LOCAL PRESS

Brnabic: Russia serious state, I do not believe it is behind protest (Tanjug/RTV)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Friday she did not believe the Russian Federation was behind a 15 February protest held outside the Presidency of Serbia building in central Belgrade. “I do not believe the Russian Federation is behind that protest in any way or that it supports such people in any way, indirectly or directly,” Brnabic told reporters in Belgrade. She noted that Russia was too serious a state to have anything to do with such people. “Those people are self-proclaimed patriots who are making references to another state, and they organised an attack on President Aleksandar Vucic and institutions on a state holiday – the day of the Meeting of the Lord, on Statehood Day. That says enough about what kind of patriots they are, who and what state is their number one priority, and it is definitely not Serbia,” Brnabic said. She said the topics of her meeting with Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko later in the day – scheduled before the protest – would definitely include the protest because its participants had said they had close ties with the Russian Federation.

Jevtic: Position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija worse than ever 15 years since unilateral declaration of independence (RTS)

On the occasion of 15 years of unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, the vice-president of the Serb List and the mayor of Strpce Dalibor Jevtic tells Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the position of the Serbs has never been worse and that Pristina’s policy is aimed at denying those rights that are in the laws of Kosovo and Metohija. Fifteen years after Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence, Serbs still live isolated in their communities, with great institutional discrimination, with the rights of second-class citizens, even though their rights are guaranteed on paper. “Everything that has been happening since the moment when Albin Kurti took power, is aimed at denying those rights that are in the laws in Kosovo and Metohija,” Jevtic points out. The number of incidents, he says, has doubled since Kurti became prime minister, which describes the attitude of the current authorities in Pristina towards the Serbs. However, Jevtic points out that there is no alternative to dialogue and that it is necessary to talk in order to avoid conflicts. “Unfortunately, on the other hand, Kurti and the government in Pristina are not ready for dialogue, because for them dialogue is something that will deprive them, as they think, of some rights,” he indicated. When it comes to the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, Jevtic says that the fact is that Washington has finally seen that Kurti is not only not ready to form the Community of Serb Municipalities, but is also not ready to provide any rights to the Serb people. “The official Washington’s position is that everything should be done to avoid any conflict in this part of Europe,” says Jevtic, but he notes that some in Europe that are not part of the EU, such as Great Britain, approach the whole situation in a different way. He says that he saw in the US the determination of the official Washington to really approach the problem in a different way this time. He is sure that there are some deadlines and that they are very determined to form the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Petkovic: Despite ceremonies, Kosovo is a political chamber (RTV/Tanjug)

The Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic assessed today that despite the announced ceremonial sessions and parades in Pristina, the fact cannot be denied that in the international legal sense, the self-proclaimed Kosovo has remained a provisional and political “chamber neither in heaven nor on earth”, something that is condemned to exist in the space between desires and reality and added that it is not and cannot become a state. “Today, residents of Kosovo and Metohija of Albanian nationality are pompously marking 15 years since the unilateral declaration of independence, which was done contrary to international law and the principles of the inviolability of the borders of sovereign states on which the stability of the modern world rests,” said Petkovic, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced. “Against 84 countries that recognize the unilaterally declared independence, today there are 106 countries that stand firmly on the side of Serbia and international law. The fact that 27 countries have withdrawn their recognition is the result of the work of the politics of Belgrade and President Aleksandar Vucic, who with his decisive and wise policy represents a solid barrier to legalization of the so-called independence of Kosovo, unlike those who until 2012 achieved more than 100 recognitions and strengthened the positions of Pristina with various moves with or without premeditation,” Petkovic reminded. “The question is, who among those who will participate in the celebrations and ceremonial academies in Pristina today really feel that the so-called Kosovo is more than just a fantasy, and who there truly identifies with the invented Kosovar identity and the blue-yellow flag,” Petkovic asked. He added that in addition to the Albanians, who do not even believe that the self-proclaimed Kosovo is a state, but hope that it is only a stage in the process of creating a “greater Albania”, there are also Serbs and other non-Albanians living there, for whom Kosovo and Metohija were and remain an inalienable part of Serbia for which Belgrade, as before, will firmly fight and always stand by them.

