Albanian Language Media:

• Germany, France call for comprehensive Kosovo-Serbia agreement (Gazeta10)
• Jasharaj on strike in education: Up to the membership to decide (media)
• Education Minister: Committed to address any difficulty the teachers may face (media)
• Gjini: AAK does not support ousting of government (Telegrafi)
• PSD’s Kastrati calls for protest against Trendafilova visit (Nacionale)
• Bamieh on arrest warrant: If EULEX interfered, it’s interference in judiciary (Nacionale)

Serbian Language Media:

• “Vucic prepares list of ‘derecognitions’ of Kosovo for UN session” (Danas)
• Vucic: So easy to forget about UN Charter when it comes to Serbia (Kosovo Online)
• Stano: Resolutely resolve demanding political issues through dialogue for the normalisation of relations (Beta, KoSSev)
• Analysts: Lajcak’s visit need to keep tensions under control (Radio KIM)
• Petkovic: Svecla's message the most direct threat to President Vucic so far (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
• Vucic on Svecla’s statement about ‘difficult days’ (Kosovo Online)
• Vucic awards Order of Republic of Serbia on Grand Collar to Orban (Tanjug)
• Sheholli: EU prepared a new document with 13 points as a "transitional final agreement" between Belgrade and Pristina (Danas)
• The Serbian Assembly special session on Kosovo: The opposition had an opportunity for promotion, Vucic dominated on his field (Danas)
• UNS and DNKiM: Protest due to the denial of equal use of the Serbian language in Kosovo and Metohija; sanctions for those responsible demanded (KoSSev)

Opinion:

• Is EU Candidate Status Within Reach for Kosovo? (Prishtina Insight)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Germany, France call for comprehensive Kosovo-Serbia agreement (Gazeta 10)

Germany, France and Poland have called for a comprehensive agreement in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The foreign ministers of the three countries, within the Weimar Triangle group, have also called for progress in the visa liberalisation process for Kosovo.

“We fully support the EU-led Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and stress the need for a comprehensive agreement that allows for Kosovo and Serbia to advance on their respective European paths, and contributes to the stability in the region. We call for progress regarding the visa liberalisation for Kosovo. Our countries are strongly committed to the Berlin Process as an additional means to foster regional cooperation and EU accession of the Western Balkan countries; we highlight the importance of implementing the historic decision by the six Western Balkan countries to create a Common Regional Market. Given the importance we attach to the region and as a sign of our joint support, we have agreed on a trilateral visit to this region and advocate for further strengthening the ties between the EU and the Western Balkans,” a joint statement reads.

Read the full statement at: https://bit.ly/3UhGTlu Jasharaj on strike in education: Up to the membership to decide (media)

Rrahman Jasharaj, head of the Union of Education, Science and Culture (SBASHK) and leader of the Strike Council of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo (BSPK), said in an interview with Front Online that it is up to the union’s membership to decide if they will end their strike and if school classes will start on Monday.

“Everything is up to the membership to decide, and I am not in a position to say what will happen next week. We are in constant communication and as to what will happen, I can say that for now there is a strike and without a genuine dialogue I fear the situation will remain the same. It is up to the membership to decide,” Jasharaj said.

Jasharaj also argued that Minister of Education, Arberie Nagavci, must engage maximally and convince the government to find a solution. “The Minister needs to meet with us and impact the dialogue with the government,” he said.

In an another interview, with Telegrafi news website, Jasharaj said that any teacher who believes they should begin school classes is free to do so.

Education Minister: Committed to address any difficulty the teachers may face (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Education, Arberie Nagavci, said in a Facebook post today that the government is “committed to address any difficulty that the teachers face, in addition to the work we are doing to improve the infrastructure and develop educational policies”.

“We have focused our discussions with the teachers on new policies in their support so that we can overcome every difficulty together, as we have overcome the issue of teachers with serious illnesses and now no teacher has to go to work because they need money to buy medical products … I once again commend the schools and teachers that have started classes and I call on all teachers in Kosovo to have understanding for the situation, now that they and their families will benefit from the financial aid package. Let me reiterate that the draft law on wages, which is out for public discussion, has taken into account all the demands and has treated with care all categories of educational staff. I assure the teachers that we will continuously address every concern they may have and we will jointly overcome all difficulties in order to have well-being for the teachers and increase the equality in the education sector,” she wrote.

