Albanian Language Media: 

• Kosovo MFA reacts to Serbia’s statement about tripartite memorandum (media)
• Haziri: No talks with VV; LDK has met with Krasniqi and Haradinaj (media)
• Terras blames EU Council and member states for not lifting measures (Kallxo)
• Barbano presents to Sorensen EULEX’s forensic expert work (media)
• Hoti: Sorensen is more interested than Lajcak to resolve fate of missing (KTV) 
• Bislimi: IMF has noted Kosovo’s consistency in economic performance (media)
• President of Latvia to visit Kosovo today, will meet Osmani (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic at dinner with Rutte: I am confident in even better cooperation between Serbia and NATO (RTS, media)
• Anusic: Croatia signs declarations with whom it wants; Vucic: A violation of the 1996 arms control agreement (Kosovo Online)
• Vucic on Serbia joining SEPA in coming weeks, meeting with Kos (Tanjug)
• Kos: A constructive meeting with Vucic, we discussed Serbia's path to the EU and the Growth Plan (Danas, Tanjug, media)
• The trial of Kostic and Milovic for the war crimes in Vucitrn continued (KiM radio)
• Professor Mirovic: Three coups and the erosion of Serbia’s sovereignty (KoSSev)

International Media:

• Donald Trump Jr. mixes business and politics in Serbia, as protests there rage (The New York Times)
• With dissent growing in Serbia, time is no longer on Vucic’s side (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media 

Kosovo MFA reacts to Serbia’s statement about tripartite memorandum (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned on Wednesday a statement by Serbia about the tripartite memorandum signed recently between Kosovo, Croatia and Albania. “This statement is not only aggressive and threatening but also constitutes an open violation of the Brussels Agreements, which Serbia has claimed to accept but refused to sign—proving once again its evil intentions and lack of will to engage in a genuine dialogue. By making such statements, Serbia undermines its commitments to building good neighbourly relations with Kosovo and to recognizing Kosovo's institutions and legal framework as the only valid authorities within our country. Furthermore, Serbia's rhetoric is filled with hegemonistic tones, as it seeks to present itself as the dominant power in the Western Balkans, seeking explanations from Croatia and Albania—two sovereign states, both members of NATO, with Croatia also a member of the European Union. This behavior is completely unacceptable and constitutes another violation of the Brussels Agreement, which clearly provides that Serbia will not hinder Kosovo's international relations and will not claim to speak on behalf of Kosovo in relations with states and other organizations. Serbia's attempt to present itself as "the guarantor of peace in the Balkans" is absurd. No state in the wider region has contributed more to the destabilization of the Western Balkans than Serbia, as evidenced by historical facts and recent developments. From its direct involvement in the wars of aggression in the 1990s—that resulted in genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosovo—to its ongoing threats, military mobilization near Kosovo's borders and support for criminal and terrorist networks operating in the north of Kosovo, Serbia remains the biggest threat to regional security. Furthermore, Serbia’s claim of neutrality is hypocrisy, given its deep-rooted political and military relations with authoritarian regimes such as Russia and Iran—all states that pose serious threats to regional and global security. As the democratic world stands united against aggression, Serbia continues to be lined with undemocratic countries actively working against stability in Europe and beyond. Instead of releasing aggressive and deeply misleading statements, Serbia should focus on respecting the agreements it has claimed to accept, abandon its hegemonistic ambitions, and take real steps to become a responsible actor in the region—starting with recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Kosovo. Furthermore, before Serbia lectures others on peace and stability, it must open its classified wartime archives so that its crimes can face justice. In particular, the classified archives of the 38th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, which has committed numerous war crimes and massacres in Kosovo, especially in Drenica during 1998-1999, should be made public and those responsible should be held accountable to the law. Without justice for victims, there cannot be true peace and reconciliation in the region. The Republic of Kosovo will not be afraid of Serbia's threats and will continue to strengthen its security and international partnerships in cooperation with its allies,” the ministry said in a Facebook post.

Haziri: No talks with VV; LDK has met with Krasniqi and Haradinaj (media)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lutfi Haziri, said in an interview with RTV21 on Wednesday that there have been no talks between the LDK and the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement. He said that LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku has met with opposition parties, mentioning PDK’s candidate for Prime Minister Bedri Hamza, PDK leader Memli Krasniqi and AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj. “He [Abdixhiku] never talked with Vetevendosje in the last couple of weeks. There is an initiative with other political parties that come from the opposition. That initiative has resulted in meetings with Hamza, Memli Krasniqi and Ramush Haradinaj,” he said.

