• COVID-19: 12 new cases, no deaths (media)
• New wave of pandemic may be inevitable, Kosovo Health Minister says (media)
• Working women and the pandemic (Kosovo 2.0)
• Samples of some persons poisoned in Decan will be send abroad (Koha)
• Intelligence Agency chief to report to Assembly today on Decan situation (media)
• Kosovo Minister of Trade insists Mini-Schengen is a trap (Koha)
• Kosovo, Serbia leaders to discuss future of dialogue next week (Exit News)
• Von Cramon: Public hearing for Simmons, regretful (Klan Kosova)
• LDK leader: Anton Cuni will run for Prizren Mayor (media)

COVID-19: 12 new cases, no deaths (media)

12 new cases with COVID-19 and zero deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 14 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 106 active cases with COVID-19. 11,518 vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours. To date, 282,180 vaccines have been administered in Kosovo.

New wave of pandemic may be inevitable, Kosovo Health Minister says (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, said on Wednesday that a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic may be inevitable in Kosovo in autumn and that the Delta variant of the virus could prevail in Kosovo too. “The Delta variant is extremely dangerous … and we are afraid that soon it will prevail in Kosovo. The spread of the variant is very frightening, and all measures used so far are showing that the spread could be slowed down but not stopped completely … The good news from countries that successfully conducted the vaccination process is that all those who were vaccinated are protected from the Delta variant,” Vitia said.

Working women and the pandemic (Kosovo 2.0)

When Arta heard the news about the latest relaxation of pandemic restrictions, the first things that came to her mind were the prospect of double shifts and the image of her bent silhouette hunched over her sewing machine.

“It is that time of the year when you cannot get your head away from your sewing machine,” she said. “By the end of the summer only my back can tell the long hours of work and sitting.”

Large weddings, which were prohibited throughout the last year in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, were allowed to start again in mid-June as part of the gradual reopening of the economy. The announcement forced soon-to-be newlyweds to rush to schedule dates and book venues at the same time that huge numbers of diaspora are expected to arrive this summer.

Those coming from abroad will not only add to the joy of family weddings, but also give a much needed boost to the country’s economy, which suffered from the diaspora’s absence over the last year.

But for Arta, who requested a pseudonym in order to speak freely, wedding season means non-stop work.

Since 2013 Arta has worked as a seamstress in the informal sector, meaning she has no contract and does not receive pension or health contributions. Her monthly wages are now 250 euros but for the first four years of work she received only 150 euros a month.

“I am over 50, what choice do I have?” she said. “Many people I know are working as tailors, and believe me, those working for famous designers often work in double shifts during the whole year. At least in the place I work we have double shifts only during the busy summer of weddings and celebrations.”

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Samples of some persons poisoned in Decan will be send abroad (Koha)

The daily reports on its front page today more than 120 citizens of Decan asked for medical care at the municipal medical center on Wednesday afternoon. Heads of the medical center and the municipality said that the number of persons with health problems from the poisoning is dropping compared to the previous days when the number of poisoned reached 1,500. There is still no information on what caused the infection. Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, said on Wednesday that the samples of some persons poisoned in Decan will be send for further tests abroad.

Intelligence Agency chief to report to Assembly today on Decan situation (media)

The head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI), Petrit Ajeti, will report to the Kosovo Assembly Committee on Oversight of the AKI today about the situation created in the municipality of Decan after the poisonings there. The meeting is scheduled to start at 09:00.

Kosovo Minister of Trade insists Mini-Schengen is a trap (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Rozeta Hajdari, said on Wednesday that the Mini-Schengen initiative is a trap and that it goes against Kosovo’s interests. “Mini-Schengen is a trap and a philosophy, a propaganda coming from different leaders who for the sake of their own political interests promote agendas that are not in the interests of countries in the region,” Hajdari said at the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly Committee on the Economy on Wednesday.

Kosovo, Serbia leaders to discuss future of dialogue next week (Exit News)

The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia will meet on Monday, July 19th, to discuss how the dialogue on the normalization of the two countries’ relations will proceed.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano told journalists in a press conference on Tuesday that Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti will be hosted by the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, and EU envoy for the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, in Brussels next week.

In their first meeting, Kurti and Vucic failed to agree on anything, according to both sides, but their negotiating teams continued the work.

The two sides accuse each other of failing to implement parts of the more than 30 agreements signed so far under the auspices of the EU.

Asked whether this second meeting could result also in no signed agreement, Stano said that the dialogue has been progressing in a positive direction toward the achievement of a legally binding comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

“Every meeting […] is getting us a little bit closer in the process. There is no regress, that’s important,” Stano stated.

In the previous meeting, Kurti proposed for the two countries to establish reciprocity measures after having recognized each other, sign a joint peace agreement pledging not to attack each other, commit fully to finding persons missing from the war, and for the six Western Balkans countries to sign a free trade agreement between them and with the European Union. Kurti said Vucic rejected the first three proposals and didn’t respond to the last.

Serbia, on the other hand, insists that Kosovo establish the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, in accordance with a 2013 agreement which the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has ruled to be in violation of the constitution.

Kosovo’s government fears that an association with executive powers that receives direct orders from Belgrade would amount to a state within the state, and could thus paralyze the country’s functioning. Instead, they want the association to have no executive powers and for it not to include only Serb municipalities in Kosovo.

Von Cramon: Public hearing for Simmons, regretful (Klan Kosova)

European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon, said in an interview with Klan Kosova on Wednesday that she was surprised by the claims of former EULEX judge Malcolm Simmons that the mission is corrupted and political and that the motive behind these allegations must be revealed. “It is interesting that someone who worked in that institution is now making these allegations four years after he left the mission. So, there are many questions surrounding his statements now. Why didn’t he make these statements before? What is his motive now? Is it related to investigations by EULEX against him and why did he address the members of the Kosovo Assembly? It seems somewhat suspicious to me and above all it seems as an attack against the institutions of the European Union,” she said.

Von Cramon also said: “we have no idea what this can bring and my message for Kosovo MPs is to think twice and to set a meeting if this is necessary so that we can find to solve this, and not use this for political objectives and to reject all independent investigations conducted by the judicial institutions”.

LDK leader: Anton Cuni will run for Prizren Mayor (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku said on Wednesday that Anton Cuni, deputy leader of this party and former Minister of Defense, will run for Prizren Mayor in the upcoming municipal elections.