Albanian Language Media:

• Basha visits the Adem Jashari memorial complex in Prekaz (media)
• Two suspects for threatening Kurti say they’re innocent in court (media)
• Citaku, Bajrami react to Kurti’s appearance in court today (media)
• Government spokesperson denies claims of Kurti’s “double standards” (media)
• Life-threatening graffiti against Kurti in Mitrovica North (media)
• Hagreaves meets Osmani; urgent need for steps on Assembly formation (media)
• Police give details about two operations in the north on Tuesday (media)
• Mitrovica Board meets, discusses infrastructure projects (RTK)
• Orav meets Blaj, discuss support for Kosovo’s progress on its EU path (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Enver Hasani: Appeal of the Serbian List to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo founded (KiM radio, Euronews, KoSSev)
• No new information about the water from Badovac Lake (KiM radio, Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Accused of threatening Kurti denied their guilt in court (KiM radio, KoSSev)
• Graffiti against Kurti in North Mitrovica (KoSSev, KiM radio, Kosovo Online, Danas)
• Simonovic on the incident at Brnjak: We are not spreading hatred, we are preserving our tradition and customs (Kosovo Online)
• Police officer’s welcome for the beginning of the school year: What are the messages of arresting minors for fan shirts in Kosovo? (Danas)

International:

• ‘I wish the stones here could talk’: an epic hike through Kosovo’s Accursed mountains (The Guardian)

Albanian Language Media

Basha visits the Adem Jashari memorial complex in Prekaz (media)

Most news websites report that Kosovo Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha visited the Adem Jashari memorial complex in Prekaz today, and that the visit comes several days after Basha was heavily criticized for being a coauthor in a paper from 2012 that included negative remarks about the former Kosovo Liberation Army. 

Basha told reporters on Monday that he had authored only one chapter of the paper and that he was not aware of the negative remarks against the KLA. He argued that if he knew he would have never admitted to being a coauthor. “I should have been more careful. I admit that I was careless,” he said. 

Two suspects for threatening Kurti say they’re innocent in court (media)

Most news websites report that Faton Klinaku and Nuredin Selmani told a court in Pristina today they fell innocent for their threatening posts on social media against Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Klinaku said: “I don’t think there is a criminal offence here and it is not a threat”, while Selmani too said he feels innocent and that he doesn’t accept the charges against him.

On August 1, the Special Prosecution of Kosovo said it had filed charges against Klinaku and Selmani, after they published posts in 2023 on Facebook threatening Kurti. After the media reported the indictment, Klinaku said he was looking forward to facing Kurti in court. 

Citaku, Bajrami react to Kurti’s appearance in court today (media)

A senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and MP, Vlora Citaku, reacted to caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s appearance in court today about threats made against him by Faton Klinaku and Nuredin Selmani on social media posts. “So, A.K goes to court to testify against Klinaku, whose ‘crime’ was a status on Facebook. But when it comes to the affairs worth millions of his subordinates, he refuses to answer the prosecution. Who has eyes to see and ears to hear understands that the situation cannot be any clearer,” Citaku wrote in a Facebook post. 

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Hykmete Bajrami too reacted to Kurti’s appearance in court saying that “when the Constitutional Court, courts or the prosecution decide in favor of Kurti and Vetevendosje, they are immediately praised as defenders of law and order in the Republic. But when the same institutions make decisions that threaten the interests of Kurti and Vetevendosje, they are immediately declared as corrupt, politicized and manipulated, and even as tools of Serbia … Today MP Kurti appeared in court as a victim, in a case of threatening. Just imagine the machinery of Kurti and Vetevendosje and how many threats they have made against others! MP Kurti is showing clearly that the law is fair only when it serves his personal interests … The same person refuses, humiliates and ignores the calls of the Prosecution to testify as a witness at the Special Prosecution about frauds with state reserves”.

Government spokesperson denies claims of Kurti’s “double standards” (media)

A spokesperson for Kosovo’s caretaker government, Perparim Kryeziu, said in a Facebook post that Kurti’s appearance in court today regarding a threat made against him is not a double standard with regards to the invitation he got from the Special Prosecution. “With regards to the invitation from the Special Prosecution, Prime Minister Kurti never refused to give his testimony. On the contrary, he expressed full readiness to cooperate with justice and to respect the principles of transparency and accountability, asking for the interview to be held in his office, a practice that has happened in the past too. While with regards to the case of threatening, investigators authorized by the prosecution have interviewed Prime Minister Kurti precisely in his office on June 10, 2025. Today he appeared in court as a damaged party,” Kryeziu said.

