• COVID-19: 141 new cases, 11 deaths (media)
• Hoti calls for suspension of construction work on Decan – Plav road (media)
• Vetevendosje: Vucic makes demands, Hoti and partners meet them (media)
• Reactions after construction work stopped on Decan – Plav road (Koha)
• Kurti: Forcing bad agreements for sake of political campaign is wrong (media)
• Beqaj: Kosovo and Serbia not ready for agreement (Koha)
• Mustafa: We haven’t discussed President post with anyone (Express)
• Haxhiu: Illegitimate minority government must leave ASAP (media)
• Thaci: Ujman Lake, a precious wealth of the state of Kosovo (media)
• Think tank: Djukanovic could testify in Thaci's defence (Koha)
• Kosovo police criticised for stopping state TV crew from filming (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo Media Highlights

COVID-19: 141 new cases, 11 deaths (media)

141 new cases of coronavirus and 11 deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (44).

The total number of active cases is 4,215.

Hoti calls for suspension of construction work on Decan – Plav road (media)

Most news websites reported on Saturday that Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has called for the suspension of construction work on the road Decan – Plav, part of which goes through the zone of the Decan Monastery.

A government press release said “Prime Minister Hoti is aware of the crucial importance this road has for people of the region and beyond, but the legislation adopted by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo must be respected”.

Hoti also he would look into all legal and practical avenues to complete the road that links the Republic of Kosovo with the Republic of Montenegro.

Vetevendosje: Vucic makes demands, Hoti and partners meet them (media)

The Vetevendosje Movement, the biggest opposition party in Kosovo, said in a statement on Sunday that the Hoti-led government is meeting the demands of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Following Hoti’s decision to halt the construction work on the Decan – Plav road, the Vetevendosje said that the government is dependent on the Serbian List and Belgrade and that it must resign as soon as possible.

“Vucic makes demands, Hoti and partners meet them. This is what happened with the halt to the construction work on the Decan – Plav road. It has now become common for this government to meet Serbia’s demands and this is in full contract with its indifference toward the requests of the people of Kosovo,” the statement noted.

Reactions after construction work stopped on Decan – Plav road (Koha)

Construction work on the transition road Decan – Plav, in the special zoning area around Decan Monastery, were stopped on Saturday for the second time following an order from Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, the news website reported on Sunday.

Decan Monastery representative Sava Janjic was the first to react against the construction, and was then followed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who called on the European Union to apply firm pressure on Prishtina to halt the construction.

Teuta Haxhiu, an MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, said the request to halt the construction work is meaningless and politically-motivated. Haxhiu did not say if the AAK would discuss the issue with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) or if this will further deteriorate their relations.

Decan Mayor Bashkim Ramosaj reacted against the decision saying that construction on the road is not in opposition to the Law on Special Zoning Areas. “The road does not damage the Monastery and the renovation of the road does not fall in opposition with the Law on Zoning Areas. If someone made violations, it is the Monastery, when it allowed for the hydropower plant to be built very close to the walls of the Monastery,” he added.

BelulBeqaj, political commentator, said developments surrounding the Decan – Plav road and the recent entering of the Serbian Gendarmerie in Kosovo’s territory shows that the parties are not ready to reach a final agreement.

Kurti: Forcing bad agreements for sake of political campaign is wrong (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader and former Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, took to Twitter on Saturday to say that Kosovo and Serbia must normalize their state relations but that this can happen through a well-prepared process of dialogue.

“Richard Grenell’s announcement that on September 2, just two months before #US elections, there will be a @WhiteHousenegotiation between Kosova and Serbia is concerning. Here is why:First is the lack of credibility & transparency.The ”land-swap" idea was denied consistently, but was proven to be true by National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton, who said that the idea came from both presidents (Thaci&Vucic). This damaged trust in the process.Second is the lack of knowledge of the issue.Kosova is an independent & sovereign country which is neither in conflict to need a peace deal, nor does it have an unsolved status requiring a negotiation. These are false pretenses.Third is timing & dedication.A normalization deal w/ Serbia requires resolving all outstanding issues, hence a lengthy process. W/ Presidential elections in November it's clear that this is not about the content of the agreement, but the signature at the end of it.Kosova& #Serbia must normalize state relations, but that can happen through a well-prepared dialogue.The bond and loyalty of Kosova with #UnitedStates remains unbroken, but forcing bad agreements for the sake of a political campaign is wrong,” Kurti tweeted.

