Albanian Language Media:

• German embassy calls Kurti-Sarrazin meeting “informal and confidential” (Nacionale)
• Turkish Ambassador: Arrival of drones in Kosovo was result of agreement not donation (media)
• PDK leaves the assembly hall, does not participate in the vote (Klan)
• Trajkovic: The northern Serbs must accept the new policemen of Kosovo (media)
• Threats against new Serb KP policemen continue (Kosovapress)
• Analysts: Internationals should pressure Serbia to stop blackmailing (RTK)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Odalovic tells RTS Kurti obsessed with north (RTS)
• Trial of Sladjan Trajkovic stars today (Kosovo Online)
• Lawyer Vasic terms acts of prosecution as scandalous, says Trajkovic sent to detention before being interviewed first (Kosovo Online, Radio KIM)
• Daka: There are two ways to snap elections in north of Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Miftaraj: Resignations of mayors solution to new elections in northern Kosovo (RFE, Kosovo Online)
• Brnabic: Serbia has become full EU member in digital sphere (Tanjug)

International:

• On the Trail of an Elusive Organ-Trafficking Decision in Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media  

German embassy calls Kurti-Sarrazin meeting “informal and confidential” (Nacionale) 

There are still no details from a meeting that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had on Tuesday with the Special Representative of the German Government for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin. The government did not reveal what was discussed, however, the German Embassy stated that the meeting was “confidential”.

A meeting expected to take place at 21:30 on Tuesday between Kurti and Sarrazin actually took place earlier than planned. The Prime Minister’s Office announced that “due to changes in the agenda” the meeting that had been announced at that time had “already” been held and ended in the early hours of the evening. This would be the only announcement of the government of Kosovo for this meeting. Meanwhile, Nacionale contacted the German Embassy to get details about this meeting.

“The meeting was informal and confidential.” – Vera Baumann, deputy head for media, answered briefly.

Meanwhile, recently the emissary Sarrazin has also expressed strongly about the agreement reached in Bratislava for the first steps of de-escalating the situation in the north

“The EU has made clear its three-point plan, which means that there will be no more presence of special police forces in the north and in the vicinity of the municipalities, and this reduction of 25% is a step towards that, but it does clearly not fulfil the request of the European Union,” the German representative stated.

Turkish Ambassador: Arrival of drones in Kosovo was result of agreement not donation (media)

The ambassador of Turkiye in Kosovo, Sabri Tunc Angili, has stated that the arrival of “Bayraktar TB-2” drones in Kosovo was the result of an agreement and not a donation. He did not give many details about the arrival of drones in Kosovo, but he expressed dissatisfaction with Turkey’s image after the arrival of drones.

“Prime Minister Kurti has already given an announcement in the media and it seems to me that he has given the answer in this post of his. There was an interview in a Croatian newspaper, where he gave additional details. So it’s an agreement, it’s not a donation,” he said on Debat Plus.

He said Turkiye is a strategic partner of Kosovo. In addition to the field of defence, he said that Turkey has cooperation with Kosovo in the economic sphere as well.

“Actually, we are not very happy to be seen as defence partners of Kosovo anymore. The reason is because Kosovo is Turkiye’s strategic partner and vice versa. To be a strategic partner means developing all areas, including defence. But in Kosovo we have also developed important economic cooperation. We have investments in various sectors, in banks, in the airport, in electricity distribution, in production, and Turkish companies also increase employment in Kosovo. Investments in Kosovo are 10 percent of our investments in the Balkans. Last year, Turkiye became the number 1 partner of Kosovo and we want to have economic and commercial cooperation, this is important for us”.

Asked if other drones will arrive in Kosovo, the Turkish diplomat said that it depends on Kosovo’s needs. “It depends on the needs of Kosovo, but until now, the defence forces of Kosovo are going through cooperation, training and we have some cooperation with the military leaders… here we are focusing more but if the government of Kosovo wants to acquire any additional equipment in relation to these needs, in relation to NATO frameworks, then Turkiye and other countries will respond to these needs. Until now, such a thing has not been on our agenda,” he said.

