Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 975 new cases, 12 deaths (media)
• Krasniqi: Strained situation with COVID-19, 80% of patients on oxygen therapy (RFE)
• Health Minister Vitia meets U.S. Ambassador Kosnett (media)
• Rama: Albania to vaccinate Kosovo's teachers (Telegrafi)
• Macron congratulates Kurti, offers full support for Kosovo-Serbia agreement (media)
• Kurti: Many crimes committed in Kosovo and no justice delivered (media)
• Orlando: Parties to be constructive in president's election process (Koha)
• Defence Minister Mehaj meets KFOR Commander Federici (media)
• On anniversary of SAA, Austrian MEP calls for visa liberalisation for Kosovo (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 45 new Covid-19 cases in Serbian communities, one death (Kontakt plus radio) 
• CNN on Serbia’s ''impressive'' success in immunization: Setting the pace in Europe (KoSSev, FoNet, N1)
• EU: Serbia must work on reforms to speed up accession negotiations (FoNet, N1)
• Vucic about the Crnusa base: If there would be any danger…Serbs from Kosovo know all (KoSSev)
• Participant of the campaign for the boycott of Serbian elections claims his vote was falsified in Kosovo (RFE)

Opinion:

• Serbia’s Vaccine Diplomacy isn’t as Benign as it Looks (Balkan Insight)

International:

• Will Kurti bring changes in the fight against corruption in Kosovo? (EWB)
• US Concerned About Continuing Rights Violations in South-East Europe (Balkan Insight)
• EU solidarity with the Western Balkans during the times of COVID (opendemocracy.net)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Three Kosovo children arrive for medical treatment in Israel (media)
• UNMIK helping the most vulnerable in Zubin Potok (Kontakt plus radio)
• Rakic, Popovic and representatives of international organizations visited the beneficiaries of the reintegration program (Kosovo Online)
• Climate change top challenge over the next decade, UNESCO global survey finds (news.un.org)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  COVID-19: 975 new cases, 12 deaths (media)

Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health announced that in the last 24 hours 975 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths have been recorded. 

Meanwhile, 893 patients have recovered during this period. 

Krasniqi: Strained situation with COVID-19, 80% of patients on oxygen therapy (RFE)

Valbon Krasniqi, director of the Kosovo Hospital, Clinical and University Service, said that the recent increase of the number of new coronavirus infections has put an additional strain on Kosovo's healthcare sector.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe, Krasniqi said that over 80 percent of patients hospitalised for COVID-19 are on oxygen therapy and warned that if the situation persists, additional anti-Covid measures would have to be looked at. 

"It is fortunate that Kosovo has finally received the first doses of the vaccine and begun vaccination, initially of health workers and then other categories as per the vaccination plan, but it will take time to vaccinate the majority of the population and it is therefore paramount to respect anti-Covid rules," he said.

Health Minister Vitia meets U.S. Ambassador Kosnett (media)

Kosovo's Health Minister Arben Vitia had a meeting today with the U.S. Ambassador Philip Kosnett and discussed the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, media report. 

The two officials assessed the current situation to be concerning and underlined the need for upholding anti-Covid measures. They did not rule out the possibility of the current measures in place being amended depending on the epidemiological situation.

Ambassador Kosnett took to Twitter to comment on the meeting saying that the U.S. is committed to working with the whole of Kosovo’s government on the ongoing battle against COVID-19.

Rama: Albania to vaccinate Kosovo's teachers (Telegrafi)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama said that Kosovo teachers will be receiving the coronavirus vaccine in Albania following the request made by Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

"We are very proud to be helping Kosovo, to be helping Kosovo's doctors. I received a message from Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, thanking me and saying that since they received thousands of vaccines and are now vaccinating doctors, he would have liked us to help the teachers," Rama said adding that he responded positively to the request. 

Teachers' trade union welcomed the readiness of the Albanian government to assist with vaccination efforts. It said it was now waiting for the Kosovo's Ministry of Education to come out with an official announcement and concrete plan of how the vaccination process will take place.

