Albanian Language Media:

• Osmani: Forever grateful to friends for helping us make independence a reality (EO)
• Kurti: NATO intervention stopped Serbia’s genocide, forever grateful (Indeksonline)
• Krasniqi: Past should serve to strengthen ties with strategic partners (Reporteri)
• Haradinaj: Forever grateful to KLA and NATO led by U.S. (Lajmi)
• Escobar reported – U.S. does not intend to overthrow Kurti; penalties for irresponsible parties are being considered (Albanian Post)
• Rama: Without strategic allies, there would be no Republic of Kosovo (media)
• Serwer on Rama’s draft: An unnecessary complication (media)
• Kastrati: Kosovo should have national strategy for the north (KTV)
• “Border redefinition best solution, not radical or dangerous as autonomy” (Nacionale)
• Serb politician says interviewed by BIA for supporting Kosovo (Nacionale/Sinjali)

Serbian Language Media:

• Peaceful protests in northern Kosovo continue (Kosovo Online)
• Serb political representatives from Kosovo meet Vucic, inform him of difficult situation they face (Kosovo Online, media)
• Petkovic: Resolution 1244 should be basis for Kurti’s political actions (Radio KIM)
• Radosavljevic: The crisis in the north is the culmination of unilateral moves from Pristina (KiM radio)
• ”The placing of the flags of constitutionally recognized communities in front of the Government of Kosovo”, Arsenijevic announced (KiM radio, Danas)
• Serb from Pomoravlje arrested last Thursday for alleged war crime released (Radio KIM, KoSSev)
• Le Figaro: Macron and Scholz discussed how to join the Western Balkans and Ukraine to the EU (Beta, KiM radio)
• Petkovic: “Kurti’s extremist policy stoking attacks against Serbs” (Tanjug)

Albanian Language Media  

Osmani: Forever grateful to friends for helping us make independence a reality (EO)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said today that June 12 is one of the most important dates for Kosovo. She said that together with other leaders they paid homage to all those that contributed to making freedom a reality, starting with former President Ibrahim Rugova, late activist Adem Demaci, the Jashari family and NATO soldiers.

Osmani said that Kosovo and its people are grateful to the friends that made freedom and democracy a reality. “Today we mark one of the most days for our nation, the day when we were liberated, after a war that resulted in a genocide against an innocent people,” she argued.

Kurti: NATO intervention stopped Serbia’s genocide, forever grateful (Indeksonline)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that the NATO military intervention in 1999 “stopped Serbia’s genocide against the people of Kosovo” and that “Kosovo will be forever grateful”. He also said that Kosovo bows to the martyrs and all those that gave their lives for the freedom and liberation of Kosovo.

“After liberation comes peace and today we commemorate and celebrate the 24th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo and the establishment of peace in our country. Together with the President of the Republic and the President of the Assembly, we laid flowers and paid homage to the humanism of Rugova, the stance of Demaci, the sacrifice of the Jasharaj family and the contribution of NATO,” he said.

Krasniqi: Past should serve to strengthen ties with strategic partners (Reporteri)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, said on the 24th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo that “today we should remember hundreds and thousands of citizens that sacrificed everything they had for freedom”. “With the highest respect for our international friends and allies, who when we needed it the most, they were there for us to finalise the century-long efforts for freedom,” Krasniqi wrote in a Facebook post.

Haradinaj: Forever grateful to KLA and NATO led by U.S. (Lajmi)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, said today on the 24th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo that “our freedom was made even more meaningful by the support of the international community led by the U.S. and NATO which accelerated victory by ending the suffering and genocide against our people”.

“In these 24 years of freedom, Kosovo has been built and developed exceptionally, perhaps more than any other country in the region during the same time. Kosovo built everything from scratch, and today we are an internationally-recognised country … Remembering the battle of the men and women of the KLA throughout the country, we are grateful to our allies led by the United States of America … Let us rejoice in this freedom, know its value and continue building the best possible future,” Haradinaj wrote in a Facebook post.

Escobar reported – U.S. does not intend to overthrow Kurti; penalties for irresponsible parties are being considered (Albanian Post)

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Gabriel Escobar, has submitted a report from his latest visits to Kosovo and Serbia, and penalties by the international community for parties that intentionally avoid obligations from the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Annex, will be clarified in the coming days, a senior source from Washington told Albanian Post, while commenting on the recent developments in the north of Kosovo and the position of the U.S. “In the coming days, Escobar’s report will be analysed and in cooperation with the European partners, the sanctioning steps and measures will be clarified,” the source said. “Every action and measure will be in accordance with the behaviour of the parties”.

