Albanian Language Media:

• Stano: Opening the bridge over Iber river is a matter of dialogue (RTK)

• Osmani to Stano: Issue of the bridge should not be topic of dialogue in any way (RTK)

• Osmani stopped by North Macedonian authorities at airport, an attempt to take her phone was made (media)

• North Macedonian MIA reacts after incident with President Osmani (RTK)

• MFA: We are gathering information about the Osmani incident (Koha)

• Skopje Airport reacts after incident with president (RTK)

• Bislimi meets North Macedonia’s Deputy PM (RTK)

• Musliu: Revealing KIA officials, Risk to their operations (RTK)

• Haradinaj on elections: Let us shorten Kosovo's desperate situation (media)

• Miners to Government: We should not be held responsible for management of enterprise (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: Increase in pensions before January, a significant increase in salaries for educators (Radio Mitrovica sever, Tanjug, media)

• EU reiterates: Decision to open bridge over Ibar should be part of dialogue (Beta, N1, media)

• Former KLA member Blerim Ramadani transferred to house arrest (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)

• KAP: The pumps in the north were not leased to EXFIS, we are investigating the case (Kosovo Online)

International Media:

• 15 arrested in crack-down on high-profile Albanian criminal network (Europol.europa.eu)

• Kosovo Miners’ Strike Over Unpaid Wages Enters Fourth Week (Prishtina Insight)

Albanian Language Media 

Stano: Opening the bridge over Iber river is a matter of dialogue (RTK)

The European Union reminded the authorities of Kosovo that the opening of the bridge over the Iber River is an issue that should be elaborated within the dialogue with Serbia. Regarding the warnings of Kosovo government officials that they are working towards the opening of the bridge over the Iber River, the spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, said "We never speculate on what-if scenarios. Our general position is that the agreements reached within the dialogue should be implemented. This is a longstanding obligation for both parties, and any steps and actions to be taken that have an impact on one side or the other must be resolved, discussed and agreed upon, and taken forward within the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue.".

The bridge over the river Iber, which symbolises the division of the city of Mitrovica, is open only for pedestrians. In the framework of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, there is an agreement which foresees its opening for traffic. According to the government of Kosovo, the opening of the bridge would ensure freedom of movement for everyone. However, the European Union does not think that this plan should be implemented without Serbia's consent, which must be confirmed within the negotiation process.

Osmani to Stano: Issue of the bridge should not be topic of dialogue in any way (RTK)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has reacted to the spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, who said on Thursday that the opening of the bridge over the Iber River is an issue that should be elaborated within the dialogue with Serbia.

Osmani said that the issue of the bridge should not be a topic of dialogue with Serbia. According to her, such a thing would be a serious violation of sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutionality of Kosovo.

"There is no reason to ask Vucic when the bridges will be opened for traffic in the Republic of Kosovo. The only dialogue that should take place is the one within Kosovo, between our institutions and our security partners (especially with NATO) in order to build the joint implementation plan for opening the bridge for every traffic, which takes into account the security assessments and the interests of our citizens", emphasised Osmani.

Osmani stopped by North Macedonian authorities at airport, an attempt to take her phone was made (media)

The security of the Skopje Airport tried to take the personal phone of the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, while they tried to push her physically. This was confirmed to KOHA by the president's media adviser, Bekim Kupina. He announced on Thursday that there was an attempt to provoke the Kosovo delegation from the North Macedonian side, while the Kosovo Police was forced to react to this incident "to open the way".

"Contrary to international practices and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Skopje Airport security tried to take the President's personal phone. The president did not allow such a thing, because it would be a serious violation. Despite the explanation of the rules that the President's team made known to the airport official, he tried to physically push the President, in which case the Kosovo Police was forced to react to open the way. This behaviour of the Macedonian airport official is contrary to any international practice, according to which when heads of state travel, they are protected by diplomatic privileges and immunities", Kupina's announcement states.

He informed that the airport staff took Osmani's personal handbag "even though this was against the rules".

"In violation of these rules, the Macedonian side has taken the personal handbag of the president. Although this was against the rules, the President's team allowed it so that the President could enter the airport, specifically in the VIP lounge, which was reserved with a verbal note from our Embassy, ​​as is the practice for the trips of heads of state. However, for security reasons, it is not allowed to hand over the personal phone in any way. The arrogant and violent behaviour of the officials of the Skopje Airport is unprecedented and has never happened in any trip of the president anywhere in the world, including in unrecognizing countries", it is said further.

