UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, October 1, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Osmani travels to Germany to meet German President Steinmeier (RTK)
Osmani meets Baerbock: Germany remains key ally for our Euro-Atlantic journey (media)
Kurti and Maqedonci in Poland to participate in the Warsaw Security Forum (Klan)
Gervalla in Germany, to participate in meeting of Berlin Process Foreign Ministers (Klan)
Kosovo leaders congratulate NATO SG on resuming his duty (media)
Haradinaj: Assembly can unblock salaries blocked by government (Telegrafi)
EP appoints former Croatian diplomat head of delegation for relations with Kosovo (Albanian Post)
Rrahmani, Korenica leave Vetevendosje, join List for Family (Koha)
Lajcak shares moments from meetings with Osmani and Kurti (Klan Kosova)
Kosovo expected to get around €880 million from European Commission (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic on Milo Djukanovic, Serbia, Kosovo, opposition, and lithium (Beta, NMagazin, Nova, Danas)
Miroslav Aleksic on Kosovo and lithium (Beta, NMagazin, RTV)
"Money isn’t what we need, it’s peace and freedom": Poll highlights skepticism toward Vucic’s Kosovo measures (KoSSev)
Raska-Prizren Diocese: We are here with our people, sharing joy and tribulations as we have done for centuries (KoSSev, media)
Serbian People's Movement demands dismissal of CHC Pristina-Gracanica director (medijacentar.info, KiM radio)
FB and Instagram profiles of women's rights organization "Pravo na Pravo" shut down (medijacentar.info)
Pros and cons to the union of the Serbian opposition in Kosovo and the opposition in Serbia; Gogic: Belgrade will try to prevent it (KiM radio, RFE)
Atiq announces works on road infrastructure in Mitrovica North, on information board in Albanian only (KoSSev)
Stano: Threats to Tanjug journalists unacceptable, case must be investigated (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)
Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications says email threats to Tanjug agency came from Albania (Tanjug, media)
UNS asks international forces in Kosovo to determine who’s behind threats to Tanjug journalists (NMagazin, media)

International:

Koopman in EP: We are expecting to close as many chapters in the next months as in the past decade (EWB)
NATO chief Mark Rutte takes charge at critical time (DW)
Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ to secure his freedom in first public remarks since leaving prison (CNN)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani travels to Germany to meet German President Steinmeier (RTK)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has traveled for a working visit to Germany, to meet with her German counterpart, Frank Walter-Steinmeier.

“President Osmani will be a speaker at the ‘Leaders’ Dialogue within the Berlin Global Dialogue’ session in which case she will discuss the topic: ‘Rethinking sustainability – responding to geopolitical changes,” reads the announcement of the Presidency’s office.

Osmani will also participate in the opening ceremony of the Albanian Gastronomy Festival in Berlin, where she will give a speech to the participants.

She will also hold separate meetings with German ministers and MPs.

Osmani meets Baerbock: Germany remains key ally for our Euro-Atlantic journey (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met today with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Germany. In a post on Facebook, she said that they reconfirmed the strong partnership between Kosovo and Germany.

"Germany remains a key ally for our Euro-Atlantic journey as well as for political, security and economic issues, so our joint work is the path that leads to success", Osmani said.

Kurti and Maqedonci in Poland to participate in the Warsaw Security Forum (Klan)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, together with the Minister of Defense, Ejup Macqdonci, have traveled to Warsaw, Poland. It is announced that Kurti and Maqedonci will participate in the Warsaw Security Forum 2024.

"As part of the Forum, Prime Minister Kurti will today deliver a speech on the topic 'Focus on the Western Balkans: the link between Geopolitics and European Integration'," the government's announcement reads.

Further, the announcement states that during his stay in Warsaw, the head of the government will hold bilateral meetings and will also meet with the Kosovo emigration in Poland.

Gervalla in Germany, to participate in meeting of Berlin ProcessForeign Ministers (Klan)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, will participate this Tuesday in Berlin in the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the Berlin Process.

"After participating in yesterday's Conference of the Global Coalition against DAESH/ISIS at the invitation of Secretary Blinken, held in Washington, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Republic of Kosovo, Donika Gervalla, traveled to Berlin, where she will to participate in the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the Berlin Process", it is stated in the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kosovo leaders congratulate NATO SG on resuming his duty (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti congratulated the recently nominated Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte. "Congratulations Mark Rutte on the official start of your role at the head of NATO. We in Kosovo wish you great success and look forward to continuing our cooperation in your new capacity", Kurti wrote.