“It needs to be explained that these sanctioning measures are in the spirit of the last point of the agreement reached in Ohrid on March 18. Therefore, the developments in the north of Kosovo are seen and assessed as intentional tactics and avoiding the obligations deriving from the Basic Agreement and the Ohrid Accord,” the source said, adding that the text is clear that avoiding the obligations of the agreement is followed with consequences.

The source also said: “It should be emphasised that the international community does not intend to penalise the people of Kosovo. Consequently, the objective is a package of measures that affect the government and not the people of Kosovo, although it is very difficult to make this distinction”.

The source also made a clarification after recent statements by the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, who said that “it seems we have some substantial problems with Kurti” and that therefore he is not certain if the U.S. “can still consider him as a partner”, and a statement by Escobar who one day later said that “Mr. Albin Kurti is our partner”. “Sometimes he is a difficult partner, but he is a partner,” he said. The source said that “Escobar made a necessary clarification after the statement by Ambassador Christopher Hill ” therefore “the explanation was to show that the U.S. do not intend to overthrow Prime Minister Albin Kurti”. 

“As far as the U.S. is concerned, Kurti’s removal or his staying in power is a matter for the people of Kosovo. Therefore, as long as Kurti holds the position of the Prime Minister, he remains the only address,” the source said. But beyond the “very necessary” explanation, the source said that “this doesn’t imply any withdrawal or change to the position explained by Escobar during his stay in the region and the press communique issued by the U.S. Department of State on behalf of Secretary Antony Blinken on May 26, 2023”.

Rama: Without strategic allies, there would be no Republic of Kosovo (media)

On the 24th anniversary of NATO deployment in Kosovo, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama writes in a Twitter post that “a 1/4 of a century from today, NATO’s entry into Kosovo serves as a reminder to everyone that without the strategic allies of the Albanians, good friends on the worst days, there would be no Republic of Kosovo, nor freedom and democracy for Albanians in Kosovo! God bless our allies! Therefore this is the day to reflect deeply and get 🇽🇰out of the deadlock into which the absurd quarrel with our allies has placed it! Kosova must come out through dialogue, not with police, with concrete ideas, not with propaganda, with good friends, not with mistreatment of friends!”

Serwer on Rama’s draft: An unnecessary complication (media)

U.S. commentator on international relations, Daniel Serwer, said in an interview with Euronews Albania, that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s draft statute for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities was unnecessary and that it only further complicates matters. “This is a complication that was not necessary. It makes matters even more difficult for Albin Kurti, and I think that Sali Berisha is right. I think that it is very important for something to come from Pristina the way things have gone. This should not come from Belgrade or from Edi Rama,” he said.

“What is needed now is for Kosovo to come up with a proposal. Prime Minister Kurti should make a proposal that should be in line with the Constitution of Kosovo.”

Serwer argued that “Pristina needs the support of the U.S. and Europe in order to solve their diplomatic problems. I would like to see a genuine effort from Kurti to get him closer with the U.S. and Europe”.

According to Serwer, “Vucic is trying to have control over Serbs in the north of Kosovo and this will threaten Kosovo’s territory sovereignty. The diplomats should know that the problem lies in Belgrade”.

Kastrati: Kosovo should have national strategy for the north (KTV)

Former commander of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), Kadri Kastrati, said in an interview with KTV today that leaders of Kosovo’s institutions should draft a political platform for the north so that it can represent a national strategy. 

Kastrati argued that President Vjosa Osmani has a unifying role and that she should have been more involved in developments in the north and call a meeting of all parties “to decide what needs to be done about the north”.

“The objective of Serbs is a greater Serbia. The objective of Serbian President Vucic was to divide this territory and unite it with Serbia. We need to have a common national policy vis-à-vis the Serbs. I am critical of the fact that leaders from the government and the opposition don’t meet and draft a strategy. The issue of the north is a national issue, and we need a national policy,” he said.

Commenting on the exclusion of the Kosovo Security Force from Defender Europe ’23, Kastrati said: “the U.S. should not have done this. The Kosovo Army is the most trusted institution from the armies in the region, but in the world too … Wherever it went, it [Kosovo Army] made us proud, it took part in two peacekeeping operations … The U.S. knows very well that the Kosovo Army complies with the most modern standards. They [the U.S.] should have slammed politicians that were wrong but not the most respected institution in Kosovo.”

