Albanian Language Media: 

• Trump mentions Kosovo and Serbia at NATO summit (media)
• Hoxhaj: I would support a coalition between Vetevendosje and PDK (media)
• Krasniqi: I am confident I can secure votes for a government (media)
• Kurti: Kosovo is no longer an observer of injustices in Presevo Valley (media)
• Berisha: Two groups in Assembly are trying to exhaust one another (KTV)

Serbian Language Media: 

• UNMIK: Respect human rights during all actions, through dialogue to sustainable solutions (Tanjug, RTV, Kosovo Online)
• EULEX was not at the beginning of the search of Aleksandar Arsenijevic's facility (Alternativna)
• UNS and DNKiM: Kosovo police must stop harassing journalists from Serbian newsrooms (Kosovo Online, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio)
• Lawyer of the Serbian MIA deported member: The justification was that he is a member of the Security Forces of Serbia (KoSSev)
• Jevtic on Kurti’s actions: The international community must stop the institutional violence against Serbs (Kosovo Online)
• Arsenijevic: I am ready to be questioned online - with a lawyer present (KoSSev) 
• Sekerinska: The deadlock in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina hindering Euro-Atlantic integration (KiM radio)
• Petkovic with representatives of the Serbian List on the security situation in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever)

International:

• NATO leaders agree to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP at the Hague summit (EWB)

Albanian Language Media 

Trump mentions Kosovo and Serbia at NATO summit (media)

US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Hague mentioned a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He called me one day and said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I told him: No. You can help me with Russia, because, you know, in recent weeks we’ve been dealing with India and Pakistan, Kosovo and Serbia. I think on Friday we’ll be dealing with Congo and Rwanda, more issues are coming,” Trump said.

Hoxhaj: I would support a coalition between Vetevendosje and PDK (media)

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj said on Wednesday that he would support a coalition with the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement. He did not say however if he would support such a coalition with Albin Kurti as Prime Minister. “I don’t want to comment on such a scenario, whether with Kurti as Prime Minister or with Bedri Hamza as Prime Minister. Certainly we would agree for Bedri Hamza to be the Prime Minister, but these are topics that we would resolve once we sit at the table,” he said.

Krasniqi: I am confident I can secure votes for a government (media)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Memli Krasniqi said on Wednesday that he is confident he can secure the required number of votes for a new government. “I haven’t said anything that I haven’t told [LDK leader Lumir] Abdixhiku myself. I am talking about the 24 MPs of the PDK. But as the second party, the PDK, I have made the proposal for a government by the opposition, with Bedri Hamza as candidate for Prime Minister, and I can ask for 20 votes from Lumir Abdixhiku, and 5 from Ramush Haradinaj and 3 from Fatmir Limaj. I am confident I can secure the required number of votes,” he said.

Kurti: Kosovo is no longer an observer of injustices in Presevo Valley (media)

Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that the passivization of addresses of Albanians in Presevo Valley in Serbia is ethnic cleansing through bureaucratic and administrative means. “In Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanoc, Albanians live everyday faced with discrimination, oppression and exclusion from institutions, especially through what is known as the passivization of addresses or the cold ethnic cleansing through bureaucratic and administrative means,” he argued.

Kurti also said that Kosovo is no longer an observer of these injustices and that with its decisions it will be alongside Albanians in Presevo Valley.

Berisha: Two groups in Assembly are trying to exhaust one another (KTV)

MP from the Egyptian community, Veton Berisha, said in an interview with the TV station on Wednesday that there are two groups in the Kosovo Assembly that are trying to exhaust one another politically but that according to him the people are getting exhausted. 

“I feel sorry about this situation. It is obvious and it needs no interpretation. The situation that we are faced with requires a political agreement. The Kosovo system is built in such a way that we need an agreement. It can happen for one party to govern alone, but this happens very rarely. A party that does not have 61 MPs needs to secure a partner to govern,” he argued.

Serbian Language Media

UNMIK: Respect human rights during all actions, through dialogue to sustainable solutions (Tanjug, RTV, Kosovo Online) 

Tanjug agency reported that UNMIK urged  all actions to be guided by human rights standards and to avoid actions that undermine trust and inflame tensions. This was said as a reply to the agency’s question about what the position of UNMIK chief Caroline Ziadeh is on Pristina's latest moves and whether UNMIK will take measures to protect the rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo. 

