• COVID-19: Three deaths, 47 new cases (media)
• Salih Mustafa to appear before Specialist Chambers courtroom today (media)
• Hoti: KSC activity part of legal and constitutional responsibilities (media)
• Kurti: VV would’ve protected KLA members from specialist chambers (media)
• “Serbia, Specialist Chambers fabricating evidence against KLA” (media)
• LDK’s Mustafa: We have removed red lines for PDK (media)
• Osmani: Justice has not been served (media)
• Vucic: Prishtina must understand that compromise is only solution (media)
• Etno Fest celebrates women and the sun in its 10^thyear (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo Media Highlights

COVID-19: Three deaths, 47 new cases (media)

Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Sunday that another three persons have succumbed to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

47 new cases have been recorded during this time and 113 patients have recovered from the virus.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (17).

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo is 1,807.

Salih Mustafa to appear before Specialist Chambers courtroom today (media)

Salih Mustafa, former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), is expected to appear before the Specialist Chambers, in his first appearance since being arrested on war crimes charges last week.

The hearing of Salih Mustafa will be open to the public and can be followed online, KSC said in a statement.

Meanwhile, media also report that the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army and former Prime Minister of Kosovo, Agim Ceku, will be interviewed by the Specialist Prosecutors in The Hague today in the capacity of a suspect.

Hoti: KSC activity part of legal and constitutional responsibilities (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti commented on the arrest of former KLA officials on the orders of the Specialist Chambers saying that the actions should be viewed as part of the court’s legal and constitutional responsibilities.

"The Government of the Republic of Kosovo believes justice is above all and that it should be fully respected.

Furthermore, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo views the pure and sacred goal of the people of Kosovo in the fight for freedom to be inalienable," Hoti wrote on Facebook.

Kurti: VV would’ve protected KLA members from specialist chambers (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader and former Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said on Sunday that the arrest of veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) are not a surprise because the VV had predicted this five years ago “when the PDK and LDK voted in favor of the formation of the court”.

Kurti said in an address to the Vetevendosje General Assembly that this party would have protected the war veterans. “The PDK will not protect them because it only cares about its own wealth … whereas the LDK cannot protect them because of their political orientation,” he added.

PDK MP Betim Gjoshi reacted to Kurti’s remarks. He said in a Facebook post that Kurti hates the KLA and that he supports the Specialist Chambers. Gjoshi further argued that Kurti and the majority of his party see the Specialist Chambers as an opportunity for “political wipeouts” in Kosovo.

“Serbia, Specialist Chambers fabricating evidence against KLA” (media)

Tome Gashi, an attorney for the KLA War Veterans Organisation, said on Sunday that leaders of the war veterans, Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj, were not to blame for the leakage of files from the Specialist Chambers.

Gashi argued in a Facebook post that Gucati and Haradinaj, who were arrested by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, were only “guilty” of finding out that “the Serbian Prosecution is cooperating with the Specialist Chambers in fabricating evidence against members of the KLA”. “These are purely politically-motivated arrests. How can the Specialist Chambers arrest Nasim Haradinaj and Hysni Gucati without first arresting some of their own people,” he said.

LDK’s Mustafa: We have removed red lines for PDK (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Isa Mustafa said on Saturday that his party has removed the red lines for the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

In an interview for Kosovapress, Mustafa talked about the post of Kosovo President. “The red lines that we have had before must be removed now, both in the current circumstances and also for the next elections, because it is very hard for us to find a solution when we isolate or refrain from cooperating with other political parties. Especially with the recent developments when indictments were mentioned against the President and the leader of the PDK. This has brought us to a difficult situation, and we need to put our country’s interests above party interests,” Mustafa said.

Osmani: Justice has not been served (media)

Kosovo Assembly President Vjosa Osmani took to Twitter on Saturday to commemorate the massacre of 23 members of an Albanian family by Serbian troops in the village of Abri.

“22 years ago, on this day, 23 members of a single family in Kosovo have been slaughtered by the Serb regime in a massacre in Abri. The victims included infants, a pregnant woman, little children, an unborn baby and a 94 old grandpa. To this day, justice has not been served. #NeverForget,” Osmani tweeted.

Vucic: Prishtina must understand that compromise is only solution (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that he is willing to sit and discuss a compromise on the Kosovo issue but added that it takes two to tango, several news websites report.

“We are ready for talks and difficult solutions because there are no easy solutions,” Vucic said. “Unlike them, I cannot play the blame game. Prishtina must understand that compromise is the only solution. Otherwise, even if they take a hammer and hit me on the head, they will not get a forced recognition of independence.”

Asked who gave the proposal to name the Gazivoda [Ujman] Lake after U.S. President Donald Trump, Vucic said the idea came from Kosovo Serbs.

Etno Fest celebrates women and the sun in its 10^thyear (Prishtina Insight)

After being postponed in May, this year’s edition of Etno Fest is dedicated to women and the sun, and offers a lively program of exhibitions, live music, theatrical performances, panel discussions and indulgent traditional cuisine until Sunday September 27.

Talking about the challenges of organizing this year’s festival, Vlora Ademi, the coordinator of the festival told Prishtina Insight that they did not want to go online because it would not do justice to the traditions of Etno Fest and its immersive program.

On opening night on Friday, visitors wandered through Kukaj’s narrow streets to attend music and dance performances staged throughout the village.

The festival was officially opened by a speech by Vjosa Osmani, Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, who expressed her support for the festival’s theme.

“Both are essential to human life,” Osmani said. “Our battle is to overthrow the concept of the patriarchy which restricts women to the realm of the home, because there is no free society without free women.”

Osmani’s speech was followed by the Has-based Etno ensemble ‘Katerine Josipi’ celebrating womanhood through traditional rites and dances. Later, ballet dancer Vjollca Llugiqi, accompanied by singer Elikona Hysaj, paid homage to the legend of Rozafa with her performance Gruaja e Themeleve (“Women of the Foundations”), while FemArt director Zana Hoxha’s stage performance, Gjuetarët e Artemides (“Hunters of Artemis”) premiered on the highest peak of the village.

Fadil Hysaj, founder and organizer of the festival, told Prishtina Insight that the thematic focus on women was combined with the pagan symbol of the sun because together they express the resilience and continuity of life.

“Men should start a campaign and raise their voices about the value of women, which is sublime,” Hysaj said.

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