Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti asks Serbs to get Kosovo licence plates; ‘not fall prey to misinformation’ (media)
• Minister of Economy calls for energy savings; “an extraordinary winter ahead” (Koha)
• Kosovo government pays €40 million for energy in the north (media)
• Local Government Minister: There can be no monoethnic associations (Nacionale)
• What should we expect, when we are expecting … the Association? (Albanian Post)
• Lushtaku comments on Kurti’s remarks about “threat from Serbia” (Indeksonline)
• 1,197 new cases with COVID-19 in last 24 hours (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• What is on agenda ahead of the meeting between Vucic and Kurti in Brussels? (RTS)
• Vucic: Serbia’s natural gas reserves at historic maximum (N1)
• Stoltenberg: Close partnership between NATO and Serbia (N1)
• Andjelkovic: It is time for Serbia to establish provincial administration and civil protection in KiM (Kosovo Online)
• Shop owners in Velika Hoca stage protest (Radio KIM)
• Selakovic meets with Costa Rican counterpart (Tanjug)

International:

• BIRN Fact-Check: Kosovo Sanctions on Russia – Serious or Symbolic? (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Kosovo with 25 percent more tourists compared to last year (Kosovapress)
• Serbian farmers stage protests (N1) 

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti asks Serbs to get Kosovo licence plates; ‘not fall prey to misinformation’ (media) 

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, called on Serb citizens today to convert their licence plates to RKS licence plates. Kurti said during the government meeting that while barricades were set up in the north there was a misinformation campaign, and that misinformation today represents a threat to Kosovo’s national security.

“Misinformation today represents a threat to national security … I call on you once again to closely follow the statements issued by our government, to verify the news sources and not allow to be misinformed by those who could aim for instability. Our information campaign for the registration of licence plates will not stop on September 1 when the two decisions will start being implemented.”

“Converting the licence plates from those that are illegal to RKS serves the order, law, public security, and freedom of movement. By contributing to these objectives, you can benefit from exemption from the customs tax, the administrative tax, the tariff on the licence plates, and so on, which amount to a total of around €5,000,” Kurti said.

Kurti also talked about the decision to issue entry/exit documents for Serbia nationals entering Kosovo and said that it does not impede the freedom of movement. “The average waiting time is 20 seconds … Meanwhile, the same measure has been applied by Serbia for 11 years now for Kosovars travelling to Serbia and they had to wait from 10 to 60 minutes,” he added. Kurti denied rumours that Serbian documents would be confiscated at the border. “The entry/exit document is an additional and free-of-charge document,” he said.

Kurti thanked the citizens of Kosovo for their patience and said that the roadblocks which are set up in the north “do not come from the bottom but are set up from above”. He said that the Kosovo Police and other security institutions are made of Kosovo citizens without any differences and that they serve all citizens.

Minister of Economy calls for energy savings; “an extraordinary winter ahead” (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, said today that energy must be saved in order to make it through, what she called, an extraordinary winter because of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. She told a press conference in Prishtina today that several measures to save energy have been undertaken. “It will be a difficult winter for all of Europe. We will be affected too. Countries like Britain, Switzerland, and others have introduced different measures to save energy. In this respect, it is good to be aware of what awaits us. We are taking the necessary measures. KEK [the Kosovo Power Corporation] is making the necessary preparations so that interventions in blocs A and B are completed before winter. We must save energy,” she said.

“Everyone of us, in the institutions, in our households, we need to do our best to save energy. The emergency measures foresee ways how energy will be saved in public institutions. The agreement with Albania for energy will help us make it through the coming winter. It will be an extraordinary winter. The European market will not have energy to buy if Russia stops the gas, the way it did some months ago. This is the reality we need to face, just like other countries. We will do our best to make it through the coming winter as easy as possible but we need your help too,” Rizvanolli said.

Rizvanolli also said that the government is working to find technical and operational solutions to implement the approved subsidies of €90 million for energy. “Last week we received a request from the Energy Regulatory Office, which noted that the calculations are correct and the request for payment was made. We are in consultations with the Secretary of the Energy Committee and USAID who offered technical support for ways to implement the agreement. We are working hard on this, and it will happen very soon,” Rizvanolli said.

