• Kurti says recent attacks in north were aimed at killing police officers (media)
• Osmani: Russia wants to destabilize the Balkans through Serbia (media)
• Osmani criticizes EU for not speaking clearly toward Serbia (Klan)
• Kosovo welcomes first Ukrainian journalist fleeing war (BIRN)
• Gutierrez: Other European governments to follow Kosovo’s example (Telegrafi)
• Kosovo MPs to discuss security situation today (media)
• Kosovo: Example of how young professionals can transform tech industry (Forbes)
• “Electricity in the north will be billed soon” (Kosovapress)
• Ukrainian refugee influx tests countries’ ability to help (BIRN)
• COVID-19: 16 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kurti says recent attacks in north were aimed at killing police officers (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Monday that the recent attacks against Kosovo Police in the north were terrorist attacks aimed at killing police officers. “Law enforcement authorities now must investigate and resolve the case and at the same time evaluate the security situation and what steps need to be taken in order to prevent such attacks from happening again. These are not attacks aimed at material goods or against citizens; they are attacks against police officers and attacks aimed at killing,” Kurti told reporters in Prishtina.

Kurti also said that “the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, the Ministry of Interior Affairs and the Kosovo Police will not show a single gram of tolerance toward Serbia’s illegal structures and organised crime”.

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca too reacted against the attacks in the north. “The provocations are clear, and these attacks are intolerable. The attacks are coming from structures with direct ties to Serbia. Serbia has always been interested in destabilizing Kosovo and it is serving as a platform for Russia to spread the war it has started in Ukraine in other parts of Europe,” he argued.

Kurti also said that the principle of reciprocity on the issue of license plates is non-negotiable. He told reporters in Prishtina that April 21 is the last deadline when Kosovo and Serbia need to reach an agreement on the issue as part of EU-brokered talks in Brussels.

“April 21 is the last deadline when we need to reach an agreement on the license plates. I know the principle of reciprocity will be there, while our group and chief negotiator are discussing technical aspects and how we can find a solution. But I know that reciprocity is a non-negotiable principle for any solution,” Kurti said.

Petar Petkovic, head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, reacted to Kurti’s remarks saying that “such statements are nothing but a threat and have nothing to do with respecting and implementing the agreements reached so far”.

Osmani: Russia wants to destabilize the Balkans through Serbia (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview for Spanish media on Sunday that Russia seeks to destabilize the Western Balkans through Serbia and that Serbia’s recent armaments and joint military drills with Russia should serve as a red flag for the entire European Union. “Russian President Vladimir Putin will try to use Serbia in order to destabilize the Balkans and together with it, all of western Europe, in an attack against the democratic values of the European Union. Serbia, Bosnia Hercegovina, and Kosovo are the only countries in the region that aren’t part of NATO. Keeping peace and stability in the Balkans means keeping peace and stability in the entire European continent,” she said.

Osmani also said: “we remain very concerned that Serbia has increased the number of weapons it is buying, and this proves its goals in the region. I believe that [Kosovo] membership in NATO is crucial. I want to make an appeal to the four NATO member states that still haven’t recognized Kosovo, to do so, because we shouldn’t continue looking at this only from the perspective of internal politics.”

Osmani criticizes EU for not speaking clearly toward Serbia (Klan)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Sunday that the European Union has yet to speak clearly toward Serbia for its failure to implement the agreements reached in Brussels. “It is my impression as President of the Republic that the EU has yet to speak with a clear language, especially in public, about Serbia’s failure to implement the agreements. Serbia continues to do the opposite of what it has signed, and the EU has not made a public call to Serbia to stop this practice. Serbia is using its presence in the dialogue as obstruction,” Osmani told Klan Kosova.

Kosovo welcomes first Ukrainian journalist fleeing war (BIRN)

The first Ukrainian journalist has arrived in Kosovo as part of a programme to offer sanctuary to media workers amid the Russian invasion of their country, which has seen several reporters killed.

