• Lajcak does not see the fact that Kurti and Vucic did not meet as a tragedy (RTK)
• Government informed embassies on license plates and ID decisions (Telegrafi)
• “Elektrosever” misses several deadlines of the energy roadmap (Koha)
• Ukraine War Makes Kosovo-Serbia Deal More Urgent – Enver Hoxhaj (BIRN)
• Janjic not satisfied with Lajcak’s mediation of dialogue (Danas, media)
• The U.S. Department of State publishes the report on human trafficking (media)
• Kurti holds farewell meeting with Swedish ambassador Hernmarck (media)
• RFE on Radoicic: U.S.-sanctioned smuggling politician that ‘represents’ Kosovo Serbs
• Kosovo’s Online Media Lack Resources to Combat Fake News: Report (BIRN)

Lajcak does not see the fact that Kurti and Vucic did not meet as a tragedy (RTK)

The EU emissary for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has indicated whether the recognition of Kosovo will be the topic of future talks in Brussels with the Serbian side.

In an interview with RTK, he said that he is working on a legally binding comprehensive agreement for the normalization of relations.

According to him, Kosovo and Serbia should agree whether or not there will be mutual recognition in the dialogue process. “With this, the EU does not want to describe what normalization is or what it is not. The EU doesn’t say it should be this, or it shouldn’t be that. The message is clear that Kosovo and Serbia must agree on what normalization means. If they agree it is recognition, if both parties agree, recognition is recognition, but they must agree. If they don’t agree, it’s something else. The issue is that it should be an agreement between both parties, between Kosovo and Serbia, and this is the reason why we have a dialogue,” he said.

He stated that the plan was to have a high-level meeting before the summer break, but that did not happen. “But this is not a problem or a tragedy. The most important thing is that the two leaders, Prime Minister Kurti and President Vucic, who have agreed to the meeting, have agreed to meet regularly. They have agreed to take the dialogue to that level and at the same time we must make sure that this third meeting, the third official meeting in Brussels, is positive and gives concrete results”, he said.

According to him, it is not important for them where the meeting will be held, but the quality of the meeting. “After assessing the situation, I decide that it is better to wait a bit and make sure that the meeting is good,” Lajcak said.

Government informed embassies on license plates and ID decisions (Telegrafi)

On 29 June, the Government of Kosovo took two decisions regarding use of ID cards in entering Kosovo and license plates issued by Serbian authorities for Kosovo cities.

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi while reporting to the Assembly committee on European integration said that the Government had prepared a four-page document in light of the above decisions and sent it to foreign embassies in Kosovo and those of Kosovo in the world.

The document notes that the expert teams from Kosovo and Serbia met many times in an effort to find a solution that would reflect European standards. “Throughout six months, Kosovo has demonstrated constructive approach which was recognised by the EU facilitator, however this was not reciprocated by Serbia,” the document reads. As a result, Kosovo is said to have addressed the issue in line with past agreements, the legal framework of Kosovo, “as agreed with the EU facilitator and in full coordination with the international community.”

“Elektrosever” misses several deadlines of the energy roadmap (Koha)

The Serbian company “Elektrosever” has missed several deadlines set out in the roadmap for the implementation of the energy agreement, Koha reports, adding that it has been over two weeks since the deadline for this company to submit the latest customer data to Kosovo’s, KEDS and KOSTT.

“We are talking about an issue where actors who are higher than us are involved in this issue, namely the Energy Regulatory Office, which supervises us, and the Government of Kosovo, which is informed about every detail, so you put your questions to these institutions”, KEDS spokesperson, Viktor Buzhala, said.

However, neither the Government nor the European Union have answered Koha on how the solution will be found for the current in the north if the agreement is not implemented and whether there will be penalties for those who disregard it. A day ago, Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said that he hopes that the agreement will be implemented since there are 100 days at the disposal.

Ukraine War Makes Kosovo-Serbia Deal More Urgent – Enver Hoxhaj (BIRN)

Former Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj says that it is high time Kosovo and Serbia and the international community geared up to put the long dispute between two countries to bed, by reaching an agreement within the EU-facilitated dialogue by 2024.

In an interview with BIRN, Hoxhaj, who recently published a book on the consequences of the Ukraine war for Kosovo and the Balkans, says this war has made finding a solution more urgent.

