Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 32 deaths, 1,612 new cases (media)
• Osmani calls on diaspora to get vaccinated, blames Switzerland too (Koha/Blick)
• LDK leader suggests shortening local election campaign to 10 days (media)
• AAK and PDK agree with Abdixhiku to shorten election campaign (media)
• Deliu-Kodra: MPs should interrupt their holidays, situation is serious (RTK)
• Haradinaj reacts to more than four thousand fines (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• In Serbian communities 40 new cases of Covid-19, one person died (KiM radio)
• Bled Forum: Europe has no future without the inclusion of the Western Balkans (RTS)
• Vucic: Two or three countries not looking forward to Open Balkans (Tanjug)
• Rakic and Szunyog on the development fund for northern Kosovo, the current security and political situation (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Trajković's house in Lipljan robbed (KiM radio, gracanicaonline.info)
• US to do everything for Serbia to join NATO; a strong and stable Kosovo in the interest of the US (Kosovo Online)
• Chancellor Merkel to visit Serbia before leaving office (serbianmonitor.com)

Opinion:

• Belgrade’s ‘Serbian World’ Fantasies Jeopardise Balkan Cooperation (Balkan Insight)

International:

• 22 Years On, Kosovo Plans Post-War Truth and Justice Strategy (Balkan Insight)
• Unemployment and inequalities: the pandemic penalises the youngest (balcanicaucaso.org)
• Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue: Preparations for the next meeting (Deutsche Welle)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  COVID-19: 32 deaths, 1,612 new cases (media)

32 people have succumbed to COVID-19 in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. 1,612 new cases were confirmed in this period. 2,460 persons recovered from the virus during this time.There are 26,524 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Osmani calls on diaspora to get vaccinated, blames Switzerland too (Koha/Blick)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, in an interview with Blick, called on 200,000 Kosovars living in Switzerland to get vaccinated against COVID-19. She also criticised Swiss authorities by saying that part of the blame falls on them too.

“Vaccination does not only save lives but also helps us in the fight against this murderous virus. We need this so that our societies can recover. I call on all my compatriots from Kosovo living in Switzerland, but in Kosovo too: ‘please get vaccinated, all of you!’ This is the only option we have in the fight against this pandemic,” she said.

Asked if she feels guilty that people going back to Switzerland after their vacations in Kosovo brought the virus with them, Osmani said: “You are talking about Kosovar immigrants in Switzerland. They are residents in your country, and they should have been vaccinated in Switzerland. It is the duty of the Swiss authorities to convince people with roots in other countries to get vaccinated. All these persons should have been vaccinated in Switzerland before travelling to Kosovo. Until August we had low infection rates, but the rates went up when visitors came from Switzerland and other countries”.

Osmani also said that Kosovo was not the only country to lift the restrictive measures this summer. “Many other countries in the region, and throughout Europe, did the same, because the infection rate was very low and there was a rise in the number of vaccinated persons. But instead of blaming one another, now only one message is important. Get vaccinated, in Switzerland, in Kosovo, everywhere in the world!” Osmani added.

LDK leader suggests shortening local election campaign to 10 days (media)

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), called on leaders of political parties today to reach a pact for campaigns for the upcoming local elections in October because of the growing number of fatalities and new cases with COVID-19.

“In the last 10 days, over 17,420 Kosovars have tested positive, which unfortunately means that there will be more fatalities for some time. We need to stop this. Beyond the state responsibilities of the government, which it needs to implement with full competency … I am calling on all of you, as leaders of political parties, to rise above ourselves, to overcome our differences and build an election pact,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Abdixhiku suggested that an agreement should be reached on shortening the election campaign from 30 to 10 days. “Let us shift our political discussions from the field where we usually have hundreds of thousands of people at the same time, to debates on TV stations, to digital and social discussions,” he said. “Let us also advise all candidates to conduct pre-election and election activities from today until October 17, in line with the strict rules set out by Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health. By doing this we would not only save lives and give time to mass vaccination – which must happen – but we will also be standing in solidarity with thousands of doctors and healthcare staff who for 18 months now are battling the biggest challenge of the last 100 years. Let us this time for another campaign, a campaign for public awareness-raising for the vaccination process. In the event of an agreement on this proposal, I suggest we convene the Assembly back from leave, so that we can adopt a resolution for this, and set a good example for our country and citizens.”