Beqaj: Kosovo and Serbia not ready for agreement (Koha)

Belul Beqaj, political commentator, said that the recent events regarding the construction of the Decan-Plav road and the patrolling of Serb forces in the village of Karaceva show that the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is not close and linked the two developments with what he said are efforts to delay an agreement.

"Had they been ready for achieve an agreement, we would not witness the intervention of Serbian gendarmerie in the territory of Kosovo and on the other hand the Kosovo side would uphold obligations it has assumed towards the Monastery in Decan. Therefore, these simply are attempts to delay the dialogue process further," Beqaj told Koha Ditore. He said that the U.S. will try to get the most of its 2-year investmement at the September meeting in Washington.

Mustafa: We haven’t discussed President post with anyone (Express)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Isa Mustafa told the news website on Sunday that his party has not discussed the post of Kosovo President with parties in the ruling coalition or with opposition parties.

Asked who would become President if the proposed indictment against President Thaci is confirmed, Mustafa said: “Kosovo has a President with a constitutional mandate until April next year. The moment that a constitutional solution is needed to elect the President, this issue will be treated in a complex way, because it is a complex issue”.

“The LDK will continue its work to give Kosovo a good and responsible government. We will foster fair relations and trust with the coalition partners and the opposition,” he said.

Mustafa said his party will remain fully committed the country’s interest. “We will remain open and cooperative in these very specific circumstances, but we will also not make any action that we deem negative for the country only for the sake of avoiding new elections,” he added.

Haxhiu: Illegitimate minority government must leave ASAP (media)

Vetevendosje senior member and former Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, argued in a Facebook post that the Hoti-led government is a minority government that lacks popular support and that it must leave as soon as possible.

Haxhiu said this was best seen at the latest session of the Kosovo Assembly when the ruling coalition managed to secure only 45 votes when it tried to vote on the draft law for economic revival. “The government which claimed to have 2/3 of MPs, does not even 50 votes in the Assembly to vote on issues it considered the most important. It is both illegitimate and unserious therefore it needs to leave as soon as possible,” she added.

Thaci: Ujman Lake, a precious wealth of the state of Kosovo (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci posted a video in Facebook on Sunday showing the Ujman [Gazivoda] Lake. “The Ujman Lake is a pearl and a previous wealth of the state of Kosovo,” Thaci wrote.

Think tank: Djukanovic could testify in Thaci's defence (Koha)

Ljubljana-based think tank, International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), published a report on Montenegro saying that president of the country, Milo Djukanovic, could soon travel to The Hague as a defence witness for Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who has been accused by specialist prosecutor for war crimes.

IFIMES said Djukanovic has 'criminal interests' and that he is trying to do all he can to secure assets which he is alleged to have obtained through illegal activity.

Kosovo police criticised for stopping state TV crew from filming (Balkan Insight)

Media union voices concern after police stopped a team from the state broadcaster from shooting – saying intimidation and obstruction of journalists is worsening in Kosovo.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, said in a press release that it was concerned by news that police on Thursday detained a team a reporters from the state broadcaster RTK in Zubin Potok in the Serb-run north of the country while they were shooting.

“Such actions against journalists and media professionals on duty puts pressure on them. Detention and other forms of intimidation have recently increased and this threatens the safety of journalists, their independent reporting, and the general freedom of the media in Kosovo,” the press release wrote.

The AJK said the team consisting of cameraman Mumin Jashari, Zymer Leci and Arben Jashari were prevented from shooting and taken to the police station even though they had permission from the UN KFOR peacekeeping mission and the police to shoot in Zubin Potok on Thursday.

“We were officially shooting Lake Ujman/ Gazivoda. We had permission from KFOR and the police to shoot by drone. While filming, a car first came, checked our license plates, inquired who we were and left. Then came two cars with four people. Two of them were in a uniform that read ‘security’, in Serbian. They photographed all the time and asked us to stop filming,” cameraman Jashari was quoted as saying to AJK.

Jashari said the RTK team was then escorted to the Zubin Potok police station by “three Serbian police officers … to whom I showed the filming permit and IDs”.

He said the enforced “detention lasted for about two hours until the police released us. I asked to call and inform the editorial office three times in a row, but was not allowed to do so”, Jashari told the AJK.

The police spokesperson for the North Mitrovica region, Besim Hoti, told BIRN that the RTK team had not been stopped from shooting – but there had been a misunderstanding over their permits and the dates.

“We had two different decisions because they conducted drone shootings. One decision allowed the shooting with the drone, while the other did not approve shooting with a drone. The problem was with the dates, so there was confusion,” Hoti said.

Hoti said the people who stopped the RTK team were lawful officers who had stopped them to verify whether they had the right permits to film.