Albanian Language Media:

• COMKFOR: In case of escalation, ready to undertake necessary measures (RTK)
• Ministry: No official notification for initiative to dismiss mayors in north (media)
• Gervalla meets PACE delegation (media)
• Kosovo risks CoE membership if it doesn’t address findings of report (Koha)
• Kosovo again ranked at the bottom list of PISA test (media)
• Townsend: I don’t think there will be an outbreak of war in the Balkans (VoA)
• Hundreds protest in downtown Pristina after Liridona Ademaj’s murder (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Petkovic: Kurti not interested in de-escalation in northern Kosovo (Tanjug)
• Rakic-Andric on refusing requests to dissolve mayors in four northern municipalities (Kosovo Online, social media)
• Kosovo minister has no information Serbs submitted initiative to dissolve mayors in four northern municipalities (N1, BETA)
• Ambassador Cochard: Returning memorial plaque to fallen Serbian soldiers in a way also represent apology from France (KoSSev, Danas)
• New KFOR Italian battalion arrived in Kosovo (KoSSev, social media)
• Brnabic receives Wozniak (Tanjug)

International Media:

• PISA School Test Results See South-East Europe Pupils Falter (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

COMKFOR: In case of escalation, ready to undertake all necessary measures (RTK)

Commander of NATO’s mission in Kosovo, KFOR, Ozkan Ulutas, said in an interview with RTK on Tuesday that KFOR is ready to undertake all necessary measures in the event of any escalation. “The mandate of KFOR is clear, and that is to provide a safe and secure environment in Kosovo for all its citizens, regardless of where the threat comes from. Allow me assure you that we will maintain our efforts to prevent any escalation and we are ready to respond to any challenge,” he said when asked how KFOR will respond if Serbia undertakes aggressive actions against Kosovo. “As a result, NATO has deployed reserve forces with additional capacities. Now we are holding more activities. We have quadrupled our presence in the north of Kosovo and we have tripled the number of patrols, including along the border line. Our aim is to prevent escalation, but in the event of an escalation, we are ready and equipped to undertake all necessary measures to implement our mandate”.

Ulutas also called on both Kosovo and Serbia to resolve all problems through diplomacy by focusing on the dialogue. “As [NATO SG] Stoltenberg said, stability depends on all parties to choose diplomacy over conflict. We will continue to support the dialogue by offering the necessary security framework for diplomacy to move forward. This is the only path to sustainable peace and stability, for the good of all communities living in Kosovo,” he said.

Ministry: No official notification for initiative to dismiss mayors in the north (media)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, said on Tuesday that they have received no official notification about the request submitted by Serbs in the north of Kosovo to initiate petitions for the dismissal of Albanian mayors of the four northern municipalities. Krasniqi said in a Facebook post that the government’s administrative instruction clearly outlines the procedures that are needed to initiate, organize, and submit initiatives for removing mayors from office. “Every citizen or group of citizens with the right to vote in a respective municipality is entitled to undertake an initiative for removing the mayor. The request must be signed by at least 20 percent of eligible voters and must include all elements and data in line with the administrative instruction. The citizens who are interested in initiating such a procedure must establish an initiating group which before starting to collect the signatures, must notify the president of the municipal assembly, who then notifies the ministry and the Central Election Commission,” Krasniqi said. He also added that they are aware of reports in the media according to which signatures were collected by “an initiating group”. “However, we inform you that the Ministry of Local Government did not receive any official notification regarding this initiative from the presidents of the municipal assemblies, the respective municipalities or the members of the initiating group, as foreseen by the administrative instruction”. 

Gervalla meets PACE delegation (media)

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Donika Gervalla, hosted on Tuesday in Pristina, a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which is on a fact-finding visit as part of Kosovo’s membership bid in the organization. A press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Gervalla informed the delegation about “the latest developments in Kosovo and the progress in the areas of democracy, rule of law, human rights and minority rights, a progress which was acknowledged by independent international organizations”. “Gervalla highlighted the need for full and swift membership of the Republic of Kosovo in the leading organization for human rights in Europe, with which the Republic of Kosovo shares common values,” the press release notes.

Kosovo risks CoE membership if it doesn’t address findings of report (Koha)

Civil society representatives that operate within the Council of Europe said on Tuesday that if Kosovo does not address the findings of experts’ report until the next report, it could seriously risk membership in the organization. While the government did not offer explanations about the findings of the report which notes interferences in the judiciary and the non-implementation of court decisions, civil society representatives claim that the document portrays the actual situation on the ground.