Haziri also said that the LDK is interested in leading the next government of Kosovo. 

Terras blames EU Council and member states for not lifting measures (Kallxo)

The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Riho Terras, in an interview with the news website, blamed the EU Council and member states for delaying the lifting of measures against Kosovo. “The countries that are against the lifting of the measures are the usuals. We need to bring on board the bigger countries, those that talk about the gradual lifting of measures, but I would not like to mention them,” he said. 

Terras said that the European Parliament and its foreign affairs committee have a strong majority of members that are against the measures but that lifting the measures is not in their hands. “We call for the immediate removal of EU’s measures against Kosovo, which are no longer reasonable and are in contradiction with Kosovo’s proven commitment to European values and its compatibility with EU policies,” he argued.

Barbano presents to Sorensen EULEX’s forensic expert work (media)

Head of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Giovanni Pietro Barbano, said in a post on X that he was honoured to present EULEX’s forensic expert work on missing persons to EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Peter Sorensen, visiting the Institute of Forensic Medicine. “We emphasized the importance of families of missing persons knowing the truth, regardless of the circumstances surrounding their disappearance, including factors such as ethnicity, religion, national origin, or any other characteristics of their loved ones,” Barbano said. 

Kosovo’s Institute of Forensic Medicine said in a Facebook post that they were honored to receive Sorensen and Barbano. “Our conversation focused on the issue of persons missing violently from the war. Immediately after the war there were about 6000 people missing and of them there are still about 1600 people missing. The Institute of Forensic Medicine within the Department of Forensic has a Division for Missing Persons, which deals with search, finding and excavation, as well as fate, identification and handover of mortal remains of persons missing from war violence. The Institute also keeps contact with families of missing persons and cooperates with local and international organizations and institutions involved in the process of resolving the fate of missing persons. Many local organizations (such as various associations) and international (such as ICTV, KFOR, UNMIK, EULEX, ICRC, ICMP, etc.) were involved in this process. Over the years, professional capacities have also increased and now we have two forensic anthropologists, as well as support staff, while we wait to recruit an anthropologist and a forensic analyst. In this direction we have the professional help of EULEX experts with whom we have excellent cooperation and work together as a team. In the end, we informed ambassador Sorensen that we are currently working in extraordinary conditions due to the renovation of the Institute's building spaces, as a result of the fires that occurred due to electrical defects. With the renovation of the facility, which is scheduled to happen this year, we expect to have better working conditions for staff and modern workrooms, with better lighting and ventilation, modern fire system, better installation of air conditioning, etc,” the post notes.

Hoti: Sorensen is more interested than Lajcak to resolve fate of missing (KTV)

Head of the Kosovo government’s committee for missing persons, Andin Hoti, said in an interview with the TV station on Wednesday, that the international community should apply greater pressure on Serbia to open its archives from the time of the war in Kosovo as this would make the process of resolving the fate of missing persons easier. He argued that Serbia is refusing teams from Kosovo to carry out excavations in its territory, although it has pledged through an agreement to facilitate the process. 

Hoti also said that he has more faith in EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Peter Sorensen, than in his predecessor Miroslav Lajcak. “I think Sorensen is more interested than Lajcak. He is aware of developments in Kosovo and the issue of missing persons. He told me that he was working on the issue and that he will address it with seriousness and priority,” he said.

Bislimi: IMF has noted Kosovo’s consistency in economic performance (media)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi met on Wednesday with a mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “Kosovo’s consistency in the economic performance in the last years was also noted by the IMF. The economic growth is still registered as the highest in the region while continuing our increase in jobs and productivity. Thanked the IMF mission in Kosovo for their contribution & cooperation,” Bislimi wrote in a post on X after the meeting.

President of Latvia to visit Kosovo today, will meet Osmani (media)

Several news websites are reporting that the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, will visit Kosovo today and is scheduled to meet his Kosovo counterpart Vjosa Osmani. The two leaders will give a joint press conference after the meeting.

Serbian Language Media  

Vucic at dinner with Rutte: I am confident in even better cooperation between Serbia and NATO (RTS, media)

The President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a dinner in Brussels and expressed his confidence in even better cooperation between Serbia and NATO in the future, reported RTS last night. 

