Albanian Language Media: 

• Heads of states adopt declaration at NATO Summit in Washington (media)
• U.S. Embassy shares O’Brien’s remarks “Kosovo has right to defend its territory” (media)
• Kosovo Assembly adopts declaration remembering Srebrenica genocide (media)
• Osmani: Peace is sustainable only when there is justice for victims (media)
• Rohde remembers Srebrenica victims, “their memory is a reminder to us” (media)
• Italian Embassy: Measures should be removed gradually (Express)
• Konjufca: People of Kosovo are very calm and trust the institutions (media)
• “Is Russia seeking to destabilise Kosovo through Serbia?” (RFE)
• Statovci: Serbia guilty of delays in Kosovo’s membership in CoE (media)
• Kosovo Police announces vacancies for non-majority communities (media)
• Police launch investigations into burning of flag in Mitrovica North (Kallxo)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Popovic: Pristina judiciary treats attacks on Serbs as incidents, not as ethnically motivated crimes (Kosovo Online)
• Petkovic, Starovic visit China: Strong support of Beijing to Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty (Kosovo Online)
• Li Ming: China and Serbia to firmly safeguard together international system with UN at centre (Tanjug, media)
• Vucevic: We are grateful for Madrid's principled support for territorial integrity of Serbia (Tanjug)
• Djuric: I invited Blinken to visit Serbia (Tanjug)
• NATO pledges commitment to Western Balkans (N1)
• Vucic congratulates Pezeshkian on being elected new president of Iran (media)
• Serbian ministries, scientific institutions sign MoU on nuclear power (Tanjug)

Opinion:

• UN Resolution 1244 has become an impeding to lasting Serbia-Kosovo peace (BIRN)                                        

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Heads of states adopt declaration at NATO Summit in Washington (media)

All news websites cover the declaration adopted by heads of states at the NATO Summit in Washington. The part of the statement that refers to the Western Balkans notes that the region has a strategic importance for the Alliance. “The Western Balkans and the Black Sea regions are of strategic importance for the Alliance.  We remain strongly committed to their security and stability.  We will continue to enhance our political dialogue and practical cooperation with the Western Balkans in order to support reforms, regional peace and security, and counter malign influence, including disinformation, hybrid, and cyber threats, posed by both state and non-state actors.  Democratic values, the rule of law, domestic reforms, and good neighbourly relations are vital for regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration, and we look to continued progress in this regard.  We remain committed to NATO’s continued engagement in the Western Balkans, including through the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR),” the declaration notes.

See full declaration at: https://shorturl.at/ouF1A

U.S. Embassy shares O’Brien’s remarks “Kosovo has right to defend its territory” (media)

The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said in a Facebook post that “this week, Assistant Secretary O’Brien spoke about U.S. support for the KSF’s transition into a multi-ethnic, NATO-interoperable, territorial defense force subject to civilian control: “Kosovo has the right to defend its territory just like any other country”. The post includes O’Brien’s remarks that “[UN Security Council Resolution] 1244 set up a political process to discuss Kosovo’s future. And that process ran, and resulted in Kosovo’s independence. So Kosovo has the right to defend its territory just like any other country. It is doing that in a process that is transparent and in close cooperation with international partners as a way of securing its defense without threatening its neighbors. So I think on the whole it’s a move toward stability in the region. And that we’ll continue to support from the U.S”. 

Kosovo Assembly adopts declaration remembering Srebrenica genocide (media)

Most news websites report that the Kosovo Assembly held an extraordinary session today on the 29th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. MPs adopted a declaration about the Srebrenica genocide and the vice president of the Assembly said that July 11 will be a Remembrance Day about the genocide as a way of expressing solidarity with the survivors. 

Osmani: Peace is sustainable only when there is justice for victims (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani in a Facebook post commemorating the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide said that peace is sustainable only when there is justice for the victims. She argued that “Srebrenica is not just a place on the map but a symbol of the continuous need for justice, the importance of truth and the power of remembrance”. 

Rohde remembers Srebrenica victims, “their memory is a reminder to us” (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said in a post on X that “today we commemorate the victims of the horrific genocide in Srebrenica 29 years ago. Thousands were murdered simply because they were Bosnian Muslims. Many wounds are still open, Bosnia & Herzegovina continues to seek reconciliation. Their memory is a reminder to us”. 

PDK request not approved, opposition MPs leave assembly session (media)

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Blerta Deliu-Kodra proposed for today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly to include a debate on the recent escapes from Kosovo’s prisons, Kallxo reports. Her request, on behalf of the PDK, was supported by the other two opposition parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) but was turned down by the ruling Vetevendosje Movement. After the vote on the request, opposition MPs left the assembly session. Before that, the PDK suggested that three draft laws – the draft laws on public officials, the Independent Media Commission, and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council – should be removed from the agenda. The proposal was supported by the LDK and AAK but did not pass.