Life-threatening graffiti against Kurti in Mitrovica North (media)

Most news websites report that a life-threatening graffiti in Serbian language against Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti was seen in Mitrovica North on Tuesday night. The graffiti said “with the dawn of day, Albin Kurti will be dead”. After receiving the information, relevant police units went to the site and carried out examinations. Kosovo Police Deputy Director for the north, Veton Elshani, confirmed the information, and said that there are currently no suspects or arrests. He also said that the same life-threatening message was published on Telegram. Another photo posted on Telegram with the same message shows a masked person holding Kurti’s head on one hand and an axe on the other hand.

Hagreaves meets Osmani; urgent need for steps on Assembly formation (media)

UK Ambassador to Kosovo Jonathan Hargreaves said he met with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and talked about close partnership and “the urgent need for the next steps on Assembly formation in line with Kosovo’s constitution. We also agreed on our hopes for the local elections representing the voices and hopes of all communities in Kosovo, and Kosovo’s continued commitment to multi-ethnic democracy”.

Police give details about two operations in the north on Tuesday (media)

Kosovo Police carried out two separate operations in the north on Tuesday and confiscated hidden weapons and articles with Serbian nationalistic symbols. In Leposavic, police units arrested a person after they found that in his store, he was selling jerseys with nationalistic messages that fall under the criminal offence of “inciting hatred and intolerance”, different stickers, electroshocks and OC sprays.

In another case, also in Leposavic, police arrested a person after finding in his house an AK-47 with 47 bullets, a hunting rifle, a handgun and two caches of bullets. 

Mitrovica Board meets, discusses infrastructure projects (RTK)

Kosovo’s caretaker Minister of Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, who also chairs the Board of Mitrovica, said that they held a meeting of the Board to assess the infrastructure projects that are near completion and also to discuss new proposals by the members of the board, “which are in the interest of the people including new spaces for the citizens, public transport, stray dogs, and other issues that directly affect the wellbeing of the citizens”.

The board – which consists of representatives from Mitrovica South, Mitrovica North and government representatives – held its first meeting on June 12, one day after Krasniqi was appointed chair by caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Orav meets Blaj, discuss support for Kosovo’s progress on its EU path (media)

EU Head of Office in Kosovo Aivo Orav met today with newly arrived Slovenian Ambassador to Kosovo Borut Blaj. “Our discussion underscored the importance of working together as the EU Family to support Kosovo’s progress on its EU path,” Orav said in a post on X.

Serbian Language Media 

Enver Hasani: Appeal of the Serbian List to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo founded (KiM radio, Euronews, KoSSev)

It is obvious that the appeal of the Serbian List to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo was founded, after the Speaker of the Kosovo Parliament closed the constitutive session even though a vice-president was not elected from the ranks of the Serbian people, former President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and professor of international law Enver Hasani told Euronews Serbia.

He also said that if Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani were to give someone a mandate to form a government, it would be a direct violation of the constitution.

The Speaker of the Kosovo Parliament, Dimal Basha, concluded the constitutive session, adjourned the work, and said that the assembly was constituted, even though a vice-president from among the Serbian people was not elected.

When asked if the constitution was violated, Enver Hasani said that Basha was elected as the president of the assembly and that he only has the constitutional authority to interpret the rules of procedure of the assembly, not the constitution of Kosovo.

"What he said has no legal consequences. It is invalid in the absolute sense because the assembly is constituted only if all the vice-presidents are elected, as ordered by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in a judgment from 2014, and in two judgments this year. They interpreted the constitution, and the constitution is clear when it regulates the structure and composition of the assembly," Hasani said in an interview with Euronews Serbia.

He points out that the constitution clearly states that the assembly is constituted according to a certain procedure that has always been in force - "even when Kosovo was not independent, i.e. when it did not have the current valid constitution, because this is an established practice".

When it comes to the appeal of the Serbian List, Enver Hasani stated that they have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court if they collect ten signatures of deputies.

"The court has to decide now. I believe that it won't be long, certainly not more than 60 days. It will decide whether the request of the Serbian List is founded or not. I think, at first glance, that it is clearly founded, because the constitution, three judgments and the rulebook say that the assembly is constituted only when all the vice-presidents of the Albanian community, the Serbian community and the non-Albanian and non-Serb communities have been elected, because they also have guaranteed seats."

