• COVID-19: 69 new cases, seven deaths (media)
• UN says more funds needed for coronavirus vaccine (VOA/RTV21/Kallxo)
• Kosovo and North Macedonia considering easing border restrictions (media)
• Hoti: We will respect agreement on Association (media)
• Tahiri: European Parliament confirmed support for visa liberalisation (media)
• Kosovo and North Macedonia considering easing border restrictions (media)
• Palmer: The U.S. happy with progress in Kosovo-Serbia negotiations (Koha)
• Grenell says he jokingly proposed renaming Ujman/Gazivode to Lake Trump (Klan)
• Limaj: No disagreements among coalition partners (media)
• Mustafa: We do not have agreement on President with AAK (RTK/T7)
• Israeli official: New embassy in Pristina to be opened soon (Koha)
• Vucic about Washington meeting: I did not sleep the entire night (RTK)
• Djuric: No agreement without Association of Serb-majority municipalities (Koha/Zeri)
• Serbia and Kosovo awkwardly embrace Israel (The Economist)

Kosovo Media Highlights

COVID-19: 69 new cases, seven deaths (media)

Of 532 samples tested for coronavirus over the last 24 hours, 69 resulted positive, Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health said yesterday.

Meanwhile, 107 recoveries and seven deaths have been recorded over the same time period.

There are currently 3,083 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

UN says more funds needed for coronavirus vaccine (VOA/RTV21/Kallxo)

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday called for $35 billion in additional funding for the World Health Organization's Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator program, designed to develop and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines and treatments worldwide.

Guterres spoke Thursday at a virtual inaugural meeting of the ACT Facilitation Council, an international collaboration of leaders looking to use the program as a mechanism to speed the development of COVID vaccines and treatments.

In his remarks, the U.N. chief told the group the nearly $3 billion that has been contributed so far is “seed funding" and is less than 10% of what WHO wants for the program.

Kosovo and North Macedonia considering easing border restrictions (media)

Kosovo and North Macedonia are expected to announce a decision by next week on whether to lift border restrictions for movement of people which is currently possible only through a negative coronavirus test.

Kosovo's Minister of Health Armend Zemaj met in Skopje yesterday the North Macedonian counterpart Venko Filipce and they agreed to look into the possibility of lifting the requirement for COVID-19 test, media report.

Hoti: We will respect agreement on Association (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said on Thursday he will respect the agreement for Association of the Serb-majority Municipalities.

“Two main issues were opened during the last round of discussions with Serbia in Brussels: the issue of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and financial claims among the two countries.  We signed the agreement on this Association in 2015 and we in no manner are trying to avoid that agreement, we will fully respect it, but we agreed to work together to reach legally binding agreement with Serbia, where Association and other issues are included.

Speaking about the agreement signed on 4 September at the White House, Hoti said signing of this agreement represents another step towards the comprehensive agreement.

He also spoke about the importance of the visa liberalization for Kosovo.

“Kosovo youth are not able to come to Europe. We have the youngest population in Europe. It is important for us to open borders for study, economics and other purposes,” he said.

Answering the questions of the EU MPs, on cooperation with opposition, Hoti said he is doing the best to ensure complete inclusion of the opposition in developments, especially in the dialogue. He added that he has already informed the opposition about this process, and that he reports to the parliament after each round of dialogue.

“I do not know how to be more transparent to the opposition parties,” Hoti said adding that he is convinced that he will have the support of the opposition on ratification of the final agreement with Serbia.

Tahiri: European Parliament confirmed support for visa liberalisation (media)

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri said he received support in Brussels for the process of the visa liberalisation for Kosovo.

“The support for liberalization of visas was confirmed during all the meetings with the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Sassoli, at the Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Group of friendship with Kosovo. It was said that lack of visa liberalisation weakens the EU role in Kosovo and as mediator of the dialogue. Now active work is required on European reforms and bilateral meetings with the member states to prove that Kosovo is ready of its recruiting at EU,” Tahiri wrote.

“AT the meetings, I stressed that recognition of the five countries, program investments and capital investments are of vital importance for the development of our country. The more presence of Europe as a whole in Kosovo and the region, the less impact of anti-western agendas,” Tahiri wrote.

Palmer: The U.S. happy with progress in Kosovo-Serbia negotiations (Koha)

Matthew Palmer, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs and Special Representative for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer said during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina that the U.S. is happy with the progress being made in negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Asked during a visit to Mostar to comment on the recent agreement signed by Kosovo and Serbia in Washington and their pledge to open embassies in Jerusalem, Palmer said: "The United States are really pleased with talks between Kosovo and Serbia and Washington is very happy with the result of these talks and the agreements reached."

Grenell says he jokingly proposed renaming Ujman/Gazivode to Lake Trump (Klan)

US special envoy Richard Grenell said in an interview for a U.S. radio station that during negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia in Washington he had jokingly proposed to rename the Ujman/Gazivode Lake to Lake Trump.

