• Reactions to the Kosovo-Serbia agreement on energy (media)
• Serbia, Kosovo agree ‘Road Map’ to energy dispute solution (BIRN)
• Manuel Sarrazin: The EU enlargement promise is valid (DW, media)
• President Osmani: I go to Brussels with hope but not great expectations (media)
• Prime Minister Kurti: Survivors of sexual violence need our support (Kallxo)
• Haxhiu: Venice Commission skeptical on in-depth vetting (Koha)
• Kurti holds online meeting with US Deputy Secretary of Commerce (media)
• Kurti meets civil society representatives from Serbia in Prishtina (media)
• Three Balkan countries could boycott EU summit (Koha)

Reactions to the Kosovo-Serbia agreement on energy (media)

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, reacted to the agreement on energy between Kosovo and Serbia saying that the progress achieved on Tuesday is of crucial importance. “Progress made today in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue through reaching an agreement on the energy roadmap is of crucial importance. As ever, Kosovo has shown to be constructive and actively engaged in this process. Now implementation is the key step forward,” Osmani said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also hailed the agreement. “This is a big and important step forward in the EU-facilitated Dialogue and will deliver concrete results for all citizens,” Borrell said on Twitter. He congratulated Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on agreeing on the road map, which encourages both sides to make further progress in all other unresolved issues.

The U.S. Embassy in Prishtina said in a statement on Tuesday: “Today’s energy roadmap agreement is proof that when Kosovo and Serbia engage with creativity and flexibility, citizens in both countries benefit. The U.S. urges both countries to continue to build on this success through urgent, open engagement in the EU-facilitated Dialogue.”

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama hailed the agreement “as a very good thing”. “This is the right way. Other things are a waste of time,” Rama wrote on Twitter.

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, said the roadmap sets out the implementation of two preliminary agreements of 2013 and 2015 – which Kosovo had concluded at that time in order to exercise state sovereignty throughout its territory. But, as Abdixhiku said, the current Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, at the time when these two agreements were reached, had described them as agreements that legalize the influence of Serbia in Kosovo. “Today, the citizens of Kosovo must hear from him, whether these two agreements, accepted without any change and proclaimed with full merit, will legalize or not the influence of Serbia in Kosovo,” he wrote on Facebook. “LDK has continuously and consistently supported – yesterday and today – agreements in the interest of Kosovo, which have aimed at fully exercising the sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo in its entire territory.”

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, said the Kurti government is realizing that the decisions of the past have been to the benefit of the citizens. “I see it as both good news and bad news. The good news is that finally the Prime Minister of Kosovo together with this government are realizing that what we have done in the past is for the benefit of the citizens of Kosovo. And I see it as bad news that their opposition and their political uncertainty have delayed the process for 7 years … This is an agreement that we have discussed since 2015 when we signed it and when it was approved, and I consider that its implementation will enable the full integration of the energy system, including fair billing. I hope that the details will be given by the government and not us,” he said.

Serbia, Kosovo agree ‘Road Map’ to energy dispute solution (BIRN)

Serbian and Kosovo officials have agreed a ‘road map’ for the future operations of a Belgrade-backed electricity company that will finally charge consumers in Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo for energy supplies, but without giving specific dates.

The EU’s envoy for Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, announced on Tuesday that Belgrade and Pristina have agreed to a ‘road map’ to further implement energy agreements made in 2013 and 2015.

Lajcak said that Belgrade and Pristina’s negotiators adopted the Energy Agreements Implementation Roadmap and described this as “a major step forward”.

The intention is to solve the problem of how consumers in Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo will pay for energy supplies. The situation has not been resolved since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, and Serbs currently do not pay for the power supplied to them because they do not recognise Kosovo’s institutions as legally valid.

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

Manuel Sarrazin: The EU enlargement promise is valid (DW, media)

The EU-Western Balkans Summit will take place in Brussels on June 23, 2022. In a Deutsche Welle interview, the German government’s special envoy Manuel Sarrazin, warns of the lack of progress in the EU expansion process for the Western Balkans.

Asked to comment the EU Commission’s decision to recommend the status of candidate for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, in relation to the Western Balkans, Sarrazin said that this is good for the countries of the Western Balkans, because it shows that the geostrategic importance of EU enlargement is still there, and that the enlargement process is moving.

