Kosovo’s Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi had a meeting today with Austrian Ambassador to Kosovo, Johann Brieger and thanked him for his country’s strong support through increasing investment and lobbying for Kosovo’s recognition in the international arena. Selimi and Brieger discussed the agenda of the upcoming Berlin Process summit that will take place in Vienna on 27 August and the two agreed that strengthening of cooperation between the countries in the region and the EU are key to economic development.

Continuation of political negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina was announced for 25 August and talks could be completed by signing four new agreements, claim the EU sources.

Serbian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic said Friday that Serbia will continue to fight against Kosovo's joining the UNESCO, stressing that this would be hypocrisy at its worst.

Dacic said that the final decision on this matter will be made by the organization in November.

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, through a Facebook post thanked all the representatives of religious communities in Kosovo for the joint letter addressed to UNESCO, calling for Kosovo’s acceptance in this organization. Thaci wrote that this was a strong testimony against “Serbia’s racist theories that Kosovo’s membership in UNESCO would hurt the religious communities.” “A wonderful support for our membership in UNESCO from all the religious communities in Kosovo.

Belgrade and Pristina contrary on membership in UNESCO

The deputy head of Kosovo diplomacy Petrit Selimi, yesterday denied the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia Ivica Dacic that the United Nations did not accept to forward Kosovo's application for admission into UNESCO.

Kosovo’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Petrit Selimi, reacted to the statements of Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivivca Dacic that the United Nations has rejected Kosovo’s application for membership in UNESCO. Selimi told Radio Free Europe that such statements are totally incorrect. According to him, the expectations are that in October, UNESCO’s Executive Committee will give a positive answer to Kosovo’s application to join this organization. “Kosovo cannot be denied by the UN because it didn’t apply to the UN.

The Vatican has in the past shown "appropriate responsibility" when it comes to concerns over the fate of Christian heritage in Kosovo.

This is what Serbia's UNESCO ambassador Darko Tanaskovic told the Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, adding, "It would of course be very valuable if they shared that concern as actively as possible with Catholics around the world."

Tanaskovic was asked whether the Catholic Church "could stand in defense of the Serb (Orthodox) heritage in Kosovo and Metohija as Christian heritage."

Kosovo from 18 July until 1 August participated in the "World Heritage Volunteers" in Weimar, Germany. The first representative from Kosovo was Jusuf Koci from the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage.  World Heritage Volunteers is an initiative which started in 2008 and functions within UNESCO. The purpose of this initiative is that young people and organizations around the world to engage in the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.

The official request of Kosovo for the UNESCO membership still didn’t arrive in this organization was stated from the Public Relation Service of this UN organization.

Though Thaci wrote on 16 July on his Facebook profile that Pristina applied for membership, the first step towards the formal membership still has not been submitted. So far, Thaci refused to answer to the question whether the request was signed by the President Jahjaga or it was submitted by UNMIK.

Currently, on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage, the Serbian monuments in Kosovo are under Serbia. However, in July at the meeting of the Committee for World Heritage, without discussion was decided that these are ‘medieval monuments in Kosovo.’