“Recently, I have witnessed fake news that Turkiye is taking over from the West. This is fundamentally wrong. Turkiye supports Kosovo’s membership in the Euro-Atlantic institutions… what we offer is not to replace someone but to contribute to Kosovo further”.

PDK leaves the assembly hall, does not participate in the vote (Klan)

The MP of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) have left today’s parliamentary session.

This came immediately after the statement of the head of this group, Abelard Tahir, who said that they will not participate in the voting for the election of the members of the Radio and Television Board of Kosovo.

“We will not participate in this vote, we will not make a proposal for any candidate”, Tahiri said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) are staying in the hall.

Trajkovic: The northern Serbs must accept the new policemen of Kosovo (media)

The Kosovo Serb politician, Rada Trajkovic, who is currently an advisor to the Minister for Return and Communities, Nenad Rasic, in the government of Kosovo, says that the Serbs of the north should accept the new policemen, who are Serbs from other municipalities of Kosovo.

“Rejecting the acceptance of Kosovo Serb policemen from other parts of Kosovo, the Serbs in the north are strengthening the malicious argument that as a community they do not support the rule of law. Its dangerous. The North must have a police force that reflects the ethnic composition of the majority community so that the law can be implemented effectively,” Trajkovic wrote.

“Serbs who work in the Kosovo Police are no less Serbs than their brothers in the north and they should be accepted as brothers. If the North could tolerate for years “its” local powerful people who persecute dissidents irresponsibly (and to the point of extermination), what bothers them with these people”, she asked.

According to her, the northern Serbs should use international attention to make a decision about their future.

“Serbs in the north must make an important decision about their future: do they want to build a normal life for themselves in Kosovo or continue to follow those who brought them to this situation?” They currently have the attention of the international community, and it is important that they finally use this attention wisely and accurately”, reads Trajkovic’s reaction.

Threats against new Serb KP policemen continue (Kosovapress)

Despite the reactions of Kosovo institutions and internationals that threats against those who want to serve Kosovo are unacceptable, Serbian social networks have continued to publish photos and names of new Serb members who have just started their duties in the Kosovo Police (KP ).

It was again the Serbian channel t.me/BunkerSrb on the Russian Telegram platform that published the identity of five more Serb KP policemen.

In fact, this time they have said that this is a response to these reactions.

“After all the western ambassadors, including the head of EULEX, have reacted to the publication of the names of 5 Serbs who have started working in the so-called Kosovo Police, calling it a ‘threat’ that is totally absurd and none of them do react when Serbs are attacked, arrested, kidnapped in Kosovo and Metohija, we are announcing additional 5 names”, the article says.

Analysts: Internationals should pressure Serbia to stop blackmailing (RTK)

The engagement of Serbs in the Kosovo Police is accompanied by threats, while analysts assess that the threats come from Serbia and its criminal groups. According to them, the institutions of Kosovo must demonstrate partnership with the international community that will enable the creation of stability in the north.They consider that Serbia is trying by all means to prevent the further advancement of guaranteeing security for the Serb community.

Analyst Drizan Shala told Radio Kosova that the institutions of Kosovo should inform and demand from the international factor that Serbia give up threats and blackmail. “I think the international factor has information. The pressure should not only be done in a declarative but effective manner. We should not allow pressure to exist as it happened against military personnel”, Shala said.

Another security analyst, Fadil Kajtazi, said that the work of these policemen in the north under a psychological pressure and threat from a state is not an easy matter. “What is depressing is how we approached this problem by weighing our capacities in relation to Serbia. So we have eliminated a factor that has been dominant in maintaining stability, with which the government is in conflict, since it is under sanctions of the international community”, Kajtazi said.

