Albanian Language Media:

• Thaci: Kosovo is ready to resume dialogue with Serbia (media)
• Osmani: Kosovo ready for dialogue but not the type Thaci wants (media)
• Nagavci: Thaci no longer needs state of emergency to take power (media)
• Czech diplomat tipped to replace Apostolova in Kosovo (RFE)
• Lajcak to visit Kosovo, Serbia at earliest convenience (Klan Kosova)
• Latifi: Specialist Chambers chief prosecutor expected to resign post (Kallxo)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic confirms attendance at Moscow Victory Day Parade (Beta, N1)
• Vucic: I gave up on big initiatives; I am waiting for a proposal for Kosovo (RFE, N1)
• Jeremic: Grenell works on final solution, many indicators of exchange of territories (BETA, N1)
• Janjic: Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will take place in two streams, intensive negotiations from August to March (Kosovo Online)
• Specialist Prosecutor’s Office denies that Jack Smith resigned (KoSSev)
• Ristic: Serbs in Kosovo fear forthcoming elections (N1)
• Rakocevic: Thaci absolute ‘master of situation’ (Radio KIM)
• Lavrov in Serbia on June 18th and 19th (media)
• Kosovo North: No infected with coronavirus in the last 24 hours (Kontakt plus radio)
• UNS: Serbian press available in Kosovo again (N1)

Opinion:

• Do Not Rush Enlargement (visegradinsight.eu)

International:

• Serbian President Says Kosovo's Tariff Move 'Opens Possibility' For Resuming Talks (RFE)

Humanitarian/Development: 

• Media Literacy Project: News that tells you how you should feel is not used to inform but manipulate you (KoSSev)
• New coronavirus cases rise sharply (Prishtina Insight)

   

Albanian Language Media

  Thaci: Kosovo is ready to resume dialogue with Serbia (media)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said that Kosovo should not delay resumption of dialogue with Serbia so that it can join the EU and NATO.

Speaking at a press conference today, Thaci underlined that he is hopeful an agreement with Serbia will be reached this year. "I believe there will be concrete steps in this direction," he is quoted in Koha.

"Kosovo has a clear picture of what it wants in dialogue. Above all, Kosovo is in this process together with the U.S. and other allies," Thaci stated.

Telegrafi writes that when asked about who will be leading the dialogue with Serbia, Thaci replied: "We have always been united towards Serbia. Whenever we were unified and coordinated as institutions, we fared well. We are not competing to face Serbia and are here to coordinate with one another and have a clear platform to move the process forward in achieving our objectives."

He noted that the end goal of the dialogue process is mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia: "This is the goal of everyone in Kosovo."

Thaci also spoke about the coronavirus pandemic saying that the threat of it is not over. He called on the citizens of Kosovo to heed the recommendations of health professionals. 

Thaci said that he personally was never enthusiastic about declaring the state of emergency following the Covid-19 outbreak but that he did so on the behest of political parties. 

Osmani: Kosovo ready for dialogue but not the type Thaci wants (media)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani is quoted as saying today that Kosovo is ready to resume dialogue with Serbia but not one according to President Hashim Thaci's liking, which she said consists of secret negotiations and opening of dangerous topics for regional peace and stability.

Speaking to reporters following the end of the Assembly presidency meeting, Osmani said that Thaci should state whether he has given up the idea of border correction "because the last time we checked the President's website it still featured his op-ed which states that 'the president and the prime ministers will change but border correction will happen'," Osmani said. 

She added that border change idea will not only cripple Kosovo's territory but is also in violation to the principle of independent and sovereign Kosovo. 

Osmani said that Kosovo's red lines in the dialogue with Serbia are its sovereignty, territoriality and internal constitutional order and that the Assembly of Kosovo will closely oversee the process of negotiations.

"We will not allow any detail to escape us and will demand accountability from anyone that violates the Constitution. We have been clear at the Assembly: Kosovo is represented by the Government and the red lines are no violation of territoriality, sovregnity and internal constitutional order," she said.

Commenting on her political future, Osmani said that it is decided by the citizens of Kosovo. "I don't need to coordinate with anyone about my positions. My positions are in line with the people that love LDK. I challenge anyone to speak out about what position I have changed since 6 October. I have the same positions as those based on which I won the trust and to me this trust is sacred."

