• Borrell: Issue of license plates, more difficult to resolve (RFE)
• Kosovo-Serbia deal on IDs raises implementation question, expert says (BIRN)
• Recognition of documents does not mean Serbia has recognised Kosovo (Koha)
• PDK leader Krasniqi says no to PM Kurti’s invitation to meet (media)
• LDK leader Abdixhiku agrees to meet PM Kurti on dialogue (media)
• Escobar: Vucic committed to regional stability; good will from both sides (media)
• East and West clash in a proxy conflict over Serbia, President Vucic says (Reuters)
• It’s Never Too Late to Find the Kosovo War’s Missing Persons (BIRN)
• Kosovo leaders call for deserved punishment for raping of minor girl (media)

Borrell: Issue of license plates, more difficult to resolve (RFE)

EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, Josep Borrell, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe, that the issue of license plates in Kosovo needs to be resolved by understanding the positions of both Kosovo and Serbia. Asked about proposals for status neutral license plates and how he could convince Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to accept such a proposal, Borrell said: “You know that in my role, I must try to understand every position. The positions of Serbs and Kosovars. What stands behind this identity issue, of being in a state, being a nation, not being recognised by many world countries, even within the European Union … We have resolved the problem of ID cards and let us say the passport, the free movement of people. The issue of license plates is more difficult to resolve because this doesn’t concern only someone that is moving, there is a property that can be sold and bought. But I am optimistic. We have a two-month period. This is something that can happen tomorrow. Kurti has agreed to a two-month process to avoid any situation that can create more danger … I am encouraging something that both parties can accept,” Borrell said.

Kosovo-Serbia deal on IDs raises implementation question, expert says (BIRN)

An expert from North Kosovo said the test of the Kosovo-Serbia deal reached at the weekend on crossing borders with IDs will be how it works in practice.

It is “difficult to estimate when exactly implementation will begin”, Igor Markovic of the Mitrovica-based NGO Aktiv told BIRN about Saturday’s verbal agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on crossing borders using only IDs.

Serbia and Kosovo agreed that neither side will require any additional documents for border crossings, besides those that people already have, like IDs, it was announced on Saturday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s video statement from Saturday said the two sides agreed that citizens of both states will be able to pass the border freely with only the documents they have already.

“Under the EU-facilitated Dialogue, Serbia has agreed to abolish the entry/exit documents for Kosovo ID holders and Kosovo agreed to not introduce them for Serbian ID holders,” Borell said.

“Kosovo-Serbs, as well as all other citizens will be able to travel freely between Kosovo and Serbia using the ID cards,” he added.

The deal was the first time Albin Kurti and Aleksander Vucic had agreed on something more than 13 months since they first faced each other in Brussels.

However, the deal is only an oral agreement. Serbia’s President Vucic clarified on Sunday that this is “an oral agreement, the [previous] one in writing was made in 2011”.

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

Recognition of documents does not mean Serbia has recognised Kosovo (Koha)

Two days after Serbia agreed to recognise Kosovo’s identification documents a roundtable on free movement was held at the Media Center in Gracanica. Some of the participants said that the agreement remains unclear to citizens and that they are skeptical about its implementation. Some also argued that by accepting the agreement, Serbia has not recognised Kosovo’s independence, and that Prime Minister Albin Kurti will face pressure for new compromises.

Momcilo Trajkovic, head of the Serb National Forum, said: “this does not imply that Kosovo’s independence has been recognised, but rather it is an important cornerstone for Serbia’s independence. From a pragmatic standpoint what happened these days can be seen as relaxing the relations in Kosovo and I hope in Serbia too, because everyone expected that something was going to happen. I hope there will be wise talks and that the other part concerning the license plates will be solved too. I don’t know how ready Kurti is for a compromise and whether he understand that what he got from Vucic now, he should expect to make a compromise on the license plates”.

Shpetim Gashi from the Council for Inclusive Governance said he does not see any losers from the agreement. “Reciprocity was one of the topics of Kurti’s campaign and there are many issues concerning reciprocity that are more difficult than the document here. But I think Kurti chose this because it has symbolic, and it is the easiest. What I think will cause the most problems is the recognition of sanitary certificates which include five or six measures that Serbia does not recognise,” he argued.

During the roundtable it was said that Serbs in the north of Kosovo were not asked about the agreements and that the Serbian List acts according to Belgrade’s instructions. Milija Bisevac from the Civic Initiative “Zubin Potok” said: “As a civil initiative, we don’t support the Serbian List, because there is simply no dialogue. Vucic said he doesn’t expect an agreement and Lajcak confirmed this. This was something that we always expected. As far as the Serbian List is concerned, they always support whatever Belgrade says; they never ask the people if they agree with what is being said”.

Some Serb citizens said the agreement is positive and that other living conditions must be improved. “Life is not good because politics prevails. We need energy and war, we don’t need anything else. There are no wages, no pensions, I live in someone else’s house, what I can say,” a Serb citizen said.

