Albanian Language Media:

• Hovenier: US does not support either "Greater Albania" or "Greater Serbia" (Reporteri)
• Abbott meets Maqedonci, wishes him success in his new task (media)
• Swiss press: Kurti part of SP election campaign in Switzerland, other parties see it as "completely wrong" (Reporteri)
• Minister Aliu meets Ali Ahmeti at Kurti's request, discuss Prizren - Tetovo road (media)
• Peci against the petition: Why should someone else sack us? (Koha)
• Daka: Asking international help to organize elections in north, a step back for Kosovo  (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

• Simic: Each Kurti’s decision is attack on Serbs, new elections not “magical solution” (RTS)
• Odalovic: The process of finding the missing is stopped by Pristina, not Belgrade (Politika, Tanjug)
• KFOR announced the increased movement of vehicles and testing of capabilities (Tanjug)
• The citizens of Leposavic greeted the Deputy Minister for Communities and Return with whistles (Danas, Kosovo Online, KiM radio, KoSSev))
• Peci does not support petition to dissolve mayors, says better to make different agreement (Kosovo Online, media)
• Public parking lot construction started, Pristina sends message it holds power (Tanjug, Novosti)

International:

• Over Half of Kosovo Nationals Don’t Intend to Move to EU After Visa Liberalisation, Survey Shows (schengenvisainfo.com)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Hovenier: The US does not support either "Greater Albania" or "Greater Serbia" (Reporteri)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier has stated on Wednesday in a meeting with journalists that the U.S. does not support “Greater Albania” or “Greater Serbia”

"I think that all of us have seen a number of public statements about this visit and the events in North Macedonia related to the visit of Prime Minister Kurti. I don't know if it's appropriate for me to talk about the specifics of the visit. But I have seen that in the public comments there is concern about the idea of Greater Albania, as something that was discussed in the context of this visit. I want to reiterate the position of the United States of America on this matter. It is very important, and I want to read the American government's position on this matter, to make it clear that the United States of America does not support Greater Albania and we do not support Greater Serbia either," said the American Ambassador.

This reaction of the diplomat comes after the developments that followed the visit of the Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, to North Macedonia, which provoked reactions from the leaders of the institutions due to some symbols that promoted the ethnic state of the Albanians.

“The United States of America does not support redrawing of state borders in the Balkan region. Any attempt to do something like that would be counterproductive and destabilising. The USA

"The United States of America does not support the redrawing of state borders in the Balkan region. Any attempt to do something like that would be counterproductive and destabilising. The USA strongly supports the territorial integrity of all countries in the Western Balkans, including Kosovo," added Hovenier.

Hovenier also talked about the Bayraktar drones that Kosovo bought from Turkey weeks ago.

"Bayraktars were bought by a NATO ally - Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The US works with Turkey, I have had the pleasure of serving in Turkey, a NATO ally, with which we have done difficult things together. We welcome Kosovo to buy materials (military equipment) from the USA, we have sold things to (Kosovo) and we will continue to sell them. Whatever they undertake to develop the capacities in a consistent manner with the transitional plan and that fulfils the cooperative goals with NATO, we have no objection", said Hovenier.

He has emphasised that the demands that the United States of America has for the government of Kosovo have nothing to do with pressure. According to him, Kosovo, however, will not be able to continue the integration processes without making progress in the dialogue with Serbia.

"Kosovo will not be able to become a member of the EU; Kosovo will not be able to move beyond the Partnership for Peace to become a member of NATO, the two main goals the US expects it to achieve, without making progress in the EU-facilitated dialogue" , Hovenier stated.

Abbott meets Maqedonci, wishes him success in his new task (media)

In the wake of the meetings with the representatives of friendly and partner countries, Kosovo’s Minister of Defense Ejup Maqedonci received today the Ambassador of the United Kingdom Nicholas Abbott, in an informative meeting.

Ambassador Abbott wished Maqedonci success in his new task as Minister and emphasized that the cooperation between UK and Kosovo and ministries of defence will continue to be strong.

