Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti says removing ‘criminal gangs’ resolves tensions in north Kosovo (media)

• Escobar on Kurti: Sometimes he’s a difficult partner, but he’s a partner (RFE)

• Rama’s draft statute for association, Kosovo government reacts (media)

• Konjufca on Rama’s draft statute: Unilateral action (media)

• Lajcak: We hoped for more, tensions remain high (media)

• Leaders pay homage at Rugova’s grave on Day of Liberation (Klan Kosova)

• A few Serbs protested in Zvecan, while in Zubin Potok, none (Klan)

• Milatovic: First elections in north, then the Association (Reporteri)

• Police confiscate cryptocurrency production equipment in Zubin Potok (media)

• Presevo Valley Albanians to raise their concerns at European Parliament (media)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Elections in northern Kosovo only half-solution, Kurti took over role of a judge (KoSSev)

• Lajcak on outcomes of Pristina and Belgrade visits, says tensions still high (Kosovo Online)

• Jevtic responds to Kurti’s chief of cabinet about Serbs “being the most protected ethnic group” (social media, media)

• Prosecution in Vranje refutes allegations that cultural house director in Bujanovac was arrested (Radio KIM)

International Media:

• Pride Parade Shines Under Rainbow Flags in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)

• For Some, Kosovo’s NATO Anniversary Stirs Mixed Emotions (BIRN)

• US-Kosovo Diplomatic Spat Casts Shadow on Bilateral Relations (VoA)

• Bitter at US Snub, Kosovo Leader Signals Hard Line Amid Flareup (Bloomberg)

• The West has lost the plot in the Balkans (Aljazeera)

• ‘Monotony And Tension’: Life’s On Pause As Familiar Unrest Roils Kosovo (RFE)

• “Rama’s draft leads to Kosovo-Serbia mutual recognition” (Euronews Albania)

• Serbia’s Vucic demands Kosovo concessions on autonomy for local Serbs before new vote (Reuters)

• Montenegro’s Europe Now Movement Wins Snap Vote (RFE)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti says removing ‘criminal gangs’ resolves tensions in north Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that Kosovo stands behind the values of the United States and the European Union. However, he said that the path towards calming the situation in the four northern municipalities should start with the removal of what he referred to as criminal gangs. “The way forward for peace and normalization entails an immediate cessation of violence by criminal gangs against municipal officials, police officers, NATO soldiers, journalists, and mayors,” he argued.

Kurti said the presence of the police in the north could be proportionally reduced only if, as he put it, criminal gangs are removed from the north and the individuals who caused violence are arrested.

Kurti also called on the international community to work towards intensifying the dialogue for the implementation of the agreements reached on February 27 in Brussels and on March 18 in Ohrid, North Macedonia. “We need a balanced and fair sequence of implementing the basic agreement. Not only have both countries, Kosovo and Serbia, accepted the agreement, but it is also part of the conclusions of the European Council of February 9th, 2023,” he said.

Referring to the tensions in the north, Kurti stated that until the snap elections in the northern municipalities, the current mayors should carry out their duties, and he called on Serbs to participate in the elections.

Furthermore, Kurti stated that municipal facilities are the property of Kosovo and that they will not be allowed to be transformed into properties owned by a specific ethnic group.

Regarding the violence caused by protesters in recent weeks in the north, Kurti said that it originates from and is ordered by Belgrade.

Escobar on Kurti: Sometimes he’s a difficult partner, but he’s a partner (RFE)

US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has called the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, a partner of the U.S., even though he has said that he is sometimes a “difficult partner”.

Escobar made this comment in an interview for the Institute for Politics and Economy of Southeast Europe based in Belgrade, Serbia, where, among other things, he also affirmed that Kosovo remains an important partner of the USA.

“Mr. [Albin Kurti] is our partner. Sometimes he is a difficult partner, but he is a partner. Kosovo is a partner. So as we move forward we want to use the good relations we have with Kosovo and the improved relations we have with Serbia to find a way, to find an acceptable and mutually beneficial way so that both can be part of the European Union”, Escobar said.

