Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 793 new cases, 10 deaths (media)
• Vitia warns on new anti-Covid-19 measures (media)
• LVV collects signatures, extraordinary session for voting the President, today (Express)
• Confirmed by government: quorum for the election of President, secured (media)
• Kosovo Assembly establishes 14 committees (Express)
• Kurti: Government work plan to be drafted after election of president (media)
• Konjufca receives congratulatory letter from Montenegrin Parliament Speaker (RTK)
• Nasuf Bejta to be Vjosa Osmani’s counter-candidate? (Front Online, media)
• Hoti, Veliu and Selmanaj will not participate in Osmani's vote for president (Reporteri, media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19 in Serbian communities: 22 new cases, one death (media) 
• NATO: The decision to set up a KSF base in Crnusa has been taken by the Kosovan authorities (KoSSev)
• Boemi, Sputnik, and Raska (KoSSev)
• Gazmen Salijevic appointed Deputy Minister for Communities and Returns (KiM radio)
• Organized crime and corruption a major problem in Kosovo (Sporazoom, KiM radio, RTV Puls)
• The Economist: Serbia leads in vaccination; Vucic’s strategy pays off (N1)
• Request for dismissal of indictment against Silvana Arsovic rejected (KiM radio)

Opinion:

• West’s Tension With China Presents Balkans With Tough Choices (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Skopje: Serbia donates 40,000 vaccines to North Macedonia (Beta, N1)
• North Macedonia President Pendarovski orders military deployed on borders (Beta, N1)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  COVID-19: 793 new cases, 10 deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 793 new cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths in the last 24 hours. 755 persons have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 13,902 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Vitia warns on new anti-Covid-19 measures (media)

The Minister of Health, Arben Vitia, has announced that they will undertake new anti-COVID measures. "Although it is good news that vaccines are arriving, the measures that are in force and the measures that will be taken in the coming days in relation to the situation on the ground, is very important to be respected by all of us and the citizens," he said.

Vitia said that after taking office they have intensified the work for the provision of other vaccines, for which he said that they are on the right track and that they have received confirmations from other companies. He said he hopes all the procedures will be completed very soon and the vaccines will arrive as soon as possible.

He also responded to PDK MP Bekim Haxhiu, regarding the vaccination plan.

"The vaccination plan has already been drafted before, of course it starts with health workers as the citizens have been informed and will continue with people over the age of 80 and we have lists of these people. There are about 30 thousand people over the age of 80 and of course they will not be required to only apply on the online platform, but will be contacted and according to the plan, each person over the age of 80 will receive the vaccine in this contingent, continuing according to this plan then with other ages in other contingents that will arrive after this one," he said.

LVV collects signatures, extraordinary session for voting the President, today (Express)

Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) has collected signatures today to convene an extraordinary session where the election of the President of Kosovo will be voted.

The session for the voting of the president is expected to be held after the end of the plenary session of the Assembly that is currently taking place.

As T7 learns, Vetëvendosje has collected the 40 signatures needed for the convening of the session where the election of Vjosa Osmani as head of state will be voted.

All that remains to be defined is the time when the session will be held today, Express reports.  

Confirmed by government: quorum for the election of President, secured (media)

The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Emilija Rexhepi, has confirmed that the required votes and quorum for the election of the president have been provided.

"We are waiting for the meeting of the presidency (of the assembly). The time of the hearing is not yet known. It is expected to be in the afternoon," Rexhepi said.

Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) has already collected the necessary signatures to convene the extraordinary session of the assembly, for the election of the new president, Radio Free Europe reports. To convene the session for the election of the president, the signatures of at least 40 MPs are needed. Afterwards, the presidency of the assembly convenes to set the time for this session. REL also learned unofficially, the that the LVV is pushing ahead with the submission to the assembly of a law that would regulate the issue of voting by diaspora in the embassies that Kosovo has in the world. LVV wants to introduce this legislation before proceeding with the vote for the president.

Kosovo Assembly establishes 14 committees (Express)

The Assembly of Kosovo convened Friday for a plenary session and voted the establishment of 14 committees.

The decision on establishing committees of the new legislature was taken with 99 votes in  favor, none against and one abstention, Gazeta Express reports. MPs have also voted the composition of the 14 committees of the eight legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo.

Kurti: Government work plan to be drafted after election of president (media)

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said today at the Assembly session that they will compile the work plan after scanning the situation in the ministries, however, according to him, the order is to elect the president first.

