• COVID-19: Ten new cases, no deaths (media)
• Assembly to debate today on implementation of Washington agreement (media)
• Kosovo, Serbia to meet today at level of chief negotiators (Indeksonline)
• “Guxo” List, Vetevendosje to run together in upcoming local elections (media)
• Calls for equal inclusion of women and men in elections (media)
• Vetevendosje MP: No Association with executive competencies (T7)
• “There must not be a monoethnic association in a multiethnic society” (KTV)
• Hasani: When political options are stopped, war breaks out (media)
• Serbia’s Interior Minister insults Kosovo President, reactions follow (media)
• Law on confiscation of illegally obtained wealth to be ready in autumn (T7)
• US Ambassador: Kosovo needs to move past reliance on remittances (media)
• Trial of Oliver Ivanovic murder suspects opens in Kosovo (BIRN)
• Roma in Kosovo protest for investigation of ‘Czech Floyd’ death (BIRN)
• Investing in the Balkans, China sidesteps Kosovo (BIRN)

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

Ten new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours and no deaths. 16 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 152 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo. 13,397 vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours. To date, a total of 219,885 vaccines have been administered in Kosovo. 52,975 persons have received both doses of the vaccine.

Assembly to debate today on implementation of Washington agreement (media)

The Kosovo Assembly will meet today at 10:00 to discuss among other points the implementation of the Washington agreement. Arben Gashi, head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said that the LDK has called the parliamentary debate on the agreement, which was signed during the Trump administration but has also been supported by the Biden administration. “The agreement is in favor of Kosovo and the people of Kosovo. The agreement must be implemented. We expect Prime Minister Kurti and former Prime Minister Hoti to attend the assembly session,” Gashi said.

Kosovo, Serbia to meet today at level of chief negotiators (Indeksonline)

The news website reports that delegations from Kosovo and Serbia will meet in Brussels today at the level of chief negotiators. Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi will head the Kosovo delegation, while the Belgrade delegation will be led by Petar Petkovic.

“Guxo” List and Vetevendosje to run together in upcoming local elections (media)

The “Guxo” List and the Vetevendosje Movement will run together in the upcoming local elections, scheduled for October 17 this year. Donika Gervalla, acting leader of the Guxo List and Foreign Minister of Kosovo, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the two parties running together will bring change to Kosovo.

“The Guxo List has decided to take part in the upcoming municipal elections together with the Vetevendosje Movement, because the Referendum List (Vetevendosje + Guxo + Alternativa) scored a plebiscitary victory in the February 14 elections this year, and also because our joint coalition has proved that it knows and wants to make the promised change,” Gervalla said.

Calls for equal inclusion of women and men in elections (media)

The Kosovo Women’s Network in an open letter to political parties in Kosovo on Tuesday has called for the equal inclusion of women and men in candidacies for mayors in the upcoming local elections. The KWN said the equal inclusion is done through the implementation of the Law on Gender Equality. “Women in Kosovo remain underrepresented initially within the political parties and also in candidacies for mayors of municipalities. So far, no woman has announced a candidacy for mayor. This is against Article 14 of the Law on Gender Equality,” the letter notes.

Vetevendosje MP: No Association with executive competencies (T7)

Vetevendosje MP Mefail Bajqinovci said on Tuesday that there won’t be an Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo with executive competencies.

Bajqinovci also said that the Ujman/Gazivoda Lake is the biggest asset in Kosovo. “Without Ujman, the Trepca mining complex, Kosovo Power Corporation and Ferronikel cannot function. Half of Kosovo gets its water from Ujman,” he said. According to Bajqinovci, Prime Minister Albin Kurti will provide additional arguments that Ujman belongs of Kosovo.

“There must not be a monoethnic association in a multiethnic society” (KTV)

Gjyljeta Mushkolaj, a former judge with the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, said in a debate on Tuesday that Kosovo must not allow the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities as requested by Serbia and that the Constitution of Kosovo does not allow monoethnic associations in a multiethnic society.

