Albanian Language Media:

• Macron calls Kurti, support for Kosovo at CoE and mentions Association (media)
• Kurti thanks Macron for France’s unwavering support (media)
• Rohde: Tangible steps needed on Association in order to join CoE (KTV)
• Lajcak: I believe we have managed to narrow the gap (media)
• Croatia supports Albania’s EU membership, Kosovo at Council of Europe (Klan)
• Mothers of Srebrenica thank Osmani for statement at UN Security Council (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Petkovic speaks with German envoy, discusses problems Serbs in Kosovo face (Tanjug)
• Lajcak announces resumption of talks on use of dinar in Kosovo (N1)
• Macron speaks with Kurti: Progress in establishing CSM important for Kosovo membership in CoE (Kosovo Online)
• BiH Presidency without consensus on Kosovo membership in CoE (Radio KIM)
• Djuric: Osmani’s ‘tasteless performance’ at UNSC session, none of women present is her adviser (N1, Kosovo Online, social media)
• Citizens of North Mitrovica on visa liberalization: Thank God, something in our favor (Kosovo Online)

Albanian Language Media

Macron calls Kurti, support for Kosovo at CoE and mentions Association (media)

French President Emmanuel Macron in a statement on Tuesday said he had a telephone conversation with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, expressing France’s unwavering support for Kosovo's independence and European integration. He underlined his commitment to the EU-facilitated dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, and called for the full implementation of agreements reached in Brussels and Ohrid.

Macron welcomed the enforcement of the Constitutional Court’s decision on the lands of the Decani Monastery. He also stressed the importance that France gives, also in the context of Kosovo’s application to join the Council of Europe, to swift and irreversible progress in the implementation by Kosovo authorities of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Macron expressed regret over the failure of the vote to recall the mayors in the northern municipalities and reiterated the need for holding new elections as soon as possible with participation from the Serb population.

Kurti thanks Macron for France’s unwavering support (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a post on X on Tuesday that he had a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron and “thanked him for France’s unwavering support for Kosovo and expressed our trust that France would back Kosovo’s bid or the Council of Europe without further preconditions, in line with PACE’s opinion and historic vote”. Kurti also said that he insisted on “the full respect for and implementation of the Basic Agreement”.

Rohde: Tangible steps needed on Association in order to join CoE (KTV)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said in an interview with the TV station on Tuesday that Kosovo needs to make tangible steps on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities if it wants to join the Council of Europe. “Tangible steps are needed because the Council of Europe pays special importance to the rights of minorities. The best way to show that Kosovo is committed to implement it is to start the implementation of the Association. Namely, to make a tangible step because the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe too said that it needs to be done after the membership,” he said.

Rohde said “the more that is done before the meeting of the Council of Ministers, the greater will be the chance for a successful vote”. “Germany is really interested in a successful vote and a successful membership in the Council of Europe,” he said.

Rohde also said that he thinks that the European Union should start lifting the penalty measures against Kosovo. “Kosovo has done its share by providing a process that will change that situation and Kosovo cannot be blamed because the other party boycotted it [the vote in the north]. I am certain that there will be decisions, I hope, in Brussels, that will go in this direction. I personally think that the process of lifting the measures must be started,” he said.

Lajcak: I believe we have managed to narrow the gap (media)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that together with chief negotiators from Kosovo and Serbia last week they discussed the issue of the Dinar in Kosovo and “a possible temporary solution for the citizens affected by the decision of the Kosovo Central Bank on cash operation and I believe we managed to narrow the gap”. Lajcak also said that “at the same time, some differences remain and therefore I will host the two Chief negotiators again in Brussels and I expect our talks to be based on very concrete ideas, which would allow us to move forward in the interest of the people”.

Croatia supports Albania’s EU membership, Kosovo at Council of Europe (Klan)

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said in his meeting with Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani that Croatia supports Albania’s membership in the European Union and Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe. “Milanovic confirmed Croatia’s determined support for Albania joining the European Union and reiterated his conviction that membership negotiations should have been at the final stage now,” a statement notes.

Milanovic also confirmed that Croatia can count on Croatia’s support for membership in the Council of Europe.

Mothers of Srebrenica thank Osmani for statement at UN Security Council (media)

Most news websites reported on Tuesday that the “Mothers of Srebrenica” thanked Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani for her speech [at the UN Security Council session on Kosovo] “about the victims of the genocide in Srebrenica, and the victims of the genocide against Albanians. Her speech was heard throughout the world. The speech will be remembered by whole generations. Thank you!” they said in a post on X.

Hoti: Public consultations soon on Law on Missing Persons (Kosovapress)

Head of the Kosovo Government’s Committee for Missing Persons, Andin Hoti, said on Tuesday that he didn’t receive any information from EU High Representative Josep Borrell or EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak why the May 2 declaration on missing persons is not being implemented.

