Albanian Language Media:

• Osmani on crisis in north: A challenge we will overcome, we are close (media)
• Stano: EU did not sanction Kosovo, it imposed restrictive measures (media)
• Smith: Kosovo to withdraw police from municipal buildings in north (Koha)
• Police: Border officers believed to have been kidnapped inside Kosovo territory (media)
• Svecla: Serbia kidnapped three Kosovo police officers inside Kosovo territory (media)
• Citaku: Kosovo’s future cannot be jeopardised over a fistful of votes (media)
• Hoti: Kosovo needs normality in politics, economy, and foreign relations (media)
• Haradinaj: Kosovo will safeguard and strengthen partnership with NATO, U.S. (media)
• Vllasi advises Kurti: Not the time “to show our teeth” to Americans (Indeksonline)
• Another Kosovo Police vehicle demolished in the north (Kallxo)
• Bulliqi on arrests of Kosovars: We suspect vengeful act about situation in north (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

• Serbs continue protests in Zvecan and Leposavic (Kosovo Online, media)
• Lawyer Vlajic: Arrest of Milenkovic yesterday was extremely brutal (Tanjug)
• Protest walk in support of Milun Milenkovic organised in Mitrovica North today (RTS, Kosovo Online)
• Vucic on meeting with KFOR Commander: Correct talks (Kosovo Online, social media)
• Vucic: I decided not to say a word about the meeting with Quint, it's better that way (media)
• Lazarevic: Risky police action in Mitrovica, great dissatisfaction of Serbs (N1)
• "Ensure a safe working environment for journalists" (KiM radio)
• Serbian police arrested three armed Kosovo special police officers (Novosti, Kosovo Online)
• Freedom and Justice Party demands withdrawal of special police from north, release of arrested Serbs (N1, BETA)
• American senator: Kurti placed NATO troops in danger, it will not bring good to Kosovo (FoNet, N1, Kosovo Online)
• Office for KiM: Kosovo police mistreated medical workers from Strpce (Kosovo Online)
• Milivojevic: We are on the verge of a complete escalation, there is no adequate reaction (RTS, Blic)
• EULEX mandate extended, Barbano new Head of Mission (Beta, N1)
• Drecun: Groundwork for arrest of Kosovo Serb laid days beforehand (Tanjug)
• Police didn’t allow Arsenijevic and Sadiku to place flags of communities in Kosovo Government yard (KoSSev, Radio KIM)

International:

• Kosovo could face imminent Western sanctions (Euractiv)

   

Albanian Language Media  

 

Osmani on crisis in north: A challenge we will overcome, we are close (Kallxo)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani told reporters after her address at the European Parliament that the situation in the north of Kosovo is a challenge for the institutions but that it will be overcome, Kallxo reports. “I can really call them challenges, but they are challenges that we will overcome and are on the right track. We are in constant discussions with our partners, the United States of America, with our partners, with individual member states of the European Union, and with EU institutions, and I can say that the road forward will be a joint solution … There are still some details that need to be discussed but I am fully confident that this challenge will be overcome because the road forward needs to be a joint road,” she said.

Osmani said that “the state of Kosovo is built on the foundations of the European Union, including the rule of law”. “The rule of law should apply for all, without any difference … I commend the professional work of Kosovo Police who with complete professionalism and full commitment are making sure that all those that used violence against KFOR, Kosovo Police, EULEX, the citizens and reporters, are faced with justice and only justice,” she said.

Albanian Post highlights in its coverage that Osmani told reporters that Kosovo’s institutions are preparing the draft of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, as the government has assumed obligations from the EU-facilitated dialogue that is also supported by the United States of America. She said Kosovo was consulting its friends and experts on the issue. “Kosovo’s institutions have assumed an obligation in the Brussels dialogue to prepare the draft. The draft is being prepared and it will set the basis for discussions in Brussels about the Association, based on three elements: first, our Constitution, second, the decision of the Constitutional Court in 2015, and third, the U.S. position published in a text by Chollet and Escobar. These are the parameters. Our experts are working and the draft is being consolidated,” she said.