“During the meeting, Minister Maqedonci thanked Ambassador Abbott for the permanent support of the United Kingdom, as one of the most powerful allies that the Republic of Kosovo has, especially in the country’s integration into Euro-Atlantic organisations,” reads the communiques of the Ministry of Defence. 

They also discussed the necessary actions for the realization of the joint cooperation plan in the field of defense and security, within the framework of the partnership, as well as finding new forms of deepening cooperation".

Swiss press: Kurti part of SP election campaign in Switzerland, other parties see it as "completely wrong" (Reporteri)

The Swiss media, Argauer Zeitung and Blick, reported today that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will campaign for the Social Democratic Party in Switzerland.  According to these reports, the SP in Switzerland has scheduled a panel discussion to be held in September in Zurich, where Prime Minister Albin Kurti is also expected to speak.

This eventual appearance of Kurti is being seen as a campaign for the Social Democratic Party there in the framework of the elections to be held on October 22 for the National Council.

Although the visit has not yet been confirmed, Kurti, in an interview given to the Swiss daily Blick, in January of this year, spoke about the possibilities of cooperation between the Vetevendosje Movement and the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland, especially in election campaigns.

"The goal is for us to support each other in election campaigns in such a way that we both gain strength", Kurti had declared months ago. In addition, Kurti said in the same interview that Cedric Wermuth, co-president of the Social Democratic Party, is a close friend. 

However, other parties consider the involvement of Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the election campaign in Switzerland as completely wrong.

The General Secretary of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and National Councilor Peter Keller described as "completely wrong" the planned appearance of Prime Minister Kurti in an election campaign in Switzerland.

"Switzerland should not interfere in the election campaigns of foreign countries and foreign countries should not interfere in the Swiss election campaign", he said, among other things.

Minister Aliu meets Ali Ahmeti at Kurti's request, discuss Prizren - Tetovo road (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Environment and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, met this Wednesday the leader of the Democratic Union for Integration - the Albanian party in power in North Macedonia - Ali Ahmeti.

They announced in a media conference that the main topic of the meeting was the project for the Prizren - Tetovo road and that the visit of the Kosovar minister to Skopje was a direct request of Prime Minister Kurti.

"The visit was made at the request of the Prime Minister of Kosovo with the best intention of continuing communication, as it has been in the past. This communication and this cooperation should continue with interest for both our countries because any cooperation and strengthening of this cooperation between the countries of the region, both with the Republic of Kosovo and with the Republic of Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia ", Ahmeti stated in the joint press conference with Ahmeti.

Commenting on the Tetovo-Prizren road project, Ahmeti said that it will bring an extraordinary economic benefit to both countries.

"Roads facilitate movement, movement enables a more developed and advanced economy, and I believe that the intergovernmental teams will deal seriously and actively on this issue so that the design is closed as soon as possible and the start occurs as soon as possible".

Peci against the petition: Why should someone else sack us? (Koha)

The Mayor of the Municipality of Zvecan, Ilir Peci, expressed his opposition to the initiative of the government of Kosovo for the dismissal of the mayors of the municipalities through the initiative of the petition. He says that he prefers a different agreement, as he does not consider it reasonable to be fired by "someone else".

"I don't like this way of petitioning at all, because why does one give someone else the opportunity to dismiss you, when we, as mayors of municipalities, together with the prime minister, can reach a different agreement for the benefit of the citizens... Since the post-war period, the PDK has only lost the elections here in the Municipality of Zvecan, we have always been the first and I hope we will be again", he said in an interview for KP.

Peci, who continues to perform his duties from an alternative office in the village of Kelmend, has emphasized that things are generally going well, while he mentions the lack of access to the budget as the main problem.

He has stated that he holds meetings with Serb citizens of the municipality he leads.