"We have countless topics to discuss with Secretary General Mark Rutte, from bilateral cooperation between Serbia and NATO, to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and relations with KFOR in Kosovo and Metohija. I don't know if this dinner will be enough for us to go through all the topics," Aleksandar Vucic wrote on his Instagram account.

As Vucic stated, Mark Rutte has been very fair towards Serbia so far and that he is grateful to him for that. "I am confident in even better cooperation between Serbia and NATO in the future," added Vucic. 

Anusic: Croatia signs declarations with whom it wants; Vucic: A violation of the 1996 arms control agreement (Kosovo Online)

The Minister of Defense of Croatia, Ivan Anusic, commenting on the reactions from Serbia regarding the establishment of cooperation between Croatia, Albania and Kosovo in the field of defense, stated that the time when Zagreb asked Belgrade what it could and should do is over, adding that this will never happen again.

"We have been an independent country for 35 years, we have gone through five years of aggression and a policy that advocated such a narrative," Anusic wrote on the social network X.

As he added, Croatia will sign declarations with whomever it wants.

"And the cooperation with Albania and Kosovo is focused on knowledge exchange, collaboration between military industries, and support for Albania's and Kosovo's Euro-Atlantic path," said Anusic.

Vucic said last night that one of the topics of his conversation with the Secretary General of the NATO Alliance, Mark Rutte, was the Memorandum on cooperation between Croatia, Albania and Kosovo in the field of defense, and that he pointed out to the interlocutor that this violates the Agreement on Subregional Arms Control from 1996.

"We talked about the agreement between Croatia, Albania and Kosovo, it's a topic that I brought up. It's about the violation of the so-called Agreement on Subregional Arms Control from 1996. But we saw from the reactions from Croatia and other parts of the region that they are not very interested in it," said Vucic among other things to reporters.

Vucic on Serbia joining SEPA in coming weeks, meeting with Kos (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday in Brussels he was confident Serbia had met its commitments when it comes to accession to the Single European Payment Area (SEPA) and that it could be expected to happen in the coming weeks.

"Also, that is very important for our companies and for reducing their expenses, as well as for our people living outside the country, for remittances and for many other things. So, that will greatly facilitate financial operations for Serbian individuals and companies alike," Vucic told reporters after meetings with EU officials.

He said he had discussed Serbia's EU path with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, head of the European Commission's Directorate-General of Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations Gert Jan Koopman and European External Action Service official Marko Makovec.

Vucic said the opening of clusters in the EU accession talks had been the other very important topic of discussions.

"We are hoping to open not one but several clusters this year. We discussed what we must do. That is two media laws and, again, REM (the regulatory authority on electronic media). They requested the law on the electoral roll, which is finished, but we should obtain a final opinion by the ODIHR. We should step up our alignment with the EU on their foreign policy declarations and sometimes vote for some declarations concerning the Russian Federation, which I could not promise them," Vucic said.

He said he believed Serbia was able to make a strong restart to the entire EU accession process.

"We will see whether that will happen or not. We discussed the situation in the region. We all noted the great, enormous significance of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the entire region and agreed that preserving peace and stability is crucial for all of us in the Balkans, and agreed to work on that together," Vucic noted.

He also said the internal situation in Serbia had been discussed as well but declined to say what objections he had made.

"They asked me whether the next government will be a pro-European one - which is what they expect, of course - and what we expect," Vucic added.

Kos: A constructive meeting with Vucic, we discussed Serbia's path to the EU and the Growth Plan (Danas, Tanjug,  media)

European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos assessed last night that her meeting in Brussels with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was constructive, stating that they discussed concrete steps on Serbia's path to the EU and the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

"I had a constructive meeting with President @avucic. We discussed concrete steps on Serbia’s EU path, the implementation of the Growth Plan and reiterated our expectation on a clear Serbian orientation towards the EU. I emphasised that enlargement is a whole of society process. This is not possible without strong civil society and independent media. It is the best way forward,” wrote Kos on X. 

The trial of Kostic and Milovic for the war crimes in Vucitrn continued (KiM radio)

The trial of Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic, accused of war crimes against the civilian population in Vucitrn during the 1999 conflict, continued with the examination of prosecution witnesses in the Basic Court in Pristina.