Stano: EU did not sanction Kosovo, it imposed restrictive measures (media)

Radio Free Europe quotes spokesperson for the European Union, Peter Stano, said today that the bloc does not rule out additional measures against Kosovo if the government in Pristina does not meet the international requests. “There is a series of measures, or proposals for a series of measures. Some of them have already entered into force. Some of them are still being discussed and the member states will implement them gradually if there is no change in the approach of Kosovo’s authorities. The spectrum is relatively wide,” he told a press conference.

Stano said the measures taken against Kosovo are not sanctions or restrictive measures in the classical sense. He said the measures are temporary and come as a response to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s “failure” to take concrete and immediate steps to defuse tensions in the north of Kosovo.

Asked why the EU is not implementing measures against Serbia which “is not implementing the agreement with Kosovo, inciting problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for not supporting sanctions against Russia”, Stano said the issues should not be mixed, “because in Kosovo there is a specific situation and tensions created as a result of elections with a low turnout of citizens”. He also said that Serbia took steps toward lowering tensions by partly withdrawing its army from the region near the border with Kosovo.

Stano reiterated several times that despite efforts and bilateral conversations with senior officials, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti “did not take the right steps to lower the tensions”. “The letter he sent to High Representative Borrell, where he made five proposals, does not address the main problem, and fails to take steps to lower the tensions,” he argued.

Klan Kosova quotes Stano as saying that the EU has not imposed sanctions, but restrictive measures, on Kosovo. “Allow me to clarify, there are no sanctions. The EU sets restrictive measures based on a clear legal framework prepared by the member states after a lengthy process of discussions at the EU Council. So there are no sanctions against Kosovo. This is one thing. The other thing is that because of the escalation we have seen since early this month, the 27 EU member states have unanimously said they expect Kosovo and Serbia to deescalate the situation especially in the north of Kosovo,” Stano said.

Smith: Kosovo to withdraw police from municipal buildings in north (Koha)

U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said in a press briefing today that the request of the U.S. is for Kosovo to withdraw its police units from the municipal buildings in the north. “U.S. Envoy, Gabriel Escobar, visited the region to encourage Prime Minister Kurti and his government, to ensure that the elected mayors perform their transitional duties in alternative premises. We have also encouraged them to remove police forces from the municipal buildings. We also took note and welcomed Serbia’s decision to drop the high alert level of military troops. This was important to start the withdrawal of their troops and equipment from the border with Kosovo,” she said.

Smith said that a priority for the U.S. is now to deescalate the situation in the north. “NATO allies have followed the latest developments in Kosovo with great interest and we certainly have some concerns. The NATO Secretary General and allies have called for immediate actions to deescalate the situation. This is the top priority. The U.S., and others, condemned the violence against NATO troops, in particular against troops from Hungary and Italy, and we believe that those responsible for the violence must be held responsible through a fair and transparent process,” she added.

Smith also said that dialogue is the only way forward. “The key issue and this is the general position of allies is that the Brussels-facilitated dialogue is the only way forward. NATO is focused on the region, and we will continue this,” she said.

Police: Border officers believed to have been kidnapped inside Kosovo territory (media)

Kosovo Police said in a press statement today that three border police officers “are believed to have been kidnapped by Serbian forces”. The police statement notes:

“Kosovo Police, namely the border police patrol unit was on duty at the static point called Tresave/Bare, deep inside the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, to prevent the use of smuggling illegal routes which were used by criminal groups for illegal crossing and smuggling. Today, at noon, the police unit consisting of three border officers, informed that near the static point they noticed masked and armed persons, and after this, additional Kosovo Police units headed toward the point to provide their assistance. Once they arrived at the location, the assisting units noticed only the official vehicle but not the police officers who were on duty at the location. Other police units immediately headed toward the location, and informed other security institutions, including KFOR, because it is suspected that the police officers were kidnapped by Serbian forces. With the aim of undertaking concrete actions for the security of police officers who are believed to have been kidnapped by Serbian forces, all local and international mechanisms were contacted in order to release them as soon as possible and to return them to Kosovo Police. Various Serbian media also reported that members of Serbian special units arrested Kosovo Police officers.

Svecla: Serbia kidnapped three Kosovo police officers inside Kosovo territory (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said that today “Serbia kidnapped three Kosovo police officers inside Kosovo’s territory”. Svecla said the police officers were deep inside Kosovo’s territory and that Serbia’s action today is a violation of every agreement and every principle of international norms.