According to the security analyst, Nuredin Ibishi, it is the duty of the institutions to ensure the new officials while performing their duties in the north of Kosovo but also in their homes, in order to avoid the scenario that happened to the Serb members of the KSF. “The Serbian officers of the Kosovo Police must return to work and serve their community, normally within the framework of legal duties, according to the Kosovo Police Law, but also the Constitution and other laws of Kosovo”, Ibishi said.

Serbian Language Media

Odalovic tells RTS Kurti obsessed with north (RTS)

Chairman of the Serbian Government Missing Persons Commission told RTS morning program that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has now become a problem of the international community and that of political parties of the Kosovo Albanians. According to him, Europe is unable to make Pristina implement what it had signed.

Commenting on the inauguration of the first part of Nis-Merdare highway section, dubbed “Peace Highway”, Odalovic said it was important at the times of problems with Pristina to send a message that this highway will enable easier mobility, frequency and passage in both directions.  He added it was important to overcome barriers and this highway was particularly important because twice a year long columns of vehicles are formed at Merdare crossing point, sometimes longer than ten kilometres, when Albanian diaspora living and working in Western Europe during summer time and winter holidays come to Kosovo for visit.  

Speaking of the situation in Kosovo, Odalovic said that Kurti “has problems on an internal stage with everybody, has problems with the EU and US, and also with the Serbs in the north. His every message is an attempt to turn around and not listen to what he was told on June 3 – Europe presented a three-point plan on de-escalation, however he turns things upside down”, Odalovic said.

“We are right to be a bit angry at international mediators because sometimes, somehow they equalise us in the escalation that occurred in the north of Kosovo, and it is Kurti who is exclusively responsible for escalation”, Odalovic said. 

He noted not a single incident in the north was caused by Serbs, adding that Kurti should withdraw special police units and Albanian mayors, as well as call for elections.

He also said part of Serbs had to leave Kosovo because of Kurti’s arrest lists, and that he has now become a problem of the international community and political parties of Kosovo Albanians.

“Kurit is obsessed with northern Kosovo and Metohija, but this can not last long. He would have to establish the Community of Serb Municipalities”, Odalovic concluded.  

Trial of Sladjan Trajkovic stars today (Kosovo Online)

Trial of Sladjan Trajkovic, former Kosovo police member in Mitrovica North, starts today at the Basic Court in Pristina, Kosovo Online portal reports. Trajkovic along with other Serb colleagues in the north left Kosovo police in November last year because of dissatisfaction with Pristina authorities attitude toward the Serbian people.

Trajkovic is accused of allegedly committing war crimes in Kosovo in the period from 1998 to 1999. His family is present at the trial, and it is expected the indictment will be read out at the hearing today.

Trajkovic was arrested on December 15, last year in Bosniak Mahala and has remained in detention ever since.

On May 25, the Court of Appeals decided to annul the decision on his detention extension, however, on May 29, the Basic Court in Pristina again made a decision to extend his detention for two more months. 

Lawyer Vasic terms acts of prosecution as scandalous, says Trajkovic sent to detention before being interviewed first (Kosovo Online, Radio KIM)

Lawyer, Dejan A. Vasic representing Sladjan Trajkovic whose trial started today listed numerous accusations in relation to the work of the court and prosecution in this case, adding that the court allowed itself to “stoop to the level of a simple note taker for the Special Prosecution in Pristina”, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“This is the most scandalous behaviour of the prosecution that I had seen for the 16 years of my work and more than ten defences in war crimes’ trials. From the list of case files we received only what the prosecution wanted us to receive”, Vasic said, adding that Trajkovic was sent to detention before even being interviewed.

“How should we plead? This man is in detention for seven months. I wrote five times to the Special Prosecution to enable us take part in the investigation, the police interviewed 30 witnesses, the prosecutor interviewed eight. Not even once they called us to be present to tell us what Trajkovic is accused of”, he added.

Vasic also asked for postponement of the hearing until all case files are delivered to him.