Selakovic meets with Babayev (Tanjug/Politika)

Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Veteran Affairs Nikola Selakovic met with Azerbaijani counterpart Sahil Babayev in Belgrade on Thursday. At the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Babayev made a two-day visit to Belgrade to receive the Order of the Serbian Flag 1st Class on Wednesday, 15 February, Serbia’s Statehood Day.

Selakovic and Babayev, who co-chair an intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation and trade between Serbia and Azerbaijan, discussed potential dates for the commission’s seventh session, due at the end of April. They also discussed the holding of a Serbia-Azerbaijan business forum, Selakovic’s ministry said in a statement. The ministers reconfirmed the friendly relations between the two countries and noted the significance of the two ministries sharing experiences and good practices.

Right-wing parliamentary parties deny accusations (N1)

A group of right-wing and conservative parties on Thursday rejected accusations by the authorities that they were involved with the threats of violence made during a protest in front of the Serbian presidency building. “We rejected the cheap accusations and obscure attempts by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) to connect us to any form of extremism and violence,” the opposition NADA Coalition, Oathkeepers and Dveri Movement said in a joint press release. It added that those parliamentary parties are continuing preparations for meetings across the country prior to a big national gathering in defense of the state. The press release said that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic tried to deceive the public after days of targeting opposition MPs both through pro-regime media and personally. “The SNS propaganda machine with intelligence support from special advisors from Brussels and Berlin is trying to compromise parties that won the support of more than half a million people for their policies to keep Kosovo and Metohija in Serbia,” it added. The parties accused Vucic of planning for “controlled chaos” and denied organizing the protest in front of the presidency.

Russian Ambassador condemns threats against Vucic (N1)

Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko condemned the threats against Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at Wednesday’s protest. The protest and threats prompted Vucic to say that he does not need the Russian military company Wagner to tell him what to do. “Russia is determined to continue all-round cooperation with friendly Serbia and does not interfere in Serbia’s internal affairs, which was clearly emphasized by the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement on 13 February. We strongly condemn the threats sent from the meeting that took place last night near the Presidency of Serbia,” the Ambassador said in a Twitter post.

US authorities: Stance on Belgrade-Pristina mutual recognition unchanged (RFE/Beta)

The US has not changed its stance regarding the mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia, an unnamed official of the Department of State informed Radio Free Europe on Thursday. The written reply reads that the US fully supports the EU-mediated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and that the ultimate goal of the final agreement is mutual recognition. The issue of mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia became topical after a letter of congratulations from US President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the occasion of Serbian Statehood Day, 15 February, said Serbian and Kosovo leaders would need to make tough compromises with the aim of normalizing relations, though it did not explicitly mention mutual recognition.

Biden seriously angered the Russians, Serbia is the main “culprit” (Sputnik/B92)

US President Joseph Biden‘s message to Serbia on the occasion of National Day and idea of holding Russia accountable for the events in Ukraine are hypocritical. This was assessed by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. “We paid attention to the congratulatory message sent by the US President to Serbia on the occasion of the National Day. In the congratulatory letter, Belgrade is hypocritically suggested to hold Russia accountable for the events in Ukraine and to support the Ukrainian people,” said Patrushev.

At the same time, Biden kept silent about the fact that “Ukrainians are dying precisely because of the fault of the West and the USA, which caused the conflict between two brotherly nations”, added Patrushev.

Zakharova: Cooperating with West instead of Russia would have harmed Serbia (Beta/TASS)

Russian Foreign Policy spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that cooperating with the West instead of Moscow would have been detrimental to Serbia. TASS quoted her as saying on 14 February that Moscow knew that Serbia was aware of the value of its partnership with Russia as the envoys of Washington, Brussels and other Western European capitals applied intense pressure on the Serbian authorities “literally every day”. “National interests are not a bargaining chip; Belgrade understands the intrinsic value of the Russian-Serbian strategic partnership and therefore refrains from practical measures that would damage our relations,” TASS quoted Zakharova as saying, adding that “logic dictates that a different choice would have inevitably spelled irreparable damage for Serbia itself”.

