• Kurti: Basic agreement, advancement toward mutual recognition (media) 
• Rohde: Agreement, historic chance toward full normalisation and mutual recognition (media)
• Osmani meets Dendias, discuss dialogue with Serbia and relations (media)
• Kurti meets Greek Foreign Minister Dendias (media)
• Kosovo Serb villagers stage camp protest to stop land expropriation (BIRN)
• Kurti: Latest IMF report notes Kosovo had strongest tax revenue increase (media)
• Nesic: Kosovo-Serbia agreement would relax tensions in the Balkans (Koha)
• Serbian President rules out ‘factual de jure’ recognition of Kosovo (RFE)

 

Kurti: Basic agreement, advancement toward mutual recognition (media) 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that he believes that the Basic Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is an advancement toward mutual recognition. “We believe that the full normalisation of relations requires mutual recognition at the centre of the agreement, as well as respect for the rights of minorities in both countries,” he said in a video-message sent to the 11th edition of the Mannheim Forum, organised by the students’ initiative of the Mannheim University in Germany.

Radio Free Europe notes that on February 27 in Brussels, the parties agreed on the EU proposal titled “Agreement on the path of normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia”.

Kurti said after the meeting that he was ready to sign the agreement immediately, but that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was not ready.

“I hope that Serbia’s refusal to sign the proposal in Brussels is not an indication that it does not agree with the content. Everyday we prove our creativity and constructiveness,” Kurti said in the video published on Sunday.

Rohde: Agreement, historic chance toward to full normalisation and mutual recognition (media)

German Ambassador Jorn Rohde said on Sunday that he fully supports the effort of EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak. “An agreement is within reach. Kosovo will gain a lot. Kosovo needs to implement its long-standing obligation and deliver on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities now. My appeal to Kosovo (and to the Republic of Serbia) for the upcoming talks in Ohrid: 'Don't miss the bus'. An agreement will speed up Kosovo’s Euro-atlantic integration and is a historic chance on the road to full normalization and mutual recognition,” he tweeted.

Osmani meets Dendias, discuss dialogue with Serbia and relations (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said after meeting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Pristina on Sunday that they discussed recent developments, dialogue with Serbia and the Kosovo – Greece relations. “I reaffirmed our strong commitment to strengthening our excellent cooperation and readiness to continue close coordination in advancing Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” Osmani wrote on Twitter.

Kurti meets Greek Foreign Minister Dendias (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in Pristina on Sunday. “Today I welcomed Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias on his 6th visit to Kosova. We enjoyed our working lunch as much as our cordial conversation. Bilateral relations between our two countries are better now than ever before, and we are both committed to building even closer and deeper ties,” Kurti tweeted after the meeting.

Kosovo Serb villagers stage camp protest to stop land expropriation (BIRN)

Residents of the Serb-majority northern Kosovo municipality of Leposavic have been taking shifts since February, camping in a tent on a road that leads to the village of Dren, trying to stop heavy machinery from restarting construction of a police station on expropriated land in the village.

Three Kosovo police vehicles are placed near the citizens’ tent to supervise and maintain security.

The protest action comes after the Kosovo government in January and February decided to expropriate land in Leposavic despite citizens deeming the decisions illegal.

At a meeting with the Kosovo Ombudsperson, Naim Qelaj, on Thursday, a lawyer for some of the residents, Nebojsa Vlajic, claimed the expropriation law had been violated.

“All the decisions are mysterious despite being published on the official website [of the government] because they do not specify what will be constructed,” Vlajic said, claiming that it cannot be determined whether a public interest exists if what will be constructed is not specified.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3JfeRSG

Kurti: Latest IMF report notes Kosovo had strongest tax revenue increase (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Twitter post on Friday that according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, Kosovo had the strongest tax revenue increase in the Western Balkans over 2020–22, without changing fiscal policy. “This is due to our progress in tackling informality and collecting tax debt. Also, when people see that their Govt isn't corrupt, they're more willing to pay taxes,” he tweeted.

Nesic: Kosovo-Serbia agreement would relax tensions in the Balkans (Koha)

Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Nesic, said that an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia would relax relations throughout the Balkans region. During a visit to Skopje, Nesic said he hopes that Kosovo and Serbia will find suitable solutions for both countries, while the signing of the agreement would create more security in the region and rapid unification in the European Union.

“We need peace. Peace has no alternative, and we all need to be in the European Union and have contacts with all countries of the region, and we also need to see commitment to the European Union. But in order to join the European Union, we must have security and stability,” Nesic said.

Serbian President rules out ‘factual de jure’ recognition of Kosovo (RFE)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said there will be "neither the factual nor de jure" recognition of neighboring Kosovo under his leadership, vowing that he "won't be the one to sign" onto the independence of the majority-ethnic Albanian former province.

The statements appear to dash diplomatic momentum after Vucic and the Kosovar prime minister, Albin Kurti, pledged their willingness in Brussels on February 27 to continue the implementation of a normalization road map known as the Franco-German plan.

"I will not be the one who will sign the independence of Kosovo," Vucic said on March 11, according to local news agency Beta, adding that he would be "ashamed to circumvent Serbia."

"There is no surrender; we will recognize neither the factual nor de jure independence of Kosovo, but we want peace with the Albanians, we want decent relations," he said in Vranje, in the south of Serbia.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Fe3klF