"We will compile the work plan, but the order wants us to do a state scan once. It is appropriate to have the election of the president and then the government program," Kurti said.

He also spoke about receiving the anti-covid vaccine, saying that he did not do it for privilege, but to send an encouraging message to the citizens. "As for the vaccine, if it was Pfizer or Moderna I would not go, only because it was AstraZeneca that has a damaged reputation, I went to get the vaccine first. No reason to be privileged, another brand of vaccine would not make me the first recipient of the vaccine", Kurti said in the Assembly of Kosovo. He also stressed that the constitution of the Committees of the Assembly is very important.

Konjufca receives congratulatory letter from Montenegrin Parliament Speaker (RTK)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konufca has received a congratulatory letter from the Speaker of the Assembly of Montenegro, Aleksa Becic.

In his congratulatory letter, the head of the Montenegrin parliament stressed the commitment to further develop cooperation and exchange of experiences between the two parliamentarians.

“Kosovo is going through an intensive transition and reform in order to build a successful society, with prosperity and a society based on European values, for which it has the continued support of Montenegro,” Becic wrote.

“Appreciating the importance of parliamentary relations and contacts in bilateral relations and generalizations between our countries, I hope that our mutual commitment will be in the direction of qualitative exchanges of experiences and good practices, but also the development of regional cooperation.

Finally, I take this opportunity, dear Mr. Konjufca, to express my highest consideration, with the best wishes for your good health and success in this high office," Becic wrote in his letter.

Nasuf Bejta to be Vjosa Osmani’s counter-candidate? (Front Online, media)

Vetëvendosje Movement is making efforts to secure votes to elect Vjosa Osmani as president and to hold this session today.

According to Front Online, during the session when Vjosa Osmani will be put to the vote, Nasuf Bejta who has been a former candidate number 64 for MP from LVV, will be proposed as counter-candidate,

"We are working for such a vote to take place today, let's see and at the moment when we reach and call the session, we have no reason to wait," a source told Front Online.

Otherwise, the signatures for the two candidates needed to hold the extraordinary session for the election of the President of Kosovo are ready.

Hoti, Veliu and Selmanaj will not participate in Osmani's vote for president (Reporteri, media)

Reporteri.net learns that three MPs of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will not take part in Osmani's vote for president. Abdullah Hoti, Agim Veliu and Driton Selmanaj have come out against the decision of the party leadership and they are expected not to participate in the session expected to be held today, to vote Vjosa Osmani for the President of Kosovo. The opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) have declared themselves against Osmani's election. Meanwhile, support for Osmani has been expressed by non-Serb community parties. In the first two rounds, two thirds of the votes are needed or the election of the president. While, in the third round, the president is elected by the simple majority of 61 MPs, however, in all three rounds, at least 80 MP must take part. If the third round fails, Kosovo goes to an extraordinary election which must be held within 45 days.

   

Serbian Language Media

  Covid-19 in Serbian communities: 22 new cases, one death (media) 

Out of a total of 79 tested samples in Serbian areas in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, 22 were positive for coronavirus, one person died, according to the North Mitrovica Crisis Staff. 

The new patients are from Zubin Potok - 8, North Mitrovica - 5, Leposavic - 4, Gnjilane - 3 and Zvecan - 2.

The number of active cases is currently 792, and the number of people who came out of fourteen - day isolation is 75.

One person from North Mitrovica died, and the total number of deaths since the beginning of the epidemic is now 131.

NATO: The decision to set up a KSF base in Crnusa has been taken by the Kosovan authorities (KoSSev)

''The decision to set up a KSF base has been taken by the Kosovan authorities. We will thus refer you to them for any comment,'' NATO said in a statement to portal KoSSev when asked whether they are aware, agree with, or whether they have participated in the decision to build the largest KSF base in Kosovo in South Mitrovica.

Any deployment in the northern part of Kosovo requires the authorization of the Commander of KFOR, NATO recalled.

''The KSF needs to be authorized by the Commander of KFOR only prior to any deployment in the northern part of Kosovo, in accordance with an earlier agreement with institutions in Kosovo that NATO expects to continue being applied.''

NATO cooperates with the KSF under its original mandate through its NATO Liaison and Advisory Team.

''So far, the KSF under its original mandate has demonstrated to be able to conduct crisis response operations and civil protection operations and to assist the civil authorities in responding to natural disasters and other emergencies in favour of all the citizens in Kosovo,'' an unnamed NATO official wrote in a response to KoSSev.