REGIONAL PRESS

FB&H HoR, HoP confirm new FB&H leadership, but SDA’s Lendo fails to show up at meeting and finish procedure (FTV)

The FB&H House of Representatives (HoR) and the FB&H House of Peoples (HoP) confirmed on Thursday the new leadership of the FB&H – SDA’s Refik Lendo as the candidate for the FB&H Vice President from the rank of the Bosniak people, HDZ B&H’s Lidija Bradara as the candidate for the FB&H President from the rank of the Croat people and SDP B&H’s Igor Stojanovic as the candidate for the FB&H Vice President from the rank of the Serb people. Joint agreement between Lendo, Bradara and Stojanovic will decide on new President and Vice Presidents of the FB&H, but in case that they fail to reach an agreement – the decision will be up to the FB&H HoR. Bradara said at the press conference earlier on Thursday that she hopes that the process will be completed as soon as possible so that they can form the FB&H government within the legally stipulated deadline, after the confirmation by the Central Election Commission (CEC) of B&H. Stojanovic told the press that in line with the political agreement between coalition partners, he expects that the majority proposes the FB&H Prime Minister-designate and the government to the FB&H President, adding that collecting signatures to confirm the majority and political agreement unfolds quite well and that the process will successfully end within the next 30 days. Lendo said that as of the appointment of the FB&H leadership, SDA, HDZ B&H and SDP B&H should take care of the rapid formation of the FB&H government together with their coalition partners, stressing that it is clear that SDA must take part in the process. Following the vote in the FB&H HoR and the HoP to confirm their nominations for the FB&H leadership, Lendo, Bradara and Stojanovic were supposed to hold a meeting at which they were expected to decide who will be the FB&H President and the FB&H Vice Presidents. Bradara and Stojanovic addressed the press conference and said that Lendo did not come to the meeting, announcing that a new meeting was scheduled for Friday morning, when they will try to reach the agreement – which is their task in line the Constitution.

OHR welcomes election of FB&H leadership (Oslobodjenje)

Following the election of FB&H leadership (FB&H President/Vice Presidents), the OHR issued a statement, welcoming the fact that both Houses of the FB&H parliament have elected the leadership with convincing majority, stressing that this represents an important step that leads toward full implementation of election results and respecting of the will of voters. “A swift government formation must follow today’s vote so that everyone in BiH can focus on the implementation of reforms, most notably those focused on rule of law, anti-discrimination, and key EU priorities which are necessary for further advancement of B&H as an EU candidate country along the accession path. Once governments on all levels are formed, the focus of everyone should be on offering young people the opportunity to live in B&H without pressure or being forced to cater to political party interests or nepotism. Further effort must be invested into economic development, fight against crime and corruption, and especially the implementation of long-overdue verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights and the B&H Constitutional Court. The OHR will closely monitor future developments in line with its mandate,” reads OHR’s statement.

SNSD’s Spiric appointed as B&H HoP speaker, NiP’s Ademovic and HDZ B&H’s Covic appointed as deputy speakers (FTV)

The B&H House of Peoples (HoP) held its inaugural session on Thursday. Heads of Caucuses were appointed at the session; SDA’s Sefik Dzaferovic as the Head of the Bosniak Caucus, HDZ B&H’s Marina Pendes as the Head of the Croat Caucus and SNSD’s Sredoje Novic as the Head of the Serb Caucus in B&H HoP. The Serb Caucus unanimously voted for SNSD’s Nikola Spiric to be appointed as the B&H HoP speaker, while the Croat Caucus unanimously voted for HDZ B&H’s Dragan Covic to be appointed as the deputy speaker of B&H HoP. NiP’s Kemal Ademovic nominated himself for the post of deputy speaker of B&H HoP, stressing that the proposal for his nomination comes at the request of ‘The Troika’ leaders, in line with the rules of procedure. He stated that his nomination is a result of a “coalition formula”. Ademovic’s nomination was backed by simple majority so he was appointed as the B&H HoP deputy speaker. For the first time in a long time, SDA did not get a post in the B&H HoP Collegium. SDA delegates in the Bosniak Caucus reacted fiercely to Ademovic’s nomination, saying that they did not nominate Ademovic in the first place and therefore they did not vote for his appointment.