“In May last year, we managed to adopt a declaration in Brussels, on June 1, for the implementation of the declaration, the Committee sent a letter to [Serbian President Aleksandar] Vucic to open the archives of the Serbian Army’s 37^th brigade which operated in Drenica,” he said.

Hoti also said that there will be public consultations soon on the Law on Missing Persons.

Serbian Language Media

Petkovic speaks with German envoy, discusses problems Serbs in Kosovo face (Tanjug)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic met with the German MFA's envoy Michael Reiffenstuel on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments concerning Kosovo and the position of Serbs there, Tanjug news agency reported.

At the meeting, also attended by German Ambassador to Belgrade Anke Konrad, Petkovic said Albin Kurti's regime was conducting physical and institutional violence against the Serbs, making life unbearable for them, the Office said in a statement. Petkovic added this was leading to an exodus of Serbs from Kosovo. He noted that Pristina's most recent moves - a ban on the Serbian dinar and cash transactions in dinars - had put payments of salaries, pensions and social benefits in jeopardy, leaving Serbian institutions, hospitals, schools and kindergartens without basic means for operation.

"Altogether, that is leading to a humanitarian disaster for a nation in the heart of Europe, in front of the eyes of the international community, which is not trying to prevent that disaster through concrete actions", Petkovic said. According to the statement, he also informed Reiffenstuel “of the farce surrounding a recent referendum to recall false ethnic Albanian mayors in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, and noted that it clearly showed Kurti intended to exercise power in four Serb municipalities with 3.5 pct voter support”.

Lajcak announces resumption of talks on use of dinar in Kosovo (N1)

European Union (EU) Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak voiced his expectations that the upcoming talks between the Belgrade and Pristina chief negotiators in Brussels will be based on “very concrete ideas,” assessing that the gap between the two sides was narrowed in the previous round of talks, N1 reported.

Without specifying the date, Lajcak wrote on his Facebook profile that talks at the level of chief negotiators on the use of the dinar in Kosovo are to resume in Brussels because some differences remained after the previous meeting, held on April 18.

Head of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic, who led the Belgrade delegation at the April 18 talks, said at the time that the dialogue would resume this week. That round of dialogue focused on the decision of the Kosovo Central Bank to ban the use of the dinar.

Macron speaks with Kurti: Progress in establishing CSM important for Kosovo membership in CoE (Kosovo Online)

French President Emanuel Macron spoke over the phone with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and said that within the context of Kosovo membership bid to join the Council of Europe (CoE), Paris attaches great importance to the progress in establishing Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, Kosovo Online portal reported citing the statement of French president’s cabinet.

As the statement continued, Macron reiterated “unwavering support of France to independence and European integration of Kosovo”, and welcomed implementation of the Constitutional Court decision on returning the land to Visoki Decani Monastery.

He also expressed regret over the failure of mayoral recall vote in the four northern municipalities. He added it was necessary to organize new elections as soon as possible, with participation of the Serbian population.

BiH Presidency without consensus on Kosovo membership in CoE (Radio KIM)

The Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) did not reach consensus over Kosovo's membership bid to join the Council of Europe (CoE), Radio KIM reported.

As Radio Television of Republika Srpska reported Serbian member of the Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic voted against, Bosniak member Denis Becirovic voted for, and Croatian member Zeljko Komsic abstained. Cvijanovic said her obligation was to warn that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not recognize self-declared Kosovo and therefore can not support its membership to the Council of Europe or any other international organization.

Since the Presidency failed to reach consensus on this issue in a session, BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic must be neutral (abstain) during the voting process at the Committee of Ministers scheduled to take place on May 16, Cijanovic said.

Djuric: Osmani’s ‘tasteless performance’ at UNSC session, none of women present is her adviser (N1, Kosovo Online, social media)

Serbian Ambassador to US Marko Djuric said Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has performed “a tasteless theater performance” in New York on April 21 during the UNSC session on Kosovo, adding it was yet another indicator that she together with PM Albin Kurti does not want to deal with solving the problems, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“Yesterday's tasteless theater performance by Ms. Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu at the #UNSC is yet another clear sign that she and her boss Albin Kurti (who was a no-show because he was busy undermining regional stability - campaigning for elections in neighboring North Macedonia) do not care about solving any problems, but rather only about winning an argument, even if it involves petty manipulation with victims of a war from a quarter century ago. And they failed even at that.

By the way, Ms. Osmani lied blatantly to the UNSC and the world as none of her guests are on the list of her "advisors"”, Djuric wrote in a post on X media platform and published the list with the names of Osmani’s cabinet members.

Citizens of North Mitrovica on visa liberalization: Thank God, something in our favor (Kosovo Online)

The decision on visa liberalization for Serbian Coordination Directorate passport holders in Kosovo, adopted at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, has pleased the citizens of North Mitrovica, who have pointed out that obtaining visas has been difficult so far, Kosovo Online portal reported.

Jovana Nedeljkovic from North Mitrovica told Kosovo Online portal that this decision has pleased her and will make traveling easier for her.

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