Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 9 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Austria to donate 1 million COVID-19 vaccines for Western Balkans (Kosovapress)
• Lajcak about the dialogue: No reason to be pessimistic (Koha)
• EFJ calls on VV to stop harassing journalists (Express)
• Council of Albanian Ambassadors hails continuation of dialogue (Klan Kosova)
• Informal Coalition to Face the Past reacts to VV MP remarks (Kallxo)
• RTK Deputy Director General insults Vetevendosje MP (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

• Brnabic: Region frustrated over EU’s attitude towards enlargement (RTS)
• EU Commissioner: We want Serbia in EU, reforms and implementation needed (N1)
• Brnabic: Vjosa Osmani referred to Brussels agreement (Radio KIM, B92)
• Godfrey: Great nations face mistakes from past (N1)

 Humanitarian/Development:

• Rakic announces closure of collective centre in Leposavic (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Belgrade website and UNDP promote city as attractive location for digital nomads (N1)

   

Albanian Language Media  

   COVID-19: 9 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded nine new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 14 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 186 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Austria to donate 1 million COVID-19 vaccines for Western Balkans (Kosovapress)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said today after a roundtable with leaders from the Western Balkans that Austria will donate 1 million vaccines against COVID-19 to the Western Balkans. “We have sent 600 thousand doses to the Western Balkans. As the Republic of Austria, we want to contribute by making available 1 million doses of the vaccine. We will send 1 million to support the fight against the pandemic,” Kurz said.

Lajcak about the dialogue: No reason to be pessimistic (Koha)

The European Union Special Representative for the Prishtina – Belgrade Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, said today in Vienna that there is no reason to be pessimistic about the dialogue. Asked if Albin Kurti’s election as Prime Minister of Kosovo would have any unexpected impact on the dialogue, Lajcak said that the first meeting between the two delegations was not simple. “We cannot be pessimistic, and we have no reason to be pessimistic. The first personal meeting between the parties of Serbia and Kosovo, it would be naïve to say that this meeting was simple. But the fact is that the meeting lasted several hours, both parties are interested in the normalisation of relations and the path toward the EU is the right one. There will be another meeting before summer leave. Kurti is new to the dialogue. This process started in 2011 and it had several results. Kurti brings his opinions. What is important is that he has a very strong political mandate, he was elected by a strong majority. There is no alternative in this dialogue except for the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. This is of crucial importance for the whole region. We want to engage so that the process is successful not only for the relations between the two sides but also for their European future,” Lajcak said after a meeting with leaders from the Western Balkans.

Lajcak also said that Kosovo has yet to receive visa liberalisation “and this shows that the situation is not developing as it should”.

European Federation of Journalists calls on VV to stop harassing journalists (Express)

Ricardo Gutierrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), said in a Twitter post today that the EFJ calls on Vetevendosje political party to stop harassing journalists in Kosovo. Gutierrez retweeted a post by Gazeta Express owner Berat Buzhala who had tweeted that “the page #meKryeministrin which is administered by LVV official’s family members, with around 300k followers, is pursuing an aggressive campaign against Gazeta Express and T7. Their use of hate speech is unprecedented. @Molenews1 @ViolavonCramon @fluturakusari @IFJGlobal.”

Council of Albanian Ambassadors hails continuation of dialogue (Klan Kosova)

The Council of Albanian Ambassadors (CAA) has welcomed the continuation of talks between Kosovo and Serbia for the normalisation of their inter-state relations. The talks brokered by the European Union and supported by the United States of America must conclude with mutual recognition as the only way for the full normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, it said. “This would not only be in the best interest of both countries, but would also mark a great step toward strengthening peace, stability and the Euro-Atlantic prospects of our region,” the Council said. “The Council of Albanian Ambassadors strongly believes that the stability and prosperity of our region are inseparably linked to guarantees for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every state, respect for the principles of democracy and human rights as well as protect and further the position of ethnic minorities.”

Informal Coalition to Face the Past reacts to VV MP remarks (Kallxo)

The Informal Coalition to Face the Past has called on state institutions to react to what the coalition called denigrating remarks by a Vetevendosje MP who said during a TV debate that “the issue of missing Albanians has more priority than the issue of missing Serbs”. 

Arbresha Kryeziu – Hyseni, an MP from the ruling Vetevendosje, said: “the issue of missing Albanians must be treated seriously and with high priority and then talk about missing Serbs. There can however be no equalization in this case because it was the Serbs that committed crimes against the Albanian people. Genocide was carried out against us”.

The coalition said in their reaction that a discourse according to which the government should treat as a priority only crimes committed against a certain ethnic group is in opposition with the Constitution of Kosovo and the principles of transitional justice. “This approach visibly damages the process of reconciliation. The Kosovo Government, Assembly, State Prosecution, judicial institutions and society as a whole must have an equal approach in treating war victims and only in this way we will create a peaceful and equal society. The coalition reminds MPs and politicians about the legal and moral responsibility they have to avoid generalizing statements in public,” the reaction notes.

RTK Deputy Director General insults Vetevendosje MP (Koha)

Mentor Shala, Deputy Director General of the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK), has insulted today Vetevendosje MP Doarsa Kica-Xhelili, who said in an interview on Thursday that the RTK stopped a live broadcast when Shala’s name was mentioned at the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly’s Media Committee. Koha reports that Shala broke out with insults in a Facebook post saying that he wants the Vetevendosje MP to mention his name and that she “thinks only about him”.

