• COVID-19: Nine new cases, no deaths (media)
• US expect Kosovo and Serbia to respect Washington Agreement (media)
• Kurti: There can be studies, but Ujman belongs to Kosovo (media)
• Kurti on the dialogue: Ask those that made concessions (Koha)
• Germany, UK reaffirm commitment to Western Balkans (BIRN)
• NATO Secretary General to visit Kosovo on Thursday (media)
• Vetevendosje MP says reciprocity is part of negotiations (KTV)
• “Government must convince skeptical countries on visa liberalisation” (media)
• Kurti: Serbia today must distance itself from Milosevic’s Serbia (media)
• Serbian state security chiefs convicted of aiding war crimes (BIRN)
• Simmons’ report to Assembly on alleged wrongdoings, without legal effect (RFE)
• PDK’s Uran Ismaili to run for Prishtina Mayor (media)
• Police arrest 21 persons for suspected corruption in agricultural grants (media)
• Independent Media Commission head arrested (media)

COVID-19: Nine new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. Eight persons recovered from the virus during this time. The total number of active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo is 168. 7,361 vaccines have meanwhile been administered in the last 24 hours. To date, a total of 179,029 vaccines have been administered in Kosovo while 41,573 persons have received the second dose.

US expect Kosovo and Serbia to respect Washington Agreement (media)

The United States of America expect Kosovo and Serbia to respect the obligations they assumed in Washington on September 4 last year. “We hope our partners will act in good faith and will continue to uphold the obligations they assumed in Washington,” the US State Department told the Voice of America in Serbian on Wednesday.

On September 4, 2020, Kosovo and Serbia signed at the White House in Washington, two documents for the normalisation of relations, in the presence of former US President Donald Trump. The agreement was signed between former Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

“The implementation of the Washington agreement creates a basis for future agreements and offers opportunities for broader cooperation between the parties. The obligations they assumed will only bring benefits for the citizens of Serbia and Kosovo and we encourage them to continue implementing them,” the US State Department said.

Kurti: There can be studies, but Ujman belongs to Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that it is the duty of state institutions to treat the Ujman [Gazivoda] Lake “as an artificial lake of Kosovo”. “Our position on Ujman remains the same,” Kurti told a press conference in Prishtina. “Of course, there can be analysis and studies, but it is our duty to consider Ujman as it is, an artificial lake of Kosovo. We have paid for it and this was concluded many decades ago. As far as the Washington agreement is concerned, I have said that the most important point has already been implemented (recognition from Israel). But we cannot pretend that February 14, 2021, did not happen [parliamentary elections]. The change in Kosovo is enormous. We are part of this change,” he said.

Radio Free Europe reports that the lake was built in 1972 with a loan from the World Bank in the amount of US$ 45 million. The agreement was ratified at the time by the Provincial Assembly of Kosovo and the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia. Serbia insists that it has inherited the debt of the former Yugoslavia and therefore claims ownership over the lake.

Kurti on the dialogue: Ask those that made concessions (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that he will not follow the path of his predecessors on the dialogue with Serbia. When asked about the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Kurti said: “when the Serbian President says that he will never recognise Kosovo, shouldn’t you be asking those that have made concessions so far for the sake of recognition? I have a principled and right position about the Republic. So honestly, allow us to work on justice and employment, and the management of the pandemic. Questions about the dialogue should be asked to my predecessors. Why did they agree to the Association, the license plates, and so on? You should ask them. You should ask me about the National Council and the proposals I made. I am very interested to talk about my proposals, and let them talk about the concessions they have made,” Kurti said in a press conference in Prishtina.

Germany, UK reaffirm commitment to Western Balkans (BIRN)

During their meeting in Berlin, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas signed a joint declaration in which, among other things, they reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to the security, stability, prosperity, and full sovereignty of the six Western Balkans countries, as well as to their European and Euro-Atlantic paths.

“We emphasise the importance of advancing the rule of law and we commit to working closely together to support the Western Balkans countries in promoting regional cooperation, tackling corruption and organised crime, especially illicit finance, and to addressing legacy issues of the past, notably Missing Persons, including in the context of the Berlin Process,” stresses the joint declaration issued today after their meeting.

The support from these two leading European powers comes after last week’s meetings of EU ministers during which two of the Western Balkans countries, Albania and North Macedonia, once again failed to receive the green light for starting their much expected EU accession talks.