President, Vjosa Osmani, has congratulated Mark Rutten, for officially assuming the position as Secretary General of NATO. "I look forward to working together towards guaranteeing long-term peace and security in the region and advancing Kosovo's path towards NATO," Osmani wrote.

Haradinaj: Only Assembly can unblock salaries blocked by government (Telegrafi)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said in a Facebook post today that “the wages blocked by the government can be unblocked only by the Assembly”. “The situation created with the non-payment of wages for the public sector, is a serious violation of human rights and an extreme level of ignoring thousands of employers in this sector. This matter requires an urgent solution. The only way out is to urgently call an extraordinary session of the Kosovo Assembly, which would amend the Law on civil servants, and enable an immediate solution, something that the Alliance will request today. Any other attempt is not only a legal violation but also an abuse of the unalienable right of over 80,000 people to exercise their right for wages,” Haradinaj argued.

EP appoints former Croatian diplomat head of delegation for relations with Kosovo (Albanian Post)

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of Croatia, Davor Ivo Stier, has been elected head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Kosovo.

Stier from the European People's Party (EPP) will co-chair the Parliamentary Stabilization-Association Commission (KPSA), which constitutes the only contractual agreement of Kosovo with the European Union (EU). He has emphasized that he will work towards strengthening Kosovo's European perspective.

"Peace, security, dialogue and normalization of relations with Serbia, the protection of the rights of minorities and all citizens of Kosovo, and the implementation of the constitutional order throughout the territory of Kosovo will be priority issues in the joint work of the Parliamentary Commission".

Rrahmani, Korenica leave Vetevendosje, join List for Family (Koha)

MPs Eman Rrahmani and Visar Korenica announced today that they are leaving the ruling Vetevendosje Movement to join the coalition List for the Family of the New Kosovo Alliance and the Party of Justice. Rrahmani told reporters that “now is the time for a different political engagement”. “The cause for the family is a cause above the party. Part of the project will be people that have proved themselves and have success stories in their lives,” he said.

Rrahmani argued that in the Assembly they managed “to stop initiatives that threaten the family”. “We have not given up on our mission, we are joining a coalition for the family … In the last three years we have managed to stop many initiatives that threaten the family, despite the government’s attempt to create a narrative that the laws of the Civil Code are conditions for European integration”.

Lajcak shares moments from meetings with Osmani and Kurti (Klan Kosova)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a Facebook post today that during the UN General Assembly in New York he “had the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions about multilateralism, peacebuilding and the Western Balkans inside and outside the UN building. Besides conversations with friends and partners, I also participated in the traditional Western Balkan lunch with leaders from the region hosted by HR/VP, and spoke at the WEF’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit. It was good to feel the global temperature on issues of importance to all of us and I truly believe our discussions will help shape effective solutions to the challenges we face globally”.

Kosovo expected to get around €880 million from European Commission (RTK)

The news website reported on Monday evening that in October, the European Commission is expected to adopt the reform agendas for five countries of the Western Balkans in order to enable the first transactions from the Growth Plan for the region. Kosovo is expected to get around €880 million.

“I am really happy and proud to inform you today that now five countries: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, have submitted their draft agenda reforms which we think meet the requirements. I would say that in many aspects they supersede our expectations,” Gert Jan Kopman, Director General in the European Commission.

The first payments are expected to be made by the end of the year.

In order to get the funds from the Growth Plan, every country in the Western Balkans was obliged to submit their reforms agenda, which include the rule of law, democracy, institutional reforms, the fight against corruption and conflicts of interest, as well as taking the necessary steps to ensure that the funds will not be misused. Kosovo was the first to submit the reforms agenda to Brussels.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic on Milo Djukanovic, Serbia, Kosovo, opposition, and lithium (Beta, NMagazin, Nova, Danas)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last night in Belgrade that he and former Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic have "almost everything different in their programs, plans and ideas", but that they have "one common obsession - Serbia", reported NMagazin portal.

"Both of us are obsessed with Serbia, he hates it, I love it, and I have no problem with that. I will continue to love my country; he can continue to hate it. At the same time, I will respect Montenegro and its people, no matter what he sings, no matter how much he hates Serbia, it will move forward," said Vucic.