They also recalled that KFOR and the KSF conducted Explosive Ordnance Disposal Activities.

In the meantime, in late 2018, the Kosovo Assembly adopted three laws set to change the mandate of the KSF. NATO objected to this decision, announcing that it would reconsider its level of engagement with the KSF.

When asked whether something changed in NATO’s attitude toward the KSF, and if it had, what exactly changed, NATO said that they are ''re-examining the level of engagement with the KSF''.

They also underlined that they remain fully committed to security in Kosovo and to regional stability, adding that their mission – under a UN mandate – is aimed at ensuring a safe and secure environment and the freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo, is continuing.

Additionally, NATO revealed it continues to support dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina – ''as the only lasting political solution for Kosovo and the region''.

They urged both Belgrade and Pristina to ensure that no tensions arise in the region, refrain from statements or actions, which may ''lead to escalation'', and remain focused on progress with reforms and on dialogue.

The recent announcement of the municipality of South Mitrovica that 191 hectares of land will be allocated to the construction of a KSF base was met by harsh criticism in the Serbian pro-government media, the Kosovo Office, and the SNS MPs, who interpreted it as a threat to Kosovo Serbs.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, also spoke about this topic on Wednesday. According to Vucic, Serbia believes that stability and peace will be preserved in Kosovo, but also that ''if there is any serious danger or threat to the Serbian people… Serbs from Kosovo know everything ''.

The mayor of South Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, called on Vucic to withdraw his statement and ''work on the recognition of Kosovo''.

Bahtiri added that Vucic ''cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Kosovo'', arguing that Serbs will not be endangered by the construction of this base. He also underlined that it is not a provocation.

A reaction to Bahtiri’s comments soon arrived from the Head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic, who said that Bahtiri ''got scared of the policy of peace and the message of reconciliation'' the President of Serbia had sent.

Petkovic shared his interpretation of Vucic’s statement – ''Serbs from Kosovo know everything''  – to mean that Serbs know ''who is the guarantor of the survival of the people''.

On the other hand, he noted that the only ones who should withdraw their statements are ''Albanian leaders, who send war-mongering statements daily, and calls for the creation of a Greater Albania and ultimatums that undermine the dialogue''.

He reiterated once again that the base would be a ''direct threat to Serbs in the four municipalities in the north of the province''.

So far, the Serbian List and the New Social Initiative NGO from North Mitrovica have spoken out against the construction of this base, expressing concern and calling on the Kosovo government to reconsider the decision.

As the latter stated, this ''potentially further segregates the already divided communities of the Mitrovica region and contributes to increasing the fear of Kosovo’s institutions that the Serbian minority community already has''.

See at: https://bit.ly/3ugTXcQ Boemi, Sputnik, and Raska (KoSSev)

Raska is a beautiful town with a rich history. Situated on the Ibar River, under Kopaonik, 80 kilometers south of Kraljevo and 60 kilometers north of North Mitrovica, for years now, it is also perceived as yet another administrative center by those who come through the Jarinje crossing. From applying for ID cards, driver’s and traffic licenses, to documents on the origin of goods for customs, shopping in retail chains, buying medicine, all the way to the latest service – immunization against COVID-19 – this is what makes Raska a frequent destination.

Last year, the Kosovo authorities did not allow the immunization of the population through the Serbian health system in the territory of Kosovo. That is why citizens living in Serb-majority areas are getting their coronavirus jabs in one of the three cities in central Serbia. Those south of the Ibar – in Bujanovac and Kursumlija, while those in the north – in Raska.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2R1kOeM Gazmen Salijevic appointed Deputy Minister for Communities and Returns (KiM radio)

Gazmen Salijevic from the Roma Initiative was appointed Deputy Minister for Communities and Returns yesterday, reported KiM radio.

"What we will certainly do with Goran Rakic is to enable a stable and sustainable return. We will also work on strengthening all communities, especially in the economic field," Salijevic pointed out in a telephone statement for RTV Kim.

Salijevic thanked everyone for their support and called for unity in improving the position of all communities in Kosovo.

"We will strive to enable a better life for all communities. We will work on building better coexistence through better communication of all communities living in Kosovo," Salijevic said.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has appointed the president of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic as the Minister for Communities and Returns in the new government.