Gjini: AAK does not support ousting of government (Telegrafi)

Deputy leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Mayor of Gjakova, Ardian Gjini, said on Thursday that because of the situation in the dialogue with Serbia, the AAK currently does not support the ousting of the government regardless of the fact that Kosovo is not being governed well. Gjini said that Albin Kurti is not a good prime minister and that he has been scandalous on many issues. “In the economy, foreign policy, social policies, and development policies, this has been the most scandalous government that Kosovo has had so far. One needs to understand that nothing is black and white, and we are well aware that he [Kurti] is wrong on all domestic issues,” he said.

Gjini said the AAK has offered support to Kurti in reaching a final settlement with Serbia, because the current government has enough votes in parliament to reach an agreement.

He also said that the government cannot be ousted with strikes and that this can be done by the Assembly. “I don’t know if there is any conspiracy, but the AAK does not think that the government should be ousted now. We think that the government needs to reach a final settlement with Serbia on mutual recognition. All other issues can wait, but not this one. An agreement on mutual recognition would open Kosovo’s path to membership in NATO, and membership in the European Union at a later stage. This is what we are asking for. We don’t want the government to fall now,” Gjini said.

PSD’s Kastrati calls for protest against Trendafilova visit (Nacionale)

Former Mayor of Kamenica and member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Qendron Kastrati, took to Facebook to call on people to protest to a visit by Ekaterina Trendafilova, President of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, in Gjilan next Wednesday. Kastrati argued that Trendafilova’s visit “is an instrument of propaganda”. “Her effort to rehabilitate an unjust process against the Kosovo Liberation Army cannot go unnoticed,” he said.

Bamieh on arrest warrant: If EULEX interfered, it’s interference in judiciary (Nacionale)

Maria Bamieh, former prosecutor with the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), said in an interview with the news website that the arrest warrant for her issued by the Basic Court in Prishtina is unacceptable.

Bamieh, who claimed there was corruption and other scandals in the EU mission, expressed her dilemma starting with the interview summon in the prosecution and about possible political interference. She also said that since her press conference in Prishtina, she and her attorney tried to communicate from the UK with the prosecution in Prishtina but that the latter did not respond. She added that she was willing to cooperate and that the arrest warrant for her is an unnecessary measure.

According to Bamieh, if it is verified that the arrest warrant was issued in coordination with the EU Rule of Law Mission, this would constitute interference by politics in the judiciary.

     

Serbian Language Media 

  “Vucic prepares list of ‘derecognitions’ of Kosovo for UN session” (Danas)

A new diplomatic ‘offensive’ awaiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, focusing on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija status, starts today with a friendly meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, continue with meetings with those less inclined toward Serbia, and conclude at UN General Assembly session, where Vucic may finally reveal names of the new states that revoked recognition of Kosovo, Danas daily reports.

The daily continues that Vucic keeps the list of derecognitions as ‘a trump card’ for upcoming ‘difficult days’ he spoke about during address in a session on Kosovo and Metohija at Serbian Assembly, and because of possibility of Kosovo UN membership issue opening, as diplomatic sources said unofficially.  

This could be a response of Serbia to possible opening of the issue of Kosovo membership in the United Nations, at the upcoming UN General Assembly session and intensified pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo – diplomatic sources told Danas daily.

Speaking about upcoming planned activities relating to Kosovo and Metohija, Vucic said those also include the meetings at foreign policy arena.

“I expect that following the basic pressure, a more serious one will come. I believe I could tell you more about it once I am back from New York where for the time being I have 22 bilateral meetings scheduled with heads of states and prime ministers, and in addition to this, also nine more meetings with head of different organisations, from Jewish to Fengitan, and all others who decide on important topics in the world”, Vucic said.

Speaking in a session Vucic also announced that during upcoming 15 days one more state will revoke recognition of Kosovo, adding this could be the eighth state in a latest diplomatic campaign to ‘derecognize’ Kosovo.

“All those eight documents are at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and I have copies of them. We are waiting for the moment to show them”, Vucic said.

The UN General Assembly session will take place from 20 to 26 September, while Vucic’s address is planned on the second day of the session, September 21. Apart from the most current topic, Russian war with Ukraine, it is also expected that Kosovo membership issue could be touched upon, in light of Russia’s referral to Kosovo case in international law, but also because of intensified pressure to accelerate Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. 

Vucic: So easy to forget about UN Charter when it comes to Serbia (Kosovo Online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today he pointed out during his meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban to the hypocrisy related to territorial integrity and that some forget very easily there is valid UN SC Resolution 1244, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Vucic emphasised that Serbia has its own national and state interests that it will not give up from.

