Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 112 new cases, six deaths (media)
• Remittances to Kosovo hit record high (Klan Kosova)
• Open Society Foundations Pledge $1.5 Million for COVID-19 tests in Kosovo (media)
• Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to continue in Brussels on Monday (media)
• DPM Tahiri hopes 'good news' will come from Washington (media)
• Abazi: Problem with Serbia is not of economic nature (Zeri)

Serbian Language Media:

• Two new cases of Covid-19 registered in Serb areas in Kosovo (KoSSev)
• Grenell: It is not decided yet if President Trump would attend meeting, no secret agreement (Tanjug)
• Return of displaced persons – Colonization: Taboo topics in dialogue (KoSSev)
• Covic: Meeting in Washington important, but not ‘Judgment Day’ (Kosovo-online)
• AFP: White House wants Kosovo deal before presidential elections (N1)
• Survey: Visit of Donald Trump to Serbia would improve relations between two states (Danas)
• Rakic and ambassadors visited northern municipalities (Radio kontakt plus)

International:

• Trump to host summit between bitter enemies Kosovo and Serbia (France 24)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Brnabic: Pandemic measures could be eased or tightened (N1)

   

Albanian Language Media

  COVID-19: 112 new cases, six deaths (media)

112 new cases of coronavirus and six deaths have been recorded in Kosovo over the last 24 hours, the National Institute for Public Health announced today. 

Meanwhile, 131 recoveries were confirmed over the same time period.

Remittances to Kosovo hit record high (Klan Kosova)

The Kosovo diaspora remitted €526 million during the January-July period of this year, over 47 million more than during the same period last year, Klan Kosova reports.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Besnik Brestovci, said the figures, presented by the Kosovo Central Bank, indicate that despite the situation with COVID-19 pandemic, members of the diaspora remain the biggest supporter to Kosovo's economic growth.

Open Society Foundations Pledge $1.5 Million for COVID-19 tests in Kosovo (media)

The Open Society Foundations announced plans to donate $1,500,000 to assist Kosovo institutions in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The emergency funds will be used by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society to purchase 100,000 Real Time PCR test kits for COVID-19 and will enable public institutions to increase their testing capacities, including in regional hospitals—a huge boost for public institutions that currently provide 500 tests per day, OSF said in a press release.

“Testing is an important step in helping control the pandemic,” said Alexander Soros, deputy chair of the Open Society Foundations. “Winning this fight against COVID-19 is key for the people of Kosovo to be able to thrive and prosper.”

The one-time emergency grant is part of wider relief efforts undertaken by the Open Society Foundations. In April, the Foundations pledged an investment of $130 million to address the devastation caused by the coronavirus worldwide. In Kosovo alone, Open Society has distributed over $600,000 towards aiding vulnerable communities, gig workers, and independent media.

“The pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of our public health system and has devastated our economy,” said Luan Shllaku, executive director of the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society. “We hope that increasing testing capacities will assist Kosovo institutions in managing the health crisis and contribute to the safe re-opening of the economy.”

Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to continue in Brussels on Monday (media)

European Union has confirmed that prime minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic will meet in Brussels on Monday, 7 September.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said that a meeting at the level of experts is meanwhile expected to take place by the end of the week.

He said the meeting will focus on issues dealing with arrangements for non-majority communities and as well as financial and property issues. 

Asked whether war reparations will be addressed, Stano said that the idea of the meeting is to discuss all open issues between the parties.

"This is a dialogue that will result in normalisation of relations between the parties and conclude in a legally binding agreement. We are facilitators not commentators of the dialogue," Stano said.

DPM Tahiri hopes 'good news' will come from Washington (media)

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri said he hoped that there will be positive developments in the Washington meeting between representatives of Kosovo and Serbia.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Ferizaj, Tahiri said: "The meeting in Washington will take place at the White House, in a country that has always been and continues to be by the side of Kosovo and our nation." 

He said the Kosovo delegation is unified and "ready for this meeting."

Abazi: Problem with Serbia is not of economic nature (Zeri)

Vetevendosje's Haki Abazi commented on the upcoming meeting between representatives of Kosovo and Serbia in Washington saying that problems with Serbia are not of economic nature.

"Problem with Serbia is that apart from it not admitting the genocide it has carried out against Albanians several time throughout history, Serbia cannot bear equal existence with Albanians and even more so with those living near natural and economic resources who can one day become eonomically powerful in the Balkans region," Abazi wrote on social media.

He also said that Kosovo prime minister Avdullah Hoti 'has no idea' why he is in Washington. "Kosovo does not need a more integrated economy with that of Serbia. It is because of Serbia's economy that Kosovo has remained underdeveloped and poor."

   

Serbian Language Media

  Two new cases of Covid-19 registered in Serb areas in Kosovo (KoSSev)

Two new cases of Covid-19 infection were registered in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, one person passed away, while 12 persons have recovered, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced today, KoSSev portal reports.

Out of 51 tested samples two were positive. Two new cases were registered in Zvecan and Lipljan.