“While law and order are being enforced in our country, the criminal Serbia has entered Kosovo’s territory and kidnapped three police officers of the Republic of Kosovo, violating every agreement and goes against every principle of international norms. There is no doubt that our police officers were deep inside the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, at a static check point, carrying out their regular duties. Serbia is continuing to cause and be a guardian of evil in the region and in Kosovo. We don’t back down to criminals and terrorists. Serbia is again showing its true face of an autocratic and aggressor country,” he writes.

Svecla also called on the international community “to urgently step up the pressure on Serbia to not only release our police officers but also stop its provocations. Such criminal actions by Serbia will not stop us on our path to strengthening sovereignty in the country”.

Citaku: Kosovo’s future cannot be jeopardised over a fistful of votes (media)

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, writes in a Facebook post today that “Kosovo does not belong to one man” and that its future “cannot be jeopardised over a fistful of votes”.

“Kosovo is a state. Independent and sovereign. This irreversible truth is not being disputed by our allies. Understand this. What is at question is the Euro-Atlantic future of our country. What kind of Kosovo do we want for our children? Isolated or integrated in the EU and NATO? The quality of alliances and maintaining them is as important as sovereignty. The future of Kosovo cannot be jeopardised over a fistful of votes. Kosovo does not belong to one man,” Citaku argues.

Hoti: Kosovo needs normality in politics, economy, and foreign relations (media)

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Avdullah Hoti, argues in a Facebook post today that “Kosovo needs normality in politics, economy, and foreign relations”. “Only in a normal situation and without pressure can good agreements be reached for the integration of the north in Kosovo’s political, economic, and social life. Only in a normal situation can there be development and a better life for all citizens without any difference. Any other approach is detrimental and dangerous for Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic future,” he writes.

Haradinaj: Kosovo will safeguard and strengthen partnership with NATO, U.S. (media)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, congratulated the people of the U.S. on the 248th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Army. “On this historic day for the United States of America and its army, I congratulate the American people and the representatives of U.S. defence institutions on the 248th anniversary of the creation of the American army,” he writes in a Facebook post.

“Your example of sacrifice, bravery, commitment, and patriotism will forever be an inspiration for us and the Army of Kosovo … The right to live free we have achieved thanks to the timely help of the U.S. Army and NATO, who saved our people from tragedy and ethnic cleansing. Kosovo will know how to safeguard and strengthen the partnership with NATO, especially with the U.S. Our people will forever be grateful for the great contribution of the American army and people to our country,” Haradinaj writes.

Vllasi advises Kurti: Not the time “to show our teeth” to Americans (Indeksonline)

Political analyst and lawyer, Azem Vllasi, in an interview with the news website, advised Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti not to aggravate relations with western partners. “By barricading the mayors of the three northern municipalities in offices or elsewhere, and unable to carry out their duties for which they were elected, the situation there will not change. There is only tension. It is not worth it for Prime Minister Kurti to aggravate relations with our western friends. It is not the time to ‘show our teeth’ to the Americans on banal issues, as [Albanian communist leader] Enver [Hoxha] did in his time from a hermetically closed Albania. The issue is about the Association of Serb-majority municipalities,” he argued.

“The Association needs to be a form of cooperation between Serb-majority municipalities on issues of their interest and within the legal-constitutional system of Kosovo. The statute of the Association must be drafted by the government of Kosovo, and not by Belgrade, [Albanian PM] Edi Rama or anyone else. Afterwards, a lot of things will be normalised in the north of Kosovo and with the Serb community in Kosovo. As long as the regime in Belgrade is treated as a partner in Kosovo’s internal affairs, there will never be normalisation between the two states and Serbia will keep orchestrating the Serbs here for its own interests and its claims against Kosovo, be it even to the detriment of the Serbs themselves,” Vllasi said.

Another Kosovo Police vehicle demolished in the north (Kallxo)

The news website reports that since tensions erupted in the north of Kosovo in late May, dozens of Kosovo Police vehicles were demolished and burned. Another police vehicle was demolished on Tuesday evening in Mitrovica North, when a group of four-five unknown persons threw rocks at the vehicle. Four police officers were inside the vehicle, but no injuries were reported.