Macron congratulates Kurti, offers full support for Kosovo-Serbia agreement (media)

President of France Emmanuel Macron congratulated Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti on the formation of the new government saying that the February 14 election results showed that the majority of the people want change in Kosovo. 

President Macron said he was aware that Kurti aspires to implement significant reforms in strengthening the rule of law, and economic and social development of Kosovo as well as in fighting the pandemic, as an immediate priority. 

"Resolving disputes between Serbia and Kosovo is a great challenge which you need to face. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the dialogue that Kosovo authorities had with Belgrade, under the facilitation of the European Union. I hope you will continue this dialogue in order to achieve a comprehensive, final, and legally binding agreement which is one of the conditions for European approximation of Kosovo and Serbia," Macron wrote offering his full support to this end. "I would be happy to welcome you to Paris soon to discuss these matters," he added. 

Kurti: Many crimes committed in Kosovo and no justice delivered (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post that the last week of March 1999 saw many massacres committed against the civilian population in Kosovo by Serb forces and that justice has not yet been served. 

“Many crimes against us and no justice for us despite being 22 years later,” he said in paying tribute to victims of the massacres in Krusha e Madhe, Suhareka, Izbica and that of Lubeniq whose anniversary is today. “Lubeniq represents the genocide committed against the civilian population. Over 80 people were executed in this site, including the little Muhamet, only 18 months-old,” Kurti said.

He said that Serbia is not prosecuting perpetrators and even promotes them to senior levels of politics while Kosovo suffers from the ‘passivity’ of its prosecutors and ‘inefficiency’ of its judges. “Families in Kosovo suffer, without the truth being addressed, without compensation, restoration and rehabilitation that a proper justice system would have to ensure.”

“22 years after the war discussion on the past would not have to be at the point it is. Nevertheless, we will make efforts and do the best we can and know to close the wounds of the past. That is the only way we can look clearly and walk proudly to the future,” Kurti concluded.

Orlando: Parties to be constructive in president's election process (Koha)

Italian Ambassador to Kosovo Nicola Orlando had a meeting today with Minister of Returns and Communities and leader of the Serbian List Goran Rakic. 

"Excellent meeting w/Min. Rakic. I reiterated my call to all parties to talk, be constructive & responsible in view of presidential election," Orlando wrote on Twitter warning that failure to do so would have a negative impact on all citizens of Kosovo. He added in the post: "Discussed Covid & several urgent inter-communal issues for Govt to tackle."

Defence Minister Mehaj meets KFOR Commander Federici (media)

Kosovo's Minister of Defence Armend Mehaj met the Commander of KFOR, Major General Franco Federici who acknowledged the progress made by the Kosovo's Ministry of Defence and the Kosovo Security Force.

"Minister Mehaj assured General Federici that the Ministry of Defence will be leading modern defence policies on the basis of NATO integration concept," a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence said. 

Mehaj also stressed that KSF will continue advancing operational capacities in fulfilling its mission and mandate. "The two agreed to intensify cooperation and mutual coordination on issues of common interest."

On anniversary of SAA, Austrian MEP calls for visa liberalisation for Kosovo (media)

Today is the fifth anniversary of Kosovo signing its first contractual agreement with European Union, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA). 

In marking the date, Austrian member of the European Parliament Lukas Mandl called on the EU to grant Kosovo visa liberalisation. "Five years ago, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo entered into force. As the first contractual relationship between #EU and #RKS this was an important milestone on Kosovo's path to EU membership. Visa liberalisation is overdue and must follow now," Mandl wrote on Twitter.

     

Serbian Language Media

  45 new Covid-19 cases in Serbian communities, one death (Kontakt plus radio) 

In Serbian communities in Kosovo, according to the latest data, one person died as a result of Covid-19, while 45 new cases of infection were registered, the Crisis Staff of the Municipality of North Mitrovica announced.

The deceased is from Leposavic.

Based on 107 processed samples, positive cases were recorded in the municipalities: North Mitrovica (12), Leposavic (10), Zvecan (7), Zubin Potok (6), Strpce (3), Gnjilane (3), Gracanica (2), Priluzje (1) and Kamenica (1).