Kosovo government pays €40 million for energy in the north (media)

The Kosovo government decided today to pay €40 million for obligations related to the use of energy in the four mainly Serb-inhabited municipalities in the north. Minister of Finance and Transfers, proposed for the fund to be allocated to the Kosovo Energy Distribution and Supply Company (KOSTT). He said the funds would be allocated to extend the agreement with ENTSO-E, the European Network for Transmission System Operators for Electricity, and to respect the obligations stemming from this agreement.

“The KOSTT enterprise is going through financial difficulties because of obligations it has toward ENTSO, in order for us to continue to be on the same regulatory bloc and to implement the agreement that has been in place for two years, now is the time to extend it. The request was for support for public enterprise,” Murati said.

Local Government Minister: There can be no monoethnic associations (Nacionale)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, told a press conference today that there can be no monoethnic associations in Kosovo. “Kosovo is a multiethnic state and there can be no monoethnic associations here. We cannot go outside this spirit,” he said. “Everything that has been built so far in Kosovo has been built as a multiethnic state”.

What should we expect, when we are expecting … the Association? (Albanian Post)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in his latest interview, did not rule out that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities could be implemented according to a development model that is based on geographical, economic and development features. Although Kurti did not disclose many details on how the model he proposed could look like, his statement was interpreted as a softening position vis-à-vis the Association, especially after the request of top U.S. diplomat Gabriel Escobar “to find modalities to implement the Association”.

Agon Maliqi, political commentator, however, says that the Prime Minister is not interested in implementing any model of the Association. He argues that Kurti is interested in maintaining a rigid position and turning down any modality for the Association. “There is a borderline on how much Kurti can change the modality because the Association already exists as a legal reality, in the Ahtisaari framework, the legislation of Kosovo and the decision of the Constitutional Court. Perhaps a semantic manoeuvre can be made to give the cooperation between the Serb-majority municipalities a different character or nature but substantially it will be the same thing,” Maliqi said.

Abit Hoxha, lecturer on media and conflict, has a different opinion from Maliqi. He argues that it is now clear to Kurti that international partners, especially the United States of America, are very serious in their demands to implement the Association. He also believes that Kurti is preparing the political terrain with his latest statements. “Yes, Kurti’s position about the Association has changed. And it seems that the Prime Minister’s harsh communication in the last couple of days is related to this. Part of this game is his latest statement about war, namely, a communication that calls for internal and external attention to the process of dialogue,” Hoxha said. 

Besfort Rrecaj, professor of international law, said that the Association is a legal obligation that Kosovo must fulfil, and that Kurti is working to find a modality that can be implemented. “I think that outside any context of political rhetoric it is important for Kosovo to meet its legal obligations. It is in the hands of the leadership to write the scope of this Association. It is also important for the Association to be interpreted in the light of the decision of the Constitutional Court,” he argued.

Lushtaku comments on Kurti’s remarks about “threat from Serbia” (Indeksonline)

Sami Lushtaku, one of the commanders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army, said Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s recent statements about “the threat coming from Serbia” are done to shift the attention away from his failure in government. Lushtaku argued that Kurti should not talk about the threat but prepare against the threat. “The threat from Serbia is constant, but Kurti uses it how he deems necessary. To shift the attention away from his failure in the economic, politics and diplomacy. He should not talk about the threat but should prepare against the threat. We have warned him earlier too, he must consider all possible options, because the threat from Serbia is constant,” Lushtaku said.

1,197 new cases with COVID-19 in last 24 hours (media)

1,197 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. There are 8,004 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media 

What is on agenda ahead of the meeting between Vucic and Kurti in Brussels? (RTS)

After more than a year, on August 18 in Brussels, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti should once again sit down at the same negotiation table. And what topics will be on that table?, RTS writes today. Judging by the messages from both Brussels and Washington, the Association/Community of Serbian Municipalities (A/CSM), which is a precondition for all agreements for Belgrade, is not excluded as a topic either.

Vucic’s cabinet said they are not travelling to the headquarters of the European Union with much optimism. Meanwhile, announcements are coming from Pristina as well. After the recent tensions and the delayed implementation of the decision on documents to enter Kosovo as well as on licence plates, Pristina officials say – there will be no discussion on already agreed topics.