Nagavci: Thaci no longer needs state of emergency to take power (media)

Kosovo Assembly Deputy Speaker and member of Vetevendosje, Arberie Nagavci, reacted to a press conference held by President Hashim Thaci today where he said that he did not like the state of emergency concept.

Nagavci said that Thaci's statement is expected as he is known, as she said, to change his positions and that he did the same with his claims on border changes. 

"He no longer needs for a state of emergency to be declared to take over executive power which the Constitution does not attribute to him. He has his government now which voluntarily hands him over the competencies he is not entitled to and even more than this," Nagavci wrote on Facebook.

Czech diplomat tipped to replace Apostolova in Kosovo (RFE)

Tomas Szunyog, Czech diplomat, is expected to be appointed as the new Head of EU Office in Kosovo/Special Representative, Radio Free Europe reports quoting sources in Brussels.

Szunyog, who is to succeed Nataliya Apostolova to the post, is deputy head of Representation of Czechia to Brussels and was formerly ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia.

Lajcak to visit Kosovo, Serbia at earliest convenience (Klan Kosova)

The EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected to visit Pristina and Belgrade as soon as such a journey is possible.

"Lajcak plans to travel to Kosovo and Serbia as soon as conditions permit to discuss modalities for renewal of dialogue with all parties facilitated by the EU," Lajcak's office told Klan Kosova in a statement adding that the precise date is not set.

The EU further noted that a quick resumption of dialogue is crucial for normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. 

Latifi: Specialist Chambers chief prosecutor expected to resign post (Kallxo)

Blerim Latifi, former advisor to leader the former Kosovo Assembly speaker and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Kadri Veseli, said that no indictments from the Specialist Chambers are expected this year and that the chief prosecutor Jack Smith is to step down.

"A while back it was announced that first indictments from the Specialist Chambers could be filed this summer! It seems things have changed. Specialist chief prosecutor Jack Smith is expected to resign his post, most likely to join President Trump's election campaign. Since U.S. elections are approaching, a new chief prosecutor is not expected to be appointed until they are over. As a result, in the absence of a chief prosecutor, possible indictments are also likely to be postponed for next year," Latifi wrote on social media.

The Specialist Chambers have meanwhile rejected reports that chief prosecutor Smith is expected to resign.

   

Serbian Language Media

  Vucic confirms attendance at Moscow Victory Day Parade (Beta, N1)

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic accepted the invitation to attend the Moscow Victory Day Parade this month, at the invitation of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Vucic met with Russian Ambassador in Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko on Sunday and confirmed his attendance in the event, stressing that he was “proud of the fact that the Serb and Russian people, both devoted to the libertarian tradition, were on the same side of the law and justice during the WWII.”

“It is a great honour to attend the 75th anniversary of the victory against fascism. We won freedom in WWII owing to the help of the Red Army and Serbia objects the attempts to revise history. We will fight for the truth to survive,” he underlined.

Vucic also expressed his sympathies for the coronavirus victims in Russia and thanked for the solidarity that Putin expressed by sending medical assistance to Serbia.

See at: https://bit.ly/3h6MzuQ Vucic: I gave up on big initiatives; I am waiting for a proposal for Kosovo (RFE, N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said decision of Pristina authorities to annul the reciprocity measures for the goods from Serbia has opened room for dialogue, adding that he expects the visit by European Union’s special envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak to Belgrade and Pristina after June elections in Serbia.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Vucic said he gave up on big initiatives for the issue of Kosovo and is now expecting proposals.

“This opens a possibility of starting the talks if that measure stays in place and survives more than a few days, and I believe this is not a matter of outwitting and outsmarting between two sides but is a matter of essence, a matter of free movement of goods, people and capital,” Vucic told RFE.

He also expressed the belief that this could positively affect the economies of both, Belgrade and Pristina as well as the Serbs and Albanians, and that it will create “some sort of a framework for our business communities to cooperate incomparably better.”

“Of course, that will open a possibility of political dialogue between us,” he added.

“I am waiting to see the proposal. And if you ask me – that’s why I said it, what exactly do I expect. I expect nothing specific,” Vucic said, concluding that there is no deadline for solving the issue of Kosovo and that Serbia will “do the talks in good faith.”