Meanwhile, Escobar further said that the US is committed to helping both Kosovo and Serbia in their integration into the European Union.

He also spoke about the agreement that Kosovo and Serbia reached in Ohrid, North Macedonia in March of this year. According to Escobar, the implementation of this agreement paves the way for a “peaceful and constructive relationship” between Kosovo and Serbia.

“We need to find a way to de-escalate the processes immediately, to de-escalate the situation and immediately return to the focus of the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement”, stressed Escobar.

According to him, for Serbia this would mean an end to the blocking of the European and international integration of Kosovo and for Kosovo this would mean the beginning of the implementation process of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.

“We have to work on both things at once,” Escobar said.

Rama’s draft statute for association, Kosovo government reacts (media)

The press office of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has reacted regarding the draft statute of Prime Minister Edi Rama for the association. In response to the interest of the journalist of Euronews Albania, Kosovë Gjoci, the press office of Prime Minister Albin Kurti clarified that “the issue of previous agreements for the association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is a matter of the functionality of the state of Kosovo”.

“The issue of the mayors of the four municipalities in the north of the country is a matter of respecting the constitution, the rule of law and providing services to our citizens, which, due to the boycott dictated by Serbia, they had been missing for a full 6 months. The issue of the previous agreements on the association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is a matter of the functionality of the state of Kosovo, and this was proven by the draft presented by the Management Team led by Vucic deputy aiming Republic Srpska in Kosovo and recently with Non-paper of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Serbia that talks about the “Serbian World”. In both cases, Kosovo is in question. In both cases, the danger is Serbia. Those who are free in their attitudes, and without any burden, understand this. We expect support from official Albania. We have many mediators”, says the reaction of the press office of Prime Minister Kurti.

Konjufca on Rama’s draft statute: Unilateral action (media)

Kosovo Assembly President, Glauk Konjufca, reacted to the draft statute proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama for the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo. In a statement to the media on the 145th anniversary of the League of Prizren, Konjufca said the draft was unilateral and that Rama should have consulted his Kosovo counterpart, Albin Kurti.

Asked if they requested Rama to have the draft of the Association, Konjufca answered no, as they are not interested. “No, we are not interested, because I think this is a matter for Kosovo’s institutions. The Albanian prime minister said that it is a secret, but our vice president said that he has seen it. Many drafts have circulated so far, but none of them have had an effect in Kosovo. I don’t believe I can’t prejudge the content. In principle I think it is wrong regardless of the content. A defect is in principle because the Albanian prime minister should not have done such actions without sitting down with the prime minister of Kosovo even without clarifying all these problems together. They meet often, I think, but this was a lateral move,” said the Head of the Assembly of Kosovo.

Konjufca also said that Kosovo’s government and institutions were working closely with international partners: “I think that our institutions and our ministries are working closely with allies and partners to overcome this situation,” he said.

Lajcak: We hoped for more, tensions remain high (media)

EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, in a Facebook post on Sunday, commented on the visit that he and U.S. Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, had in Kosovo and Serbia. “We travelled to the region with the aim to address the tense situation in the north of Kosovo we have all witnessed over the last week and explore the potential for a political solution. In Kosovo, we met with the top leadership including President Osmani, Prime Minister Kurti and first Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi. Our discussion were long. We conveyed our concerns about the situation in the north and emphasized the need for immediate de-escalation. We reiterated what both the EU and the US have asked the Parties to do when calling for a political solution: immediate de-escalation, early elections with the participation of Kosovo Serbs and a return to Dialogue on normalization. We also reached out to Kosovo Albanian opposition leaders, explaining the consequences of the current crisis and the damage it inflicts upon Kosovo’s international reputation. We asked them for their support to a political solution to defuse the tensions. As no solution can be achieved without involving the affected population, DAS Escobar and I met with both representatives of Srpska Lista and of civil society, to hear from them and explain why it is important that Kosovo Serbs participate in new elections. From Pristina, we continued our mission to Belgrade. In Belgrade we had equally long and also not easy discussions with President Vucic. We explained to him how he should contribute to a way out of the current crisis and we addressed the complex situation of the Serbs in Kosovo. We particularly highlighted that while all citizens have the right to peacefully protest, violence is never acceptable and there cannot be any impunity. DAS Escobar and I have hoped for more as a result of our mission, but unfortunately, despite some positive signals, tensions are still running high. So after a short stopover at the Annual Meeting of the European Council for Foreign Relations in Stockholm, where I had the chance to talk to a number of people from Europe and the US, I’m now back in Brussels to debrief the EU and the Member States on my findings and next steps. We continue our effort to enable and support a sustainable political solution,” Escobar wrote.