Nacionale reports that in a Facebook post after the session, PDK MP Deliu-Kodra said that in only three months, three people fled from Kosovo’s prisons. She criticised the majority for not being ready to discuss what she called the degradation of security and judicial institutions and an extraordinary failure. “The government is not interested in justice or accountability. The PDK responded to this irresponsibility by leaving the session. We have nothing to talk about with a government that is not only unable but irresponsible too,” she argued.

Italian Embassy: Measures should be removed gradually (Express)

The Italian Embassy in Kosovo told the news website today that Rome supports the lifting of EU measures against Kosovo and that they should be lifted gradually. “Italy supports the removal of the measures that the EU imposed on Kosovo and in line with the conclusions adopted by the Council in Brussels in December, we believe this should be done in gradual fashion,” the embassy said.

Asked if Italy has made any proposal on what topic the measures could start being lifted, the embassy said that “discussions are ongoing, therefore, we cannot give you any specific indication at this point”.

Konjufca: People of Kosovo are very calm and trust the institutions (media)

Several news websites report that Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca told reporters in Pristina today that his recent statement about “the training of terrorist groups in Serbia” and the threat that they can pose on Kosovo were not meant to scare the people as he said but rather to inform the international community in order to punish Serbia.

“Our whole society knows, and the international community does too, that Serbia has territorial tendencies toward Kosovo. It has never backed away from these tendencies. But at the same time, Kosovo has never been more prepared to react to any security challenge, therefore, the people of Kosovo should feel safe, and nobody makes these statements to scare people or create panic. The people of Kosovo are very calm, they believe that our institutions are effective enough to respond to any tendency that Serbia may have to destabilise Kosovo,” Konjufca is quoted as saying. 

Konjufca further argued that there are criminal groups that aim to destabilise Kosovo. “There are groups that aim to destabilise Kosovo, this is a fact, and we can neither lie to nor deceive anyone. They [the groups] are sheltered in Serbia. As far as the situation in Kosovo is concerned, it has never been under greater control. Groups within Kosovo that may try to destabilise the situation have never been weaker and are being demolished. Our security institutions have confirmed where they train in Serbia, where they get their weapons from and where they find shelter. The security institutions share the information with the heads of state, and they inform us about the existence of those groups, where they are trained and what is their objective …. We are not saying this to cause fear, but rather to better understand the truth. We are not saying this to our people, but to the international community. The international community needs to punish Serbia,” he argued.

“Is Russia seeking to destabilise Kosovo through Serbia?” (RFE)

The news website reports that “Kosovo senior officials warn that Serbia is preparing for an eventual attack or provocation against Kosovo. But how real is the threat? According to commentators of developments in the Balkans, Belgrade’s ally, Moscow, is seeking to shift western attention from the war in Ukraine, and that the great powers need to send a clear message to Serbia that if it acts in the north of Kosovo, NATO will react”.

According to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Belgrade and Moscow have one thing in common: expansion. President Vjosa Osmani claims that Serbia is “the extended hand of Russia” and that it is trying to play “the games of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, by opening a new front against the west”. Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca says that Belgrade is gearing up for an eventual attack or provocation against Kosovo, same as the one in September last year against Kosovo Police in Banjska. But Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic called as “media drama” the claims that Kosovo is under threat and added that “this is nothing but a fog for its western sponsors”.

Ivana Stradner, senior researcher with the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said that the threat for a possible escalation in the north of Kosovo “is big and true”. She told the news website that this is true because according to her Russia – which does not recognize Kosovo’s independence is seeking to shift the attention away from the war in Ukraine. She said that for this reason, Russia is looking for “vulnerable points in the west and that the Balkans are currently the most vulnerable point in Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo”.

The United States has stressed that the north of Kosovo and threats for the secession of one part of Bosnia are the main security threats in the region, and that the use of force as means of resolving issues needs to be excluded.

Adrian Shtuni, foreign policy and security commentator based in Washington and an associate of the International Anti-Terrorism Centre in the Hague, does not rule out the possibility of violent incidents in Kosovo, because in his opinion there are circles in Serbia that aim destabilisation. In an interview with the news website, he said that indicators from the ground show that the chances for an escalation have increased compared to three and six months ago. Shtuni also said that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has received a clear message from Washington that “any violent aggression against Kosovo and KFOR peacekeeping forces will be unacceptable”.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in an op-ed published in the New York Times said that “a new front in the Balkans would serve Russia as well as Serbia: Serbia could try to gain territory through aggression and Russia could gain a stronger hold on Serbia as a satellite, in addition to distracting the world from the war it is waging in Ukraine”.