"Very good so far, they are interested, we have meetings with the Serb citizens of the Municipality of Zvecan, they have their requests for roads, water supply, electricity, that means for everything... Every day, there are currently three or four Serb citizens receiving the documentation they need, the service is performed in the best way, therefore so far everything is fine... A large number of citizens without distinction are interested in cooperation, for the competitions when they are opened they are interested in applying both Serbs and Albanians. So far I am satisfied with the behavior of the citizens of the Municipality of Zvecan, there can always be a minority that opposes", Peci emphasized.

He also spoke about the dismissal of the deputy mayor of this municipality, Slagjana Pantović.

“[Sladjana Pantovic] has never reported at work since the day she signed the decision, no matter how many times we have called her, she has never reported and has always been in opposition to the officials who are Serbs and still work in the Municipality of Zvecan, and because of her party politics she wanted to dismiss officials and take them to her party. I didn't allow this because I don't have the right, and many other things, then she made some posts that I didn't like, and I decided to fire her," Peci said.

He asked the citizens to have faith in his work.

Daka: Asking international help to organize elections in north, a step back for Kosovo  (Klan)

The former head of the Central Election Commission, Valdete Daka, said that Kosovo has the possibility to organize the elections in the north. She considers it a step back if international community help were requested for the holding of these elections.

"In any case, it will be the CEC's assessment, not mine, of course this is my personal opinion, but it would still be a step back because Kosovo has reached a standard in the organization of elections, a standard that all institutions have valued be it local or international, and I believe it would be a wrong step to now return to a point where we were a long time ago", she told RTV21.

Work is already underway to create an administrative instruction that paves the way for the holding of elections through the resignation of the current mayors. Asked if this instruction could be a legal ground to challenge the system in general, Daka said that she does not consider it as such.

"The administrative instruction can only determine the procedure for how the holding or gathering of signatures for the petition will take place, but it cannot create a new legal basis. That was the assessment of that ministry, they consider it, but in any case, that administrative instruction can only regulate the procedures nothing else. It cannot give more powers than those defined by the relevant law," Daka said.

     

Serbian Language Media

  Simic: Each Kurti’s decision is attack on Serbs, new elections not “magical solution” (RTS)

Serbian List Vice President Igor Simic told RTS that an announcement of new Mitrovica North mayor Erden Atiq to vacate the public spaces in this town is yet another in a series of decisions that run contrary to the interests of the Serbian people, in particular of Serbian businesspeople and those providing service activities.

According to Simic, new elections in northern Kosovo are not a “magical solution” to all problems there, but rather respecting all agreements from Brussels, in particular the one related to the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Commenting on Atiq’s announcement to vacate public spaces, Simic stressed that Atiq is illegitimate mayor, adding the aim of this decision is to prevent normal work of the shops, trade, cafes and restaurants, respectively yet another pressure to discipline Serbs.

He also said representatives of Serbs demanded the international community to use their authority because this is not the first decision of Pristina authorities against the interest of the Serbian people.

Speaking of elections in northern Kosovo Simic said only those observing the situation superficially could consider them as “a magical solution” that would resolve all the problems there.

“Even when we had Serb mayors and Serb police officers within the Kosovo system, we were under strong cannonade of repression by Albin Kurti’s regime. New elections will not revoke illegal special police forces active in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, mistreating our citizens”, Simic said.

He noted that elections are not a magical solution to the problems Serbs face in judiciary either, in terms of protecting their fundamental rights related to property, life and physical integrity.   

He added leaving Pristina institutions in November last year was the only possible reaction, and not an action of the Serbian people, the need to have their voice heard but also raise awareness of the international community of what Serbs endure in Kosovo.

“We joined Kosovo system in 2013, primarily Serbs in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, because we were promised that our fundamental rights will be respected, Community of Serb Municipalities will be established, that police units will reflect ethnic composition of the population in the north, that rights of the Serbs to survive and remain in those areas will be respected, same as their property, personal and civic rights. Nothing of this had happened, and Serbs have been warning for years already that they do not want to be part of the Kosovo system in such a way”, Simic said.