Osmani has notified the Speaker of the Assembly of North Macedonia, Afrim Gashi, "whom she thanks for the help provided".

"It is worth noting that after the President entered the plane, the Skopje Airport did not allow the commercial plane to take off for more than an hour, under the pretext that the Slovenian state is not allowing the departure, because it would not be ready for landing. The President's Cabinet contacted the Slovenian side, who informed us that such a thing is absolutely not true and that the plane would be able to land at the scheduled time. The presidency considers any attack and irregular treatment in contradiction with international conventions of high state officials as an attack on the state of Kosovo itself. The Republic of Kosovo, never in its history, has treated the President, the Prime Minister or the Ministers of North Macedonia or any other country in such a manner, nor will it ever allow such a thing," concludes the announcement. of Osman's advisor.

North Macedonian MIA reacts after incident with President Osmani (RTK)

The Ministry of Interior of North Macedonia has reacted after the incident with the President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani at the Skopje Airport.

It stated that today around 10:00 at the Skopje International Airport, while President Osmani was going through the border control, at the moment when she was asked to pass the phone through the scanner, a person from her security left the TAV employee, in order for her to pass without a scanned phone and hand luggage.

"But then the luggage came back and went through a scanner. After half an hour, a person from the security of the President of the Assembly Gashi (policeman) came with two other people (policemen) and started threatening TAV workers and asking who caused the problem to the president. At the same time, he also pushed a police officer who was working at the border point", says the announcement of the Ministry of the Interior of North Macedonia.

It is emphasised that the Department for Internal Control, Criminal Investigations and Professional Standards was immediately notified and that measures are being taken to clarify the case.

Regarding this incident, the President's media advisor Bekim Kupina said that contrary to any international practice, the airport official tried to take her personal phone and then tried to physically push the President, in which case the Kosovo Police were forced to react to open the way.

MFA: We are gathering information about the Osmani incident (Koha)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora said that it learned with concern about the incident that happened to President Vjosa Osmani at the Skopje Airport, saying that it has started to collect information about the case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response that it has also requested official clarifications from the Embassy of North Macedonia in Pristina.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora has learned with concern about the incident caused at Skopje Airport in relation to the undignified treatment of the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Dr. Vjosa Osmani. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, through the Embassy of Kosovo in Skopje, has started gathering information and since the early hours of the evening has requested official clarifications from the embassy of North Macedonia in Pristina and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will keep the public informed about further actions, to clarify this situation and to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future in relation to the heads of our state", the full notice published in Facebook.

Skopje Airport reacts after incident with president (RTK)

The company that operates the airports in North Macedonia, TAV, has come out with a reaction regarding Thursday's incident where, according to the Presidency of Kosovo, the airport official tried to take the personal phone of President Osmani and further tried to push her physically.

"In accordance with the Law on Aviation and the international legal regulation that refers to the safety of civil aviation, TAV Macedonia as the airport operator has a legal obligation to carry out a safety check of all passengers, baggage and goods on flights from Skopje International Airport and from Saint Apostol Pavle Ohrid Airport, including passengers travelling through the VIP lounge. Therefore, the Security Department of TAV Macedonia, within its competences, has carried out a standard security check of the mentioned passenger as well as her luggage, at the security checkpoint in the VIP lounge, to ensure the specific commercial flight" said TAV in response.

We want to emphasise that aviation security was not threatened, because the mentioned event took place in the public space of the airport, i.e. in front of the checkpoint of the VIP lounge, from where VIP passengers, after being checked by security, are sent to the area of checked from the airport. We also want to emphasise that the VIP lounge is a separate building isolated from the main terminal building of Skopje Airport, which means that it is completely incorrect that the safety of travellers has been compromised", concludes the statement issued by TAV.

Bislimi meets North Macedonia’s Deputy PM (RTK)

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi received the Deputy Prime Minister for Good Governance and Transparency of North Macedonia, Arben Fetai. The parties talked about deepening the relations and strengthening the bridges of cooperation in the field of economy, infrastructure with an emphasis on cooperation in cross-border projects. They also singled out tourism, and the importance of the advancement of the path in the European integration process.