Organized crime and corruption a major problem in Kosovo (SporaZoom, KiM radio, RTV Puls)

Organized crime and corruption are the number one problem in Kosovo, which was the reason for the citizens to decide to vote for someone who was not in power, because so far they have "tried" all political parties and seen that Kosovo has stagnated, Beta editor in Kosovo Jeta Xharra said in the SporaZoom TV Show. 

She pointed out that the previous authorities were engaged in favoring their activists, family members and providing funds for themselves, and not in improving the lives of citizens.

"I think during the campaign we saw people in the field talking, and even well-known persons. An old woman in Mitrovica who met Albin Kurti told him: "We are choosing you to do better. The moment you don't improve the situation, we will change you," says Xharra. 

About 50 percent of the votes, which Self-Determination won in the elections, came from the people who cannot get a job, people who could not benefit from the current system and people who seek justice. According to this Kosovo's most prominent investigative journalist, they have no debts towards the corrupt elite. 

The editor of the KoSSev portal, Tatjana Lazarevic believed that if Kurti really wanted to fight organized crime and corruption, he must start dismantling the entire system that has been being built in Kosovo for 20 years.

In her opinion, in eradicating crime and corruption, a regional approach and education of citizens is necessary, i.e. the establishment of a different value system.

The first steps of the new Kurti government should relate to police and judicial reforms.

"If the first steps are the police and the judiciary, including the smallest moves: go to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate and see what is happening with all those reports and scandals over the years, go to the judiciary and see how cases have been resolved, that is, have not been resolved, to see what the command structure of the police is, what the police officer is doing on the ground, what people are complaining about, then it will not be just cosmetic changes,", said Lazarevic. 

Slobodan Georgiev, the director of the Newsmax Adria TV program in Serbia, sees the conditioning of the EU for the visa liberalization of Kosovo with a more efficient fight against organized crime and corruption as a wrong move by Brussels and points out that any isolation actually encourages crime.

"Every isolation is actually a 'fertilizer' for crime. Every criminal has five passports: Serbian, Croatian, English, American, Russian and travels wherever he wants. What bothers him?" said Georgiev and wondered whether because of such citizens they should sit in isolation.

When it comes to organized crime and corruption in Kosovo, Brussels' responsibility is even greater.

"Because they promised these people much more, and in the end the story was reduced to 'we brought you some money, and you spent that money through corruption.' So, why did you allow that money to be spent through corruption? And the police, and the courts, and the prosecutor's office ... ", Georgiev wondered. 

Citizens' trust in Kosovo's corrupt elite has declined, along with confidence that the international community can solve all problems, warns Jeta Xhara. 

"In Kosovo, we are convinced that we were an experiment of UNMIK, ICO, EULEX, three different missions that individually aspired to govern Kosovo, to be a bigger government than the government itself. It's great that we don't have time anymore, that we don't waste time on such experiments anymore and now we have to do all those things ourselves," believes Xharra. 

Citizens, however, are pessimistic about the possibility of eradicating organized crime and corruption in Kosovo. The show published the results of a poll on the Facebook page "SporaZoom", in which the question: "Do you expect Albin Kurti to win organized crime and corruption", two thirds of the respondents answered that he would not succeed.

The Economist: Serbia leads in vaccination; Vucic’s strategy pays off (N1)

The London-based Economist magazine described Serbia on Thursday as "poor, autocratic and happy to take vaccines from Russia and China".

It added that the country was ahead of almost all European Union’s states in vaccinating its population, adding that Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic’s foreign policy strategy not to put all eggs in the same basket paid off.

The article followed the CNN report from Belgrade that included a short interview with Vucic, who said that saving lives was Serbia’s priority, not the geopolitics, referring to the vaccines available in his country from both the East and the West.

"Serbia may not have had such glowing press coverage since the first world war. A poor country by European standards and plagued by corruption, it nonetheless has one of the world’s fastest covid-19 vaccination campaigns—third in Europe in total doses delivered per person. Thousands of Bosnians, Macedonians and Montenegrins have crossed the border for free jabs. President Aleksandar Vucic has been having a good pandemic," the magazine said.

It added that "on the government’s health website Serbs can sign up to receive a Chinese vaccine, a Russian one, a Western one or whatever is available. About three-quarters of the shots given so far are Chinese. To obtain the sought-after Pfizer vaccine, you may need contacts. Foreigners get AstraZeneca, possibly because many locals do not y locals do not want it. By March 27th 20% of Serbs had had at least one dose. Mr Vucic crowed that 30-year-olds in Germany would have to wait for ages to get their first jab".