NATO officials told Radio Free Europe that the deployment of 1,000 additional troops in Kosovo last year was one of the steps taken to ensure that “KFOR has the forces and capacities to meet their mandate”.

Statovci: Serbia guilty of delays in Kosovo’s membership in CoE (media)

MP from the Vetevendosje Movement, Jeta Statovci, in an interview with Ekonomia Online, said that “Serbia is guilty of delays in Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe”. 

Statovci argued that Kosovo has constantly contributed to the climate of normalising relations and finalising a deal with Serbia. “We know that Serbia maintains a hostile relation toward Kosovo and that it has not backed down from its destructive tendencies,” she said.

Statovci also said that by accepting the Brussels agreement, Kosovo has carried out its legal obligation, but when Serbia refused to sign the agreement, this affects territorial integrity and does not respect sovereignty. “When sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected, tendencies are removed and institutions are not obstructed from their efforts to join international mechanisms,” she said.

Kosovo Police announces vacancies for non-majority communities (media)

Kosovo Police announced vacancies for officers from non-majority communities that will serve in the regional police directorate in the north of Kosovo. Some news websites note that police had announced vacancies last year too after the resignation in November 2022 of around 500 Serbs that were part of the police force. 

Police launch investigations into burning of flag in Mitrovica North (Kallxo)

Kosovo Police said in a report that a suspect was involved in the burning of a flag in Mitrovica North. “After watching the video footage, it was noticed that four unknown persons passed through that place and it is suspected that one of them set the flag on fire,” the police said, adding that a case of “inciting division and intolerance” has been initiated.

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

Popovic: Pristina judiciary treats attacks on Serbs as incidents, not as ethnically motivated crimes (Kosovo Online)

Assistant Director of the Serbian Government Office for KiM for legal protection, support and property-legal affairs Igor Popovic said today that number of attacks on Serbs in Kosovo had increased significantly since Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti took power, adding those attacks are treated as incidents and not as ethnically motivated crimes, Kosovo Online portal reported.

Popovic told Kosovo Online portal that 68 ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs took place in Kosovo from the beginning of 2024 until July. He also said that 179 such attacks took place last year and 150 in 2022 which is a clear indicator that “the regime headed by Kurti spreads hatred against the Serbs in the public discourse”.

“Serbs are to blame for all their difficulties, for their unemployment, lack of institutions, enormous migration of their population to the West…for all these Serbs are to blame. It is expected that Albanian population, because of that media campaign, would blame Serbs for all and that attacks on Serbian and non-Albanian population would increase {…}”, Popovic said. He added the attacks include physical assaults, attacks, thefts, provocations, attacks on churches, damages, destruction of houses and properties.

He recalled cases of shooting at two Serb boys, Milos and Stefan Stojanovic in Gotovusa village, near Strpce. “{…} they were shot at by a member of so-called Kosovo security forces, Azem Kurtaj, and that man is now free. Despite of having wounded a young boy and a child, he was first in some sort of house arrest, then released pending trial, and then he even dared filing a criminal report against (Dalibor) Jevtic, Strpce mayor in Kosovo system, because he publicly reacted (about the incident)”. 

Petkovic, Starovic visit China: Strong support of Beijing to Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty (Kosovo Online)

Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Presidency member Petar Petkovic together with his colleague Nemanja Starovic and a high party delegation met today in Beijing with the Minister of International Department of the China Communist Party Central Committee, Liu Jianchao, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“Mister Liu conveyed to Petkovic strong support of the People’s Republic of China to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, while Petkovic stressed that likewise Serbia supports One China policy, and its territorial integrity and sovereignty”, reads the statement.

The statement also said China opposes any imposed solution to Kosovo issue, and supports finding a sustainable solution on the principles of the international law and Resolution 1244, with full support to Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

It was also said China will continue extending full support to Serbia on Kosovo issue, while Petkovic thanked China and its leaders for their steadfast support to Serbia and Serbian people in Kosovo and other issues. 

Li Ming: China and Serbia to firmly safeguard together international system with UN at centre (Tanjug, media)

Ambassador of China to Serbia, Li Ming said today China and Serbia must together firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations in its centre as well as international order based on international law.

“Let’s be guardians of world peace and development”, the Chinese Ambassador told a roundtable Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence organised by Institute for International Policy and Economy.

He also recalled words of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who said Serbia's most important interest is to preserve the peace. 

Vucevic: We are grateful for Madrid's principled support for territorial integrity of Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic met with Spanish Ambassador to Belgrade Juan Aparicio on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations and future economic cooperation, as well as Spain's principled position on the territorial integrity of Serbia, Tanjug news agency reported.

