Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti with video address in Serbian for Kosovo Serbs (media)
• Kurti travels to Italy, will meet Pope Francis tomorrow (media)
• Nuland: We urge Kosovo and Serbia to de-escalate tensions immediately (media)
• EU: No confirmation yet for Kurti-Vucic meeting, we expect positive response (RFE)
• Kim: Time for leaders to set ego aside, consider advice from your true friends (Express)
• Ristuccia: In Kosovo, KFOR troops avoided a massacre (media)
• Svecla shares video how Kosovo policemen were “abducted” in the north (media)
• Musliu: We warned months ago about risk of getting to this situation in north (Koha)
• Bogdanovic: Indirectly informed policemen discovered illegal transfer of weapons (AP)
• Reporters want security and conditions to carry out their mission (Kosovapress)
• One month detention for suspect of assault against reporters in Leposavic (media)
• VV continues to criticise Borrell: His approach toward Kosovo is unfair (Kosovapress)
• Banning of Serbian products, a good moment for local manufacturers (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• RTS: Another brutal arrest of a Serb in the vicinity of Gracanica (NMagazin, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)
• Gracanica: Gathered Gracanica residents demand immediate release of D.M. (KiM radio)
• Office for KiM: The arrest of Milenkovic a brutal demonstration of the power of Kurti's anti-Serbian regime (Kosovo Online)
• The Serbian List and Gracanica Mayor reactions to the arrest of Kisnica village resident (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)
• Serbian police Ministar, Gasic on the murder of Oliver Ivanovic: We know who the killer is (NMagazin, N1)
• SL on the opposition MPs in Serbian Parliament visit, Aleksic and Jovanovic (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• A shock bomb thrown in front of a cafe where opposition MPs, Aleksic and Jovanovic were (KiM radio)
• Jovanovic: ''Being in Kosovska Mitrovica means that you will be met with explosive devices, it is not safe'' (N1, Danas, KiM radio)
• Stefanovic: The Serbian List representatives moving to Belgrade, the people have been let down (KiM radio, N1) 
• Serbian List: We are here, every day with the people at the protests (Radio Mitrovica Sever)
• Surlic: No change in Pristina politics until the entire society feel the consequences through concrete sanctions (RTS, Kosovo Online)

Opinion:

• EU and Western Balkans: Twenty years of hopes and dreams (Euractiv)

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Kurti with video address in Serbian for Kosovo Serbs (media)

Most news websites cover Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s video address in Serbian language today to the Serb community in Kosovo. 

Lajmi covers the video address in the headline “Kurti with a video message for the Serb community: Let us walk together toward a better future”.

Gazeta Metro reports that “following tensions in the north, Kurti sends a message to the Serb community: Let us walk together toward a better future”. “I have repeatedly said that this is our shared country – it represents us and protects us, and we are obliged to fight for what is good. Let us walk toward a better future together, by building strong bridges, for what we want for us and for our families. Our home is where the house is and our country is home to all of us,” Kurti said.

Koha quotes Kurti as saying: “I know that the situation is not easy, and we all are afraid of possible unpredictable events in the near future. I also know that in the last three weeks we have international news and presented not in a very good light. But let us begin in order. I am sorry that we had to hold elections in the four municipalities in the north with a very low turnout. On December 10 last year, we postponed election day for four months, hoping that the Serbian List would take part. The international community promised us that if we accept the Ohrid Annex, they would ensure the participation of the Serbian List in the elections. On March 17 this year we extended the registration deadline for five days. But this did not result in anything”.

Albanian Post reports “Kurti addresses the Serbs: I don’t want war, Vucic seems to be ready to lose another one”. Commenting on elections in the north, Kurti said internationals had promised him they would get the Serbian List to take part in the elections, if he would accept the Ohrid Annex, but that this did not happen. Kurti said that he then hoped that at least Aleksandar Jablanovic would become mayor of Leposavic, but that someone bought him off by giving him €1 million and two apartments in Belgrade. “I heard he got €1 million and two apartments in Belgrade. It might not be true but there must have been outstanding pressure or a very luxurious offer to make Jablanovic say that he would not shoot the penalty,” Kurti said.

