• COVID-19: 77 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Thaci: Association will be established; no executive competencies (media)
• Hoti warns of early elections if there is no agreement on President (media)
• Hoti: Association is a closed issue, we entered dialogue only for recognition (media)
• Osmani: I will start a civic initiative with new faces (media)
• LDK leader publishes Mogherini’s letter on Association (media)
• VV's Haxhiu reacts to Mustafa regarding Mogherini's letter (media)
• “Lajcak same as Belgrade, wants Association without final agreement” (media)
• Vucic, Lajcak: Dialogue continues, implementation of agreements (N1)
• Bosnia Presidency Fails to Agree on Recognition of Kosovo (Balkan Insight)
• Minister Krasniqi calls on CEFTA to drop "UNMIK-Kosovo" tag (RTK/Telegrafi)
• PM Hoti meets UN Kosovo Team (media)
• Venice Commission rebuts statements about receiving draft law on government (Koha)

COVID-19: 77 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health announced yesterday that 77 new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

59 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. The highest number of cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (46).

There are currently 1,577 active coronavirus cases in Kosovo.

Thaci: Association will be established; no executive competencies (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said in an interview with Dukagjini TV on Thursday that that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities is not a technical issue and that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has ruled on the matter.

“We are obliged to implement it. Kosovo has no obligation to make further steps on the issue. Any move beyond that framework would mean a Republika Srpska in Kosovo; it would be a blow to Kosovo’s statehood, especially given the fact that Serbia is not ready to recognise Kosovo’s independence,” Thaci said.

Thaci reiterated that the Association/Community will be established in line with the Constitution of Kosovo and that it will not have executive competencies.

Thaci argued that the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels must focus only on mutual recognition and not slip into a technical dialogue.

Hoti warns of early elections if there is no agreement on President (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Thursday in an interview with Klan Kosova that there could be early parliamentary elections if there is no agreement on the post of Kosovo President in February next year or even earlier in case President Hashim Thaci has to leave the post.

“There are no talks about enlarging the coalition, because the ruling coalition has the required number of votes. When the time comes to address the issue of the President post we will sit down with opposition parties too to find a solution on the matter. If we cannot find a solution, Kosovo will go to elections,” Hoti said.

Commenting on the process of the dialogue, Hoti said he will insist to get recognition from Serbia. “In my visits to European capitals, I have made clear the principles upon which I have entered the process. The process concludes with mutual recognition. Our goal is to conclude the process in spring next year and we will not continue in the second half of the year,” he said.

Hoti: Association is a closed issue, we entered dialogue only for recognition (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Thursday that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will be established in line with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. He also said that the Association will not have executive competencies.

“The content of the Association is closed; it will not have executive competencies. The Association will be established in line with the principles of the Constitutional Court,” he said.

Hoti also said that “the principles of the dialogue are very clear” and that “we will only talk about recognition”. “Kosovo’s sovereignty will not be touched. The recognition will happen in the current borders,” he added.

Osmani: I will start a civic initiative with new faces (media)

Kosovo Assembly President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with Syri TV on Thursday that she will form a new political party. “I will start a civic initiative, with new faces. It will be a small window, but a lot of light will shine through it. It will be a list of professionals, not a recycling of political persons,” she said.

Osmani said that her team will consist of people with integrity “that we don’t often see on TV”. She also said that her party will focus on many objectives, especially on unseizing the state, unemployment and education.

LDK leader publishes Mogherini’s letter on Association (media)

Most news websites reported on Thursday that Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Isa Mustafa published a letter he had received from former EU High Representative Federica Mogherini one day before the agreement on the General Principles of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities was signed in August 2015. Mustafa said he showed the letter to EU Special Representative for the Prishtina – Belgrade Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

Mogherini’s letter noted: “In the context of our discussion in the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities, I would like to confirm that it is the EU’s understanding that the Association/Community – in accordance with the First Agreement and Kosovo Law – will not constitute a third level of government and will not have executive powers. The EU, in the exercise of its role as Facilitator of the Pristina-Belgrade Dialogue, will continue to monitor the respect and implementation by the two sides of the First Agreement and all the agreements reached in the Dialogue”.

VV's Haxhiu reacts to Mustafa regarding Mogherini's letter (media)

Albulena Haxhiu from the Vetevendosje Movement reacted to leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Isa Mustafa who published a letter from the former EU High Representative Federica Mogherini giving assurances that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities will not be "a third level of government and will not have executive powers."