Kristo meets Plenkovic during her official visit to Croatia (Nova BH/N1)

Chairwoman of the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) Borjana Kristo paid the first official visit since the inauguration to Croatia, Zagreb on Thursday. On this occasion, she met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Plenkovic announced improvement of good neighborly relations, while Kristo expressed gratitude to Plenkovic and the Croatian government for the support given to B&H on its EU and the NATO path, adding that solving the issue of the B&H Election Law is in the interest of B&H. Plenkovic said that Zagreb is still interested to change the B&H Election Law so that Bosniaks do not elect Croat representatives like it happened four times with member of the B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic. Plenkovic promised that Croatia will provide technical assistance to B&H on its EU path. It was pointed out that B&H and Croatia are neighboring friendly countries with good bilateral relations. During his meeting with Kristo, Plenkovic stressed that Croatia wants the cooperation of BiH and Croatia to be improved in connection with the control of illegal migration. “The political position of the Croatian government is that we neither want nor will build physical barriers on the border between Croatia and B&H, and this is our firm commitment, because we believe that instead of building physical obstacles that would necessarily affect and deter the dynamics of relations between our people and nations, we want to improve cooperation between the police, the ministries of interior, improve all other technical and technological aspects of border control in preventing illegal migration,” Plenkovic underlined. Kristo thanked Croatia for supporting B&H on the European and NATO paths. “Now it is up to us to make reforms on that path, to meet the conditions expected of us. It depends on our internal political dialogue with which dynamics we will go. What is and should be in the focus of all of us is that B&H is a country of three constituent peoples and that we need to reach a political agreement on everything and, through legitimate political representatives, get to what is in the interest of B&H and all its constituent peoples and citizens,” Kristo said. During the visit to Zagreb on Thursday, Kristo also met speaker of the Croatian parliament Gordan Jandrokovic and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic. The officials discussed legitimate representation and changes to the B&H Election Law.  At the meeting with Kristo, Milanovic expressed support to efforts of new B&H CoM to accelerate the process of amending the election law of B&H, adding that this would ensure equality of all three peoples in B&H in all authority bodies.

Cvijanovic on Borrell’s statement: If we introduced sanctions, why they convince us we should do it (Srna/RTRS)

During talks in Brussels, Chairwoman and Serb member of B&H Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic informed EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell that there is no agreement in B&H on sanctions against Russia. Cvijanovic said that during the meeting between Borrell and the B&H Presidency members, it was said that B&H is expected to stand by foreign-policy decisions of the EU. Asked by Srna to comment the fact that Borrell commended B&H for condemning aggression and harmonizing with EU sanctions, Cvijanovic asked if B&H has already introduced sanctions to Russia, “why are they persuading us that we need to introduce them”. Cvijanovic stressed that what was stated in Borrell’s statement only partially reflects subjects discussed at meeting in Brussels.

Borenovic: EU officials confirm that B&H introduced sanctions against Russia (BNTV)

President of PDP Branislav Borenovic was quoted as saying: “While EU officials confirm for the umpteenth time that B&H has imposed sanctions against Russia, and now the confirmation has arrived from the High Representative Josep Borrell, representatives of SNSD in the joint institutions of B&H continue to mislead the people that this is not true.” Borenovic said that even on Wednesday, after the meeting with Borrell where he praised introduction of the sanctions against Russia by B&H, the Serb member and Chairperson of the B&H Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic pretended that there was no discussion about the sanctions. Borenovic added: “Since March of last year, B&H has been regularly joining the sanctions, and the representatives of the regime convince us that this it is not true, although it is clearly stated on the official websites of European institutions that we are one of the countries that imposed sanctions against Russia. And for ten months, the B&H Council of Ministers, with the votes of the SNSD ministers, has refused to answer my parliamentary question as to whether B&H has joined the sanctions. What are they hiding, why do they not tell the truth?”

NATO approves military assistance to B&H (Nova BH)

NATO approved military funds for B&H, i.e. over BAM 100 million and announced sending new contingent of soldiers and cyber experts to B&H. According to Nova, BH, delivery to B&H will immediately begin with the goal to enable B&H to defend on its own from negative influence of the Russian Federation. B&H Minister of Defense Zukan Helez stated that he will be the happiest to equip every soldier of B&H and to get the best possible equipment and if this is impossible, then any kind of help from allies is welcomed in B&H. Nova BH underlined the importance that B&H gets the NATO assistance in terms of cyber security reminding that the web page of the B&H parliament was blocked for a month in September 2022 due to a cyberattack.