Meanwhile, 12 persons have recovered, including two from Zvecan, one in Zubin Potok, five in Mitrovica North, three in Strpce and one in Gracanica.

Person who passed away was from the Pec region.

At the moment 58 persons are staying in house isolation, while 21 persons are being treated at the Clinical Health Center in Mitrovica North, one in Belgrade and three in Nis.

At the moment there are 83 active cases and 850 recovered persons. 

Grenell: It is not decided yet if President Trump would attend meeting, no secret agreement (Tanjug)

US President Donald Trump Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Richard Grenell said it was not decided yet if President Donald Trump would take part in meetings of Belgrade and Pristina due this week in Washington, Tanjug news agency reports.

“President Trump is already part of these talks I spoke with him about this just now”, and whether he would personally take part in meetings on Thursday or Friday “it was not yet decided”, Grenell said in a phone briefing with Albanian media representatives, Washington Post and Tanjug news agency.

Asked to elaborate on what US President Trump had in mind when in a letter sent to the Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said that the US is ready to help in reaching an agreement that “would balance Kosovo and Serbia interests”, Grenell said that “answer to this question depends upon both sides. They should sing something they consider fair, and I would use the word, balanced. If the both sides think something was balanced, if they consider they get something and it is something more than what they give and consider it is a good agreement, then they should sign it. We won’t be having a secret agreement. We do not have secret demands. Literally everything depends upon the sides in the negotiations”, Grenell said.

Asked if he would coordinate dialogue issues with the European Union, given that the EU has a plan focused on economic development and betterment of the citizens on both sides, Grenell said they already coordinate with the EU and would continue doing so.

“I had already had close coordination with France, but also with Europeans. We have a close cooperation with the Europeans and they know our plan and support it”, Grenell added. 

“I would only say that the issue of membership in the EU is a political issue, under responsibility of the Europeans, and we do what we can, when they ask to support them”. 

Return of displaced persons – Colonization: Taboo topics in dialogue (KoSSev)

Negotiations in Brussels resumed after an 18-month long deadlock. The Kosovo and Serbian delegations discussed the issue of missing persons, internally displaced persons, and the economy. The details of the agreement are not known, however Serbia is announcing that it will investigate three locations Pristina suggested as possible mass grave sites. The issue of the return of displaced persons is marked by a negative campaign in the Kosovo media, while the economy – which Pristina, according to the Serbian delegation, refused to discuss in Brussels – will be discussed in Washington in two days, KoSSev portal reports.

“Serbs are returning to Kosovo“ – reads the title of an article published yesterday by the Pristina-based Gazeta Express, penned by the Kosovo public service broadcaster – RTK with the headline “Over 1,500 Serbs are returning to Kosovo in a few weeks“.

The rights of some of these Kosovo Serb returnees should have been discussed in Brussels. If the allegations of the head of the Kosovo Office, Marko Djuric, are to be believed, the Serbian delegation in Brussels asked for the Law on Returnees – a proposal rejected by the Kosovo delegation which requested “to stick to only some declarative statements“.

The Kosovo side gave no statements on this topic, therefore, it is impossible to compare demands and expectations. On the contrary, dissatisfaction with this topic is also noticeable among the larger Kosovo opposition parties.

One of the first reactions to the news on the negotiation topics in Brussels came from Enver Hoxhaj, a senior PDK official and former Kosovo Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister.

Hoxhaj assessed that Serbia “tricked“ Hoti by choosing topics, specifically the one related to returns, because, in his words, “Kosovo has fulfilled its obligations.“

“For the first time, the topic of displaced Serbs, closed 15 years ago, has been returned to dialogue. Kosovo has fulfilled its obligations towards displaced Serbs“, he said.

At the end of June of last year, Hoxhaj, the then Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, described one of the projects for the construction of housing units in the settlement “Suny Valley“ in Zvecan as “colonization.“

Similar claims were also presented earlier, mostly coming from the Kosovo right-wing opposition, i.e. the Self-Determination Party (LVV), but also the Social Democratic Party – which is on the opposite side of the political spectrum. Hoxhaj’s statement marked the first time that the incumbent referred to the process of the return of displaced persons as “colonization.“

The same term was used again this weekend after apartments were distributed to 58 families, as the Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced, to mostly young married couples and socially endangered families, by the representative of the now largest opposition party in Kosovo and also former Foreign Minister, Glauk Konjufca (LVV).

See more at: https://bit.ly/32NedXz

Covic: Meeting in Washington important, but not ‘Judgment Day’ (Kosovo-online)

Former head of the Serbian Government Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojsa Covic assessed today that upcoming meeting of Belgrade and Pristina representatives in Washington is important because the Serbian delegation would have an opportunity to present its arguments regarding resolving the Kosovo issue in an important place, Kosovo-online portal reports. However, he added, he does not think it would be the ‘Judgment Day’.

He said it was wrong that Serbian media “pump the topic that much” because there is no “magic wand” for the final solutions.