“Border redefinition the best solution, not as radical or dangerous as autonomy” (Nacionale)

James Ker-Lindsay, professor at the London School of Economics, who the news website notes is a supporter of the idea for territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia, published a video about the latest developments in the north of Kosovo, where he again elaborated the same idea, headlining the video “Time to discuss partition?”

See more at: https://t.ly/2fJyI

Serb politician says interviewed by BIA for supporting Kosovo (Nacionale/Sinjali)

Sinjali and Nacionale news websites report that Boban Bogdanovic, leader of the civic movement “Odgovor”, said today that he was interviewed by the Serbian State Security Agency (BIA). Bogdanovic wrote on Twitter: “The informational interview at the BIA has just ended. The officials were correct. The topic of conversation was my support for Kosovo on the way to Euro-Atlantic integration, reconciliation on the coexistence of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo. It was presented to me that my activities violate the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. I answered them that I am not violating the Constitution of Kosovo. I assume that I will be arrested in Serbia if I continue with the policy of peace between Kosovo and Serbia and advocate for their Euro-Atlantic integration and NATO membership”. 

Serbian Language Media 

Peaceful protests in northern Kosovo continue (Kosovo Online)

Serbs in Zvecan and Leposavic continued peaceful protests in front of the municipal facilities this morning as well, Kosovo Online portal reports. The protests in northern Kosovo entered the 15th day.

People gathered in Zvecan this morning to protest violent intrusion of the Kosovo special police units to the municipality on May 26 and to demand that the Albanian mayor does not come to the municipal  building. Heavy rain didn’t prevent people from participating in large numbers. KFOR is present in Zvecan as well.  

People gathered in front of Leposavic municipality as well to express dissatisfaction over the presence of Kosovo special police units and an Albanian mayor who since May 29 had not left the municipal building. Lulzim Hetemi, from the ruling Self-determination Movement won 100 votes at the April 23 mayoral elections in this municipality and according to the media reports is staying in the building. 

Serbs in northern Kosovo voice the same demands, Kosovo special police units to leave the municipalities, Albanian mayors they deem illegitimate to perform their duties at alternative locations and not in the municipal buildings in the Serb-majority areas, Dusan Obrenovic and Rados Petrovic, arrested on May 29 in Zvecan be released and that Pristina stops persecuting people who were protesting in the north over the last two years. 

Serb political representatives from Kosovo meet Vucic, inform him of difficult situation they face (Kosovo Online, media)

Serb political representatives from Kosovo met today with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and informed him of the difficult situation they are facing in Kosovo, both south and north of the Ibar River, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“When I say difficult situation I also mean our people south of the Ibar River, and the situation in particular became difficult following ROSU (reference to Kosovo special police units) intrusion to the north. We informed President Vucic about the situation in each municipality and we also brought video recordings clearly showing that our two arrested co-citizens (Rados Petrovic and Dusan Obrenovic) in no way took part in clashes or endangered anyone. They offered passive resistance and their only fault is for being Serbs”, Goran Rakic, Serbian List President said.

He said they asked President Vucic and Office for KiM Director Petar Petkovic to invest efforts with international representatives so that they are released.

“Also we requested from President Vucic to put an end to persecution of the Serbian people by special police sent by Pristina and repeated our demands that we also presented to (Miroslav) Lajcak and (Gabriel) Escobar for Community of Serb Municipalities to be established as soon as possible and statute to be adopted by Pristina, Belgrade and the EU”, he added.

Milovic: We informed President Vucic that we will continue peaceful protest

Former Zvecan mayor Dragisa Milovic said that this is the 17th day since Serbs in the north endure in a legitimate struggle for their human rights.

“People can’t go to work, children can’t go to school. We are for de-escalation, but it needs to be done what has been agreed. So our citizens can return and offer their services. It is also important to release our co-citizens, Obrenovic and Petrovic, and to put an end to terror and intimidation”, Milovic said.

He also said that they informed President Vucic of their intention to continue with peaceful, civic, and democratic protests in northern Kosovo. 

Petkovic: Resolution 1244 should be basis for Kurti’s political actions (Radio KIM)

“There is no Serb who will not remind Albin Kurti that Prizren long before than 145 years ago, when on this day a group of Ottoman loyalists gathered to establish Prizren League, was the seat of Serbian tzars”, Serbian Government Office for KiM Director Petar Petkovic said in reaction to Kosovo PM Albin Kurti remarks that he will preserve legacy of the Prizren League, Radio KIM reports.

