• Kurti, Vucic to meet Scholz separately; then joint meeting with Lajcak (media)
• Kurti to meet German Foreign Minister Baerbock, source says (RTK)
• Free media is the bedrock of democracy, Kurti says (media)
• Media and government don’t look eye to eye (Radio Free Europe)
• Kajtazi: Another 13 persons will be arrested by Special Court (Telegrafi)
• Grondahl hopes for a Kosovo-Serbia final deal this year (Kosovapress)
• COVID-19: 4 new cases (media)

Kurti, Vucic to meet Scholz separately; then joint meeting with Lajcak (media)

All media report that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will host separate meetings today with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and that the two leaders will later take part in a joint meeting with EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak.

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said in a Twitter post on Tuesday that Scholz will host Kurti and Vucic in separate meetings in Berlin. “The meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti will be followed by a joint press conference at 16:00. Both meetings will focus on coordinating further reactions to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, political and economic relations, and regional cooperation. The meetings will also serve to support the EU-led Kosovo-Serbia dialogue,” he said.

Rohde also tweeted that “in support of the EU facilitated dialogue Chancellor Scholz has invited Miroslav Lajcak who will host a joint meeting with Prime Minister Kurti and President Vucic in the evening in Berlin”.

Koha Ditore on its front page this morning quotes political commentators in Prishtina as saying that the meeting between Kurti and Vucic is seen as a serious start in the process of the dialogue.

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj said on Tuesday that the meetings in Berlin on Tuesday are an opportunity for Miroslav Lajcak to improve the atmosphere and to create conditions for high-level talks in Brussels too. “It is important, especially for Lajcak, to organise tomorrow a joint meeting between Prime Minister Kurti and the Serbian President, be it even as an informal dinner. Because in these circumstances it is impossible to organise such a meeting in Brussels. Both Lajcak and High Representative Borrell have said that the European Union will not invite the leaders within the dialogue process if there are no clear signs that there will be concrete agreements in these meetings,” Palokaj said.

Serbian media quoted Vucic as saying on Tuesday that the talks won’t be easy. “I fear that the talks in Berlin won’t be easy,” he said.

Most media in Kosovo covered an interview that former EU envoy for Kosovo, Wolfgang Petritsch, gave to Serbian media, highlighting his remarks that Chancellor Scholz’s meetings with Kurti and Vucic are aimed at preventing the opening of new fronts from the war that Russia has started in Ukraine.

Kurti to meet German Foreign Minister Baerbock, source says (RTK)

Citing an unnamed source, the news website reports that during his stay in Berlin, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is expected to meet German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. “The meeting will be held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany without the presence of the media,” the source said.

Free media is the bedrock of democracy, Kurti says (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Tuesday on World Press Freedom Day that free media is the bedrock of democracy. “Now, in the face of disinformation, it must become its guardian. On World Press Freedom Day, we thank media workers & honor their uncompromising quest for the truth. Our progress in the Reporters Without Borders index is testimony to our commitment to democracy,” Kurti tweeted.

Media and government don’t look eye to eye (Radio Free Europe)

According to the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), 2021 has not been easy for reporters and the media, in terms of a suitable environment for doing their job. A similar trend has continued in the first four months of this year. In 2021, 29 cases of verbal attacks and threats against reporters, various forms of blackmail, tendencies to intimidate reporters, use of lynching remarks against reporters and other forms of obstructions were reported to the association. Meanwhile, 11 similar cases have been reported so far this year.

A member of the board of the Association of Journalists, told the news website that in most cases, forms and tendencies to obstruct the work of reporters and the media come from people in power or those with links to the government. “In most cases this does not directly include the current government, but such obstructions always come from people in power, or with people with close ties to the government. There are cases – rarer than the previous ones – that may come from other groups of interest, for example from a representative of a religious community or from different businesses,” the board member said.

Kajtazi: Another 13 persons will be arrested by Special Court (Telegrafi)

Reporter and political analyst, Vehbi Kajtazi, said in a debate in TV Dukagjini on Tuesday evening that another 13 persons will very soon be arrested by the Special Court. “There are rumors about 13 persons, most of them senior members of the KLA, who are expected to join the other defendants in the Hague,” he said. The operation, according to him, will take place this month and Kosovo authorities are aware of it. “Kosovo’s authorities, Prime Minister Kurti and Justice Minister Haxhiu, are informed about this. They are informed about the operation, not about the names of those that will be arrested, because steps need to be taken to make sure that there are no incidents or unrests,” Kajtazi added.

Grondahl hopes for a Kosovo-Serbia final deal this year (Kosovapress)

Norwegian Ambassador to Kosovo, Jens Erik Grondahl, said in an interview with the news website that he hopes a final settlement between Kosovo and Serbia will be reached this year. “I hope so, I would like to say yes to this, absolutely,” he said when asked if he was optimistic about a final deal between the two sides.

Grondahl also said that the situation in Kosovo and the region is calm, despite growing concerns following the Russian aggression in Ukraine. “So far, I have not seen any immediate concerns as a direct effect of the conflict in Ukraine. I also think it is very important to be vigilant and careful. We rely a lot on the information we receive from security organizations in Kosovo, such as the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) and KFOR, EULEX and the OSCE. So, we follow the advice and information we receive from the authorities in Kosovo and from the institutions. We are of course deeply concerned about the recent shootings in Zubin Potok. We have condemned this; we have supported the Kosovo government. We are concerned about these incidents, and we think they are a real threat to stability. As far as I know, it has not been possible to find out exactly who the perpetrators are. So, I think we should wait for the investigation to end, but such incidents are absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

COVID-19: 4 new cases (media)

Four new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 18 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 414 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.