Ukrainian journalist Lyudmila Makey said on Monday after becoming the first to be hosted as part of the Journalists-in-Residence Kosovo Programme that she was thankful for the safe haven amid the Russian invasion of her home country.

Makey told a press conference organised with the Association of Journalists of Kosovo that journalists in Ukraine are being “harmed and threatened”. Several have been killed since the Russian invasion began in February.

“It should not be like this… we [Ukrainians] want to live in a free and peaceful country,” she said.

She explained that she chose Kosovo as a destination because she wanted to see life in a post-war country with her own eyes and “strengthen the friendly connection between our two countries”.

“I realised that people [in Kosovo] who have experienced a similar war share the same feeling that we [in Ukraine] feel right now,” she said.

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/3McDlw2

Gutierrez: Other European governments to follow Kosovo’s example (Telegrafi)

Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists, said on Monday that the Kosovo government’s offer to host reporters from Ukraine “is the best response to the Russian aggressor, who is trying to impose terror by targeting journalists in Ukraine and deploying unprecedented censorship in Russia”. “Ukrainian journalists must be allowed to continue to do their work, in order to inform world public opinion. The EFJ calls on other European governments to follow Kosovo’s example: offer refuge to threatened Ukrainian journalists to continue their work in exile. Do not let the Kremlin impose silence across borders. We warmly thank Kosovo for showing the way!”

Kosovo MPs to discuss security situation today (media)

Most news websites report this morning that the Kosovo Assembly will meet today and among other topics MPs are expected to discuss the security situation in Kosovo. The assembly session is scheduled to start at 10:00.

Kosovo: An example of how young professionals can transform tech industry (Forbes)

Kosovo has long been recognized for its hospitality, pro-western spirit and booming nightlife. However, one thing that’s usually glossed over is the rate of progress it has made in the past 20 years and the amount of talent, particularly in tech, it produces.

Kosovo’s Youth Fountain

Kosovo is not only the youngest country in Europe, having declared its independence in February 2008, but it is also a country thoroughly dominated by its youth. With an average age of 26, it has the youngest population out of all European countries, where the average age is closer to 40.

Being a youthful country certainly has its perks. In the digital age, having a young population gives you a considerable advantage; as the workforce of your competitor countries gets older and slower, your population is in their prime working years.

Read full article here: https://bit.ly/3vmwOIe

“Electricity in the north will be billed soon” (Kosovapress)

Dusan Raradakovic, executive director of the Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture, said in an interview with Kosovapress that Kosovo and Serbia will soon reach an agreement on energy and that electricity in the north of Kosovo will be billed soon. Citizens living in the north of Kosovo have not paid for electricity for two decades, the news website noted.

“The information that I received is that the agreement is almost ready and that they were waiting for elections to be over before signing it. I don’t know if the signing will be delayed because of the fact that elections were not allowed to be organised in Kosovo. What I do know is that the Kosovo Government has been paying for the electricity in the north, so people living in the north, including myself, we haven’t received any bills from the EPS [Serbian Power Corporation], so I think that very soon the agreement will be reached and the billing will commence,” Radakovic said.

Ukrainian refugee influx tests countries’ ability to help (BIRN)

Ukraine’s Eastern European neighbours are bearing the brunt of an influx of several million refugees who have fled the Russian invasion, but some Balkan states are feeling the pressure as well.

With the Russian invasion now in its second month, more than 4.5 million Ukrainian citizens have left their country as refugees.

Ukraine’s immediate neighbours have been bearing the brunt of the refugee influx, which mainly consists of women and children, with Poland alone taking more than half of the entire number.

Impoverished Moldova has also been overwhelmed, while Balkan countries have also felt the pressure, albeit to a lesser degree as fewer Ukrainians are choosing to seek refuge there.

The challenges are enormous, humanitarian workers say, from providing immediate food and shelter and taking care of children’s education, to ramping up humanitarian capacities and doing the administrative work necessary to offer a prolonged, legal stay to those who have fled the war.

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/38TeS09

COVID-19: 16 new cases, no deaths (media)

16 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 25 persons recovered from the virus in this period. There are 472 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.