Indeksonline reports that Kurti argued that Belgrade wants to go back in time when Kosovo did not have its independence. “It seems that the government in Belgrade wants a time travel machine. Sometimes they want to travel back in time before June 1999 when we got our freedom, and sometimes before February 2008, when we declared our independence, and sometimes before February this year when Serbian President Vucic accepted the Brussels agreement, and sometimes as you have heard them yourself, they want to travel back before December 2001 when I got out of Serbian prisons,” he said.

Kurti said he does not want war. “Aleksandar Vucic today represents Serbia’s readiness to lose another war. At the same time, he is a guarantee that the 1990s will not become the past. I am not for war. I am against war. I am a social democrat. I suffered during the war, I was a war slave for over two years and a half. It seems that he [Vucic] has only good memories from the war, because even then he was in government as a minister of Milosevic, and unlike today, he had power but no obligations because Milosevic held all the responsibility”.

Kurti also mentioned developments that will improve the lives of citizens, including the Serb community. 

Full video address at: https://t.ly/yT3_

Kurti travels to Italy, will meet Pope Francis tomorrow (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has travelled to Italy today. Tomorrow he will visit the Holy See in the Vatican where he will meet Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Nuland: We urge Kosovo and Serbia to de-escalate tensions immediately (media)

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, said in a Twitter post after meeting EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, that “we urge Kosovo and Serbia to de-escalate tensions immediately and begin implementing Ohrid commitments. We continue to support the EU three-point plan as the best way to resolve the crisis.”

EU: No confirmation yet for Kurti-Vucic meeting, we expect positive response (RFE)

Spokesperson for the European Union, Peter Stano, said today that the EU has not yet received a response from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti or Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for a meeting in Brussels this week. “We have said enough in terms of our expectations, possible consequences, and steps. The main issue is to have a meeting here in Brussels and I don’t have anything to clarify about this at this point,” Stano told a press conference.

Stano also said that “there is still time until the end of the week” but that he cannot confirm a date for the meeting called by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. “We expect and hope that we can have a date and time for the meeting and then discuss the modalities. We have no time to lose. Now is the time for actions and not for words and speculation,” he said.

Sources told Radio Free Europe that the meeting could be held on June 22 or 23, and they also mentioned the possibility of Kurti and Vucic not having a direct meeting but rather bilateral meetings with Borrell.

Kim: Time for leaders to set ego aside, consider advice from your true friends (Express)

U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim, who from July 10 will take up a senior post in the U.S. State Department, talked today about the situation in the north of Kosovo and called on the Kosovo government led by Albin Kurti to listen to friends about the situation in the north.

She also mentioned the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, saying that Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on this and on the way forward that will lead to Kosovo’s full recognition.

Kim said the time is for leaders to set aside their ego and to consider the advice of true friends. 

“The U.S. position on the Association is very clear. Leaders from Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the formation of the Association, but not only on this, but also on the way forward that will conclude with Kosovo’s full recognition. I don’t believe we need to recall how much U.S. believes in Kosovo. Our affection and engagement for an independent Kosovo. If you need evidence, look back to several years ago. The problem is what are the steps and sequencing that needs to be followed for the two sides to move forward. And now is the time for leaders to set aside their ego … Think about your friends are. Consider the advice of your friends, your true friends,” she said.

Ristuccia: In Kosovo, KFOR troops avoided a massacre (media)

Most news websites cover an article originally published by Italian news agency AGI quoting COMKFOR, Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia, as saying that KFOR troops in Kosovo avoided a massacre. “It is thanks to the professionalism of our men from all over KFOR, who prepared themselves in the most appropriate way and who applied the rules of engagement in the most correct way, that a massacre was avoided. We were able to separate the two leave and rescue 15 policemen trapped in the crowd,” Ristuccia said.