Abazovic: Those who acted unlawfully won’t escape the hands of justice (CdM)

The government only confirms what’s the major value and desire of all European partners – to implement the rule of law and punish all those who acted in defiance of law one the past period, said the outgoing Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic in an address following the meeting with the Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle. “It’s the continuation of productive cooperation between the security sectors of Montenegro and Europol. I believe that my colleague and Interior Minister Filip Adzic managed to agree on significant issues concerning our deeper cooperation during his last visit,” Abazovic noted. The outgoing prime minister is also sure that “Montenegro is on the right way”.

Spajic: I renounced my Serbian citizenship (MINA)

Leader of the Europe Now Movement Milojko Spajic said that he’d renounced his Serbian citizenship thus meeting the requirements for the presidential candidacy. Asked by MINA whether he had Serbian citizenship, Spajic said he did but meanwhile submitted the request to cancel it. He also added that he didn’t have residence in Serbia. “I’ve had Montenegrin citizenship my whole life and I meet all legal requirements to be a candidate for the president of Montenegro because I was born in this country and have had residence here for more than 10 years.” Spajic also noted that he had gone through hell, plotted by a serious machinery, which, as he added, had been stealing from Montenegro for decades. “They wanted to break me because they knew the president would be a man who brings changes.” Citizens, he added, wanted a new president.

Parliamentary majority is greater than it was before, says PM Kovachevski (Libertas/Kajgana/MIA)

How long the debate in the parliament on the government reshuffle proposal will last depends on the number of MPs who sign in for discussion, which is a democratic right of every MP. The ruling majority is increasing, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said Thursday. “There is a greater majority in parliament than it was until now. The discussion is not stretched out, on my part. I submitted the proposal last Friday. How long the debate will last depends on the number of MPs who sign in for discussion. From what I saw there is a lot of interest from the opposition MPs. It is a democratic right, everyone has the right to exercise their democratic right,” Kovachevski told reporters after Thursday’s opening of a kindergarten in Volkovo, Skopje. Today is day four of the debate in parliament on the dismissal of the three ministers from the ranks of Alternativa. With the government reshuffle, the Alliance for Albanians joins the ruling coalition. The Prime Minister confirmed he held a meeting on Wednesday with MP Skender Rexhepi-Zeid, former Alternativa member, now an independent MP. According to the PM, the two discussed a certain number of court cases regarding which there has been a public discussion in relation to the way in which they were conducted, but not in relation to an alleged international monitoring of certain cases. “In no case have I interfered in the decisions of the judiciary, nor will I do so, nor will foreign judicial authorities be consulted. The only thing that can be done is to send a letter to the European Delegation about certain cases, if they would have a way to do certain monitoring on how those cases are handled. If there is such an opportunity, then they could do it within the EU directives. If not, they will say. However, the letter is only intended to prove to everyone that we have judicial bodies that function independently. This was also confirmed today with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights,” Kovachevski told reporters.

State officials welcome the decision of ECHR (MIA)

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a big victory and an enormous success for the country. The Macedonian team gave its best and won this exceptionally complex case, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski on the ECHR decision to declare the complaint regarding the annulled pardon of former president Gjorge Ivanov as inadmissible. “Let me express my deep gratitude for their hard work in the past period. The decision in the state’s favour declares the applicants’ complaints inadmissible, including in the part of the alleged pardons. The government’s arguments have been fully considered by the Strasbourg court,” PM Kovachevski told reporters. According to him, it is important that ECHR did not find any violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. “This is a victory of the country, the justice and the judicial system. The court’s decision finds the applicants’ complaints inadmissible because domestic remedies were not exhausted. We are a Council of Europe member-state. Our commitment to the rule of law, the Convention and its values is indisputable. As a country negotiating for full-fledged EU membership, the rule of law is one of our top priorities,” said Kovachevski. President Stevo Pendarovski also welcomed the decision of European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to reject a case against the Republic of North Macedonia. “All proceedings before the domestic courts continue until their final completion, that is, until all legal means are exhausted in accordance with our country’s laws,” the release adds. The government also issued a press release welcoming the decision. The government’s arguments regarding the inadmissibility of the applications have been considered in full by ECHR. Contrary to the applicants’ claims, the ECHR has not found any violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. ECHR finds that the applicants’ complaints are inadmissible due to the fat that domestic remedies were not exhausted, the government said in a press release. It adds that as a Council of Europe member-state, the government uses the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to the rule of law, the Convention and its values. As a country negotiating for full-fledged EU membership, the government notes that the rule of law is one of its top priorities. In addition, the government stresses it provides support, within its jurisdiction, to an independent functioning of the judicial system.