Petkovic also argued that Kurti by referring to the “philosophy of the Prizren League” also refers “to its anti-Serbian and anti-Slavic character” and that he finds it difficult “to recognize any non-Albanian features of Kosovo and Metohija, because democracy suits him as long as it is reserved for Albanians only, and a concept of a civil society only if Albanians live in it exclusively”.

Petkovic also said that UN SC Resolution 1244 was passed on the same day in 1999, adding that if Kurti “is fond of anniversaries and history, then he does not need to go back to the distant past but should look for inspiration and basis for political actions in this document of the UN Security Council”.

Radosavljevic: The crisis in the north is the culmination of unilateral moves from Pristina (KiM radio)

The current political situation in the north of Kosovo does not suit anyone, especially the Serbs who live there, believes the director of the New Social Initiative, Jovana Radosavljevic. 

“I think that it suited the Kosovo prime minister as an idea, but that at this moment he is reconsidering his decisions, especially the fact that he ignored the advice of the International Community not to forcefully enter local institutions with mayors,” said Radosavljevic in the ‘Slobodno srpski’ TV Show, reported KiM radio. 

She stressed that the current crisis was not only between Kosovo institutions and Serbs from the north, but also between Kosovo officials and Western partners.

She believed that the current problems could be solved by accepting the demands of the Serbian community, and above all, the withdrawal of members of the special units of the Kosovo police from the north of Kosovo. The situation, according to her, was the culmination of unilateral moves from Pristina, as well as the international community inadequate addressing of accumulated problems.

“In the previous two years, we had a more intensive effort by the EU and the US in the dialogue process in order to reach some historic agreement, they talked about that moment that should be used and they focused so much on that process, neglecting what was happening on the ground, which is that we experienced a complete change for many reasons, primarily as a result of the decisions that came from Pristina, which in themselves were precedents, they set the stage for a new behaviour of Kosovo institutions,” said Jovana Radosavljevic.

She noted that these changes were numerous and related to the banning of holding a Serbian referendum on the territory of Kosovo, the banning of holding Serbian elections on the territory of Kosovo, measures of reciprocity, i.e., re-registration, which has been a two-year problem. 

“We still don’t have a solution, we are in an intermediate space on that issue, we don’t have a final solution related to the re-registration process and the plate issue, we still have stickers and we still have vehicles with KM markings and that is an issue that has yet to be resolved,” recalled Radosavljevic, and emphasised that all this was accompanied by populist rhetoric from Pristina, which labelled the north as a criminal environment.

“As an area of Kosovo that must be tamed, the special police to come to free people from the evil influence of Belgrade and criminal structures, thereby absolutely dehumanising the community that lives there, and also leading the north through the process of securitization and militarization at the same moment,” said the director of the New Social Initiative, Jovana Radosavljevic in the ‘Slobodno srpski’ TV Show.

”The placing of the flags of constitutionally recognized communities in front of the Government of Kosovo”, Arsenijevic announced (KiM radio, Danas)

The president of the Civic Initiative “Serbian Survival”, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, announced that on June 14 at 12:00 in Pristina, he will place the flags of the constitutionally recognized communities in Kosovo in front of the Kosovo government, reported KiM radio. 

“Taking into account that in front of this institution, in addition to the Kosovo flag, there is also the flag of Albania. This flag is the national symbol of only the Albanian community in Kosovo, not the other recognized communities that are being told, by this selective approach, that this institution does not belong to them as well,” said Arsenijevic in an invitation to the media.

He added that “Kosovo was established on the basis of the multi-ethnicity promised and guaranteed by the constitution, according to which all institutions belong to all citizens and communities”.

“Nevertheless, we have witnessed that on many central institutions, next to the flag of Kosovo, there is the flag of Albania, but not the flags of the other constitutionally recognized communities in Kosovo. Chapter III of the Constitution (Rights of Communities) mandates that communities have the right to cherish their identity and use and emphasise symbols of the community (Articles 57 and 59), and Article 58 obliges Kosovo institutions to promote community identities, take measures against those who undermine the rights of communities, and refrain from policies of assimilation,” Arsenijevic pointed out.

He invited other political actors and non-governmental organisations from Albanian and other communities that advocate the rule of law to join him and support this action, as he stated, “the promotion of multi-ethnicity”.

Serb from Pomoravlje arrested last Thursday for alleged war crime released (Radio KIM, KoSSev)

Serb, M.M. (1955) arrested by Kosovo police last Thursday in the village of Bosce near Kamenica under the charges of allegedly committing war crimes was released the next day, Radio KIM reports.