Commenting on the Brussels talks, Covic said that Serbian side must insist on the implementation of all the reached agreements, because, as he said, credibility of the negotiators must be proven.

“By not implementing 48 agrements guaranteed by international stakeholders, in some the United Nations, in some the European Union, they have no credibility, and Albanians do not have it either. So let’s implement (agreement on) Community of Serb-majority Municipalities”, Covic said.  

AFP: White House wants Kosovo deal before presidential elections (N1)

The United States hopes to foster a breakthrough in talks between Balkan war foes Kosovo and Serbia as leaders of the two sides meet at the White House Thursday and Friday, the AFP said adding that President Donald Trump seems to want an agreement between the two sides before the US presidential elections, N1 reports.

“US officials hope that bringing Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic together for discussions on economic cooperation could help set them on the road for improved relations….But coming two months before the US presidential election and without a major agreement promised, the summit has the feel, some think, of a show to display Trump as a master of diplomacy”, the agency said, recalling that the US administration has been trying to play a role in the Kosovo talks with Trump appointing Ambassador Richard Grenell as his special envoy for the issue.

“While Grenell has been accused of complicating the EU-led process to bring Belgrade and Pristina to an accord, he succeeded in arranging for the two sides to meet”, AFP said. The agency was told by an advisor to the US president who insisted on anonymity that the US role has been to bypass politicians and focus on the issues of businesspeople, who want to expand commerce. "Companies are frustrated," the advisor said. The political communities on both sides "have largely failed to move us forward." "On Thursday... we're going to further those three agreements (on road, rail and air links), and then add a whole bunch of issues to the discussions that would create commerce, that would create economic development and jobs", the advisor said.

See at: https://bit.ly/32Rnbmr

Survey: Visit of Donald Trump to Serbia would improve relations between two states (Danas)

Visit of US President Donald Trump to Serbia and resolution of the Kosovo issue would improve relations between Serbia and the US, a survey conducted by the Institute of European Affairs published today indicates, Danas daily reports.

The survey ran from March 12 to March 22 and included 1.207 respondents. According to its results 16.8 percent of the respondents assessed the relations between Serbia and US with the lowest grade, one quarter gave grade 2, 42.2 percent gave grade 3, 9.9 percent gave grade 4, while six percent of the citizens gave it the highest grade, 5.

On a scale from 1 to 5, relations between the two states were marked with an average grade of 2.63, while the average grade also had a slight rising trend through the three layers of the survey.

Asked as to what could improve relations between the two states, 20.8 percent said it was resolution of the Kosovo issue, 12.6 percent said it would happen if Serbian returns Kosovo, 9.9 percent said it would be NATO’s apology and war compensation, while 8.5 percent think it would be Serbia’s membership in the EU.

Also, 49 percent of Serbian citizens, who took part in the survey, think that the visit of the US President Donald Trump would improve relations of Serbia and the US, 35 percent think otherwise, while 16 percent remained indecisive.

More than half of the respondents, 52.5 percent think it is important that Serbia has good relations with Russia and the US, 34.2 percent gave preference to Russia, while 4.8 percent gave preference to the US.  

Also, 37 percent of respondents perceive the US as Serbia’s enemy, 26 percent think that the US is Serbia’s friend, while 37 percent said they were not able to assess it.

Rakic and ambassadors visited northern municipalities (Radio kontakt plus) 

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government Administration, Goran Rakic visited the north of Kosovo yesterday together with the Ambassador of Norway, Jens Erik Grøndahl, and head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jan Braathu.

The officials visited Mitrovica North, “Javor new” factory in Zubin Potok and Gazivode Lake together with  mayors Srdjan Vulovic, Vucina Jankovic, Zoran Todic, Srdjan Popovic and acting Mitrovica North mayor Aleksandar Spiric, the press statement issued by the Ministry of the Local Government Administration said.

During the visit, they talked about future cooperation and economic measures, which will be taken in order to alleviate the crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

   

International

  Trump to host summit between bitter enemies Kosovo and Serbia (France 24)

The United States hopes to foster a breakthrough in talks between Balkan war foes Kosovo and Serbia as leaders of the two countries meet at the White House Thursday and Friday.

More than two decades after their bloody ethnic conflict, Serbia refuses to recognize the independence that its former province Kosovo declared in 2008.

US officials hope that bringing Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic together for discussions on economic cooperation could help set them on the road for improved relations.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/34WZXhu    

Humanitarian/Development

  Brnabic: Pandemic measures could be eased or tightened (N1)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Wednesday that the measures imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic could be eased if the situation is stable or tightened in case of a surge of new cases.

Brnabic told Happy TV that a stable epidemiological situation is especially important for the economy. She added the situation is being monitored carefully to determine if the measures imposed by the authorities should be tightened or eased. “The battle against corona continues”, she said. 

Brnabic  also noted preparations for the start of the school year started in mid-August, adding that schools are well-prepared. “Despite all the challenges because of corona we continued the reforms of the school system”, she said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3jEmVOI