“We can correct the situation we are in, starting with the fact that the European Union is ready to work on the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, especially in terms of forming the association of Serb-majority municipalities. What will be important is the fact that the Constitutional Court must start from the basic articles. Our state is defined as a multiethnic society which means that it must never allow a monoethnic organisation within the Republic of Kosovo because our society is multiethnic,” Mushkolaj said.

Hasani: When political options are stopped, war breaks out (media)

Enver Hasani, former President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, said in a debate on Dukagjini TV on Tuesday said that in politics there are always options to solve problems. “When political options are stopped, war breaks out. War is a continuation of politics with violent means. I don’t see readiness among the people of Kosovo for conflict,” he said.

Hasani said that Kosovo politicians must never close all the paths in the dialogue. “If our politicians close all options, I am afraid that the process of derecognition could begin. This would be terrible for us,” he argued.

Hasani also said that if international agreements are not implemented, the state loses its seriousness. “You cannot unilaterally withdraw from international agreements, only if the other party does not deliver on its obligations. In our case, the European Union is the arbiter,” he said.

According to Hasani, the Constitution of Kosovo does not have to be amended for the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Serbia’s Interior Minister insults Kosovo President, reactions follow (media)

All media reported on Tuesday that Serbian Minister of Interior Affairs, Aleksandar Vulin, made insulting remarks against Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani. Blerim Vela, Chief of Staff for President Osmani, took to Twitter to react to Vulin’s insults, saying that “Vulin is the mouthpiece of the primitive, violent and sexist regime in Serbia. Vulin serves his current master, Aleksandar Vucic, with the same vigor and dedication like he served Milosevic. Disgusting!”. Vlora Citaku, Kosovo’s former ambassador to the United States, too reacted to Vulin’s remarks calling them “disgusting” in a Twitter post.

Law on confiscation of illegally obtained wealth to be ready in autumn (T7)

The Chief of Staff in Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice, Genc Nimoni, said on Tuesday that the first draft of the law on the confiscation of illegally obtained wealth of public officials is ready. Nimoni said that the final version of the law is expected to be ready in autumn this year.

US Ambassador: Kosovo needs to move past reliance on remittances (media)

The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, said on Tuesday that Kosovo needs to move past its reliance on remittances. “Productive discussions with Pan-Albanian American Congress (@PaacPan) leaders today. Kosovo needs to move past its reliance on remittances, incentivize targeted investments, and tap into the knowledge and expertise of its educated, engaged diaspora,” Kosnett wrote in a Twitter post.

Trial of Oliver Ivanovic murder suspects opens in Kosovo (BIRN)

Over three years after the assassination of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic, the trial of four people accused of abetting the murder and two policemen accused of evidence-tampering opened in Pristina.

The trial for the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic opened on Tuesday at Pristina Basic Court with the prosecution saying it will prove that the defendants participated in removing obstacles to the killing, abused their official positions and collaborated with the killers, who have not yet been arrested.

“Those who committed the murder are not on trial, their identity is still unknown,” state prosecutor Burim Cerkini told the court.

Four of the defendants – Marko Rosic, Silvana Arsovic, Rade Basara, and Nedeljko Spasojevic – are accused of being members of a joint criminal enterprise that murdered Ivanovic outside his political party’s office in the city of Mitrovica in January 2018.

Two police officers, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Jovanovic, are accused of evidence-tampering in the case.

All of them have pleaded not guilty.

Mahmut Halimi, the defence lawyer for Rosic, claimed that the prosecution did not have enough evidence to prove his client’s involvement in the crime.

Rosic is alleged to have followed Ivanovic before his death, but Halimi said he had at least three witnesses to prove Rosic’s innocence.

“I have information that Oliver Ivanovic was followed by someone called Debeli,” Halimi told the court.

Jovana Filipovic, one of the lawyers for Arsovic, also told the court the prosecution has not provided evidence of her client’s guilt. Of the 77 prosecution witnesses, four of whom have protected identities, Filipovic claimed that none has shown a link between Arsovic and the people accused or mentioned in the indictment.

