Albanian Language Media:

• Government: We expect EU measures to be lifted as soon as possible (Telegrafi)
• Stano on further steps for Kosovo; doesn’t say if measures will be lifted (Kallxo)
• Sources: At least another three new Serb police officers in north resign (veriu.info)
• Kurti meets head of Kosovo Judicial Council, Albert Zogaj (media)
• Census in 2023, still not known if process will start on September 1 (TeVe1)
• House arrest for second suspect in assault against Nacionale team (Nacionale)
• North Macedonia Prime Minister: Kurti was misused for daily politics (RTV21/Nacionale)
• “Construction of Prizren-Tetovo tunnel could start in six months” (media)
• Gjeloshaj: We want govt that will support without question Kosovo sovereignty (Sinjali)
• Increase in cases with meningitis, Health Ministry calls for increased vigilance (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Drecun: Survival of North Macedonia and Montenegro is defended in Kosovo (RTS, Danas, N1, Politika, Euronews)
• Milovic denies Hovenier: We have not received medicines or medical supplies for months (Kosovo Online)
• Telekom Serbia Director General on Ambassador Hovenier’s statement, MTS.doo situation (Kosovo Online)
• EU: Elections in northern Kosovo should be organised as soon as possible (Radio KIM, N1)
• The Embassy of Serbia "with fear and concern" responds to the text in "Berliner Zeitung" (DW, NMagazin)
• Although some think that Germany has had enough of Vucic, there is no change in the attitude of the West (N1, NMagazin)

Humanitarian/Development:

• We’ll write our own history (Kosovo 2.0)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Government: We expect EU measures to be lifted as soon as possible (Telegrafi)

Kosovo government spokesperson, Perparim Kryeziu, told the news website today that the EU measures against Kosovo were unfair and that they expect they will be lifted as soon as possible, especially after progress on the implementation of the Bratislava agreement and the improved situation on the ground.

“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo, represented by its Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, reached an agreement in Bratislava with the EU Representative, Miroslav Lajcak, on the steps to implement the EU declaration of June 3 for the de-escalation of the situation in the four northern municipalities. Since then, the Republic of Kosovo has implemented the first point of the agreement with the 25 percent reduction of the Kosovo Police presence in and around the municipal buildings,” Kryeziu said.

Kryeziu said that as a result of the implementation of the second point, which foresees the joint security situation assessment, last week the number of police in and around the municipal premises was reduced by another 25 percent.

Within the third point of the Bratislava agreement, Kryeziu said that the government has already set up a working group that will draft the administrative directive for early local elections in the north. “So Kosovo is respecting the EU agreement. We said that the measures against Kosovo were unfair and we expect they will be lifted as soon as possible, especially after the progress on the implementation of the Bratislava agreement and also after the improved situation on the ground,” he said.

Stano on further steps for Kosovo; doesn’t say if measures will be lifted (Kallxo)

The European Union has welcomed the reduction of police presence in the northern municipalities saying that it is the right step but that further steps are also needed, such as new elections and the formation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.

In a response to the news website, EU spokesperson Peter Stano did not say if the EU will start lifting the penalty measures against Kosovo despite the reduction of the police presence. “The EU welcomes the latest news from the Kosovo government about the further reduction by 25 percent of the police presence in and around the municipal premises in the north of Kosovo. The decision was made after a technical meeting between the Kosovo Police and EULEX with the aim of determining the parameters of the joint assessment of the security situation in the northern municipalities,” he said.

The EU reiterated the request for new elections in the four northern municipalities. “In order to end the current crisis, early elections should be announced as soon as possible in the four municipalities, and they need to be inclusive. This means the full and unconditional participation of the Kosovo Serbs,” Stano said.

Stano did not comment on criticism against the EU for not imposing measures against Serbia too. He called on the Kosovo authorities to form the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities as part of the agreement on the normalisation of relations. “It is essential for the EU-facilitated dialogue led by the High Representative and the swift implementation of the Agreement on the Path toward Normalisation of Relations and its implementation annex to continue. This includes the formation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities,” he said.

Sources: At least another three new Serb police officers in north resign (veriu.info)

The news website notes that the situation in the north of Kosovo remains tense and that Serbs are refusing to join the Kosovo institutions. Citing unnamed sources, it reports that at least three Serb police officers, who recently joined the Kosovo Police, have resigned. The news website contacted the deputy commander of Kosovo Police for the north, but he was not available for comment.