“How easy it is to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which is okay, in line with UN Charter and valid UN Resolutions, and how easy it is to forget that in case of Serbia there is UN Charter and valid UN SC Resolution 1244 which speaks of territorial integrity of Serbia”, Vucic said after being asked to comment on EU’s commitment to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but not to that of Serbia and its willingness to admit Ukraine to the Union, while Western Balkans states wait for that for years. 

Stano: Resolutely resolve demanding political issues through dialogue for the normalisation of relations (Beta, KoSSev)

The EU mediator Miroslav Lajcak and the representatives of the French president and the German chancellor, during their talks in Pristina and Belgrade last week, "conveyed a clear message that now it is necessary to move decisively and quickly to resolve the demanding political issues with the aim of comprehensive normalisation of relations, so that there is no room for aggravation on the ground", Peter Stano, spokesman for the EC, told the Beta news agency.

Stan said this when asked to refer to the statements of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the American ambassador in Belgrade, Christopher Hill, that a new "armature", i.e., a "reinforced framework" was established in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and that in the centre was the implementation of the agreement on the Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo.

Stano emphasised that Lajcak, and the advisers of the German chancellor and the French president, Jens Plotner and Emmanuel Bonne, "held thorough discussions with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurtid and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, in an effort to explore the possibilities for progress in the Dialogue, with the mediation of the EU on the way to the comprehensive normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo in the coming period".

"Each of those talks lasted more than two hours," said Stano. 

Analysts: Lajcak’s visit need to keep tensions under control (Radio KIM)

Unannounced visit of Miroslav Lajcak to Pristina and meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, analyst Ognjen Gogic, journalist Violeta Oroshi and NGO activist Miodrag Milicevic see as an attempt to keep the crisis situation that exists in Kosovo under control, Radio KIM reports.

Gogic, however, doesn't perceive frequent visits of European and US officials as strategy, but rather as improvisation, simulation and filling in the vacuum which exists in terms of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

“I do not see that they have a clear policy and strategy on those issues. It is more about crisis management. I think they want to be more present and active to prevent the crisis in Kosovo from escalating and that some other actors, primarily Russia, do not use that opportunity and enter those areas. Therefore, I think it is more about the efforts to keep the situation under control, manage the crisis that is continuous but not necessarily pursue the policy that should lead to resolving open issues, primarily the status”, Gogic said.

Although Lajcak’s visit was not officially announced, some Kosovo media managed to cover it and get his statement after the meeting with Kurti. Long-term Pristina-based journalist Violeta Oroshi found two things interesting. One was that “he didn’t travel to Belgrade this time” and the second one was rebuttal of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s statement on “that the EU looks for a new model in dialogue”.

“In any case after the last meeting of Kurti and Vucic in Brussels when the agreement on ID cards was made, it was expected that dialogue would continue with accelerated pace. As it is known, the Kosovo government insists that licence plates in Serbian areas should change by November, and Vucic said it is not going to happen, which can lead to new tensions. I believe that part of Lajcak’s yesterday meeting with Kurti was devoted to this very sensitive issue”, Oroshi said.

NGO Aktiv executive director, Miodrag Milicevic opined that Lajcak’s visit aimed at preparing an upcoming meeting at the highest level of Belgrade and Pristina officials. He added one of the topics of the upcoming Vucic and Kurti meeting would be “for Pristina the unpopular issue of establishing a Community of Serbian Municipalities”.

Commenting on frequent statements of foreign diplomats on the need to establish a Community of Serbian Municipalities, Gogic said he does not expect it will have any impact on Pristina to fulfil this obligation deriving from Brussels agreement. He also expects pressure on Kurti regarding this issue but also regarding the Visoki Decani Monastery land case to continue.

Petkovic: Svecla's message the most direct threat to President Vucic so far (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, assessed as the most direct threat addressed to the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic the statement of the Kosovo Minister of Interior Xhelal Svecla, who told Vucic that ''he promises him difficult days'', reported Tanjug agency.

Petkovic stated on Twitter that Vucic was not afraid of "rascals" who are only brave when they threaten in front of the cameras.

"This is the most direct threat addressed to President Vucic so far. Xhelal Svecla, we understand well that you want to provoke conflicts against the Serbs at the end of October. But Vucic is not afraid of rascals who are only brave when they threaten in front of the cameras. Dialogue, not conflicts!" wrote Petkovic, reported Serbian media.

