Albanian Language Media: 

• Hovenier: We do not support any change of the status of the bridge (Klan)

• Government: Iber Bridge must be opened; it is at service of everyone and against no one (Klan)

• Rasic: All parties should avoid unilateral actions (RTK)

• Kurti: Government will not stop supporting Kosovo Police (media)

• Explosion in the yard of a house in the north, no one injured (Telegrafi)

• Political parties in North Macedonia react to airport incident with Kosovo President (media)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Quint after meeting with Kurti: We informed him that we do not support any changes in the current status of the bridge on the Ibar (KoSSev)

• Kosovo President refuses security check at Skopje Airport (N1, media)

• The explosion took place last night in the yard of a private house in Ugljare village (KoSSev)

• Canaj: Both Pristina and Belgrade should focus on the lives of citizens (Kosovo Online)

• M.Z. from Donja Gusterica village died because of severe injuries inflicted by her husband (KiM radio, medijacentar.info, Kosovo Online, KoSSev)

• Vucic welcomed Siljanovska Davkova in the Prohor Pcinjski monastery (Kosovo Online, media)

International:

• TAV Macedonia: We categorically reject the allegations that our employee tried to take Vjosa Osmani's phone (slobodenpecat.mk)

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Hovenier: We do not support any change of the status of the bridge (Klan)

The U.S. ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hoveinier said after the meeting of the Quint ambassadors with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, that the Quint states in consultation with NATO, do not support any change in the status of the Iber bridge.

‘We representatives of France, Germany, Italy, Britain… met with Prime Minister Kurti to inform him that our governments in consultation with NATO cannot support any change of the current status of the Mitrovica bridge at the moment,” Hovenier said. 

Government: Iber Bridge must be opened; it is at service of everyone and against no one (Klan)

Kosovo Prime Minister of the Republic, Albin Kurti, met today with Quint ambassadors, with whom he discussed developments in Kosovo and current topics.

"Kurti presented to the diplomatic representatives of the QUINT and EU countries the Government's plan for the opening of the Mitrovica bridge over the Iber River. The plan foresees tests for the infrastructural stability of the bridge, assessment of risk and risks from natural disasters, visual revitalization of the bridge with access to the bridge for all, discussions with citizens and interest groups as well as a comprehensive information campaign on the benefits and goals of opening the bridge", reads the government statement.

It is further reported that consultations and coordination continue.

"As stated in the European Union's plan for the revitalization of the bridge, the Mitrovica bridge over the Iber will become a symbol of the normalization of relations in Kosovo. In the same plan it is stated that "its revitalization will greatly contribute to facilitating contacts between all citizens of North and South Mitrovica and thus will contribute to exchanges and understanding. So, the bridge must be opened. It is in the service of all, and against no one. Freedom of movement and the rule of law do not endanger peace and security, on the contrary".

"The bridge is a symbol of free movement, which is a fundamental value and freedom of the European Union. The bridge is a symbol of integration, which is the joint work of Kosovo with our partners. The government is for both free movement and integration of citizens", the statement concludes.

Rasic: All parties should avoid unilateral actions (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rasic, believes that the Iber bridge will be opened when the conditions are created and that the bridge will be used only as a pedestrian area, not for vehicle traffic.

"I have expressed my opinion several times and I am trying to present my opinion to my fellow ministers and of course to the Prime Minister, which is that the opening of the bridge was an agreement between two or three parties in Brussels and was part of the technical process of Brussels negotiations in which it is stated that, among other things, the two parties in this case and the third as a facilitator will agree when the conditions will be created for the opening of the bridge and with special emphasis it is stated that the bridge will be used for pedestrians, that literally means that it is a pedestrian bridge, it was never meant to have traffic, especially car traffic or any other kind of traffic, so it is unusual to insist that there be traffic of cars or other vehicles when it is not even mentioned in the Brussels agreement and not even in the trade agreement", he said.

He added that there is no need to raise tensions, especially in North Mitrovica, and that unilateral actions should be avoided.

Kurti: Government will not stop supporting Kosovo Police (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other senior officials of Kosovo as well as international, participated at the ceremony of the graduation of the 60^th generation of Kosovo Police.

"I am happy that out of 448 cadets, every fifth one is a woman and from today on they will receive the title of police officers. As in every other generation, cadets from the ranks of communities in Kosovo are also graduating today, while a special competition has also been opened for communities in the Kosovo Police", he said.

Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that when he took office as a government, the budget for the Kosovo Police was 91 million euros, while today it is almost 50% higher, 135 million euros, and as a result, the conditions of the Kosovo Police are better.

"The police marks an important moment thanks to the endurance and support of your families, as the government, we will not stop supporting the Kosovo Police. We have a common mission for our country, we will overcome every challenge and every success together", he added.

Explosion in the yard of a house in the north, no one injured (Telegrafi)

An explosion occurred today at around 02:00 hours in the morning in a yard of a house in Uglare, municipality of Zubin Potok.

The news was confirmed by the deputy director of the Kosovo Police for the northern Mitrovica region, Veton Elshani.

