Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti denies Klan Kosova case is an attack on freedom of media (media)
• Osmani: Clarify legal dilemmas in Klan Kosova case (media)

• Media to protest today against suspension of Klan Kosova certificate (Kosovapress)

• Derek Chollet’s visit to Kosovo and the Balkan countries postponed (RTK)

• Kurti talks about 400,000 active employees, opposition disputes figures (media)

• Konjufca sent Draft Law for KPC to the Venice Commission (media)

• Szunyog welcomes Konjufca decision to consult Venice Commission (KSP)

• PDK accuses govt of misuse of state reserves, demands investigations (media)

• UN alarms over risk from new conflict between Kosovo and Serbia (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

• New Social Initiative reacts to Regional water supply company’s manner of disconnecting Serb households in Gracanica (media, social media)

• Vucic says Kurti wants to drag Serbia into a conflict with NATO (N1, FoNet, BETA)

• Reactions to decision to shut down Klan Kosova continue (KoSSev)

• Simic: Without de-escalation talking about elections is pointless (VoA, Kosovo Online)

• Vucic: Serbian List visit to Washington important (media)

• Lawyer Vasic: Health condition of Svetomir Bacevic deteriorates (KoSSev)

• Saint Ilija Church near Urosevac desecrated (Tanjug)

• Djilas: Vucic’s policy towards Kosovo is wrong, Serbs are emigrating en masse (N1)

International Media:

• In Kosovo, graffiti rejuvenates Pristina’s concrete jungle (Reuters)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti denies Klan Kosova case is an attack on freedom of media (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, referring to the case of Klan Kosova, wrote on Saturday that following the rules of media registration is a legal duty and the bodies authorized to decide on such cases do not reside in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“In a democracy, the bodies authorized to decide such cases will not sit in the Office of the Prime Minister. However, these bodies have our Office’s full backing as they perform their duties, in the face of the powerful interests of wealthy businessmen lined up against them,” he tweeted.

“Media freedoms are vital: an attack on them is an attack on democracy. But democracy is also assaulted when powerful business people break the law for financial gain. And enforcing the law against such people’s violations does not—in any way—constitute an attack on media freedom,” he added.

Osmani: Clarify legal dilemmas in Klan Kosova case (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani reacted through a statement to the media after the decision of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade that rejected the complaint of Klan Kosova regarding the suspension of the business certificate of this broadcaster. Osmani said that media freedom is not a privilege, but a fundamental right that supports the functioning of a democratic society.

“It is the duty of everyone in our society to appreciate the freedom of the media, to protect it and to create conditions for it, in accordance with the frameworks defined by the Constitution and the laws of our Republic. Respect for the Constitution and laws are essential for maintaining order, justice and social cohesion”, Osmani said.

According to her, the promotion of media freedom within the limits of the law, as well as the legal support of free speech and the right to information are basic principles of Kosovo’s society, which originate from the highest legal act of the state.

“Any legal dilemma regarding the case of the license of the Klan Kosova medium, must be clarified to the end by the relevant instances of the justice system of the Republic of Kosovo”, it was further said.

Osmani expects this to be done by applying the law, without interference, based on the principles of impartiality and integrity.

Media to protest today against suspension of Klan Kosova certificate (KSP)

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo with the support of the media and civil society organizations, will hold a protest today as a sign of revolt for the suspension of the business certificate of Klan Kosova by the Ministry of Industry, Enterprise and Trade. The protest with the motto “Democracy dies in the dark” will start at 12:00 in Zahir Pajaziti Square.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo invited fellow journalists, cameramen and photojournalists to join the peaceful protest.

Derek Chollet’s visit to Kosovo and the Balkan countries is postponed (RTK)

The visit of the U.S. delegation with the undersecretary of the Department of Defense, Derek Chollet, to Kosovo has been postponed.

The office of the Presidency told RTK that the visit was not cancelled, but only postponed. Media adviser in the Presidency, Bekim Kupina, said that this postponement comes for the Balkan countries and not specifically for Kosovo.