AAK and PDK agree with Abdixhiku to shorten election campaign (media)

Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has responded to the request of the leader of LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku for shortening the campaign from 30 to 10 days.

"I received a letter from the chairman of LDK, Mr. Abdixhiku, where he demands the shortening of the election campaign from 30 to 10 days. The position of AAK, taking into account the serious situation with the pandemic, is that the campaign be reduced to only five days and not to 10", wrote Haradinaj.

Further, he stressed that the health of citizens is above all!

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Memli Krasniqi also agreed that the election campaign should be  shorter.

"The election campaign and its reduction must be addressed anyway. We need to discuss agreeing on a cut-off campaign. I believe that all without distinction should give priority to public health," Krasniqi said.

Deliu-Kodra: MPs should interrupt their holidays, situation is serious (RTK)

Kosovo Assembly MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Blerta Deliu-Kodra said that Memli Krasniqi, leader of this political party, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Kurti due to the inability of the government to manage the pandemic.

She further explained that they are trying to make an opposition front to overcome the serious situation with the pandemic.

Further, she said that it is a difficult time for Kosovo so the government should take measures against this situation.

Deliu-Kodra demands MPs return to the Parliament as soon as possible in order to request from the government amendment of the Budget Law.

Haradinaj reacts to more than four thousand fines (media)

Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has reacted through a post on social network Facebook to the fines that are being imposed on citizens by the police for anti-COVID measures, which have entered into force on Monday.

"Does anyone know where this country is heading to?! With more than two thousand infected per day and with the same number of families in the horror of providing medication, with 20-30 dead and with more than four thousand fined! What are you causing trouble to this population? Do you have a limit, and do you ever want to get your feet back on the ground?

This country needs news on how 4,200 people were helped, not how they were fined and punished.

He who punishes his people sooner or later will receive their punishment," Haradinaj wrote.

     

Serbian Language Media

  In Serbian communities 40 new cases of Covid-19, one person died (KiM radio)

According to the latest data, in Serbian communities in Kosovo, another person died as a result of coronavirus, while 40 new cases of infection were registered based on 133 processed samples, the Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced today.

The deceased is from North Mitrovica.

Number of newly infected by municipalities: North Mitrovica (12), Leposavic (7), Strpce (7), Zubin Potok (4), Gracanica (4), Zvecan (2), Prizren (2), Priluzje (1) and Gjilan (1).

201 cases are currently active.

Bled Forum: Europe has no future without the inclusion of the Western Balkans (RTS)

The participants in the panel on EU enlargement at the Bled Strategic Forum agreed that it is difficult to talk about the future of Europe without the countries of the Western Balkans within the Union, which is in the strategic interest of both sides, reported Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi pointed out that it is not just a matter of geographical enlargement of the EU, but it is a question of ensuring political, economic and even security integration.

"The EU must not make a mistake in this case," Varhelyi said, adding that the countries of the Western Balkans must also believe that it is worth going through all the processes necessary for membership.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor called for the acceleration of the process and integration of the Western Balkans into the EU, while the Prime Minister of that country, Janez Jansa, emphasized that the issue of enlargement is a question of the future of Europe.

"The founders of the EU did not talk about Eastern and Western Europe, but about a free Europe. Their vision will be fulfilled only by the enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkans," Jansa pointed out.

Jansa added that this is a strategic issue, which is why Slovenia will do everything during its presidency of the EU Council to accelerate enlargement and announced the holding of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Slovenia in early October.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stressed that the enlargement process must be accelerated and that, at the very least, negotiations begin with Tirana and Skopje.

"Albania and Northern Macedonia are not asking for permission to be Europeans, we are. There is no future for Europe without the Western Balkans within the EU," Rama said.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki supported the enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkans, emphasizing that it is a strategic interest of the Union.