Leaders pay homage at Rugova’s grave on Day of Liberation (Klan Kosova)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Assembly President Glauk Konjufca, have paid their homage this morning at the grave of former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova. The leaders started the day with homages in honor of the Day of Liberation of Kosovo. They will proceed to pay homage at the grave of Kosovo Albanian activist Adem Demaci, the Adem Jashari memorial complex in Prekaz, and the memorial plaque honoring the fallen NATO soldiers in Pristina.

A few Serbs protested in Zvecan, while in Zubin Potok, none (Klan)

A small number of Serbs came out to protest in the municipality of Zvecan, on Sunday. Meanwhile, no Serb citizen came out to protest in Zubin Potok. The situation was calm in the two municipalities.

Milatovic: First elections in north, then the Association (Reporteri/Der Standard)

Montenegro President Jakov Milatovic considers that in order to calm the situation in Kosovo, it is necessary to hold new elections in the north and establish the Association of Serb Municipalities. Milatovic, in an interview for the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, condemned the attack on KFOR soldiers.

“The attack on KFOR soldiers is absolutely unacceptable. After all, these soldiers have done a very good job in protecting a part of the heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo,” Milatovic said.

“To improve the situation, new elections should be held in the northern municipalities of Kosovo and Kosovo should establish the Association”, he added. Asked what should be done first, he answered that first the elections should be held in the north of Kosovo.

Asked if the Serbs would participate in them, Milatovic said that the north should go to the elections. “It is necessary, because it takes two to tango”, he emphasized.

Police confiscate cryptocurrency production equipment in Zubin Potok (media)

The Kosovo Police have announced that they have confiscated 11 cryptocurrency mining devices in the village of Uglara in Zubin Potok.

In the statement issued by the Kosovo Police, it is stated that residents of the neighborhood where the cryptocurrency mining devices were installed reported the case to the police, as they had continuous problems with electricity, which resulted in damage to their household appliances.

“The Kosovo Police, based on its legal duties and authorizations, took immediate action and identified the location [house] of the suspect, and eleven devices for cryptocurrency production [Bitcoin] were found in the house,” the police statement said.

The police state that the wanted person was not found in the house since “the suspect was not at home as he occasionally travels from Belgrade, Serbia, and visits the mentioned house [in Zubin Potok]”.

Presevo Valley Albanians to raise their concerns at European Parliament (media)

Ardita Sinani, adviser to the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, announced that a delegation from Presevo Valley will hold meetings in the European Parliament, to raise the problem of the Albanians in that part of Serbia.

“The conditioning of Serbia’s path to European integration should be conditioned on the realization and fulfillment of the rights of Albanians in Serbia in general, and in particular in the municipalities of Presheve, Medvegja and Bujanoc. The most long-term and most appropriate solution would be the implementation of reciprocity in the rights of Serbs living in Kosovo and Albanians in Serbia”, Sinani said.

According to her, the problems of the Albanians of the Presheva Valley have been raised in advance in the U.S. Congress and Senate and in the United Nations Organization.

