• Prishtina’s future mayor (Kosovo 2.0)
• Kosovo court remands five terrorism suspects in custody (BIRN)
• Indictment filed in case of theft of over €2 million from state treasury (RFE)
• Albanian villages in north now under administration of police in Mitrovica South (media)
• Cable operator from Serbia expanding without permit south of Ibar (RFE)
• Western Balkans Diaspora write to Biden to deter Serbia’s growing influence (Euronews.al)
• Serwer: Serbia’s current elite steals, people to think about it in elections (N1)
• EU Climate Diplomacy Week opens in Kosovo (BIRN)
• COVID-19: No deaths, 35 new cases (media)
• Serbian officials knew COVID-19 deaths three times higher than reported (BIRN)

Prishtina’s future mayor (Kosovo 2.0)

On October 17, the residents of Prishtina will choose their new mayor and the government that will run the city for the next four years. One of the few mayoral elections this year in Kosovo without an incumbent, the race is hotly contested between the top three contenders: Vetëvendosje’s Arben Vitia, LDK’s Përparim Rama and PDK’s Uran Ismaili.

The competitive nature of the race appears to be forcing the parties to up their game. All three of these candidates have released comprehensive campaign platforms that go deep into how they are promising to run the city, at a greater level of detail than has been the norm in the past.

The platforms are notable for their big ideas and promises of transformation. Rama and Ismaili in particular, considered to be running behind the favored Vitia, are trying to pitch themselves as innovative and dynamic figures who are not just redefining their parties’ relationships to Prishtina, but will transform Prishtina itself.

Though the candidates may differ from each other personally, they see common problems in the city they are vying for, the same problems anyone living in Prishtina notices. Crippling traffic congestion and poor pedestrian access. Deadly winter air pollution and a depressing lack of green space. Underfunded public schools and unequal municipal attention across neighborhoods.

If there is a central campaign pillar that these three candidates have in common, it’s that they promise a greener Prishtina.

With relatively similar focuses in their platforms, and little ideological differentiation, the distinction between these candidates is more on the rhetorical or personal level. Who exactly are these three men vying to become Prishtina’s mayor? What are their personal and professional backgrounds? And what do their candidacies mean for their parties, for Prishtina and for Kosovo?

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/3mNteCP

Kosovo court remands five terrorism suspects in custody (BIRN)

Five Kosovo Albanians, alleged to be radical Islamists, were remanded in custody for 30 days after being arrested on suspicion of planning to stage terrorist attacks in the country.

Pristina Basic Court on Tuesday handed down a 30-day custody remand to Ardian Gjuraj, Nuhredin Skenderi, Ergim Syla, Mentor Bellaqa and Shkodran Krasniqi, two days after they were arrested on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in Kosovo.

Prosecution documents obtained by BIRN show that the five suspects are alleged to have had different roles within the alleged terrorist group – four of them are suspected of planning attacks while another is suspected of the unauthorised import, export and supply of weapons and explosive devices.

The documents claim that the five men were part of a radical Islamist group. All of them have been arrested before for being members of such groups, the documents say.

It’s alleged that since March 2021, they have been trying to build an organisational structure to commit terrorist attacks in Kosovo.

“By contacting a high-ranking person within the structure of terrorist organisation, ISIS [Islamic State]- External Office, [one suspect] was engaged in providing hand grenades, explosive and firearms with ammunition aimed at committing terrorist acts in Kosovo,” says the document that launched the investigation, dated August 27, 2021.

One of those arrested, Ardian Gjuraj, was sentenced to a year and five months in prison for terrorism in February 2018 but was released after five months by the Court of Appeals.

His indictment specified that while living in Germany during 2014-2015, Gjuraj became a supporter of the so-called Islamic State.

His father, Kujtim Cerkini, reported Gjuraj to the police and the German authorities extradited him to Kosovo in April 2015.

According to the same indictment, in December 2015, Gjuraj was part of a group that travelled to Turkey and, after becoming separated from the group, entered Syria to join a group of Kosovo fighters within Islamic State.

The indictment said Gjuraj was then arrested in February 2016 by the Turkish authorities when he illegally crossed the Syria-Turkey border.

More than 260 Kosovo Albanians, including fighters and their family members, have been repatriated from the conflict zones of the Middle East since 2019; however, many of those who went to fight lost their lives there.

Indictment filed in case of theft of over €2 million from state treasury (RFE)

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo said on Tuesday that it has filed an indictment against two defendants (Labinot Gruda and Kadri Shala) who are suspected of being involved in the theft of over €2 million from the State Treasury. The Prosecution states that "the incriminating actions of the defendants LG and K.SH, caused damage to the Kosovo budget in the amount of 2,077,995.90 euros".

