all six countries of the Western Balkans at the same level,” he said.

Escobar said the Western Balkans is achieving great economic growth and that it has the potential to be a centre of renewable energy, a centre of natural gas, and help Europe become free from dependency on Russian gas. He also said that leaders must work to create better conditions for investors and to help investors that want to work in compliance with the laws. “I wish for this initiative to remain economic. It is not a political project, but rather an important economic project and it is important that it remains as such,” he said.

European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said the Open Balkan is not an initiative launched by either the EU or the U.S. but rather the region itself. He said the initiative could help the region speed up its European integration. Varhelyi said the key question of the citizens of the Balkans is when they will be able to live as people in the European Union. “True integration starts with the economy and society,” he said, adding that he was pleased to hear about the Mini Schengen idea for the region. 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that countries in the region must form joint working groups as soon as possible to prepare the region for overcoming difficulties in food supply and how to easier pass next winter. Although Kosovo has refused to take part in the Open Balkan initiative, Vucic said that “everyone who wants to join, including representatives from Pristina, are welcome”. 

North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski said there is an open invitation for Kosovo to join the Open Balkan. “This initiative will become even more attractive. Representatives from Montenegro and Bosnia are here with us today. The invitation to the Prime Minister of Kosovo remains open. The people of Kosovo will benefit too,” he said.

Montenegro Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic said that this country is not joining the Open Balkan initiative. Abazovic is attending the meetings of the initiative as an observer. “We are not in Ohrid to join the Open Balkan, but to express together with EU partners and NATO allies our position on a regional initiative, so that we can ultimately have more understanding and greater cooperation,” Abazovic wrote in a Telegram post.

Abazovic said today that Montenegro will support every initiative that can bring progress. He joined calls for Kosovo to become part of the initiative too. “We in the Western Balkans deserve a history that will show our good sides. Let us build trust and reach out to one another. This is the only way to change the future of our countries … The idea of the Open Balkan should not be seen as an idea of politicians; this is an idea for the people and for businesses,” Abazovic said.

On Global Open Day, calls made for greater participation of women in decision-making processes (media)

The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today held the event “Global Open Day on Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo”.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said that Global Open day is an important platform to empower the voice of girls and women and welcomed Kosovo’s inclusion. “To prove that we take this agenda seriously and that we believe in its importance to transform our societies and peace and security processes is the fact that Kosovo this year for the first time will organize a high-level international forum on Women, Peace and Security,” Osmani announced. She said this event, scheduled for October, is part of the commitments in the framework of the Democracy Summit hosted by President Biden. 

She said Kosovo’s institutions understand the importance of integrating and empowering women and girls in every sector and strategy. “The integration of women and girls is our daily objective, and we can achieve this when we guarantee equality in all areas … We are aware that this can be a long journey but there is willingness and there is a vision. We need more women in leading positions. Women can do this, and our society needs this,” Osmani said.

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Caroline Ziadeh underlined the importance of women’s inclusion in decision-making processes. “The resolution recognises that meaningful participation of women in decision-making processes contributes to more democratic societies, more inclusive development, and increasing sustainable peace. Real change can happen when we ensure that the young generation – including young men – empower women’s political representation. This Global Day is an opportunity to invest in women,” she said. 

Ziadeh added that breaking barriers is about creating conditions for inclusive societies where peace and stability can thrive with diversity. “It is not only about overcoming obstacles to women’s participation – it is also about ensuring paradigm change anchored in partnerships and shared values.” 

UN Development Coordinator Ulrika Richardson said: “The Western Balkans has chosen peace as its path and there is no going back but for this journey to move forward women are needed, and they must be part of this journey. Over the last four years, I have been impressed with the quality, determination, and passion of the women’s movement in Kosovo and the region”.

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Emilija Redzepi meanwhile said there has been work in Kosovo in creating equal opportunities for all. “This is a battle where we all are together and we need to be sincere in this process which will be long and we need to stick together in order to get to the direction we want,” she said.

AAK requests removal of tax on oil, staple items (media)

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has called on the Government of Kosovo to temporarily scrape off the excise tax on oil, tax on staple food products and take measures to support the overcoming of the crisis.

Speaking at a press conference, AAK’s MP Pal Lekaj argued that such steps are necessary due to the high level of inflation and record increase of prices. “The reaction of the Government at this time of crisis is invisible. The prime minister is on a road trip while economy line ministers are invisible,” Lekaj is quoted in RTK.