Vucic on Svecla’s statement about ‘difficult days’ (Kosovo Online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reacted to the statement of Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla that “difficult days await Serbia” by saying that “Kurti’s errand boy has threatened him”, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“I was threatened, by Kurti’s errand boy. I have no problem with that. Let him continue threatening”, Vucic said after decorating Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban. He added, he knows that difficult days are ahead of Serbia.

“However it is important that easy days are ahead of them….they do it excellently with power restrictions, it is all nice and easy for them, and it will be nice and easy for them…so, let them threaten”, Vucic added. 

Vucic awards Order of Republic of Serbia on Grand Collar to Orban (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic awarded on Friday the Order of the Republic of Serbia on a Grand Collar to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban for exceptional merit in development and strengthening of friendly relations between Serbia and Hungary, Tanjug news agency reports.

Vucic said it was his great honour and pleasure to decorate Orban with Serbia's highest state honour. 

"It is my great honour to say that I am bestowing this honour upon a great and sincere friend of Serbia for exceptional achievements in development of friendly and brotherly relations between Serbia and Hungary", Vucic said.

"Thank you for your strong contribution to the advancement of bilateral cooperation between Serbia and Hungary, which is on a constant upward trajectory and is now at the highest level in modern history", Vucic told Orban.

Vucic said he was very grateful to Hungarian friends for the support they always provided to Serbia on its EU path and regarding all important regional issues, in particular in bilateral cooperation.

Sheholli: EU prepared a new document with 13 points as a "transitional final agreement" between Belgrade and Pristina (Danas)

The EU's special envoy for the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak, made a surprise visit to the Kosovo PM to arrange another meeting between Albin Kurti and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the director of the Institute for the Affirmation of Inter-Ethnic Relations, Fatmir Sheholli, told Danas.

- Namely, it is no longer a surprise considering that the special envoy of Germany for the Western Balkans, Mr. Zaracin, came to Pristina just a day before and had meetings with the leader of the DSK, Lumir Abdixhiku, and Prime Minister Kurti. In order that only 24 hours after his arrival in Pristina, Lacan also came "suddenly", says Sheholli.

Danas recalled that Lajcak stated in Pristina that there was no "new framework" for dialogue, and that he was surprised by Vucic's statement that a new framework exists.

Sheholli told Danas that according to the knowledge of the Institute he leads, a new document on the "transitional final agreement" has been drawn up.

- We have information from well-informed Western sources, according to which the EU has drawn up a document with 13 points that contains very detailed conceptual contents of the "transitional final agreement" between Kosovo and Serbia with the aim of being some kind of mid-term implementation of the agreement, said the director of the Institute for Inter-Ethnic Relations.

- We are certainly entering the phase of some diplomatic offensive that will result in a document that will give the exact guidelines of the agreement for the medium term, given that it seems that neither side, neither official Pristina, nor official Belgrade, is ready for a grand final concept that would once for all solve the issue of Kosovo and Serbia, said Sheholli to daily Danas.

The Serbian Assembly special session on Kosovo: The opposition had an opportunity for promotion, Vucic dominated on his field (Danas)

The Serbian opposition had a solid opportunity for people to get to know and hear them, and some made good use of it, during the special session of the Assembly dedicated to Kosovo. Although in Vucic's field of political outwitting, he showed superiority in the debates, Danas interlocutors assessed, who analyzed the behaviour of the authorities and the opposition on that session from marketing, political science and public opinion research angles.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, attended a special two-day session of the Assembly where the government's report on negotiations with Pristina was considered.

The session was marked by many polemics of Vucic with the heads of the opposition parliamentary groups and MPs, and his introductory presentation lasted more than an hour.

Various topics were discussed, and Vucic responded for 20 minutes to the replies, the duration of which was limited to two minutes, to which the opposition reacted, wrote Danas daily. 

Vladimir Pejic, director of the Faktor plus agency, told Danas that it is now difficult and early to say whether and in what way shown at the parliamentary session affected the ratings and positions of the opposition and adds that it is not so important, but that the conclusion of the discussion is important, was there any and what will happen next.

- It was political outwitting and balancing of forces, which is more Vucic's terrain than the oppositions since he is experienced in debates and desires them. But there were individual good speeches. And some technical things went well for him because he had the opportunity to talk to each one individually with exceptional preparation for the discussion. On the other hand, we didn't hear anything new, nor could we hear it, since the word Kosovo is unfortunately so worn out here that I don't see what anyone could say that would attract voters - explains Pejic.

When asked if the opposition has used the opportunity to raise visibility, he replies that it has started to use that opportunity, but that it will have to work day to day when the parliamentary sessions start, to prepare well and have positions, to attract voters' attention and trust.