This is how he commented on the recording of Djukanovic's celebration of the victory of his Democratic Party of Socialists in the local elections in Podgorica on Sunday, with the lines "No one can do anything to us, we are stronger than Serbia, they can only hate us...".

Asked about the statement of the former Minister for Kosovo, Goran Bogdanovic, that the Serbs in Kosovo understood that he had deceived them, Vucic said that he fought in impossible conditions and managed to get 28 countries to withdraw the recognition of Kosovo.

"And Bogdanovic, (Dragan) Djilas, (Zdravko) Ponos, (Boris) Tadic and the others burdened us with the independence of Kosovo and 90 countries that recognized independence - so much for the effect... Bogdanovic and all of them together on one list and I on the second, so let's see who gets how many votes from the Serbian people in Kosovo," Vucic told reporters at the ceremony on the occasion of the completion of the work on the "St. Regis Belgrade" hotel in the "Belgrade Waterfront" neighborhood.

Speaking about the announced session of the Serbian Parliament on lithium, Vucic told the opposition to decide whether they want him to attend that session or not.

"They are afraid of one man, they are afraid of the words and brains of one man, they would give anything to be able to defeat and overthrow that one, and what bothers them is that this one is not afraid of all of them together," he said.

Goran Bogdanovic, the former minister for Kosovo and Metohija, told Nova daily that Banjska intensified the emigration of Serbs from Kosovo, along with "arrests, beatings and other things that we, who live in Kosovo, feel every day''.

He said that ''we still don't know what happened in Banjska, and they know and are still silent. I mean Belgrade and Pristina - the people of Kosovo deserve to know what actually happened,'' said Bogdanovic predicting that K-Serbs still awaits, under the rule of Albin Kurti, ''the arrogance of Pristina and the inertness of Belgrade'', as well as the political beheadedness of the Serbs in Kosovo.

"Kurti will continue to insist on opening the bridge on the Ibar, he will insist that health and education be integrated into the Kosovo system, but I do not believe that there will be intrusions into educational and health institutions," said Bogdanovic.

According to his words, NATO and KFOR are not opposed to the opening of the bridge on the Ibar, but they were certainly advocating that it not be the center of the conflict, but that it somehow become a symbol of reconciliation and integration.

Bogdanovic also claimed that Serbs in Kosovo increasingly were freeing themselves from Belgrade's pressure and were increasingly realizing that he deceived and betrayed them and that Vucic's policy led to ''this catastrophe that we have been watching for years''.

Miroslav Aleksic on Kosovo and lithium (Beta, NMagazin, RTV)

The leader of the National Movement of Serbia (NPS) Miroslav Aleksic said yesterday that Kosovo issue should be on the agenda of the Serbian Parliament, reported NMagazin, citing RTV.

He told Radio-Television of Vojvodina about the meeting of representatives of Serbs from Kosovo and opposition parties in Belgrade on Saturday, that it was agreed to form a group that would work to discuss Kosovo in the Serbian Parliament, "and not that one man decides, bypassing all institutions".

"The situation now is that everything in KiM has been handed over, and that Serbia has nothing left in its southern province except citizens," Aleksic said.

"President Vucic did everything related to Kosovo in a private arrangement with Albin Kurti and the EU. None of our institutions participated in making a single decision related to this issue," said Aleksic, who believes that the Constitutional Court should review all decisions and agreements, and Kosovo as well.

Aleksic also said that the government "avoided by fraud" the holding of the session of the Serbian Parliament announced for yesterday on the prohibition of exploration and mining of lithium and boron: "Even when it was scheduled, they knew that they would avoid it and that they would delay it so that they could say that there is no time to hold it in this extraordinary session".

When asked if the protest from last night due to the non-holding of the parliamentary session on lithium can have any effect, Aleksic said that this year's protests in Serbia led to "Rio Tinto standing still. Everything stopped. That is the effect of the protest from August".

“Money isn’t what we need, it’s peace and freedom“: Poll highlights skepticism toward Vucic’s Kosovo measures (KoSSev)

In the aftermath of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s newly unveiled measures aimed at addressing the Kosovo crisis, a deep divide has emerged among Serbs. Many express growing skepticisms toward the initiatives, seeing them as politically motivated gestures rather than concrete solutions, according to a recent poll conducted by KoSSev. People voiced doubts about the effectiveness and intent behind the measures. One local resident summarized the sentiment: “Money isn’t what we need, it’s peace and freedom, and he hasn’t offered that to us“, the portal further wrote.