Isuf Halimi from the European Centre for Human Rights told Koha on Tuesday: “We have regular meetings with the Council of Europe, not only on the Balkans issues, but also for Ukraine, which are held within activities for human rights. The majority of good will people that work at the Council of Europe and are engaged for Kosovo’s membership, are in a way disappointed with the report. At the same time, all mechanisms of the Council of Europe that operate in Kosovo, including the issue of minority rights or human rights, were more positive and expected a way more positive report than this one. But this report is very concrete, and I don’t know if the Government of Kosovo can object to it, because it was written and reported based on concrete data of the Council of Europe. Also let’s not forget that this report is not a result of only three or three visits that they had to Kosovo. The report is a result of many years and activities of the Council of Europe in the Republic of Kosovo”.

Halimi argued that the government of Kosovo maybe doesn’t have the capacities to implement the court’s decisions, but this situation will make work difficult when Kosovo joins the European Court for Human Rights.

Kosovo again ranked at the bottom list of PISA test (media)

One of the main stories on Tuesday was that Kosovo was again ranked at the bottom of the list of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that is implemented every three years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Koha Ditore reports in its leading story this morning that after the publication of the report, Kosovo’s Minister of Education, Arberie Nagavci, said one of the causes that led to poor results by pupils was the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic caused main challenges to teachers and schools in general in implementing technology. Online learning was problematic, and then there were also other factors such as frequent changes in policymaking and also the changes in government,” she argued. Education commentators on the other hand believe that the pandemic was not a factor that affected the poor results in the PISA test, and that one of the main reasons that categorize the educational system in Kosovo is learning by heart and mechanical learning. Kallxo news website quotes Rrahman Jasharaj, head of the Union of Education, Science and Culture, as saying that Minister Nagavci needs to summon all parties involved in education and try to find a solution and a way out together.

Townsend: I don’t think there will be an outbreak of war in the Balkans (VoA)

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Jim Townsend, in an interview with the Voice of America, talked about security in the Western Balkans and about the possibility of new wars between the countries. He said he doesn’t believe there can be an outbreak of war like in the 1990s, and also mentioned the increased tensions between Kosovo and Serbia in the last couple of months. “But we are all concerned about the possibility of conflict there. In the last couple of months, we have seen increased tensions between Kosovo and Serbia in particular, and also political turmoil in Bosnia. But what is different from the 1990s now is the presence of the European Union and NATO through KFOR on the ground. Today we have available means to manage and prevent the outbreak of conflict, which we did not have back then. In the 1990s the international community learned what we need there … I think both we and the Balkans countries learned from that period. There is always a possibility of conflict, but now we have the means to prevent what happened in the 1990s,” he argued.

Hundreds protest in downtown Pristina after Liridona Ademaj’s murder (media)

Hundreds protest in downtown Pristina on Tuesday evening against violence and killing of women, one week after 30-year-old Liridona Ademaj was killed near Pristina. The crime shocked Kosovo as the victim’s husband was arrested as a suspect and organizer of the murder.

Liridona Sijarina from the Collective for Feminist Thought and Action, which organized the protesting march, called for a stop to the violence against women. “We are gathered here because women and girls in Kosovo are under threat. We are gathered here to show once again that this situation that we experience as girls and women must end once and for all. And this can happen only if we are all united in the war that we as women are waging every day, at home, at work, on the streets, in schools and in the state,” she said.

Serbian Language Media 

Petkovic: Kurti not interested in de-escalation in northern Kosovo (Tanjug)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Tuesday that, by refusing to receive a civic initiative for a dismissal of illegitimate mayors by local Serbs in northern Kosovo, the Albin Kurti-led government had clearly demonstrated they were not interested in de-escalation and normalization in the four municipalities in the north, Tanjug news agency reports.

"Pristina's refusal to accept the citizens' request for a recall of the false mayors clearly shows that (Albin) Kurti has been playing tricks all the time in order to deceive the EU as well as stop the process of a dismissal of illegal ethnic Albanian local authorities in the north", Petkovic said.

In a statement, Petkovic noted that de-escalation and normalization of the situation in the four municipalities was one of the main demands of Belgrade as well as the EU but that Kurti intended to continue the terror against the Serbs.

"Therein lies the reason why ethnic Albanian municipal representatives in Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan today refused to receive an argumented civic initiative for a dismissal of the false and illegitimate mayors, submitted by citizens who strictly followed administrative instructions prepared by Pristina itself", Petkovic added.