Bulliqi on arrests of Kosovars: We suspect vengeful act about situation in north (Klan)

Podujeva mayor, Shpejtim Bulliqi, commented on the arrest of three Kosovo citizens by Serbian police at the Merdare border crossing, saying that it is believed that their arrest is a vengeful act about the situation in the north. “Based on our information, the Serbian authorities have placed them in 48-hour detention, and the reasons for the arrest are not known but we suspect that it is a vengeful act and related to the situation in the north of the country,” he argued. Bulliqi also said that the arrest is unacceptable and called on Kosovo institutions to engage maximally and work with the respective authorities for their release.

Earlier in the day, Klan Kosova quoted one of the brothers of those arrested as saying: “They were not taken by the police that are in Merdare. Police from Belgrade came. When I asked them for the reason they said ‘we arrested them just because they are Albanians’”. 

   

Serbian Language Media 

  Serbs continue protests in Zvecan and Leposavic (Kosovo Online, media)

Serbs in Zvecan continued peaceful protest in the vicinity of the municipal building also today, opposing the presence of the Kosovo special police forces and newly elected Albanian mayor whom they deem illegitimate, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Special police units are still present in the municipal building, while KFOR is deployed in front of the facility.

Following the arrest of Milun Milenkovic in Mitrovica North by Kosovo special units yesterday the situation remains tense. Milenkovic was sent to 48-hour detention, his lawyer told the media. The portal recalled that during the arrest special police officers held at gunpoint all passers by who happened to be near the place of arrest.

Meanwhile protest continues in Leposavic as well with the same demands as before, Kosovo special police to leave the municipality and an Albanian mayor Lulzim Hetemi who won 100 votes at the last elections and is staying in the municipal building ever since May 29 to leave the facility and perform his duty from alternative location as well as arrested Serbs be released from prison.  

Lawyer Vlajic: Arrest of Milenkovic yesterday was extremely brutal (Tanjug)

Lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic said today that the arrest of a Serb, Milun Milenkovic in Mitrovica North yesterday by Kosovo special police was extremely brutal and carried out not only with the aim to arrest an individual but also to intimidate an entire community, Tanjug news agency reports.

Vlajic also told Tanjug news agency he had visited Milenkovic yesterday and that he requested from the prosecutor to present evidence based on which he is charging his client, but that it did not happen. 

“Milun absolutely did nothing wrong and there is nothing to hold him accountable for. A public prosecutor and politicians in Pristina do not understand at all that it is the right of citizens to take part in protests. Of course protests should not be violent, nor were those protests of that kind or what defines them. But even if you were on the spot, it does not make you a perpetrator if you didn’t do anything bad”, Vlajic said.

Protest walk in support of Milun Milenkovic organised in Mitrovica North today (RTS, Kosovo Online)

Several thousand people from northern Kosovo gathered today in Mitrovica North and took part in a protest walk in support of Milun Lune Milenkovic, arrested by Kosovo special police yesterday in this town, RTS reports. 

The protest was headed by members of Milenkovic’s kick-box club, carrying trophies and medals they won at various competitions, while citizens chanted messages in his support. The people walked from the centre of Mitrovica North towards the main bridge on the Ibar River.

Kosovo Online portal said the situation was calm but tense. A strong feeling of dissatisfaction is noticeable among the citizens, but also the fear of further arrests and mistreatments of people. 

Vucic on meeting with KFOR Commander: Correct talks (Kosovo Online, social media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met today with KFOR Commander Major General Michele Ristuccia, adding they had correct talks, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“Correct talks with KFOR Commander, General Michele Ristuccia”, Vucic wrote in a post on his official Instagram account.

Previously Vucic met Quint countries representatives in Belgrade.  

Vucic: I decided not to say a word about the meeting with Quint, it's better that way (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he will not say a word about today's meeting with the representatives of the Quint countries, stating that it is better for everyone, reported Serbian media. 

Vucic stated, on his Instagram profile buducnostsrbijeav, that he made the decision not to say a single word about the meeting with the representatives of the Quinte countries and the head of the EU delegation in Serbia.

"I think it's better for everyone," Vucic wrote.