Labinot Gruda is charged with criminal offenses: abuse of official position or authority, access to computer systems, theft of identity and access equipment, and money laundering, in co-perpetration with the defendant Kadri Shala.

Defendant Kadri Shala is charged with money laundering, in collaboration with the other defendant, and for the criminal offense of aiding and abetting the criminal offense: abuse of position or authority.

The theft happened in October 2020 and Gruda, who at the time worked at the State Treasury, is suspected of transferring over €2 million through four different transactions to the bank account of a company based some 30 kilometers away from Prishtina. Shala is one of the owners of the company.

Albanian villages in north now under administration of police in Mitrovica South (media)

Most news websites reported on Tuesday evening that the Albanian majority villages in the northern part of Mitrovica will be under the administration of the police station in Mitrovica South. The news was announced by Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, who said in a Facebook post that the request came from Mitrovica South Mayor Agim Bahtiri and residents of the Albanian villages in the north.

Cable operator from Serbia expanding without permit south of Ibar (RFE)

The N1 television program, which is one of the few television programs critical of the Serbian authorities - owned by The United Group - can no longer be seen in Serb-majority areas of Kosovo, the news website reports. This came as a result of a transaction carried out by MTS, a subsidiary of Telecom of Serbia, which bought out all cable operators covering Serb-populated municipalities south of the Ibar River.

The transaction was confirmed on October 7 by the General Director of Telecom of Serbia, Vladimir Lucic, who told Serbian news agency Tanjug that MTS doo, a branch of Serbia Telecom, took over “all cable operators in Serbian premises in Kosovo”.

MTS doo is a company established in 2015, based on the Brussels Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. The company is headed mainly by people who are close to the current government in Serbia, while Telecom of Serbia is the founder, with 100 percent of shares.

Following the acquisition in 2019 of all major operators in northern Kosovo, where the Serb majority population lives, the same has already been done with cable operators operating in Serb-majority areas south of the Ibar River.

But, the Independent Media Commission of Kosovo (IMC) claims that MTS is not the only operator operating in Serb-majority premises in Kosovo and adds that the recent request of the operator Hertz, to transfer its competencies to the company MTS, has not been approved.

Western Balkans Diaspora write to Biden to deter Serbia’s growing influence (Euronews.al)

Representatives of the Albanian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin Diaspora in the United States, in a letter addressed to the Congress and the administration of President Joe Biden raised the alarm over Serbia’s recent actions and called for increased US presence in the region to preserve peace and security in the Western Balkans.

In the letter, they express their concern about Serbia’s growing aggression recalling the recent incident at the checkpoint with Kosovo as well as the enthronement of the new Montenegrin Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church which led to ethnic tensions and a clash between police forces and protestors.

Representatives from the Diaspora also assert that this is a matter that should concern US authorities because it directly undermines stability and peace in the region, as well as Europe.

Serwer: Serbia’s current elite steals, people to think about it in elections (N1)

Daniel Serwer, a Johns Hopkins University professor, told N1 on Tuesday that the mention of Serbia's three ministers and a close friend of President Aleksandar Vucic in the “Pandora Papers” showed a corruption problem in the country similar to the one existing in other Balkans countries.

In an interview with N1, he said some parts of the population were unhappy with corruption in all those countries. “Why (Kosovo’s Albin) Kurti became Prime Minister? The public felt the corruption was out of control and that he would be able to fix it. As far as Serbia is concerned, I think it’s clear – the current elite, in power for some time already, steals, and I have nothing against that the people realise that and take it into account when going to the polls,” Serwer said.

Commenting on a wave of the rightist defeats in Europe and what that can mean for Vucic, Serwer said it was clear the ethnic nationalism was withdrawing in the world and that the Donald Trump not getting reelected was an important step. However, he said, that did not mean Vucic would lose the next elections since he had great support in Serbia. Serwer said Vucic managed to implement illegal repression over the opposition, and that he controlled the media and the courts in the country. He added that this means Vucic would be most likely be re-elected unless faced by a strong leader from the ranks of the liberal democrats.

Speaking about the recent European Union – Western Balkans Summit, Serwer said it left open doors to the enlargement but that it was too early to talk about specific dates since the candidate countries would have to meet rigorous conditions.

Referring to Slovenia’s proposal for 2030 as the year for the regional countries to join the EU, Serwer said he was not surprised. “I think the mentioning of 2030 was positive”. He added that for one or two countries, the membership could happen even earlier.

“No doubt the joining is not automatic. It requires a consensus of all member states, and that is difficult to achieve. It will be easier when the EU economy recovers from the COVID-19-related recession,” he added.