As Hasani points out, the problem is that the ruling party interprets the constitution dogmatically, and this must not be the case because, according to that logic, no non-Albanian community could ever elect its vice-presidents because they do not have 61 votes.

"The court should declare, as I said, I'm sure they will declare that it is inconsistent with the constitution," he said.

Hasani says that it will then be up to the court to decide the modalities that the assembly will need to follow in terms of constitution, i.e., election of two vice presidents from Serbian and non-Albanian communities.

The professor pointed out that, if Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani were to give a mandate to someone to form the government, it would be a direct violation of the constitution.

"I cannot imagine a situation where she does not end up in court for violating the constitution, because it is an obvious violation of the constitution. She has no right to give a mandate to anyone if the assembly is not constituted according to the letter of the law and according to the orders and judgments of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo."

He adds that he believes that she will have to wait for the court's decision, because the court will say what the modalities are for constituting the assembly.

No new information about the water from Badovac Lake (KiM radio, Radio Mitrovica sever) 

Water from Lake Badovac (Lake Gracanica is once again unfit for drinking and food preparation due to high levels of manganese. People are forced to buy water, and the institutions have not yet given an answer as to why this problem has been recurring periodically since 2023, reported KiM radio. 

Pristina Waterworks is still waiting for information from the authorities (Institute of Chemistry) about the reasons for the frequent occurrence of dangerous concentrations of manganese in the water of Lake Badovac.

The National Institute for Public Health of Kosovo, which on Monday announced the ban on the use of water, did not present any new information about the latest restriction during the day.

The current values of manganese in the lake water are not known, nor are the measures taken during the last period to prevent this situation.

This is the third time in the last two years that the water from Lake Badovac is not suitable for drinking and preparing food. The cause, as in the previous two cases, is an impermissibly elevated level of manganese.

Otherwise, a high concentration of manganese in drinking water can affect the central nervous system. It is especially dangerous for children.

Accused of threatening Kurti denied their guilt in court (KiM radio, KoSSev)

Faton Klinaku and Nuredin Selmani pleaded not guilty before the Basic Court in Pristina for the threats sent to Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister in technical mandate. Kurti also attended the hearing, reported KiM radio. 

After the prosecutor read the indictment, the two defendants denied it. KiM radio recalled that two persons were accused of threatening Albin Kurti via social networks at the end of August 2023.

One of the accused, Faton Klinaku, believes that there is no criminal offense, therefore he did not plead guilty. 

The other defendant, Nuredin Selmani, did not plead guilty either.

Acting PM Kurti also attended the court hearing as the injured party.

After the end of that hearing, journalists asked Kurti if he would also testify in the case of commodity reserves, given that he appeared in court today.

However, Kurti did not answer that question, reported Kosovo Online, citing Reporteri.

Although he has been invited on several occasions, Kurti has so far not responded to the invitation of the Special Prosecutor's Office to testify in the case of commodity reserves.

Graffiti against Kurti in North Mitrovica (KoSSev, KiM radio, Kosovo Online, Danas) 

Graffiti appeared on one of the walls in North Mitrovica on Tuesday evening against the PM of Kosovo in the technical mandate, Albin Kurti, reported Danas, citing Kosovo Online. 

The Deputy Commander of the Kosovo Police for the North Region, Veton Elshani, announced that in consultation with the prosecutor on duty, the case was classified as a "threat". 

"Last night after 9:00 p.m. in North Mitrovica, a message addressed to Prime Minister Albin Kurti was written on the wall. After consultation with the prosecutor on duty, the case was registered as a "threat". There are no suspects or detainees. The same graphic content was previously published on the Telegram social network," said Elshani.

The graffiti reads: "The dawn is rising from Kosovo, Albin Kurti will be dead".

Simonovic on the incident at Brnjak: We are not spreading hatred, we are preserving our tradition and customs (Kosovo Online) 

We did not incite hatred; our only intention is to preserve our tradition and customs. What lies ahead, whether we will again face such unpleasantness or experience something even worse, remains uncertain, said Danijela Mitic Simonovic, president of the Women’s Association Tradition Through the Centuries of central Kosovo and the singing group Kosovke from Batuse near Kosovo Polje, for Kosovo Online after the incident at Brnjak.