Odalovic: The process of finding the missing is stopped by Pristina, not Belgrade (Politika, Tanjug)

Serbian Government Missing Persons Commission Chairman Veljko Odalovic today denied the claims of Kosovo Government Missing Persons Commission Chairman, Andin Hoti that Serbia does not respect the agreement on missing persons and pointed out that Pristina stopped the process.

"I am sorry that Hoti fell into the trap created for him by Bislimi and Kurti." Process was stopped in Brussels and it was stopped by Kurti. Since then, we have not had a meeting of the Working Group," said Odalovic for Tanjug.

He pointed out that the Belgrade side in Brussels, at two meetings, one in May and the other in June, made an effort to keep the process alive, primarily to give hope to the families of the missing, that is, to reach a document binding for both sides.

He emphasised that this document would be an agreed declaration that clearly sends a message through the statements of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that Belgrade and Pristina are committed to the process.

He pointed out that the Declaration recognizes that the Working Group is an irreplaceable mechanism.

"The Declaration insisted on that first, and then we also insisted. Pristina will not even discuss it. We do not have a meeting of the Working Group, not a single activity that resulted from previous agreements and commitments. At this moment, we have dozens of new reports that talk about certain locations, certain information that we need to check together," stated Odalovic.

He explained that the Working Group is composed of two delegations - Belgrade and Pristina, and that each side appoints its own representatives.

"We are someone who has solved over 1,800 cases of missing persons, 90 percent of whom are Albanians, through that mechanism. And we cannot be accused of obstructing and running away from this process. We insist on this process and that all locations requested by Pristina, as well as from our side, are checked. We also owe that to the families of the victims," Odalovic said.

As he said, until the arrival of Albin Kurti, the Working Group worked transparently with the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Commission for Missing Persons, representatives of the Pristina and Belgrade delegations, representatives of the families of the missing persons, and that it had visited every location and checked every piece of information it received. 

"The last location that the Pristina delegation visited was the village of Vidomiric near Mitrovica, according to our information. We have so far provided 2417 documents in this process, and the Pristina side has not provided us with a single document so far. Everything that has been done so far has been done according to our papers, sketches, schemes, and information that we had. And we got them from the police, the army, utility companies and other institutions," Odalovic said.

Odalovic pointed out that Hoti, by going public, is blocking the agreement related to the missing, stressing that it is an attempt at politicisation.

"We took care that the solutions proposed by the European Commission would not politicise this topic but be extremely objective, operational and realistic. We spent hours with Mr. Lajcak working on this document. Pristina did not spend a single minute and the Pristina delegation simply did not want to discuss this topic, and today they are saying that we don't want something," said Odalovic.

Odalovic assessed that the messages coming from Pristina are unfair to the families of both Albanians and Serbs and that such an attitude of Pristina representatives only makes the process of finding the missing more difficult.

"You cannot block the process, 1,618 people are still missing. There are approximately 580 Serbs and non-Albanians, and the rest are Kosovo Albanians. Tens of thousands of people are directly interested in the fates of the people we are looking for. The normalisation of relations also depends on this. If we have a functioning process and solve the fate of missing persons, both Albanians and Serbs without differences, we will have less tensions. And if we push this issue under the carpet, the families will rightfully react in Belgrade, Pristina and in every other place," Odalovic said.

He pointed out that the representatives of the families are rightly dissatisfied and are reacting because they do not know who is blocking this process.

Hoti previously stated that Belgrade, as reported by Pristina media, does not respect the agreement related to missing persons and does not provide the necessary information, recalled Politika daily.

KFOR announced the increased movement of vehicles and testing of capabilities (Tanjug)

KFOR announced today that in the coming days, the movement of troops and vehicles of the mission in Kosovo will be increased, due to the usual procedure of handing over contingents, reported Tanjug.

The announcement adds that exercises will be conducted to evaluate and maintain operational capabilities "in order to ensure the same level of training and readiness of all units that come to the field."

"Although these exercises will be conducted in such a way as to minimise any disruption and impact on the local population, it is possible that there will be traffic jams and that the movement of soldiers will be visible," the statement said.