“There is no cancellation of the visit, but we have been informed that there is a postponement of the date for the entire Balkan tour (that is, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia) for objective reasons of one of the members of the delegation”, Kupina told RTK.

Kurti talks about 400,000 active employees, opposition disputes figures (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has announced that for the first time the Kosovo economy has registered 400,000 work force positions.

“For the first time our economy has over 400,000 recorded active workforce positions. This is a strong indicator of the success of our labor and economic policies that have helped women, people with disabilities, entrepreneurs and others be successful participants in the workforce,” Kurti tweeted.

The former Minister of Finance and deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Hykmete Bajrami reacted by calling the prime minister a “manipulator of statistics”

“Manipulators of numbers, let’s talk about trends, because the truth is different from the propaganda: With your employment policies, private companies are losing not only workers but also consumers. Publish the figures, how many citizens have fled from Kosovo since you took all levels of power, she wrote bringing further figures which contradict those announced by Kurti.

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vlora Citaku wrote on her Facebook account that these figures are not real. “It is already known that populists and manipulators take one truth and mix it with ten lies. Such was Kurti’s statement about 400,000 employed by him. Prime Minister, you have hired people only in Germany. Don’t believe me. Trust the data of the Statistics Authority”, Citaku wrote.

Konjufca sent Draft Law for KPC to the Venice Commission (media)

The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, has sent the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to Law No. 06/L-056 for the Prosecutorial Council of Kosovo. The same was processed in the Assembly days ago by the government of Kosovo.

Given that the draft has undergone changes since the evaluation of the Venice Commission, as was announced today by the Assembly, Konjufca has requested an opinion on the draft law as a whole, considering it as crucial in achieving the objective of reforming the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council and addressing concerns and issues previously raised.

As a member state of the Venice Commission, Kosovo remains committed to respecting the basic principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Szunyog welcomes Konjufca decision to consult with Venice Commission (KSP)

EU Head of Office in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog has said on Sunday that he welcomes the willingness of the speaker of the parliament, Glauk Konjufca, to consult with the Venice Commission on the revised changes in the Law on the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

“Compliance with European standards is the main prerogative in the implementation of reforms,” he wrote on Twitter.

Szunyog emphasized that the recommendations of the Venice Commission should be fully implemented in the finalization of this important legal initiative.

PDK accuses government of misuse of state reserves, demands investigations (media)

Kosovo Assembly MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Eliza Hoxha accused on Sunday the government of misuse of state reserves. She said in a media conference that the new wiretapping affair “which proves the government’s theft of state reserves, is an unprecedented crime that was installed by the government of Albin Kurti”.

Hoxha called the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, incompetent and the protagonist of scandals. She said that the wiretapping published by the media testify to the government’s negotiations with third parties, fictitious companies and fictitious bank accounts. She invited the justice authorities to take immediate measures for what she said were abuses and affairs at this Ministry.

Hoxha said that Minister Hajdari, as an instrument of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, acted in the same way by revoking the license of Klan Kosova, which, as she said, is one of the biggest mediums in the country. She added that the arbitrary closure of a medium constitutes an open threat to the system of democratic values.

Further, Hoxha said that for the Democratic Party the elections are inevitable and must happen as soon as possible so that Kosovo can return to its profile as a new state full of hope and with a clear orientation and social, economic, and democratic development.

UN alarms over risk from new conflict between Kosovo and Serbia (Koha)

UN special rapporteur, Fabian Salvioli, following visits to Kosovo and Serbia, said that manipulation of events from the past through an increase in nationalistic discourse can revive a new conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. His report notes that in addition to lack of cooperation to resolve the fate of missing persons from the last war, there is also lack of criminal proceedings against war criminals and glorification of convicted officials by appointing them in senior positions.

“The special rapporteur is alarmed about the continues use in Kosovo and Serbia of ethnocentric, nationalistic, and biased narratives about the conflict, in politics, media, culture and education. The manipulation of events from the past and the strengthening of nationalistic and ethnic sentiments for political objectives, although it may seem to secure short-term political benefits for its supporters and authors, is not only illegitimate and in opposition with international standards, but it is also short-lived,” the report notes. “These indecent images and above all the acts of public irresponsibility can lead to a repetition of the violence from the past”.