Bulgarian clubs that align with law and change names to resume operations, says PM (MIA)

Bulgarian clubs that align with the law and re-register at the Central Registry will continue their operations. The law will be fully implemented, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski on Thursday. “According to the law that was adopted with an absolute majority in parliament, everyone had a period of time to bring their names in line with the new legislation. Those who have done so will continue to operate according to the laws, those who haven’t will have to cease operations. I know that one club has already submitted a request for a name change. As soon as they do that, it will be registered in the Central Registry, and they will continue their operations,” said PM Kovachevski in answer to a journalist’s question on whether Bulgarian clubs “Tsar Boris III” and “Ivan Mihajlov” will be closed since the deadline for their renaming expires today. Kovachevski added that the culture clubs should be places that bring people together, not places that incite negative feelings and divisions between the people as a result of their names or something else. “The law will be fully implemented like all other laws,” said Kovachevski. Thursday is the deadline for renaming of the associations which names are considered offensive and represent a provocation, according to the November 2022 legal amendments. The Ohrid association “Tsar Boris III” has submitted a name change request to the Central Registry in line with the legal amendments, while the “Ivan Mihajlov” culture center in Bitola is yet to submit a request. According to the existing legislation, if the two clubs do not change their names, a government commission will meet and adopt a position, which will then be relayed to the Ministry of Justice and the Minister will have to make a decision. If the decision is negative, the association will be deleted from the Central Registry.

Cabinet reshuffle proposal debate in parliament continues (MakPress/360 stepeni/Opserver/Alsat M)

The debate on the cabinet reshuffle proposal has continued. On Thursday, VMRO-DPMNE MP Nikola Micevski accused Deputy Speaker Goran Misovski of abusing the Rules of Procedure. According to him, in the absence of speaker Talat Xhaferi, who’s visiting Slovenia, Misovski didn’t have a right to verbally announce continuation of parliament’s work. Eli Panova and Dragan Kovacki of the same party criticised Misovski, too. In response, the deputy dpeaker said their claims were unfounded. He cited Article 71 paragraph of the Rules of Procedure, according to which, in the event of prevention or absence of the speaker, one of the deputy dpeakers replaces him. According to VMRO-DPMNE, Alliance for Albanians, with its decision to enter a coalition with SDSM and DUI, has “sold its integrity cheaply”. In response, parliamentarians from Arben Taravari’s party said the reason for the decision to enter the coalition is the country’s European future. The debate on the dismissal of Bekim Sali has ended in the parliament, but the vote will be additional.

Rama: Serbia must recognize Kosovo and at the end of this process the Albanians must unite (Radio Tirana)

Prime Minister Edi Rama declared yesterday in a television interview that his relations with his counterpart in Kosovo, Albin Kurti are very good, describing their meetings as “inspiring”. “Albanians must unite. Yes, of course, Albin Kurti also wants the same thing, but I think differently about the way to get there, Albin thinks differently”, stressed the Prime Minister. When asked about the situation in Kosovo, Rama said that, “I don’t want to get into an issue that is a matter of the shoulders of the Prime Minister and the authorities in Kosovo. It is universally known that I have my ideas and my approach, the goal is the same, I think that Serbia should recognize Kosovo, and ask for forgiveness, and at the end of this process the Albanians should unite”. “Albanians must unite. Yes, of course Albin Kurti wants the same thing, but I think differently about the way to get there, Albini thinks differently. But Albini is the Prime Minister of Kosovo and he has to choose, I wish him all the best and success and let him realize that maybe I am wrong”, said Rama.