He warned that Kosovo’s economy is on the brink of collapse and urgent steps are needed to counter the current situation.

Serbian Language Media

The Open Balkans are expanding despite Russian obstructions (Danas)

The “Open Balkans” summit opened in Ohrid yesterday, with strong US and EU support again, despite the fact that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s diplomatic arrows, at least briefly, threatened to call into question the international community’s support for the initiative and even threaten holding of the summit, writes today daily Danas.

Leaders of the region – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski – who lead the countries participating in the initiative, but also representatives of observer countries – Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Zoran Tegeltija, met last night at an informal dinner hosted by Kovacevski at the Villa Biljana in Ohrid.

The North Macedonia PM, Kovacevski, welcomed the guests with the message that “Open Balkans” leaves the past behind, and that instead of walls, this initiative builds bridges and opens new perspectives.

“Once again, we say that the invitation to join the ‘Open Balkans’ (OB) initiative is open to all countries in the region. Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are with us tonight and I hope that this initiative will continue to expand,” Kovacevski said.

The President of Serbia, Vucic, said that the OB brings benefits to all countries in the region, and that it is “not a substitute for anything, not even for the European Union”, which are frequent criticisms of those who oppose the initiative, but a special initiative of the Balkan peoples. 

After informal talks, but also officially sent messages of cooperation, the continuation of the working part of the summit is expected today.

The unequivocal support of the US and the EU for the Open Balkans initiative will be expressed by the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar, as well as EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, in their address at the summit.

Escobar and Varhelyi will try to dispel suspicions that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tried to raise with unusual messages, emphasising that “Brussels is trying to make a closed Balkans”, and that Russia stands for the idea of an Open Balkans.

For the first time, Russia expressed its position and interest in the Open Balkans in this statement by Lavrov, given at a press conference on the occasion of the cancellation of his visit to Serbia, talking about topics of conversation that did not take place.

Lavrov said that NATO and the EU “want to turn the Balkans into their project called the Closed Balkans”, after his plane was banned from flying over Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, recalled Danas.

If Lavrov’s visit to Serbia had not been cancelled, due to North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bulgaria’s ban on the flight, the Open Balkans summit might have been cancelled, said Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.

”Although Serbia is, of course, an independent state that decides on its own foreign policy priorities, but within some regional initiatives in which we participate, such as the ‘Open Balkans’, it is important to us that we are, with everyone we work with, on the same line of value systems. Even the holding of the ‘Open Balkans’ meeting in Ohrid was called into question, if the visit had taken place,” Osmani told TV Sitel.

After, at least partially, calming tensions between the region and Russia, the summit opened yesterday in Ohrid. The Open Balkans is an initiative for economic integration of the region, whose members are currently three countries – Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania, but all countries are in favour of enlargement and inclusion of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose representatives participated in Ohrid for the first time, as observers.

Positive signals from Montenegro, which has so far rejected the idea of participating in the summit primarily on the grounds that it would be a “step backwards” in relation to the country’s path to EU membership, arrived when Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic confirmed his participation in the summit.

However, conflicting messages continue to arrive from Montenegro, mainly from coalition partners of Abazovic from the Milo Djukanovic‘s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), who have opposed the initiative from the beginning, saying it is a replacement or “consolation prize” for countries in the region instead of full membership in the EU, reported Danas.

Speaking about his departure to Ohrid, Abazovic himself said that he did not need a parliamentary majority to possibly support the initiative.

“It is the job of the government, which leads the country’s foreign policy,” Abazovic said on May 30 in Budva.

Abazovic came to Ohrid at the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who spoke with Abazovic about this during a meeting at the Davos Economic Forum, accompanied by a joint photo and a speculation that everything had been agreed with Montenegro on joining the initiative, Danas writes.

However, before leaving for the summit, President Vucic said that he would not beg anyone to join, recalled the daily.

Yesterday, on the eve of the beginning of the summit, Kovacevski stated on social networks that “with each new meeting of members and friends of the Open Balkans, we provide stronger cooperation, easier communication, and better conditions for economic development.”

“I am very pleased that Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are our guests at this summit, and I believe that in the future they will become part of this successful initiative,” said the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, recalled Danas.

