Albanian Language Media: 

• MPs fail to constitute Assembly even after seventh attempt (RFE)
• Kosovo leaders’ messages on National Day of Forcibly Disappeared (media)
• Hoti: No normality without truth on missing persons (Kosovapress)
• Hargreaves: Missing persons’ families have the right to know the truth (media)
• Natasa Kandic honored with “Key to the City” of Pristina (media)
• Strong reactions after reports about assault on Ashkali youth (Nacionale)
• Osmani meets Ruto, after Kenya recognized Kosovo (media)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Vucic: They will never forgive us for what they did to us – Neither Jasenovac nor the seizure of Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Youth in Varazdin welcomed Serbian students in tears: "It's inspiring how they actively fight against injustice" (N1)
• Trump Jr. meets Serbian business leaders in Belgrade (N1, Tanjug)
• Macut: Meeting with numerous officials in Rome, Serbia faces major challenges (RTS)
• Serbian Government withdraws Kosovo-related bills (KoSSev)
• Memorial mass for Pope Francis held in Belgrade (Beta, N1)
• Sorensen’s visit to Belgrade and Pristina: Between local turbulence and Brussels’ assignments (Kosovo Online)
• Djuric, Petkovic met Sorensen (Tanjug) 

Albanian Language Media 

MPs fail to constitute Assembly even after seventh attempt (RFE)

MPs failed to constitute the new Assembly of Kosovo even after the seventh attempt in a row, as the candidate of the winning party for Assembly Speaker, Vetevendosje Movement’s Albulena Haxhiu, did not get the required number of votes on Sunday. The next session will be held on Tuesday. 

Nearly three months after the February 9 parliamentary elections, the process has stalled due to disagreements between the biggest parliamentary parties about the post of Assembly Speaker. The first constitutive session was held on April 15 and Vetevendosje is failing to secure the required 61 votes for its candidate. The party has 48 out of 120 seats in the Assembly and Haxhiu got only 57 votes on Sunday. Opposition MPs said on Sunday that this shows that Vetevendosje leader and candidate for Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, does not even have the votes to create a new government. 

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the second biggest party in Kosovo, Memli Krasniqi, accused Vetevendosje of keeping Kosovo “hostage” by insisting only the candidacy of Haxhiu. “The only way forward is for them to back down and propose another candidate … It is evident that Vetevendosje doesn’t have enough votes not only for Albulena Haxhiu but also for Albin Kurti to create a new government. If this blockade continues, it is much better to go to new elections,” he said.

Kosovo leaders’ messages on National Day of Forcibly Disappeared (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Sunday on Kosovo’s National Day of the Forcibly Disappeared, “we remember over 1600 of our citizens - mothers, fathers, children - who still remain missing from Serbia’s genocidal war. We know who is responsible. We know where the answers lie. And we will never stop demanding justice for every life stolen, every truth hidden, every grave concealed”.

Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Kosovo’s judicial institutions must prove themselves first and foremost in addressing war crimes cases, “because time is going by, witnesses are getting old and many of them are passing away”. In a Facebook post commemorating the massacre of 376 unarmed civilians by Serbian forces in Meja and Korenica in April 1999, Kurti said that he calls on internationals to apply added pressure on Serbia to open its war archives “so that justice can be served by punishing political and military authors that were responsible for the genocide in Kosovo”.

Hoti: No normality without truth on missing persons (Kosovapress)

On Kosovo’s National Day for the Forcibly Disappeared during the war, on Sunday homages were paid at the Monument for Missing Persons in Pristina. Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his cabinet honored the missing persons by placing flowers at the monument. 

Head of the Kosovo Government’s Committee for Missing Persons, Andin Hoti, said the issue of missing persons is a collective wound that touches all of Kosovo’s society and that it cannot heal until truth is revealed and justice is served. “The missing persons cannot heal as a wound only with the passing of time,” he said.

Hargreaves: Missing persons’ families have the right to know the truth (media)

UK Ambassador to Kosovo Jonathan Hargreaves said on Sunday that families of missing persons from all of Kosovo’s communities have the right to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones. “Today I joined families and the Kosovo authorities in paying respect to missing persons from the Kosovo conflict. Missing persons’ family members, from all of Kosovo's communities, have the right to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones. The UK remains committed to supporting all governments across the Western Balkans in finding the answers families deserve,” he said in a Facebook post.

Natasa Kandic honored with “Key to the City” of Pristina (media)

Natasa Kandic, a Serbian human rights activist and head of the Belgrade-based Humanitarian Law Center, was awarded with the “Key to the City” of Pristina by Mayor Perparim Rama. The latter said in a Facebook post that he awarded Kandic the prize as a sign of appreciation for “a life dedicated to justice, truth and reconciliation”. He also said that Kandic was one of the few voices “that never stayed silent, even when the world chose to close its eyes”. “With her unwavering courage, she gave pain a voice, she gave justice to remembrance and honor to victims regardless of their nationality or language. Her work and dedication remind us that without truth there can be no sustainable peace in Kosovo and the region,” Rama said.

