• EU leaders to restate membership guarantee for Balkans at summit (Reuters)
• What is expected from the EU-Western Balkans summit? (Radio Free Europe)
• US Senator: Association of Serbian municipalities, a recipe for disaster (media)
• Kurti: Increased budget for the army will be a priority (media)
• EULEX chief on implementation of license plates agreement (media)
• Krasniqi: Government allowed Serbia to intervene in our sovereignty (media)
• Latifi: Result of local elections will be different from national elections (Express)
• COVID-19: One death, seven new cases (media)
• All change: Merkel’s departure a moment to rethink EU Balkan policy (BIRN)
• Pandora Papers: New lead exposes Balkan PEPs’ hidden riches (BIRN)
• Vetevendosje’s man elected CEO of Kosovo Power Corporation (Kallxo)

EU leaders to restate membership guarantee for Balkans at summit (Reuters) European Union leaders will be able to restate their guarantee of future membership to six Balkan countries on Wednesday at a summit in Slovenia, after EU ambassadors overcame divisions, two EU officials said.

After weeks of disagreement over the wording of a summit declaration for Wednesday's gathering of EU and Balkan leaders, envoys from the EU's 27 states reached a deal to "reconfirm ... their unequivocal support for a European perspective," the official said.

Reuters reported on Sept. 28 that the impasse over the declaration was seen as a reflection of the lack of enthusiasm in EU capitals for bringing Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia into the bloc.

A second EU official said that while there was now agreement on a summit declaration, the EU's strategy of enlarging its community south-eastward faced obstacles, even if officially the door is open to those who meet the membership criteria.

"I can't say everything is fine," the official said, noting reluctance among some member states to see further enlargement of the bloc. "There are of course many issues but you also can't say the door is closed."

EU states have declined to disclose their positions on the summit declaration negotiations, although Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, sought to include a commitment that the bloc take in the six Balkan states by 2030, according to a draft seen by Reuters.

The second EU official said that had not been successful.

Wealthy northern countries fear a repeat of the rushed accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and the poorly managed migration of eastern European workers to Britain that turned many Britons against the EU.

Bulgaria is against North Macedonia joining because of a language dispute, meaning even with the summit declaration's approval, diplomats do not expect any progress soon.

What is expected from the EU-Western Balkans summit? (Radio Free Europe)

European Union (EU) leaders and their counterparts from the Western Balkans are expected to reiterate their mutual commitment to closer ties at their summit in Brdo near Kranj in Slovenia on Wednesday, the news website reports.

The EU is expected to reiterate its commitment to the European perspective of the Western Balkans region, and the countries of the region are expected to reiterate their orientation towards the EU.

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources in Brussels, RFE reports that all 27 EU member states have agreed on the text of the draft declaration which will be adopted at the summit. It notes that EU leaders welcome the commitment of Western Balkan partners to the European perspective, which, according to the document, "is in the strategic interest and remains a common strategic choice".

US Senator: Association of Serbian municipalities, a recipe for disaster (media)

Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S. Senate, said on Monday that he is against the idea of the Association of Serb Municipalities and that the idea is a recipe for disaster. “The Trump administration unfortunately put all the pressure on Kosovo but nothing on Serbia, nothing on Belgrade, and that created real consequences at the end of the day. I certainly do not believe that among the things that are being talked about that there should be land swaps between Kosovo and Serbia. And the last thing I think we should be doing is establishing enclaves as suggested by the Association of Serbian Municipalities. That is a recipe for disaster,” Menendez said.

Kurti: Increased budget for the army will be a priority (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said in a virtual meeting with members of the Kosovo Security Force, who are studying at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, that one of the priorities of his government will be to increase the budget for the army. “The decision to increase the budget for the Ministry of Defense is aimed at increasing our country’s defense capacities so that the Kosovo Security Force can be ready to protect our country, our constitutional order, to support the civilian authorities in times of crisis and to be ready to take part in international military operations,” Kurti said.

EULEX chief on implementation of license plates agreement (media)

Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, head of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), took to Twitter on Monday to talk about the implementation of the agreement on license plates between Kosovo and Serbia. “Our monitoring teams visited all six Common Crossing Points between Kosovo and Serbia today to examine the introduction of the new license plate sticker regime. The new system is working, and traffic resumed at all Common Crossing Points. EULEX will continue to follow the implementation,” Wigemark tweeted.