"It is necessary to accept a family from the Western Balkans, and not to talk about further relatives - Turkey, Russia and China, which are expanding their interests in that region," Morawiecki stated.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev followed up on the words of his Polish counterpart, stating that the EU is a family that the Western Balkans aspire to join, but that the EU is not ready yet.

Schmidt: Failure to open negotiations with Skopje and Tirana is a failure of the EU

The High Representative of the international community in BiH, Christian Schmidt, agreed with Rama and pointed out that the fact that negotiations with Tirana and Skopje have not started is a failure of the EU.

On that occasion, Schmidt quoted the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who spoke at the first panel, and who said that people in the region are losing trust in the EU.

The Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Zeljko Komsic, said that no one in BiH will be less Bosniak, less Serb, less Croat if they abandon the constitutive principle and turn to European values. "That tells us, from the Western Balkans, that the alarms may have started in Europe and that the Western Balkans should not be left aside and wait for what will happen," Komsic said.

BiH Presidency Member Sefik Dzaferovic pointed out that the BiH population overwhelmingly wants BiH to become an EU member.

"Mr. Michel [Charles, President of the Council of the European Union] talks about the EU from an economic point of view and respect for human rights and freedoms. My country needs that too. That is what all BiH citizens want. BiH has all those reasons to join the EU which other countries also had," stated Dzaferovic. 

Radev on reforms and hate speech

The President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev said that the procedures, that is, the reforms, are very important.

"We support enlargement, but we would like to see stable processes and be sure that our young people are free, without prejudice, hate speech and with knowledge of each other. When the Western Balkans fell off the EU radar, Bulgaria returned its focus. Bulgaria always supports our brothers in Northern Macedonia in various crises and we are open to a dialogue that is crucial," Radev said.

The Prime Minister Albin Kurti reiterated that the SEFTA model is the safest way for the countries of the Western Balkans on the road to the EU and singled out four elements important for the countries of the region.

"Rule of law against oligarchs, democratization against autocrats, confrontation with the past and confrontation with war criminals in power and symmetry or reciprocity for the rights of minorities in the Balkan states," Kurti emphasized.

Vucic: Two or three countries not looking forward to Open Balkans (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday he knew of at least two or three EU member states that were not looking forward to the Open Balkans initiative, even though there was no public opposition to the project from EU institutions.

“I know of at least two or three countries that are not looking forward to it because they used to be running processes more easily in the past than they are now, after we have taken everything into our hands,” Vucic told reporters after the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia.

He was responding to a question whether the EU had something against ties being established among Western Balkan countries.

However, he refused to name the countries that opposed the initiative, and said it was important that Open Balkans was backed by the US and France.

When asked if the opposition to Open Balkans could have a negative impact on an initiative aimed at Serbia’s admission to the Schengen area, he responded that he was unsure whether that idea, proposed by Czech PM Andrej Babis, had majority support.

“The idea was also discussed today, but I am not sure it can get majority support,” Vucic added.

See at:https://bit.ly/3BzTBlf Rakic and Szunyog on the development fund for northern Kosovo, the current security and political situation (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Minister for Communities and Returns Goran Rakic met today with the Head of the European Union Office / EU Special Representative for Kosovo Tomas Szunyog and talked with him about the Development Fund for Northern Kosovo, the current security and political situation, the verdict against Ivan Todosijevic and the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, Minister Rakic and the Head of the EU Office in Kosovo agreed that investments are one of the most important factors for better living conditions and that it is very important that the EU would continue investing in the North of Kosovo.

When it comes to the political situation, Minister Rakic said that there are a lot of problems in this area, which need to be solved for citizens to live better.

The Minister pointed out that he was dissatisfied with the security situation in Kosovo because a large number of ethnically motivated attacks speak in favor of the fact that the institutions, that must guarantee security to everyone, have failed in some part of their work. Rakic also said that international organizations and institutions must raise their voices more strongly against such incidents in order to suppress them.