“Explosion in a yard of a house in Uglare. Minor material damage, no injuries. The police went to the scene with the appropriate units and are dealing with the case,” Elshani said. 

Political parties in North Macedonia react to airport incident with Kosovo President (media)

The Alliance for Albanians strongly condemned the incident.  "We urgently request that the competent authorities investigate and sanction all persons responsible for this scandalous attack on the authority of the President of Kosovo, violating all international protocols and conventions. The VMRO government through the VLEN vassals, not content with the degradation they have done to the Albanians in RNM, now try to belittle and insult Kosovo as well, even the President of the Republic of Kosovo. For us, this case is not a simple incident, but a serious provocation for which they must bear responsibility and apologize from the head of the Government to the people who participated in this case", said the Alliance for Albanians.

The former Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Artan Grubi, from the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) has reacted to the incident that President Vjosa Osmani faced at Skopje Airport. Grubi made a reaction, which he started by writing "Kosovo, forgive us!".

"From lord of the house to tenant, from decision-maker to vassal, from proud to kisser, from dignified to spineless, from paragon to rascal, from learned to ignorant, from brave to coward, from ruler to servants, from winner to loser, from Europe and America in Russia and Serbia, from Ali Ahmeti to Ivan Stoilkovic!", Grubi wrote further.

His political party also came out later with a statement calling the incident scandalous. They said that this behavior should be severely punished towards anyone, but especially towards the highest representatives of the state.

"The Democratic Union for Integration strongly condemns the scandalous diplomatic incident at the Skopje airport against the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Vjosa Osmani. This view of the state towards every citizen, and in particular towards the highest representatives of the state, and in this case our sisters and brothers from Kosovo, is unacceptable and must be punished in the harshest form", says the reaction.

"The involvement of the security chief of the illegitimate Speaker of the Assembly Afrim Gashi in the incident, deepening it, without having any competence, without being called and without the right, is also scandalous and speaks loudly of the miserable and vassal state in which it is the illegitimate Albanian representation in the mono-ethnic government", DUI further said. The culprit for this event, according to the Democratic Union for Integration, is the VLEN coalition.

The VLEN coalition reacted after the incident of President Vjosa Osmani at Skopje Airport. In VLEN's response, it is stated that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the state do not have competence over airport security, and that this is within the competence of the concessionaire, in this case TAV.

In their response, it is stated that according to the Vienna Convention, state leaders have special treatment during the trip, but the details of the security protocols are determined by the airport concessionaire.

In their response, VLEN accused DUI of "using lies and manipulations in an attempt to harm only VLEN, without worrying about the consequences it could bring to Kosovo".

Albanian Post reports that the former Chairman of the Liberal Party, as well as the former deputy of North Macedonia, Ivon Velickovksi, has asked if the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic was in her place, would the security dare to act the same.

Velickovksi has emphasized that before the focus is on the procedure for securing the head of the Assembly, Afrim Gashi, let there be an answer to this question: "Do all presidents/foreign ministers/presidents of the Assembly and similar VIPs go through the scanner at Skopje airport during the visit or transit?".

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

Quint after meeting with Kurti: We informed him that we do not support any changes in the current status of the bridge on the Ibar (KoSSev)

“Good morning. On instructions from our capitals, representatives from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the US met with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti today to inform him that our governments, in consultation with NATO, cannot support any change to the current status of the Mitrovica bridge at this time,“ the U.S. ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, told the media this morning after a meeting between Quint and Kurti.

Hovenier confirmed that the topic of today’s meeting was the issue of opening the main Ibar bridge in Mitrovica.

After giving this brief statement, Hovenier informed the media that he would not be answering any questions and then he left.

The same delegation met with the Kosovo PM in the middle of last month, where the opening of the Ibar bridge was also discussed.

The Kosovo government also confirmed this on July 17:

“In the context of informing and coordinating with our international partners, the topic of discussion at this meeting was the importance of coordinating institutional actions for opening the bridge over the Ibar River to vehicles, to enable full freedom of movement, which benefits citizens on both sides of the bridge equally, while also promoting economic development and market growth through the easier movement of goods and capital.”

KoSSev asked Veton Elshani, Deputy Commander of the Kosovo Police for the northern region, whether there is any indication that today’s sudden statement by Hovenier might lead to the opening of the Ibar bridge, to which he briefly responded: “No”.

Our reporters also visited the bridge, where the situation remains normal. Two Italian Carabinieri vehicles are stationed on the bridge itself, and a KP patrol is at the nearby roundabout. On the south side of the bridge, there are two EULEX vehicles.

Kosovo President refuses security check at Skopje Airport (N1, media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani refused a security scan at Skopje airport causing an incident which her advisor blamed on North Macedonia security personnel.

North Macedonia’s Internal Affairs Ministry issued a statement saying that security procedures were not followed by Osmani’s security personnel, resulting in the incident. Skople media said that Osmani refused to put her phone and handbag through the scanner, adding that she then phoned Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi whose security personnel appeared at the airport sometime later to investigate the incident. The media said the incident happened at the entrance to the VIP lounge.