Thanking him for the conversation and the fruitful meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi expressed his willingness to strengthen interstate relations between Kosovo and North Macedonia, but also regional cooperation.

 The ambassador of North Macedonia in Kosovo, Shpresa Yusufi, also participated in the meeting.

Discovery of KIA officials, Musliu: Risk to their operations (RTK)

The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee for the Supervision of the KIA has expressed concern about the publication of the identity of the positions of some KIA officials, considering it a harmful action and an obstacle to professional work. During her visit to KIA, Musliu said that she asked the director, Petrit Ajeti and his subordinates to be careful, responsible and above all professional in their work.

"Also, as a Parliamentary Committee, we have expressed our concern regarding the publication of the identity of the positions of some officials of the Agency, considering it a harmful action and an obstacle to professional work. The unauthorised disclosure of the identity of KIA officials and other sensitive information, in addition to representing a legal violation, is also an obstacle for KIA operations and in some cases may even endanger the lives of its officials," Musliu wrote on Facebook.

Musliu thanked the media for cooperation, valuing their role in keeping the public informed. However, she has asked citizens, as well as the media, to be attentive and show caution when reporting or commenting on sensitive issues involving KIA employees and work methods, as this, according to her, could compromise security and efficiency of KIA operations.

Haradinaj on elections: Let us shorten Kosovo's desperate situation (media)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, has listed three reasons why the party he leads has proposed January 26 as the date of the elections in the meeting of political parties with President Osmani. He said that Kosovo should go to the elections as soon as possible due to the successive failures of the government, which he divided into three groups, the failures in international relations, the economic ones and the capture of institutions.

"First, the failures in foreign relations, with the most important allies of Kosovo, the EU and the USA. The second group of failures are in capturing independent institutions. There is no institution left that is not hostile to this government. The third grouping is related to economic failures, non-investment and non-increase in wages to the inability to stop the enormous increase in prices. These are the main reasons, and why in yesterday's meeting we proposed January 26 as the date of the elections, in order to shorten this depressing situation for Kosovo for a few weeks", said Haradinaj.

Miners to Government: We should not be held responsible for management of enterprise (media)

The Union of Trepca Miners has reacted to the communiqué of the government of Kosovo regarding the recent situation. The miners have said that they are not responsible for the management and finances of the enterprise. In response, the Trepca Miners' Union emphasised that responsibility should be sought in the board and management.

“The miners have proven with work and dedication the obligation they had, that is, the highest production even though we did not have the basic conditions for work, such as safety at work, which we have always been at risk of.

The ones who should be accountable in the first place are the management and the board, which have always been appointed by the government, so that is where responsibility and accountability should be sought…

It's time for you as the government to reflect, because we as miners have warned you long ago, we tried to show you our dissatisfaction with the mining test and with strikes, but apparently even that was not enough,” the reaction said among other things.

Understand that we are not asking for something illegitimate, we are asking for the payment of our labour, that is, the pay that comes from the Labor Law.

Do not condemn the miners, demand accountability from those who mismanaged.

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic: Increase in pensions before January, a significant increase in salaries for educators (Radio Mitrovica sever, Tanjug, media)

President Aleksandar Vucic stated in his address to the citizens last night that the growth rate was 4.2 in the second quarter, and that Serbia is the first in Europe in terms of growth rate. We have more than 6.6 billion euros in the account, he specified. This is an indication to the citizens that the country is on the right path, and we have a certain and secure future, said Vucic. He announced an 11 percent increase in pensions for retirees before January. I believe that the minimum wage must go significantly above 50,000 RSD, says Vucic. He announced the soon adoption of the Law on the Protection of Users of Financial Services.

Speaking about lithium mining in Serbia, Vucic said that "there will be no mining in the field until we receive guarantees" that everything is absolutely safe in terms of ecology and people. 

“No digging in the field and there won't be until we get all the guarantees, and nothing will change in 12 to 18 months. They deceive you every day. We have to collect all the documentation, we will invite the best international and domestic environmental protection experts," he said. 

He notes that "care for the environment will be assigned to the greatest world, European and domestic experts".

"The next point is the fight for the complete value chain. The mine is on 140 hectares, and it will not exceed 220 hectares. We have 60,000 hectares in Kolubara, so you know what kind of area we are talking about," said Vucic.