Sladjan Trajkovic told the court he has been living in Mitrovica North for 24 years already, and that there is no place in Kosovo that he had not visited. He said he has many Albanian friends and is very surprised with the indictment.

“I have nowhere else to go, if you assign me a measure (on bail). My family is here and I will live here. I am ill and doctors come to visit me constantly. There is no progress in my treatment”, Trajkovic said.

Serbian media later in the day reported the hearing had been postponed for August 4. 

Daka: There are two ways to snap elections in north of Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

The former chair of Kosovo Central Election Commission (CEC) Valdete Daka said there are two ways to hold extraordinary elections in the north of Kosovo, being it that more than half of the citizens who have the right to vote sign a petition, or that current mayors resign, Kosovo Online reports citing Kallxo.

As she emphasised, those two ways are provided by the Law on Local Self-Government.

“I don’t know if it has ever happened, but the Law on Local Self-Government foresees the possibility that 50 percent of voters demand the resignation of the mayor. Another way is for them to resign”, Daka said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said his government is interested in snap elections in four municipalities in the north, while his deputy, Besnik Bislimi, recently said that the European Union must first lift sanctions on Kosovo, so that the elections in the north can be held.

Miftaraj: Resignations of mayors solution to new elections in northern Kosovo (RFE, Kosovo Online)

Executive director of Kosovo Judicial Institute Ehat Miftaraj said one should approach most practical solution to hold extraordinary elections in northern Kosovo and it is that mayors elected on April 23 resign, Kosovo Online portal reports, citing Radio Free Europe (RFE)

Miftaraj also said newly elected Albanian mayors lack legitimacy because the turnout was small and Serbs boycotted elections.

“Unfortunately they do not represent the interests of all citizens in the north of Kosovo. Therefore, if there is a political will, a solution that is the most practical and has the least implications on Kosovo budget should be offered. This obviously means that they (mayors) submit resignations”, Miftaraj is quoted as saying.

He argued that calling new elections by 20 percent of constituencies signing petitions against the mayors could set detrimental precedent and be used in other municipalities in the future. He also said it would be expensive and seen as a bad example.

Brnabic: Serbia has become full EU member in digital sphere (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Thursday Serbia’s ICT sector had become one of the three main drivers of economic development in the country in the past six or seven years and that ICT services exports had reached 1.3 bln euros in the first five months of this year, rising by 41 percent, Tanjug news agency reported.

Speaking at a presentation of a Digital Europe programme at the Science and Technology Park in Belgrade, Brnabic said 2022 had been a record year in that regard with ICT exports totalling 2.7 bln euros.

In this sphere, Serbia has practically become a full EU member state, she added.

“By signing the agreement on participation in the Digital Europe programme at the end of June in Brussels and with this day, which marks our first call to our companies, scientific institutes, faculties, teams and micro and small and medium-sized enterprises to apply with their projects for financing from the Digital Europe programme, we have practically become a full EU member state in this sphere”, she said.

International 

On the Trail of an Elusive Organ-Trafficking Decision in Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo has strictly-worded freedom of information legislation, but even though US judge Dean B. Pineles sent a request for the text of a critical decision by the Court of Appeals in the Medicus organ-trafficking case, no officials ever responded.

Much has been said recently about the importance of applying the rule of law in seeking solutions to the difficult issues in the Serb-majority enclaves in the north of Kosovo. These are momentous issues relating to sovereignty and territorial integrity. But the rule of law also applies to more common issues such as access to government documents.

Back in April, Balkan Insight published an article titled ‘Freedom of Information in Balkans Still ‘On Paper Only’ Panel Hears’, highlighting how, despite well-crafted laws granting Freedom of Information (FOI) to the public, governmental institutions often don’t respond to journalists’ requests for information, or respond only partially, in violation of these laws.

The article stated that in 2022, BIRN journalists submitted 376 FOI requests, yet only 134 were fully answered and more than half were not answered at all, an outcome referred to as “administrative silence”.

Read more at: rb.gy/b86d2