Kurti meets head of Kosovo Judicial Council, Albert Zogaj (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met today with the head of the Kosovo Judicial Council, Albert Zogaj. The meeting focused on the plans of the Judicial Council for the efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial system, the results of the Commercial Court so far, reforms in the judiciary and also the functioning of the Court in Mitrovica North. Kurti and Zogaj agreed to intensify cooperation on reforms in the judiciary, as well as on other issues related to the rule of law.

Census in 2023, still not known if process will start on September 1 (TeVe1)

12 years have passed since the last census in Kosovo. Following a decision in 2022, it was planned that the new census will be held this year, from September 1 to October 16, the news website reports. The Kosovo Government said that the Kosovo Agency of Statistics is still reviewing if the process will start on September 1. Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu said that the Agency of Statistics is making all the necessary preparations. “The census is a process regulated by the Law on the Registration of the Population. Based on the law, the government has set up a Central Registration Committee and the period for the registration of the population. Currently, the Kosovo Agency of Statistics is reviewing if September 1 will finally be the date when the process will start, but at the same time it is also making all the necessary preparations,” he said. 

The news website notes that the census will include the four northern municipalities, inhabited mainly by Serbs, which had boycotted the last census in 2011.

Asked what course of action will be taken in these municipalities, given the tense situation there in the last couple of months, Kryeziu said that the census will include the whole territory of Kosovo. “It is important to note that the registration will take place throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo,” he said.

House arrest for second suspect in assault against Nacionale team (Nacionale)

The Basic Court in Prizren has ordered a 30-day house arrest measure for the second suspect in the assault against the Nacionale team on Friday in Prizren. Another suspect for the assault is already in detention. The team of Nacionale, reporter Vullnet Krasniqi and cameraman Arber Latifi, were assaulted on August 11 during a protest organised against the DokuFest festival in Prizren. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Assembly President Glauk Konjufca and media lawyer Flutura Kusari reacted to the assault calling for the suspects to be brought to justice. Kosovo Police informed on August 12 that a police officer was suspended under the suspicion that he did not react professionally during the assault.

North Macedonia Prime Minister: Kurti was misused for daily politics (RTV21/Nacionale)

North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski commented on the recent visit by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to Tetovo and Cair, arguing that Kurti was misused for daily politics by the mayors of Tetovo and Cair. “The same goes with the road [Prizren to Tetovo]. The road has to do with an idea that was raised earlier, before Prime Minister Kurti’s visit to the municipalities of Cair and Tetovo, where I think he was misused to be honest for the daily politics of the two mayors who want to increase their influence on the political landscape,” Kovacevski is quoted as saying.

“Construction of Prizren-Tetovo tunnel could start in six months” (media)

Leader of the Besa movement in North Macedonia, Bilall Kasami, said in an interview with Euronews Albania on Wednesday that the construction of the Prizren-Tetovo tunnel could begin in six months. He said this could happen if the dynamic of work so far is maintained. “The [Kosovo] government has drafted the main project from the Nation Highway to the entrance of the tunnel. We hope that the government of North Macedonia will have the same serious approach in order to conclude the work as soon as possible. If this dynamic is maintained, I believe that in six months we will have the main project for the tunnel which would meet all requirements for work on the ground to begin,” he said.

Gjeloshaj: We want govt that will support without question Kosovo sovereignty (Sinjali)

Leader of the Albanian Forum in Montenegro, Nik Gjeloshaj, said today that he is ready to join the new government of Montenegro led by Milojko Spajic but that it needs to meet some requests, including the unquestionable support for Kosovo’s sovereignty. Asked if he believes the government will be formed, Gjeloshaj said he thinks it will but that the key will be if it will have increased legitimacy with the participation of minority communities. 

Increase in cases with meningitis, Health Ministry calls for increased vigilance (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health said in a statement on Wednesday that amid increasing cases with meningitis there should be increased vigilance in terms of controlling drinking water and increased control and chlorination of water in swimming pools. The Ministry said that there has been an increase in cases during July-August compared to the same period from last year. “Meningitis can affect anyone who comes into contact with the agent, but certain age groups are more at risk. According to the World Health Organization, meningitis mostly affects young people because the immune system in young people, mainly babies, children and teenagers, has not developed enough to fight the agents", says the Ministry of Health. "The cause of meningeal syndrome is bacterial or viral infections. The infection can be spread in swimming pools, places of refreshment, and also through contact and drinking water.”