See at: https://bit.ly/3f2o5RA Jeremic: Grenell works on final solution, many indicators of exchange of territories (BETA, N1)

Former Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister and President of UN Assembly, Vuk Jeremic said that Russia extends crucial support to Serbia on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija on the international scene, recalling that Russia’s warning of using a veto prevented the UN SC in 2008 to approve declaration of independence unilaterally made by the authorities in Pristina, BETA news agency reports.

“US President Donald Trump appointed a special envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Richard Grenell and he works with authorities in Belgrade and Pristina on final solution, as well as there are many indicators that it includes exchange of territories, change of Serbia’s borders and membership of self-declared Kosovo in United Nations,” Jeremic said in a discussion organized as a part of the series “Corona Dialogues,” run by Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development.

Jeremic who is also the president of opposition Peoples’ Party asked Professor Sergey Karaganov, Dean of the Moscow Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, would Moscow support membership of the self-declared Kosovo in UN if Serbia agrees to division and signs a comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations.

Karaganov responded that both the US and the EU have lost interest in the Balkans, and regardless of the statements one could hear in the public “reliability of Americans is not only on the zero level, but rather on the minus level, therefore decision is up to Serbia.”

“Russia would support Serbia in both cases. We do not interfere and strictly respect the issue of national sovereignty and this is our supreme principle in international relations,” Karaganov said.

He said if Serbia would shift towards NATO, it would lose Russia’s support and its national spirit, adding that Russia has committed a moral crime and the gravest foreign policy mistake in the last 20 years when it accepted NATO bombing of the-then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

“Even today I feel ashamed because of that mistake. The best solution was to issue a nuclear warning when the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was bombed, but Russia was weak back then, economically devastated and our leadership was morally rotten in many ways. We have committed a grave mistake because we did not do it – a moral, political, but also economic one,” Karaganov said.

He added that Russia “dramatically changed and turned towards Euro-Asia” over the last 15 years, noting that the EU now “is not a reliable and effective partner”, while Russia is interested in good relations with most of the EU member states.

Karaganov is a former advisor to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and a founder of international “Valdaj Discussion Club” and prominent publication “Russia in Global Affairs”, as well as honorary president of Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy.

Janjic: Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will take place in two streams; intensive negotiations from August to March (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Forum for Ethnic Relations Dusan Janjic told portal Kosovo Online that he expects dynamics of the dialogue's process between Serbia and Kosovo to run in two streams, one under the auspices of the EU and the other as a US initiative, and that negotiations will be very intensive from August to March next year.

"With the abolition of tariffs, one important precondition has been fulfilled. It remains to be seen how Serbia will formally declare towards the other precondition, which is the end of the campaign on challenging independence. I don't think anyone will be nervous, they won't be in a hurry. I expect that to happen no later than the meeting in Paris, which is planned for July. It is a gathering of the EU and the Western Balkans at which it should be verified that Serbia and Kosovo have fulfilled the conditions for dialogue. By then, all preparations will be over. Lajcak will form his team, next week he will visit Pristina and Belgrade, he will have a preparatory meeting in Brussels before Paris. But it is all a phase of preparation for the mainstream that is taking place under the auspices of the EU," said Janjic.

However, in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as he stated, there are two currents that go in the same direction.

The second is American stream, an initiative of the special envoy Richard Grenell, which essentially focuses on economic issues, said Janjic.

"This initiative focuses on creating an atmosphere of possible solutions and a 'win win' position for both sides. In fact, it is very important for creating the overall ambiance not only in the international community but also in Serbia, among the citizens, so that they see that these agreements bring them something. In fact, Grenell fixes an important shortcoming of the

previous policy of Brussels, which did not care at all about the implementation of the agreement," Janjic pointed out. 

He expects Grenell to do a part of the political initiative in August.

"It is expected that a meeting between the two presidents - Kosovo and Serbia - will take place in August, and that they will sign a memorandum of readiness to resolve all disputed political issues, and to indicate the possibility of mutual recognition," Janjic said.

He believes that the Brussels stream will be revived in full capacity only in the fall.

"Lajcak will try to do what he can by the end of his mandate, but objectively speaking, if the American agenda succeeds and if the two main negotiators create a framework of readiness for a political agreement, it will be much easier for the European Union. It is realistic to expect that we will see very intensive negotiations from August to March next year," concludes Janjic.