Regarding the verdict against Ivan Todosijevic, who was sentenced to two years in prison, during the conversation with the head of the EU Office in Kosovo, the Minister emphasized that it was completely unfair.

The two officials agreed that the situation in Kosovo, when it comes to the Covid-19 pandemic, is very complicated and that the recommendations of the profession should be respected.

Trajković's house in Lipljan robbed (KiM radio, gracanicaonline.info)

The house of the Trajkovic family in Lipljan was robbed, reported portal gracanicaonline.info. 

Upon their return from holiday, the Trajkovic couple noticed that the front door of the family house was open. Jewelry was stolen, confirmed Radmila Trajkovic for the portal. 

The case was reported to the Kosovo Police, which immediately came to investigate.

Office for KiM: Find those responsible who robbed the Trajkovic's family

The statement of the Office for KiM submitted to the media said that the incident be clarified as soon as possible, the perpetrators be found and adequately sanctioned.

"The incident must not be just another in a series of unsolved cases in which Serbs from the area of Kosovo and Metohija were targeted," the Office said.

US to do everything for Serbia to join NATO; a strong and stable Kosovo in the interest of the US (Kosovo Online)

In an interview with Kosovo Online, Michael D. Barbero, a retired US lieutenant general, said that the United States had left Afghanistan, its allies, in a catastrophic way, that he was not surprised that Kosovo, Albania and Northern Macedonia accepted Afghan refugees. America should have done everything for Serbia to join NATO.

"I believe that the United States and NATO should do everything possible to facilitate Serbia's entry into NATO. There are many common interests between NATO and Serbia, so the United States and NATO should continue this dialogue with Serbia. Let's hope that this process will continue which will normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo," Barbero said in an interview with Kosovo Online.

He also commented on the withdrawal of the U.S. army from Afghanistan.

"President's decision (Joe Biden) to end the U.S. mission in Afghanistan by September 1, and the disastrous way in which we left Afghanistan is appalling. First, the recommendation was to keep 2.500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to support Afghan forces. Had this plan been followed, these 2.500 troops would have continued to support Afghan forces and prevent the Taliban from occupying the country. These mistakes were further exacerbated by a poorly executed withdrawal. The results were disastrous: we lost 13 brave soldiers, sailors and marines; we abandoned several hundred Americans and abandoned our Afghan allies to a terrible fate. All this could have been avoided," said this retired lieutenant colonel general.

Chancellor Merkel to visit Serbia before leaving office (serbianmonitor.com)

Before officially leaving the office of Chancellor, Angela Merkel will visit Serbia again; the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the situation in Bosnia, the so-called Mini-Schengen initiative, but also economic investments could be the main topics of her visit, Blic’s analysts say.

After the German parliamentary elections on 24 September, Merkel will formally cease to hold political office after 16 years. That is why it is particularly interesting that one of her last trips in her capacity as the German chancellor will be to Serbia. This was revealed by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, without specifying the date of the visit.

Merkel comes to Serbia at a time that is not the best for the region. The dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has been blocked for a long time, the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is chaotic, Montenegro is still deeply divided…

The only initiative that has come to life in the Balkans is the so-called Mini-Schengen. However, only three countries have accepted the initiative: Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania. Given the situation in the region, there are many reasons why Merkel would like to visit the area.

Researcher at the Centre for International and Security Affairs (ISAC), Igor Novakovic, points out that Merkel is preparing the ground for her successor: “Her successor will most likely be from her political party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), although there is a possibility that the coalition consisting of the SPD, liberals and greens will win the elections. Regardless, Merkel, as a serious politician, is certainly preparing the ground for her successor.”

Novakovic says that the German Chancellor will insist on the topics she raised throughout her term in her last official conversation in Serbia. “These are the Berlin Process, further regional cooperation, Mini-Schengen, to name a few, although Germany is in favour of the free flow of people and goods in all Balkan countries outside the EU, including Kosovo, and not only in the three countries (that make up Mini-Schengen),” Novakovic explains.

The assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Stefan Surlic, says that Merkel’s visit to Serbia is, first and foremost, a farewell.

“In this way, Merkel wants to symbolically complete her significant engagement in the Balkans. The Chancellor has worked on the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, because we should not forget that she was a chancellor even when Kosovo had not yet declared independence and therefore experienced the whole turbulent period before and after Kosovo declaring independence. Merkel now expects the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina to be completed and the agreement to be finalised,” Surlic added.

See at:https://bit.ly/3zEe6MZ      

Opinion

  Belgrade’s ‘Serbian World’ Fantasies Jeopardise Balkan Cooperation (Balkan Insight)

There’s little chance of cross-border economic cooperation projects like the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative being truly successful while political leaders in Belgrade continue to dream of a greater Serbian state encompassing the territory and citizens of neighbouring countries.

Damir Marusic and Benjamin Haddad of the Atlantic Council, a US think-tank, published a provocative essay in Foreign Policy last week about the new ‘Open Balkan’ joint initiative established by the governments of Albania, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

The essay makes for sobering reading, and centres on the idea that the era of EU enlargement has definitively ended, and so local states are necessarily turning towards developing intra-regional mechanisms to promote political and economic cooperation.

For their part, Marusic and Haddad are decidedly optimistic about the project’s significance, writing: “Coming on the heels of the breakthrough Prespa agreement between North Macedonia and Greece, initiatives like Open Balkan signal that something important, and indeed healthy, is happening on the ground: Local leaders are taking ownership of their fate and showing creativity.”

The trouble with this narrative, however, is that it is not borne out by the facts of what is – as the authors put it – happening on the ground.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3DCJwG6      

International 

  22 Years On, Kosovo Plans Post-War Truth and Justice Strategy (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo has begun to develop a national transitional justice strategy, intended to address the unresolved legacies of the 1998-99 war - but questions remain over whether the political will exists to avoid a ‘mono-ethnic’ initiative.

More than two decades after the war ended, Kosovo’s Justice Ministry has put together a team to devise a national strategy on transitional justice for the first time.

The Justice Ministry tasked the team of ten people, including state officials, civil society representatives and foreign experts, with preparing a draft document within six months detailing how the strategy should be implemented. It will then be offered for public debate.

At the first meeting of the working group last month, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the initiative was almost too late.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3zFtfxQ Unemployment and inequalities: the pandemic penalises the youngest (balcanicaucaso.org)

High unemployment rates, increasingly apparent inequalities, and the digital divide. In the WB6, the crisis risks leaving young people behind and provoking a new wave of migration, but it could also offer new opportunities to revive economies

Emigration has plagued the Western Balkans for decades, and together with ever lower birth rates is the main cause of their depopulation. For forty years now, the net balance between immigrants and emigrants has been negative in almost all the Balkan countries; the only exception is Serbia, which in the last ten years has registered a modest positive balance only thanks to immigration from other Balkan countries  . In 2016, as many as 3.4 million Balkan citizens lived in OECD countries, about one fifth of the entire population of the region.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3jCL2QF Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue: Preparations for the next meeting (Deutsche Welle)

Kosovo and Serbia are currently preparing for a possible high-level meeting in September between the two main political leaders, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. This was announced by the leaders of the two countries themselves, during the Bled strategic forum in Slovenia, which was attended by the leaders of the Balkan countries and leaders of the European Union.

Lajçak: Substantial recent meetings with Kurti and Vucic.

The European Union Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak , said that he had talked in Slovenia with both the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, about the "next steps" in the dialogue for the normalization of "I had two separate, important and substantial meetings with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti," Lajcak wrote on Twitter, without disclosing further details. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that with Lajcak "they talked about the previous meetings held in Brussels as well as the preparations for the next meeting between Kosovo and Serbia". "The dialogue must be fair and principled, in the service of the citizens of both countries and peace and lasting and general security ", said Kurti, not announcing that there were talks in the Bled forum with the President of Serbia, Vucic. 

See more at: https://bit.ly/38zk1Hl