The 15th anniversary of Independence/ Begaj received by Osmani: No one can prevent Kosovo from building its independent future (Radio Tirana)

The country’s President Bajram Begaj started a two-day visit to Kosovo this Thursday, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence. At the beginning of the visit, Begaj was received by his counterpart Vjosa Osmani, where he expressed unwavering support for the Kosovo authorities in addressing the challenges they are facing. Focusing on the Euro-Atlantic journey of Kosovo, Begaj expressed his full support as well as the belief that the citizens of Kosovo will soon be able to travel without visas in the EU space. During the meeting, Begaj said that “no one will be able to prevent Kosovo from building its free and independent future and no one can threaten its territorial sovereignty” he said while adding that “Albania will always be by the side of Kosovo”. “It is a special pleasure to be in Prishtina on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Independence. On behalf of all Albanians, I congratulated the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, on this very important anniversary. 15 years is too little for an ancient nation. But these 15 years of Kosovo’s Independence have demonstrated in an exemplary way and synthesized the best and centuries-old values of the Albanian nation. I appreciated the excellent progress of interstate relations and considered them not only fraternal and of a strategic nature, but also very dynamic. The relationship between Albania and Kosovo is unique for stability, security, sustainable development and the Euro-Atlantic perspective of both states. Independent Kosovo has not only given its citizens the well-deserved and long-awaited state dignity, but at the same time it has made our region more peaceful and secure, as well as the free Albanian nation to rediscover the unfairly missing path of national cooperation. Begaj writes on Facebook. For her part, President Vjosa Osmani thanked President Begaj for his fraternal congratulations and expressed his gratitude for Albania’s comprehensive support throughout this difficult journey of Kosovo’s Independence.

May 14 elections/ OSCE-ODIHR brings 24 long-term observers and 300 short-term observers (RTSH)

The OSCE-ODIHR preliminary report, before the local elections on 14 May, recommends special attention regarding the work in the administration of the elections, the use of new technologies in the elections, the campaign and its coverage by the media, the financing of the campaign, the solution of electoral disputes and election day procedures. Based on these considerations, it has been decided that in addition to a core team of experts, 24 long-term observers will also include 300 short-term observers who will observe the election day procedures, including voting, vote counting and tabulation of results. Monitoring of the media will also be included in the observation, since according to this report, the media landscape in Albania includes many television, radio, and print media moved mainly to the Internet. According to this report, the media environment is diverse, but politically polarized and characterized by a strong influence of politics and business. This is because, according to the authors of this report, it points out the concentration of the media in the hands of a few owners who promote their political and economic agenda, and so many broadcasters favor the government or follow the interests of the media owners. In this report, it is written that the public broadcaster, Albanian Radio Television is planning to broadcast information prepared by the CEC for voter awareness, as well as to broadcast programs related to the elections, including in minority languages. RTSH aims to organize direct political debates between major parties and smaller parties.

The Swedish Ambassador: Opening the first chapters of the negotiation by the end of the year, great ambition, but achievable (RTSH)

“The opening of the first chapters of the negotiation within the year is a great ambition for Albania, but achievable” stated in an exclusive interview for Albanian Radio Television, RTSH, the Ambassador of Sweden to Albania Elsa Hastad. The Ambassador of Sweden, the country that holds the presidency of the EU, announced the need to pass over 3000 EU Directives before joining the EU. Also, the Swedish ambassador also spoke on Sweden’s plan for NATO membership.

Interview:

The Minister of State for European Integration Olta Xhacka announced the day before that Albania intends to complete the screening process within this year. How do you rate this statement regarding the process?

“I think it is very good that Albania has very high ambitions. Let’s wait and see if Albania will manage to open the first chapters within this year. What you can see is that the preparations are going well. The review of the first group of chapters has been completed, the second group is being reviewed, and the third group of chapters will begin soon. When we see the process, we think that Albania is moving fast. Of course, in order to open the first chapters and start negotiations, everything must be perfect in the process, and perhaps it is a little early to say. But I have met with the line ministries and people involved in the process and I can say that Albania is working well,” said the Swedish Ambassador.

Knowing Albania and the process, what do we see challenging at this moment before opening the chapters?