There are currently 846 active cases.

In the Serbian communities in Kosovo, 130 people have died as a result of Covid-19.

Gracanica: 5 new cases of Covid- 19 

According to the latest information, 5 more people have been infected with the coronavirus in the municipality of Gracanica, announced the Gracanica Crisis Staff.

There are currently 43 covid patients in the hospital.

CNN on Serbia’s ''impressive'' success in immunization: Setting the pace in Europe (KoSSev, FoNet, N1)

Serbia is a model of how to effectively and efficiently vaccinate a wide population – reads the message of a CNN reportage.

“Serbia is becoming a regional vaccination hub. People from neighbouring countries are flocking to Serbia to get COVID-19 vaccines” – so begins CNN’s report on the ''impressive'' success of this Balkan country in the immunization of the general population.

Serbia is “setting the pace” in Europe, fully vaccinating people with two doses, quicker than any other country on the continent.

Unlike the rest of Europe, the country is even offering free shots to foreigners, the reportage added.

“Serbia has so many vaccines that they are even offering a free shot to foreigners like Tomash Cooper from the Czech Republic, who came here on a work trip and decided to get inoculated as well,” CNN reportage states.

CNN further reveals that Serbia’s secret lies in the fact they ordered the vaccines early, they ordered a lot and from different manufacturers – the Russian, Chinese, and Western companies.

The CNN reporter recalls that around 8,000 doses per day are administered in Serbia’s largest vaccine center in Belgrade alone.

According to CNN, another key to the fast rollout is the easy-to-use registration site that cuts down on unnecessary bureaucracy.

In an interview for CNN, the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic said that, for Serbia, vaccines were not a matter of geopolitics, but it was the matter of saving people’s lives – “and we prepared ourselves for the immunization in the very best way.”

“You can get American vaccines, European, Russian, or Chinese vaccines, you can take whichever you want,” Vucic said.

If we can help someone from Sarajevo, Podgorica, or Skopje, that’s the same as helping the people from Serbia – he added.

“That is our region, we live close to each other, if we can be helpful to them – that’s good, if they can be helpful to us – many thanks to them. It shows that all of us are future-oriented, that we don’t go or don’t want to go into the past,” Vucic underlined.

At the journalist’s comment that by providing vaccines to foreign citizens Serbia is putting a dent in the number of vaccines, Vucic replied that Serbia will have enough vaccines, adding that about half a million doses of Pfizer, one million doses of Sinofarm, several hundred thousand doses from Moscow, as well as 60,000 doses from the COVAX program are expected in April.

At the end of the interview, Vucic told the CNN journalist to “take the jab” in Serbia if he had not done so yet.

See at: https://bit.ly/3sIEKAT EU: Serbia must work on reforms to speed up accession negotiations (FoNet, N1)

The European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi said on Wednesday he hoped the negotiations on Serbia's EU membership would be faster, but only if Belgrade implemented reforms, particularly those fundamental.

„The swing will be reached only if we work together. Serbia must focus on reforms, “Várhelyi told the online debate ‘Serbia on Shaky Road to EU.’

He added the new methodology would enable predictability, i.e. for the countries to know what they had to do and the EU to understand what it needed to do when a candidate met expectations.

He said the inter-party dialogue in Serbia’s Parliament mediated by the European Parliament (EP) was necessary for talks between the Government and the opposition.

Speaking about the Parliament, Várhelyi added the Parliament had re-launched constitutional reforms in the field of justice.

He referred to media freedom, saying the EU welcomed the adoption of the action plan for the media strategy, as well as the formation of working groups and the SOS line for attacks on journalists.

But he added there was still much to do and that it was in Serbia’s interest to work on that.

Várhelyi also insisted on the importance of the Belgrade-Pristina and expressed hope it would be a priority for Kosovo’s new Government.

He added the business environment had improved, unemployment reached a record low level and that Serbia’s economy had shown resilience in the pandemic.

However, further reforms were needed, and that better administration and improvement of legislation should be made.