“They told him – you are free, you are not responsible for it”, his son told KoSSev portal.

On a day of arrest, his son also told KoSSev that several persons were arrested in Bosce village “randomly” but only his father was kept and transported to Pristina. After his father was released, he was not able to either confirm or deny that the arrest was carried out by mistake.

KoSSev portal sent enquiry to the courts in Pristina, Gnjilane, Kosovo police in those cities and prosecution office for more details about the arrest and subsequent release but received no response by the time of publishing the news.

Lawyer, Dejan A. Vasic, told the media earlier that his client was suspected of a criminal act “damage to the grave”, adding that further investigation will depend on witnesses’ statements and gathering other evidence. 

Le Figaro: Macron and Scholz discussed how to join the Western Balkans and Ukraine to the EU (Beta, KiM radio)

The aggravation over Kosovo and the tense political situation in Montenegro are currently not in favour of the efforts to have the neighbours join the European Union faster, although the majority of the Union members now consider it necessary for geopolitical reasons and stability based on European values.

And the leaders of Germany and France, Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron, talked about this in private in Potsdam, reported Beta, citing the Paris newspaper Le Figaro’s French official sources that “multiple formats” must be devised for that joining. 

EU sources in Brussels told Beta agency that there is concern about Kosovo and political ambiguities in Montenegro, as this reflects the two countries in the negotiations on membership with the Union.

However, they pointed out that there was a belief among EU members that the neighbours must be encouraged to come closer to the Union, and this was also indicated by the announcement by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that strong economic and political support was ready for the goal of the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova joining as soon as possible first to the European political community, and then to open the door to membership in the EU through negotiations on merit.

There were doubts in the media and among analysts in the EU especially about what the European political community could produce in a tangible way, because it largely coincided with the adopted new enlargement methodology.

The Spanish daily El Periodico was one of those who believed that the statements of the EU leaders at the recent meeting of the European Political Community in Moldova and “promises about the European perspective actually hide the fact that in the medium term there will be no new country joining the EU”, reported Beta. 

El Periodico and some analytical centres in the EU remind us that both Scholz and Macron have stated on several occasions that there could be no new members until there was a fundamental institutional and economic reform in the EU itself.

The goal of that reform must be, as noted, to strengthen the democratic structure within the Union, especially so that the EU was not hampered by the voting system, the right of veto, when it would have 35 members, as well as to provide budget funds for their incorporation into the legal system and demanding single market of the EU.

The French Le Figaro, however, revealed that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron “exchanged opinions on this very matter because the EU must declare at the end of the year the start of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova”.

There was no announcement about the Scholz-Macron meeting, and Figaro refers to the sources of the Elysée Palace, the presidency of France, and said that at the recent meeting of Western leaders in Bratislava, Macron requested that “the foundations be laid as soon as possible for the fastest possible approach to the membership of Ukraine, Moldova and Western Balkan countries of the EU”, reported Beta agency.

Petkovic: “Kurti’s extremist policy stoking attacks against Serbs” (Tanjug)

Serbian Government Office for KiM Director Petar Petkovic said on Monday Pristina PM Albin Kurti had brought the situation in Kosovo to the brink of conflict and wanted to set the region on fire, Tanjug news agency reports.

“With his extremist policy, Kurti is stoking attacks against Serbs”, Petkovic told Pink TV. Serbs in the north as well as in the south of Kosovo are suffering as a result, he said.

“All his actions in the past several months and everything he has been doing has been aimed at provoking a reaction by the Serbs and at forcing our people to defend themselves. He wanted to drag the Serbs and Belgrade into a conflict to avoid the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities”, Petkovic said.

Everyone has condemned Kurti’s actions and the US has been the most vocal about it – even French President Emmanuel Macron said Kurti was responsible for developments in the north, Petkovic added.

“Everything Kurti has done – the deployment of ROSU special police forces, their illegal presence at the Bistrica bridge, the harassment of citizens, the ban on the referendum and elections and the disgraceful April 23 election process – is a scandal”, Petkovic said, noting that Kurti had appointed ethnic Albanian mayors in the Serb-majority municipalities, with very low turnout.

“To top it all, the international community has backed the elections, instead of containing him”, he said.

He reiterated that Serbs in the north had been protesting peacefully for 17 days now and that 14 days had passed since the arrest of Rados Petrovic and Dusan Obrenovic, who were detained while sitting peacefully on the ground in Zvecan, before the clashes with KFOR erupted on May 29.