• Albanian Parliament adopts resolution on Dick Marty report (media)
• Haradinaj: Only U.S. President can conclude Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Koha)
• Albanian President Ilir Meta to visit Kosovo today (media)
• Delay to Kosovo-Serbia deal upsets wartime missing persons’ families (BIRN)
• Bilek: Success of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, key for road toward EU (Koha)
• Head of Health Insurance Fund temporarily suspended (media)
• A Test for the European Union in the Balkans (Wall Street Journal)
• In Tune: Young Western Balkan Musicians Ready for Regional Tour (BIRN)

Albanian Parliament adopts resolution on Dick Marty report (media)

The Parliament of Albania unanimously adopted on Thursday a resolution aimed at rejecting accusations of organs trafficking during the war in Kosovo, allegations which originate from Dick Marty’s report at the Council of Europe. Radio Free Europe notes that during the parliament session accusations were exchanged between the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party, about their role in the Kosovo war and in relation to the accusations against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Prime Minister and leader of the Socialist Party, Edi Rama said earlier on Thursday that the adoption of the resolution aims to restore the dignity of the Albanian people and the fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army. “Albania will deal with the damaged reputation of the Albanian people and will do so with dignity. The voice of Albania will be heard in Strasbourg … This investigation process has not brought any justice, but it has made victims of the main figures of the KLA,” he said.

The resolution seeks to declare unfounded the allegations of organ trafficking and asks the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to review the resolution approving the report of the Swiss senator, Dick Marty, and the accusations raised, which it assesses as “unsubstantiated, unproven and not based on evidence and facts”.

Haradinaj: Only U.S. President can conclude Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Koha)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview with KTV on Thursday that the United States of America and their President have the keys to conclude the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. Haradinaj said he and his party will support the government in the dialogue with Serbia. “I will not weaken their position [the government]. I will not create any lack of security for our institutions vis-à-vis the talks with Serbia. The only way out from this situation is the United States, Washington. I have welcomed the decision of German Chancellor Scholz and the respect he has shown for Kosovo. He hosted Kurti there and he also came to Kosovo. But the situation has reached a point where only the U.S. President can close this issue,” he said.

Haradinaj also warned that Kosovo risks losing the patience of the United States in the dialogue with Serbia. “The risk with Kurti is that if he remains stiff for a longer period of time, the patience could be lost … Kurti needs to anticipate with Washington, he needs to be very interested in lobbying with Washington in finding a solution. The United States will try to find a solution, but without our share of the work, they cannot have a clear position,” he argued.

Haradinaj also claimed that the Kurti-led government “will not last long” and will not finish its mandate.

Albanian President Ilir Meta to visit Kosovo today (media)

President of Albania Ilir Meta will visit Kosovo today at the end of his term in office. He will meet his Kosovo counterpart Vjosa Osmani and will address the members of the Kosovo Assembly around noon. Meta and Osmani are also scheduled to hold a joint press conference.

Delay to Kosovo-Serbia deal upsets wartime missing persons’ families (BIRN)

Representatives of families of ethnic Albanian and Serb missing persons from the Kosovo war said they are disappointed that a deal between Pristina and Belgrade at EU-mediated negotiations in Brussels to reveal war grave locations has not been reached yet because of disagreements over the terminology that should be used to describe missing persons.

“The [Kosovo] government did not stick to its words because it pledged the missing persons issue would be a priority on the negotiating table but in around 15 months they have talked about everything else but the missing persons, including license plates and energy,” Bajram Cerkini from the Resource Center for Missing Persons told BIRN.

“Stopping the process for completely irrelevant reasons means obstruction and suspension of the entire process,” said Natasa Scepanovic, president of the Association of Kosmet Victims.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti told media on Wednesday that one of the main obstacles hindering the possibility of Kosovo and Serbia reaching an agreement on missing persons is terminology.

“Belgrade insists on them being called people who haven’t been found, we insist on calling them forced disappearances, because they did not go missing in natural disasters. They were kidnappings, abductions which were done by force,” Kurti said.

But Cerkini said he does not understand why the terminology is being considered such a major issue.

“So they want to add that these are people who went missing by force during the war, which obviously they are because there is no war without force. I don’t know what is the proper political terminology for this agreement to be reached but I don’t see any concrete steps in shedding light on their fate,” he said.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3B9WYm3

Bilek: Success of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, key for road toward EU (Koha)

Pavel Bilek, the Czech Ambassador to Kosovo, said on Thursday that the European path of Kosovo and Serbia is closely linked with the progress of the dialogue between the two parties. During a discussion about the Czech Presidency of the European Union, Bilek said his country would engage for the European integration of the Western Balkans countries and to remove visas for Kosovo citizens. “The presidency will pay special attention to the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The success of the dialogue is crucial for the European future of both countries, Kosovo and Serbia. Visa liberalisation is high on the agenda of the Czech presidency,” he said.

The daily also notes that Kosovo’s Principal Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi did not agree with linking Kosovo’s integration to the talks with Serbia. “We don’t think it is fair to use EU’s relations with Kosovo with the process of dialogue. Dialogue is an important process, but in parallel all are on the agenda of the EU. Kosovo does not exist because of the dialogue or because it needs the dialogue. Kosovo exists because of its citizens and their aspirations to move beyond the dialogue with another country,” he argued.

Head of Health Insurance Fund temporarily suspended (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health and the Board of the Health Insurance Fund temporarily suspended on Thursday the head of the Fund, Fatmir Plakiqi, on Thursday. Deputy Minister of Health, Dafina Gexha-Bunjaku, said an acting director has replaced Plakiqi and that the government’s goal is to standardize the health information system and make it functional. She also said the government is aware of the problems surrounding the Fund and that they will be addressed. Koha reports in one of its front-page stories today that the suspension followed after a series of articles it published about financial abuse and mismanagement in the fund.

A Test for the European Union in the Balkans (Wall Street Journal)

Opinion piece by William Nattrass

A central premise of the European Union is that economic integration will soothe the rivalries between nations that for centuries have sparked the Continent’s bloody wars. In the Balkans, that approach faces what may be its toughest test. Serbia applied for EU membership in 2009, the year after Kosovo declared its independence. In 2012 the EU officially designated it a candidate. But now Kosovo has become a stumbling block.

Read more at: https://on.wsj.com/3RX8ebA

In Tune: Young Western Balkan Musicians Ready for Regional Tour (BIRN)

Thirty young classical musicians from all over the Western Balkans are readying for a five-day tour of the region, all members of an orchestra set up to overcome the prejudices that bedevil the region.

In a small concert hall at the Faculty of Music in the University of Pristina, Kosovo, Desar Sulejmani, an orchestra conductor originally from Shkodra, Albania, but now based in Germany, waits for 30 young musicians from all over the Western Balkans to rehearse for an upcoming five-day tour around the region.

The general rehearsals will take place the next day, on Thursday, July 21, just before the tour opens at the Bogdani Polis center in Pristina.

These 30 young musicians, the youngest being only 16 and the oldest 29, are members of the Western Balkan Youth Orchestra, WBYO, who have joined forces to overome the prejudices that come from a conflicted past via instrumental music.

“They see each other as musicians and feel welcomed. Being an artist comes from the heart, and their passion unites them,” Pierre Weber, director of the Pristina-based NGO Artium Eudora, which initiated the WBYO, told BIRN.

“The five-day tour starts in Pristina on Thursday and continues the next day in Skopje (North Macedonia), then in Novi Sad (Serbia), Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and ending in Kotor (Montenegro) on July 28,” he explains.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Pu3N6d