Albanian Language Media: 

• Gervalla and McKay talk about increasing Kosovo’s military capacities (RTK)
• KFOR: Authors of attacks against our troops must be held accountable (media)
• LVV on anniversary of riots in Zvecan: Republic cannot be suspended (Koha)
• Konjufca: Chances for dissolution of Assembly have decreased (media)
• Konjufca on Borrell's report on Kosovo: It would be good to write that banks of Serbia were illegal (media)
• German government votes in favor of extending mandate of soldiers in Kosovo (media)
• Germany and Spain argue about recognition of Kosovo (RFE)

Serbian Language Media: 

• One year of Albanian mayors’ mandate: What was done in the four Serbian municipalities in the north of Kosovo? (Euronews)
• Consequences of clashes in Zvecan – deteriorated situation, difficult life with many unpopular decisions (Radio KIM)
• Ulutas: Courage of KFOR soldiers at protests in Zvecan helped stabilize situation (Kosovo Online, media, social media)
• Todic: Great uncertainty in Leposavic, ordinary people suffer the most (Kosovo Online)
• Pantovic: Stricter actions by judicial authorities after last year's events in Zvecan, people are afraid (Kosovo Online)
• Constitutional Court in Pristina without membership in Conference of European Constitutional Courts (Radio Mitrovica sever, Tanjug)  
• A Serbian young man attacked in ETC store in Gracanica; the police arrested the suspect (KiM radio, RTS, Kosovo Online, KoSSev)
• Desecrated cemetery and commemoration hall in Donje Korminjane village (KoSSev, Danas)
• Vucic, Beyer discuss EU integration of Serbia, region (Tanjug)

International:

• Kosovo prepares to house 300 inmates from Denmark, raising human rights concerns (Reuters) 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Gervalla and McKay talk about increasing Kosovo’s military capacities (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Donika Gervalla, together with the Chairperson of the Kosovo Friendship Parliamentary Group – Canada, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, met with the Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Defense in the Parliament of Canada. They discussed cooperation in the field of defense and security and the strengthening of the partnership between the two states in building the military capacities of Kosovo.

The advancement of the status of Kosovo to an associate member in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the preparation and professionalism of the Kosovo army, achieved as a result of cooperation with NATO member states and according to their military standards, were also part of the discussion between Minister Gervalla and the federal deputy, John McKay.

KFOR: Authors of attacks against our troops must be held accountable (media)

One year after the riots in Zvecan, NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said that the perpetrators of the attack against its troops must be held accountable and the attack was unacceptable. “Today we honor the services and sacrifices of our fellow soldiers, who risked their lives, to carry out their duties for all communities living in Kosovo, in line with our UN mandate. Their courage helped stabilize the situation in that zone and prevented further escalation,” COMKFOR Ozkan Ulutas is quoted as saying in a press release. “NATO reiterates that facts must be verified, and the authors must be held accountable”.

LVV on anniversary of riots in Zvecan: Republic cannot be suspended (Koha)

The Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), on the occasion of the first anniversary of the riots in Zvecan, has assessed that there is no other alternative in the north but the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo. The ruling party has assessed that "the republic cannot be suspended".

"Today one one year since criminal groups organized and directed by Serbia with the aim of preventing the exercise of the official duties of the four mayors in the north, attacked the Kosovo Police, KFOR soldiers and the journalists present. The insistence of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo has made the situation there today to be completely different because there is no other alternative but the implementation of constitutionality, legality and thus the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Kosovo. A year later, the Municipality of Zvecan functions, with a mayor, with the emblem and the flag of the Republic of Kosovo", reads their post.

LVV further said that "over 90 KFOR soldiers were injured in Zvecan in front of the municipal building on May 29, dozens of them with permanent consequences".

Konjufca: Chances for dissolution of Assembly have decreased (media)

The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, said that the agreement to go to the elections cannot be made only between two parliamentary groups. According to him, this issue requires complete unity, therefore, he sees few chances for the dissolution of the Assembly these days.

Speaker Konjufca has emphasized that if an attempt was made to dissolve the Assembly with only the PDK, they would be at the limit of the necessary number, which is 80. Therefore, as he emphasized, unification of the opposition is also necessary in this process.