"A cordial meeting with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain, Juan Aparicio. We are grateful to Madrid for the principled support when it comes to the preservation of our territorial integrity, as well as for the support they are providing to us on the European path", Vucevic wrote in an Instagram post.

Vucevic added that Spanish investments in Serbia as well as bilateral goods trade were expected to rise in the coming period.

Djuric: I invited Blinken to visit Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said he had an opportunity to speak with US State Secretary Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Washington, adding he invited him to visit Serbia, Tanjug news agency reported.

Speaking at a reception for Serbian reporters at the Serbian Embassy in Washington, Djuric said high-level political dialogue with the US was necessary for continuing the economic cooperation as well as for resolving issues "we disagree on," such as the Kosovo issue.

"We need dialogue with the US at the highest political level not only for the sake of continuing the growth and development of our economy, America being the number one partner in terms of services, right in areas relating to high technology and to what is the engine of our economic development - that cooperation is necessary to us also to resolve issues we disagree on, such as the issue of the status of Kosovo and Metohija, which cannot be resolved in a positive manner without active engagement from the highest political level in the US", Djuric said.

He noted that Serbia's presence at the NATO summit did not mean a change of the course set by the decisions of the National Security Council or the Serbian Parliament, but it meant that "Serbia is strengthening friendships, strengthening partnerships, strengthening its position in this part of the world, too".

NATO pledges commitment to Western Balkans (N1)

NATO leaders pledged their commitment to the security and stability of the Western Balkans in a declaration from their summit in Washington, N1 reported.

“The Western Balkans and the Black Sea regions are of strategic importance for the Alliance. We remain strongly committed to their security and stability”, the declaration by the heads of state and government said.

“We will continue to enhance our political dialogue and practical cooperation with the Western Balkans in order to support reforms, regional peace and security, and counter malign influence, including disinformation, hybrid, and cyber threats, posed by both state and non-state actors”, the declaration added. It said that democratic values, the rule of law, domestic reforms, and good neighbour relations are vital for regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration, adding that the NATO leaders “look to continued progress in this regard”.

“We remain committed to NATO’s continued engagement in the Western Balkans, including through the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR)”, the declaration said, adding NATO will monitor and assess development and enhance its situational awareness with focus on security threats and opportunities for closer cooperation with partners.

Vucic congratulates Pezeshkian on being elected new president of Iran (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on being elected new president of Iran and wished him success in performing the difficult duties that were ahead of him. A post on Vucic's official Instagram profile said the Serbian president had spoken with Pezeshkian.

"We discussed the current geopolitical situation as well as opportunities for deepening the cooperation between our countries in areas of mutual interest. I thanked Iran for respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia", Vucic wrote in the post.

Serbian ministries, scientific institutions sign MoU on nuclear power (Tanjug)

Five Serbian government ministries and 20 scientific and academic institutions and institutes signed a MoU on applications of nuclear power development in Serbia on Wednesday, Tanjug news agency reported.

The MoU was signed by the Ministry for Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, as well as by the national electric power company EPS, power grid operator EMS, the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, the Serbian Nuclear Society, the Serbian Directorate for Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security and faculties of economic, medical and technical sciences.

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said the move corrected a mistake committed in the 1980s, when the then authorities banned generation of nuclear power. "No one has the dilemma that the issue of electric power will be dominant and strategic as well as that investing in that sector will be a matter of the sovereignty and independence of a state", Vucevic said.

 

Opinion

 

UN Resolution 1244 has become an impeding to lasting Serbia-Kosovo peace (BIRN)

Opinion piece by Dean B. Pineles, a graduate of Brown University, Boston University Law School and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He served as an international judge with EULEX from 2011-13

While Serbia continues to rely on the 1999 UN Security Council resolution, ill will and resentment will continue to dominate relations with Kosovo – and normalisation will remain a distant goal.

Whenever the subject of Kosovo’s independence is under discussion, Serbia automatically defaults to United Nations Resolution 1244, which the UN Security Council adopted on June 10, 1999, immediately after the cessation of hostilities 25 years ago.

The resolution established a provisional self-government for Kosovo under UN auspices via the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, pending a final status agreement to be negotiated through the political process with Serbia.

Negotiations proved unsuccessful and Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on February 17, 2008. Since then, it has considered itself an independent, sovereign state.

But Serbia claims the UN resolution, which has never been abrogated, includes an inviolate recognition of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and, in the absence of a negotiated status agreement, Kosovo is not independent and remains an integral part of Serbia.

While there is nothing new about this construct, it is worth raising it now because on June 8, the inaugural “All-Serbian Assembly”, a large group of representatives from Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, met in Belgrade and issued the “Declaration on the Protection of National and Political Rights and the Common Future of the Serbian People”.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/cPlq3