See original article here: https://t.ly/49Db

Svecla shares video how Kosovo policemen were “abducted” in the north (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, shared in a Twitter post today a video how the three Kosovo police officers were taken by Serbian forces. “A planned abduction. A criminal act. The video below, shows how Serbian forces, w/direct order from Vucic, abducted our KP officials, deep within the territory of Kosovo. Exactly 1km away from the border. Serbia has to stop disinformation & release our officers now,” Svecla tweeted.

https://t.ly/fyQO

Musliu: We warned months ago about risk of getting to this situation in north (Koha)

Head of the Kosovo Assembly Committee for Oversight of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI) and PDK MP, Ganimete Musliu, said today that months ago the committee had warned the institutions about “the risk and preparations by Serbia to destabilise Kosovo”. She made these remarks after the committee’s meeting today where AKI Inspector General Kujtim Shala gave a briefing.

“As the Committee for oversight of AKI, several months ago, I warned about the risk that we would get to this situation, always referring to facts, arguments and reports we got from the ground. The Agency does not have an executive role, you know that they collect information, inform the Prime Minister, President, about the situation of national security, and then it is up to the government to manage the situation,” Musliu said.

Musliu also said that the committee did its job but did not want to comment if the government used the information they got from the intelligence agency. “We warned that different criminal groups are being trained in Rashka to destabilise Kosovo and we warned about this months ago, but unfortunately we are faced with this situation now,” she added.

Bogdanovic: Indirectly informed policemen discovered illegal transfer of weapons (AP)

Albanian Post reports that Boban Bogdanovic, General Secretary of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Strategy, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday that he was “indirectly informed, that the reason for the kidnapping of Kosovo policemen is that they discovered the illegal transfer of weapons across the border Serbia and Kosovo by paramilitary Radoičić formations, under the protection of members anti-terrorist units of the Serbian police!”

Reporters want security and conditions to carry out their mission (Kosovapress)

“On that day we were targeted for execution,” injured reporter, Pleurat Salihu, said in tears as he spoke before the MPs of the Committee for Public Administration, Local Government, Media and Regional Development, describing the provocations from who he called “Serb hooligans” before the attacks in Leposavic started on Friday.

During the hearing session with reporters who were injured while covering the events in the north, the reporters asked for security and conditions so that they can carry out their mission.

Head of the Media Committee, Valon Ramadani, said that “those that are creating riots in the north are trying to hide them through the violence against reporters”. “We wish you a speedy recovery. All of you, reporters, have implemented your obligations in the best way possible. Thank you for reporting about all the events that are happening in the north, that those that are creating the riots there are trying to hide through the violence against you as reporters,” he said.

RTK reporter Venera Xhoxhaj described what happened on Friday when she and a cameraman were attacked by Serb protesters. “I think we did our job exceptionally well that day. We suffered injuries from the hail of very big rocks. The whole situation happened so fast. I commend my colleagues. I think the profession of a reporter is a mission,” she said. 

Xhoxhaj said that the video she made proved the violence that was carried out against reporters.

“Two things happened that day, first there was more than brutality, and then when we tried to secure that video, the choice by the cameraman of Dukagjini, it was not a solution … I think they need to think about creating conditions for reporters. We got bulletproof vests and helmets, but that is a provocation, because you become a target of attacks even more,” she said.

Cameraman Bardh Bekteshi said he hopes that other teams of journalists that go to report from the north will be safer. “The feeling of going between them, you don’t have any security, it is not a good feeling. We didn’t expect they would attack us like that. First they vented out against the minister when he passed there, and then they turned on us,” he said.

One month detention for suspect of assault against reporters in Leposavic (media)

The Basic Court in Mitrovica has ordered one month detention for Uros Vukasinovic, suspected of being involved in the assault against reporters on June 16. Deputy president of the court, Bekim Veliqi, confirmed the news to Betimi per Drejtesi.