Political scientist Boban Stojanovic states that both the government and the opposition have kept their positions, which are not too different.

- There was no excessive news and pop-ups. It's crazy to talk about time, because Vucic had the same unlimited time, and the opposition often didn't even have a chance to reply or point out violations of the rules of procedure. In this sense, Vucic, in the interesting context of holding this session (in the moments when it is being forbidden, and in fact, EuroPride is happening), had to present himself to the audience for too long (almost half of the 10+14 hours) as the greatest protector of Kosovo, as the greatest worker for Serbia and practically a superman - says Stojanovic for Danas.

He thinks that Vucic entered the campaign for the 2024 elections two weeks ago with attempts to rebrand and protect his voters from conservative and national options.

- It was not enough for 120 MPs to glorify and defend him, to say that everything was mentioned, but he had to personally come to the parliament and sit motionless and individually deal with all the MPs of the opposition alone (with intelligence and preparation) for almost 25 hours - he states.

According to him, for some from the opposition it was also good that the session was held.

- I believe that they had a solid opportunity for people to get to know and hear them, and some made great use of it, like Srdjan Milivojevic from the Democratic Party (DS).

He emphasizes that this was a session about what happened around Kosovo, not what will happen.

- And although the president has repeatedly said that he has not heard any ideas from the opposition, I would say that the opposition has at least suggested something about what to do and how to proceed, unlike him and the representatives of the government, who did not say a single new word about it - indicates Stojanovic.

While Nikola Parun, a marketing expert, states that the more experienced opposition, which includes the coalition around the SSP, has shown that it still makes sense to participate in political life, while the new cookies (Ne davimo Belgrade and ecologists) tried a more attractive approach, to focus attention on themselves.

- At the same time, Vucic showed superiority in the debate. If he didn't know that it would be like that, he wouldn't have sat for two full days in the parliament, nor would he have scheduled a special session - Parun told Danas. 

When asked if the opposition could have done more and better under the given circumstances, he replied that the oppositions’ narrative is always a step or two behind the government.

- At this session, the topic should have been exclusively what Vucic called "new armature" in the negotiations with Pristina and defining its content, and the opposition should have insisted on explaining that - concludes Parun.

UNS and DNKiM: Protest due to the denial of equal use of the Serbian language in Kosovo and Metohija; sanctions for those responsible demanded (KoSSev)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and its branch, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija (DNKiM) are protesting the denial of translation into Serbian at yesterday's gathering dedicated to the work of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Pristina, which was attended by the heads of the EU Office in Kosovo and EULEX Tomas Szunyog and Gunnar Wigemark, as well as the Minister of Justice of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, reported KoSSev.

UNS and Dunkin demand respect for the law and the fulfilment of the right to equal use of the Serbian and Albanian language and script in Kosovo and Metohija and demand that those responsible for this failure bear sanctions.

The journalist of the Media Center in Caglavica, Sanja Djokic, told UNS that she insisted on the translation, but that they were told that there was nothing they could do to solve the problem.

Aware of the mistake, with an apology, according to the UNS, the journalist was told that they would later deliver a translation into Serbian.

"However, two hours later I was sent only the speech of the head of EULEX and the announcement regarding the event, but not the presentations of the other interlocutors. So, I don't know what exactly the representatives of the Institute for Forensic Medicine and the head of the European Union office in Kosovo, as well as the Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu said there."

UNS says that this also reminds of the fact that "journalists who report in the Serbian language, by the frequent practice, remain deprived of informing the public about topics of public importance", reported KoSSev.

   

Opinion 

  Is EU Candidate Status Within Reach for Kosovo? (Prishtina Insight)

Opinion piece by Alejandro Esteso Pérez, political analyst and researcher. 

The successful EU bids of Ukraine and Moldova have sent a powerful message – but Kosovo’s own application for candidate status might be too late for the party.

The controversy at the last European Council Summit, on June 23 and 24, did not dampen the expectations of Ukraine and Moldova, both of which received EU candidate status in what was considered a historic agreement. 

It was less historic, however, for the countries of the Western Balkans, whose leaders traveled to Brussels only to again encounter a closed door. 

Accession talks were not opened with North Macedonia and Albania – which had to wait over a month to eventually see Bulgaria eventually drop its veto – and candidate status was not awarded to Bosnia and Herzegovina either. Nor was the Schengen visa regime lifted for Kosovo citizens.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3eUtZK2