   

Serbian Language Media

  Brnabic: Region frustrated over EU’s attitude towards enlargement (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today that representatives of the Western Balkans countries agreed in Vienna that they all feel equally frustrated when it comes to the EU integration and the attitude of the Union towards the countries in the region, RTS reports.

She said they didn’t manage to agree on other issues, such as declaration or regional agreements.

Brnabic made these remarks after the Austria-Western Balkans Summit organized by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

Talking about problems related to the EU integration she said two are the biggest ones – that there are some member states absolutely against enlargement and the issue of setting new precedents.

She also said that whatever certain country from the region striving to join the EU does, still there is something left making the effort insufficient.

“This is a political game that would be counterproductive, because people would get tired (…)”, she said.

The issue relating to setting a precedent was that member states resolve their bilateral issues by using European integration.

Asked if there would be joint declaration from the Summit, Brnabic responded unfortunately there will not be a joint declaration, and declaration of the Chancellor Kurz and EU Representative Miroslav Lajcak was accepted.

She added Serbia agreed to many things, but that Albin Kurti took the declaration off the table. Brabic said that in two days two completely different signals were coming from Pristina, adding Vjosa Osmani let adoption of much serious documents such as South-Eastern Europe Strategy, where Kosovo was mentioned not only with the asterix, but a footnote as well, while today there was a different message.

EU Commissioner: We want Serbia in EU, reforms and implementation needed (N1)

Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migrations, said in Belgrade Thursday that Serbia should make progress in the rule of law and curbing corruption and organised crime, adding Belgrade had Brussels' support in those efforts, N1 reports.

“The European Union wants Serbia as its part, but the accession process demands further reforms and its full implementation“, Johannson told a joint news conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after the signing of the Agreement on Support of Serbia in Managing Migrations worth EUR 2.5 million.

Thursday’s agreement is a part of an EU broader aid to Serbia.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2Ugc4mF

Brnabic: Vjosa Osmani referred to Brussels agreement (Radio KIM, B92)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic attended a plenary session of the South-Eastern Europe Cooperation Process in Antalya, Turkey, Radio KIM reports, citing B92.

Brnabic said Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani didn’t vote against the documents – Declaration and Annual Activity Report, as well as Strategic Document for South-East Europe. As Brnabic said, Osmani had reservations, but let the documents be approved.

“At every mention of Kosovo, there is not only an asterix but a footnote as well”, Brnabic said. Brnabic also said it was very interesting that Osmani referred to the Brussels agreement saying that “the footnote goes only with the first mention of Kosovo”.

“They refer to the Brussels agreement when it suits them. That policy doesn’t fail to surprise”, Brnabic said.   

She also said that Serbian message was clear, explaining that only strong regional cooperation can help everybody recover from consequences caused by Covid-19 pandemic.

Godfrey: Great nations face mistakes from past (N1)

Antony Godfrey, the US ambassador to Serbia, said on Friday that great nations did not ignore their mistakes from the past but face them.

Referring to the US decision to declare June 19 as a national holiday marking the end to slavery in the country, he added that “great nations don’t ignore the most painful moments from their past, but accept them, face the mistakes they had made. By remembering them, we start the healing process, and we are getting stronger“, Godfrey wrote on his Twitter account in Serbian.

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

Humanitarian/Development

  Rakic announces closure of collective centre in Leposavic (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Kosovo Minister for Communities and Return Goran Rakic announced closure of the collective center in Leposavic, Radio Mitrovica sever reports.

“It is good that today, a few days before the International Refugee Day we can say that we, together with our international partners, are successfully carrying out the process of closing collective centers in Kosovo”, Rakic wrote ​​on Facebook.

“By visiting Lesak and Leposavic we want to announce that the project of closing the collective center in this city will start very soon in this municipality, after which we will work in almost the same way on closing the collective centers in Zvecan and Zubin Potok. We are not glad that we did not do this job much earlier, but we are happy that we will finally provide new, good living conditions for the displaced people living in the territory of Kosovo in collective centers, by implementing the project of closing collective centers”, Rakic said. 

Belgrade website and UNDP promote city as attractive location for digital nomads (N1)

The Digital Serbia Initiative and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presented on Thursday the website BelgradeGets.digital to promote Serbian capital as an attractive destination for the life and work of digital nomads and other digital professionals from all over the world, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic relief, N1 reports.

Besides Belgrade, other countries are launching international promotions targeting digital nomads like exotic tourist destinations Barbados and Costa Rica and European countries such as the Czech Republic and Estonia, Croatia and Montenegro from the region, the UNDP said in a statement.

With BelgradeGets.digital, originating from the domestic digital and startup community, Belgrade is moving to defend the title of one of the 20 most popular destinations according to users of Nomad List. This website gathers the world’s largest network of digital nomads.

The idea of that project is to present Belgrade in a new light to those who may not see themselves as digital nomads but are now deciding to replace the newly acquired opportunity to “work from home“ with “work from anywhere on the planet“.

The BelgradeGets.digital website gives visitors practical information and advice on how to travel, where to stay, how to find a place to work, and a pleasant environment to relax.