• COVID-19: 42 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Pompeo pledges US engagement on the Balkans (AP/media)
• Osmani: Serbia still led by genocidal minds (media)
• VV: Problems with economic recovery plan preventing its endorsement (media)
• OSCE to appoint new head of Kosovo mission (Koha)
• Government of Kosovo to remain with 60 votes until December (Koha)

COVID-19: 42 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said yesterday that 42 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the last 24 hours.

54 persons have meanwhile recovered from the virus during this time and no deaths were recorded.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (13).

There are currently 1,578 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Pompeo pledges US engagement on the Balkans (AP/media)

The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a visit to Croatia that Washington will remain engaged in the Balkans where China and Russia have been gaining political and economic influence.

Pompeo also praised the Washington Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

“We will continue to engage in a serious way,” he said, referring to the region that was torn by civil wars in the 1990s. “We are trying to leave these places in a way that they are connected to the West.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/30qNYph

Osmani: Serbia still led by genocidal minds (media)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani reacted to Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic who is reported to have threatened Serbs who reveal where the bodies of killed Albanians are buried.

Posting a link to Dacic's statement, Osmani wrote on Twitter: "Listen to Serbia's FM Dacic threatening Serbs who are showing the places where Albanian victims are buried around Serbia. Listen again&again, if you were ever fooled to think that Serbian leaders have changed. Sadly, Serbia is still led by these deplorable genocidal minds."

VV: Problems with economic recovery plan preventing its endorsement (media)

Leader of the Vetevendosje Movement Albin Kurti had a video conference yesterday with representatives of the International Monetary Fund with whom he discussed the party's position on management of economy and healthcare during the COVID pandemic.

"The meeting also focused on problems which according to our Movement accompany the economic recovery package prepared by the illegitimate Government which are also preventing its adoption at the Assembly," said Vetevendosje in a statement. It added the government's treatment of the pension trust and of the privatisation fund were also discussed.

OSCE to appoint new head of Kosovo mission (Koha)

Koha reports that the OSCE is deliberating on the appointment of a new head of its mission to Kosovo as the mandate of the current chief, Ambassador Jan Braathu, is drawing to an end. The paper says that the OSCE in Kosovo could potentially be led by a person that has a 'problematic' history with the media, one of the main pillars of the mission.

According to sources, the two top candidates for the post include Michael Davenport, former UK ambassador to Serbia, and Catherine Fearon, former senior official with EULEX. The interviewing panel is said to have recommended Davenport but in case he refuses, the post will be offered to Fearon, also from the UK.

Koha meanwhile reports that Fearon has a history in Kosovo dating back to 2014 when Koha Ditore had reported about a corruption scandal involving several senior officials of EULEX. At the time, Fearon is said to have invited Koha Ditore's journalist working on the story for a conversation and had threatened him with prison if he publishes the information. "Fearon had requested the paper and the journalist to hand over documents of the case and pressured the journalist inside the mission's offices,” the paper writes.

Government of Kosovo to remain with 60 votes until December (Koha)

The Government of Kosovo will be left with 60 votes until next year following the ruling coalition MP Etem Arifi's prison conviction, Koha reports.

Legal experts say that if Arifi doesn't voluntarily give up his mandate, his seat at the Assembly of Kosovo will remain vacant until December when six months of absence will put in motion replacement procedures.