Krasniqi: Government allowed Serbia to intervene in our sovereignty (media)

Memli Krasniqi, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said in a debate on Klan Kosova on Monday that the Kurti-led government reached an agreement in Brussels which it used to call shameful and damaging while it was in the opposition. According to Krasniqi, the temporary agreement on the license plates reached in Brussels is the same as the agreement signed in 2016 by then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa.

Krasniqi said the PDK was confident that introducing reciprocity measures toward Serbia was a right decision but that with the agreement signed in Brussels last week, the Kurti-led government allowed Serbia to interfere in Kosovo’s sovereignty.

Latifi: Result of local elections will be different from national elections (Express)

Blerim Latifi, professor of philosophy and political commentator, said in a debate on T7 on Monday evening that the result of the October 17 local elections will be different from the results of the February 14 national elections where the Kurti-led Vetevendosje won over 50 percent of the vote. “This will be a good opportunity to see if the Kurti government continues to have the major support it had early this year … Many indicators lead us to believe that the results of the February national elections will not be repeated in the local elections, even though the Vetevendosje Movement is confident that the same result will be repeated. Vetevendosje alone will not win these elections. The four biggest parties will win in different municipalities, and the result will be different from that of the February national elections,” Latifi argued.

COVID-19: One death, seven new cases (media)

One death from COVID-19 and seven new cases with the virus have been confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 199 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 2,044 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

All change: Merkel’s departure a moment to rethink EU Balkan policy (BIRN)

Berlin-based analysts and policymakers expect to see a shift in Germany’s – and therefore the EU’s – approach to the Western Balkans with the end of the Merkel era.

Some diplomats, experts and policymakers in the Western Balkans believe little will change in Germany’s approach to the region with the end of the Angela Merkel era. Their colleagues in Berlin, however, are not so sure.

Given the years of drift and waning European Union influence, the outgoing German chancellor’s legacy in the Western Balkans is a mixed bag, and a number of experts and policymakers in Berlin say something will have to change.

There is concern that parts of the region, most noticeably Serbia, are backsliding on democracy and media freedom, and opening their doors wider to the likes of China and Russia in the EU’s apparent absence.

Read full article here: https://bit.ly/3DdHqvq

Pandora Papers: New lead exposes Balkan PEPs’ hidden riches (BIRN)

The latest massive leak of confidential financial documents is shedding light on the secretive businesses of such regional bigwigs as Andrej Babis of Czechia, Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, Sinisa Mali of Serbia and many others.

Media across the globe were flooded on Sunday with investigations based on the nearly three terabytes of documents from the new massive data leak, the so-called Pandora Papers.

Following on from the Panama Papers and FinCEN files, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists obtained nearly 12 million files from 14 service providers – bankers, lawyers, accountants, and registration agents – and shared them with more than 600 journalists around the world, including BIRN.

In total, 35 current and former national leaders appear in the leaks, alongside 400 officials from nearly 100 countries; Southeastern and Central European countries are no exception.

Milo Djukanovic, President of Montenegro, Andrej Babis, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Sinisa Mali, a minister in Serbia, are among those mentioned in the files.

Data from the Pandora Papers include two politicians from Bulgaria who so far remain unnamed. Bulgarian National Radio also made the unsourced claim that 174 of the companies connected to the offshore affairs are based in Bulgaria.

Doing business through offshore companies is legal, but when it comes to “politically exposed persons,” or PEPs, they should be subjected to increased scrutiny to make sure their money hasn’t come from questionable deals or outright corruption. Revelations from the Pandora Papers show that service providers failed to comply with due diligence standards.

So far, only a portion of the stories has been published, with more to come.

Read full article here: https://bit.ly/3DcfnfU

Vetevendosje’s man elected CEO of Kosovo Power Corporation (Kallxo)

Nagip Krasniqi, former head of the Vetevendosje Movement’s Committee for Energy, has been elected Chief Executive Officer of the Kosovo Power Corporation (KEK). He was elected to the post by the interim board of the corporation in a competition with 38 candidates. The interim board was appointed by the Kurti-led government without a public competition, until a board with a full mandate is elected.