"According to my information from the opposition groups, it would be impossible to go to the elections in the fall because PDK itself, as far as I understand, has shared this with public opinion. It has made statements in the media that this is the deadline for elections, so the deadline would be the first week of June to create a consensus between the political parties", Konjufca said.

Asked about the letter that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla, sent two weeks ago to the president of the Parliamentary Assembly about the draft statute of the Association by the Government of Kosovo, and the failure to inform President Vjosa Osmani, Speaker Glauk Konjufca  "I have understood this as an impossibility for the President to be notified of every detail by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. I guessed that this happened because of the visit she had to the USA, where because of the distance probably not every detail which changed every minute on that voting day by the Council of Ministers, can be shared, and can be coordinated. I don't see the reluctance on the part of the government and the Ministry of Interior to do something deliberate against the president, or to keep something hidden. It was technically a long distance that day, which has made the changes of every minute almost impossible to share with the president. The presidency had its reaction, this reaction probably comes as a result of what they thought that every detail should be shared with the president", said Konjufca.

Konjufca on Borrell's report on Kosovo: It would be good to write that banks of Serbia were illegal (media)

The High Representative of the European Union, Joseph Borrell, is preparing a report on Kosovo which will lead to the removal or not of the restrictive measures that have been imposed on Kosov for some time,

The Eu spokesperson, Peter Stano, announced on Tuesday that Borrell in this report will also include the action of the Kosovo Police where six units of the Serbian bank were closed, and from where a sum of money was confiscated.

Asked about this, Konjufca said that Borrell is good to write in this report that these illegal banks of Serbia are in Kosovo.

"It would be good if Mr. Borrell wrote the report saying that these institutions were illegal banks of Serbia in Kosovo. It is good to give the definition of what they are. That's how they were, they were the Bank of Serbia in the Republic of Kosovo. As such I do not think they were permissible, and should be treated as the law says. The law says that they must be closed", said Konjufca.

German government votes in favor of extending mandate of soldiers in Kosovo (media)

The Government cabinet of Germany, under the leadership of chancellor Olaf Scholz, has approved the decision to extend the mandate of the soldiers who serve in the framework of the KFOR mission for one additional year.

The announcement was made by the Federal Ministry of Defense of Germany. This ministry emphasizes that the decision comes after the rise of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

"Soldiers currently deployed include about 210 of a German operational company who will be deployed on the ground for a year in the so-called Western Regional Command. The new company aims to replace the Austrian forces and be trained to control riots," the announcement states.

Germany and Spain argue about recognition of Kosovo (RFE)

The issue of the recognition of Kosovo by Spain came up during the discussion of the meeting of foreign ministers on May 27, in Brussels, in light of Spain's decision to recognize the state of Palestine. Sources have told Radio Free Europe that for this there was an open dispute between the parties from Germany and Spain.

While Germany was "very convincing" about the recognition of Kosovo, "Spain was on the defensive, arguing that Kosovo was not on the agenda".

The former ambassador of Spain in Belgrade, Raul Bartolome Molina, stated in 2023 that his country's position is clear: Spain does not recognize the independence of Kosovo, while it supports the EU's attempts to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

 

Serbian Language Media

 

One year of Albanian mayors’ mandate: What was done in the four Serbian municipalities in the north of Kosovo? (Euronews)

Albanian mayors in four Serbian-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo have completed the first year of their mandate. They came to power in those municipalities after the elections held on April 23 last year, which were boycotted by the Serbs and in which the turnout was slightly more than three percent. A year has passed since these mayors, with the help of the Kosovo special police, took control of three municipal buildings. A “tectonic” change took place on the ground, the year was marked by instability, and not much was done for the local self-government itself-Euronews in Serbian writes today.

Issues important to local self-government are completely sidelined

Four mayors are currently working unhindered in municipal facilities, although they do not have the support of the Serbs who make up the majority in these municipalities. As Miodrag Milicevic from the NGO Aktiv told Euronews Serbia, what is felt on the ground are “tectonic shifts” and changes that have had serious consequences.

In these four municipalities most projects, as reported by Radio Free Europe, have been dormant since November 2022.

“We are talking here about local governments, and it should be a dominant issue of local importance. Unfortunately, we know very well the way in which local governments in the north were elected, that it was not a question of legality, but of the legitimacy of the elected mayors in the north of Kosovo who did not have, nor do they have that mechanism of communication with the Serb-majority population, not only because of the language barrier but also because of the complete absence of knowledge about the situation on the ground and knowledge of the real and true needs of the inhabitants of the north”, Milicevic told Euronews Serbia.