   

Serbian Language Media

  Drecun: Survival of North Macedonia and Montenegro is defended in Kosovo (RTS, Danas, N1, Politika, Euronews)

Radio Television of Serbia reports this morning that almost a week since the visit of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to Skopje and Tetovo, with the emphasis on the symbols of ''Greater Albania'', there are no condemnations from the international community. Milovan Drecun, the president of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, said he is not surprised by this and pointed out that the problem is not only Kurti's views, but the fact that ''he is working hard to realise the concept of “Greater Albania"”.

The US Ambassador in Belgrade, Christopher HIll said that Kurti's visit to Skopje and Tetovo, highlighting the symbols of “Greater Albania”, was not an issue for him, while the Ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier called for dialogue and the establishment of a CSM (ZSO), claiming the US does not support either "Greater Albania" or "Greater Serbia" nor the redrawing of state borders in the Balkans.

According to RTS, the strongest reactions came from Serbia and North Macedonia. Drecun said the leadership in Skopje was forced to react because it is about something that goes beyond the usual provocations and turns into the concept of realising something that is a problem for the region.

"The territorial integrity and survival of North Macedonia and Montenegro is being defended in Kosovo. Anyone who does not understand that advocating for independence is opening the way to the realisation of the concept of “Greater Albania” is either not allowed to express what is obvious to everyone or is seriously delusional," Drecun said.

"The resuscitation of the fascist “Greater Albania” is at work, he points out. The problem is not only the views of Albin Kurti, but the fact that the realisation of that concept is at work," Drecun told RTS.

"These are no longer attitudes; this is no longer a political idea. We have a practical implementation of the concept of “Greater Albania”, the cornerstone of which is the attempt to grant independence to our southern province and to gain full international legal capacity for the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo. Therefore, it is the region that will suffer the most from the continuation of the implementation of that project," said Drecun.

North Macedonia as a buffer zone

He believes that the concept of "Greater Albania" was created as a counterweight to balance Serbia and the Serbian factor in the Balkans.

"Unfortunately, North Macedonia was also designed by some international actors to be a kind of buffer zone, so that there would be no strategic partnership between Orthodox Greece and Orthodox Serbia. And in all of this, you now have an Albanian factor who is taking advantage of that situation. Then everyone asks themselves why there is no expected reaction from the international community? Well, there is none. So, who created that fake state that is the cornerstone of “Greater Albania”? Well, that political West," said Drecun.

''Full international capacity of the so-called Kosovo would lead the unification of Kosovo with Albania''

He believes that it is beyond doubt that the acquisition of the full international legal capacity of ''the so-called Kosovo would lead to the unification of Albania and Kosovo''.

"Edi Rama says that openly. Do not just focus on Albin Kurti now... Do you know why the KLA symbol stands out? Only that, you don't need anything else to start with. Because the strategic goal of the terrorist KLA is defined in the oath, and it says that they will fight for the liberation and for the final unification of all, as they say, Albanian occupied territories. Therefore, when you point out the symbol of the KLA, you are directly advocating for the creation of “Greater Albania”", said Drecun. 

Milovic denies Hovenier: We have not received medicines or medical supplies for months (Kosovo Online)

The deputy director of Clinical Hospital Center (CHC) Kosovska Mitrovica, Dragisa Milovic, told Kosovo Online that the statement made yesterday by the US ambassador in Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, that medicines from Serbia are arriving in Kosovo unhindered, does not correspond to the situation on the ground, and that this health institution for months, after Pristina's decision on ban on the import of goods, did not receive any medicine, nor the material they need for normal functioning.

Milovic pointed out that the rights of all patients are threatened, regardless of whether they are Serbs or Albanians.

"With all due respect to Mr. Hovenier, I must say that the reality on the ground is something completely different. After Pristina's unilateral decision to ban the entry of medicines and goods from central Serbia, the CHC in Kosovska Mitrovica has not received any medicine, infusion solution, or bandages or medical supplies in all these months. What worries us is that our patients, diabetics, oncology patients, and children who are sick suffer because of this decision. In short, we have 500 beds here and all our patients who need care and medicine suffer because of this decision," Milovic said.

He reminded that the decision on the import ban refers not only to medicines but also to basic foodstuffs and called on the international community to use its authority to influence the cancellation of Pristina's decision.