The measures, announced in mid-September, came as a response to increasing tensions following the Kosovo government’s actions to remove Serbian institutions from northern Kosovo. The Serbian President introduced a five-point plan aimed at stabilizing the situation.

The first chapter calls for a return to the “status quo ante,“ meaning the restoration of Serbian participation in the police and judiciary, local elections in northern municipalities, and the release of, as he said, political prisoners. The plan also includes the formation of the long-delayed Association of Serbian Municipalities. Further chapters outline financial aid and employment opportunities for Kosovo Serbs, including the establishment of new public offices near the boundary, and the creation of a specialized prosecution office.

Despite these announcements, the KoSSev poll shows that many people in Kosovo feel the measures are insufficient, while some shared their support of the current Serbian Government.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/3PruK

Full Raska-Prizren Diocese statement is available at: https://shorturl.at/AaKCy

Serbian People's Movement demands dismissal of CHC Pristina-Gracanica director (medijacentar.info, KiM radio)

After the latest events and the attack on the elderly couple in Gracanica, the Serbian People's Movement (SNP) demands an urgent investigation of this case and that those responsible be brought to justice, reported medijacentar.info.

"What went under the public radar is the fact that CHC Pristina-Gracanica was not able to provide the necessary care to the injured persons, who were then referred to the hospital in Pristina. According to our knowledge, this happened for two key reasons: there was no surgeon on duty at the time, and the x-ray machine in the surgery was not working", reported the portal, citing the statement.

SNP demanded from the CHC Pristina-Gracanica to publicly declare the accuracy of this information.

"If they are true, we believe that it is imperative that director Bratislav Lazic be immediately dismissed. Wrecking, indolence, and irresponsibility have reached their extreme limits, and this situation has become unsustainable".

The SNP states that "after the general chaos that reigns in this institution, and there are numerous problems in support of that, one of them is the situation in which the internal clinic in Laplje Selo was in complete darkness and without heating for at least three days, because the generator supporting the operation of all devices and equipment was malfunctioning, the question arises”:

"Is Mr. Lazic consciously collapsing CHC Pristina-Gracanica in order to create a justification for closing this important institution? We also want to tell the decision-makers that as a political organization we will not allow the further collapse of this institution and that we will preserve this institution because it is of great importance for our life," read the statement of the Serbian People's Movement.

FB and Instagram profiles of women's rights organization "Pravo na Pravo" shut down (medijacentar.info)

Medijacentar.info reported last night that all social network profiles (FB and Instagram) of Milica Stojanovic Kostic, activist for women's rights, author, and host of the podcast "Zenskast" and director of the non-governmental organization "Pravo na pravo" (Right to right) have been closed.

According to Stojanovic Kostic claims, she did not know the exact reason for the shutdown of the profile, but she assumed that it was related to her recent posts. In her last posts, she criticized the CHC Pristina-Gracanica, highlighting the case of an elderly married couple who were transferred to the Pristina Clinical Center, because the CHC Gracanica could not provide adequate care.

Also, in the same announcement, Stojanovic Kostic expressed doubts about the existence of cooperation between the two Clinical centers although the directors of CHC Pristina-Gracanica and Kosovska Mitrovica, Bratislav Lazic and Zlatan Elek denied such cooperation.

"I believe that there is nothing wrong with the cooperation between CHC Gracanica-Pristina and the Clinical Center of Pristina, but I think it is important for the public to be aware of it," Stojanovic Kostic told medijacentar.info, and announced she would be filing a complaint with FB and Instagram and expected her accounts on these social networks to be "restored".

Pros and cons to the union of the Serbian opposition in Kosovo and the opposition in Serbia; Gogic: Belgrade will try to prevent it (KiM radio, RFE)

The opposition parties in Serbia will support the "autochthonous" policy of the Serbs in Kosovo, which will deal with the "real interests" of their community, without "their headquarters being in either Belgrade or Pristina", reported KiM radio, citing Radio Free Europe.

Milija Bisevac from Zubin Potok, who together with Branimir Stojanovic from Gracanica, formed the Serbian People's Movement political party last year, told this for RFE. Both are critics of the Serbian List's politics.

Bisevac and Stojanovic attended talks between politicians and activists from Kosovo and opposition parties in Serbia in Belgrade. These talks were organized by movements from Kosovo: The Serbian National Council, the Serbian National Forum, and the People's Movement of the Fatherland, recalled RFE.