Serbian Language Media

Elections in northern Kosovo only half-solution, Kurti took over role of a judge (KoSSev)

“There is no willingness to go for elections and that without conditioning”, KoSSev Editor-in-Chief Tanja Lazarevic said. Political analyst Fadil Lepaja said the question is whether Serbs will take part in elections, while Miodrag Milicevic, Aktiv Executive Director opined that elections are half-solution only to the current crisis in northern Kosovo. The three spoke for RTV KIM Dogovor broadcast about the situation in northern Kosovo, special police units presence, latest crisis and elections there.

Lazarevic said that people in northern Kosovo remain decisive in their demands, that Kosovo special police units leave the municipal buildings and new mayors to perform their functions at alternative locations.

Milicevic said that Kosovo special police units are the crucial source of instability in northern Kosovo. He was also assaulted by special police in the north at the end of November last year.

“Those sources of problems are a combined factor. Politically very unpopular decisions of the latest government and Mr. Kurti, including sending Kosovo special police units to the north of Kosovo. At this moment, we have more than five different bases of Kosovo special police that are not deployed anywhere else but in the north, including on the main road”, he said.

He opined that Kosovo Government does not have honest intentions towards the Serbs, in particular those in the north, that are not interested in peoples’ grievances and why they have so many complaints about conduct of special police forces.

Lazarevic also commented on recent public read out of the names of Kosovo Serbs whom Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti publicly accused in the Kosovo Assembly of being “organizers of riots and protests” in northern Kosovo.

“Prime Minister took over the role of a judge reading the verdict in a public trial. He made the verdict at the people’s home, talking constantly about the people as a sovereign. And while handling the new crisis, he points out all the time that people are his sovereign. In an interview to Koha, speaking about pressure of international community, he defended himself against that pressure by saying that people is his sovereign, and he misused that very same sovereign and institution by going there and as if it were a conclusion of a trial of the century – he read out the first names and the surnames of convicted war criminals, fascist, criminals whatever he called them. And while he says that Vucic is an autocrat, and that Serbia is not a normal state, and part of his PR campaigns going towards regional and international media has these two messages about Serbia, he acts the same as autocrat and represents Kosovo as an abnormal state”, she said.  

Lajcak on outcomes of Pristina and Belgrade visits, says tensions still high (Kosovo Online)

EU Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak spoke from Brussels following the meetings he and US Special Envoy jointly had in Pristina and Belgrade last week aiming at de-escalating the situation in northern Kosovo. He said despite hopes they had, tensions are still high, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“After several days on the road I’ve returned to sunny 🇧🇪 Brussels. This week, I visited 🇽🇰 Pristina and 🇷🇸 Belgrade together with US Deputy Assistant Secretary and Western Balkan Envoy Gabriel Escobar. We traveled to the region with the aim to address the tense situation in the north of Kosovo we have all witnessed over the last week and explore the potential for a political solution”, Lajcak wrote in a post on Facebook.

Read the full post at: rb.gy/qoypm

Jevtic responds to Kurti’s chief of cabinet about Serbs “being the most protected ethnic group” (social media, media)

Strpce mayor and Serbian List representative Dalibor Jevtic took to Twitter to respond to the Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s chief of cabinet, Luan Dalipi remarks that “Serbs are the most protected ethnic group in the world” and that they “enjoy the most advanced and constitutionally protected rights in the world”.

Jevtic said that there are dozens of examples of human rights violations affecting the Serb community in Kosovo, mentioning among other non-implementation of the Constitutional Court decision on returning the land to Visoki Decani Monastery from 2016 or violations of language rights.

“Huge difference between words & reality of “most protected ethnic group” in the World. I can list dozens of examples of violation of the human rights of Serb community in KS today – from Dečani Monastery case to language rights & many more. 1 of many examples: https://youtu.be/Nfrog_A8gOQ”, Jevtic wrote in a post, adding the video depicting Dragica Gasic, the first Serb woman returnee to Djakovica town, whose return was met with strong resistance, speaking about daily problems she faces. 

Prosecution in Vranje refutes allegations that cultural house director in Bujanovac was arrested (Radio KIM)

Higher Public Prosecution in Vranje refuted allegations of the Kosovo President chief of cabinet Blerim Vela that director of the cultural house in Bujanovac Jeton Ismail was arrested because, as Vela said, he allowed a theater play financed by Pristina institutions to be played there, Radio KIM reports. 

