Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti writes to Prime Minister Truss: We expect you to help Europe (RTK)
• Gervalla-Schwarz congratulated James Cleverly (KosovaPress)
• Trajkovic: Visits to the north and Presevo bring back idea of exchanging territories (Koha)
• Cyber-attack on government and media related to headscarf issue (Nacionale)
• Albanian government cuts off diplomatic ties with Iran (media)
• COVID-19: 51 new cases (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic at the UN General Assembly on September 21 (RTS) 
• The verdict against Nedeljkovic an indication that the function of the Pristina judiciary is to put pressure on the Serbs, says Petkovic (Beta, NMagazin)
• Serbian List: Pristina continues with the practice of condemning Serbs without any evidence (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Eparchy: Verdict to Nikola Nedeljkovic yet another discrimination against Serbs in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Djuric on verdict to Nedeljkovic: No justification for ethnically motivated persecution and human rights violations (Kosovo Online)
• Mayors of municipalities in the north of Kosovo: Nobody in the north perceives Osmani as their president (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)
• Petkovic: Brnabic welcomed in northern Kosovo, Kurti ‘snuck’ around (N1)
• Zubin Potok municipality: Pristina silent about the construction of the police base and the actions of the special police (Kosovo Online)
• NGO Aktiv: Inaccurate statements in the New York Times article “Blame, hate, license plates” (Danas, FoNet)
• European Court says Serbian authorities did not violate journalists’ rights (N1)
• Vucic welcomes Erdogan (Tanjug)     

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti writes to Prime Minister Truss: We expect you to help Europe (RTK)

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has sent a congratulatory letter to Mrs. Liz Truss, on the occasion of her appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

“Our continent faces many challenges that require a coordinated response and I feel relieved by the clear vision that you emphasised in our two meetings at the beginning of this year,” Kurti wrote in the letter addressed to the new British Prime Minister.

Further, he has said that he is looking forward to the leadership of Mrs. Truss to help Europe and the rest of the world navigate these difficult times as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis and the rising cost of living, along with Russia’s growing authoritarianism and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine.

“Please be sure that, as you do this, you can rely on the partnership, cooperation and solidarity of Kosovo,” Kurti wrote further.

“The United Kingdom occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of the people of Kosovo, because you supported us in our liberation struggle against a genocidal regime. We will never forget; and we are forever grateful. Our government is working hard to deliver on its promises of jobs and justice for our citizens by investing in human capital, closing the skills gap through revitalising the quality of our education, and reforming the justice system,” he wrote.

At the end of the congratulatory letter, Prime Minister Kurti invited Prime Minister Truss to visit Kosovo, at the first convenient opportunity for her.

Gervalla-Schwarz congratulated James Cleverly (KosovaPress)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika Gervalla-Schvarz has congratulated James Cleverly on his appointment as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Great Britain. 

“Congratulations to James Cleverly on his appointment as UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Kosovo is committed to reinforce the strong friendship and partnership with United Kingdom,” Gervalla Schwarz tweeted.

Trajkovic: Visits to the north and Presevo bring back idea of exchanging territories (Koha)

The Serb politician Rada Trajkovic, has said that she fears that the idea of exchanging territories between Kosovo and Serbia has been updated. She related this to the visits that the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, made to the Presheva Valley on Tuesday and the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabic, to the north of Kosovo.

“I am afraid that the mention of this old (bad) idea during Bislim’s visit was not accidental. The simultaneous visits of Brnabic in the north and of Bislimi in the Presevo Valley seem to me to be an orchestration to revive the idea of ‘territorial exchange’ as an ‘acceptable’ compromise for Vucic and Kurti,” Trajkovic wrote on Twitter. 

Cyber-attack on government and media related to headscarf issue (Nacionale)

The news website claims that recent cyber-attacks against the government of Kosovo and several news websites including Nacionale, came two days after an email sent to the Government and some media outlets, threatening that they will be attacked due to their stances on issues related to the Islamic religion.

Entitled “A letter from Anonymous”, and written in English, the email message was a clear declaration of cyber war against the government of Kosovo and some local media. This email published by Nacionale, reads that the government’s statements on the issue of headscarves and religion are disgusting. The email reportedly requested the repeal of the administrative instruction prohibiting the wearing of religious uniforms at school.

The email also mentions President Vjosa Osmani, who is accused by the Anonymous group of not protecting Muslims and violating their rights. 

Albanian government cuts off diplomatic ties with Iran (media)

“The government has decided with immediate effect to end diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said.

