Albanian Language Media:

• Borrell to meet Kurti and Vucic on September 14, in Brussels (media)

• Zulfaj: We go to Brussels for implementation of Agreement (KTV)

• Atiq: I would leave through a petition, I don't think it appropriate to resign (RTK)

• Abdixhiku: The government's incompetence is costing us (Koha)

• PDK calls for early elections: Government is harming the state (Reporteri)

• Dreshaj: We hope to overthrow the government in September (Reporteri)

• Graffiti “when the army returns to Kosovo” appears in Zubin Potok (Koha)

• AI: Lack of proper treatment for domestic violence victims in Kosovo (VoA)

• State reserves affair; suspects released from detention (media)

  Serbian Language Media:

• Borrell: The next round of high-level dialogue on September 14 in Brussels (media)

• Michel: If the EU does not set a goal, it will never be ready for enlargement (Tanjug, Hina, N1)

• Petkovic: Pristina does not want peace, but escalation (KiM radio, Danas)

• Djuric met Chollet: Serbia a reliable partner of the USA, not only in words, but also in actions (Danas, Kosovo Online)

• Pantovic: Family members of the arrested in the "Brezovica" case when paying the bail detained because of the origin of the money (KoSSev, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, Kosovo Online)

• The detention of those arrested in the case of embezzlement of Kosovo's reserves has been terminated (Beta, N1, Kontakt plus radio)

• Serb A. A. stopped by KP at the checkpoint near the Bistrica Bridge; KP: Interrogated, then released (KoSSev)

International Media:

• Kosovo's President Criticizes Macron Over Visa-Free Travel Comments (Schengen Visa)

Albanian Language Media

Borrell to meet Kurti and Vucic on September 14, in Brussels (media)

EU High Representative Foreign Policy and Security Affairs, Josep Borrell, confirmed on Thursday that the next meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, will be held in Brussels on September 14.

Speaking at a press conference, after the informal meeting of the EU's foreign ministers in Toledo, Spain, Borrell announced that, together with the Spanish Presidency of the EU, they intend to hold a meeting of the ministers of the member countries of the bloc with the foreign ministers of the Western Balkans countries in order to analyze the situation in the region. He said that this meeting will be held at the end of September.

"On September 14, I will hold a new high-level meeting in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, as a facilitator, to seek a solution", Borrell said.

He noted that the enlargement process was discussed with the EU's foreign ministers and that this process took a new direction after the war in Ukraine. However, he added that the process will be implemented "based on merit".

"The issue of enlargement has been in our discussions. We discussed Ukraine and the enlargement towards the Western Balkans. It will remain a process implemented on individual merits", he said, adding that the EU needs to prepare for enlargement.

Zulfaj: We go to Brussels for implementation of Agreement (KTV)

Jeton Zulfaj, advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said in an interview with the TV station on Thursday that the high-level meeting on September 14 in Brussels will be for the implementation of the Brussels agreement and the Ohrid annex. He said that the agreements should be signed because they include positive points and Kosovo has agreed to them.

Zulfaj said that every high level meeting between Kosovo and Serbia representatives will discuss the steps that will be taken for the implementation of every article. “The meetings are for the implementation of agreements. Anything else does not contribute to the normalisation of relations. We go to Brussels to implement the Agreement we have reached, and we believe it needs to be signed,” he said. 

According to Zulfaj, Serbia’s de-facto recognition of Kosovo would be to recognise a series of documents and the passports.

Commenting on the approach of Serbia and its president Aleksandar Vucic toward the dialogue with Kosovo, Zulfaj said there should be no dilemmas about the Serbian approach. “I believe everyone that had any dilemmas now knows Serbia’s approach. Vucic promised in secret meetings that he would impose sanctions against Russia. There are great short-term expectations of Vucic, while we meanwhile continue with the rule of law and we will not wait. The European Union and the others are waiting for Vucic to change, but he is not changing, and the expectations are becoming mid-term and short-term. The expectations are wrong. I am skeptical about the regime in Serbia. He [Vucic] avoided signing the agreement. Serbia even voted against Kosovo’s membership at the Council of Europe,” he argued.

Atiq: I would leave through a petition, I don't think it appropriate to resign (RTK)

The Ministry of Local Government has announced that the drafting of the administrative instruction, which enables the citizens to request the removal of the mayors from office through a petition, is expected to be completed in two or three days. The Mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, has said that he welcomes this administrative instruction.

"Without a doubt, it is a positive step, as you know, it is an administrative instruction that includes all the municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo and not only for the four municipalities of the north, that is, it includes all municipalities, 38 of them and also in duration, it applies to the future years", Atiq told RTK. 

He however does not consider that resignation could be a solution.