Zoran Kostic's defense attorney, lawyer Predrag Miljkovic, stated that during yesterday's hearing, they established through questioning that neither one of witnesses saw Zoran Kostic take any incriminating action during the war.

"This is now the fourth prosecution witness who does not say anything about Zoran Kostic's actions, so we rightly ask why Zoran Kostic is in custody, why this case is being conducted against him when the prosecution, after who knows how many searches, failed to prove a single incriminating action of Zoran Kostic," said Miljkovic after yesterday's trial.

He explained that the accused Kostic is 75 years old, with major heart problems.

"I think it might be a little easier for him at the moment, but he had periods when it was extremely difficult and we repeatedly demanded in court that he be provided with surgery, appropriate medical care, an angio room, however, we did not find understanding from the court, not from the current president of the panel, nor from the judge in the previous proceedings. He does not have many choices now, and I want him to endure this trial in its current state, until the end," said Miljkovic.

He recalled that he proposed a bail measure to the court, however, his detention was extended, but the concrete proposal has not been decided yet.

The trial of Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic began on December 9, 2024. They pleaded not guilty to the crimes they were charged with.

They were arrested on September 20, 2023, together with Ilija Elezovic, who died in the meantime. The indictment against them was filed in May 2024.

Professor Mirovic: Three coups and the erosion of Serbia’s sovereignty (KoSSev)

“The devil of lawlessness, corruption, crime, and constitutional violations has evidently crossed the Ibar and reached central Serbia in the form of Rio Tinto, all the way to the shelter,” stated Professor Dejan Mirovic of the Faculty of Law in North Mitrovica in an exclusive interview with KoSSev.

Professor Mirovic emphasizes that Serbia, as an old European state, has for years been subjected to governance that operates outside the law. He argues that three coups have been carried out within Serbia’s legal system—the Brussels, Washington, and European agreements—each of which, in his view, represents a suspension of the Serbian Constitution.

Three Coups: The Brussels, Washington, and European Agreements

“When the highest authority—in our case, the President of the Republic, who is supposed to be the guarantor of the Constitution—usurps the competencies of the Government and Parliament and negotiates non-transparently with the international community, handing over part of the territory, that is a coup,” Mirovic stresses.

He points out that all three agreements were concluded without constitutional basis, as the Serbian Constitution mandates that any change in borders, territorial integrity, and sovereignty must be approved by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and a national referendum.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/3vhvz7wz

 International Media 

Donald Trump Jr. mixes business and politics in Serbia, as protests there rage (The New York Times)

President Trump’s oldest son visited Belgrade, the site of a Trump International Hotel project, and pushed back on calls for the country’s president to resign.

The protests against President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia had been growing in intensity and size when an unusual guest showed up in its capital this month to meet with the embattled European leader: Donald Trump Jr., the oldest son of President Trump.

The quick visit by Mr. Trump, which included a meeting with Mr. Vucic to talk about U.S. foreign aid to Serbia, came as the Trump family and Jared Kushner, the American president’s son-in-law, were moving ahead with plans to build a Trump International Hotel in Belgrade, the first such property in Europe.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/25r2yv9d

With dissent growing in Serbia, time is no longer on Vucic’s side (BIRN)

The colossal demonstration in Belgrade at the weekend showed that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s familiar tactics to undermine protest movements and put off change are no longer working.

The protest on March 15 in Belgrade was massive. Whether the turnout was 300,000 or 500,000 or even more is ultimately irrelevant - it was undeniably the largest protest gathering in Serbia’s history. In the weeks preceding the event, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had announced that this day would also mark the end of the protest movement.

As the date approached, however, it seemed that this ‘end’ might be far more sinister than initially anticipated. Cases of intimidation, false rumours of supposedly inevitable mass violence, mysterious police raids revealing anonymous opposition activists allegedly stockpiling weapons, the cancellation of bus services, and the complete shutdown of railway traffic the day before the protest - all failed to deter the public from turning up.

Even a makeshift camp of Vucic’s supporters hastily set up in central Belgrade the week before the protest did not discourage the protesters. Nor were they dissuaded when it became clear that this camp would not only be filled with riot police in unprecedented numbers but also with anonymous thugs prepared to incite violence, frivolously parading under the watchful eye of a disgracefully passive police force.

None of this deterred the people. The protest unfolded peacefully, until the mass 15-minute silence in tribute the victims of the Novi Sad railway station disaster. Which was abruptly broken by something.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/vDwJh