VV continues to criticise Borrell: His approach toward Kosovo is unfair (Kosovapress)

The news agency notes that the Vetevendosje Movement continues to criticise the facilitators of dialogue on the eve of a possible meeting between Kurti and Vucic in Brussels. According to the ruling party, the approach of EU High Representative Josep Borrell and EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak toward Kosovo is unfair.

MP from Vetevendosje and chair of the Kosovo Assembly Committee for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Arbereshe Kryeziu-Hyseni, said in an interview with the news agency that Borrell and Lajcak want to send the dialogue to topics that suit Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. She argued that Vucic “through criminal structures is creating tensions in the north in order to benefit from these situations”. 

“I am very disappointed by this approach that the head of foreign policy of the EU has shown toward the whole process. For me, the values of the EU are way beyond what we have seen lately, especially with the unequal approach toward Kosovo and Serbia,” she added.

Kryeziu-Hyseni also said that the “situation in the north proves that Serbia was never ready to move toward the normalisation of relations and let alone toward mutual recognition”.

Banning of Serbian products, a good moment for local manufacturers (RTK)

The Kosovo government’s decision to ban Serbian products in Kosovo is a good moment for local manufacturers, leader of the Alliance of Kosovo Businesses (AKB) Agim Shahini said in an interview with Radio Kosova. He said the moment should be used to increase production but not to increase the prices of products. “But it is not a moment to take advantage of the situation and to increase the prices. We are communicating with businesses and relevant institutions and there is no major increase in prices and this situation is only to the detriment of Serbia’s economy,” he argued. 

Shahini also said that Serbia is concerned with the Kosovo government’s decision. “Businesses in Serbia are calling all the time and they want to know what will happen next and when the decision will be lifted because Kosovo is a good market for them, and this is a loss for them. But this situation should be an opportunity to raise awareness for consuming local products,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fadil Osmani, a professor of economy, said the banning of Serbian goods in Kosovo cannot have any effect on Kosovo’s economy because there are always substitute products. “As far as the blocking of Serbian goods in the north, it cannot have any impact on the economy because there are always alternative products. Therefore, I don’t think that a border crossing can cause economic deregulation,” he added. Osmani also said that he is not certain how the current situation can be seen by potential investors in Kosovo.

 

 

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

RTS: Another brutal arrest of a Serb in the vicinity of Gracanica (NMagazin, Kosovo Online)

The Kosovo police arrested D. M. from the vicinity of Gracanica on charges of war crimes, the family of the arrested person confirmed for RTS. According to KiM radio reports, the person is from Kisnica village, Gracanica municipality. 

RTS reported that the family of the arrested person said the police officers were brutal during the arrest. 

According to RTS, members of special units broke into his yard around noon, blocking the entire area and taking out D.M. 

It was explained to the family that D.M. was being arrested for war crimes against Albanians whom he allegedly mistreated while working as a guard in a prison in Lipljan.

According to RTS, neighbours of the arrested man said that “the police asked him which of his sons is serving the Serbian Army”.

An emergency team arrived at the family home, as the arrested man's wife fell ill.

The house was searched for weapons.

The arrested D.M is the father of three children.

According to KiM radio, the representatives of the institutions did not want to give statements to the media. They stated that a protest meeting will be held at 2 pm in front of the Police Station in Gracanica.

Gracanica: Gathered Gracanica residents demand immediate release of D.M. (KiM radio)

As KiM radio reported, several hundred residents of Gracanica blocked the main road that passes through this place, demanding release of D.M. arrested this morning. Residents of Gracanica gathered, previously blocking the Pristina-Gnjilane main road that passes through Gracanica but withdrew from the road and are currently standing in front of the police station.

Police officers are diverting vehicles to side streets.

Office for KiM: The arrest of Milenkovic a brutal demonstration of the power of Kurti's anti-Serbian regime (Kosovo Online)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced that the arrest of another Serb in Kosovo, this time in Gracanica, is a brutal demonstration of force and injustice by the anti-Serb regime of Albin Kurti in Pristina, which now wants to spread its terror and tensions from the north to the south of the Ibar.