"I don't think I should resign, I think the administrative instruction will find the right wording for this matter. This instruction is being formulated in order for the residents of these municipalities to express their will. If that petition is not fulfilled, I do not consider it reasonable to resign. We have the role defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, nothing more, nothing less. I have the duty to exercise the mandate of the mayor of the municipality, everything else is irrelevant", Atiq said.

Abdixhiku: The government's incompetence is costing us (Koha)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku accused the government  on Thursday about the issue of providing school books for students. In the video published by him on Facebook, where a couple from Pristina is seen trying to provide third grade books for their child, Abdixhiku said that this couple should have other concerns, but the state has decided to burden the parents with the duties of the state itself.

He added that instead of 4.8 million euros, businesses will now benefit over 6 million euros as a subsidy. "Disability therefore costs. Paranoia and more. But today, what costs us the most is time. It is slipping away in front of our eyes. In 2023, we would have to talk about digitalization of schools, about a class with 20 students, about coding as a compulsory subject, about artificial intelligence as a subject of learning. We should talk about our children as the modern force that makes our future. Instead, we're dealing with – guess what – buying books and needlessly bullying parents. We will deal with such confrontations because it is the mentality of not working, complaining and paranoia that does not allow the state and society to develop", Abdixhiku wrote among other things.

PDK calls for early elections: Government is harming the state (Reporteri)

Spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Faton Abdullahu has stated that the Kurti government is no longer legitimate to govern, and requested extraordinary elections to be held. Abdullahu said on Thursday that the Kurti Government is harming Kosovo, its sovereignty and well-being of citizens.

Accusing the government about the statement of the French President Emanuel Macron on reconsidering visa liberalization, Abdullahu asked how the government and the President plan to continue the dialogue with Serbia without the international community. He said that their ‘populist and rebellious behavior’ is wrong.

"One gets the impression that they are leading a country of 50 million inhabitants. It is senseless, that's why as a spokesperson I say again that we want to go to extraordinary elections, it doesn't work like this anymore".

“We don't want to be part of this political nonsense. We ask this government to create a situation in the north where there can be elections, where all communities can participate”, he said.

"This government is not legitimate to be present either in the north or in Pristina. We are under punitive measures. Is it worth to be punished like this... The methods of how to reach the elections are important, but we are for extraordinary elections to remove this governing mentality that is harming Kosovo,” Abdullahu said.

Dreshaj: We hope to overthrow the government in September (Reporteri)

MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Shemsedin Dreshaj, said on Thursday that they are working and negotiating with the position and the opposition to overthrow the Kurti government. He said that he hopes that in September they will have sufficient numbers to start the process of the vote of confidence.

"We have started this process, and we think that it is one of the democratic mechanisms of how governments which do not perform well change. For this, numbers are needed, we are working on numbers and we hope that within the month of September we will have enough numbers to start the process of the motion, that is, of overthrowing this government. At the moment, we are working, we are working both with the opposition and with the position to have sufficient numbers of votes and to go in such a way that the motion is successful", he said.

Dreshaj said there are some individuals from the opposition who support the motion of no confidence, and also pointed out that there are some people in the ruling party who have given positive signals for the motion.

"This government must go home because of the mismanagement of the country, we have a failure in health, a failure in education, in the economy, infrastructure, failure in foreign policy, so we have no country that has recognised us so far. Now we have the alarm given by the president of France regarding the liberalization of visas. So, I don't know where to find a segment that is bright and that would be a model for other departments on how to manage properly".

Graffiti “when the army returns to Kosovo” appears in Zubin Potok (Koha)

The graffiti ‘When the army returns to Kosovo’ appeared on Thursday in the Serb-majority north, on a wall not far from the Municipality building in Zubin Potok, the news website reported on Thursday. Kosovo Police said in a statement that the graffiti is incitement to hatred. Mayor of Zubin Potok municipality, Izmir Zeqiri, said the graffiti is about 150 meters away from the municipal building and that there are graffitis that promote the so-called Northern Brigade, which has been declared by the Kosovo government as a terrorist organisation. “I believe the security agencies will either erase them or do something. It is nothing but a graffiti with a hostile content … but the problem is that there are several other graffiti on some signs,” he said.

AI: Lack of proper treatment for domestic violence victims in Kosovo (VoA)

A report published on Thursday by the human rights organization Amnesty International shows that survivors of domestic violence in Kosovo, who in most cases are girls and women, face uncertainty and a lack of support in their efforts to to get away from abusive situations.

Rina Kika, author of the report, said in a conversation with Voice of America that the state's response to domestic violence is not sufficiently focused on survivors.

"One of the main findings of our report is that the Kosovo state's response is very focused on criminal justice and even this response is not adequate when it comes to cases of domestic violence. Meanwhile, very little is being done to enable a person who experiences domestic violence to be able to live independently and have social support from the state in terms of housing, employment and training and to live a life without violence" ,she said.