Serbia’s Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic said that since the beginning of negotiations on Serbia’s membership in the EU, she had witnessed a change in the atmosphere and interpretation of the enlargement policy.

She added Serbia accepted the new methodology last year, while it was not yet known how it would be applied to countries that were already in the process.

Still, she believed the decision was correct and that Serbia had shown confidence because the process at the time was of a „sclerotic bureaucratic” and now turned to a more credible, politically driven process.

Joksimovic said the clusters provide a more dynamic approach by opening several chapters. The rule of law and fundamental rights from the set would be the main instrument for measuring progress, and that had already been the case in the current framework for Serbia.

She added the new methodology was not entirely new for Serbia but that she understood that special attention would be paid to the rule of law, judicial reform, freedom of media, and the fight against corruption.

Joksimovic said Serbia remained committed to European integration and that that was a foreign policy and domestic policies’ goal.

Asked why people are Eurosceptic, Joksimovic said that it was not only Serbia’s case and charged that declaratively pro-European parties offered false expectations after the changes in 2000 about Serbia’s EU membership soon.

On the other hand, many Serbia citizens associate the EU with seeking recognition of Kosovo’s independence, which is not the position of the state, she has said.

Joksimovic added that if asked if they want Serbia to be a member of the EU, about 55 percent would favour it.

See at: https://bit.ly/3drsxuc Vucic about the Crnusa base: If there would be any danger…Serbs from Kosovo know all (KoSSev)

''If anyone thinks that it is possible to build stability of the Western Balkans based on the fact that Serbs will be defeated and humiliated, that is not possible, so I do not see that recognition of Kosovo would contribute to any stabilization or anything particularly good in the region,'' President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic told reporters today during his visit to Milos the Great highway works near Pozega-Preljina, reported portal KoSSev. 

After a warning in the Serbian media issued by the Office for KiM last week, and yesterday by SNS MP in the Serbian Assembly about the announcement of South Mitrovica municipality that KSF would build the largest base at Crnusa hill, Vucic was asked about it today, he replied:  

''We believe that stability and peace will be preserved in Kosovo and Metohija, and this is neither the first nor the last attempt of Albanian side to show how they are the ones who can do whatever they want with not too much responsibility. If there would be any serious danger or threat to the Serbian people…well, I don’t have to continue further, please, if you have questions...Serbs from Kosovo know all.''

When asked about his announcement on the reconstruction of the Jarinje – Mitrovica road, Vucic spoke about the Nis-Merdare road and said: 

''The tender procedure is underway. We are doing that together with our European partners, and we also received a favourable grant price - 40.6 million euros for the total price of 255 million euros between Nis and Beljina, so it is very favourable for us. Expect the construction of the highway (Nis-Merdare) will start in August, that’s why I said that there will be about 8 highways under construction by December 1 in our country''. 

Participant of the campaign for the boycott of Serbian elections claims his vote was falsified in Kosovo (RFE)

Radio Free Europe published on Wednesday that the former opposition councillor in North Mitrovica municipality Marko Jaksic, claims that he did not vote in the Serbian parliamentary elections, held on June 21, 2020. However, the Republic Electoral Commission (REC) informed him that his vote was registered at the polling station in North Mitrovica.  While Jaksic suspects that someone falsified his vote and accuses Serbian List of irregularities in the process, a member of the local polling station committee from North Mitrovica describes Jaksic's allegations as “utter nonsense”. 

Jaksic told RFE that at the parliamentary elections in Serbia, on the Election Day-June 21, 2020, he was at Gazivode Lake with his colleagues, 50 kilometres away from Mitrovica. Due to his suspicion that the election process on June 21 did not take place regularly, Jaksic decided to send a request to REC and check whether someone had abused his right to vote.  

As he pointed out, after several requests to the REC, he received a reply on March 25 from them.  They informed him that “in the final voter’s list of the polling station number 4 in the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica… under the ordinal number 230, under which you are registered in the said Voter’s List, there is a handwritten signature of the voter, which means that you are registered as having voted”. 

