• COVID-19: 14 deaths, 368 new cases (media)
• Lajcak expects opposition parties in Kosovo to support the dialogue (media)
• Konjufca: There is only one Kosovo archive and is among world’s most transparent ones (Klan)
• PDK’s Krasniqi: KLA had no archives, it’s world-known fact (media)
• Kosovo not blocking Serbian vehicles’ entry despite agreement expiry (BIRN)
• Human remains recovered at the Kizevak mass gravesite to return to Kosovo (Klan)
• EU deploys 22 long-term election observers to Kosovo (EO/Koha)
• Basha: It is Albania’s duty to support Kosovo (media)
• Death of woman whose family says died after vaccination being investigated (media)
• Two government officials arrested on bribery charges (media)
• Kosovo Urged to Give Syria Returnees More Financial Help (BIRN)

COVID-19: 14 deaths, 368 new cases (media)

14 deaths from COVID-19 and 368 new cases from the virus were recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. 1,382 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 13,473 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Lajcak expects opposition parties in Kosovo to support the dialogue (media)

The Special Representative of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, said on Thursday that he expects opposition parties in Kosovo to be supportive and constructive vis-à-vis the dialogue.

“I called on the opposition parties to support the dialogue, as reaching a final agreement is for the good of Kosovo. The opposition parties have experience in the dialogue, and it was important for me to hear their opinions. I also believe they will be constructive, and I find these meetings very important and I am pleased with the results,” Lajcak said after meeting Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

Lajcak also wrote in a Twitter post: “Had good meetings with the leaders of PDK, LDK, AAK and SL. All parties have their own experience with the Dialogue and therefore understand the importance of it for Kosovo. I count on their support.”

Konjufca: There is only one Kosovo archive and is among world’s most transparent ones (Klan)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca said that there is no such thing as a KLA archive but that there is that of Kosovo which, he noted, is among the most transparent and accessible ones in the world.

In an interview with Klan Kosova, Konjufca said the statement of the Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi on the opening of the archives was intentionally misconstrued. "There are no KLA archives. There is the state archive of the Republic of Kosovo. This archive was built throughout the twenty years. UNMIK, EULEX, European Union, and the United States were here and I don't think there is a more open archive in the world than that of Kosovo." "The state archives of 20 years also include the years 98/99 with the glorious war of the KLA. There are recordings there. The state archive of Kosovo is open to everyone in the world, we have nothing to hide," he continued.

Konjufca also commented on his meeting with the EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak saying that he insisted on the dialogue not discussing independence and the territory of Kosovo since, as he said, Lajcak has in the past made statements that have harmed the interest of Kosovo. "Statements which included messages that he made regarding the framework of the agreement which, according to him, does not exclude the possibility of affecting the Constitution of Kosovo I think are very harmful. The Prime Minister, the President and other officials, such as Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi, who is leading Kosovo's teams in dialogue with Serbia, have also made it clear to Lajcak that this approach is not welcome in Kosovo. If it is insisted that the final solution with Serbia will have the form of changing Kosovo itself from an institutionally constitutional point of view, this is very dangerous for us."

On the situation in the north of Kosovo, Konjufca said the Government of Kosovo should be preparing a plan to increase its presence there which he believed relevant institutions are already working on but that such arrangements are not worked out in public. He recognised that Serbia's parallel structures are still operating in the north but said these cannot be dissolved in six months' time. "I think that in terms of confrontation with the institutions of Serbia - the university, the government has been more cautious there, but in terms of fighting smuggling and organised groups, I think the activity has increased."

PDK’s Krasniqi: KLA had no archives, it’s world-known fact (media)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, said on Thursday that the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had no archives and that “this is a world-known fact”. After meeting the EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, Krasniqi said: “our position about the archives is public. I raised the issue with Mr. Lajcak today. We believe the focus should be on major issues and no one should try to avoid their responsibilities by raising sporadic issues. The KLA had no archives and this is a world-known fact. Anyone who says differently, with or without intention, is not telling the truth and is creating confusion which can benefit only conspiracies and the imagination”.

Kosovo not blocking Serbian vehicles’ entry despite agreement expiry (BIRN)

Despite a decision by the Pristina government not to renew an agreement with Belgrade that allows vehicles with Serbian licence plates to enter the country freely, cars from Serbia are still passing through without being stopped.

An agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on vehicle licence plates expired on Wednesday but the situation at the Merdare crossing point in northern Kosovo has not changed, despite the Pristina government’s announcement that it will not renew the deal.

Cars with Serbian plates passed freely into Kosovo on Thursday, Serbian-language media in Kosovo reported.

Kosovo citizens meanwhile had to continue removing their Kosovo-issued plates on entering Serbia, as they have done for years, as Serbia does not recognise either Kosovo or licence plates with the letters RKS, for Republic of Kosovo.

Artir Retkoceri, director of Adio Tours, a Kosovo passenger transport company whose buses often drive through Serbia, told BIRN that his company is not expecting any changes soon.

“At the border we must remove our [Kosovo-issued RKS] licence plates and take temporary paper licence plates from the Serbian police officials. These licence plates cost five euros and are valid for up to two months,” Retkoceri explained.

There are two types of plates in Kosovo, starting with KS (for Kosovo) and RKS (for Republic of Kosovo). Plates with the letters KS were issued under the former UN administration of Kosovo.

Under the agreement with Serbia, which expired on Wednesday, vehicles with KS number plates may freely enter Serbia, while those with RKS plates have to change them at the border and receive provisional paper plates. Vehicles with Serbian number plates can enter Kosovo freely, without extra procedures.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi told media on September 9 that Kosovo did not intend to renew the agreement.