The President of Serbia met with the representatives of the Quint countries - USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany, as well as the head of the EU delegation.

Lazarevic: Risky police action in Mitrovica, great dissatisfaction of Serbs (N1)

The KoSSev editor-in-chief, Tatjana Lazarevic, assessed that yesterday's arrest action in the northern part of Mitrovica was high-risk, that the plainclothes policemen had long barrels pointed at some citizens, and that afterwards there was a great outpouring of dissatisfaction among Serbs in this part of Kosovo, reported N1.

"There was a strong eruption of discontent. And various groups of citizens participated in it, among others, those close to the Serbian List," she said and warned that such actions by the police could upset the people even more.

She stated that no explanation from Pristina will diminish the fact that this was a high-risk action which, in the first moments, looked like the beginning of some kind of mass murder, due to the plainclothes policemen who had automatic weapons.

"I heard the same words from three people. They thought it was a mass murder. That's all that contributed to the eruption of dissatisfaction," she said, adding that it was because of this that the Serbs protested.

She described that during the protest, young men with masks obstructed the journalists in their work.

"Among those under masks there are various groups... Unfortunately, there are also small children who, I believe, have been misled. They were extremely unpleasant towards journalists. In the 24 years that I've been here, and I've been through everything, I've never seen more arrogant behaviour towards the media than I experienced yesterday," said Lazarevic.

She added that the journalists were threatened and that their mobile phones were confiscated, reported N1.

"Ensure a safe working environment for journalists" (KiM radio)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) with its branch, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija (DNKiM), seek from citizens and members of KFOR to ensure a safe working environment and smooth work for the media crews that report for days from the north of Kosovo, KiM radio reported.

UNS and DNKiM point out that after a peaceful protest held in front of the Municipality building in Zvecan, which demanded the release of Rados Petrovic and Dusan Obrenovic, the arrest of Milun Milenkovic followed, which caused a reaction from the residents of the northern part of Mitrovica.

At the intersection near the Technical School, where a large number of dissatisfied citizens gathered after the arrest of a fellow citizen, the media teams that followed the protest encountered numerous problems. Some demonstrators behaved aggressively and hindered journalists in their work.

The UNS with its branch DNKiM requests that due to the new tensions that followed the police arrest of Milun Milenkovic and the stormy reaction of the citizens, KFOR and the protest participants provide protection to journalists and media workers and enable them to work safely and unhindered.

Serbian police arrested three armed Kosovo special police officers (Novosti, Kosovo Online)

Serbian special police members arrested today, in the territory of central Serbia, three armed Kosovo special police members, Kosovo Online portal reports citing Belgrad-based Novosti daily which published the news first.

Novosti carried full names of the arrested Kosovo police officers along with a photo. It also said that in addition to weapons, they had surveillance and communication equipment, as well as maps.

Novosti also said that a campaign was under way in Pristina-based media that Kosovo police officers were “kidnapped at the territory of Kosovo”, but that Serbian side has, as they said, irrefutable evidence that they were arrested at the territory of central Serbia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has also been informed about the arrest, media added. 

Freedom and Justice Party demands withdrawal of special police from north, release of arrested Serbs (N1, BETA)

Serbian opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) requested from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to withdraw special police forces from the north of Kosovo and release Serbs arrested there in relation to the clashes with KFOR, N1 reports.

In a press statement the SSP also requested return to the negotiations, establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities and return of Serbs to Pristina institutions, which they collectively left in November last year.

“It is unbelievable and utterly unacceptable that official Pristina before the entire democratic international community creates a regime of armed occupation and violence, treating Serbs as subjugated in the apartheid”, SSP said in a statement.

They added they expect urgent actions of the international community to “calm Kurti down” and return to the frameworks of civilised behaviour and fulfilling agreements made earlier.  

“At the moment when the entire world sees the violent and completely irrational side of Albin Kurti, putting an entire people in a black box, lives under sirens, arrests, long barrelled weapons and tear gas must stop”, SSP said and condemned yesterday’s arrest in Mitrovica North.

American senator: Kurti placed NATO troops in danger, it will not bring good to Kosovo (FoNet, N1, Kosovo Online)

American Senator Chris Murphy said that the decisions of Kosovo PM Albin Kurti regarding the actions in the north of Kosovo in the last 30 days put American and other NATO troops in unnecessary danger, reported N1, citing Pristina based portal Reporteri. 

