• Health Institute confirms four new cases of COVID-19 (media)
• Ministry reacts to reports concerning the death at quarantine centre (media)
• Opposition calls for resignations of Health and Interior ministers (media)
• Haziri: Agon Musliu case must not be politicised (media)
• Mushkolaj: LDK-led govt will be short-lived (Koha)
• EU and Western Balkans to hold a virtual summit (RTK)
• "Kosovo will suffer first recession since independence" (Koha)
• Serbia to hold elections on June 21 (RFE)

Kosovo Media Highlights

Health Institute confirms four new cases of COVID-19 (media)

Most media reported on Monday evening that Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health confirmed four new cases of COVID-19.

The new cases are from the municipalities of Mitrovica South, Rahovec, and Prizren.

The total number of cases in Kosovo is 854, of which 381 active.

Ministry reacts to reports concerning the death at quarantine centre (media)

The Ministry of Health has reacted to reports that the 26-year-old man who died on Sunday at the quarantine centre in Pristina had underlying medical conditions.

The Ministry said that a document which has been published in certain media alleging that the Kosovo Embassy in Germany had stated under the name of the victim that he had health problems is not issued by the Ministry of Health and that the victim did not present any medical documents to authorities upon arrival to Kosovo.

The Ministry further said that a health professional had visited the victim after arriving to Kosovo and the report states that the patient did not report any health problems.

"The Ministry of Health reiterates that it has requested the state prosecution to conduct a thorough investigation of the case and at the same time also investigate those who by manipulating with documents not issued by the Ministry of Health are using the tragedy of a young man for low purposes," the statement reads.

Opposition calls for resignations of Health and Interior ministers (media)

Several news outlets reported on Monday evening that opposition parties have called for the resignations of acting ministers of Health and Interior Affairs following the death of a 26-year-old, at the student dormitory.

According to opposition representatives, following their resignations, “investigations into the incident can be conducted free from any political influence”.

Meanwhile, representatives of civil society organisations have said that the young man's death must not be politicised.

Haziri: Agon Musliu case must not be politicised (media)

All media reported on Monday that Gjilan Mayor Lutfi Haziri has again called for the tragic case of a 26-year-ol man who lost his life at the student dormitory in Prishtina, not to be politicised.

Haziri wrote in a Facebook post: "I call for the case not to be politicised and for the authorities to fully resolve the case".

Mushkolaj: LDK-led govt will be short-lived (Koha)

Political commentator Imer Mushkolaj said in an interview to KTV on Monday that he expects a new government led by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to be short-lived and that it won’t be able to make any major decisions.

Mushkolaj said there is a big clash in social media between supporters of different political parties. He said political parties have a big role to play in easing down the tensions and that "if the battle moves out to the open no one can predict what will happen".

Mushkolaj said "we need to be very careful with statements. I think Thaci's statements about Vetevendosje were immature and they should not have come from the Office of the President".

EU and Western Balkans to hold a virtual summit (RTK)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU-Western Balkans Summit foreseen to take place in Zagreb, Croatia, will be held through a videoconference on 6 May 2020.

EU is the most significant partner of the Western Balkans region and the videoconference will emphasize the importance of the unique relations between the European Union and the Western Balkans, reports RTK.

The EU and the Western Balkans have united in their war against COVID-19 and the Summit will offer another possibility to express solidarity and cooperation at the crisis time.

"Kosovo will suffer first recession since independence" (Koha)

The World Bank Director for Kosovo, Marco Mantovanelli, told KTV on Monday that the crisis caused by COVID - 19 is unprecedented and that no one was prepared for it.

"We, the World Bank, were expecting the economic growth in Kosovo in 2020 to continue with around 4 percent. We have now reviewed our assessments and we expect that Kosovo will suffer the first recession since independence. We expect there will be an economic decline of around 4.5 percent," Mantovanelli said.

Serbia to hold elections on June 21 (RFE)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that general elections originally scheduled for April but delayed by the coronavirus pandemic will now be held on June 21.

Vucic made the announcement after meeting with leaders of political parties on May 4.

He said on TV Pink on May 3 that parliament would vote on May 6 to end the state of emergency.

Vucic said that two conditions for restrictions to end had been met: Infections declining to under 5 percent of tests for seven days in a row, and there were significantly fewer people on respirators.