• Osmani appeals to EU to honor agreement and address Serbia’s violations (BIRN)
• Kosovo: Serbia normalisation dialogue articles not conditional on each other (euractiv)
• Largest international military exercise to start this week in Kosovo (euronews.al)
• Census in north will be difficult, says Kosovo’s Statistics Agency (euronews.al)
• Council of Europe summit started Tuesday, Kosovo not on agenda (euronews.al)
• U.S. criticizes govt again for not implementing decision on Decani Monastery (media)
• Why is the South Tyrol model seen as harmful for Kosovo? (RTK)
• Tahiri: Kurti should condition Association with amendment of Constitution of Serbia (Klan)
• EBRD raises Kosovo’s economic growth forecast to 3.5% in 2023 (SeeNews)
• Poll finds optimism with Serbia, progress fighting corruption, support for EU membership (media)

Osmani appeals to EU to honor agreement and address Serbia’s violations (BIRN)

Kosovo's President, Vjosa Osmani, said on Tuesday that the European Union should not demand from Kosovo to implement measures that were not explicitly outlined in the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

Osmani emphasized that the EU should only require Kosovo to implement what was agreed upon in the letter of agreement. She stated that Kosovo should not be asked to undertake actions that are not part of the agreed terms.

“We expect the EU to demand the implementation of only what we have agreed on and not to ask for things that are not in the agreement. We are still waiting for the EU to clearly address Serbia’s violations. So far, we have not seen any action,” President Osmani stated during a press conference on Tuesday.

Osmani further highlighted that no statements have been issued regarding the numerous violations of the 2011 agreements or the blatant violations committed by Serbia under the Ohrid and Brussels agreements.

In the same conference, Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said that Article 7 of the Brussels agreement, which pertains to the self-management/association of the Serbian community, “is a part of the agreement, but it does not constitute the entire agreement.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/459XDQT

Kosovo: Serbia normalisation dialogue articles not conditional on each other (euractiv)

EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, met with Chief Negotiator of Kosovo for the dialogue, Besnik Bislimi, and Petar Petkovic from the Serbian side to discuss the controversial establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities with Pristina insisting that each article of the agreements are independent and should not be conditional.

While the meeting did not produce concrete results, Bislimi said they discussed how the parties see the direction of talks, adding that “everything related to the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement” was on the agenda.

He added that during Lajcak’s visit to Pristina last week, documents related to the competences of the mechanism for the implementation of the normalisation agreement were presented, mainly related to the Declaration on the Disappeared and the implementation of the association.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/456IJe7

Largest international military exercise to start this week in Kosovo (euronews.al)

Starting from May 21st until June 2nd, Kosovo will welcome the largest international military exercise in the Balkan region.

“Defender Europe 2023” will validate the capacities of two regiments of the Kosovo Security Force and will demonstrate the degree of military interaction of the KSF with forces of partner states.

This way, the KSF will once more show that it is ready to contribute in every NATO mission.

The opening ceremony of this military exercise will be held on Sunday, with Kosovo state leaders and U.S. officials being present in the “Skanderbeg” square in Pristina.

Defender 23 is a U.S.-European Command directed annual, multi-national, joint exercise designed to build readiness and interoperability between the United States, NATO and Partner countries.

Approximately 9,000 U.S troops and about 17,000 troops from 26 allied and partner nations will participate in this military exercise.

Last year, Albania was one of the hosts of the “Defender Europe 2023”.

Census in north will be difficult, says Kosovo’s Statistics Agency (euronews.al)

Kosovo’s Statistics Agency predicts that the population’s census in the north of Kosovo will be difficult, as opposed to the rest of the country.

The chief of this agency, Ilir Berisha told local media in Kosovo that there are issues with the creation of municipal commissions, due to the resignation of the mayors in the four northern municipalities, in November 2022.

The newly appointed mayors have yet to be sworn in, given that the local elections were held only a month ago.

“The population’s registration law provides that six months before the census’ date, the mayor of the municipality must propose the members of the municipal registration commission. Since the mayors in the four northern municipalities resigned, the proposals do not meet the time criteria,” explained Berisha.

According to him, the population’s registration law will be sent for amending, so that commissions in these municipalities can be created.

The registration process is expected to start by September 1st and will last until October 16th.

Council of Europe summit started Tuesday, Kosovo not on agenda (euronews.al)

Heads of State and Government from the 46 Council of Europe member states meet Tuesday in a two-day summit in Reykjavik, Iceland.

In the fourth ever summit since its creation in 1949, officials will reaffirm their common commitment to the core values of the Council of Europe and will refocus its mission in the light of new threats to human rights and democracy, and further support Ukraine.

Kosovo, however, might not be a part of the summit’s agenda. Local media in Kosovo report that the Icelandic Presidency has not foreseen any discussions regarding Pristina’s application to become a member of the Council.