Commenting on Serbia’s chances of joining the EU, he said it was clear that Belgrade was not looking at both East and East. “Vucic clearly said he would not solve Kosovo’s issue before the next years’ elections, and probably not during the next mandate if elected. So, he is not looking at both sides anymore, but at one directed to Russia and China,” Serwer said.

He added that Serbia’s authorities reintroduced autocracy at home and focused its foreign policy on the East.

“The same goes for some other Western Balkans countries, but to a certain extent for Montenegro, whose Government likes Russians. Even the previous regime had huge investments from China, like a motorway that is under construction,” Serwer said.

Serwer also said that Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia remained focused on the West and the EU membership. That is why he believes one or two countries can join the bloc before 2030 if they “get serious in maintaining democracy and open society”.

EU Climate Diplomacy Week opens in Kosovo (BIRN)

On Monday "Climate Diplomacy Week" started in Kosovo, an event that aims to stimulate debate on climate change – whose challenges have prompted the EU to organize similar weeks around the world.

Miran Vatovec, from the EU Office in Kosovo, told BIRN that the events and activities planned to be held this week aim to raise the public’s awareness of the need to take decisive steps towards climate neutrality as one of the ultimate goals of the EU.

“Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and we all need to contribute to the reduction of green-house gas emissions, whether from burning the coal or driving a car,” Vatovec said.

The Head of the EU in Kosovo, Thomas Szunyog, through a video broadcast on the website of the House of Europe, encouraged Kosovo society, institutions and every person to demonstrate their highest possible ambition to halt climate change.

“Global warming is an existential threat to humanity. Global greenhouse gas emissions remain on an unstable trajectory despite short-term emission reductions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

In the coming days, a panel discussion will be held on where Kosovo is in the European Green Deal and air monitoring reports for the municipalities of Peja and Gjakova will be presented. The School of Arts in Peja will also host an exhibition of things made from redesign through the recycling of unused clothes.

From 27 September to 17 October, EU delegations and embassies of EU member states around the world have started these weeks to promote dialogue and cooperation on climate change, to show success stories and to inspire further actions.

The focus of this year’s Climate Diplomacy Weeks is ambition and action.

Considering that climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world, the European Green Deal seeks to transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy.

The world is endangered by a number of factors that affect global warming: high temperatures, drought and wildfires, availability of fresh water, floods, sea-level rises and more. Under the Green Deal, the EU aims to be climate-neutral – an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions – by 2050.

One third of the €1.8 trillion investment from the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan and the EU’s seven-year budget will fund the Green Deal. Next Generation EU is a recovery plan designed to help Europe emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic, with transformed economies and societies.

COVID-19: No deaths, 35 new cases (media)

No deaths from COVID-19 and 35 new cases with the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 79 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 1,051 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian officials knew COVID-19 deaths three times higher than reported (BIRN)

Officials in Serbia were aware that over 10,000 death certificates confirming people died of COVID-19 were issued in 2020, but only reported around 3,300 deaths to the public at the time, statistics obtained by BIRN show.

Data obtained by BIRN from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia shows that more than 10,000 certificates in which COVID-19 was cited as the cause of death were issued in the country in 2020, although only around a third of this number were officially reported to the public at the time.

A total of 3,130 deaths were published on the official website covid19.rs last year.

In May this year, the Health Ministry established the Commission for the Analysis of Deaths Caused by COVID-19 to review the figures. The Commission reported that there had been a much higher death toll of 10,356 casualties in 2020.

Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar told media on June 30 that “we took health records, everything else that exists, death certificates, statements of relatives and friends of all those who passed away and anything we could get in connection with the coronavirus, and that number of people [who died] in 2020 is 10,356”.

But the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has now told BIRN that 10,356 death certificates were issued in 2020, meaning that the Commission’s review of the death toll only revealed what was already known to the authorities last year – that the mortality figures were three times higher than they told the public.

Some Commission members declined to speak to BIRN about the findings.

When BIRN showed the data to Prime Minister Ana Brnabic after the September 11 session of the Crisis Staff, the government body in charge of responding to the pandemic, she denied that the death toll presented to the public in 2020 had been under-reported.

“Do you think we would do something like that? Why would we do something like that?” Brnabic said.

Last year, BIRN reported that from March 19 to June 1, 2020, a total of 632 people died in Serbia who had tested positive for the coronavirus, which was more than twice the officially announced number of 244 deaths in that period.

At that point, officials from the Batut Institute, which manages the COVID-19 information system, declined to respond to the BIRN’s findings, while state officials, including President Aleksandar Vucic, dismissed the revelations.

In September 2020, a member of the Serbian Government’s Crisis Staff, Predrag Kon, admitted that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 by June 2020 officially announced by the government was three times lower than the real number.

Kon blamed a new information system that he said was being used for the first time, and which had not been not accurate.