Specialist Prosecutor’s Office denies that Jack Smith resigned (KoSSev)

“The report is incorrect,“ Christopher Bennett, a spokesman of the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, told KoSSev portal when asked about allegations of the resignation of the Chief Prosecutor Jack Smith.

Earlier this morning, Pristina-based Gazeta Express wrote, citing a Facebook post of the former adviser to Kadri Veseli, Blerim Latifi, that the chief prosecutor of the Specialist Court, Jack Smith, would be resigning in order to join the US presidential campaign, and that the issuing of indictments will be postponed until next year, when the new prosecutor will be appointed.

At least two indictments for war crimes committed in Kosovo from the 1998 to 2000 period were issued before the Specialist Court in The Hague, whose confirmation by the court deadline expires in July.

Jack Smith was appointed Special Prosecutor in May 2018, succeeding American Prosecutor David Schwendiman.

KoSSev portal recalled that Kadri Veseli, the founder of the KLA and the head of the PDK party, is one of hundreds of people questioned by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. He was questioned on December 4th. It is still unknown in what capacity Veseli was questioned. Earlier, the Kosovo public speculated that he had already been interrogated in Ljubljana, these allegations were made by former deputies in the Kosovo Assembly, Milaim Zeka and Rada Trajkovic.

See at: https://bit.ly/3h63Jsz

Ristic: Serbs in Kosovo fear forthcoming elections (N1)

Former president of Zubin Potok municipality within the Serbian system and “Fatherland Movement” member Slavisa Ristic told Belgrade-based N1 TV “Dan uzivo” broadcast that vast majority of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija fear forthcoming June elections because, as he said, it would be a concluding act of handing over Kosovo by Aleksandar Vucic.

He added Serbs in Kosovo are forced to take part in the elections for the sake of preserving their working places and security, while the idea to boycott it exists in their minds.

N1 said it has invited representatives of Serbian List to take part in this broadcast, however no one responded to the invitation.

“Serbs are afraid that Aleksandar Vucic needs legitimacy to sign legally binding agreement. The second reason is fear in Kosovo, and when it comes to both, Serbian and Kosovo elections, the situation is the same – people are forced to participate. It looks like in convoys you get an obligation to participate, entire companies, institutions, entire families,” Ristic said.

According to him, citizens take part in elections under threats and coercion of the Serbian List established in 2014, so that Serbs could take part in Kosovo elections in the north.

“Serbian List is a branch office, personal property serving to implement politics of Aleksandar Vucic in Kosovo. On the ground it serves to intimidate people to take part in elections, which will also happen now. Because Vucic needs to brag about that 80 percent of Serbs from Kosovo support Serbian policy (…),” Ristic said.

Asked about possibility to boycott elections in Kosovo, something that Alliance for Serbia, whose member Ristic is, advocates for, he said the boycott exists as an idea in the minds of people, however majority would not dare stay at homes

“We will send them a message they must stay at homes this time. Elections are Serbian, but we are afraid they are least Serbian because Vucic is creating a parliament he would need for Kosovo betrayal,” Ristic opined.

He said Serbs in Kosovo also fear Vucic’s “black forecasts” and statements he would do his best that Serbia loses the least it has. He added such black forecasts indicate that a day “when he must do something” is looming.

Instead of delimitation, division of Kosovo or legally binding agreement, options referred to as possible solutions to the Kosovo issue, Ristic said he does not understand why people are afraid of the ‘status quo’, adding the solution should be reached through the dialogue that would enable fee and civilized lives of Serbs and Albanians.

Rakocevic: Thaci absolute ‘master of situation’ (Radio KIM)

Writer and journalist Zivojin Rakocevic told “Slobodno sprski” broadcast that the attempts to depict Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo as Albanian heritage represent “a second phase of a new aggressive approach directed against crucial Serbian monuments such as Gracanica Monastery, Pec Patriarchate, Visoki Decani and Holly Mother of Ljevis Church, Radio KIM reports.

Speaking about the political situation in Kosovo, Rakocevic opined that political life in Kosovo cannot be imagined without Hashim Thaci, describing him as “an absolute master of the situation.”

