Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti appoints Ejup Maqedonci as new Minister of Defence (media)
• Citaku: Prosecution to urgently investigate affair of Kurti govt’s mediator (Klan)
• Svecla following police operation: North is moving toward normality (media)
• Ahmeti: EU measures against Kosovo are affecting municipalities too (Kosovapress)
• Kurti’s advisor stopped twice by Serbian border police on Monday (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Brnabic: Letter of EU and US parliamentarians proves Kurti enjoys support in undermining peace (Radio KIM)
• Church broken into in Suvi Do, police qualified case “as serious theft” (KoSSev)
• Office for KiM reacts to incident against Saint Petka Church in Suvi Do settlement (media)
• Serbian List condemns incidents in Suvi Do, demands increased presence of international forces (Kosovo Online)
• Ponos: Western parliamentarians’ letter should be taken seriously (N1)
• Sign in front of municipal building in ZP damaged: KP blames wind, citizens police, while mayor claims he will fix sign (KoSSev)

International:

• Media Freedom in South-East Europe Faces Escalating Digital Threats (BIRN) 

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Kurti appoints Ejup Maqedonci as new Minister of Defence (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that he has accepted the resignation of Defence Minister Armend Mehaj. “Today, upon the request of Defence Minister, Armend Mehaj, I have accepted his resignation. His request to be relieved of duty comes from family reasons. I thanked Minister Mehaj for his uninterrupted work, impressive contribution, regular cooperation, and his exemplary engagement since the first day of duty,” he said.

Kurti also said that he appointed Ejup Maqedonci as the new Minister of Defence. “I have appointed Ejup Maqedonci as the new Minister of Defence, with whom we have cooperated in other functions. I wish Minister Maqedonci a successful work in advancing defence and security, and in the further development of our army,” he said.

Citaku: Prosecution to urgently investigate affair of Kurti govt’s mediator (Klan)

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, called on the Special Prosecution to urgently start investigations after media reports mentioning the involvement of a mediator of the Kurti-led government for purchasing state reserves, Ridvan Muharremi, in alleged illegal arms trafficking and creating false witnesses against former KLA leaders in the Hague. 

Citaku told a press conference in Pristina today that in light of new facts and reports the Kurti-led government is again linked to abuses. “The judicial institutions must react urgently. All of you, honourable reporters, and you dear citizens, heard and saw the evidence of a person who links the mediator of the Kurti government for supplies with state reserves, Ridvan Muharremi, in other issues too. Illegal arms trafficking, fabricating witnesses against the KLA leaders, and the elimination of a PDK politician, these were part of the testimony, which calls for one thing and one thing only: investigations. The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo should urgently act to shed light on these allegations, because they don’t only represent the major corruption that this government is engulfed in, but also the threat against the freedom and democracy of our nation by the abusive and destructive mindset of this government,” Citaku is quoted as saying.

Citaku said: “the specific requests of Ridvan Muharremi to find ‘four Catholic witnesses’ lead to incitement of hatred and inter-religious division among our people … The issue is serious and the PDK calls for serious, responsible, and swift actions by all judicial institutions. Such situations cannot pass without being investigated, explained and ultimately condemned.”

Citaku also said: “the PDK calls for investigations against Prime Minister Albin Kurti too, whose name is closely linked to the latest statements, on anti-state and anti-national issues. Today, no issue is more pressing for the judiciary than an urgent investigation into the whole matter. The people need explanations and accountability from everyone involved in this shameful affair. The PDK calls for investigations and responsibility. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Svecla following police operation: North is moving toward normality (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said on Monday that “fighting organised crime in every part of the country remains our priority”. “For more than 20 years, the northern part of our country has mainly lived in illegality. Criminal groups and activities blossomed, and this was paradoxically a normality. This reality is being undone every day. Our citizens, without any differences, want order, law, and security,” Svecla wrote in a Facebook post following a police anti-drug operation in the north where weapons were also confiscated. “For years, the state was challenged by extremists and ordinary criminals in the north. They had two motives: illegal wealth and fighting the state of Kosovo. The address, impetus and funding always come from Belgrade, where Vucic and his criminals tried and continue to try to undermine and destabilise our country. The north is moving toward normality. Serbia will not threaten our state in any part of the country.”

Reuten: I hope EU will lift measures against Kosovo in September (Klan)

European MP Thijs Reuten said in an interview with the TV station that he hopes the European Union will move toward lifting the penalty measures against Kosovo in September. He argued that Brussels made a wrong move toward Pristina when it introduced the penalty measures as a result of the failure to de-escalate the situation in the north.