In response to the question regarding the ban on the display of the Serbian flag in Gracanica on Vidovdan (St Vitus Day), the arrest and expulsion of Serb employees of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia and the indictment of Serbs for participating in the protests in 2022, although it was guaranteed that there would be no repressive measures for participation in the protests, it was stated that UNMIK continues to monitor the events on the ground and that the special representative of Secretary General Ziadeh reiterates the call to all parties to work on sustainable solutions and to resolve the remaining issues through constructive dialogue, for the benefit and safety of all communities.

It was pointed out that, when it comes to the expulsion of members of the Serbian MIA from Kosovo, the due process must be fully followed regarding arrests and expulsions. 

EULEX was not at the beginning of the search of Aleksandar Arsenijevic's facility (Alternativna)

EULEX was not present at the beginning of the search of Aleksandar Arsenijevic's facility, during which a large quantity of weapons was found, Alternativna portal was told by this mission last night. 

To our question whether members of EULEX were present during the search conducted by the Kosovo Police in the village of Valac, during which a large amount of weapons were found, they stated:

"EULEX has, as part of its mandate, monitored this case and will continue to do so. EULEX staff were not present in their monitoring capacity when the search began but monitored the operation at a later stage."

In their response, they did not specify at what stage they joined the monitoring of the search. Also, they did not answer questions about whether the Kosovo Police contacted them during or before the action, nor whether they have information about whether and when the Kosovo Police requested a court search warrant.

They added that the investigation led by the Kosovo authorities is still ongoing, and that those institutions should be contacted for additional information, reported this portal.

UNS and DNKiM: Kosovo police must stop harassing journalists from Serbian newsrooms (Kosovo Online, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio)

The Journalists' Association of Serbia (UNS), together with its Kosovo branch (DNKiM), has issued a protest over the Kosovo police’s decision to prohibit Radio Gorazdevac journalist Damjan Portic from filming the removal of graffiti from a building in the town, checking his ID, and subsequently ordering him to leave the public area, UNS reported yesterday..

Journalist Damjan Portic told UNS that near the church in Gorazdevac, workers hired by the municipality of Pec, under the supervision of Kosovo police officers, painted over a wall previously covered in various graffiti, and that he went to the scene to document the activity.

“Two uniformed and two plainclothes officers asked for my ID and then verbally attacked me, ordering me to leave the scene with words like ‘get out of here,’ ‘beat it,’ and ‘go away.’ One of the Kosovo police officers tried to stop me from taking photos, citing the law, even though the event was taking place in a public area,” Portic stated. He added that he was not given any explanation as to why he was not allowed to film and said this was an attempt to restrict a journalist’s right to freely perform their job.

UNS and DNKiM are demanding that those officers who prevented the journalist from doing his job be held accountable, and they are calling for an end to the pressure on journalists from Serbian-language media outlets.

UNS and DNKiM emphasized that such treatment of media workers is unacceptable and reminded the public that filming in public spaces is permitted and must not be hindered in any way.

Lawyer of the Serbian MIA deported member: The justification was that he is a member of the Security Forces of Serbia (KoSSev)

Lawyer Boban Petkovic, who represents A.S., told KoSSev yesterday that his client was detained for six hours after being detained at the crossing.

"During that period, I spoke with the police officers, they did not give me any information except that the proceedings are ongoing and that he will be detained for the next six hours," said Petkovic. Before the end of those 6 hours, A.S. was deported to central Serbia by the immigration office of the KP. 

"He was banned from entering Kosovo, permanently stripped of his Kosovo citizenship, with the explanation that he is a member of the Serbian security forces and nothing more," said Petkovic.

According to the information of lawyer Petkovic, as well as media reports, in the previous two weeks, six people were deported from Kosovo with allegations that they were members of the MIA of Serbia.

The Office for Kosovo, which for the previous case said it was the fifth, in yesterday's statement, however, stated that A.S was "the eleventh Serbian policeman, expelled from his doorstep by the unilateral, illegal and illegitimate decision of Albin Kurti". However, they did not specify in what period the 11 officers were deported. 

KoSSev contacted the Office for KiM for clarification. No response was received by the time of the publishing of the news. Exactly how many officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia have been deported from Kosovo in the last two weeks, KoSSev also asked the Kosovo Police and Kosovo's Minister of Internal Affairs in technical mandate, Xhelal Svecla, as well as a confirmation of the allegations of a new deportation. However, there were no answers either.

Jevtic on Kurti’s actions: The international community must stop the institutional violence against Serbs (Kosovo Online)

The Mayor of Strpce, Dalibor Jevtic, responded to the deportation of Serbian citizen Aleksandar S. from Brezovica, stating that he was expelled from Kosovo solely because he is employed by Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, marking a continuation of the persecution of the Serbian people.