“It has begun intensively following the March 17 violence in 2004, once it was understood that Serbian cultural and spiritual heritage in Kosovo and Metohija could not be destroyed. Until then, we had theories that were at the level of a classical neo-romanticism approach to the history and life in which marginal people were saying these were Albanian churches that Serbs have appropriated when they came to the Balkans,” Rakocevic said, adding that a change in the approach occurred following the 2004 March pogrom.

“This approach is based on the following – we will reconstruct a sufficiently aggressive, persistent and lasting campaign that would bring about the change of mindset of the Albanians population towards the churches and monasteries in Kosovo.”

During the first phase vast part of the territory of Kosovo was left without Serbs, while the monuments and their remains Kosovo authorities treat as “Roman heritage, heritage of a long-time ago perished population, and that this long-time ago perished population does not exist, it is not there,” Rakocevic said.

Commenting on the TV documentary “Great Serbian Historic Deception – How Serbs Have Stolen Albanian History”, recently aired on TV channels in Albania and Kosovo, Rakocevic said it was exactly about the second phase he considers as a final conflict with crucial Serbian monuments in Kosovo.

“It was about easy to accept movie which should show to the Albanians how Serbs have appropriated Gracanica Monastery, how Serbs have seized Visoki Decani Monastery, how they took away from them Pec Patriarchate, Holy Mother of Ljevis Church,” Rakocevic pointed out.

Touching upon current political situation in Kosovo and influence of domestic but also “winds of the west” in bringing down former and electing new Pristina government, Rakocevic said the former prime minister Albin Kurti “was blown away” by power of Hashim Thaci who keeps at this hands all leverages of power, adding political life in Kosovo cannot be imagined without him.

“He is an absolute master of the situation, and even when he does not hold any executive function or he has no one, he would be the one everybody would act in line with. Thaci is the best student of Milo Djukanovic (current President of Montenegro), and he completely controls the situation all these years. There is that, let me say blatantly, mirage of choice and selectivity, which is, as one could see a pure form. Everything else serves him and undemocratic aim to round up creation in which he would be a sovereign master wherever it might be”.

“If you are able to create a crisis and control it successfully, you would certainly be in power,’ Rakocevic concluded.  

Lavrov in Serbia on June 18th and 19th (media)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic announced last night that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Serbia on June 18 and 19.

Dacic announced this at the central pre-election convention of the SPS-JS list at the Tasmajdan stadium in Belgrade, Belgrade based news agency Tanjug reported.

Lavrov's visit was previously planned for March 25 and 26 but was postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Kosovo North: No infected with coronavirus in the last 24 hours (Kontakt plus radio)

There were no new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in the north of Kosovo and there were no cured or deceased, announced today the Emergency Situations Headquarters of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica.

So far, a total of 118 people were infected by Covid-19 in northern Kosovo.

106 people were cured, and 10 died from the consequences caused by the coronavirus.

There were 44 infected North Mitrovica (40 cured, three died), 25 in Zvecan (24 cured, one died), 25 in Zubin Potok (22 cured, two died) and 24 in Leposavic (20 cured, four died).

One patient was hospitalized in the Mitrovica Hospital, while one person is in the Kragujevac Clinical Center.

UNS: Serbian press available in Kosovo again (N1)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) said on Monday that the Serbian language press is available in Kosovo again.

The UNS quoted an official of the KIM Beokolp company which distributes newspapers from Serbia in Kosovo who said that deliveries resumed on Sunday but at a lower level. “We were told that we can go ahead on Saturday when the weekend circulation was already packed and we managed to get some deliveries in. We are expecting to continue as normal on Tuesday,” Zvezdan Mihajlovic said.  

The Kosovo customs service prevented the delivery of newspapers from Serbia after May 31 when Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government imposed what it called reciprocal measures on anything coming in from Serbia proper which is not clearly marked with the words "Republic of Kosovo". That measure was lifted almost immediately after Avdulah Hoti took over as prime minister.

See at: https://bit.ly/2AbPPo4    

Opinion

  Do Not Rush Enlargement (visegradinsight.eu)

The EU has a significant measure of influence on the accession countries only as long as they remain candidates. The case of the Balkan states is more problematic than the one for Central Europe before 2004.