As he added, this made communication difficult, not only daily with former political representatives, but also communication with residents.

“If we add to that, of course, that we had numerous conflicts/frictions, then you get a very bad situation that will certainly not be any better in this period that is ahead of us”, he stressed.

University professor Nexhmedin Spahiu opined that there was nothing negative in the communication of the mayors of the four municipalities with the Serbian community, but he notes that there was no development of the municipalities because there were no investments.

He told Kosovo Online that the leaders of the municipalities in the north have not done anything in the past 12 months, but as he added, perhaps it was not expected of them because they have very little legitimacy, and also because they found themselves ignorant, in an environment where they were not expected to be elected mayors.

Are snap elections the solution?

The attempt to dismiss the mayors in four municipalities failed in the referendum held on April 21 of this year. Although they participated in the process of collecting signatures for the removal of Albanian mayors, the Serbian parties in the north decided not to participate in the vote before this vote was held. Thus, a very low turnout was again recorded at the referendum.

Milicevic said that the option of snap elections would be the best and that this is something that has been talked about a lot in the past year.

“In fact, we, and the entire international community, have appealed many times for an electoral process because the electoral process itself is the solution, but there is no political will for such a thing and it is very clear that after this referendum failure, that the crisis will continue and will certainly last until October next year, unless some kind of political decision is made to end this agony in the north and bring the story back to the level of decency and dialogue”, he said.

Milicevic added that it is clear to everyone what is happening on the political level, but it is also clear that the north is mostly populated by Serbs and that sooner or later there will be some elections where someone from the Serbian community will win and take over the governance.

Regarding whether one should expect Albanian mayors to remain in office until regular local elections in 2025, Spahiu opined that they will finish their mandates.

Consequences of clashes in Zvecan – deteriorated situation, difficult life with many unpopular decisions (Radio KIM)

One year after the clashes in front of the Zvecan municipal facility, the situation in this municipality in northern Kosovo is calm. However, the presence of Kosovo special forces is still visible, and an Albanian mayor Ilir Peci, elected in elections that Serbs boycotted, remained at the helm of the municipality. According to interlocutors Radio KIM spoke with, this event, same as the one in Banjska, impacted security and the departure of Serbian population.

Consequences following the May clashes in front of Zvecan municipal facility are numerous, the interlocutors agreed. Ban on importing Serbian goods, abolishment of dinar, re-registration of vehicles with KM to Kosovo plates, usurpation of properties, raids and arrests of Serbs are some of them.

“Now, one year after clashes in Zvecan, we can say that the situation for Serbs, here in the north of Kosovo has drastically deteriorated. All those tragic events, to say so, for which I believe there was no plan for an incident to happen, nor was the wish of those people at the protest to cause incidents, or have some clashes erupting. It has now led to such a pressure on the Serbian community that we find ourselves in such unfavorable situations that people are leaving massively”, Aleksandar Rapajic from NGO ACDC in Mitrovica North told Radio KIM.

Responsibility of Pristina for situation in the north

Jovana Radosavljevic from New Social Initiative said the situation for Serbs in northern Kosovo has deteriorated. The responsibility for this is in Pristina, she adds.

“As if institutions in Pristina find it more important to place the flags at municipal buildings, and not really create conditions that people have access to their services. That is the crucial problem which I see within the Serbian community and why they do not see the future now, respectively do not see themselves taking part in the political process in Kosovo”, she said.

Krstic: Belgrade and international community are also responsible

Journalist and analyst Branislav Krstic sees the responsibility also in the actions of the official Belgrade and international community.

“Everything that happened in Zvecan was part of a controlled incident which got out of control. We are only the actors implementing Ohrid Anex, and that is happening on a daily basis”, he said.

Asked how things got out of control, he said representatives of the Serbian List had no power over gathered people, adding those present there could see that Serbian List representatives were willing to let Kosovo special police vehicles pass, but that people’s rage made a different decision.

Radio KIM recalled that on May 29, last year, Serbs gathered in Zvecan, revolted by violent incursion of Kosovo special police forces and Albanian mayor Ilir Peci on May 26, to the municipal facility where also Provisional Authority of Zvecan Municipality is located.