Rakic-Andric on refusing requests to dissolve mayors in four northern municipalities (Kosovo Online, social media)

New Social Initiative Program Manager Milica Andric Rakic, in reaction to the decision in four northern municipalities not to accept citizens' requests to dissolve the mayors there, said that collapse of the municipal services in Kosovo system had been exposed, Kosovo Online portal reported.

In a post on social network X, formerly Twitter, she said local institutions fear the citizens, and that Kosovo Minister of Local Government and Administration Elbert Krasniqi revealed that he had not read Administrative instructions he signed himself.

"A day behind us in the north of Kosovo: the total collapse of municipal services in the Kosovo system exposed, the fear of local institutions from the citizens exposed, the minister revealed that he does not read the instructions he signed. RoL LOL", Andric Rakic wrote in a post. 

Kosovo minister has no information Serbs submitted initiative to dissolve mayors in four northern municipalities (N1, BETA)

Kosovo Minister of Local Self-governance and Administration Elbert Krasniqi said his ministry does not have official information that Serbs in northern Kosovo submitted an initiative to launch a petition to dissolve four Albanian mayors in municipalities there, BETA news agency reports.

In a post on Facebook he said that Administrative instruction clearly defines the procedure for initiating, organizing and submitting civic initiatives to dissolve the mayors.

Serbian media yesterday reported that Serbs in four northern municipalities, in line with Administrative instruction, established initial groups which attempted to submit requests to the municipal assemblies’ chairs in Mitrovica North, Zubin Potok, Zvecan and Leposavic and initiate proceedings for dissolving the mayors in those municipalities but that requests were not accepted. 

Ambassador Cochard: Returning memorial plaque to fallen Serbian soldiers in a way also represent apology from France (KoSSev, Danas)

French Ambassador to Serbia, Pierre Cochard told Danas daily that return of the memorial plaque to the fallen Serbian soldiers in the wars from 1918 to 1921 - to its original place at the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Pristina, represents "in a way, an apology". Describing the relocation of the monument as a "small mistake", he pointed out that the intention of the French Embassy in Pristina was not to hurt anyone, but to make a place for a monument to French soldiers from KFOR, KoSSev portal reports.

"I'm very glad that it is all back at its place. That was my wish, especially when we saw to what extent it caused stormy feelings", he told Danas.

"Our intention was by no means to hurt anyone. We may have underestimated the feelings and reactions it will cause. Our intention was only to make a place for a monument to the French soldiers from KFOR and there was a small mistake. I am very pleased that it has been corrected. Returning the monument to its place is, in a way, an apology", Cochard said.

New KFOR Italian battalion arrived in Kosovo (KoSSev, social media)

A new Italian KFOR battalion arrived in Kosovo on Tuesday evening, the Mission confirmed last night. This is a reserve battalion from NATO’s Operation Reserve Force, arriving as reinforcement, KoSSev portal reported.

“KFOR continues to fulfill its UN mandate to ensure a safe and secure environment for all communities in Kosovo”, Mission said in posts on Facebook and Twitter, this time without directly mentioning Resolution 1244, which KFOR usually noticeably emphasizes, KoSSev portal said.

There are currently around 5000 KFOR troops in Kosovo. Their number increased by 1,000 this year following the latest crisis in the north of Kosovo.

Brnabic receives Wozniak (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Tuesday received Steve Wozniak, the US tech entrepreneur, electrical engineer, IT guru, philanthropist and inventor best known as the co-founder of the tech giant Apple, Tanjug news agency reports.

Brnabic gave Wozniak an overview of the development era of the tech and digital sector in Serbia in recent years and a vision of investing in an economy based on knowledge and innovation, the government press service said in a statement.

She noted that the fact the ICT sector had become the fastest-growing sector in Serbia was an evident result of such investments, and added that exports by the sector were expected to total around 3.8 bln euros in 2023.

International Media

PISA School Test Results See South-East Europe Pupils Falter (Balkan Insight)

Several countries in south-east Europe performed worse than before in the OECD’s latest assessment of 15-year-olds’ mathematics, science and reading skills, with Turkey one of the few to display a trend towards improvement.

The results of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA tests, published on Tuesday, showed that pupils in most countries in South-East Europe achieved similar or worse results on average than in the previous tests four years ago.

The PISA tests are a worldwide initiative by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD to measure 15-year-old pupils’ ability to use their mathematics, science and reading knowledge.

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