“The persecution of Serbs from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija by the regime in Pristina continues through the expulsion of Serbs who live in these areas with their families. Just last night, Aleksandar S. from Brezovica, municipality of Strpce, was unlawfully expelled from Kosovo solely because Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs employs him. Aleksandar's family is here; his family home is in Brezovica. It is shameful that a young man, a father to a one-year-old son, a husband, son, and brother, is being denied the right to live in his only home,” Jevtic wrote on Facebook yesterday.

He added that, as mayor of Strpce and vice president of the Serbian List, he informed representatives of the international community about this case, which he described as a violation of basic human rights and freedoms and part of the ruling regime’s ethno-nationalist policy among other things.

Arsenijevic: I am ready to be questioned online - with a lawyer present (KoSSev) 

"I am ready to be questioned online by the Prosecution or the Police, in the presence of my lawyer," said Aleksandar Arsenijevic yesterday. 

The leader of Serbian Democracy spoke out after Kosovo's Minister of Internal Affairs in technical mandate, Xhelal Svecla, in an answer for KoSSev, called Arsenijevic's claim, that weapons on his property in the village of Valac were "planted", as "science fiction", as well as allegations that Svecla himself was allegedly involved.

At the same time, this minister yesterday, in a statement to Pristina media, accused Arsenijevic of "terrorism".

"Arsenijevic tried to build the image of an oppositionist, but the facts show that he is involved in terrorist activities," Svecla said, Kanal 10 reported.

"With his statements today, Svecla adds more gasoline to the bonfire he has prepared," says Arsenijevic.

At the same time, he added that he was ready to testify online - in the presence of a lawyer, reported KoSSev.

Sekerinska: The deadlock in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina hindering Euro-Atlantic integration (KiM radio)

The changed security situation in the world, the return of war to the European continent and the growing geopolitical tensions have once again brought the Western Balkans into the focus of the NATO alliance. Although there are speculations that Kosovo could take a "shortcut" to NATO, the Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance, Radmila Sekerinska, is clear: without progress in the dialogue with Belgrade, there is no progress on the Euro-Atlantic path either.

In an interview with KiM Radio, Sekerinska said that the support for KFOR is still strong, but that the expectations from local political actors are clear.

"Our presence in KFOR, with the support of numerous allies, represents a very significant investment. The allies have always emphasized that they are ready to continue that investment, but that they expect positive results. And that is why the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is extremely important," she said.

She reminded that KFOR is the longest active mission of NATO and that it has a key role in preserving peace, not only in Kosovo but, in her words, in the entire Western Balkan region. However, military presence cannot replace what is missing, namely political compromise.

"I come from a country that has been trying to become a member of NATO for almost 30 years. It took time because there were political obstacles, and as I always tell my interlocutors in Pristina, we had to make difficult political decisions and reach reasonable but long-term sustainable compromises in order to solve the deadlock (in relations) we had with neighboring Greece, and then join the NATO alliance," she stated among other things.

Petkovic with representatives of the Serbian List on the security situation in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, met yesterday in Raska with representatives of the Serbian List, with whom he discussed the security and political situation in Kosovo.

"At today's working meeting in Raska, I spoke with representatives of the Serbian List about the political and security situation in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as about all the challenges facing the Serbian people north and south of the Ibar," Petkovic wrote on X.

He added that he informed them about the last round of dialogue in Brussels.

"At the meeting, we concluded that only harmony, unity and perseverance can be the answer to all the problems we are facing," concluded Petkovic.

International 

NATO leaders agree to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP at the Hague summit (EWB)

NATO agreed to increase defence spending from 2 % to 5% of GDP annually by 2035, announced Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of the Alliance, who addressed the media at the end of the formal part of the summit, which took place on 24-25 June in the Hague. According to Rutte, the new defence investment plan will be “decisive when it comes to ensuring effective deterrence and defence”.

In addition, he repeated several times that “America is totally committed to NATO”, but that it expects the allies in Europe and Canada to do more for their own defence.  Earlier in the day, at the joint press conference with Rutte, US President Donald Trump praised the NATO spending plan.

“I’ve been asking them to go up to five per cent for a number of years, and they’re going up to 5%, that’s a big (jump) from 2% and a lot of people didn’t even pay the 2%”, Trump said.

The NATO Summit in the Hague was the first one attended by Trump since he was re-elected the US President and the first one hosted by Rutte since he was elected the Secretary General of the Alliance.

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