The report, which covers findings from November 2 to December 2022, when the UN rapporteur visited Kosovo and Serbia, will be discussed at the session of the UN Human Rights Council which will be held from September 11 to October 6 this year. 

Serbian Language Media

New Social Initiative reacts to Regional water supply company’s manner of disconnecting Serb households in Gracanica (media, social media)

New Social Initiative expressed in a statement an unease and worry over the actions of the Regional water supply company Pristina, policemen and some media during a recent action in Gracanica, Serbian media report.

“Regional water supply company Pristina commenced this month an action of disconnecting debtors that owed the company more than 100 euros from the water supply system. The action previously announced to the media commenced in Gracanica too on Wednesday 26 July.

While the discontinuation of services to debtors is a normal action, the way in which it was executed was triumphalist and unworthy of the professional standards of the police and some media that reported on it. It is unclear why, in the first place, the Regional water supply company Pristina asked that mundane operations be recorded by the media. Especially given the fact that this implied that the media crews enter private, fenced off property of the citizens. On the other hand, numerous posts of the present media show that, the Regional water supply company Pristina made sure that the media were present, but did not make sure to have a translator present thus devoiding its customers from the Kosovo Serb community of dignified and understandable communication.

The language barrier could not be bridged by Kosovo police patrol that secured the action either. The police officers, in violation of the institutional obligation to ensure translation to all official languages, including Serbian, demanded the Kosovo Serb citizens speak Albanian language. Numerous posts of the two video recordings of tense situations in which the privacy and dignity of citizens were violated, are abundant with words of praise for the police officers who insisted the Serbian citizens spoke Albanian, while some media too passed a moral judgment of the act, calling it “worthy of respect“.

Such actions by private companies, the institutions, and some media show that ethnic intolerance is spreading from political statements to institutional actions”, the statement concludes.

New Social Initiative posted links to videos about action in Gracanica available at: rb.gy/v56lg

Vucic says Kurti wants to drag Serbia into a conflict with NATO (N1, FoNet, BETA)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday he hopes that Serbia will succeed in preserving peace because there is nothing more valuable than peace, N1 reports.

Vucic told Prva TV that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is looking for “a sufficient reason for the nonsense he utters“ wanting to drag Serbia into a conflict with NATO, but Serbia must avoid that conflict.

When asked about Kurti’s claims that in the 1990s, Red Star fans started riots that sparked war conflicts and that they will continue to do so now, Vucic said that “war conflicts are tried to be caused by the one who talks about it, not someone else“.

“We understand that they perceive Kosovo as independent, and they ignore the fact that the citizens of Serbia see Kosovo as part of the Republic of Serbia“, Vucic said, adding that a compromise solution should be sought, however Kurti does not want to seek a solution, but to expel all Serbs from Kosovo.

Commenting on the allegations made by MP and Chairwoman of the British Parliament Foreign Policy Committee, Alicia Kearns, about arms smuggling from central Serbia to Kosovo and allegations that British intelligence agents, as N1 reported, are laying the foundations for a war in Kosovo, the Serbian President said that he does not think that London has a reason to create a war in the Balkans.

Reactions to decision to shut down Klan Kosova continue (KoSSev)

Reactions in defense of media rights continue arriving following the “shocking” and “scandalous” decision of Kosovo Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, which rejected the appeal of Klan Kosova television to the previous decision to suspend the media outlet’s business license, KoSSev portal reports.

On June 14th, this Kosovo ministry filed a criminal complaint against the Klan Kosova Trading Company, the largest television station in Kosovo, with the claim that Pec-Serbia and Djakovica-Serbia are written as locations in the business certificate.

Although international diplomats and media associations expected, after the initial intention to revoke Klan Kosova’s license, that the Commission for Review of Complaints for Business Registration would make a different decision, the commission’s decision issued on Friday read: The Business Registration Agency of Kosovo (ARBK) acted in accordance with by law when it suspended the business license of Klan Kosova.