Albania is ending its diplomatic relations with Iran and has ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 24 hours, after an investigation into a cyber attack in July, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday.

“The government has decided with immediate effect to end diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Rama said in a video statement sent to the media.

“This extreme response … is fully proportionate to the gravity and risk of the cyberattack that threatened to paralyse public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country,” Rama said.

COVID-19: 51 new cases (media)

51 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, out of 492 tests performed, the Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday. 91 patients have recovered from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases is 536. 

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic at the UN General Assembly on September 21 (RTS) 

Radio Television of Serbia reported that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will address the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic is also going to New York with the president.

The General Assembly of the United Nations will be held from September 20 to 26.

The debate will be held as part of the regular annual session of the UN General Assembly, where world leaders will have the opportunity to gather and talk and address from the podium, reported RTS.

The verdict against Nedeljkovic an indication that the function of the Pristina judiciary is to put pressure on the Serbs, says Petkovic (Beta, NMagazin)

Director of the Office of the Government of Serbia for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said today that the verdict against Nikola Nedeljkovic (20) was an indication that the Pristina’s judiciary only function was to put pressure on the Serbs, reported portal NMagazin.

In a written statement, Petkovic assessed that the verdict was an example of the “obsessive desire” of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to keep a 20-year-old young man “imprisoned” just because ”he has a Serbian name and surname”.

He said that he informed the mediator in the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, about the verdict, demanding that a “clear message” be sent to Pristina that such “legal abuse” of a young man was unacceptable, and that Nikola be released immediately.

“Nikola was convicted without a single material evidence, and based on the testimony of false witnesses, only because he wanted to mark Vidovdan and carry the Serbian tricolor. Although Pristina tried to force Nikola to confess his alleged guilt in exchange for a lighter sentence, Nikola did not give in, because he held the only correct position that taking a picture with his Serbian flag can never be a criminal offence, but on the contrary, it is a matter of pride and patriotism,” said Petkovic.

Earlier today, the Basic Court in Pristina sentenced Nikola Nedeljkovic from Belgrade to eight months in prison, who was accused of allegedly shouting “Kill, kill Shiptar” based on the statement of one witness – a police officer who took him into custody at the end of the Vidovdan celebrations in Gazimestan. 

The time spent in prison will be included in the sentence, and an appeal against the verdict was possible, Kosovo-online reported.

Nedeljkovic was accused of allegedly “causing ethnic hatred and intolerance”.

Serbian List: Pristina continues with the practice of condemning Serbs without any evidence (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Serbian List assessed in its statement that with yesterday’s verdict and prison sentence, to Nikola Nedeljkovic, Pristina continued the practice of convicting Serbs without any evidence, and on basis of a testimony of false witnesses, cited Radio Mitrovica sever.

“The same prosecutor’s office that did not initiate proceedings when the political representatives of the Albanians threatened the Serbs with expulsion and making sausages out of the Serbs, is extremely ready to judge the Serbs in defiance of all laws and rules with the clear goal of persecuting the Serbian people,” the statement said.

The announcement adds that the verdict showed “the true face of Kurti’s mirage, which he claims is an oasis of democracy and respect for rights, and which, in fact, is a casemate for Serbs who were being subjected to systematic institutional violence unprecedented on European soil, in front of the eyes of the whole world”, it was said in the statement of the Serbian List, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

Eparchy: Verdict to Nikola Nedeljkovic yet another discrimination against Serbs in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

Serbian Orthodox Church Raska-Prizren Eparchy has expressed the deepest disappointment and indignation over the verdict to Nikola Nedeljkovic, a young Serb man, sentenced to eight months in prison at first instance court over allegedly inciting hatred and discord during Saint Vitus ceremony (June 28) celebration at Gazimestan, without a single material evidence although an entire event was covered by cameras, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“This verdict, in addition to all other issues Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija face on a daily basis, we see as yet another manifestation of a society, established here over the last twenty years before the eyes of the international community, which is not resting on democratic foundations”, Eparchy said in a statement.

Raska-Prizren Eparchy pointed out that the Church and an entire Serb community are targets of a permanent hate speech, along with an increased number of incidents and no one was ever held accountable for it.

“Also, we want to warn of a dangerous precedent created by Kosovo police – to arrest someone every year at Gazimestan and then convict that person in a dubious processes, without any single evidence, which we consider to be intimidation of the Serbs who would wish to come to Gazimestan on this important holiday”, Eparchy added.