Haxhiu said that Mogherini's guarantees could have been valid only until December 2015, when the Constitutional Court of Kosovo declared the agreement on Association to not to be in line with the Constitution of Kosovo. Haxhiu added that there is also what she called a serious problem that has accompanied Kosovo delegations in taking part in Brussels dialogue whereby "a prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo delegates the guarantee of interest and integrity of the Republic to a third party, in this case the facilitator."

“Lajcak same as Belgrade, wants Association without final agreement” (media)

Kosovo’s former Minister of European Integration, Blerim Reka, reacted on Thursday to EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak’s remarks that the Association/Community of Serb-municipalities must be established. Reka argued that Lajcak is being asymmetrical in the dialogue “by pleasing the Serbian side”.

“Without a final agreement on mutual recognition, he [Lajcak] asks Prishtina to readdress the Association in line with Belgrade’s demands. The same way he called on Kosovo to join the EU through Belgrade two decades ago, today he comes with added pressure on Kosovo to make new concessions to Serbia. After he forced Kosovo to lift the trade tariff and reciprocity and to give up on international recognitions, now Kosovo is also being asked to give up on its state sovereignty,” Reka said.

Vucic, Lajcak: Dialogue continues, implementation of agreements (N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and European Union special envoy for Kosovo Miroslav Lajcak told reporters after their meeting that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue would continue and that everything that has been agreed has to be implemented.

Vucic told the news conference that Serbia is fully committed to continuing the process in order to find a compromise solution to improve Serb-Albanian and normalize Belgrade-Pristina relations.

"We are ready to meet whenever Lajcak says. We will go to Brussels at both the highest and technical levels. We want a compromise," he said. The Serbian President said that the path to Europe is very important for Serbia adding that the path is defined by the progress made in relations with Pristina. However difficult the talks at times, "it's better to have talks and a dialogue than not to talk", he said. "I insisted only on one thing today... the full implementation of the first Brussels agreement," he said.

Speaking after Vucic and in Serbian, Lajcak said that the goal of the dialogue is a normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. "The EU plays the role of facilitator in the process with the goal of normalizing relations but what normalization means is not up to us to decide, that is for the two sides to agree on. We think normalization is in the interest of every citizen. We are not here to force anyone to do anything," he said, adding that he thinks good progress has been made in the past four months with agreements reached on a number of issues.

See more at: https://bit.ly/37cR9Fh

Bosnia Presidency Fails to Agree on Recognition of Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

For the second time in less than a month, the three-member Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the body in charge of foreign policy, has discussed whether Bosnia should recognize Kosovo – and failed to reach a consensus.

The issue of recognition was raised by Zeljko Komsic, Croatian member of the presidency, at a September 17 session.

Komsic then said he wanted the item put on the agenda, citing the need to respect the will of the Albanian majority in Kosovo, and because, as he said, the independence of Kosovo was a fact.

At the time, he and Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak member of the presidency, voted in favour, while Milorad Dodik, the Serbian member, voted against.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2H2DWV2

Minister Krasniqi calls on CEFTA to drop "UNMIK-Kosovo" tag (RTK/Telegrafi)

Kosovo's Minister of Trade and Industry Vesel Krasniqi met director of the Central Europe Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) Secretariat Emir Djikic in Brussels and discussed the effects of the pandemic on trade as well as barriers and duties of CEFTA members.

Krasniqi is reported to have said that many of international agreements are not being implemented by Serbia and spoke about the need to put pressure on Belgrade authorities to remove obstacles to Kosovo products transiting Serbia. He also asked CEFTA to drop the "UNMIK-Kosovo" tag and use only "Kosovo" instead.

PM Hoti meets UN Kosovo Team (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti met the UN Kosovo Team headed by coordinator Ulrika Richardson and discussed the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework and other issues related to development processes.

"The Cooperation Framework represents a collective approach of the UNKT, represented by various agencies, funds and programs, aimed at addressing development obstacles and challenges in cooperation with the institutions, including in the context of achieving the sustainable development objectives," Hoti is quoted in a statement issued by the Government of Kosovo.

"I want to express my gratitude to the UNKT, led by Coordinator Richardson, for providing unreserved support to the people of Kosovo in coping with the situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," he added.

Venice Commission rebuts statements about receiving draft law on government (Koha)

Despite statements by the Government of Kosovo that it has submitted draft law on government to the Venice Commission for evaluation, the Commission said it has received no such document.

Koha recalls that on 21 August, Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri said after communicating with representatives of the Venice Commission, he was given assurances that recommendations to the draft law on government would be submitted by October.

However, the office for public affairs at the Venice Commission said the only document they received from Kosovo is the law on public gatherings, to which the opinion will be issued by the end of the week.