Addressing a ceremony before receiving the award, Kandic said she thought how she was going to receive it on April 27 on the day when Kosovo remembers the massacre in Meja in 1999, the biggest massacre when 376 Albanian civilians were killed by Serbian forces. “It was very difficult to think about this … We all know what happened on April 27. All of us who were in Meja today saw families at the graves, burning candles, and we know that there are still 15 missing persons, who were last seen on April 27 and their fates are not known. I want to believe that there won’t be another April 27 without the families having a grave where to light a candle,” she said.

The news website notes that according to official data, 1,617 people are considered forcibly disappeared from the war in Kosovo. Around 13,000, mainly Albanians, were killed in the war.

Strong reactions after reports about assault on Ashkali youth (Nacionale)

A story by a Nacionale news website reporter about Belgin Jashari, a football player from the Kosovo Ashkali community who plays for the Fushe Kosove team, and the racial insults and a recent assault on him have triggered a big wave of reactions by the public and immediate actions by institutions which have arrested a suspect for physically assaulting the youth.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani harshly condemned the act of violence and racism against the young football player calling it “an unacceptable and intolerable act in our society. Sports are a bridge that connect people and not a wall that divides them. Violence and discrimination in sports are a direct attack against our most sacred values: respect, equality and human dignity. I harshly condemn the physical and verbal violence against the young football player, Belgin Jashari … Every youth must feel safe, respected and equal, regardless of their origin or identity,” Osmani said.

Osmani called on respective institutions to take immediate measures to investigate and hold those responsible accountable. “Such acts cannot and must not remain unaccounted for. The respective institutions must undertake all necessary measures to investigate the case and punish those who were involved in violence and insults. Kosovo is a free and democratic country. Violence and hatred will have no room in our sports or society. No one can be above the law when they violate the dignity and security of our youths. Belgin, you are part of our present and future. Kosovo is proud of you,” she concluded. 

Kosovo’s Olympic Committee called on authorities to treat the case with urgency and expressed their full support for Belgin. “We stand alongside Belgin and all youths that follow their sports dreams and especially when they dream of wearing the shirt of the Kosovo team,” the committee said.

Kosovo’s caretaker Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said the attack constitutes “a serious violation of children rights and threatens the emotional wellbeing of all children that were present there”.

Kosovo Police said in a statement that they have arrested a suspect for physically assaulting the youth and he was sent to 48-hour detention. 

Osmani meets Ruto, after Kenya recognized Kosovo (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in a post on X on Sunday that she met with the Kenyan President Williams Ruto. “Always a pleasure to meet Kosovo’s great friend, President Williams Ruto, and to discuss the next steps in strengthening our bilateral relations, bringing the people of Kosovo and Kenya even closer together,” Osmani wrote.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: They will never forgive us for what they did to us – Neither Jasenovac nor the seizure of Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocidal Crimes Committed by the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) at the Jasenovac concentration camp and its largest execution site in Donja Gradina was marked yesterda in the presence of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik.

In his address, Vucic stated that the mass graves in Jasenovac and other camps are living witnesses to what was done to one people, and that they — the perpetrators — will never forgive the Serbs for it, nor for the attempt to seize Kosovo.

Vucic said that the NDH’s policies imitated Nazi Germany and its ideology, and then its death camps — and, as unbelievable as it may sound, managed to be even more brutal.

"Nowhere else was such bestiality recorded, nowhere else were so many different methods of killing applied, and nowhere else with such sadistic pleasure... Nowhere did humanity come closer to hell than in Jasenovac. This death factory had only one purpose: to kill as many Serbs, Jews, and Roma as possible," the President of Serbia emphasized.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/47bynra2

Youth in Varazdin welcomed Serbian students in tears: "It's inspiring how they actively fight against injustice" (N1)

At the reception of Serbian students in Varazdin yesterday, a large number of citizens and Croatian students gathered to greet the marathon runners from Serbia, and some young people told N1 that they find the student struggle that is being waged in Serbia inspiring.

Among those gathered was one of the main Croatian opposition politicians and members of the Croatian Parliament, Sandra Bencic, coordinator of the "Mozemo" (We can) political platform, as well as the mayor of Varazdin, Neven Bosilj.

Many citizens came to the reception, there were also many young people, and some gathered were in tears. 

"I can't, it's too emotional for me. They fight for what they believe in, and it's so motivating and gives me hope for the future," said one girl at the reception with tears in her eyes.

She pointed out that "she is inspired by the fact that everyone is here together and that they are going through it together."

"It's time for change and together we can achieve it. We all experience injustice every day and that they actively fight is incredibly inspiring," she told N1.

