• Osmani meets President Macron and Chancellor Scholz (media)
• Osmani: Optimism for visa liberalisation, but we need to be cautious (media)
• Kurti talks with UK Special Envoy Peach (media)
• Kosovo’s Minister of Health resigns (media)
• EU spokesman Stano explains delays from Elektrosever (Albanian Post)
• PDK presses charges against Minister Murati (media)
• Kosovo customs point opens in Albanian port (Euractiv)

Osmani meets President Macron and Chancellor Scholz (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, during her stay in Prague, held a trilateral meeting on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Osmani thanked France and Germany for their commitment to visa liberalization for Kosovo, mentioning the crucial importance of this process being completed during the Czech Presidency of the EU Council. She reconfirmed the excellent relations with France and Germany, as strong allies of Kosovo on the European continent.

Osmani has reiterated the position that Kosovo's membership in Euro-Atlantic structures is necessary to guarantee sustainable peace and stability in the region.

Speaking about the dialogue process with Serbia, Osmani emphasized that Kosovo continues to remain a constructive party in this process and thanked France and Germany for their efforts to intensify the dialogue process.

"Kosovo is interested in concluding the dialogue as soon as possible, with mutual recognition, preserving the territorial integrity, constitutional order and the institutional functionality of the Republic of Kosovo," she said.

Osmani: Optimism for visa liberalisation, but we need to be cautious (media)

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, told a press conference in Prague on Thursday that there is optimism for visa liberalisation for Kosovo ahead of the meeting of the working group on October 13 that will discuss the issue. “We hope and we are optimistic, but we also need to be cautious about the meeting, because not everything ends there and there are several other steps before a decision can enter into force. What is important is that today a reassessment by the European Commission has been sent to all member states and it is very positive and at the same time this reconfirmation notifies all member states about the reforms that have been made in the last year and a half and the reforms are hailed as positive … For countries that have been skeptical in the past about visa liberalisation, these reforms have been determining in their decisions,” she said.

Kurti talks with UK Special Envoy Peach (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti had a telephone conversation with the United Kingdom's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach. A press release issued by Kurti’s office notes that he expressed the government’s commitment for Kosovo to become part of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program, until becoming a full member of NATO.

"Discussing the Western Balkans, the importance of more coordination in regional politics was emphasized, with the common goal of membership in the European Union and the strengthening of the North-Atlantic alliance, for peace and security in the region and wider," the statement notes.

Further during the conversation, Kurti reiterated the fact that Kosovo has coordinated its foreign policy with the European Union regarding the invasion and Russian military aggression in Ukraine.

He told the special emissary of the United Kingdom that after the economic and energy consequences as a result of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the government of Kosovo has taken measures to support the citizens, through the Economic Revival Package, to deal with inflation and introduced subsidy measures for energy efficiency for citizens.

The head of government also mentioned Kosovo's participation last year in "Defender 2021" with NATO member states.

Kosovo’s Minister of Health resigns (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Health, Rifat Latifi, resigned on Thursday. It was reported that Latifi submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Albin Kurti through a letter. “With deep disappointment and regret after many reflections over the last few months, I am informing you that I am effectively offering my resignation from the post of Minister of Health of the Republic of Kosovo, as of today, October 6, 2022,” it is stated in the letter of resignation.

Latifi was appointed minister in November last year after the resignation of Arben Vitia.

Koha Ditore reports in one of its front-page stories that according to unnamed sources there were disagreements between Latifi and the government on two recent decisions: Latifi’s decision to appoint a former member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) as head of a healthcare institution and his note to the Kosovo Hospital Services calling for the annulment of some regulations for the reorganization of work in this institution.

EU spokesman Stano explains delays from Elektrosever (Albanian Post)

Spokesman for the European Union Peter Stano explained the delay of the Serbian company Elektrosever on implementing the agreement on energy, reached in Brussels in June of this year, between Kosovo and Serbia.

"Delays in the implementation of the roadmap are due to technical aspects, which the EU has asked the parties to address without delay," Stano said in a written response to AP.

"We are working with all parties involved to find a way forward to overcome the current delay in implementation."

Stano has indicated that the EU is offering instructions on how to address the open questions, adding that "the EU is facilitating the dialogue between the parties, it is not an arbitrator".

"The final responsibility for the successful implementation of the Energy Agreements and the Roadmap rests with the parties."

He has also highlighted that the EU is closely following the activities of both sides for the Energy Roadmap in its capacity as a facilitator and guarantor of the dialogue Agreements.

"KOST, KEDS and Elektrosever are in regular communication. They also report regularly to the EU and the US," he added.

PDK presses charges against Minister Murati (media)

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has submitted a criminal report to the Special Prosecutor's Office. Abelard Tahiri, head of the PDK parliamentary group, said that this party cannot sit idly by and show solidarity with words, until the latter stopped the salaries of the teachers who participated in the strike in September.

He said that the teachers did not ask for anything more than dignity and they cannot be punished just because they chose to exercise the constitutional right to strike.

“We acted because over 23 thousand teachers and over 5 thousand administrative and technical school workers who are employees of the municipalities and not of the government, are suffereing the consequences of the misuse of the official position of Minister Murati and his subordinate Spahiu," he said.

Tahiri stated that this legal violation is even more serious since the government has applied a double standard and discrimination: first, it has not stopped the salary of all the participants of the strike, but only a part of them, and second, it has stopped their salary even to those few teachers who, in some municipalities and in some schools within them, held the lessons and did not participate in the strike.

Kosovo customs point opens in Albanian port (Euractiv)

Kosovo-bound customs goods are now being processed in the Port of Durres in Albania, following an agreement signed between the two countries earlier this year.

Albanian Finance Minister Delina Ibrahimaj and her Kosovo counterpart Hekuran Murati and their respective customs directors, visited the customs office of Kosovo at the port this week.

“There are about 1,040 Kosovo companies that use the port of Durres and these capacities every year to clear their goods, and from today they will not only have the facilities that the two governments have agreed on with each other,” Ibrahimaj said, noting a reduction and removal of fees and a speeding up of the administrative process.

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