"Dragisa Milenkovic from Kisnica, not far from Gracanica, was arrested as part of Kurti's revenge plan against the Serbs, whose lives are being made miserable day by day in order to force them to leave their centuries-old homes," the Office for KiM stated. 

The Office for KiM stated that it is about an exemplary father, husband, and son, who has been taken from the family home in front of his wife, who became ill as a result.

"He has three children and as his neighbours testify, he has never sold the land he lives on. The office for Kosovo and Metohija will immediately provide the arrested Serb with a lawyer and any other form of support to prove his innocence, and to expose Kurti's anti-Serb moves," read the statement.

The Serbian List and Gracanica Mayor reactions to the arrest of Kisnica village resident (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)

The Serbian list said that '’while international representatives complain at meetings without wanting to stop the anti-Serb regime of Albin Kurti from expelling the Serbian people, he continues with arbitrary and groundless arrests of Serbs'', reported Radio Mitrovica sever. 

"Today, without any evidence, Dragisa Milenkovic was arrested in Gracanica, abducted from his family, wife and children, and taken in an unknown direction without any evidence of his guilt," reads the announcement of the Serbian List.

''As per the established recipe, Kurti's regime continues to hunt down Serbs in front of the eyes of the international community, which remains anaemic and gives space to Kurti to persecute Serbs, while EULEX acts as a statistical institute that adds one by one name of an honourable Serb to its reports,'' said SL in a statement.

"No matter how much they tried to bring the Serbian people into an impossible situation for survival in these areas with the fait accompli, and get us used to these kidnappings, we will not stop fighting for our rights and demanding freedom for our unjustly arrested brothers, whose only fault is Serbian nationality," concludes the announcement of the Serbian List.

Gracanica Mayor: Pristina regime continues terror by the arrest of Dragisa Milenkovic 

Mayor of Gracanica municipality Ljiljana Subaric said on today's arrest, that the daily terror of the Serbian people by the regime in Pristina continues, reported Kosovo online. 

She added in her FB post that intimidation, arrests, and harassment do not stop and are increasing day by day.

"We are witnessing that a wave of violence against the Serbian people comparable to the pogrom of March 17, 2004, and the worst days of 1999 is currently unfolding before the eyes of the international community. Disturbed but not afraid, determined to stay in our centuries-old homes, we tell the international community that history will not forget their "loud silence" in the face of this terror and injustice," said Subaric.

Serbian police Ministar, Gasic on the murder of Oliver Ivanovic: We know who the killer is (NMagazin, N1)

Serbian Police Minister Bratislav Gasic said that it is known who the killer of Oliver Ivanovic is and under whose protection he is, reported portal NMagazin. 

"We know exactly who the killer is, and we asked the German authorities under whose protection that man is to provide us with information. We have pictures from Tirana airport when he landed, when he entered Pristina, in the apartment," Gasic said in the Serbian Parliament, stating that it was the result of the joint work of the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the BIA, reported NMagazin, citing N1. 

The fact that they are unavailable to our authorities does not mean that they will not be able to be prosecuted, but the case has been resolved, said Gasic. 

The leader of the Civic Initiative "Freedom, Democracy, Justice" Oliver Ivanovic was killed on January 16, 2018, in North Mitrovica. He was shot five times in the chest and succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

SL on the opposition MPs in Serbian Parliament visit, Aleksic and Jovanovic (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Serbian List reacted to the visit of the opposition MPs in the Serbian Parliament, Miroslav Aleksic, and Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta, to Zvecan and North Mitrovica, with a statement saying that their visit aims to "divide and weaken the Serbs in these areas".

"Today, Miroslav Aleksic and Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta came to see how a friend of their boss Vuk Jeremic, Albin Kurti, is carrying out his plan to expel Serbs from the north of Kosovo and Metohija. We remind the public that Vuk Jeremic praised Albin Kurti with chosen words, that he is 'an intellectual, a patriot and a fairly stable man'. And on the other hand, Albin Kurti is overjoyed because that same Vuk Jeremic submitted such a stupid question to the International Court of Justice, giving Pristina the strongest argument in the dialogue against Belgrade," the statement read. 