Survivors of violence who try to leave abusive situations face serious obstacles, such as a lack of information about available help, mistreatment by police officers, overburdened social workers and inadequate support services, the report found.

"The moment they go to the police, they are treated with disrespect, with gender bias, using a language that blames them for the violence they have experienced, and this normally discourages them from presenting other cases of violence. The same happens in the courts where we have very low sentences,” Kika said, adding that most of the sentences are released on bail or fines.

Kika says that one of the essential factors that puts women in a difficult situation is their economic dependence on their family of origin or their husbands.

Read the Amnesty International report here: https://tinyurl.com/5n99a9su

State reserves affair; suspects released from detention (media)

Two officials of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade (MINT), Hafiz Gara and Irfan Lipovica, and a businessman, Ridvan Muharremi, who on August 18 were arrested as suspects in the affair of abuse with state reserves, were released from detention on Thursday. The Appeals Court decided to release them from custody after receiving complaints from defense attorneys. The legal proceedings against the three suspects will continue.

Serbian Language Media

Borrell: The next round of high-level dialogue on September 14 in Brussels (media)

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that a new round of high-level dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will be held in Brussels on September 14, reported Radio Television of Serbia. 

At the press conference after the informal meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Toledo, Josep Borrell said that the meeting will be another attempt to resolve the situation.

"On September 14th, I will host a new meeting as part of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina at the level of leaders, where we will seek solutions for the current situation," said Borrell.

He also said that one of the topics of today's meeting was the expansion of the EU, as well as that the Spanish Presidency of the EU proposed to hold a ministerial meeting on the countries of the Western Balkans next month, and that the ministers agreed that this should happen.

According to his words, numerous topics were discussed at the meeting, the main ones being the situations in Ukraine and Niger.

Michel: If the EU does not set a goal, it will never be ready for enlargement (Tanjug, Hina, N1)

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said today that if the European Union does not set itself a goal, it will never be ready for enlargement, reported agency Tanjug. 

"Setting a date forces the EU to prepare, and it gives the Western Balkans a specific time frame to, for its part, achieve results. It is clear that if we do not set ourselves a goal, we will never be ready," Michel told reporters in Brussels, reported Tanjug, citing the Hina agency. 

He pointed out that his speech in Bled, during which he said that the EU should be ready to receive new members by 2030, was the result of "many consultations he had with the leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans".

Petkovic: Pristina does not want peace, but escalation (KiM radio, Danas)

"While Vjosa Osmani threatens to end the dialogue with international partners and thus clearly shows that Pristina does not want peace and a solution to the situation but escalation, tensions and crises, it blatantly attacks Belgrade with lies that it is responsible for the situation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, even though it is well known to all that in Pristina is the center of instability of the entire Western Balkans," said the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic.

Petkovic believes that the political representatives of Pristina "are steeped in lies, and that is why they are recognized as an unreliable and unpredictable partner, even by those who have provided them with the greatest support in the past."

"It is possible to lie to some people all the time, it is possible to lie to all people for a while, but it is not possible to lie to all people all the time, but Vjosa Osmani and her boss Albin Kurti clearly do not understand that, which is why they continue defending their policy of political and physical oppression of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija with falsehoods that no one can believe anymore because it is clear to everyone that Pristina is responsible for all crises, tensions and escalations in the north of Kosovo and Metohija," he added.

Petrovic stated that Pristina accuses Belgrade of destabilization in the north of Kosovo while, as he pointed out, it itself "carries out an unprovoked occupation in majority Serb areas with threats and the use of physical force, patrolling to the teeth of armed terrorists, without markings on uniforms, banning the import of food, medicines".

"Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are, not counting the war zones, the most threatened social group in Europe, and Belgrade makes enormous efforts to, despite everything, consistently fight for peace and stability in the Western Balkans, which irresponsible individuals like Kurti and Vjosa Osmani want to return to the era of conflict," Petkovic added.

"Pristina's relinquishment of the policy of terror and oppression of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, respect for modern civilizational norms and obligations assumed in the dialogue on the normalization of relations are the only guarantee of peace in this part of Europe, and this is clear to everyone today, and Vjosa Osmani's fraudulent attempts to hide or justify her belligerent policy with deception cannot be positively received by no one serious and well-intentioned,"  concluded the statement of Petar Petkovic delivered to the media.

Djuric met Chollet: Serbia a reliable partner of the USA, not only in words, but also in actions (Danas, Kosovo Online)

The Ambassador of Serbia to the USA, Marko Djuric, conveyed a message to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense of the USA, Derek Chollet, that Serbia is a reliable partner of the USA in a series of strategic issues, not only in words, but also in actions, reported Danas. 