The decision on lithium will not be made without the people, associations and political parties refusing to talk and mislead the citizens, if they want, they can go to a referendum to impeach the president.

"If you don't think that I will hold on to power at all costs, my offer is that you don't drag our people every day. Submit a request of 80 of you, 75 signatures, I will provide you with the rest and we will have a referendum on the impeachment of the president by the end of the year. I tell the politicians - you are not doing it for lithium but for me, you want to see my back. There is no problem," he said. 

He emphasised that there will be no digging in the next year and a half, stating that a referendum can be organised before then.

EU reiterates: Decision to open bridge over Ibar should be part of dialogue (Beta, N1, media)

The European Union (EU) insists that the issue of the bridge over the Ibar River in Mitrovica, Kosovo, be discussed within the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, said EU spokesperson Peter Stano.

He said that whatever steps and actions are going to be taken that have an impact on one side or the other, should be solved, discussed, and taken forward in the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue.

“The reopening of the bridge is a dialogue issue and any decision to open needs to be made in the dialogue,” Stano reiterated at a press briefing on Thursday.

Over the past two months, institutions in Kosovo have announced the possibility of opening the bridge over the Ibar River that divides the majority ethnic Albanian South Mitrovica and the Serb-majority Mitrovica North.

The international peacekeeping force in Kosovo (KFOR) has also repeatedly emphasised that the opening of the bridge over the Ibar should be done within the framework of the EU-mediated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.

Former KLA member Blerim Ramadani transferred to house arrest (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)

Former KLA member Blerim Ramadani is under house arrest by the decision of the court in Skopje as of yesterday, as the measure of extradition detention was lifted, and he will be living at an address in the capital in North Macedonia.

"Measure of extradition detention against the person Blerim Ramadani from Kosovo, determined by the decision of the judge for the preliminary proceedings of 18.07.2024. In 2024, the measure of house arrest will be abolished and determined," announced the Criminal Court in North Macedonia.

Blerim Ramadani, based on an international warrant issued by the authorities in central Serbia through Interpol, was arrested on July 18 at the Jazince border crossing near Tetovo.

The arrest warrant is based on Belgrade's suspicions that Blerim Ramadani, as a former KLA soldier, committed war crimes in the Nerodimlje region, near Urosevac.

Ramadani will remain under house arrest until August 16. After that, the court must decide whether extradition proceedings should be initiated against him or whether he should be released, the media in Pristina reported. Ramadani is the third KLA member arrested in North Macedonia on Serbian warrants.

Gafur Dugoli and Tomor Morina were arrested but were later released by a court decision.

KAP: The pumps in the north were not leased to EXFIS, we are investigating the case (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Privatization Agency of Kosovo, Arben Limani, said today that the company EXFIS, which has already installed and then covered its brand on the gas station in North Mitrovica, was not approved for the lease of gas stations in the north of Kosovo, and that it is unclear why the company placed its logo on facilities owned by the institutions of Kosovo, reported Kosov Online, citing Kallxo. When asked whether the Agency confirmed that the EXFIS company tried to appropriate the pumps in the north of Kosovo, Limani replied that the case is currently being investigated.

International Media 

15 arrested in crack-down on high-profile Albanian criminal network (europol.europa.eu)

The Albanian authorities, in cooperation with Europol and Belgian, Dutch and French law enforcement, have successfully concluded a major operation, arresting 15 suspected members of a notorious Albanian organised crime group under investigation in multiple jurisdictions.

The coordinated effort, named Operation GORGON, culminated in a series of raids carried out in Tirana, Albania, on 31 July against key figures within the criminal network. Significant assets were seized as a result, including real estate and EUR 1 million in cash.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4x7n6hwv

Kosovo Miners’ Strike Over Unpaid Wages Enters Fourth Week (Prishtina Insight)

Miners at Kosovo's once mighty Trepca complex are continuing their weeks-long strike over several months' worth of unpaid wages.

Miners at the giant Trepca complex in Kosovo entered the 23rd day of a strike on Thursday over unpaid salaries for June and July.

On Thursday, the government said it was reviewing a work plan proposed by the Trepca enterprise and, depending on it and “a concrete commitment to decrease costs and start increasing production”, will decide on financial support.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3tcxbajh