The Economist said Vucic bought vaccines in Europe, Russia and China and signed contracts to produce the Russian and Chinese vaccines in Serbia.

It alleged that both Moscow and Bejing hoped to undermine Serbia’s people trust in the European Union with its immunisation policy,

The opinion polls, the Economist said, showed that work but that some Serbs thought China expected something in return.

The magazine added the EU promised Serbia help for the recovery but hadn’t donated vaccines yet.

In the meantime, securing vaccines helped Vucic present himself as a regional leader, the Economist wrote, recalling that thousands of foreign nationals, mainly from the neighbouring countries, had been immunised in Serbia.

The Economist warned that Serbia’s health system was exhausted, that many of the medical staff had left the country, and that the number of infected was on the rise, partly due to conspiracy theories.

It quoted a study showing 70 percent of Serbia’s people believed in at least one conspiracy theory about COVID-19, like one that it was a weapon. In comparison, 25 percent of the western European population shared a similar opinion.

See at: https://bit.ly/2PtYaer Request for dismissal of indictment against Silvana Arsovic rejected (KiM radio)

Lawyer Jovana Filipovic told KiM radio that the request for dismissal of the indictment against Silvana Arsovic and the objection to the evidence in the Oliver Ivanovic’s murder case that was submitted by the defence was rejected. 

KiM radio recalled that one month ago, a preparatory hearing was held in the murder case of Oliver Ivanovic before the Special Department of the Court of Pristina. The defendants Marko Rosic, Nedeljko Spasojevic, Rade Basara, Silvana Arsovic, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Jovanovic pleaded not guilty to participating in the crime of murder.

Lawyer Filipovic opined that the indictment was unfounded and without evidence.

“Given that we have filed a request for the dismissal of indictment, we believe that the indictment does not have the elements necessary for it to remain in force in a legal sense as such and be acted upon,” she said.

Lawyer Filipovic pointed out that they have the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals, only after the decision is delivered to them in the Serbian language, within five days.

According to the new, or more precisely the third indictment for the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, Silvana Arsovic is accused of committing the criminal offense of organizing a criminal group, aggravated murder, as well as abuse of official position.

 

Opinion

  West’s Tension With China Presents Balkans With Tough Choices (Balkan Insight)

Balkan countries don’t want to have to decide between warm economic ties to China and political and strategic commitments to the West – but they may have to.

How has the rise of China and its arrival in the Balkan region transformed the worldview of its local elites? When looking at Balkan-China relations, we usually focus on China's intended messaging. What we often do not take into account is that this messaging, while advancing China’s agenda, also has unintended consequences.

At the same time, in addition to Sino-Balkan interactions, factors exogenous to the Balkans-China relationship have also impacted on how Balkan elites see a world in which China plays an ever-greater role.

In my study for PSSI, China's Ideational Impact in the Western Balkans 2009-2019, I start from the premise that the emergence of China as a global actor has affected the way in which policy, business and knowledge-producing elites around the world and the Balkans think of global politics and economics, and about their own role in global affairs.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3mbY4UZ    

Humanitarian/Development

  Skopje: Serbia donates 40,000 vaccines to North Macedonia (Beta, N1)

North Macedonia’s Government said Belgrade donated 20,000 Russian Sputnik V shots on Thursday, while the other 20,000 of the same producer were due soon.

The country’s President Zoran Zaev said the donation was “an act of great friendship that comes in such an important moment for us. It will help us to continue the mass vaccinations,” Zaev told reporters.

That was the second donation from Serbia, after 8,000 of Pfizer vaccines were sent to North Macedonia, the first contingent ever, and was used for immunization of medical staff.

See at: https://bit.ly/3dqVPJs North Macedonia President Pendarovski orders military deployed on borders (Beta, N1)

North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski ordered the deployment of the military on the country’s northern and southern borders to stem the flow of illegal migrants, a statement from the president’s cabinet said on Friday.

The statement said that the decision was taken after the government declared a crisis situation in parts of the country citing risk of increased migrant transit and health hazard during the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s government declared the crisis situation on Thursday afternoon after the expiration of a 2015 decision by parliament declaring a crisis situation on the northern and southern borders.

See at: https://bit.ly/3wlIuL3