• President Osmani interview with the Voice of America
• Defence Ministry refutes Serbian media reports about KSF in north (media)
• Jasharaj: Strikers are united despite attempts to divide us (Ekonomia Online)
• Kurti travels to Japan to attend funeral of former PM Shinzo Abe (media)
• Osmani meets Albanian diaspora in US, “immense support for Kosovo” (media)
• Ex-Minister for European Integration: Visas could be lifted on Oct 13 (Klan)
• “New agenda expected in talks between Prishtina and Belgrade” (Express)
• Kurti: Kosovo a multilingual society, value of our country (RTK)
• Berisha: Rama is acting like Belgrade’s lawyer (Euronews Albania)
• Kanal 10 Director Arben Ahmeti arrested for domestic violence (media)

President Osmani interview with the Voice of America

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with the Voice of America on Monday that mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia is the only solution that leads to long-term peace and stability in the region.

Osmani said that documents about the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which have circulated in some media recently, were never proposed or presented to the Republic of Kosovo. “Don’t forget that whenever there are intensified efforts in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, there are always documents published by phantom organisations, proposing various ideas, and published in the media, but in fact such documents were never proposed in our meetings. What is happening in fact is that there is an intensified role of Germany and France, as two powerful EU member states, to help the process become much more productive,” she said.

Osmani encouraged opposition parties in Kosovo to meet “and fully coordinate our foreign policy and especially our policy vis-à-vis Serbia”. “Only when we have been united, we were successful in facing Serbia,” she said.

Asked to comment on statements by U.S. officials that Kosovo needs to implement the agreement on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities or come out with its own proposal, Osmani said: “As far as statements from the United States of America, our most strategic ally, are concerned I want to clarify that in fact the request from the U.S. is that we need to implement the decision of the Constitutional Court about the Association and not what was signed in Brussels. There is a big difference, there is a big space between what was signed in Brussels about the Association and the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which does not allow such an association to have executive competencies or to be monoethnic or to be a third tier of government that would be in opposition with our Constitution. So our position is this: we will implement the decision of the Constitutional Court, which does not allow the creation of monoethnic entities because it falls in contravention with the principle of multiethnicity, and the United States of America are not asking us to go against the decision of our court.”

See full interview at: https://bit.ly/3CelNgX

Defence Ministry refutes Serbian media reports about KSF in north (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Defence issued a reaction on Monday refuting reports in some Serbian media about the alleged movement of Kosovo Security Force (KSF) troops in the municipality of Zubin Potok, in the north of Kosovo. “These fake news is dangerous misinformation aimed at creating a climate of tension and have a tendency to damage the image of the Republic of Kosovo and the Kosovo Security Force. But in reality, our citizens without any ethnic differences, have the right understanding of the defense role of the KSF,” the statement notes.

The ministry also said that it coordinates all training and operational activities with local and international authorities, namely with KFOR, and in line with its constitutional and legal mandate.

“We call on all citizens, especially those living in the north of the country, not to fall prey to misinformation and fake news that have dark intentions. The Ministry of Defence and the Kosovo Security Force are and will always be in the service of all our citizens without any differences,” the statement concluded.

Jasharaj: Strikers are united despite attempts to divide us (Ekonomia Online)

Leader of the Union of Education, Science and Culture of Kosovo (SBASHK), Rrahman Jasharaj, said in an interview with the news website that they have a legitimate right to continue the strike in the education sector and that the strikers are united despite attempts by the Kurti-led government to divide them.

Jasharaj said the strike council is expecting a meeting with Kurti because everyone knows how grave the situation is. “It has been a month that pupils are not in schools and let me repeat that the only party responsible for this is the Kurti government,” he argued.

Kurti travels to Japan to attend funeral of former PM Shinzo Abe (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, travelled to Japan on Monday to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, a press release issued by Kurti’s office notes. “Accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati, Prime Minister Kurti will hold other official meetings during his stay in Japan,” the statement notes.

Osmani meets Albanian diaspora in U.S., “immense support for Kosovo” (media)

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, met with the Albanian diaspora in New York, thanking them “for their immense support for Kosovo over decades & their invaluable contribution to our state-building process”. “They continue to shine and to serve as an important bridge in our cooperation with the U.S.” Osmani wrote on Twitter.

Ex-Minister for European Integration: Visas could be lifted on October 13 (Klan)

Kosovo’s former Minister of European Integration, Mimoza Ahmetaj, said in an interview with Klan Kosova on Monday that visas for Kosovo citizens could be lifted on October 13. She said there is a new momentum in the European Union “and as a result we expect that Kosovo will get visa liberalisation which it has deserved for a long time now”. “On October 13, in Luxembourg, the justice and interior ministers of EU member states will have an informal meeting and the topic of discussion will be visa liberalisation for the citizens of Kosovo,” Ahmetaj said. “I believe we have a reason to rejoice now. This news comes after new political circumstances in Europe, following the war between Russia and Ukraine”.

North Macedonia FM: New agenda expected in Prishtina-Belgrade talks (Express)

Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, said after his return from the United Nations General Assembly, that North Macedonia will give its contribution to stability and overcoming differences in the region. He said he met with U.S. and EU envoys for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Gabriel Escobar and Miroslav Lajcak. “A new agenda is expected in the talks between Prishtina and Belgrade. North Macedonia, as a first neighbor of both Kosovo and Serbia, is interested about the course of these talks. Our meetings with Escobar and Lajcak were very important to see the details and to give our contribution to stability and overcoming differences in the region,” Osmani is quoted as saying.

Kurti: Kosovo a multilingual society, value of our country (RTK)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said on the occasion of the European Day of Languages that Kosovo is a multilingual society and that this value is deeply interwoven into the structure of Kosovo. “Our government remains strongly committed to preserving the rich and diverse character of our society. Happy European Day of Languages!” Kurti tweeted.

Berisha: Rama is acting like Belgrade’s lawyer (Euronews Albania)

Leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in Albania, Sali Berisha, in a statement on Monday accused Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of being a vassal of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “Every week, and month, Edi Rama sinks deeper and deeper into complete vassalage to President Vucic and Belgrade. In the discourse of the last few months, the most quoted person, in Rama’s speeches, you will find is Aleksander Vucic. This vassal of his goes from summit to summit, defending a little Putin, by giving advice to Europe and the world, justifying Vucic’s alignment with Russia and against EU sanctions. The truth is that behind Rama’s defense of the Moscow-Belgrade axis lies his vassalage to Belgrade and indirectly to Moscow,” Berisha said.

Kanal 10 Director Arben Ahmeti arrested for domestic violence (media)

Several news websites report that Arben Ahmeti, director of the Kanal 10 TV station, was arrested by Kosovo Police on Sunday evening for domestic violence. He has been ordered a 48-hour detention.