"SL has not presented for a long time the interests of the Serbian people, so it is necessary to form a new policy that could represent the interests of our people," Bisevac said.

On the other hand, the president of the Democratic Party in Serbia, Zoran Lutovac, stated that it was necessary to form a political alternative to the SL, and that the meeting on September 28 was a hint of that.

Aleksandar Arsenijevic from Serbian Democracy in Kosovo, however, did not support the idea that the opposition in Serbia "creates a new Serbian list", but believes that political representatives of Serbs in Kosovo should fight for their rights themselves.

"I am afraid that some other Serbian list, supported by the opposition or anyone else, can do the same on the ground," Arsenijevic told RFE.

Political parties of Serbs in Kosovo accuse SL of not protecting the interests of the Serbian community, of not working to improve living conditions, of backing down under pressure from Belgrade, and that their officials were susceptible to corruption.

The opposition in Serbia does not support the policy towards Kosovo led by the current authorities in Belgrade. Certain parties also believe that official Belgrade "surrendered" Kosovo by signing the Brussels Agreement on the normalization of relations.

Gogic: Belgrade will try to prevent the union

Political analyst Ognjen Gogic told RFE that a "wide range" of the opposition in Serbia has gathered around the issue of Kosovo, and that this shows that they were interested in cooperating with politicians from Kosovo who could be in opposition to the SL.

"The formation of an alternative to the Serbian List is well under way. When there was dissatisfaction with SL, citizens became empowered. There is no such restraint anymore," said Gogic.

However, according to his opinion, it will be difficult to form an initiative that will be an opponent of the Serbian List, or the policy currently represented by official Belgrade in the long run.

"Belgrade will try to prevent them from uniting (against the Serbian List)", underlined Gogic and recalled how the leader of the Party of Kosovo Serbs, Aleksandar Jablanovic, changed his views "overnight" and became loyal to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

It is not the first time that individuals "side" with the SL or official Belgrade, even though they were previously against their policies. He reminded that a large number of members of the Serbian community in Kosovo receive income from the Serbian budget, which was one of the key reasons why people would always support the option supported by the government in Serbia.

However, Gogic believed that a possible new list, supported by the opposition in Serbia, would succeed in taking several mandates from the SL in the Assembly of Kosovo in the next Kosovo parliamentary elections in February 2025, reported KiM radio, citing RFE.

Atiq announces works on road infrastructure in Mitrovica North, on information board in Albanian only (KoSSev)

Mitrovica North mayor Erden Atiq announced the beginning of the works on road infrastructure in settlements of this town, KoSSev portal reported.

The works in the amount of 217.000 euros will include fixing the roads, pavements and sewerage system in Bosniak Mahala. He also said the works in parallel will include the King Petar, Luj Braj, and Vojvoda Bojovic streets in the amount of 190.000 euros. Upon completion of works on Bora Stankovic Street, which will happen soon, he announces a project worth 171.000 euros and also additional 407.000 for other works. After those works are completed, Atiq said there would be other projects in the amount of 775.000 euros that would include works on Miners’ Hill, Brdjani settlement and Three Towers area.

In a photograph he shared to announce all those works, on an information board in this Serbian majority municipality, everything was written in Albanian language only, the KoSSev portal underlined.

Stano: Threats to Tanjug journalists unacceptable, case must be investigated (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)

European Commission Spokesperson Peter Stano termed today the threats against Tanjug journalists as unacceptable and “very disturbing”, adding the EU condemns such threats and that this case must be investigated, Kosovo Online portal reported citing Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV).

“What you said about received emails and threats is very disturbing. The EU’s stance is very clear when it comes to the threats and intimidation of journalists. This is unacceptable. We fully reject and condemn it”, Stano told a briefing in Brussels.

He made those remarks answering the question of Tanjug journalist on how the EU comments on the threats this agency received, and whether it would undertake measures to request the protection of this agency journalists but also other Serbian journalists in Kosovo, as well as whether they will react in order to find out who is behind those threats, after (Serbian Minister of Information) Dejan Ristic said those threats came from the territory of Albania.

Stano said that journalists should be free to work without persecution, intimidation or threats. When it comes to this concrete case, given that it is about Serbian media and that it happened in the territory of Serbia “it is on Serbian authorities to investigate it fully and receive all necessary support from anyone who could be involved”.