“The European Union had an isolating and unbalanced approach with everything that happened in late May, by forgetting everything that happened before and after that. We did not see such a strong reaction when Serbia kidnapped three police officers in the territory of Kosovo. Although they were released, the police officers are still faced with charges,” he said.

Reuten is one of the signatories of a joint letter by European and American politicians sent to decision-making centres and calling for concrete actions in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

“I expect clear coordination between the EU, U.S., UK and other allies in the international community. Because we need to have clear lines when it comes to talking about the responsibility of [Serbian] President Vucic in the whole process, and to make it clear that we are going back to the EU-facilitated process toward normalisation as soon as possible,” Reuten argued.

Ahmeti: EU measures against Kosovo are affecting municipalities too (Kosovapress)

Mayor of Lipjan municipality, Imri Ahmeti, said today that the EU’s penalty measures against Kosovo are affecting the municipalities too. He said that although accurate estimates have not been made yet, the institutions must work on having the penalty measures removed. Ahmeti also said that a solution must be found for the situation in the north of Kosovo, arguing that the solution needs to be a political and not a legal one.

Kurti’s advisor stopped twice by Serbian border police on Monday (media)

Ardita Sinani, advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for Presevo Valley, said in a Facebook post today that she was stopped again by Serbian police at the border. “Last night around 21:00 at the same border crossing with the Republic of Kosovo, at Mucibabe, I was stopped by Serbian border police again. Twice on the same day. Not only when I was leaving Serbia, but also as I was entering it. This time the period was shorter than in the morning. But this time too without any explanation or justification! Simply stopped! This is the Serbia that we the Albanians in Presevo Valley are faced with everyday. This is Serbia for national minorities,” Sinani said.

   

Serbian Language Media

  Brnabic: Letter of EU and US parliamentarians proves Kurti enjoys support in undermining peace (Radio KIM)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic reacting to the letter in which the EU and US parliamentarians demanded stronger measures against Serbia said it was “welcome” as it represents “a living proof” that Kosovo Prime Minister Albian Kurti enjoys full support and encouragement to undermine the peace and stability in the Balkans, Radio KIM reports.  

“This letter and the tweets by @aliciakearns, @MiRo_SPD and @SFRCdems are more than welcome, as they provide living proof that Kurti does indeed enjoy full support and encouragement for undermining peace and stability in the Balkans”, Brnabic wrote in a post on Twitter.

Brnabic also said “everything one should know about democracy and rule of law in Kosovo is the fact that since the beginning of this year members of the Kosovo security apparatus have shot six Serbs and no one was held accountable for it”.

She said “a member of Kosovo security forces who shot at 11-year old boy and 21-year old young man on Christmas Eve was released from detention and is now a free man, and ever since Kurti took power in 2021 until today 32 Serbs were illegally arrested, and some of them kept in detention for more than 20 months, without indictment raised, exposed to torture, mistreatment and daily slurs on ethnic basis”.

“The most striking example (of the lack) of credibility and impartiality of those who initiated this letter is that Alicia Kearns managed to be one of the rare individuals whose public statements KFOR had to refute”, Brnabic said, referring to the KFOR’s rebuttal of the allegations Kearns voiced earlier accusing Serbian Orthodox Church of “arms smuggling in ambulance vehicles”.

“Despite this clear KFOR statement, Kearns continued uttering untruths even in this letter. And this shows enough what anyone should know about this letter”, Brnabic concluded. 

Church broken into in Suvi Do, police qualified case “as serious theft” (KoSSev)

Serbian Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Petka in a multiethnic settlement of Suvi Do, near Mitrovica North was broken into and robbed, KoSSev portal reports.

The case was reported to Kosovo police in Mitrovica South and it qualified the case as “serious theft”.

Unknown perpetrator broke the door of the church, and stole a small amount of money and drinks. Also candles were overturned. 

Office for KiM reacts to incident against Saint Petka Church in Suvi Do settlement (media)

Reacting to the burglary of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Suvi Do village near Mitrovica North, Office for Kosovo and Metohija said only two days after “KLA” graffiti was written on the entrance of a medical facility in this settlement, the church had been vandalised in the same area. The Office added that those incidents were the result of Pristina’s incendiary rhetoric.

“Instead of celebrating the holiday in peace and joy today, the residents of this village are anxiously afraid of new attacks and provocations and wonder why they cannot celebrate their religious holidays in peace”, the Office said in a statement.