It also said that unlike Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s statement made yesterday according to whom every Serb in Kosovo who doesn’t feel safe is a criminal, Raska-Prizren Eparchy pointed out that by such discriminatory attitude of the institutions, there is not a single Serb who would feel safe in Kosovo.

“We urge international community to react and finally explain to the authorities in Pristina that the power they have should not been used for discrimination and destruction of non-majority community but rather to carry out their obligations undertaken for years, respect the laws and rule of law”, the statement further reads.

“Discrimination against the Serb community and messages from Pristina do not contribute at all to the security and better interethnic relations in Kosovo and Metohija as well as represent a serous factor of instability in entire region”, the Eparchy said.  

Djuric on verdict to Nedeljkovic: No justification for ethnically motivated persecution and human rights violations (Kosovo Online)

Serbian Ambassador to US, Marko Djuric wrote in a post on Twitter that “freeing Nikola Nedeljkovic and other Serb political prisoners in Kosovo and Metohija is the sine qua non for the process of relations’ normalisation. There can be no justification whatsoever for an ethnically motivated persecution and human rights violation”, Kosovo Online portal reports.

He also said that (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) “Kurti himself should be the first to understand that detaining your opponents won’t get you anywhere”.

Nikola Nedeljkovic was arrested on June 28 at Gazimestan over allegedly inciting hatred and discord. He was kept in detention since his arrest and sentenced yesterday to eight months in prison by first instance court.

Mayors of municipalities in the north of Kosovo: Nobody in the north perceives Osmani as their president (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)

The mayors of four municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo pointed out that they perceive the announced visit of the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, as a provocation addressed to the Serbian people, reported today portal Kosovo Online.

In the statement signed by the mayors of North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, it was stated that this was another type of pressure on Serbs from the north.

“We perceive the announcement of Vjosa Osmani’s visit as a provocation addressed to the Serbian people and another form of pressure on our citizens, especially in light of the anti-Serb activities and anti-Serb statements made by Osmani in the previous period,” the statement read.

As the mayors of four municipalities pointed out, Serbs from the north of Kosovo do not perceive Vjosa Osmani as their president.

“In the north of Kosovo and Metohija, no one perceives Vjosa Osmani as their president, neither we, nor our citizens, and as long this is the case, she has nothing to look for in the north of Kosovo and Metohija,” it was announced, reported portal Kosovo Online.

Petkovic: Brnabic welcomed in northern Kosovo, Kurti ‘snuck’ around (N1)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti “has no place in the north of Kosovo and Metohija”, N1 reports.

“The success of Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic’s visit to our southern province is best proved by the fact that already on the following day, as quickly as possible, Albin Kurti ran to have his photo taken in the north of Kosovo and Metohija. Only, Ana Brnabic was enthusiastically welcomed by several thousand Serbs, while Kurti had to sneak around the north of our province, secretly and covertly, and the only ones who met him were ROSU members”, Petkovic said in a press release.

Petkovic said Kurti’s only intention is “to trigger tensions, provocations and instability, with an obsessive desire to film for social media”.

“There is no doubt that Kurti remembered well how the Serbian people unequivocally showed him that he had no place in the north of Kosovo and Metohija the last time he publicly tried to set foot in a Serbian environment. That is why he now has to sneak around and ‘bravely’ film, to convince himself that he really was in the north“, Petkovic added in a statement.

He said it was a good thing Kurti watched Brnabic’s visit to northern Kosovo because “that was an opportunity for him to learn how messages of peace, democracy and stability are sent and who the Serbs accept as their only Prime Minister”.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Internal Affairs Minister Xhelal Svecla paid a visit to northern Kosovo on Tuesday, N1 recalled.

Zubin Potok municipality: Pristina silent about the construction of the police base and the actions of the special police (Kosovo Online)

Representatives of the Municipality of Zubin Potok say that no one informed them about the steps that members of the special unit of the Kosovo Police are taking in the field, nor about the construction of a new base in the village of Jasenovik, which was built on land seized from the Serbs, reported portal Kosovo Online.

The Deputy Mayor of Zubin Potok Municipality, Latinka Utvic, confirmed for the portal Kosovo Online that the local self-government received complaints from citizens and that the last one was recorded in August, when the inhabitants of the villages of Gornji Jasenovik and Gazivode addressed the municipality, claiming that their private property had been usurped by special units from Pristina. 

“We did what we could. We sent a letter to the police station in Zubin Potok and demanded that they forward citizens’ complaints to the competent institutions in Pristina. We have not received an answer to date,” Utvic told Kosovo Online.