Kosovo police at the Brnjak crossing near Zubin Potok confiscated the flag of the Serbian Women’s Association Tradition Through the Centuries of central Kosovo and the singing group Kosovke from Batuse near Kosovo Polje, tore it up, and threw it into a trash bin.

Simonovic emphasized that the Association members often travel and that on August 31 they were in East Sarajevo at the 19th Festival of Cultural Creativity of East Ilidza, where they won a trophy as well as numerous other awards. The problem, she explained, arose on their return, at the Brnjak crossing, when an officer, during a check, noticed the trophy and awards.

“That day we traveled there and back on the same day; everything went smoothly there. We traveled with a transporter from Novi Pazar, six of us in total, and on our return at the Brnjak crossing, we had an unpleasant situation with the Kosovo police. The officer came in and asked for documents, which we handed over properly. However, while taking the documents, he also noticed several bags. He began looking through and opening the bags to see what was inside. In the overhead trunk above the seats was our panel flag, white in color, which he curiously pulled out and asked whose it was. I said it was ours, from our Association, that it was our logo representing us. He then angrily said in Albanian that I should take it out and get out of the van,” said Mitic Simonovic.

She pointed out that at that moment there were three policemen outside, who behaved arrogantly, which, as she put it, worried her.

“I asked what the problem was, and he lifted my panel and said, ‘this is a provocation.’ I replied that I did not understand what provocation, that this was our panel we use, that we carry with us, that it was our logo, pictures of the girls we use for parades at events. One of them also said, in Albanian, ‘this is the Republic of Kosovo, not Serbia.’ I was shocked,” said Mitic Simonovic.

Then the bags containing folk costumes were searched, she added.

“They found nothing else, and right in front of us they took our flag, our panel, tore it up, and threw it in the bin. That hurt us deeply—children were watching, and our pictures were on that panel. We did nothing to provoke this or incite any hatred, but we were greatly affected by this act because, alongside all the problems and difficulties we already face, our only goal in all our work is to preserve our tradition and customs. We have no other intentions. Our only aim is to remain in our hearts, where we live, and to know who we are. That is why we go out and represent our Serbian community, our name, our patron saint’s day, our costumes, our roots,” said Mitic Simonovic.

She underlined that the Association she leads is friendly toward all communities.

“They did not only tear that panel as a piece of cloth—they tore us, the Kosovke. That image is very important to our entire community here. The Kosovke represent all generations, every woman, mother, child living in these areas and wishing to live here. That is why I ask everyone to help us so that we know what to do,” she said.

Mitic Simonovic added that she is now worried as president of the Association.

“I often travel with those children, who come from different environments. How will we go on? Will we again face such unpleasantness, or will we experience something worse?” she asked.

She said that she reported the case to the Kosovo police and to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate.

“I reported it to the police immediately yesterday, where I wanted to seek help and protection—especially for us who preserve our culture here in Kosovo and Metohija. We truly do not want unpleasantness. I believe we have the right to our logo, our name and surname, and I don’t know who can deny us or forbid us that. It is just an ordinary cloth panel used for parades, which we have the right to carry at events to represent our singing group or Association, those who preserve their authentic creativity. That is protected by international law,” she concluded.

Police officer’s welcome for the beginning of the school year: What are the messages of arresting minors for fan shirts in Kosovo? (Danas)

Danas writes that the new school year in Kosovo began with the arrest of two minors for wearing fan shirts, for which they were also fined. As the interlocutors of Danas point out, these practices are nothing new, because the police have been targeting minors for a long time, but they add that this sends a clear message that Kosovo is Albanian and that there is no room for expressing a different identity.

Andric Rakic: The police are the executors of Kurti’s policy

Milica Andric Rakic from the NGO New Social Initiative told Danas that for the last few years, the entire focus of Albin Kurti’s politics has been identity, that is, policies that overemphasize the Albanian identity, while restraining and punishing the Serbian identity in Kosovo.

“The police are the main executors of those policies, whether they themselves implement repressive measures, provide for officials who are involved in ethno-nationalist campaigns, or suppress protests against those officials,” explained Andric Rakic. 

When asked about the symbolic significance of the arrest of two minors on a school bus, given that education is one of the two institutions that still functions according to the Serbian system, Andric Rakic said that the arrests that occurred on Monday  were not a unique case of incidents that could be linked to education.