Tanjug news agency received the email yesterday on its official email address, signed by person “Trim Bardhi”, in which it was said that each journalist of this agency “will get a bullet in the back of the head” once they enter Kosovo.

Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications says email threats to Tanjug agency came from Albania (Tanjug, media)

Serbian Minister of Information and Telecommunications Dejan Ristic said a death threat to Tanjug journalists emailed to the agency on Monday had come from the territory of Albania.

Ristic said the location the email had been sent from had already been identified and that communication had been established with Microsoft.

"Besides activities with the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade and the Interior Ministry, we are informing the European Federation of Journalists and other international journalist organizations to familiarize them with developments in the territory of our southern province when it comes to the position of Serbs in that context as well as the position and threats to the personal safety of journalists - those in Kosovo-Metohija as well as those from newsrooms based in Belgrade and elsewhere who occasionally go to Kosovo-Metohija on work assignments," Ristic told Tanjug.

The Tanjug news agency received on Monday an email signed by an individual named "Trim Bardhi" that said Tanjug journalists would get "a bullet to the back of their heads" the next time they set foot in the territory of Kosovo, recalled Tanjug.

UNS asks international forces in Kosovo to determine who’s behind threats to Tanjug journalists (NMagazin, media)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) with its branch in Kosovo and Metohija and the Union of Journalists of Serbia (SINOS) today called on the international security forces in Kosovo to urgently determine who is behind the death threats addressed to the journalists of the Tanjug agency, reported NMagazin portal.

They called in their statement on the European (EFJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to show solidarity with the journalists of the Tanjug agency, while they asked Kosovo and international institutions for guarantees for the safety of journalists.

"We believe that these threats should be taken seriously, especially since Kosovo is a territory where the murderers of 17 Serbian and Albanian journalists are free to move, and that the Kosovo authorities forbade RTS journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to enter this territory without any justifiable reason," read the statement.

International

Koopman in EP: We are expecting to close as many chapters in the next months as in the past decade (EWB)

BRUSSELS – “We are expecting in the next few months to close as many chapters as we have closed in the past decade”, said Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). He spoke at yesterday’s session of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) as well as the joint session of AFET and Committee on Budgets (BUDG) of the European Parliament in Brussels.

Koopman stressed that all the countries in the region are moving forward towards membership in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and that in the last 8 months, three of them have pretty much completed the task.

“I expect the first of the Western Balkans countries to join the SEPA on 1 January, 2025, namely Montenegro, with Albania and North Macedonia to follow shortly, and Serbia is also keenly interested in it, as well as Kosovo and, hopefully, BiH will follow not much later”, Koopman underlined, adding that it is “testimony of a new momentum”.

Koopman said that all six leaders of the region are also meeting every three months to discuss the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and that the Reform Agendas, which are an integral part of this instrument adopted last November by the European Commission, of the five of the countries are “in the process of being approved” by the EC.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/575peate

NATO chief Mark Rutte takes charge at critical time (DW)

Mark Rutte takes the helm at NATO on October 1, after more than a dozen years as Dutch prime minister. He'll need all his diplomatic skills to manage the alliance in challenging times.

Mark Rutte announced in July 2023 that he was resigning as prime minister of the Netherlands and "retiring from politics" after his government coalition collapsed over differences in migration policy.

By October of that year, however, Rutte had seemingly forgotten all about his vow to leave politics, signaling his interest in succeeding NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who had announced he would finally leave the post in September 2024 after a decade at the helm of the alliance.

For months, Rutte ran a discreet one-man campaign to win over NATO leaders, most of whom he already knew from more than 13 years as Dutch prime minister, and from working with various international bodies. The trained historian was the favored candidate of US President Joe Biden, as well as of most European leaders.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mvd9fv57

Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ to secure his freedom in first public remarks since leaving prison (CNN)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has made his first public remarks since his release after he struck a deal with the United States, saying he is free because he pleaded “guilty to journalism.”

The 53-year-old on Tuesday traveled to the French city of Strasbourg to appear before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and provide evidence on his detention and conviction, and on their effects on human rights.

“I want to be totally clear: I am not free today because the system worked,” Assange told lawmakers. “I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”

He continued, “I pled guilty to seeking information from a source, I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source, and I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was. I did not plead guilty to anything else.

“I hope my testimony today can serve to highlight the weakness, the weaknesses of the existing safeguards, and to help those whose cases are less visible, but who are equally vulnerable,” he added.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3azjr96s