• COVID-19: 1,009 new cases and two deaths (media)
• Kosovo to impose new measures amid rising infections (Euronews Albania)
• LDK slams government: We are risking going to a total lockdown (media)
• Mimoza-Kusari Lila to run for Gjakova mayor (media)
• State Department: Common Regional Market, key to progress (VoA)
• Kosovo court sides in favour of media-famous Serb returnee (BIRN)

COVID-19: 1,009 new cases and two deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 1,009 new cases with COVID-19 and two deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 82 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 4,414 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo. 17,986 vaccines were administered in the last 24 hours. To date, 539,752 vaccine doses were administered in Kosovo.

All media reported on Thursday that as part of new government measures against COVID-19, people won’t be allowed to enter coffee bars and clubs without proof of vaccination or without a negative PCR test no older than 72 hours. Another condition is for people to present proof that they have passed the virus in the last six months. The new measures will enter into force on August 20.

Several news websites report that according to a study by the Kosovo National Institute for Public Health, 38,8 percent of the population of Kosovo have passed COVID-19. The study showed that the herd immunity has not been reached yet and that mass vaccination is the most efficient and best measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kosovo to impose new measures amid rising infections (Euronews Albania)

Kosovo has decided to tighten COVID-19 related measures in an effort to tackle a rapid rise in new infections. From August 20, citizens going to nightclubs and family festivities will be required to show proof of vaccination, a negative PCR test taken no longer than 72 hours, or a document proving that they’ve had COVID-19 in the past 180 days.

Bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 3 AM.

Health minister Arben Vitia said that the measures are in conformity to the epidemiological situation and are an effort to save the economy, but did not exclude taking stricter measures in the future.

“The measures are in proportion to the dangers posed and current circumstances to prevent COVID-19. These measures do not mean that vaccination is compulsory”, he said.

On Thursday, Kosovo saw a record number of new cases with 1,009 citizens testing positive for the virus.

LDK slams government: We are risking going to a total lockdown (media)

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the second biggest opposition party in Kosovo, criticised the Kurti-led government on Thursday for poor management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The LDK said in a statement that Kosovo is risking going to a total lockdown “as a result of mismanagement with the vaccination system and due to the failure of raising public awareness about the importance and necessity of vaccination”.

The LDK also said that only 10 percent of the population of Kosovo are vaccinated against the virus and that another lockdown would be fatal for Kosovo’s economy.

Mimoza-Kusari Lila to run for Gjakova mayor (media)

The Vetevendosje Movement (VV) and the Alternative for Kosovo have decided through a memorandum on Thursday that Mimoza Kusari-Lila will be the VV candidate for the municipality of Gjakova in the October 17 local elections. Kusari-Lila, who is currently acting head of the VV parliamentary group, was mayor of Gjakova from 2013 to 2017.

State Department: Common Regional Market, key to progress (VoA)

The United States strongly support continued efforts in the Western Balkans to further and strengthen regional integration in line with EU rules and standards, a spokesperson for the US State Department told the Voice of America on Thursday.

Asked about the US position on the Open Balkan initiative, the spokesperson said that the US calls on leaders in the region to try and find ways to reduce trade barriers, to increase economic competition and build integrated and dynamic economies in the service of their citizens.

The spokesperson also said that creating a Common Regional Market – which guarantees the free movement of people, goods and services - is crucial for attracting investments and for economic growth.

Kosovo court sides in favour of media-famous Serb returnee (BIRN)

Serb returnee Drasia Gasic, now well known in the media, said she was delighted after Gjakova/ Djakovica Basic Court threw out the municipality's request to annul her apartment contract.

The Basic Court of Gjakova/ Djakovica in Kosovo on Thursday dismissed the municipality’s request not to allow the only ethnic Serb returnee to live in and renovate the apartment she has returned to.

In early June, the municipality asked the court to annul the rent contract for the apartment Dragisa Gasic was living in until June 1999. Gasic told BIRN she was content with the court ruling. “I am satisfied, I am happy that I won,” she told BIRN.

She said none of doors in the flat are working and that a door that the Serbian government’s Kosovo Office gave her, which was confiscated, was currently with a mechanic, waiting to be set up.

Gasic appartment was broken in on July 27. Following the burglary, she claims Kosovo police did not notify her about any arrests. She is meanwhile banned from a nearby grocery store.

“I have enough food plus [a local Serb from nearby Klina] Vuskan Gojkovic comes to me, and [Kosovo Office] director [Petar] Petkovic offered to bring me food or help me if I need anything else,” she said.

Gasic became well known to the Serbian and Kosovo public since June when she decided to return to her old apartment.

She left it in June 1999, when thousands of Kosovo Serbs fled their homes in fear of retaliation by Kosovo Albanians who were returning after the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo following 78 days of NATO air strikes.

Gjakovs/Djakovica was one of the most heavily damaged towns during Kosovo’s 1998-99 war.

Gasic returned after Kosovo’s Property Comparison and Verification Agency allowed her to use her apartment again, after it had been occupied by other persons since the Kosovo war.