According to the Serbian List, Aleksic and Jovanovic came to take pictures and that they did not come to share the concerns of the people.

"They did not have time to say SORRY to the families of the six Serbs who were shot, including children, because they were praising the one who ordered to be shot. They did not apologize to the families of unjustly arrested Serbs who are held in casemates all over Kosovo and Metohija by Kurti's regime without any guilt, and once they spoke all the best about Kurti. They came to take pictures and divide the Serbs, and in that they had the support of Kurti, who enabled them to cross the administrative crossing smoothly and travel without stopping to Zvecan," the Serbian list said in the statement.

"We thank the citizens who remained restrained and did not fall for this provocation, but they sent a clear message that political profiteers have no place at the civil protests where the Serbian people are fighting for bare survival," added the statement in the end.

A shock bomb thrown in front of a cafe where opposition MPs, Aleksic and Jovanovic were (KiM radio)

A shock bomb was thrown in front of a catering facility in North Mitrovica where opposition MPs Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta, Danijela Nestorovic and Miroslav Aleksic were sitting, reported Kim radio.

They were sitting in the cafe of the BB Hotel in that city when the incident happened.

The president of the provincial committee of the People's Party, Zarko Ristic, confirmed to Radio Kim that the shock bomb was thrown while the representatives of this party and the Ecological Uprising were in the restaurant.

Jovanovic: ''Being in Kosovska Mitrovica means that you will be met with explosive devices, it is not safe'' (N1, Danas, KiM radio)

Opposition MP in Serbian Parliament, Aleksandar Jovanovic Cuta, told N1 that "being in Kosovska Mitrovica means that you are greeted with an explosive device, that someone threatens by getting into your face like some Sima Spasic's here", reported N1. 

"There are people there who no longer want to be silent about everything that is happening there, Kosovska Mitrovica is not a safe place, if we had stayed for another 24 hours and if we had not been accompanied by Marko Jaksic, we would certainly have been beaten, the atmosphere is such", Cuta said, reported N1. 

"In Kosovo, they are under pressure both from the regime of Kurti and from the Serbian List."

"It turned out that the people who threw the explosive device were equally against Kurti, and the opposition MPs and citizens who came to support them. One feels absolute insecurity," he points out.

Speaking about the explosion in front of the cafe where, among others, Aleksic and he were sitting, he said that "something very strong exploded in the yard, to which these guys (who were accompanying them) just laughed and said 'that is a welcome', they are used to burning their cars, threatening them".

"It is a concentration camp on all sides. They are the hostages of both Kurti and Vucic and the international community, which is number one responsible for solving the issue of their security, and everyone pretends to be crazy. Vucic is projecting violence that is getting bigger and bigger, but I am telling everyone what will happen if, God forbid, something happens to anyone," warns Cuta.

Regarding the indignation of certain citizens in Zvecan during their visit, Cuta says that "irrational hatred is at work because of something called a different opinion in relation to Vucic".

"Anyone who is against them is considered an enemy," he states.

And to the statement of the director of the Office for KiM, Petar Petkovic, that he and Aleksic came to Zvecan to "provoke that people" and to take pictures and that they came "in agreement and synchronization with Pristina in order to cause problems for Belgrade and the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija", he says "you see how sick and dangerous it is and how they can't jump out of that rhetoric."

"Is it forbidden to come to Kosovo?! We came to our country to support our citizens and let Petkovic and that team continue to poison. Where does he get the idea that someone colluded with anyone, I don't need any permission. They are poisoning the people, spreading hatred," says Cuta.

He adds that "all we got from the protest against violence was even more violence, and that from Vucic."