Since 2004, the EU has grown from 15 to 27 member states. Whilst the EU boundaries, geopolitics and internal cohesion have all changed dramatically, the internal organisation of the EU has barely reformed failing to adapt to the challenge of an increased and diverse membership.

In the meantime, the EU has been plagued by major crises: including the global economic slump in 2008, the eurozone sovereign debt crises in 2010-2012, the refugee crisis in 2015 and most recently the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which will inevitably produce a major economic recession in the entire EU.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2XFDstx    

International

  Serbian President Says Kosovo's Tariff Move 'Opens Possibility' For Resuming Talks (RFE)

BELGRADE -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has expressed cautious optimism that talks with Kosovo brokered by the European Union could resume, one day after Kosovo’s new government lifted all trade barriers that had been imposed on Serbia.

In an interview on June 7 with RFE/RL’s Balkan Service, Vucic said Kosovo’s move “opens the possibility for us to start talking.”

“It will create a kind of framework so that our business communities can cooperate incomparably better,” he said. “Of course, this will open the possibility for political dialogue between us.”

Kosovo was formerly a Serbian province that unilaterally declared independence in 2008. Belgrade has not recognized that move. In 2011, Belgrade and Pristina agreed to EU-brokered talks aimed at normalizing relations.

Kosovo first imposed trade sanctions on Serbia in November 2018 in retaliation for Belgrade’s diplomatic efforts to persuade countries to rescind their recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

“We expect Serbia to end the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo,” Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on June 6, adding that Kosovo expected the EU and the United States to pressure Belgrade on the issue.

Serbia had previously said it would not negotiate with Kosovo as long as the trade sanctions were in place.

Vucic confirmed that EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak was expected to visit Belgrade and Pristina soon after Serbia’s June 21 parliamentary elections.

Vucic, however, said he did not expect the talks to result in Serbian recognition of Kosovo.

“We talk to everyone,” he said. “My question is…What is the content of the dialogue. What are we talking about?.… Because if it is just, ‘Come on, Serbs, recognize the independence of Kosovo and let’s finish that story,’ it certainly will not go that way.”

Both Kosovo and Serbia are pursuing a policy of European integration and aspire to membership in the European Union.

See at: https://bit.ly/377QiE2    

Humanitarian/Development

  Media Literacy Project: News that tells you how you should feel is not used to inform but manipulate you (KoSSev)

What is the most important question for a journalist?

An average person spends over seven hours a day surrounded by the media – according to data from Statista.com. Many testify that, in the digital age, this time is even longer.

The fact that the media are our window to the world represents a great responsibility for journalists and media outlets.

In the latest episode of the media literacy campaign “OpisMEDIJavanje,” a journalist-editor of the KoSSev portal, Milica Andric-Rakic spoke about media responsibility.

Whether it is a daily newspaper or a media outlet covering the field of entertainment, or culture, journalists must ask themselves the following question: Is this important to my readers/viewers? And perhaps they should pose an even more difficult question: Should this be important to them?

Only after answering this question, a decision is made on whether the editorial office can cover the topic in a professional matter, and only then do the journalists get to work.

“The relevance of the media can be found in that fine balance between what is important to the audience and what you are realistically able to present as a story,“ she said.

However, there is also room for audience criticism, Andric-Rakic added.

For everyone, if they want to be the best in their line of work, criticism is not only welcome but also necessary.

See at: https://bit.ly/2Y6CHbW

New coronavirus cases rise sharply (Prishtina Insight)

While the new government continues to lift measures easing Kosovo out of lockdown, the number of recorded new cases of coronavirus spiked over the weekend, hitting levels not seen since April.

Over the weekend, 76 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Kosovo by the National Institute of Public Health, with 36 tests resulting positive on Saturday and 40 on Sunday. Of the positive tests, 32 were recorded in the Municipality of Vushtrri, while there were also 10 new cases recorded in Prishtina.

The numbers represent the highest increase in new cases since April, while Sunday’s total of 40 new registered cases is the third highest in a 24 hour period since the outbreak began in March. The number of active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo, which had dropped to below 200, now stands at 313.

Speaking to a press conference on Sunday night, Naser Ramadani, the head of the National Institute of Public Health, explained the rise in cases as a result of the opening of the economy, the Eid-al-Fitr public holiday and “the non-implementation of measures.”

See at: https://bit.ly/3h6PwvC