In an interview with the Atlantic Council, Murphy said that this will not bring any good to Kosovo when it comes to international funding.

When Kurti decided to hold elections in the north of Kosovo, it made sense for the mayors to be sworn in, but I don't believe it was necessary for them to have access to municipal buildings, in an action that the government in Pristina knew would trigger a backlash that would become violent, Murphy said.

I think that Pristina's decisions now unnecessarily endanger NATO members. It's something that Congress will never be interested in funding because American troops, NATO troops, are being put at unnecessary risk, he added.

Murphy expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that Kosovo and Serbia have regressed on the path to normalising relations, after the recent events in the northern municipalities.

We saw a lot of progress and promises with the Ohrid Agreement, whose goal was to define the path that Serbia and Kosovo can take to achieve normalisation, but now we are far from that path, and that is also up to America and Europe, Murphy said.

He assessed that ''the citizens of both countries demand to return to the plan and to the concessions that are necessary - that Kosovo establish the Community of Serbian Municipalities, and Serbia not to prevent Kosovo from receiving international recognition'', reported N1. 

According to him, it is good for Kosovo to have good relations with Serbia, because only then will Pristina be able to join NATO and the EU.

I think it is very important for Kurti to make difficult decisions, to achieve peace and start the path of normalisation with Serbia. It is good for his people, it is good for Kosovo to have more normal relations with Serbia and that it can apply in good faith for membership in NATO and the EU, which cannot happen if it continues to have such a divisive relationship with Serbia, warned Murphy, reported N1, citing Kosovo Online portal. 

He added that his message is simple.

"My constituents will not be so willing to send money to the region unless they see the leaders taking the reasonable steps necessary to maintain peace," Murphy said.

Office for KiM: Kosovo police mistreated medical workers from Strpce (Kosovo Online)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement that Kosovo police members mistreated last night doctors and medical personnel from Strpce Health House while enroute from an intervention, Kosovo Online portal reports.

The Office said the medical crew from Strpce transported two young people, injured in a traffic accident, to Mitrovica North for further treatment. “On the way back, near Vucitrn, they were stopped by Kosovo police under sirens, who treated them as the biggest criminals”, the statement reads.

According to the statement, Kosovo police asked the medical workers to leave the vehicle, searched it, questioned them rudely if they have a licence to work, adding that “this is not Serbia, but the state of Kosovo”, and that they will not be able to work any longer.

The statement also said this is the second time in the last couple of days that medical personnel from Strpce are being stopped without apparent reason, even while transporting patients. The Office recalled that medical teams from Strpce Health House provided health services to the Albanian community as well, never made distinction based on ethnic grounds, and also transported with their ambulance vehicles Albanians needing further medical treatment on many occasions. 

Milivojevic: We are on the verge of a complete escalation, there is no adequate reaction (RTS, Blic)

Former diplomat Zoran Milivojevic told RTS that ''we are on the verge of a complete escalation, and that the question is how long the Serbian people's patience will last'', reported daily Blic. 

- Albin Kurti has no intention of changing his policy and the measures he is taking in the north of Kosovo. There is nothing in his plan on which de-escalation depends, or what the Quint demanded of him, even less what the Serbs expect and could lead to appeasement - says Milivojevic.

According to him, there is no adequate reaction from either Washington, Pristina, or KFOR and UNMIK.

- It is high time for KFOR to start exercising its mandate and to prevent the situation that leads to escalation - says Milivojevic.

He also emphasises that KFOR's actions depend on NATO, Washington, and the majority in Brussels, stressing that Western measures towards Kurti, which could lead to a change in the political attitude in Pristina, are not enough.

- Kurti made it clear that he would not give up his politics and tied his political fate to it. It is time for the West to take concrete measures that would prevent the behaviour of the Pristina authorities - believes Milivojevic. EULEX mandate extended, Barbano new Head of Mission (Beta, N1)

The Council of the European Union (EU) appointed Pietro Barbano new Head of Mission for the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) and extended the mission’s mandate until 14 June 2025, said the EU.

