• Kurti and Blinken talk about dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (media)
• President Osmani’s statement about the Franco-German plan (RTK)
• Blinken after telephone chat with Vucic: “Productive call” (media)
• Ukrainian MP calls on CoE countries to recognize Kosovo (media)
• Rama to address CoE session, ask to review Marty resolution (euronews.al)
• Bislimi says census of Albanians in Serbia is manipulated, calls on OSCE (RTK)
• “The U.S. should not be a neutral mediator in the Kosovo-Serbia talks” (VoA)
• NATO Parliamentarians’ Seminar in Prishtina Puts Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic Integration under Magnifying Glass (Prishtina Insight)
• Kosovo Police Seize Holiday Villas in National Park Raid (Prishtina Insight)
• Questions Persist Over Young Kosovo Activist’s Death in Jail Cell (BIRN)

Kurti and Blinken talk about dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, had a telephone conversation on Tuesday with the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. “Had a very good phone conversation with Secretary Blinken. I informed him about continuing progress in Kosova. We talked about the relations between Kosova and Serbia and the need to intensify the dialogue process towards a legally binding agreement centered on mutual recognition,” Kurti wrote on Twitter after the conversation.

Secretary Blinken tweeted: “Good call today with Kosovan Prime Minster @albinkurti. We discussed the importance of our bilateral partnership and Kosovo’s efforts toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration. I also thanked him for Kosovo’s unwavering support of Ukraine.”

President Osmani’s statement about the Franco-German plan (RTK)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani made her first statement on Tuesday regarding the Franco-German proposal for reaching a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. “Every initiative of our partners is serious,” Osmani said in a short statement for RTK. “The initiative is to intensify the dialogue process. And of course, both France and Germany have historically been partners, allies and supporters of the Republic of Kosovo”.

Blinken after telephone chat with Vucic: “Productive call” (media)

United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. “Productive call with @predsednikrs Aleksandar Vucic today. We discussed the importance of our bilateral partnership and Serbia’s continued commitment to European integration and regional peace and stability. I also congratulated Serbia on the opening of the new @SRBinUS in D.C,” Blinken tweeted after the meeting.

A statement issued by Vucic’s office notes that the two leaders talked about the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia among other issues. “The three key topics of the telephone conversation were the issue of Kosovo and the desire of the American administration to reach a solution as quickly as possible,” the Serbian presidency announced.

“Then we talked about the relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Russian Federation, as well as the diversification of our country’s energy resources.”

“The Secretary of State, Blinken, informed President Vucic about the necessity of quickly reaching an agreement with Pristina,” the announcement reads. “President Vucic presented the views of the Republic of Serbia”.

Ukrainian MP calls on CoE countries to recognize Kosovo (media)

Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko called on Tuesday for Kosovo be recognized as an independent state by all the countries of the Council of Europe. “I want to say this especially for Kosovo. Kosovo should be recognized by all countries of the Council of Europe. 12 countries have not yet recognized it. I appeal to you, please recognize this country as an independent country as they fought for their future, for their independence and they should sit here with us, they should be part of the Council of Europe and only in this way we can become stronger. We must all do this and move forward together,” he said closing the speech in Albanian: “Kosovo is Europe.”

Goncharenko’s speech was published on Twitter by the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, who wrote “A powerful speech from MP Goncharenko, Ukraine, on Kosovo’s right to sit amongst fellow Europeans at the Council of Europe. Kosovo and Ukraine both stand on the side of freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

Rama to address CoE session, ask to review Marty resolution (euronews.al)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama will address today the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, where he will request the review of resolution 1782 of 2011, or what is otherwise known as the Dick Marty report.

Albania will demand the rejection of the accusations of human organ trafficking during the war in Kosovo, which is in the Swiss senator’s report.

The head of the Albanian government will have 60 minutes available to deliver his speech before the members of the council and to answer questions.

On July 21, the Albanian Parliament voted unanimously with 125 votes in favor of the resolution to be presented by Prime Minister Rama.

This resolution calls on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to carry out a follow-up report followed by the amendment of the 2011 report, declaring the claims of illegal trafficking of human organs in Albania and Kosovo as unfounded, in light of the developments that have taken place during this decade.