Grenell explained: "There is a lake there, perhaps I should not mention this as someone in Kosovo or Serbia may get angry. The largest part of the lake is in Kosovo, a small part in Serbia." He said that as the United States were trying to lead the parties towards economic cooperation, "they were clashing over how the lake should be called."

"If you continue fighting about symbolics, adjectives, verbs, nouns, we will not get anywhere. Leave aside these things and let's continue with the economy. Finally they did but I jokingly said: If you don't agree on the name, we can call it Lake Trump," Grenell said.

Limaj: No disagreements among coalition partners (media)

Leader of the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) Fatmir Limaj said after a meeting of the ruling coalition partners that there are no disagreements among them but that closer coordination is needed.

Limaj said the focus of the meeting was dialogue with Serbia and that a new momentum has been created in Kosovo following the agreement signed in Washington and the Brussels meeting. "We are seeing that the dynamic of dialogue has changes, this is a new time which requires the Kosovo political spectrum and us as partners to be careful, serious, and make efforts to use this momentum so that an agreement is reached as soon as possible."

Mustafa: We do not have agreement on President with AAK (RTK/T7)

Isa Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo said there was no agreement with coalition partners on the post of the president. He added that he cannot promise LDK votes to the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj either, as this position requires a wider agreement, as 80 votes are required.

“We had no agreement for president with coalition partners. We have jointly concluded that it is not good to make promises at this stage as we do not have the required votes. I cannot promise to anyone the 27 votes of the LDK for president, as votes of the other entities are required and more than 80 MPs should support an agreement on president. I do not see anything wrong in AAK proposal for Haradinaj as president. But I cannot tell any parliamentary group to vote for Haradinaj,” he said.

“We should all sit to discuss the president issue. If we agree, all right, if not, we go for elections,” he added.

Israeli official: New embassy in Pristina to be opened soon (Koha)

Israel’s ambassador to Tirana, Noah Gal Gendler, said that his country is soon expected to open embassy in Pristina adding that the step will follow procedures of the Foreign Ministry of Israel.

"It should happen in the coming weeks. It will be soon, this is my opinion, but there is no date yet," Gendler told Tirana-based Vizion Plus.

The Israeli official hailed the agreement signed by Kosovo and Serbia in Washington saying that any progress is positive. "We appreciate and support such a development. It is a fact that for Israel a part of that agreement is very important as the two countries, Kosovo and Serbia, have pledged and signed to have their embassy in Jerusalem."

Vucic about Washington meeting: I did not sleep the entire night (RTK)

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said his country did not have the U.S support in the last thirty years and that the doors of the White House were shut for Serbs until now.

He said Serbia’s services were aware that there would be difficult points for Serbia at the meeting in Washington.

“Americans and Germans created Kosovo, not Swiss of course,” he said.

“I know how discussions at the White House look. I am aware of the extent of pressure was on us and them.”

“It is sufficient for them to say ‘we will withdraw our forces from Kosovo and they (Albanians) would agree on anything,” Vucic said.

“In Washington, I could sit on the floor, because I knew what I was fighting for, for my country. We didn’t sleep during the night, we prepared every single detail. We did a great job for the country. We protected the dignity of our country and showed that after thirty years, Serbia can be respected in America. We did not go there for a grand victory, because those are reached in the war. We went for a small victory, as they are reached in peace,” Vucic said.

He said he wanted to reach “a small victory and do good things for Serbia’s children and future.”

“Serbia is not as unimportant as in the past. Nowadays, it is richer and militarily stronger. Many will preach to us, threaten us, but we will respond to those threat in the same manner,” Vucic said.

Djuric: No agreement without Association of Serb-majority municipalities (Koha/Zeri)

Marko Djuric, head of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo, said that there can be no final agreement with Kosovo without the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.

"Any conditioning to what has already been agreed on in Brussels loses the meaning of the whole negotiating process and takes us away from any new agreement," Djuric said.

Djuric's reaction follows the statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti that the agreement on the association will be implemented as part of the final agreement with Serbia.

Serbia and Kosovo awkwardly embrace Israel (The Economist)

It is rare that events in two of the world’s most enduring troublespots—the Balkans and Israel-Palestine—spill over into each other, least of all in a peaceful way. But on September 4th President Donald Trump telephoned his friend Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, to say he had persuaded the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo—once part of the same country, now mortal enemies—to give Israel a warm embrace. Kosovo and Israel, he said, would recognise each other. And both Balkan countries, flouting the policy of the European Union, which they hope to join, will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

This was a second diplomatic coup for Messrs Trump and Netanyahu after last month’s agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (uae) to open full diplomatic relations with each other (see article). Kosovo would become one of just a handful of majority-Muslim countries to recognise Israel.

See at: https://econ.st/2FpMBQk