Another girl was holding a banner with the Cyrillic script "And you are a completely different flame."

"We came to support them and this is a fight that is being fought in Serbia, and maybe later we will fight too. They inspire us because young people are fighting for the whole country and that is something. The world really rests on young people," another girl told N1.

One girl was holding a banner with a verse from the song "Live Freely" by Djordje Balasevic.

"What Balasevic wanted to say is that we are all equal, that we are all the same and we are all fighting the same fight with the same systems," said the girl with the banner, who stated that she was born in Belgrade and lives here.

"All credit to these kids, it's amazing what they've started... No one has that energy," she concluded.

Before Varazdin, in Osijek, there was a festive welcome prepared for them. Citizens and fellow students from the Osijek initiative "Student with Student" greeted them in Vatroslav Lisinski Square with cheers of "Pumpaj" (Pump it up) and refreshments.

Trump Jr. meets Serbian business leaders in Belgrade (N1, Tanjug)

According to a post on the Serbian Chamber of Commerce's Instagram profile, prominent Serbian business figures and Donald Trump Jr., son of the United States President, met yesterday in Belgrade.

The Chamber of Commerce highlighted the “excellent and open discussion” with Trump Jr., expressing gratitude for his time and the opportunity to introduce him to “some of our excellent entrepreneurs.”

Donald Trump Jr.’s presence in Belgrade also included a scheduled meeting and dinner with President Aleksandar Vucic, as confirmed earlier by the Serbian Presidency to the Tanjug news agency.

This visit marks the second time Donald Trump Jr. has been in Belgrade in the past six weeks. His previous trip was on March 11th, during which he conducted an interview with President Vucic for his podcast. Furthermore, he visited Belgrade in late September of the previous year during his father’s election campaign.

Donald Trump Jr. is an entrepreneur and holds the position of Executive Vice President at the Trump Organisation.

Macut: Meeting with numerous officials in Rome, Serbia faces major challenges (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut stated in Rome, where he attended the funeral of Pope Francis, that he had the opportunity to meet with several officials and stressed that Serbia was facing major challenges, as well as that it was important to maintain economic stability and continue with development.

"Serbia is certainly facing major challenges and what is important is to maintain an economically stable country, to continue with the development that we have as a country with a high rate of economic growth, and we will certainly do that in the coming period," Macut emphasized in a statement to reporters.

He stated that in the coming period, all plans, and investments from the mandate of the previous government of Milos Vucevic will continue. He indicated that stable international relations are important for Serbia. Macut said that Serbia's cooperation in the region, as well as with great friends in the world such as the Russians and the Chinese, but above all our orientation towards the EU, was actually a good sign that Serbia was on the European path, but that it must cultivate relations with everyone.

"I think we have good continuity here, especially in the field of international relations," Macut emphasized.

He stated that in Rome he had the opportunity to meet with several delegations, namely with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, with the President of Sweden, with the Presidents of Croatia and Montenegro, as well as with the President of the Philippines and the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He also met with the Chairperson and Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zeljka Cvijanovic, with whom he exchanged future plans, as well as with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

He said that Pope Francis was one of the most humble popes in the history of the Vatican, who marked an era with a desire for peace and noted that the Pope's funeral was attended by more than 200 delegations from all over the world. Macut stated that the Pope's funeral was essentially a world event in terms of gathering people and uniting almost impossible situations and opportunities to see both representatives of Eastern and Western Christian denominations.

Serbian Government withdraws Kosovo-related bills (KoSSev)

Despite being adopted by Serbia’s previous government last October, two bills concerning Kosovo have quietly been withdrawn from parliamentary procedure—along with 41 other legal acts—by the newly appointed government led by Prime Minister Đuro Macut, reported KoSSev in English on Saturday.

The withdrawn bills aimed to designate Kosovo as an area of special social protection and to establish a judicial body to prosecute those who violate the rights of Kosovo Serbs, including Serbs themselves, as announced by President Aleksandar Vučić last September amid a fresh political crisis in northern Kosovo following the closure of Serbian institutions in the area.

Although the previous government formalized the proposals and submitted them to parliament on October 29, 2024, the new cabinet informed the National Assembly on April 17—just a day after it was sworn in—that it would be retracting all pending legislation submitted by its predecessor.

KoSSev obtained a document listing the 43 withdrawn acts. Among them were the two Kosovo-related bills, officially titled: The Law on the Organization and Jurisdiction of Judicial Authorities for the Prosecution of Criminal Offenses Committed in the Territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, and The Law on Declaring the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija an Area of Special Social Protection.

The government’s decision triggered a wave of online backlash. Social media users criticized the move, calling it a betrayal of Vučić’s earlier rhetoric. One post on the platform X read:

“Macut’s government withdrew the law on trying Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija and the law declaring Kosovo a special social protection zone. Vučić declared these urgent on September 13, promising their adoption in 45 days. Now, 250 days later, they’ve been scrapped.”