The alleged leaders of the organised criminal group that killed Ivanovic are Kosovo Serb businessmen Milan Radojicic and Zvonko Veselinovic.

Radoicic, who is also the vice-president of the main Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb political party, Srpska Lista, is widely seen as the real power-holder in Serb-majority northern Kosovo. He has denied involvement in Ivanovic’s murder.

Once seen as a hardline nationalist, Ivanovic had evolved into a political moderate who advocated coexistence between Kosovo’s Serb minority and Albanian majority.

He had also become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the Belgrade government.

At the time of his death, he was being retried for ordering the murder of Kosovo Albanians during the war in Kosovo in 1999. He pleaded not guilty.

As the trial opened in Pristina, Oliver Ivanovic’s nephew Aleksandar Ivanovic expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the proceedings.

“Only after three-and-a-half years do we have the formal beginning of that trial, and we will see in which direction everything will go,” Aleksandar Ivanovic told N1 TV in Serbia.

“Unfortunately, this indictment and this procedure which is being conducted in Pristina only includes some people who helped in committing this crime, it is not dealing with the executors and principals,” he added.

The next hearing will be held on August 30.

Roma in Kosovo protest for investigation of ‘Czech Floyd’ death (BIRN)

Roma community members and Kosovo activists marched to the Czech embassy in Pristina to urge an investigation into the death of Stanislav Tomas, a Roma man whose alleged smothering has been compared to the case of George Floyd.

Holding banners with slogans like “We are Tomas”, “How many weren’t filmed?” and “I can’t breathe”, protesters marched from Pristina city centre to the Czech Embassy where they called on the Prague authorities to investigate the death last month of Stanislav Tomas, a Czech Roma man.

“We are expressing our concern about [Czech] police brutality and asking for an investigation of the case because Roma in Europe should be respected,” said Sebastian Serifovic from local NGO Roma Veritas Kosova.

“Roma are still considered outlaws. Violence against them is not punished but even praised,” Avni Mustafa from Roma Veritas Kosova told the protesters in front of the embassy.

Forty-six-year-old Stanislav Tomas died on June 19 in Teplice, a small city in the north-west of the Czech Republic.

Video of the incident shows three police officers trying to control a screaming man as he frantically resists and bystanders call on the police to stop “smothering” him.

The video has sparked anger among Roma organisations and comparisons with the killing of George Floyd in the US.

Investing in the Balkans, China sidesteps Kosovo (BIRN)

China’s controversial investment push into the Balkans has notably sidestepped Kosovo, a state it does not recognise.

From Montenegro’s ‘road to ruin’ to Serbia’s Smederevo steel mill, China is all over the Balkans these days. Except in Kosovo.

“In Kosovo you can find many goods from China, but no investment at all,” said Safet Gërxhaliu, an expert on economics and until recently head of Kosovo’s Chamber of Commerce.

For better or worse, China’s economic footprint in the Balkans has grown significantly over the past decade.

But when it comes to Kosovo, there’s one major obstacle – Beijing does not recognise the former Serbian province as independent, and is unlikely to do so given its own ‘breakaway’ issues with Taiwan and while Chinese relations remain so warm with Serbia.

Kosovo, too, views China alongside Russia as a firm ally of former master Serbia, standing in the way of the young state’s membership of the United Nations thanks to its Security Council veto. That makes any eventual Chinese investment a political risk.

Vuk Vuksanovic, a PhD candidate in International Relations at the London School of Economics, said that while Serbia and Kosovo remain at odds over the latter’s statehood, China is unlikely to set aside the question of Kosovo’s political status and pursue purely economic collaboration. Serbia has vowed never to recognise Kosovo as independent.

“China sees Serbia as its most important partner in the region at this point,” Vuksanovic told BIRN. “Unless there is some agreement with Belgrade, it is hard to envision China venturing economically into Kosovo in any serious way. It is also dubious how enthusiastic Kosovo would be about the Chinese factor, given the strong pro-American proclivity among the Kosovo Albanians.”