The reason, which remains the same as it was in the autumn of last year, is the Bulgarian blockade of neighbouring North Macedonia amid their bilateral dispute over history. Sofia insists that Skopje should accept the supposed Bulgarian origin of the Macedonian language and nation.

Due to the insistence of the vast majority of EU members that the two countries should move forward in one package, Albania continues to feel the overarching effects of the Bulgarian blockade.

In a joint opinion, published by BIRN on Saturday, German, Portuguese and Slovenian foreign ministers, Heiko Maas, Augusto Santos Silva and Anze Logar, respectively, said that the fresh barrier undermines the EU’s strategic interests in the Western Balkans.

“The current blockade in negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia is undermining the EU’s credibility and runs counter to the strategic interest the Union has in the stability of the Western Balkans,” the three FM wrote, after the team put much effort into teasing out this obstacle.

Meanwhile, the Berlin Process, an EU-backed initiative to boost regional cooperation among the Western Balkan countries and aid their European integration efforts has thus far resulted in several initiatives and commitments, one of the most notable being a plan of the Western Balkans leaders for a common regional market.

NATO Secretary General to visit Kosovo on Thursday (media)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Kosovo on Thursday and is scheduled to meet Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Returns and Communities Minister Goran Rakic, and COMKFOR Major General Franco Federici.

Vetevendosje MP says reciprocity is part of negotiations (KTV)

Vetevendosje MP Armend Muja said in a debate on KTV on Wednesday that Kosovo’s reciprocity toward Serbia is part of negotiating tools. “There is political and economic reciprocity. With regards to political reciprocity, we told Serbia in the last meeting that if they think that treating Albanians in Serbia through a Council is enough to cooperate, then we will be offering the same in Kosovo,” he said.

Muja said that in the dialogue with Serbia, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is not discussing Serbia’s ideas but Kosovo’s vital interests. “Kurti is not discussing the first Serbian idea or the second Serbian idea, such as partition or the Association, but he is talking about Kosovo’s vital interests. It is not that he doesn’t have any red lines,” he said.

“Government must convince skeptical countries on visa liberalisation” (media)

The Slovenian Embassy in Prishtina told Klan Kosova in a statement that the decision on visa liberalisation for Kosovo citizens is in the hands of EU member states. “We are aware about the great importance of visa liberalisation for Kosovo and we support it. The decision is now in the hands of EU member states. It is important for the Kosovo government to conduct regular dialogue with skeptical member states and convince them. The EU is made up of 27 member states and everyone must be on board for these decisions,” the statement noted.

Kurti: Serbia today must distance itself from Milosevic’s Serbia (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti took to Twitter to react to the decision of the UN court in The Hague in the retrial of wartime Serbian State Security officials Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic. “Two notorious figures of Milosevic’s regime, Jovica Stanisic & Franko Simatovic, were sentenced to 12 years in prison each for aiding & abetting crimes committed by a Serbian State Security Service special unit, Red Berets, during the Bosnian war in 1992. These are the same persons whose structures after Bosnia committed genocide in Kosova. Serbia today must face its past, accept the truth, apologize & distance itself from Milosevic’s Serbia. Only then can reconciliation begin,” Kurti tweeted.

Serbian state security chiefs convicted of aiding war crimes (BIRN)

The former chief of Serbian State Security, Jovica Stanisic, and his deputy Franko Simatovic, were sentenced to 12 years in prison each on Wednesday by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague for aiding and abetting the commission of wartime crimes in the Bosanski Samac area of Bosnia in 1992.

The two men, both powerful and widely-feared figures in Slobodan Milosevic’s regime in Serbia in the 1990s, were found to have assisted fighters from the Serbian State Security’s Special Operations Unit, an armed police force known as the Red Berets, who committed the crimes.

“The trial chamber is satisfied that the accused provided practical assistance, which had a substantial effect on the commission of the crimes of murder, forcible displacement, and persecution committed in Bosanski Samac, and were aware that their acts assisted in their commission,” said presiding judge Burton Hall.

“Accordingly, the trial chamber finds them criminally responsible for aiding and abetting the commission of the crimes in Bosanski Samac,” he added.

But the judge said there was not enough evidence to convict them of planning, ordering or aiding and abetting any other crimes committed by Serb units during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, as the indictment had claimed.

Stanisic and Simatovic were being retried for alleged participation in a joint criminal enterprise whose aim was the forcible and permanent removal of the majority of non-Serbs, mainly Croats and Bosniaks, from large areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period from 1991 to 1995.

