• COVID-19 report: 225 new cases, 13 deaths (media)
• Hyseni: I received great support from Grenell (media)
• Haradinaj: There is no dialogue without the U.S. (RTK)
• Trump's nominee for ambassador criticized intervention against Serbia (Koha)
• Arrest warrant issued against MP convicted of fraud (Prishtina Insight)
• Thaci: Kosovo stands by Lebanon in this difficult time (media)

Kosovo Media Highlights

COVID-19 report: 225 new cases, 13 deaths (media)

Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health announced the recent figures of the new coronavirus cases recorded over the last 24-hour period. Of 477 tests carried out, 225 have resulted positive for COVID-19. 13 deaths have been reported over the same time period and 201 recoveries.

Almost half of the new cases (93) are in the municipality of Prishtina.

Institute for Public Health said there are currently 3,815 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Hyseni: I received great support from Grenell (media)

Kosovo’s State Coordinator for dialogue with Serbia, Skender Hyseni, said today that he had a telephone conversation with Richard Grenell, the U.S. Special Envoy for the Kosovo – Serbia Dialogue, and that he received great support from the U.S. diplomat.

“We talked about specific aspects of developments in Kosovo and the region. Ambassador Grenell remains committed and strongly engaged in the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, which must conclude with mutual recognition. The normalisation of relations through economic development and support for investment projects remain at the focus of Ambassador Grenell’s agenda and commitment,” Hyseni wrote in a Facebook post.

Haradinaj: There is no dialogue without the U.S. (RTK)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview to RTK on Tuesday that Kosovo is resorting to a technical dialogue with Serbia. Haradinaj said he would not support the EU-facilitated talks if his party is not part of the talks. He also said he would oppose a dialogue that does not include the United States in the process. “Kosovo doesn’t have the luxury to replace the U.S. leadership of the dialogue with a fragile leadership by Lajcak and Borrell,” he said.

Haradinaj, whose party is a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said he “doesn’t trust the Hoti government for the dialogue with Serbia”. “The dialogue with Serbia must not be privatised; there needs to be broad-based consensus on the process,” he added.

Trump's nominee for ambassador criticized intervention against Serbia (Koha)

Koha quotes reports from the CNN saying that President Donald Trump's nominee for taking on the post of the U.S. ambassador to Germany has criticized the Clinton administration's involvement in the Kosovo War conflict in the late 1990s as an attempt to "essentially cultivate friendship and understanding in the Muslim world" by intervening against the Serbian forces.

"So we intervened against the Orthodox Serbs, Orthodox Christian Serbs in Kosovo and put essentially a Muslim drug mafia in charge of that country and called it a great success story for democracy," said Macgregor, appearing to side with the Serbians. "These people have never been our friends. They aren't ever going to be our friends. They are incurably hostile. I'm talking about the Sunni Islamists."

He lamented that the US government intervened against Serbian forces, who engaged in ethnic cleansing and war crimes, during the Kosovo War in the 1990s to "put, essentially, a Muslim drug mafia in charge of that country."

Read more: https://cnn.it/2DFl9wP

Arrest warrant issued against MP convicted of fraud (Prishtina Insight)

The Basic Court of Prishtina has issued an arrest warrant against MP Etem Arifi, ordering his remand in a detention centre to serve a prison sentence of one year and three months. Arifi, a representative of the Ashkali Party for Integration, was convicted of fraud by the court in April 2018.

In June, Vetevendosje submitted a case to the Constitutional Court, questioning the constitutionality of Arifi’s vote in favour of the formation of the current Kosovo Government led by Avdullah Hoti, which passed by a single vote.

According to the party, Arifi’s vote is invalid as both the Constitution and the Assembly’s own Rules of Procedure bar sitting MPs from holding a criminal conviction of one year or more.

Read more: https://bit.ly/2Deu88G

Thaci: Kosovo stands by Lebanon in this difficult time (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci took to Twitter on Tuesday to comment on the deadly explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. “Heartbreaking and tragic images from #Beirut. Our thoughts and prayers go to the injured and families of victims. #Kosovo stands by #Lebanon in this difficult time,” Thaci tweeted.