Talking about a missed opportunity to replace the mayors in northern municipalities, Rapajic opined that Pristina institutions did their utmost to have this process fail. He argued that there were no conditions in place for normal voting, listing decision to ban people who carried out voting process in the north for years, and know the situation from participating, and bringing instead people from the south to do their job, inflated voters’ list with around 1.500 new voters added after the April elections 2023, and at the end decision to introduce surveillance cameras for the first time in Kosovo in a process which had already been burdened politicly.

What Serbs in northern Kosovo currently want?

Jovana Radosavljevic thinks it is sufficient to start with small things in order for the situation to normalize. To show willingness to change the situation in which Serbs currently live, address problems people face, concretely dinar issue, the ban on importing Serbian goods, which to the great extent impact the quality of life, but also small business depending upon them.

“(…) the feeling of security is crucial in all these (issues), removal of bases located at Gazivode and Bistrica bridge, reducing presence of special police, creating conditions that people, if they wish so, integrate. These are all things that one by one could potentially create an environment where people can picture themselves again integrated in one system which takes into account their needs but also obstacles they are facing”, Radosavljevic said.

Ulutas: Courage of KFOR soldiers at protests in Zvecan helped stabilize situation (Kosovo Online, media, social media)

KFOR Commander Major General Ozkan Ulutas stated that the courage of the mission's soldiers during the protests in Zvecan a year ago had helped stabilize the situation in that area and prevent further escalation of violence.

"Today, we honor the services and sacrifices of our comrades, who put their lives on the line to discharge their duties for all communities living in Kosovo, in accordance with our mission’s long-standing UN mandate. Their courage helped to stabilize the situation in the area and prevent a further escalation of violence", Major General Ulutas said.

He added that KFOR's commitment to contributing to lasting security throughout Kosovo and regional stability was steadfast.

"KFOR continues to take all necessary actions to maintain a safe and secure environment, in accordance with its mandate under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999, at all times and impartially, for the benefit of all communities living in Kosovo", Ulutas said.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/LKq1x

Todic: Great uncertainty in Leposavic, ordinary people suffer the most (Kosovo Online)

There has been significant uncertainty in our municipality since May 26th of last year until today. Heavily armed special forces of the Kosovo police then brought the newly elected municipal representatives into the building of the Leposavic municipality, creating a lot of tension. During the summer, the municipal building resembled a barracks because a large number of Kosovo special forces personnel were stationed there, and later it was secured by KFOR members, former mayor of Leposavic, Zoran Todic told Kosovo Online.

Recalling the events and the protests of citizens that followed after the new mayor of Leposavic, Lulzim Hetemi, elected in elections boycotted by the Serbs, entered the municipal building with police assistance, using stun grenades and tear gas, Todic says that after a year, nothing is the same and the entire situation is difficult for the Serbian people.

"All this is a product of unilateral, unreasonable anti-Serb decisions by the government in Pristina, which the international community has ignored many times. They simply did not understand what we have been pointing out for years, the problems faced by the Serbian population in our municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija. There is a lot of pressure, tension, and uncertainty, and ordinary people suffer the most, employees who have spent their working lives in this building and who, since May 26th of last year, have not had access to their workplaces, and their job is to provide services to our population", Todic points out.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/Du3Bj

Pantovic: Stricter actions by judicial authorities after last year's events in Zvecan, people are afraid (Kosovo Online)

It has been exactly a year since the unfortunate events in front of the Zvecan municipal building, where three Serbs were seriously injured, along with dozens of KFOR personnel. Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic said that since then, courts and prosecutors have been visibly stricter, not only towards the suspects involved in the Zvecan incidents but also for events from May last year in Leposavic and Zubin Potok.

"Prosecutors and courts, without Serbian prosecutors and judges, have become significantly stricter. People have even been unjustly convicted and detained, which would not happen under normal circumstances", Pantovic told Kosovo Online.

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

Constitutional Court in Pristina without membership in Conference of European Constitutional Courts (Radio Mitrovica sever, Tanjug) 

The request of the Constitutional Court in Pristina for admission to the Conference of European Constitutional Courts was rejected because it did not receive the required two-thirds majority of the members present at the Circle of the Presidents of the Conference, the Constitutional Court of Serbia announced, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

As stated, the constitutional court in Pristina submitted the request at the meeting of the Circle of Presidents, consisting of the presidents of all European constitutional courts that are members of the Conference.