“The information that anyone was arrested or detained, including the director of the cultural house in Bujanovac were inaccurate. It was reported to the police and the prosecutor’s office that a public screening of short films was planned for June 10, 2023 at 7 p.m. in that institution, for which there is a grounded reason to suspect that they advocate for, and incite discrimination and hatred over belonging or not belonging to a certain race, religion, or ethnic group”, reads the statement. 

“Considering the fact that such content of the film could possibly cause and incite national, racial and religious hatred among the inhabitants of the municipality of Bujanovac, with intention of determining if there is existence of the criminal offense of inciting national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, checks were carried out by collecting information from citizens, and before everything from the director of the institution where the public screening was scheduled”, the prosecution added. They noted that after reviewing the films, producers had delivered to them, they will decide on future acts. 

International Media

Pride Parade Shines Under Rainbow Flags in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)

Under the motto “I love you as you are!”, the seventh Pride Parade took place in the streets and squares of Prishtina.

Hundreds of citizens in Kosovo took on the main square in Prishtina and joined the LGBTQ+  community to participate in the seventh Pride Parade. With flags, music, and the motto “I love you as you are” in their hands, the paraders filled the Mother Teresa square with colours on Saturday.

PM Albin Kurti, Minister of Health Arben Vitia, Mayor of Prishtina Perparim Rama and MP Mimoza Kusari were leading the parade, along with other public figures, citizens, and activists.

“I promised activists and representatives of organizations participating in today’s march, that I’ll participate in the Pride Parade, because I believe in human rights, I believe that we should all be equal, and everyone should have their dignity and integrity guaranteed and protected,” Kurti said at the parade.

Read more at: https://t.ly/JA05

For Some, Kosovo’s NATO Anniversary Stirs Mixed Emotions (BIRN)

Kosovo recalls the June day when NATO rolled in and Serbian forces rolled out.

Early on the morning of June 12, 1999, Halise Bala heard a faint knock on the door of her home in Peja/Pec, western Kosovo. 

Cut off from electricity for months, Bala knew little about what was going on outside her hometown; her neighbours had come with the news that they had all been waiting for – that NATO troops were about to enter Kosovo, and Serbian forces were pulling out. The war had ended.

The moment was “breath-taking”, she recalled. But her joy was short-lived. 

As evening fell, the soldiers of the Western military alliance had yet to reach Bala’s neighbourhood, when a group of Serbian paramilitaries burst into her home. “They ordered us all to gather in this living room,” Bala told BIRN, 24 years later. Her children were asleep and her husband had left on an errand minutes earlier.

The paramilitaries proceeded to rape Bala’s sister-in-law and then, “with a candle in their hands”, told the children they would be set on fire. In the darkness, shooting began.

Read more at: https://t.ly/2–j_

US-Kosovo Diplomatic Spat Casts Shadow on Bilateral Relations (VoA)

The United States and Kosovo are continuing to engage in an unusual public spat, after the staunch U.S. ally’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, resisted calls to take steps that the West says are necessary to de-escalate ethnic tensions in the country’s north.

Tensions flared last week as ethnic Albanian mayors entered municipal buildings with the backing of police, despite having won with only 3.5 percent of the vote in local elections that ethnic Serbs boycotted.

U.S. Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar and EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak visited Kosovo and Serbia this week, where they asked the leaders of the two countries to de-escalate, hold quick new elections in northern Kosovo and resume their dialogue.

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

Bitter at US Snub, Kosovo Leader Signals Hard Line Amid Flareup (Bloomberg)

Kosovo’s prime minister defied calls from key allies in the US and Europe to dial back a confrontation with Serbia that’s led to the worst violence in a decade, insisting Belgrade make the first move.