“It is a trusting process because it will take a lot of time and the challenges will be of different levels. One of them is in the numbers: You need to pass at least 3000 directives of the EU in the parliament and to do this it really takes a long time. Albania needs to find a structure in respect to passing the directives in the parliament. This is the starting point and the only thing. In addition, you must have a lot of patience because there is a lot of work ahead of you. You need human resources who are capable for this. Persistence, specialized people and finding a way to pass the directives in the parliament are needed. Finally, what I see, considering that Sweden has been helping Albania prepare for membership talks for 20 years, for us it has been a historic moment, it is fantastic because there is a new energy in the process, now we are in Brussels for talks, I say that it is a long process and it will take a long time. And again, Albania is working fast and doing a good job,” said Hastad.

Is there an area where according to your expectations, It will be easier for Albania?

“Absolutely, it is an area where Albania is working very well and these are in the last chapters 30 and 31, Foreign security policy and foreign relations. We see that Albania is doing very well when it comes to aligning with European foreign policy and security, which is very good not only for Albania and its EU membership, but for the rest of the world. What I have in mind is that you are working very well the United Nations Security Council as a temporarily member, working together with the United States on the resolution on Ukraine against the war, for example,.. we see that Albania is very much aligned with Sweden when it comes to peace and security, and we see that Albania has ambitions when it comes to foreign policy, in the good sense of the word. You want to make a difference and this is good for the world. We need peace and security and at this times that we are having the war in Ukraine we need countries like Albania, so good for Albania. This is the most important chapter for you and I believe it will be opened very soon. I believe that this will be a simple field for Albania, because they have progressed here in the meantime. It’s good for you, good for us,” she said.

Justice reforms

We think that Albania has done good reforms. It is difficult, but when we read the annual report of the European Commission, we see that Albania has made the greatest progress in the justice reform, which is fantastic, and Sweden has tried everything in this concrete way to move forward, e.g. digitization of the judicial process. It’s a lot of work, in fact, but regardless of that, Albania has made a lot in the reforms in justice, but yet, there is more to do.

Again related to the expectations, knowing the atmosphere of the member countries, what are the chances that the first chapters will open this year?

“Many countries, including Sweden, are really happy that Albania has finally opened the talks. When it started in July, many countries were very happy because many of us were waiting for it. I can say that the atmosphere in EU is very positive. I also think that now that we have an unstable situation with the war in Ukraine, there is a sense of urgency, so we are now preparing Ukraine, Moldova and partly Georgia for the membership processes, this includes the Western Balkans, so there is an atmosphere of ‘Let’s do it’, ‘Now is the moment’, ‘We have to do this to build stability’. Peace and stability in Europe are so important at this historical time. I think this energy includes Albania too. So, it is a positive atmosphere. However, the process needs to be completely perfect so Albania starts this year talks with the first chapters. You need a perfect report carried out by the European Commission, unique approval by the members states, everything has to be according to time planning and without postponements. That would be fantastic, but practically a little too optimistic for this year. But it is technically possible this year,” she declared.

Referring to the Euro-Atlantic situation, mainly Sweden’s admission to NATO, I would like your comment. Is there a Swedish strategy beyond Turkey’s veto?

“We are waiting for the approval of Turkey and Hungary. There is only one way for us: to do this with Finland. We have an alliance with this plan and you know that we have an agreement with Finland and Turkey signed in Madrid and Sweden has now fulfilled all the obligations of this agreement. So, we are very positive that our application to NATO will be accepted soon and we will start the membership procedures together with Finland. This is our plan,” she said.

There are no different statements in the media regarding this problem. Is there a difference between your plan and what has been learned so far about the process publicly?

“We are waiting, but we are fully confident about the fulfillment of our obligations derived from the agreements and it is very important for us together with Finland we go through this process hand in hand and yes we are just waiting now. But we are really positive that Turkey will soon accept and support our application. Everyone has already said ‘YES’. Cyprus was among the first countries to do this. All countries have said yes. Albania was among the first countries to do so. Thank you for that. But all the countries will finish it very soon. So it’s a strong movement and all countries are waiting for Sweden and Finland to come together to contribute in the way we want to do it,” said the Swedish Ambassador.