It is emphasised that the Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the pillars of survival of Serbian people in Kosovo, and that churches are places of assembly and gathering of Serbs where they should feel safe. The Office recalled that Saint Petka Church had been often a target of vandals and extremists before as well.

Serbian List condemns incidents in Suvi Do, demands increased presence of international forces (Kosovo Online)

Serbian List in the strongest terms condemned a series of incidents in the village of Suvi Do, near Mitrovica North, adding they have disturbed the residents of this settlement, but also all Serbs in Kosovo.

“Following the vandalism on the health facility at this settlement, this morning the Church of Saint Petka had been desecrated, on a day when village patron’s day is being celebrated at this shrine. We have been saying for months that anti-Serb rhetoric and lies against Serbs and Serbian Orthodox Church will incite the violence against our people and our shrines, and this is what we witness today”, Serbian List said in a statement.

They also noted there are no reactions of the Kosovo institutions representatives or international officials to those incidents, adding “moreover some international officials by uttering brutal lies have obviously contributed to the attacks against Serbs and Serbian Orthodox Church”.

Serbian List urged KFOR and EULEX to increase their presence in the north of Kosovo, in particular in the areas where attacks on Serbs took place. 

Ponos: Western parliamentarians’ letter should be taken seriously (N1)

The letter that Western parliamentarians sent to senior officials of the European Union (EU), UK and US and to special envoys Miroslav Lajcak, Gabriel Escobar and Sir Stuart Peach, requesting a change of approach to Serbia in resolving the Kosovo issue, should be taken seriously, leader of the opposition Serbia-Center Movement Zdravko Ponos told Nova S TV.

“The letter is very unfavourable to Serbia, it uses very harsh rhetoric and calls for a change of course towards Serbia, which implies the application of deterrence diplomacy, a term used in relation to the former USSR”, Ponos said.

The letter is undoubtedly the result of successful lobbying by Kosovo Albanians, which raises the question of what official Belgrade was doing during the time, he said.

“There are some offices in the West where they will no longer pick up the phone when Vucic calls. We can rejoice over Vucic’s (embarrassment), but this is not good for the country. If the foreign policy that does not take into account national interests but the voting body of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) continues, the country will be where it was 30 years ago”, Ponos said.

Sign in front of municipal building in ZP damaged: KP blames wind, citizens police, while mayor claims he will fix sign (KoSSev)

The sign placed above the entrance to Zubin Potok municipal building was damaged recently. The inscription on the sign, “Municipality of Zubin Potok“ written in Cyrillic alphabet, is now missing most of its letters. While local residents accuse the Kosovo police of removing the letters, the police blamed the strong wind. Political activist, Milija Bisevac, demanded that the missing letters be replaced with Cyrillic ones, while the mayor, Izmir Zeqiri, promised that, if intervention is needed, everything “will be returned as it was“.

Political activist, Milija Bisevac, said the majority of citizens in Zubin Potok municipality believe the sign above the entrance was taken down by members of the Kosovo police because it was in Cyrillic.

“Citizens interpret it as another form of intimidation and spread of ethnic intolerance. We all know that our rights, including freedom of speech, have been threatened for years. This shows that they do not want the municipality to have a sign written in Cyrillic – Zubin Potok Municipality“, he said.

He added that he, as well as his fellow citizens, assume that a new sign with a different content will soon be placed above the entrance to the municipal premises.

Addressing the police allegations that the sign toppled due to a strong wind and because of surveillance camera cables placed behind the sign, Bisevac said that if this is really the case, the police officers should return the missing letters, that is, put up a new sign, also in Cyrillic.

Read full article at: rb.gy/i9q3m    

International 

  Media Freedom in South-East Europe Faces Escalating Digital Threats (BIRN)

BIRN’s latest monthly review of digital violations in south-east Europe highlights how Turkey and Croatia are grappling with digital censorship and the threat of increased government control, while across the Balkans, journalists face escalating problems online.

In Turkey over the past month, online censorship, surveillance and arrests had a negative impact on independent journalism, while Croatia's proposed Media Law raised concerns about increased government control and potential censorship that could endanger investigative reporting and threaten the protection of journalists’ sources.

In Turkey and North Macedonia in July, content removal orders and legal battles also posed threats to press freedom as the digital realm continued to be a battleground for information control in both countries.

Digital threats were also registered in Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro and Romania and Serbia, with increases in verbal attacks on social media, negative online campaigns and derogatory comments targeting journalists.

Kosovo and Bosnia meanwhile saw an uptick in digital misinformation last month through doctored photographs and false news.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3bcutxa3