“I don’t see how a meeting can take place without discussing crisis, the second thing is that Kurti certainly has no political credit to communicate with the Kosovo public, that he will go to negotiate now something he has already made as a decision and what he already promised to his voters and the entire Kosovo public that it will be implemented with a short delay. I am pessimistic it will lead to some progress”, Dusan Milenkovic from the Centre for Social Dialogue said.

Even Albin Kurti’s latest statement does not indicate progress. “We are risking war. Putin is behind Serbia. I would not say that the risk is very high, because we also have a NATO contingent here, but it is certainly high”, Kurti was quoted as saying.

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic said that in every statement Kurti invents the alleged influence of Russia because he wants not only to attack Belgrade, but also to justify future new unilateral and violent actions against the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.

Under such circumstances, it is not a bad idea to recall the statement of the mediator in the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, that he will not organise meetings between the two leaders unless there is something significant for signature on the table. Unambiguously, the dialogue did not reach that point, but after the last crisis, it seems, at least according to the statements coming from both Brussels and Washington, that they are worried about tensions.

“They understood the capacity for wider destabilisation due to this behaviour of Pristina, they understood that the Serbian people will not accept what Pristina is trying to impose, that the Serbian people are ready to oppose it in a peaceful, fully democratic way, including protests and Belgrade’s determination to protect the Serbian people”, Milovan Drecun, former chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija said.

US Special Envoy for Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar recalled that what has been signed should be implemented, and talks on the formation of A/CSM must begin. This, he says, is what US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Kurti when he was recently in the US.

“What is disturbing is the second part of Borrell’s statement on A/CSM, in which he washes his hands  and talks about the fact that the EU cannot force the Pristina side to finally form ASM. I think it is not right since the EU has the role of guarantor of the Brussels Agreement. The Brussels Agreement represents the only umbrella political agreement concluded between the two parties. It was also ratified in the Provincial Parliament in Pristina; therefore, it acquired the force of law, and its implementation or non-implementation must be covered by the issue of the rule of law and the law”, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nemanja Starovic said.

Dusan Milenkovic from the Centre for Social Dialogue said that this would be an incredibly high political price for Kurti. “I think it would immediately lead to a change of government; I don’t think there is a politician in Kosovo except maybe at some point Thaçi who could currently implement something like that, about any model when we talk about ASM. He came to power with a rhetoric that he is fiercely against the establishment of ASM”, he opined.

For 11 years, the European Union has been mediating between Belgrade and Pristina. There was also a standstill from November 2018 to June 2020 due to the crisis after the introduction of a tax on products from Serbia. A new phase began in March 2021. No concrete moves were made. The agreement on the implementation of energy agreements was seen as a step in the right direction, RTS recalled.

Vucic: Serbia’s natural gas reserves at historic maximum (N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that natural gas reserves in Serbia are at a historic maximum, N1 reports.

“We have secured 262 million cubic metres of gas in our part of the Banatski Dvor storage facility, and we have purchased another 200 million cubic metres, just for Serbia’s needs, that we have stored in Hungary”, Vucic wrote on “The Future of Serbia” Instagram profile.

He added that the state is overhauling all the thermal capacities that it can, and trying to open new coal deposits.

“All in all, I am certain that the citizens of Serbia will have at least a slightly less cold winter than we had expected”, Vucic said.

Stoltenberg: Close partnership between NATO and Serbia (N1)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO fully respects the sovereign right of countries to choose their own political and security arrangements, noting that this is the fundamental principle of European security, N1 reports.

In an interview with the Podgorica daily Vijesti Stoltenberg welcomed Montenegro’s contribution to NATO’s constant efforts to protect the Alliance’s population and territory as well as its contribution to the stability of the Western Balkans, and added that Montenegro can always count on NATO in preserving its security.

Asked about NATO’s expansion in the next ten years, Stoltenberg said that NATO leaders reiterated in Madrid that NATO’s open door policy remains in place.

Commenting the construction of a naval base in the Adriatic Sea that NATO is negotiating with Albania and other potential investments and deployment of troops in the region, Stoltenberg said NATO’s new Strategic Concept, adopted at the Madrid Summit, once again confirmed the Western Balkans’ strategic importance for the Alliance.

NATO will continue to promote stability, security and cooperation in the region, including the day-to-day efforts of KFOR, of our headquarters in Sarajevo and of our office in Belgrade, Stoltenberg said, adding that security and stability in the Western Balkans is important for NATO and for peace and stability in Europe.