Asked what should be offered to the vulnerable states such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, he said that the promise of enlargement made at the 2003 Thessaloniki Summit is valid. “And for that, the 14 core priorities and the implementation of reforms remain with Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that we can finally grant candidate status. For Kosovo, the government is carrying out reforms and we also want to reward them. Visa liberalization for Kosovan citizens is one of those necessary steps that must be followed now. The normalization dialogue with Serbia must also be restarted and both sides must also be prepared to make progress there,” Sarrazin said.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3QFUa5i

President Osmani: I go to Brussels with hope but not great expectations (media)

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, said in an interview with Dutch medium NRC that she will travel to Brussels for the EU Summit with hope but not great expectations that Kosovo will get visa liberalisation. “I always go there with hope, but not with great expectations. Hopefully, it will not be another disappointment for us. We have been discriminated far too often … It is a great injustice and discrimination against our people. We are living in a ghetto,” Osmani said.

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

Kurti: Survivors of sexual violence need our support (Kallxo)

On the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Prime Minister Albin Kurti attended a roundtable in honor of the victims and survivors of sexual violence during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo. He said that the survivors need social support to overcome the stigma they face in society.

“Violence in 1998-99 is the most horrible crime that has destroyed many lives and opened many wounds. Last year, Zoran Vukotic was convicted for the first time of wartime violence. Survivors also need our social support to overcome the stigma they face in society,” he said.

Kurti called on the affected to apply for status. “We need transitional justice and we have it as a priority. I call on all men and boys to support women in society,” Kurti said.

Haxhiu: Venice Commission skeptical on in-depth vetting (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said on Tuesday that in the opinion from the Venice Commission there is some skepticism about an in-depth vetting process in the judiciary in Kosovo. In a debate on KTV, Haxhiu admitted that the Commission did not recommend an in-depth vetting as the government had intended. She said: “Venice’s opinion on the vetting process paves the way for the Ministry of Justice to launch the reform. We have carefully read the vetting opinion and had meetings with the rapporteurs in Venice. However, there seems to be some skepticism about an in-depth vetting, as Albania or some other countries have done it, because it has had its consequences in terms of leaving important institutions without staff, as it happened in Albania, where 60 per cent of the staff was left out of the vetting. There are several circumstances that occurred in those countries that have gone through the vetting. I believe that due to those circumstances, Kosovo has been suggested to focus on a vetting process by an external mechanism that we have provided with the constitutional amendments, namely the constitutional option at the high levels”.

Haxhiu said she will soon call leaders of opposition parties to a meeting seeking their support for reforms in the judiciary. “It is very important for the opposition in the Kosovo Assembly to help us with the reform in the judiciary. We need professional debates and discussions in the working groups,” she said. “We believe it is very important for the Prime Minister to send an invitation. We have agreed with the Prime Minister to send an invitation soon, but I also hope they will accept our invitation.”

Kurti holds online meeting with US Deputy Secretary of Commerce (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, in on online meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Don Graves, discussed Kosovo’s economic achievements, investment potentials and economic interests. A press release issued by Kurti’s office notes that he “highlighted the attractive climate for investments, especially in the information technology sector, which has great and proven potential, with over 650 companies in this sector, 70% of which export services mainly to the US and EU”. The two leaders talked about a U.S. trade mission that is scheduled to visit Kosovo in autumn with focus on information technology. They also talked the “Partnership for Global Infrastructure” program that includes Kosovo, the possibility of assistance with agricultural fertilizers and opportunities for investment in infrastructure and renewable energy. “Prime Minister Kurti and Deputy Secretary Graves pledged to continue cooperation and work with the respective teams of both governments,” the statement notes.

Kurti meets civil society representatives from Serbia in Prishtina (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met representatives of civil society organisations from Serbia, in Prishtina on Tuesday. Kurti tweeted after the meeting: “Useful meeting with representatives of civil society from Serbia. Civil society is key for democratization and it thrives when human rights and civil liberties are protected. I said that Serbia must go through introspection, face the past and seek a dialogue centered on mutual recognition.”

The head of the Institute for European Affairs of Serbia, Naim Leo Beshiri, who attended the meeting told Klan Kosova that “The Prime Minister spoke in Serbian, and we understood each other very well. We were informed of Pristina’s concerns when it comes to the dialogue.”

Three Balkan countries could boycott EU summit (Koha)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama implied on Tuesday that Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia might not take part in the EU Summit on Thursday. “We discussed today at length with Serbia’s and North Macedonia’s leaders about the upcoming EU Summit. It seems that another “No, sorry!” is gonna be what we will hear at the end! The whole Union kidnapped by Bulgaria it is not a good spectacle to watch! What to do there?!” Rama wrote on Twitter.