In his statement to RFE, Jaksic claims that “machinery that has been abusing the votes of Serbs in the north of Kosovo for years” has existed since 2013. At that time, the Brussels Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo was signed, which, among other things, regulates the manner of conducting the election process, but also the formation of the Kosovo Serb party, the Serbian List. 

Jaksic is convinced that the Serbian List and the Serbian Progressive Party are the ones behind the alleged electoral irregularities,  based on the fact that “they boast that they have absolute support of 99.14 percent in Mitrovica”, and that “those 0.86 percent are certainly unable to do such things”. 

Serbian Republic Electoral Commission confirmed to RFE that it has informed Marko Jaksic that “he was recorded to have voted in the elections on June 21, considering that there is a voter's handwritten signature at the appropriate place in the list”.  

“The statements of the applicant related to the received notification cannot in any way call into question the regularity of the elections that have been finalized, nor do they imply any further procedure before the Republic Electoral Commission,” REC replied to RFE. 

They added that “allegations of any abuse” which are based on the notification submitted to Jaksic “cannot be the subject of a completed election procedure for which the Republic Electoral Commission is competent”. 

RFE stated that the OSCE Mission to Kosovo oversaw the “collection of votes” at the polls in Kosovo during the Serbian parliamentary elections. 

When asked whether they have recorded the complaints of the citizens, who suspected that their vote was falsified in the elections, OSCE mission in Pristina told RFE that “they did not receive any such complaint”. 

RFE stated that the Serbian List did not respond to their inquiry. 

However, Draško Banjac from North Mitrovica, who was a member of the polling station committee at the polling station where Marko Jaksic was registered, briefly told RFE that Jaksic’s allegations that someone voted in his place was “utter nonsense”. 

“It can’t happen (for someone to sign instead of him), no one can enter without an ID card, so no one can enter to vote without an ID card. Such an omission can happen, anything is possible, we are there for 12 hours, but the claim that someone committed fraud, it is utter nonsense,” Banjac said. 

     

Opinion

  Serbia’s Vaccine Diplomacy isn’t as Benign as it Looks (Balkan Insight)

Behind Belgrade’s apparent generosity in handing out Covid-19 jabs to people from all over the region lies a hardheaded ambition to establish Serbia as the region’s paramount power.

The government of Serbia has won high praise for its vaccine rollout campaign, especially for its willingness to vaccinate citizens from neighbouring states and, indeed, from all over Europe.

Scenes of long lines of Bosnians, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Albanians, Austrians, and others arriving in Belgrade and Novi Sad to receive inoculations have circulated widely on social media and prompted an outpouring of gratitude from those lucky enough to snag a shot.

Given the glacial pace of vaccine acquisition and distribution in most of the region, and across much of the EU, Serbia’s comparative advantage and generosity has, understandably, proven popular.

But some niggling facts have been lost in the euphoria. And these, when properly accounted for, paint a more complicated picture than all those feel-good vaccine selfies may suggest.

To begin with, Serbia’s seemingly ample supply of vaccines has come mainly from two sources: China and Russia. That is significant because both Beijing and Moscow have been keen to make Serbia a poster child for the use and success of their own respective cocktails.

While Belgrade’s decision to largely forgo the WHO-EU-supported COVAX vaccine acquisition mechanism has for now proven wise, it is doubtful whether Serbia – which according to the World Bank has a per capita GDP scarcely larger than Botswana – would have been as successful without Beijing’s and Moscow’s overt patronage.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3mc6RWF        

International

  Will Kurti bring changes in the fight against corruption in Kosovo? (EWB)

Albin Kurti’s victory in the parliamentary elections in Kosovo came after the promises to focus on social policies aimed at citizens, which implies a social and anti-corruption agenda. The reforms so far, especially in the fight against corruption, have not been successful, and political instability is cited as one of the reasons.

The question arose whether the new government, which is projected to be stable, will be able to lead to more serious steps and progress in implementing reforms and fighting corruption.

However, Milica Andrić Rakić, project manager of the New Social Initiative based in North Mitrovica, said that Kosovo did very poorly in implementing reforms and the fight against corruption so far.