Vucic: This is initiative of people from Balkans, and it is unstoppable (Kosovo Online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at the beginning of the Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid that the idea of “Open Balkan” is so good that he believes it will have more and more supporters every year, Kosovo Online reports.

“This is our initiative, the initiative of people from the Balkans, the initiative of people, so that they would be able to connect and solve their own problems. There is something that is visible in the relations between Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, we have no bilateral problems. Special thanks to the Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi who is with us. This is something unstoppable. It is such a good idea that it will have more and more supporters every year. I want us to fill our relationship with essence. I want to form working groups now or at the next meeting. To help each other, to get through the winter”, Vucic said.

Vucic added the cooperation should be strengthened before the winter and it was important to form a working group in that sense immediately.

“Or at the next meeting, which I suggest taking place in southern Serbia before the big summit we have and the fair events at the end of the summer in Belgrade. To form working groups that will take care of overcoming difficulties in supplying food, energy, and surviving the winter. It is in the greatest interest of our three countries, but also of the entire Balkans”, Vucic said.

He also announced that in the course of the day, an agreement on diplomas will be signed, which will significantly speed up all processes related to work permits. He reiterated he was proud that today everyone is interested in the progress of the entire region.

He thanked in particular the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar and the Americans for their support to the initiative, as well as Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers Zoran Tegeltija, who attended the meeting, and said they were always welcome.

Escobar: “Include all six countries in the Open Balkan”, Varhelyi: “Initiative that accelerates the path to the EU” (Danas)

“I encourage the leaders of the Open Balkans initiative to remain an economic initiative. This is not a political project,” said US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar in an address to the Open Balkans Summit in Ohrid, calling “all six countries to be involved”, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said the economic initiative could speed up the region’s path to the European Union, reported Danas.

Escobar emphasised that the US strongly supports every regional cooperation initiative, because they want to support the development of the Western Balkans region, which is an important partner of both the United States and the European Union.

“The Western Balkans have the potential to be a centre of renewable energy, which will help us fight climate change. The Western Balkans can be a centre for liquefied natural gas and help Europe get rid of Russian gas,” Escobar said.

Among the recommendations that Escobar made to the leaders for the further development of this initiative, he stated that he encouraged the leaders to coordinate with other initiatives in the region, to ensure that there is no duplication because that achieves the highest level of integration, as well as going towards the Western Balkans becoming a part of “wider European structure”. 

European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, who participated in the Open Balkans summit for the first time, emphasised that the region’s cooperation through the OB initiative leads to the region’s integration into the EU.

“This is an initiative that can be an opportunity to speed up the path towards the EU. If we end the matter well here, it will accelerate the economic integration and real integration of the region into the EU,” Varhelyi stated.

He added that he must be “honest” and say that the topics of EU accession and the negotiation process are not interesting to ordinary citizens at all, because their main questions are “when will we live as they live in Europe”, “when will we have the same opportunities” and “when we will wait for the day that all barriers between us and the EU are removed”, reported the daily.

Varhelyi emphasised that this is what is really important, and that is economic integration, and only then integration at the level of society.

Vucic speaks with Borrell, receives invitation to EU-Western Balkans summit (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke by phone with EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday afternoon, Tanjug news agency reports.

During the conversation, Borrell invited Vucic to a June 23 EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels.

“I had a 25-minute telephone conversation with Borrell. We discussed Serbia’s EU integration, the dialogue with Pristina and the situation in the region, which is sometimes complicated, so we discussed all major topics of interest to the citizens of our country and the region”, Vucic told reporters in Ohrid, North Macedonia, where he is attending a two-day summit of the regional Open Balkan initiative.

He said they had also discussed the EU-Western Balkans summit and that Borrell, too, had invited him to attend.

Vucic also announced that Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on a declaration on missing persons and an energy package was due to resume on the following day.

Selakovic confirms he accepted Lavrov’s invitation to visit Moscow (Danas)

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Selakovic confirmed today that he has accepted the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to visit Moscow, Danas daily reports.

Talking about the upcoming visit of the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Serbia Selakovic said this visit is very important adding that during his stay in Belgrade no “nice and easy messages” will be heard.

Selakovic told TV Pink morning program he can’t say the precise date of his visit to Moscow because Lavrov is visiting Turkey today.

“You will see that no one in the international public will speak anymore on what has happened relating to the plane passage ban, and you can see that Lavrov is allowed to visit a NATO member state and an EU accession candidate state (Turkey), so it is likely that another type of problem is present when it comes to Serbia”, Selakovic said.