Radio TV Kosovo cited advisor Bekim Kupina as saying that security personnel at the airport tried to seize Osmani’s telephone. “This was an attempt to provoke the Kosovo delegation by the North Macedonian side, while the Kosovo Police was forced to react to this incident to open the way,” he is quoted as saying. He also claimed that security personnel pushed Osmani aside and took away her handbag.

“The arrogant and violent behavior of the officials of the Skopje Airport is unprecedented and has never happened in any trip of the president anywhere in the world, including in unrecognizing countries,” a press release said.

The explosion took place last night in the yard of a private house in Ugljare village (KoSSev)

After a long search of the terrain, the place where a strong detonation was heard last night was located, the KP confirmed, stating that it was a yard of a private house in Ugljare. They also stated that they couldn't manage to identify the type of device that exploded, reported KoSSev. 

The Zubin Potok info reported that a strong detonation was heard in this village around 2:10 a.m.

This information was later confirmed to KoSSev portal by the police, although they were unable to find anything suspicious this morning and were working to locate the place of the explosion.

After the search, the place was located. According to the police, the explosion took place last night in the yard of a private house in this village near Zubin Potok. They stated that minor damage was caused, and that no one was injured.

However, the police did not find the remains of the device that exploded. An investigation was still underway.

Canaj: Both Pristina and Belgrade should focus on the lives of citizens (Kosovo Online)

Political analyst from Pristina, Blerim Canaj, assesses that the distrust in the dialogue and the normalization agreement between Serbs and Albanians is the result of the policies of Belgrade and Pristina, which should focus on the lives of citizens.

"I think our government needs to talk to the Serbs who live here. It doesn't matter as much what Vucic or those in Serbia think, or what the media reports there, but it is important to see how the Serbs who live here in Kosovo live and what they think. Sometimes I feel that neither Vucic nor Kurti are very interested in the Serbian people here in Kosovo, but they need them only for their political goals. For example, when Kurti needs something, something happens in the north, or if Vucic needs something when he has problems in Serbia, something happens in the north again," Canaj says for Kosovo Online.

According to him, this is also the key reason for the distrust in the dialogue.

"People have started to notice this, and, of course, trust in the dialogue will be lost. I think the Albanian side has started to not deal with these issues much, and on the other hand, you have Serbian media that bombard with information about God knows what happening in Kosovo. Tell some Serb who has never been to Kosovo that you came to Pristina and that we are doing an interview. How much will they believe you? There is an illusion that Serbs in Kosovo cannot do anything, as if there is some kind of repression here," Canaj concludes.

M.Z. from Donja Gusterica village died because of severe injuries inflicted by her husband (KiM radio, medijacentar.info, Kosovo Online, KoSSev)

Early this morning M.Z. from Donja Gusterica, died because of severe injuries inflicted by her husband on Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

According to the information confirmed to the Media Center by the doctor of the University Clinical Center in Pristina, Naser Sula, the woman died despite the efforts of the doctors to save her.

KiM radio earlier reported that the Emergency Service brough M.Z. to the Clinical and Hospital Center Gracanica on 31.07. around 8:50 p.m., but due to the severity of her injuries, she was soon transferred to the University Clinical Center in Pristina.

The commander of the Gracanica Police Station, Bratislav Trajkovic, previously told the Media Center that the suspect D.Z., the victim's husband, was taken into custody, while the case is being handled by the Gracanica Police Station.

Vucic welcomed Siljanovska Davkova in the Prohor Pcinjski monastery (Kosovo Online, media)

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, today welcomed the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, who is on a working visit to Serbia, at the Prohor Pcinjski Monastery.

Together with Vucic, Siljanovska Davkova was welcomed by the Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic, as well as the Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs Nemanja Starovic.

The delegation led by the N. Macedonian president also includes the vice-president of the Sobranje Vesna Bendevska, the vice-president of the government and the minister for relations with communities Ivan Stoilkovic, as well as the N. Macedonian ambassador to Serbia Nikola Tupanceski and the metropolitan of Kumanovo-Osogovo Grigorij.

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the President of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska Davkova visited the monastery of Saint Prohor of Pcinjski today, after which the two officials had a conversation.

 

International 

 

TAV Macedonia: We categorically reject the allegations that our employee tried to take Vjosa Osmani's phone (slobodenpecat.mk)

We categorically reject the allegations that our employee from the security department tried to take away the phone, TAV Macedonia states.

 - Her phone was requested in order to undergo mandatory security screening through the x-ray machine. Pursuant to ECAC Document 30 (Doc.30) and the National Civil Aviation Security Program, all passengers, cabin baggage and their personal belongings traveling on a commercial flight, as in this example, are subject to security screening. If we do not comply with these rules, the pilot of the flight will refuse boarding to the passenger. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations exempts only official guests of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia from security screening, and the airport operator receives official notification of such exemptions from the Ministry of Interior. The guidelines that our Security Department received from the Department for the Protection of Certain Persons and Objects clearly state that the members of the delegation must pass a standard security check in accordance with the established procedures - says the statement sent today by TAV Macedonia in connection with yesterday's incident at the Skopje airport.

Read more at: https://t.ly/M7b8N