The meeting of the Circle of Presidents was held on May 22 and 23, and the Constitutional Court of Serbia was represented by the president of the court, Snezana Markovic.

The meeting was attended by representatives of all 35 constitutional courts that are members of the Conference.

The general theme of the XIX Congress was "Forms and limits of restraint in decision-making: examples of constitutional courts", where the basis for the discussion at the Congress were the responses of the constitutional courts to the questionnaire that was prepared earlier and delivered to all members of the constitutional courts.

The organizer of the meeting of the Circle of Presidents and the Congress of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts is the Constitutional Court of Moldova, which presided over the conference.

A Serbian young man attacked in ETC store in Gracanica; the police arrested the suspect (KiM radio, RTS, Kosovo Online, KoSSev)

KiM radio reported that a young man, Damjan Sabic from Novi Badovac was attacked on Friday at his workplace in the ETC store in market in Gracanica by, as he said, an Albanian male. The police arrested the suspect.

The police in Gracanica detained a man of Albanian nationality after a report by Sabic, and the prosecutor ordered him to be detained for 48 hours.

In a statement to the media, Sabic claims that he was attacked on a national basis. "I was working on fruits and vegetables at that moment. He spoke to me in Albanian, he asked about vegetables, I didn't know, and I told him - "I'm sorry, I don't understand you". He asked me if I knew English, I said that I didn't. He took the vegetables, I weighed them, he left, and after an hour, an hour, and a half, he returned to the store again in different clothes, where he addressed me in Serbian - 'friend, do we know each other?'. I immediately recognized the person", says Sabic.

After a few moments, he says, the verbal and physical attack followed.

"He started swearing at me, grabbed my hand. There was a violent push around the store, he told me I was playing a patriot, threatened that I don't know Albanian, threatened to kill me, and cursed my Serbian mother. After that I got scared and started calling security. The security told me to go back to my workplace, I went and that was it."

Sabic says that after this incident, he decided to leave his job at ETC, fearing for his own safety. "The police came to the store; I gave a statement. On Monday, I quit my job at the store", says Sabic and points out that he has bruises on his arm after the attack. The whole event, he says, was an attack on a national basis, and he does not expect the case to have a positive epilogue.

Desecrated cemetery and commemoration hall in Donje Korminjane village (KoSSev, Danas)

Unknown persons damaged the cemetery in Ranilug yesterday, the Kosovo police reported. At the same time, they state that graffiti was written on the religious building, reported KoSSev.

As they specify, the report was submitted by a person who stated that persons did this that was unknown to her. The police did not provide more details, nor which religious building was involved. The case is being investigated.

However, as the aphorist Jovan Zafirovic reported on the Facebook network last night, who is from this place, the cemetery and the commemoration hall in Donje Korminjane were desecrated.

Davidovic recalled that it is a small and almost peaceful place in Kosovsko Pomoravlje (Morava region).

KoSSev reported that the cemetery in question is the Orthodox one.

Vucic, Beyer discuss EU integration of Serbia, region (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke with German MP Peter Beyer on Wednesday about European integration of Serbia and the region and bilateral relations between Serbia and Germany.

In an Instagram post, Vucic highlighted the significance of economic cooperation between the two countries.

 

International

 

Kosovo prepares to house 300 inmates from Denmark, raising human rights concerns (Reuters)

In a jail in eastern Kosovo, plans are underway to remove all domestic inmates and open the space for foreign prisoners who will be airlifted from Denmark, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) away.

Denmark is expected to send 300 inmates to the Balkan country, a first for Kosovo and a move highly criticized by Danish human rights experts.

Kosovo's prison service will rebuild the Gjilan jail during the next two years to Danish standards before receiving the convicts from non-European Union countries, who were due to be deported from Denmark after their sentences.

The eight-year-old jail itself doesn't raise human rights concerns, but the decision to house inmates in Kosovo does, said Therese Rytter, legal director of Dignity, a Danish human rights organization.

"There have been credible allegations of abuse in the past," Rytter said. "That doesn't mean that it will happen (in Kosovo), but there is definitely an increased risk compared to if they had been in a Danish prison," she said.

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