He added the date of his visit to Moscow will be “agreed at a later stage”.

Botsan-Kharchenko: Moscow does not change stance on Kosovo (Radio KIM)

On the occasion of Russia Day, Ambassador Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko organised a reception in Belgrade and said in a ceremony that the two countries continue to foster and advance their relations, adding Moscow does not change stance on Kosovo and Metohija, Radio KIM reports.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic, ministers Nikola Selakovic, Sinisa Mali, Nenad Popovic, Aleksandar Vulin, Nebojsa Stefanovic, Maja Popovic, Andjelka Atanaskovic, Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic, and a Serb member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina tripartite Presidency, Milorad Dodik attended the ceremony.

Commenting on a plane passage ban affecting the planned visit of Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov to Belgrade, Botsan-Kharchenko said this fact clearly demonstrates the pressure on Serbia, adding that however, Serbia was strong and doesn’t yield in to demands.

“They created a hysteria in the West regarding the announced visit, because they knew how cordially Lavrov will be welcomed in Belgrade”, Botsan-Kharchenko said, adding that Western Europe doesn’t want to hear the truth, what is realistic and what the stance on Kosovo is.

Representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, opposition parties, diplomatic corps, mayors of Belgrade and Nis, Zoran Radojicic and Dragana Sotirovski, and former president Tomislav Nikolic also attended the ceremony.

Russia Day is marked on June 12, on a day when the First Congress of the People’s Deputies  of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic was held in 1990, adopting the Declaration on state sovereignty of Russia.  

Arifi: US promises special treatment of the issue of Albanians from Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja (KoSSev, N1, Beta)

The president of the municipality of Bujanovac, Nagip Arifi, said that the State Department promised special treatment “of the issue of the Albanians of the Valley”, reported KoSSev, citing N1.

Political representatives of Albanians from Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja spoke at the US State Department on Tuesday with Martin McDowell, director of the Office for Southern and Central Europe, who promised, as Arifi says, “special treatment of the issues of the Albanians of the Valley”.

“We left the meeting inspired by this promise. The meeting at the State Department in Washington encouraged us to remain committed to our goals,” Arifi stated for the Bujanovacke.co.rs portal. 

In addition to Arifi, the delegation included the president of the Party for Democratic Action (PDD), Shaip Kamberi, the functionary of this party, Ardita Sinani, and the president of the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA), Ragmi Mustafa.

After the meeting with McDowell, Sinani said that “the Presevo Valley is a topic at the highest instances of American diplomacy”.

“The trip to America is financed by 50,000 euros donated by the Kosovo government to the National Council of Albanians (NSA) for ‘lobbying and raising the Valley issue’,” said Arber Pajaziti, head of the Bujanovac board of the opposition Alternative for Change, reported KoSSev.

Belgrade schools receive fresh bomb threats (RTS, N1)

More than 200 schools and a kindergarten in Belgrade received on Wednesday emails with fresh bomb threats, Serbian Interior Ministry said, RTS reports. The Ministry added that 148 primary schools and 66 secondary schools in Belgrade received fresh bomb threats, adding the bomb squad teams were on the ground.

Also, a kindergarten located in Vracar, one of the Belgrade’s central municipalities received bomb threats, and parents were told not to bring their children in.

Earlier this week bomb alerts also disrupted classes in the cities of Nis and Kragujevac.

Psychologists advised parents that it was good to encourage children, but one should not make jokes about bomb threats and should consider the situation as serious.

Bomb threats have plagued Serbia for several weeks with some analysts linking them to Serbia’s resistance to impose sanctions on Russia. From January 1 to June 1, more than 1000 counter-sabotage examinations were conducted, the Ministry of Interior said, RTS reports.

Abazovic to visit Belgrade on June 29 (RTS)

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic will officially visit Belgrade on June 29, RTS reports.

Abazovic who is attending the Open Balkan Summit in Ohrid, North Macedonia wrote on Twitter that Monegro and Serbia want to reset their relations.

“Montenegro and Serbia want to reset their relations. President @avucic and I agreed that two states are directed at each other, and that together they should create a European future based on reconciliation and cooperation. I am glad to officially visit Serbia on June 29. #Open Balkan”, Abazovic wrote in a post.