Read more at: https://t.ly/TSZx

The West has lost the plot in the Balkans (Aljazeera)

Images of pipe-wielding and stone-throwing Serb militant nationalists assaulting NATO peacekeepers in the northern Kosovo town of Zvecan in late May put the Balkan country in the international spotlight once again. The violence erupted in the Serb-majority north of the country after Kosovo police escorted to work mayors who had been recently elected in local polls which ethnic Serb residents had boycotted.

The news that Serbia had concurrently placed its military on high alert had many unfamiliar with Balkan affairs asking if another armed conflict was about to break out in Europe.

The answer is no, we are not on the verge of another Balkan war. But that does not mean the situation in Kosovo is not alarming.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/43AlXKy

‘Monotony And Tension’: Life’s On Pause As Familiar Unrest Roils Kosovo (RFE)

Since it opened in 2011, three years after Kosovo declared independence, Ura is beloved locally and ranked high among South Mitrovica’s restaurants on sites like Tripadvisor and Restaurant Guru.

It serves up familiar Mediterranean (and Albanian) dishes on archetypal checkered red-and-white tablecloths on a grand, shaded terrace.

It’s also perched next to the bridge that spans a powerful symbol of this fledgling Balkan country’s greatest challenge: the Ibar River, which separates heavily Albanian South Mitrovica from the smaller and mostly Serb North.

Farther to the north and west lie the three other predominantly Serb municipalities where simmering disputes over Kosovo’s independence and local government boiled over at the end of May into violence that injured Serb protesters but also Italian and Hungarian peacekeepers.

Read more at: https://t.ly/fh24

“Rama’s draft leads to Kosovo-Serbia mutual recognition” (Euronews Albania)

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama announced last week that a group of international experts had drafted the statute of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities (ASM) in Kosovo. He said that this draft statute was sent to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Kosovo politicians criticized Rama for not consulting Kosovo before sending the draft statute to the leaders of France and Germany. But deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia Artan Grubi, in an interview for Euronews Albania, said that he was among the first to see Rama’s draft statute. Without publishing details about the document, Grubi said that it supports Rama’s initiative. He said that the initiative of Albanian PM Rama paves the way for mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia. “I have read and communicated with the Albanian authorities, and I fully support the initiative of PM Rama as a good initiative to move towards solving the stalemate in the north, and leading towards mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia,” Grubi said.

Serbia’s Vucic demands Kosovo concessions on autonomy for local Serbs before new vote (Reuters)

Serbia’s president urged Kosovo on Friday not to organise new elections for mayors in its north until more autonomy had been granted to ethnic Serbs who form a local majority and boycotted a previous vote.

“All Serbs in the north think of Serbia as their country, not Kosovo. That’s the reality,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with Reuters in Belgrade. “Someone needs to get a grip and organise a (new) election there.”

Violence flared in Kosovo’s north last week after ethnic Albanian mayors were installed in office in several Serb-majority municipalities after April local elections that drew a mere 3.5% turnout.

Read more at: rb.gy/oy0bl

Montenegro’s Europe Now Movement Wins Snap Vote (RFE)

Montenegro’s Europe Now Movement (PES) won 25.7 percent of votes in a snap election on June 11, according to preliminary results communicated by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI) pollster on the basis of a projection of results from a sample of polling stations.

The pro-European Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), which ruled Montenegro between 1990 and 2020, came in second with 23.7 percent of support. The conservative alliance For the Future of Montenegro, led by the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian Democratic Front, garnered 14.7 percent.

PES, which also favors closer ties to Serbia, and one of its party members, political newcomer Jakov Milatovic, won the presidential vote in April, won 23 out of the parliament’s 81 seats.

DPS, participating in its first election without Milo Djukanovic as party president, will garner 22 seats.

At 56.4 percent, turnout was the lowest in Montenegrin parliamentary history.

Another pro-EU grouping comprising the Democratic Party and the URA movement of outgoing Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic came in fourth with 12.3 percent (11 seats), CEMI said on the basis of 98.7 percent of ballots counted in a representative sample of 400 polling stations across the country.

Read more at: https://t.ly/Sd8_