Stoltenberg said NATO and Serbia have had a close partnership for years, which is based on political dialogue and practical cooperation, with full respect for Serbia’s policy of military neutrality.

The political dialogue between NATO and Serbia takes various forms, it includes contacts between Serbian officials and NATO and well-established relations between the KFOR commander and Serbian chief of staff, Stoltenberg said. What makes these relations possible is a constructive spirit and mutual respect, which should continue, he added.

Asked if he was concerned about Kosovo long-term stability, Stoltenberg said he discussed with the Pristina and Belgrade leaders the tensions in Kosovo and added that the two sides must remain calm, avoid unilateral actions and constructively engage in the EU-mediated dialogue.

In line with its UN mandate, the KFOR mission is closely monitoring the situation and is prepared to intervene if stability is jeopardised. Our mission is focused on ensuring a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all the people of Kosovo, Stolternberg said.

The NATO Secretary General said the Alliance continues to fully support the EU-mediated dialogue and calls on all sides to continue negotiations because they are of key importance for regional peace and security.

Andjelkovic: It is time for Serbia to establish provincial administration and civil protection in KiM (Kosovo Online)

Political analyst Dragomir Andjelkovic told Kosovo Online portal on Tuesday Serbia should conclude that due to the impossibility of conducting negotiations, it is forced to establish all its state institutions in all parts of Kosovo where possible, including the Executive Council of the Province of Kosovo and Metohija and other authorities, primarily civil protection.

“I think we have reached the point when the Government of Serbia will have to make such decisions and state that, due to the impossibility of conducting negotiations, Serbia is forced to establish all its state institutions in all parts of Kosovo-wherever possible”, Andjelkovic told the portal.

Asked what should be Serbia’s response to what (PM) Albin Kurti said that decision of Kosovo Government regarding licence plates and documents is a “sovereign decision” and as such those decisions are not to be discussed in the dialogue, Andjelkovic said Serbian Government now should not establish the A/CSM (ZSO), but rather establish all the bodies according to the Constitution of Serbia, according to which Kosovo and Metohija is its province.

“We should not establish ZSO, but, in accordance with our Constitution, the Executive Council of the province of Kosovo and Metohija and other bodies, above all the civil protection that existed until 2016 and was a factor in the defence of the north. If Pristina and the West, which is backing Pristina, do not want to negotiate with Serbia, Serbia must establish its control where it can, which is the north. Anything else is a path to complete capitulation because it is clear that Kurti would not do what he is doing without the green light of the West, no matter what they say”, Andjelkovic opined.

Regarding Kurti’s allegation that he is not bound by the agreements reached by the previous Kosovo governments, that there is Association of Kosovo Municipalities in Kosovo, and Serbs from Kosovo did not seek a mono-ethnic community, but that it was a request from Belgrade and “unfortunately a concession” of his predecessors, Andjelkovic said that Kurti has not upheld what was agreed until now.

“Kurti can say anything. He has not respected anything until now, and the previous governments of Haradinaj and Thaci did not respect the Brussels Agreement, not a single Albanian government in Kosovo has upheld it. We ought to respond to Kurti’s story about the alleged Kosovo constitution providing for the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, that the Constitution of Serbia foresees the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija and that we’re acting accordingly. The way things stand right now, it turns out that Kurti is much more powerful than Vucićc and others who rule in Serbia, and Serbia must not allow this because Serbia is not an autonomous province of Kosovo. Kosovo is already an autonomous province of Serbia”, he opined.

Shop owners in Velika Hoca stage protest (Radio KIM)

As a sign of protest because of two shops’ burglaries that happened twice in less than a month’s time, the owners of shops in Velika Hoca have closed their stores, Radio KIM reports.

Residents of Velika Hoca said they are very concerned given that today they could not even buy the bread. Kosovo police, KFOR, OSCE have been informed of the burglaries and investigation is opened.

Police also received video recordings from surveillance cameras in shops which have been burglarized. The perpetrators are not found yet, and the owners of burglarized shops are waiting for feedback from respective institutions. 

An appeal was also sent to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija to undertake actions aiming at preventing similar attacks against local Serbs which accelerate their departure from Kosovo. 