She said that it was requested from Pristina that the Municipality of Zubin Potok be informed about who was conducting the works and what kind of project it was.

“We asked for the protection of private and public property in the territory of the Zubin Potok municipality, because we believe that the mayor and the leadership of the municipality, as people elected by the people in the elections, must be familiar with what is being done in the territory of our municipality,” Utvic pointed out.

Despite the requests, Utvic said that she did not believe that there would be any progress, because, as she said, Pristina was “deaf” to their requests until now.

“Unfortunately, practice has so far shown that we have not received a single answer, I would like to be wrong, but those who should refer to the law and take care of the law are the first to break it,” concluded Utvic.

The spokesperson of the Kosovo Police for the North region, Branislav Radovic, told Kosovo Online that a notification was received from the Zubin Potok police station regarding land usurpation.

“We received a notification about the complaint of the inhabitants of the village of Gornji Jasenovik regarding the alleged usurpation of their property by a company called ‘Eskivatori’, which performs certain works that include breaking through, widening the road, and levelling the terrain. The complaint also refers to the fact that the workers of this company, as well as the construction site, are secured by members of the police armed with long pipes, and that the members of the police do not allow the authorized municipal inspector for projects, or the members of the Zubin Potok police station to access the site. They stopped them halfway, ID’d them and returned them back,” Radovic told Kosovo Online. 

Radovic added that he was informed that a representative of the General Directorate of the Kosovo Police would visit the municipality of Zubin Potok in connection with these works.

“After we informed the General Directorate of the Police, we received a response that a police representative will come, at our invitation, to the Municipality of Zubin Potok to talk with the management of the municipality and to tell us something about the works, the project, the possible usurpation of the property of the locals, as well as all other details,” said Radovic, reported the portal.

NGO Aktiv: Inaccurate statements in the New York Times article “Blame, hate, licence plates” (Danas, FoNet)

In a statement today, the non-governmental organisation Aktiv distanced itself from the inaccurate allegations in the New York Times article “Blame, Hate, Licence Plates”, published on September 4, and appealed to the media to report responsibly and accurately, reported daily Danas. 

In two paragraphs of the text, journalist Andrew Higgins incorrectly quoted the interlocutor of the Aktiv organisation, thus conveying his personal impression of the current political and security crisis in the north of Kosovo, Aktiv pointed out.

According to the statement, information such as that in the text of the New York Times can be interpreted as unfounded and tendentious and lead to misunderstandings among readers and in the general public. Aktiv will continue to support the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina, striving to provide objective and unbiased information, based on facts and long-term expertise in socio-political relations.

European Court says Serbian authorities did not violate journalists’ rights (N1)

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Serbian authorities did not violate article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights in a case filed by four Belgrade-based journalists who alleged that the government failed to protect them from persecution, N1 reports.

The Court “holds that there has been no violation of Article 10 of the Convention”, the ruling said.

“The Court notes that even though the applicants submitted that they had felt threatened following the publication of the above articles and broadcasting of the programmes in question, none of them has ever in fact been subjected to any act of violence”, it said.

The four journalists – Ilir Gasi, Vukasin Obradovic, Antonela Riha and Tamara Skroza – filed criminal charges against the authors of articles and TV shows who attacked organisations and individuals who advocate equality. The charges were thrown out by prosecutors following an investigation. The journalists decided to take the case to the Strasbourg-based court where their suit alleged a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees freedom of expression and an obligation to protect journalists.

The four journalists issued a statement saying that they launched legal proceedings with the Serbian judiciary to defend the right to free speech and draw public attention to the fact that anyone critical of the authorities can be accused of committing the worst crimes in the media and that they filed with the Court in Strasbourg because the legal means at their disposal are not effective.

The Court said that the Serbian government recalled that the plaintiffs had several legal remedies that should have been used at their disposal.

Vucic welcomes Erdogan (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held a closed-door meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Belgrade on Wednesday to discuss bilateral, regional and global affairs, Tanjug news agency reports.

“As always before, I had an excellent, friendly and open conversation with Erdogan”, Vucic wrote in a post on his buducnostsrbijeav Instagram profile.

“We exchanged views on all matters of significance to our two countries, as well as on current regional and global geopolitical challenges”, Vucic added.

The meeting of the two leaders was followed by a plenary meeting of Serbian and Turkish delegations, with several bilateral agreements on cooperation to be signed afterwards. Vucic and Erdogan will then hold a joint press conference. Previously, Vucic hosted a ceremonial welcome for Erdogan outside the Palace of Serbia.