Barbano will replace Lars-Gunnar Wigemark as Head of Mission.

Barbano is a Major General in the Italian Carabinieri and the current Director of the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units in Vicenza, Italy, said the press release.

His mandate as head of EULEX Kosovo will run from 26 June 2023 until 14 June 2025.

The decision to appoint Barbano was taken by the EU member states in the Political and Security Committee.

The Council said that, in addition to continuing to implement its tasks, the mission would also assist the law enforcement authorities of Kosovo in developing their capacities to exchange information with regional and international counterparts in the field of legal assistance and cooperation in criminal matters.

Drecun: Groundwork for arrest of Kosovo Serb laid days beforehand (Tanjug)

Chairman of the Serbian Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said on Wednesday the groundwork for Tuesday's arrest of a Kosovo Serb in Mitrovica North - as well as for any further arrests - had been laid by Pristina days beforehand.

Speaking to the RTS, Drecun said Pristina's PM Albin Kurti had said “a crime group” infiltrated by Belgrade had been involved in recent clashes in Zvecan.

"They (Pristina) were talking about some civil defence, that there was some kind of a Serbian militia, and then he started talking that rule of law must be established and that groups that are purportedly to blame for the wounding of KFOR soldiers must be arrested or return to central Serbia", he said.

After that, Kurti announced a five-point de-escalation plan whose first two points were about arrests, Drecun said, adding he expects more arrests to follow.

Police didn’t allow Arsenijevic and Sadiku to place flags of communities in Kosovo Government yard (KoSSev, Radio KIM)

Leader of Civic Initiative Serbian Survival Aleksandar Arsenijevic and Deputy Chairperson for Communities in Mitrovica North Skender Sadiku brought four flags of non-majority communities in Kosovo, Serbian, Roma, Turkish and Bosniak with intention to place them in the yard of the Kosovo Government in Pristina, KoSSev portal reports.

After Kosovo police requested them to leave in order not to cause the incident, they placed the flags on the fence, but they had been removed shortly.

Arsenijevic asked police why can’t they place those flags on the poles in front of the Kosovo Government, given that the flag of the Republic of Albania is placed there, next to Kosovo flag, and read the chapter of the Kosovo Constitution envisaging the rights of the minority communities to display their symbols.

“Amidst crisis and inter-ethnic tensions in Kosovo I wanted to show that given the fact that the flag of Albania has been placed at all central institutions, that we  who live here, where my grand grandfather, his father, and then his father were born, also have the right to display our symbols”, Aresnijevic said, adding that he only referred to the Constitution and its articles, and did not come to Pristina to spread hatred.

Skender Sadiku, who came to Pristina together with Arsenijevic said “he knows from his own personal experience what Arsenijevic goes through”, adding he is proud that they came to Pristina to display flags of communities.

“Here are Turkish, Roma and Bosniak flags. Those flags should be displayed in Mitrovica North, Zvecan, Leposavic, so the Serb can feel like a Serb in Gracanica, Zvecan, Glogovac. We are tired from narratives, we are asking for normalcy. This should be a normal message and I would love this day to be marked as a day of inter-ethnic cooperation between Serbs, Roma, Egyptians. This is a normal thing, and I and Aco see this as a normal thing”, Sadiku said. 

   

International 

  Kosovo could face imminent Western sanctions (Euractiv)

Kosovo could soon face sanctions from the Euro-Atlantic community, multiple high-level and diplomatic sources told EURACTIV, while Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama cancelled his planned meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Wednesday, citing the pending measures as one of the reasons.

EURACTIV was informed by a high-level third-country source last week that the EU and the US were preparing a number of sanctions against Kosovo. This was later bolstered by comments from Rama and other diplomatic sources who confirmed that sanctions were imminent.

The sanctions mentioned in an internal diplomatic note provided by the source include freezing EU funds, halting the visa liberalisation process, and membership processes for international institutions. It would also see Kosovo’s allies taking a passive attitude towards Serbia’s derecognition campaign, reorganising international military presence, and a serious reduction of the US contingent.

Individual sanctions against Kosovar leaders and high-level officials were also mentioned, but it is understood that these would be used in the worst-case scenario as possible sanctions would be rolled out in phases.

Read more at: https://t.ly/bVmj7