"I call on him to calm down and stop inciting people against each other, regardless of our different political affiliations, we belong to the same people. All that is required here, in Serbia, and in Kosovo, is peace, so that people can live normally. Vucic's Serbia is anything but a Serbia where you can live normally, and that's why there are so many people on the streets and that's why there are all those bombs in Kosovo," Cuta concluded.

Stefanovic: The Serbian List representatives moving to Belgrade, the people have been let down (KiM radio, N1) 

"We would not be in this situation now if the Serbs had not left the institutions, they should have left the government and the assembly of Kosovo, not the police and local governments, and that is the fault of the regime, and that is why we now have terror against the Serbs and daily arrests," said Borko Stefanović, vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, for N1.

"It was a big mistake of the authorities and now they must work with the international community and KFOR in a peaceful way to reach new elections so that the Serbs can decide their own fate, and Kurti must withdraw the police, release the arrested Serbs and form the CSM (ZSO),'' Stefanovic said in N1 ''Dan uzivo'' TV Show. 

He also stated that "the international mediators faced a serious problem, namely Kurti, who is carrying out institutional violence" and, as he said, has "the goal of expelling all Serbs from Kosovo."

"He is doing the same thing that Milosevic used to do, to rule a majority with three percent. Kurti cannot rule in the north (Kosovo) where the Serb population is the majority," said the vice-president of the SSP.

He believes that both Vucic and Kurti do not believe in dialogue, but that they are forced to do so.

Commenting on the press conference of Petar Petkovic, director of the Office for KiM, Stefanovic stated that the vocabulary of the Serbian representatives of the authorities is "unworthy".

"The government has been harassing the country for 11 years, it's terrible for me now when I listen to Petkovic, his speech is unworthy. Now in this situation, when it is clear to everyone, to the whole world, that Kurti is the culprit, our representatives of the government are experiencing live very destabilizing nervous situations every day. With such messages and rhetoric, how can they even imagine sitting down and talking tomorrow," said the vice-president of the SSP.

He also stated that Albin Kurti must release ''our people from prison, but also, we their police officers''.

"We should set them free, not talk about who eats what. They handed Kurti everything on a platter, and now we insult everyone and the whole world around us. We watched that a long time ago and we did very badly then," Stefanovic pointed out.

He also stated that "we should not make the situation difficult for ourselves when the whole world saw that Kurti was a total disaster".

''Why are we helping Kurti with this behavior? Because SNS does not care about laws, institutions, or Serbs in Kosovo. The representatives of the Serbian List are moving to Novi Sad and Belgrade, they have all secured their rear, and with the people, let them see how and what. The regime let them down the drain, and they accuse the opposition of that," explained Stefanovic.

Stefanovic also stated that the "Serbia against violence" protests also include violence in Kosovo, and that there is no need for anyone to "look for thematic sessions".

"Those people did not protest because of politicians, but because we live in a spiral of violence. People are fed up with insecurity and lies. The government is using this situation to isolate Serbia, to make Serbia live forever in a state of semi-war and to separate us from our natural environment, which is Europe," he said among other things.

Serbian List: We are here, every day with the people at the protests (Radio Mitrovica Sever)

The Serbian List reacted last night to the statement of the vice-president of the Party of Freedom and Justice, Borko Stefanovic.

They said in a statement, that a "hybrid war" has been waged against this party and the Serbian people for months back on all fronts, and that this party is "the hub around which the Serbian people gather even in these difficult times."

"Our leadership, like all the Serbian people, apart from being under strong pressure from the anti-Serbian regime of Albin Kurti and his services, these days are also particularly exposed to attacks by the quasi-opposition from Belgrade, which is a tool in the hands of Albin Kurti," read the statement among other things.

The SL also deny that they are not in Kosovo.

"The same people who today attack the Serbian List and lie that the leadership of Serbian List is not in Kosovo and Metohija aim to break the unity of our people. We know each other well and every citizen knows that the members and leadership of the Serbian List, who were also on May 29 in the front lines in front of their people, and in front of shock bombs and tear gas, are at the protests every day with the Serbs at all peaceful civil protests," stated SL among other things and called for the unity.