The report drawn up by Dick Marty and approved by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe claims that the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army were involved in organ trafficking during the 1998-1999 war.

Bislimi says census of Albanians in Serbia is manipulated, calls on OSCE (RTK)

Kosovo warns that the population census process in Serbia is being done to the detriment of Albanians. For this reason, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi, requested the urgent involvement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

“Aggressive and targeted obstacles for registration of Albanians in Serbia. Especially in Medvegie, there are only three Albanian speaking surveyors and all of them allocated to areas not inhabited by Albanians. Need for urgent involvement of OSCE to prevent these manipulations,” Bislimi wrote on. Twitter.

Except for the call to the OSCE, Bislimi called on the Albanians in Medvegja to urgently register in the coming weeks.

The population census process in Serbia started on October 1 and will last until the 31st.

Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) also appealed on Albanians in Presevo Valley to register.

“The U.S. should not be a neutral mediator in the Kosovo-Serbia talks” (VoA)

One of the co-chairs of the Albanian Affairs Group in the U.S. Congress, legislator Ritchie Torres, says that Washington should not act as if it is a neutral mediator, in the conditions where Kosovo is an ally of the United States, while Serbia is of Russia.

“We must admit that Serbia is one of the few countries that is loyal to Russia, at a time when Russia has violated international law and attacked the sovereign state of Ukraine, and this is unacceptable to me. This is a problem for me. Therefore, I see Serbia’s proximity to Russia as a real challenge for the conclusion of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia,” Torres said.

“Kosovo, for me, is an independent state and it is time for the world to recognize Kosovo’s independence. It is time for every NATO country and every European Union country to recognize Kosovo’s independence and for Kosovo to be welcomed into the European Union and NATO family. Therefore, I am fully supportive of its international recognition,” Torres concluded.

NATO Parliamentarians’ Seminar in Prishtina Puts Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic Integration under Magnifying Glass (Prishtina Insight)

From October 8 to 10, the Rose-Roth Seminar gathered around 100 participants in Prishtina, the main purpose of which is to facilitate the dialogue among the legislators of NATO and partner countries on issues of regional security.

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, said on Saturday that the non-liberalization of visas for Kosovars is the greatest injustice in the history of the European Union.

According to her, Kosovo is at a very good moment to get the much-awaited visa liberalization, but according to her, “we should be carefully optimistic”.

“We have been waiting for more than 4 and a half years, now we are finally in a much better moment. We are cautiously optimistic because there have been times in the past when we were told things were done but they were not done, ” she said to the seminar participants.

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

Kosovo Police Seize Holiday Villas in National Park Raid (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo police and prosecutors seized around 100 villas and other buildings in the mountain resort of Brezovica in the latest in a series of operations targeting illegal constructions and allegedly corrupt officials.

Around 100 buildings, including more than 80 villas, were taped off by police accompanied by Ferizaj/Urosevac prosecutor Rasim Maloku.

“The operation is going well. We are carrying out an identification of the villas and putting up warnings that access to them is now prohibited until a final verdict from the court,” Maloku said.

In December last year, the former mayor of the Shterpce/Strpce municipality, Bratislav Nikolic, municipal directors and heads of private companies were arrested in another raid over alleged illegal construction at the mountain resort.

In total, around 30 people have been arrested in operations related the case so far.

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

Questions Persist Over Young Kosovo Activist’s Death in Jail Cell (BIRN)

Almost six years after the death in custody of Vetvendosje (Self-Determination) party activist Astrit Dehari, prosecutors have failed to address lingering questions about surveillance camera footage from the detention centre where he died in the southern city of Prizren.

The Kosovo Prosecutor’s Office concluded that Dehari committed suicide. But Dehari’s family and Vetevendosje, which was in opposition at the time of the 26-year-old activist’s death but is now the ruling party, insist that forensic evidence in shows that he was killed.

Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu said last month that further abuses have been identified in a report on Dehari’s death, which was sent to the Prosecutor’s Office following the suspension of the head of the Kosovo Correctional Service’s inspectorate.

Haxhiu said that report suggested that the camera footage of the moment of Dehari’s death was removed and watched by Justice Ministry officials before police had access to it.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3RWBL3L