Another citizen said: “I welcome any agreement that makes the lives of people easier. What concerns me are clashes between Kosovo and Serbia and the conflicts, because this affects every aspect of our lives”.

PDK leader Krasniqi says no to PM Kurti’s invitation to meet (media)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, turned down an invitation from Prime Minister Albin Kurti for a meeting with leaders of opposition parties about the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and the latest meeting with Serbian President in Brussels on August 18. Krasniqi published the letter he sent to Kurti, saying that at this point there is no emergency to meet and discuss with the Prime Minister. “Nonetheless, I remain open and ready to meet you when there is progress in the process of dialogue and concrete discussions for reaching a final agreement focused on mutual recognition. The PDK will always be engaged in protecting the interests of the Republic of Kosovo, the sovereignty of our country and implementing the constitutionality throughout our country’s territory,” Krasniqi wrote.

LDK leader Abdixhiku agrees to meet PM Kurti on dialogue (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku said on Monday that he agreed to meet Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Tuesday in an informative meeting about the dialogue with Serbia. “Kurti’s invitation comes late, but I will accept the invitation because I believe that issues of national interest should be above daily politics,” Abdixhiku wrote on Facebook.

Abdixhiku also said that he is not satisfied with the fact that so far, the only information he has received about the dialogue came from internationals and not from Kurti. “I expected a more transparent and inclusive process about the dialogue. So far, the only information we received came from international allies who have stood by Kosovo’s side all the time. I want to especially thank the U.S. envoy for the Balkans, Mr. Escobar, the U.S. Ambassador in Prishtina, Mr. Hovenier, and the EU envoy, Mr. Lajcak. In our meetings, I have reconfirmed my full support for the reciprocity measures, and I also expressed full support for the dialogue process,” Abdixhiku said.

Escobar: Vucic committed to regional stability; good will from both sides (media)

The U.S. special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on Monday that after meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, he can say that he is fully committed to stability in the region and that the good will from both Serbia and Kosovo must be used.

At the margins of the Strategic Forum in Bled, Slovenia, Escobar said he hopes there will be no need to talk about divisions in the Western Balkans. In an interview with Euronews Serbia, he said that many people in the region are concerned about Serbia’s orientation, but that he believes that Serbia’s aspirations are to join the European Union. “I hope leaders in the region will hear that Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen said that the Western Balkans really wants to become part of the European Union. We see optimism from all sides,” Escobar said.

East and West clash in a proxy conflict over Serbia, President Vucic says (Reuters)

Serbia is the stage for a proxy war between East and West, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday, as Belgrade seeks to maintain a delicate balancing act between its ambition to join the European Union and its ties with Russia and China.

Vucic’s remarks to Reuters come a day after protesters at a rally in Belgrade against a gay pride march waved Russian flags and carried posters of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Read more at: https://reut.rs/3TsOKvW

It’s Never Too Late to Find the Kosovo War’s Missing Persons (BIRN)

Families of people who disappeared during the Kosovo war are still waiting to hear where their loved ones are buried. Political leaders have no excuses for blocking an agreement that would reveal the sites of hidden graves.

My assignment to the US Mission in Kosovo (now embassy) in 2005 is unforgettable. Although I had covered the region at the US Department of State in Washington, DC since 2002, living and working in Kosovo was a meaningful experience, both professionally and personally.

Not only did I enjoy the local culture, including the infamous macchiatos, but I also developed many meaningful friendships. Although I no longer work for my government, I continue to follow Kosovo politics, and I occasionally write about transitional justice in the Balkans as part of my current job as a college professor.

While I have many fond memories of Kosovo, there were some experiences that were traumatic. As part of my portfolio at the Mission, I was responsible for working with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, the local Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, PISG, and civil society on missing persons. At that time, the United States was helping to finance the exhumations of grave sites in Kosovo, and in order to monitor the implementation of our assistance, UNMIK invited me to a grave site they were exhuming.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3AT5Agh

Kosovo leaders call for deserved punishment for raping of minor girl (media)

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has called for deserved punishment for the perpetrators of the 11-year-old girl. He said that such brutal acts of violence against children should be treated with high seriousness, both at the institutional and at social and cultural level.

“I call on the law enforcement and investigative bodies to bring the suspects to justice as soon as possible, and for the perpetrators to receive the punishment they deserve for this serious and shocking, reprehensible and unacceptable crime,” Kurti stated.

“Violence against women and girls is not a private matter, but rather a matter of public and social safety and well-being,” he highlighted adding that it should not be allowed to steal her or any other girl’s childhood and ruin her life.

Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani, the Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu and leaders of the opposition political parties also condemned the act.

Meanwhile, Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Svecla has announced that two more suspects have been arrested in relation to the rape of the 11-year-old girl in Pristina.