“The war in Ukraine shows that it would have been vital for us to have achieved an agreement between 2013 and 2017, when EU enlargement had a different dynamics,” Hoxhaj, told BIRN.

“But we left this issue open, and international events are creating new situations, different focuses and attentions,” he added.

Kosovo and Serbia have been engaged in an EU-led dialogue since 2011, first on technical issues and then involving top political leaders.

But little has happened, and for years the two countries have traded blame for the failure to implement those agreements that were reached during the process.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3crU69Y

Janjic not satisfied with Lajcak’s mediation of dialogue (Danas, media)

Media report that Dusan Janjic, from the Forum for Ethnic Relations in Serbia told Danas that the EU special representative Miroslav Lajcak has done nothing so far to improve the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

“The election of Lajcak is the worst representation of the state in which the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is, and it is also a sad representation of the entire European Commission and the European Parliament,” he said. He added that schools and hospitals could be built with the means allocated each year for Lajcak and his team, “and the effect would be greater than his mediation in negotiations.”

Janjic said that it is clear now that Lajcak invented the alleged meeting between Kurti and Vucic in order to extend his mandate.

The U.S. Department of State publishes the report on human trafficking (media)

The U.S. State Department released its 2022 Human Trafficking Report on Thursday, which includes estimates for about 190 countries around the world.

Similar to a year ago, the report states that the Kosovo government does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking, but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated an overall increased effort compared to the previous reporting period, taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity, so it remained at level 2, the report said.

These efforts, it added, include prosecuting and convicting more traffickers and identifying more victims. The Office of the Chief State Prosecutor created local multidisciplinary teams to improve coordination on trafficking cases in three regions, and the government increased funding for NGO-run shelters.

Read the full report here: https://bit.ly/3PmPjoC

Kurti holds farewell meeting with Swedish ambassador Hernmarck (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti met Sweden’s Ambassador to Kosovo Karin Hernmarck at the conclusion of her mandate.

Kurti thanked Ambassador Hernmarck for the cooperation and for the continuous support of Sweden to Kosovo, noting that Sweden is among the four largest donors in Kosovo. The Prime Minister especially thanked the ambassador for her active role in promoting gender equality and protecting the environment, a statement issued by the Government of Kosovo reads.

Kurti also congratulated Hernmarck on Sweden’s decision to apply for membership in NATO, stressing that Sweden’s membership in NATO will be an added value for the alliance and will strengthen peace and security in Europe.

RFE on Radoicic: U.S.-sanctioned smuggling politician that ‘represents’ Kosovo Serbs 

Radio Free Europe writes that Milan Radoicic, deputy leader of the Serbian List, is a man that has been sanctioned by the United States, is wanted by Kosovo authorities while in Belgrade he is considered to be the leading man to “defend” Serbs in the north of Kosovo.

Radoicic did not agree to be interviewed by RFE but a resident from Mitrovica North said that he is the person that decides everything in the north, “from directors to doorkeepers”.

RFE reports that President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic on several occasions described Radoicic as the main person who defended the Serbs in the north of Kosovo but that he is also reported to have ties with Kosovo Albanian politicians. A picture from 2017 shows Radoicic and leader of the Serbian List Goran Rakic hanging out together in a yacht with businessman and later Kosovo foreign minister Behgjet Pacolli. A year later he met then prime minister Ramush Haradinaj in his office.

Most recently, Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla accused Radoicic of “being behind smugglers that attack the Kosovo Police,” an allegation that was dismissed by the Serbian List.

Kosovo’s Online Media Lack Resources to Combat Fake News: Report (BIRN)

A report by the Press Council of Kosovo said that online media don’t have access to fact-checking specialists or enough editors and sub-editors to deal with the problems of disinformation and fake news.

The Press Council of Kosovo published a report on Monday entitled Misinformation, Disinformation and Fake News in Online Media in Kosovo, which concluded that online media in the country lack the staff to deal with these issues and the money to train journalists in ethical and professional reporting.

The Press Council, a self-regulatory body which includes most of Kosovo’s media, surveyed 18 online media in Kosovo for the report, as well as interviewing media and legal experts.

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