Read more at: http://lnkiy.in/NeKOK

Simic: Without de-escalation talking about elections is pointless (VoA, Kosovo Online)

Without de-escalation, talking about elections was pointless, Igor Simic, Vice-President of the Serb List said, Voice of America reports.

Igor Simic together with another Serbian List official Slavko Simic paid an official visit to Washington last week and discussed with US administration official Gabriel Escobar and congressional staffers about the current situation in Kosovo and possibilities of easing tensions.

In an interview with Voice of America, Simic indicated that clear messages had been conveyed to him in Washington.

Read the full interview at: http://lnkiy.in/WL9qn

Vucic: Serbian List visit to Washington important (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic commenting on the visit of Serbian List to Washington said the visit was firstly important for them to see what it looked like in the world, especially in Washington, but also for the legitimization of their role.

“So that they don’t think it’s easy and simple, and on the other hand, it’s important because it’s the legitimization of their role. We’ll see what will come of it, but I don’t think that conversation could be bad and that it could have any kind of negative consequences for the position of the Serbs”, Vucic said.

Lawyer Vasic: Health condition of Svetomir Bacevic deteriorates (KoSSev)

Health condition of Svetomir Bacevic, sentenced in September last year to five years in prison for criminal act “war crimes against civilian population” has deteriorated, his lawyer Dejan Vasic told KoSSev portal. 

In February this year the Court of Appeals confirmed the first verdict. Bacevic, a displaced person from Pec was arrested at the end of December 2020. 

Vasic told the portal that the health condition of his client is very serious and has deteriorated to the extent that his life depends upon further medical treatment.

He also said Bacevic was examined on Thursday and Friday in the Clinical Hospital Center in Pristina, but returned to the prison cell afterwards.

“The recommendation of the doctor who examined Bacevic is that he needs to stay in the hospital for further observation of his condition”, Vasic said, appealing to the Kosovo institutions to enable his client further medical treatment because of, as he said, danger to his life.  

Saint Ilija Church near Urosevac desecrated (Tanjug)

Serbian Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Ilija in the village of Varos selo near Urosevac had been desecrated, the Urosevac parish priest Trajko Vlajkovic confirmed to Tanjug news agency.

“The Church was broken into, three windows on the right side have been demolished and also one window in the altar area. Today a host of the planned ceremony with a group of people visited the church to clean it for the temple’s celebration on August 2, and they saw that the church had been desecrated”, Trajkovic said on Saturday. 

After the end of the conflict in 1999 no Serb remained living in the village.  

Djilas: Vucic’s policy towards Kosovo is wrong, Serbs are emigrating en masse (N1)

Leader of Serbian opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), Dragan Djilas said policy of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic towards Kosovo was wrong and that today Kosovo is more separated from Serbia than it was 11 years ago, N1 reports.

“Everything we do is always viewed through the result. And the result of that policy is that today Kosovo is more separated from Serbia than it was 11 years ago“, Djilas told BETA news agency.

According to him, the most drastic consequence of the SNS and Vucic’s policy is that the number of Serbs in Kosovo is at a “historical minimum“ and that they are “threatened at every step“.

He emphasized that Serbs today are not threatened only in the southern part of Kosovo, but also in the northern part, where they are the absolute majority.

 International Media

In Kosovo, graffiti rejuvenates Pristina’s concrete jungle (Reuters)

Known as the capital of concrete, Pristina is trying to revitalize its dull and grey image with vivid graffiti on walls and buildings, helping transform public spaces into more inviting, vibrant areas.

More than 100 artists from 28 countries have covered 2000 square meter of walls at Rruga B (Street B) in the city with art at a festival over the past three days.

This road divides old communist buildings on the west with new ones on the east, which all have one thing in common – scant space for public use and an abundance of concrete.

“When you see the concrete, it gives the impression that it is still under construction,” said Agon Xhelili, organizer of the festival, Meeting of Styles Kosovo. “When artists see these locations they say: ‘hell, this is the best place to paint’.”

The non-profit organisation of the same name, Meeting of Styles, was created in the mid-90s in Germany, supporting artists who could legally paint thousands of square meters of abandoned areas.

Read more at: https://t.ly/z5MgA