The citizens of Leposavic greeted the Deputy Minister for Communities and Return with whistles (Danas, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

This morning, the citizens of Leposavic greeted with whistles the Deputy Minister for Communities and Return, Radoica Radomirovic, who tried to enter the municipal building with a group of ten people.

Around 8 o'clock, Radomirovic tried to bring into the building people appointed to various municipal offices by the Albanian mayor, Lulzim Hetemi.

The citizens, who have been protesting for several months because of the stay of what they say is an illegal Albanian mayor in the municipal building, welcomed them with whistles.

After being prevented from entering the municipality, a group of people led by Radomirovic retreated behind the building, waiting for KFOR soldiers, who contacted their command to receive instructions on further action, to grant them entry.

Although Kfor did not allow entry, after a little more than an hour of detention, the Kosovo police, despite the opposition of the gathered citizens, allowed a dozen people, who claim to be employees of the administration, to enter the rear entrance of the Leposavic Municipality building.

As reported by the Kosovo Online reporter, the situation is tense, but peaceful.

As reported by the KoSSev portal, there were shouts to Radomirovic, "Servants of the occupier! Come with us, come here, shame on you! Whoa! Shame where are you going?!", to which he replied - "How Simic you are not ashamed?"; and then started to record the gathered group with his mobile device, from where he was answered - "Record, record and send to Kurti".

Video available at:https://rb.gy/5v88b Peci does not support petition to dissolve mayors, says better to make different agreement (Kosovo Online, media)

New Zvecan mayor Ilir Peci expressed dissatisfaction with Kosovo Government’s decision to dissolve the mayors elected in April 23 elections in northern Kosovo by 3.5 percent turnout, with a petition, saying he supports a different solution, Kosovo Online portal reports. It also recalled that Serbs boycotted the latest elections in the north.

“I do not like that manner of resignations by petition at all, and why should we allow the possibility of someone else to dissolve us, when we as mayors together with prime minister Albin Kurti can make a different agreement to the benefit of citizens”, Peci is quoted as saying.

Speaking of new elections, Peci said he is an optimist and expects to win new snap elections in the north. Peci, who performs his duty from an alternative location, said the job in the municipality “mainly goes on well”, adding access to the budget was the main problem.

Public parking lot construction started, Pristina sends message it holds power (Tanjug, Novosti)

Construction of a public parking lot has started in Mitrovica North, on a parcel that MTS.doo used as its parking space, Tanjug news agency reports.

“By decision of the so-called mayor of northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Erden Atic to use the space behind the MTS.doo building as a public parking, Pristina sends the clear message to the Serbs that it holds the power and it is them having say about anything in Kosovo and Metohija”, editor of Tanjug’s economic section, Dusan Stojakovic told Novosti daily.

Atiq, previously elected as a mayor with three percent turnout, made a decision earlier to give the parking area, used as MTS.doo company as a part of municipal-owned land, respectively public area, to the citizens to park their vehicles there.

Aleksandar Arsenijevic, leader of Civic Initiative Serbian Survival said new Mitrovica North municipal authorities have made a series of decisions which at the moment may cause incidents.

“They removed the ramp that served as a parking lot for MTS, even though the previous authorities allowed MTS to have its own parking lot. Erden Atic made a decision that may cause incidents, with which he wants to further narrow the space and to suppress the crippled economy”, Arsenijevic said, adding that the new local self-government has also decided to ban all other small service businesses from using public areas for which they have permits.

     

International 

 

Over Half of Kosovo Nationals Don’t Intend to Move to EU After Visa Liberalisation, Survey Shows (schengenvisainfo.com)

A recent study by SchengenVisaInfo.com reveals that 62.3 per cent of respondents, who are mainly between the ages of 25 to 34, said they aren’t considering moving to the EU, compared to 37.7 per cent that revealed their plans to one day leave Kosovo.

Survey findings show that the desire to move to the EU is very strong among those who hadn’t visited the bloc before, while all of the respondents who have visited the EU claimed they don’t consider moving there anytime soon, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Read more at:https://rb.gy/vmg54