Selakovic meets with Costa Rican counterpart (Tanjug)

Serbian FM Nikola Selakovic met with Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Arnoldo Andre Tinoco in San Jose on Tuesday.

Expressing satisfaction with the fact his historic visit to Costa Rica – the first by a Serbian FM – was taking place in a year when the two countries marked the 140th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, Selakovic said Serbia was interested in enhancing cooperation and reviving political dialogue with Costa Rica, and noted that contacts and meetings between officials of the two countries needed to be stepped up.

Selakovic also noted that the attendance of a Serbian special presidential envoy at a recent inauguration ceremony of President Rodrigo Chavez Robles clearly demonstrated Serbia’s determination to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with Costa Rica.

He expressed the hope that the 140th anniversary of Serbia-Costa Rica diplomatic relations would also provide an opportunity for Tinoco to visit Belgrade by the end of the year.

Selakovic also spoke about possibilities for strengthening economic cooperation, in particular in agriculture, as well as about cooperation in sports, culture and education.

The ministers exchanged views on the most significant international and regional affairs, and Selakovic informed Tinoco of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, noting that the Kosovo and Metohija issue was a top priority for Serbia.

Selakovic said Serbia was very committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region and to solving open issues through dialogue, as well as to turning the region to as intensive cooperation as possible.

He briefed Tinoco on the Open Balkan regional initiative and the course of Serbia’s European integration.

International 

BIRN Fact-Check: Kosovo Sanctions on Russia – Serious or Symbolic? (BIRN)

In joining Western sanctions on Russia, Kosovo is sending a message of solidarity and alignment. The impact in real terms will be negligible.

Trade between Kosovo and Russia is almost non-existent, so when Pristina joined Western sanctions against Moscow over its war in Ukraine, the significance was only symbolic.

Last year, Kosovo exported 34,736 euros-worth of goods to Russia; the value of imports from Russia was just under 51 million euros, or less than one per cent of Kosovo’s total imports.

So, in early July, when Kosovo’s government approved a raft of sanctions against Russia and its ally, Belarus, few feared for the fate of their businesses.

Bans were imposed on the trade of iron, stainless steel, luxury goods, the export of dual use goods and technology, investment in the Russian energy sector, IT equipment and services for the energy industry in Russia [with the exception of nuclear energy], all transactions with state enterprises and credit rating services for Russian clients.

“We will also introduce measures that will halt all transactions with several state-owned companies, which have also faced limitations when it comes to refinancing, and lastly, we will ban all loan evaluation services,” Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz announced.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3QuVs2k

Humanitarian/Development

Kosovo with 25 percent more tourists compared to last year (Kosovapress)

Kosovo has marked an increase in the number of visits from all over the world this year, the news agency reports. Compared to the same period of last year there has been a 25 percent increase in the number of visitors, said the Kosovo Tourism Union, Baki Hoti. He called on Kosovo’s institutions to invest more in the development of infrastructure so that Kosovo can attract even more tourists. Hoti said that cultural activities such as “Manifesta”, “Sunnyhill” and “Dokufest” have led to an increasing number of tourists.

Serbian farmers stage protests (N1)

Farmers of the Stig Association blocked Tuesday the bridge over the Great Morava river that connects the eastern Serbian city of Pozarevac and the E-75 motorway, N1 reports.

Farmers have asked the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture to increase the purchase price of sunflowers from 60 to 90 Dinars per kilogram.

“We are now organising the fourth protest this year. We want to show everyone that the situation is not good. Once again the farmers of the Branicevo district have joined Vojvodina farmers’ protests… We do not expect anything after this blockade. We are going back to our homes and sunflower fields”, Pozarevac Stig Association Nedeljko Savic told N1, adding that they have had 30 meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture which has done nothing about the problem.

At the same time, representatives of the Initiative for the Survival of Farmers organised a tractor protest ride from the town of Stara Pazova to the Belgrade neighbourhood of Batajnica, expressing their dissatisfaction with the purchase price of sunflower and fuel prices for farmers.

They demand that the purchase price of sunflower be 700 Euro per ton, as well as for the government to provide fuel subsidies.

“We give the Ministry 48 hours to respond to our demands otherwise we will radicalise the protests”, Initiative president Radoslav Adammovic told N1.