They were accused of having “directed and organised the financing, training, logistical support and other substantial assistance or support” for Serbian State Security special armed units and other Serb forces, such as paramilitary groups that were involved committing crimes during the wars in both countries. These included feared units like the Serbian Volunteer Guard, widely known as Arkan’s Tigers, and the Scorpions.

Stanisic and Simatovic were charged as alleged members of ‘joint criminal enterprise’ along with Milosevic and other Serbian political, military and police officials and leaders of Croatian and Bosnian Serbs.

Judge Hall said the court was convinced that “from at least August 1991, a joint criminal enterprise existed” during the wars. Its goal was to “forcibly and permanently” remove the majority of Bosniaks and Croats from areas that Serbia wanted to control.

But he said that the prosecution did not manage to prove that Stanisic and Simatovic “shared the intent to further the common criminal purpose” and participated in the joint criminal enterprise.

He also said that the prosecution “failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused contributed to the furtherance of the common criminal purpose by directing and organising the formation, financing, training, logistical support, and the provision of other substantial assistance or support to paramilitary units, including the Serbian Volunteer Guard, headed by Arkan, or to the Scorpions in connection with their commission of the charged crimes”.

The prosecution expressed satisfaction that it managed to secure convictions.

“The convictions of Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic today are steps forward in ensuring accountability for those most responsible for the atrocity crimes committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia,” chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement after the verdict.

“As senior officials in the State Security Service of the Republic of Serbia, Stanisic and Simatovic contributed to the commission of crimes by paramilitary forces and other armed groups in furtherance of ethnic cleansing campaigns against non-Serbs,” he added.

But Wayne Jordash, a defence lawyer for Stanisic, said that the prosecution’s evidence in the case had been inadequate.

“Basically they were found guilty with very weak evidence, and they convicted them to justify that they were being tried twice,” Jordash said.

After the verdict, the two men were returned to custody in The Hague.

“Stanisic and Simatovic remain in custody until it is decided in which country they will serve the remainder of their prison sentence. Both parties have the right to appeal,” said Helena Eggleston, spokesperson for the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

The proceedings in the case against the two men have continued for almost two decades so far. They were sent to The Hague in 2003 and were initially acquitted by the court in 2013.

The court’s appeals chamber overturned the acquittal verdict in 2015, ruling that serious legal and factual errors had been made, and their retrial started in 2017.

Simmons’ report to Assembly on alleged wrongdoings, without legal effect (RFE)

Malcolm Simmons, former head judge for the EU Rule of Law mission in Kosovo (EULEX), will report to Kosovo Assembly conference via video call on June 12 about his allegations for wrongdoings and corruption in the mission. Since 2017 when he left the mission, Simmons has made numerous accusations against the EU mission, including alleged interference in investigations, threats against protected witnesses, efforts to interfere in trials, hiding of evidence, interference in criminal acts over political gains and corruption affairs.

The EU mission said in a statement that it respects the Kosovo Assembly’s decision to hear the former judge but at the same time said that it is aware that Simmons will present a biased and unfounded version of allegations of abuse during his tenure as judge in EULEX.

Legal commentators in Prishtina meanwhile argue that regardless of what Simmons will testify to the MPs, EULEX officials in Kosovo have immunity and cannot be legally persecuted by Kosovo institutions for their possible actions during their mandate in Kosovo.

PDK’s Uran Ismaili to run for Prishtina Mayor (media)

Uran Ismaili, senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), announced on Wednesday that he will be running for Prishtina Mayor in the upcoming local elections scheduled for October.

Police arrest 21 persons for suspected corruption in agricultural grants (media)

In one of the leading stories on Wednesday, news websites reported that Kosovo Police arrested 21 persons for suspected corruption in agricultural grants, in the case which is known as “Subsidies”. The arrests were made in several locations in Kosovo. Among those arrested 14 are officials of the Agricultural Development Agency. A prosecutor working on the case said that the damage caused by the suspects is believed to be over 1 million euros.

Independent Media Commission head arrested (media)

All news websites reported on Wednesday that Kosovo Police arrested the head of the Independent Media Commission (IMC), Luan Latifi, on the suspicion of bribery. The head of administration and finance at IMC was also arrested. The IMC said in a statement that they are ready to cooperate with the authorities on the case.