“In the past years, there have been searches of boiler rooms and entry into schools for alleged interrogations, so in that sense, yesterday’s arrests represent an escalation, but not a precedent for those practices,” she said.

She recalled that this is not the first time that minors are the target of police repression.

“We have already had a minor brother and sister beaten by special forces, several young men beaten on the street in North Mitrovica, then the mistreatment of young men of Bosniak nationality in the police station and an attack on a high school student in North Mitrovica, verbal attacks and insults by the police against young men in Zubin Potok and Leposavic, as well as shooting in the air to warn young men in Leposavic, were also recorded,” she said. 

She added that the practice of punishing for the content on t-shirts has also been established for a long time, first by punishing a young man with an eight-month prison sentence, among other things, for the t-shirt he wore for St. Vitus’ Day two years ago.

“The message of such actions is that Kosovo is Albanian and that there is no space for the expression of a different identity,” Andric Rakic concluded.

Orlovic: A message to the Serbs that they have nothing to look for in Kosovo

Vice president of Serbian Democracy Ivan Orlovic told Danas on Tuesday that this case shows that repression continues, and that this is not an isolated case.

“We have had cases where the police mistreated both adult and minor citizens. We also witnessed that towards the end of the last school year, a police officer actually was strangling a minor,” he told Danas.

He pointed out that such moves send a clear message to the Serbs that they have no business being in Kosovo, and that the authorities want to “mark the territory” and continue the persecution of the Serbs.

When asked what the Serbs can do and who they can turn to after these incidents, Orlovic said that as time goes by, it is getting harder and harder for the Serbs, and that they are left to fend for themselves.

“Education as well as health care is in the system of the Republic of Serbia, even in Ahtisaari’s plan it is stated that education and health care will not be integrated, however this behaviour of the police worries us and casts doubt on the respect of that constitution, and on the other hand we are also concerned about the silence and carelessness of the Serbian side, which obviously does not represent the interests of the Serbs and our national interests in Kosovo well enough,” he explained.

He pointed out that the representatives of the Serbs in the parliament, Serbian List’s MPs, have the opportunity to stand in front of the repression of citizens because they have parliamentary immunity.

“They can ask them why and why they are doing it and invite the public to condemn or react. However, there is no such thing here,” Orlovic added.

On the other hand, there are no other reactions from the international institutions, apart from the statements.

“The people are condemned to defend themselves and to fight for their rights, which are both threatened and under impossible conditions,” Orlovic noted.

He emphasizes that citizens can complain to the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo.

“However, they act as police lawyers, and not as someone who should control the work of police officers and protect citizens. We have also sent dozens of complaints against police officers from the SD, but not a single police officer has been prosecuted or suspended, even though we have irrefutable evidence of their bad and inappropriate work,” Orlovic concluded.

International

‘I wish the stones here could talk’: an epic hike through Kosovo’s Accursed mountains (The Guardian)

There are stone bunkers shrouded in the mist on the hillside to my right, just shy of the ridgeline marking the Albanian-Kosovo border. To my left, the view is not just clear but startlingly beautiful.

I’m able to see back down to the tiny mountain hamlet of Gacaferi, where I’d slept the previous night, to look across the deep greenery of Deçan Gorge beyond, over dense pine forests and grasslands that pop with pink and yellow wildflowers, and gaze all the way to the 2,461m summit of Çfërla and the rugged peaks of western Kosovo’s Accursed mountains.

We are on stage nine of the Via Dinarica Kosovo, a 75-mile, 13-stage hiking trail through this storied country. The route links up to the Via Dinarica, a Balkan trail that runs from Slovenia through to Albania. The Kosovo section opened in 2015, but was recently remapped and relaunched as part of a three-year, £1.2m project funded by the Italian agency AICS.

There was a Yugoslav barracks in Gacaferi during the Kosovo war – the brutal conflict between the Kosovo Liberation Army (known locally as the UÇK) and Slobodan Milošević’s Yugoslavia, which ended with an aerial Nato bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999. UÇK fighters used to launch surprise attacks over the border ridge here, and arms were smuggled into Kosovo for use by liberation fighters.

The barracks is long gone. Today, the handful of locals in Gacaferi fly red Albanian flags outside their houses alongside Kosovo blue. They tend to their sheep and warmly welcome hikers, who trade travel stories while feasting on burek and Rugova cheese in the scenic guesthouse.

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