“Corruption, i.e. a large number of acquittals in corruption cases, is an argument that European countries such as France and the Netherlands continue to use as an argument against granting visa liberalization to Kosovo”, Andrić Rakić pointed out.

She added that according to the Kosovo Law Institute, there are 14 deputies in the new Assembly of Kosovo against whom charges have been filed, and the new Minister of Health is under investigation for abuse of office.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3cDzVDl US Concerned About Continuing Rights Violations in South-East Europe (Balkan Insight)

Restrictions on media freedom, unpunished violations by officials and alleged violence by police continued to be problems in south-east European countries in 2020, said a new US State Department report.

The US State Department’s 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which was published on Tuesday, warned that countries in the Balkans and south-east Europe have continuing problems with media freedom, censorship and violence against journalists, while officials are not being sanctioned for rights violations.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3fujWJF EU solidarity with the Western Balkans during the times of COVID (opendemocracy.net)

Solidarity is not just about the sharing of resources, but about galvanizing a genuine sense of unity of purpose centered around common issues and values.

An EU promotional video released almost a decade ago, compares individual EU countries to aspiring members. France is linked to Serbia, with scenes from Belgrade that supposedly resemble Paris. Italy is linked to Bosnia and Herzegovina, doubtless because of a fondness for grandma’s home cooking, while Sweden is for some reason linked to Montenegro. The UK is paired with the then former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (today’s North Macedonia), seemingly bound by their respective fondness for statues. The remaining associations are somewhat more predictable for largely historical reasons – Spain and Kosovo (the former refusing to recognise the independence of the latter), Germany and Turkey, Austria and Croatia, and Greece and Albania.

The video ends with the tagline “so similar, so different, so European”; though the video itself only portrays – or contrives – the similarities. The differences are presumably so self-evident that they do not require further elucidation. Nor does it really matter, since all are “so European”.

See more at: https://bit.ly/31QaKYl    

Humanitarian/Development

  Three Kosovo children arrive for medical treatment in Israel (media)

Kosovo's Charge d’Affaires to Israel, Ines Demiri, announced that three children from Kosovo have arrived to Israel to undergo medical treatment.

"Yesterday, our children together w/their mother arrived to Israel, with mixed emotions of worry and hope," Demiri wrote on Twitter and went on to thank the Save a Child's Heart charity for making this possible. 

UNMIK helping the most vulnerable in Zubin Potok (Kontakt plus radio)

The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) donated 52 packages of basic foodstuffs and the same number of packages of hygiene products to the municipality of Zubin Potok.

The announcement of the local self-government states that the aid packages will be delivered to the socially endangered in that municipality, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

Last week, UNMIK donated 22 tablets to the municipality of Zubin Potok, which will be handed out to students, the statement added.

Rakic, Popovic and representatives of international organizations visited the beneficiaries of the reintegration program (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Minister for Communities and Return Goran Rakic, Mayor of Gracanica Srdjan Popovic, UN Development Coordinator Urlika Richardson and representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) visited on Wednesday three families in Gracanica, beneficiaries of the return and reintegration program. 

According to the statement of the Serbian List in Gracanica, the goal of this visit was to talk to the families and establish whether they now live and work in decent conditions. 

Those who have received grants through this program said it meant a lot to them, because they had expanded their business. 

The Return and Reintegration Project was funded by the EU and the Ministry of Communities and Return, and was implemented through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and in cooperation with 11 municipalities, including the Municipality of Gracanica. 

Climate change top challenge over the next decade, UNESCO global survey finds (news.un.org)

More than 15,000 people worldwide contributed to the survey, which was held online between May and September 2020, and made available in 25 languages.  

Respondents were mainly young people, with 57 per cent under age 35, and 35 per cent under 25. Results also were analyzed along regional, gender, age and other demographic lines. 

 “Greater efforts are needed to address people’s specific concerns, and multilateralism is the way to do this. Restoring confidence in multilateralism requires the implementation of concrete and impactful projects, and this is at the heart of our Organization's role”, said Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Director-General. 

See more at: https://bit.ly/2PttxG1