“The agreement with Serbia did not bring benefit to 99 per cent of the citizens of Kosovo who were also forced to be subjected to torture by removing the licence plates and putting on temporary similar licence plates,” Bislimi said.

The government has not proposed an alternative to the agreement, and it is not clear whether it will demand that Serbia recognises Kosovo’s vehicle plates of face an entry bar on its vehicles.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Wednesday again called for full mutual reciprocity with Serbia, saying that “there is no equality without reciprocity”.

Kurti had pledged that he would take measures to ensure reciprocity within weeks of taking office in March this year, but none has been implemented yet.

The former Kosovo government issued a decision in mid-September 2020 to stop issuing new licence plates with the registration KS.

Bislimi told media on September 9 that there were only 2,147 vehicles in Kosovo that have licence plates starting with KS, which represents just one per cent of the total cars in the country.

BIRN contacted the Kosovo government to ask whether Serbian licence plates will not be accepted for entering Kosovo, or if Kosovo citizens who use the licence plates with the registration KS because they have business interests in Serbia will be compensated because they might no longer be able to enter the country, but received no answers by the time of publication.

Human remains recovered at the Kizevak mass gravesite to return to Kosovo (Klan)

Kosovo's forensic expert, Arsim Gerxhaliu, said that the human remains recovered during exhumations at the mass gravesite in Kizevak of Serbia will be brought to Kosovo next week.

"Today we also received DNA results through the International Red Cross. They concern seven new identifications and two rejoinings. These concern the rejoining of body parts of the cases that we found in 2014 in Rudnica. They will belong to the persons who were handed over earlier", Gerxhaliu told Klan Kosova.

EU deploys 22 long-term election observers to Kosovo (EO/Koha)

The European Union has deployed 22 long-term observers to Kosovo as part of its Election Observation Mission (EOM) for local elections of 17 October.

Deputy head of the EU EOM, Konrad Olszewski, said the move will contribute to a full and comprehensive assessment of the election process.

The EU already announced that Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, appointed Mr. Lukas Mandl, Member of the European Parliament as Chief Observer of the 2021 EU EOM to Kosovo and that the mission started to deploy to Kosovo in the beginning of September.

Basha: It is Albania’s duty to support Kosovo (media)

The leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in Albania, Lulzim Basha, said on Thursday in an address to the parliament that it is Albania’s duty to support Kosovo. Commenting on the Open Balkan initiative and Albanian PM Edi Rama’s relations with Serbian President Vucic and Kosovo PM Kurti, Basha said: “regional cooperation can never start from Novi Sad, but should start from Mitrovica … Inter-state relations and good neighborly relations are built on the basis of proportionality and not on vassalage. In these processes, Albania has but one duty and that is to support Kosovo, because something that is not good for Kosovo cannot be good for Albania.”

Basha also raised questions “why the Berlin Process initiated by Germany and with the political and financial support of the EU is ignored”. “What are the reasons for investing so much in a parallel initiative created in Novi Sad and whose highest authority is Vucic?” he asked.

Death of woman whose family says died after vaccination being investigated (media)

The Basic Prosecution in Pristina has launched an investigation into the death of a 23-year-old woman from Drenas whose family seems to have associated to her receiving the COVID-19 vaccine two days prior.

According to the Emergency Clinic of the Kosovo University Clinical Center, the patient was admitted to the hospital in a state of unconsciousness and intra-abdominal hemorrhage has been determined to have been the cause of death.

Two government officials arrested on bribery charges (media)

Two Kosovo Government officials, one working with the Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and and the other with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, were arrested yesterday along with two more people on suspicion of having abused their position and receiving bribe.

Koha quotes sources saying that the arrests are linked to a case involving the issuing of apostille certificates.

Kosovo Urged to Give Syria Returnees More Financial Help (BIRN)

Kosovo has taken a huge step toward the repatriation of its citizens who joined the terrorist group ISIS in Syria and Iraq, but the families of returnees are not receiving enough financial aid to meet their basic needs, a report issued by the International Republican Institute on Tuesday concluded.

The report said returned families, often composed of only women and childen, have “scant prospects of obtaining additional income from employment in the near future”.

The Washington-based think tank committed to democracy and freedom said the benefits provided under Kosovo’s social assistance scheme to repatriated families may not sufficiently meet their basic needs.

“For example, in one case, a family of six children and one caretaking young mother has to rely on a monthly welfare check of 150 euros [a month]. This untenable financial situation is not likely to lead to successful reintegration outcomes,” the report said.

“Rehabilitation and reintegration of radicalized and traumatized individuals is a complex and costly process. In fact, the repatriation is only the first step in this long process. Addressing the challenge in the long run will require continued attention by government authorities and sustain support by donors,” the author of the report, Adrian Shtuni, told BIRN.

In mid-July, Kosovo announced that it had repatriated 11 citizens from Syria, saying only that the 11 included one woman and her children. Besides these 11 returnees, Kosovo has already repatriated over 250 citizens from the conflict zones in Syria.

The IRI says that the number of Kosovar nationals still remaining in Syria and Iraq is estimated to be 102, of whom 47 are adult males, nine are women and 46 minors.

“An unspecified number of adult male Kosovars are currently held in Kurdish-controlled prisons, while the rest continue to be embedded with militant organisations active in Syria,” the report said.

According to the report, of all remaining Kosovars who spent time in Syria and Iraq between 2012 and 2020, about 49 per cent are adult males, 14 per cent are women and 37 per cent are minors.

“This significant demographic shift resulted from an increase of two-and-a-half times in the number of minors due to new births, and a drop of one-third in the number of adult males due to battlefield deaths. In sum, the Kosovar contingent is currently dominated by minors and women, largely considered non-combatants,” the report specified.