Surlic: No change in Pristina politics until the entire society feel the consequences through concrete sanctions (RTS, Kosovo Online)

Assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stefan Surlic, told RTS that there will be no change in politics in Pristina until the entire society in Kosovo feels certain consequences through concrete sanctions, noting that for now only Albin Kurti is facing some measures that are not called sanctions, reported Kosovo Online.

He said that ''polls show that Kurti's popularity is growing in Kosovo and that the majority of citizens of Albanian nationality actually support the policies he is currently implementing in the north''.

"Which means that they don't see any consequences of such a policy," emphasizes Surlic.

Regarding the situation in Kosovo, Surlic said that the ball is in the court of international actors and that this is a turning point that can call into question the entire Brussels dialogue and everything that has been done so far in the process of normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

"However, the ball is in the court of international actors. Will they really create the preconditions for de-escalation? Will they exert crucial pressure on Pristina and change this factual situation, which is unsustainable in the long run as far as the lives of people in the north of Kosovo are concerned? In this sense, I believe that de-escalation can of course be through dialogue and it is important that the two sides meet, and meetings in Brussels should not be rejected, but the entire dialogue should also not be meaningless because after so many years we still have the topic of people's security, their basic rights and freedoms," says Surlic.

He says that unfortunately, international actors still observe the entire Western Balkans through crisis management, and they insist that peace be established first, and everything else can be subject to compromise.

When asked if he expects Pristina to be punished for the latest moves, Surlic says that the rhetoric is certainly harsher, but the usual diplomatic vocabulary of "we invite two sides" is still used.

"We should not continue to use that kind of softened diplomatic wording that makes no sense. The key responsibility here is one party, and that is Pristina. Borrell pointed out the conditions that President Aleksandar Vucic also repeated. De-escalation can happen if special police forces are withdrawn, if these existing mayors are replaced, new elections are called, and the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities begins. For now, Kurti is only facing some measures, they are not called sanctions," added Surlic.

Speaking about the proposals for repeating the elections in the north of Kosovo, Surlic says that he believes that this is the only way out and that it is the only thing that is acceptable.

"There must be a legitimate and legal government elected by the majority of the population in the north. In this case, those are representatives of the Serbian community, and only then can we talk about the Community of Serbian Municipalities and about securing what is vital for them, which is autonomy in key spheres that include health, education, local development, and planning," said Surlic.

 

 

 

Opinion 

 

EU and Western Balkans: Twenty years of hopes and dreams (Euractiv)

By Nataša Pirc Musar, Robert Golob and Tanja Fajon

The Western Balkan countries aspiring to join the EU can count on Slovenia’s support in their quest to join the bloc, write Slovenian leaders Nataša Pirc Musar, Robert Golob, and Tanja Fajon.

Nataša Pirc Musar is the president of the Republic of Slovenia. Robert Golob is the prime minister and Tanja Fajon the minister of foreign and European affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.

Today, 21 June, is the 20th anniversary of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki, Greece. At this historic event, the European Union and the acceding and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans at that time committed themselves to each other.

The EU pledged to the European perspective of the Western Balkans while the countries in the region endorsed the shared values of democracy, the rule of law, respect for human and minority rights, solidarity, and a market economy.

The summit conclusions remain an abiding commitment for us all – the EU with its member states, including Slovenia, and the Western Balkans.

Slovenia highly values the Summit, as it gave new hope for the stabilisation of the region after years of wars, political instability and economic stagnation following the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

It gave life to a dream of a European future that would lead to positive changes: increased prosperity, improved connectivity, and enhanced people-to-people contacts.

In the last twenty years, much has been achieved through cooperation. The Western Balkans has seen general stability. The countries of the region today enjoy the benefits of a visa-free regime, and the region has recorded steady economic progress since then.

The EU is by far the biggest donor and investor in the region, as it naturally gravitates towards the Western Balkans, and vice versa.

Read full at: https://t.ly/e1ec7