In the end of April, Kosovo officially started its membership path towards the CoE, after the Committee of Ministers voted in favor of the application request. It sparked a debate in Serbia, with President Vučić stating that there would be profound and fundamental changes in foreign policy.

“Why should we protect someone’s territorial integrity at any cost if they are against us? These are not tectonic, but deep and essential changes in politics and a responsible attitude towards our country,” declared the Serbian president, while thanking the six other countries that voted against Kosovo’s membership.

It is not yet clear how long Kosovo’s membership procedure will last. It is believed that the issue is closely related to the progress the dialogue with Serbia will have. There is however belief that Kosovo might become a member by the end of this year.

U.S. criticizes govt again for not implementing decision on Decani Monastery (media)

The U.S. Department of State in its 2022 report on Religious Freedom criticized Kosovo among other things for failing again to implement the 2016 decision of the Constitutional Court, which recognized the ownership of the land around the Decan Monastery to the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The report mentions that the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOR) has criticized senior government officials, including President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti, for disputing the merits of the court's decision, describing them as "politically irresponsible and dangerous".

Read the full report at: https://shorturl.at/azBZ9

Why is the South Tyrol model seen as harmful for Kosovo? (RTK)

The Croatian model and South Tyrol are two of the most heard models in recent days, when it comes to the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serb majority.

Prime Minister Kurti in Brussels, but also in Pristina, is promoting the Croatian model, while the Austrians see Italy's South Tyrol as a solution for the Kosovo Serbs. This was reiterated on Monday by the Austrian MEP, Lukas Mandl.

While the Croatian model acts as the National Council of Serbs and deals with the self-government of Serbs living in Croatia, as well as with the aspect of human rights and their integration into Croatian society, South Tyrol is an autonomous province with a high level of self-government, with expanded legislative and executive powers, and a fiscal regime that allows it to keep 90 percent of revenues for itself.

"It is a concentrated territorial, administrative, political, legislative autonomy. I don't think that in Kosovo a concentrated autonomy will transform Kosovo into a functional administration. With the central government, it will be difficult," said Albert Prenkaj, former ambassador of Kosovo in Italy.

University professor Afrim Hoti thinks the same: When we talk about this model, we talk about a radical change in the constitutional and legal order of Kosovo. The Croatian model could be more approximate, while the South Tyrol model, which marks advanced territorial forms, would be harmful in the case of Kosovo and inapplicable.

When the Croatian model is concerned, Ana Holjevac-Tukovic, who once contributed to reaching the agreement on the integration of minorities in Croatia, thinks that this model corresponds to the case of Kosovo.

Tahiri: Kurti should condition Association with amendment of Constitution of Serbia (Klan)

Kosovo’s former chief negotiator of Kosovo in the dialogue with Serbia, Edita Tahiri, said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Albin Kurti should ask Serbia to remove Kosovo from its constitution. "Since Serbia does not want to hear about the Constitution of Kosovo as Kurti is saying, then Kurti should condition the association with the amendment of the Constitution of Serbia by removing Kosovo as part of it," Tahiri wrote on the Facebook.

EBRD raises Kosovo’s economic growth forecast to 3.5% in 2023 (SeeNews)

Kosovo’s economy is seen to maintain its growth at 3.5% in 2023, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Tuesday, revising up its projection for 3% economic expansion made in February.

For 2024, EBRD affirmed its earlier projection for 4% growth of Kosovo’s economy, it said in its latest regional economic prospects report.

The stable growth in 2023 is chiefly a result of a continued boost in disposable incomes by high remittances, credit growth, and a hike in public sector wages in the beginning of the year.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/433kZFY

Poll finds optimism with Serbia, progress fighting corruption, support for EU membership (media)

A Kosovo-wide poll by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research shows optimism over relations with Serbia, fewer concerns about corruption, and strong support for accession to the European Union (EU).

When asked when they expected Kosovo to have normalized relations with Serbia, 55% said within the next five years. Despite this optimistic view 79% of Kosovars do not believe any concessions should be given to obtain Serbian recognition.

“These numbers clearly reflect an optimistic outlook with Serbia,” said Paul McCarthy, Director for Europe at IRI. “Although concessions appear to be a sticking point right now, it’s a positive development that a majority of Kosovars believe relations with Serbia will be normalized in the next five years.”

The poll also shows that fewer people are concerned with corruption than in years past. The percentage of people who answered that corruption was the most or second most important problem facing Kosovo fell from 29% in September 2021 to 8% in this poll.

Additionally, accession to the EU and democratic development in Kosovo have strong support. Ninety-Five percent of Kosovars said they would vote to join the EU if a referendum were held. Further, 66% of people are very or somewhat satisfied with the way democracy has developed in the country.

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