Belgrade based news agency Beta reported that the new academic year started on Tuesday on all ten faculties of the former Pristina University, relocated in the north Mitrovica with over 1,100 Serb freshmen financed by Belgrade, the Beta news agency reported.

Serbia’s Ministry of Education has declared the 2019-2020 academic year as the year of free entry, which means that the education of all those entitled to enroll will be paid for from Serbia’s budget.

The Pristina University with the seat in Mitrovica North was, is and will be part of the educational system of the Republic of Serbia, and there is no compromise about it, said Rade Grbic, Rector of the University.

The Serbian List MP in the Assembly of Kosovo, Igor Simic
says that none of the Serbian List MPs will vote on a law that would allow the
inclusion of that university into the Kosovo education system.

Pristina University with a
temporary headquarters in Mitrovica North was and will be in the Serbian
education system, says Director of the Office for KiM, Marko Djuric, reports
Radio television of Serbia (RTS) quoting the Office for KiM website.

"Keep your hands away
from our university, it cannot be kidnapped because knowledge is acquired on
it!'' said Djuric.

The draft of the Kosovo Law on Higher Education classifies the University of North Mitrovica as a public Kosovo institution of higher education. The votes of at least four deputies representing the Serb community in the Kosovo Assembly are required in order for this law to be adopted. This draft, which was proposed in November of last year, was discussed in early March in the assembly education committee in Pristina, in which Srpska Lista MP, Verica Ceranic is also a member.

Opinion piece by Garentina Kraja. Kraja studied political science at Yale University. She served as a foreign policy and security adviser for President Atifete Jahjaga and prior to that she was a journalist at Koha Ditore during 1999-2000 and the Associated Press correspondent in Kosovo from 2001 through 2007.

Forensic teams carrying out investigations into a possible mass grave site near the building of the Orthodox Church inside the Pristina university campus found no human remains on the site, announced the chairman of the Kosovo government commission for missing persons, Prenk Gjetaj. He said however that the forensic teams have now shifted the excavations into another adjacent site.

The graduates of the University of Pristina temporarily located in North Mitrovica can verify their diplomas, said Director of the Office for Community Affairs Ivan Tomić. "So far, students could submit documentation for verification of diplomas only in the Ministry of Education in Pristina, or in the Secretariat at the reception of the Ministry," said Tomic.

Mir Radio Television and Radio Television of Mitrovica organized a debate "Academic Bridges" which was attended by professors from the University of Pristina and Mitrovica North. And this time, representatives of these universities have different priorities. Thus, representatives of Serbs say that the Bologna Declaration is a failure, while the representatives of the Albanians complain about the insufficient budget.

The news agency reports that the Serb orthodox church, which was constructed in the yard of Pristina University after the abrogation of Kosovo’s autonomy, was supported and funded by the political party of Serbian war criminal Zeljko Raznjatevic – Arkan. The news agency has published a video depicting Arkan, who was notorious for war crimes committed in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, attending the construction of the church together with his associates.

Kosovo Ministry of Education, Science and Technology through a press statement announced today that Minister Arsim Bajrami revoked the decision of the University of Pristina Steering Committee to dismiss Rector Ramadan Zejnullahu. According to the statement, Bajrami took this decision because the Steering Committee violated the Rules of Procedure when dismissed the Rector Zejnullahu. Today a protest was organized by the civil society in Pristina against the decision for Rector Zejnullahu’s dismissal.