Djuric stated on X that Serbia wants even better cooperation with the USA in the future.

''Serbia is a reliable partner to the United States in a number of strategic issues - not only in words, but also in action.

We want the cooperation to be even better in the future, and we are eager to work methodically on it - these were the messages from the Serbian side that I had the pleasure of conveying to H.E. Derek Chollet who, accompanied by his colleagues, visited the Serbian Embassy in the vicinity of White House,'' he posted on X.

Pantovic: Family members of the arrested in the "Brezovica" case when paying the bail detained because of the origin of the money (KoSSev, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, Kosovo Online)

The basic court in Pec yesterday decided to release the seven persons against whom proceedings are being conducted in the case of "Brezovica" on bail, reported KoSSev yesterday evening. 

However, after the family members went to pay the bail yesterday, the Kosovo police took them into custody with the explanation that they should provide proof of the origin of the money, confirmed for KoSSev lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic, who represents one of the arrested.

The lawyer explains that the court decided to enable the release of those arrested on bail due to the long duration of the detention measure.

"The day before yesterday in the court in Pec, we had a session regarding the long duration of detention against those people and yesterday the court decided to release them all on bail, since the detention against them has been going on for 21 months and their trial is not in sight, and that is the reason that people should be released if the proceedings drag on, because when someone is in detention for so long, the proceedings must be conducted urgently and quickly," says Pantovic.

He points out that everything was fine, and that the court accepted their proposals for bail.

However, according to him, when the family members came to pay the bail, the Kosovo Police detained them, with the explanation that they had to show evidence of the origin of the money.

According to him, it is not up to the people who own the money to prove its origin, but "by the one who doubts its origin".

At the same time, the lawyer adds that the family members have been detained, and that, according to his knowledge, the money has not yet been returned to them.

"They were detained, they were kept there for a long time, they made some statements to formally cover up their detention. According to my knowledge, they have not returned the money," adds the lawyer.

The action "Brezovica" started at the end of 2021, against the persons who are accused of issuing building permits in the "Sara" National Park, in the area of Brezovica, of giving or receiving bribes.

Among those arrested are several former representatives of the Strpce municipality, including former mayor Bratislava Nikolic.

The detention of those arrested in the case of embezzlement of Kosovo's reserves has been terminated (Beta, N1, Kontakt plus radio)

The lawyer of one of the detainees in the case related to Kosovo's reserves, Durim Osmani, confirmed that by the decision of the Court of Appeal, three of those arrested were released today pending trial on suspicion of abuse of official authority.

By the decision of the Court of Appeal, officials of the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Irfan Lipovica and Havivs Gara, as well as businessman Radovan Muharemi, close to the Kosovo Prime Minister, were released from custody pending trial.

The decision of the Court of Appeal states that the suspects were immediately released to defend themselves.

On August 18, the authorities in Kosovo arrested three people on suspicion of abusing the purchase of public reserves.

Serb A. A. stopped by Kp at the checkpoint near the Bistrica Bridge; KP: Interrogated, then released (KoSSev)

KoSSev reported last night that the Kosovo Police stopped A.A. at the checkpoint near the Bistrica bridge, based on the order of the prosecution in Pristina.

This person was then taken to the police station in the Mitrovica South. 

According to the knowledge of the Kosovo Police of the North Region, A.A. will most likely be released after interrogation.

In the meantime, the Kosovo Police of the North Region confirmed to KoSSev that A.A. was released after questioning. 

In connection with this case, Kosovo's portal has written to the spokesperson of the Kosovo Police of the Mitrovica-South region, Avni Zahiti, who directed KoSSev to his colleague Ilmi Prekazi, who, however, claimed that has no information about this case.

According to the unofficial information of the KoSSev portal, also reported by some media in the meantime, A.A. works in the kickboxing club "028", which was led by M.M. - arrested on June 13 in the northern part of Mitrovica by strong police forces.

Pristina connects M.M. with the Civil Protection, which it has declared a terrorist organization, that is, with the incidents in the North of Kosovo after the outbreak of the crisis, and charges him with terrorism, calling for a violent change of the constitutional order and endangering persons under international protection.

International Media

Kosovo's President Criticizes Macron Over Visa-Free Travel Comments (Schengen Visa)

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has said that any suspension of visa-free travel to the European Union for Kosovo would "kill the dialogue with Serbia once and for all.

"That would be the most efficient method to kill the dialogue once and for all. Such measures ... are against the people," Osmani told journalists.

Her comments came as a response to France's President Emmanuel Macron, who recently said that his country might review the commitments it has made on political and economic issues of visas for Kosovo and Serbia if they do not behave responsibly, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4bm7zuv7