Other users dismissed the original announcements as propaganda, accusing the government of using the crisis to score political points without follow-through. “Of course this was expected,” one user wrote. “The media will remember the announcement, not the quiet withdrawal.”

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/dz249dnn

Memorial mass for Pope Francis held in Belgrade (Beta, N1)

A solemn memorial Mass for the late Pope Francis drew dignitaries and mourners to Belgrade's Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday evening. Presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia, Archbishop Santo Gangemi, the service became a focal point for expressions of grief and remembrance.

Among those in attendance were Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic, Bishop Tihon representing Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, alongside city officials and members of the diplomatic community, the Archdiocese confirmed. Earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dačić conveyed his condolences by signing the official book.

During the Mass, General Vicar Monsignor Marko Trost reflected on the profound connection Pope Francis shared with the local Catholic community and the nation as a whole. “Pope Francis held a special affection for our local Church and Serbia,” Monsignor Trost stated, adding, “It was as if he wished to convey: ‘You are also significant to me because you coexist with our Orthodox brothers, demonstrating a unique form of mutual Christian love.’”

Monsignor Trost also highlighted the historic appointment of Archbishop Ladislav Nemet as Serbia’s first-ever Cardinal, a move he described as a “sealing of the beauty of this brotherly coexistence in our region.” He emphasised the late Pope’s consistent “special respect and love for the Serbian Orthodox Church” in his public addresses.

Sorensen’s visit to Belgrade and Pristina: Between local turbulence and Brussels’ assignments (Kosovo Online)

A routine visit and a good discussion. This is how, rather sparingly, the new European mediator in the dialogue, Peter Sørensen, described the meetings he held over the past two days in Pristina and Belgrade. For interlocutors of Kosovo Online, his meetings with the chief negotiators are seen as a "prelude" to the work that lies ahead of him. The only doubt is whether this visit was well-timed, given the turbulence both in Pristina and in Belgrade.

“We had good discussions about our latest efforts and the areas where progress can be made in the Dialogue,” he wrote following his meetings in Belgrade.

He was not much more forthcoming in Pristina either.

“It is a normal visit, I am happy to be here. I will go to Belgrade, and then to Brussels. We are working, that’s all,” he briefly told reporters after meeting with Pristina’s chief negotiator in the dialogue, Besnik Bislimi.

Bislimi himself was not much more verbose.

A statement from his office said that the discussions focused on "the implementation of various agreements at the technical level," and that the "importance" of initiating talks on implementing the agreements reached in Brussels and Ohrid was "emphasized."

There was much more openness in Belgrade, where Sørensen, in addition to meeting with the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and chief negotiator Petar Petkovic, also held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric and the Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic.

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

Djuric, Petkovic met Sorensen (Tanjug) 

Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with the EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Peter Sorensen on Friday to discuss Sorensen's plans for a renewal of technical-level dialogue between the two parties.

Djuric noted that Belgrade consistently supported the process of normalisation of relations and that it shared a common interest with the EU in progress in that process, the Serbian MFA said in a statement.

He said more attention must be devoted to the situation on the ground as Pristina's unilateral actions and the negative political climate generated in that way had posed the biggest threat and obstacle to productive dialogue. Djuric voiced special concern over politically motivated court proceedings against the Serbs, which he noted were aimed at creating an atmosphere of legal and existential uncertainty amongst the Serb population in Kosovo and appealed to the EU to use its influence to prevent that type of political persecution.

The director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic discussed several important issues of significance for the life of Serbs in Kosovo and further steps towards continuing the dialogue as a path to normalisation of relations.

Petkovic especially informed Sorensen of a series of unilateral and escalatory moves made by the Pristina authorities with the aim of creating tensions and eroding the dialogue, including a recent closure of several Serbian institutions in Leposavic and Strpce.

He also pointed out a series of ‘groundless and politically motivated arrests of Serbs,’ conducted by the Kurti regime with the aim of further expulsion of Serbs, the Office said in a statement.

He noted that the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities - Pristina's commitment under the Brussels Agreement - was now 12 years overdue even though the EU also guaranteed the implementation of the deal.

He stressed that Belgrade was the constructive party in the dialogue and that it had always made proposals aimed at solving problems, rather than at ignoring them, while Pristina was resorting to unilateral moves and violations of all agreements to generate fresh political tensions on the ground and dodge its commitments.

The meeting was also attended by the president of the Serbian government Commission on Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic and the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret. Odalovic noted the importance and the necessity of implementing an existing declaration on missing persons, as well as Belgrade's clear commitment to treating this matter as an important humanitarian topic from the very outset but noted that Pristina was making numerous obstructions on that path, the statement also said.