"This ban deprives us of the opportunity to purchase basic foodstuffs that our patients use, primarily meat, milk and dairy products. Such an unreasonable decision does not make the life and treatment of our citizens easier, which is difficult enough, and such a decision does not contribute to calming the situation on the ground, but harms both Serbs and Albanians. I call on all representatives of the international community, including Mr. Hovinier, whom I highly value and respect, to influence Pristina to cancel such a decision," Milovic said.

The American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said yesterday that according to his understanding of the situation, medicines from central Serbia are being imported as they were before June 14, when the Government of Kosovo decided to block Serbian goods.

Telekom Serbia Director General on Ambassador Hovenier’s statement, MTS.doo situation (Kosovo Online)

Telekom Serbia Director General Vladimir Lucic, whose daughter company MTS.doo registered in Kosovo in line with the Brussels agreement on telecommunication had its licence certificate revoked by Pristina authorities, said the problems in the work of MTS.doo started once Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti took power, Kosovo Online portal reports.

He added that until then Pristina authorities respected the Brussels agreement on telecommunication. Kosovo received its prefix +383 code based on the same agreement.

Commenting on the statement of US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier in a press conference that discussions were underway regarding MTS.doo and that Pristina should be cautious while making decisions to revoke licence certificates, Lukac said that Hovenier placed himself “on the side of justice and the truth”.

Once Kurti came to power, synchronised attacks against MTS.doo started and culminated over the last months, Lukac said. He added that Pristina authorities want to remove MTS.doo from the Agency for Business Registry. Lukic stressed those attacks had their prelude, recalling that Kurti as he said, started reckoning not only with MTS and Serbian people but with his opposition as well.

“In order to relieve himself of pressure related to Klan Kosova and demonstrate that this action goes against a number of companies, a decision was made regarding 15 companies, including MTS.doo (...)”, Lukac said. 

Speaking of recent public appearances of the Director of the Agency for Protection of Competition and accusations he voiced against MTS.doo, Lukac said it looks as if he “personally runs a campaign against MTS.doo”. He also said director of this agency goes to TV stations and presents business secretes, and without any decision speaks about alleged wrongdoings of the company,

He once again explained that MTS.doo purchased the cable operators in 2019 and 2021 when the old law was in force, and in accordance to which, he said, was possible to purchase small cable operators without reporting acquisitions to the Agency, noting that the new law can not be implemented retroactively.

He also opined closure of MTS.doo would be in violation of the Brussels agreement on telecommunications, which regulates not only operations of this company in Kosovo but many other things as well, among others prefix code +383 that Kosovo received. 

EU: Elections in northern Kosovo should be organised as soon as possible (Radio KIM, N1)

Elections in four northern municipalities in Kosovo should be organised as soon as possible with full participation of Kosovo Serbs, as part of the immediate efforts to defuse tensions between the two sides, it was said from Brussels, Radio KIM reports citing Belgrade-based N1.

“How that will happen depends on capabilities of the both sides to meet demands, respectively criteria set to them”, EU Spokesperson Peter Stano said.

He added that “urgency should be recognized on the ground, by citizens and politicians”.

“Everything that is done within the dialogue is not to please Brussels or EU member states or international community, but to improve the lives (of people) in Kosovo and Serbia, which is linked with further progress of the both sides on the path towards the EU”, Stano said.

Of course, he added, there is a feeling of urgency, it was there also prior to the latest escalation and our partners were told that.

“Therefore, the EU institutions, 27 European and other partners, the US in particular, have the feeling of urgency to complete necessary steps on defusing tensions and returning to the dialogue. And not because of EU elections next year, but because citizens in Kosovo and Serbia to have benefits from it, so both sides could continue working on normalisation of relations and continue so. It is necessary that both sides return to normal dialogue and continue work on the EU agenda. Because if there is no progress in the dialogue, there is no (progress) in EU integration”, Stano said.  

The Embassy of Serbia "with fear and concern" responds to the text in "Berliner Zeitung" (DW, NMagazin)

The Embassy of Serbia in Berlin reacted "with fear and concern" to the text entitled "Domination of Serbia must be broken" by Muamer Becirovic, which was recently published in the "Berliner Zeitung" newspaper, reported portal NMagazin.

After Becirovic's article published on August 13 in the Berliner Zeitung, the same newspaper is now publishing the reaction of Sasa Dinic, Minister Counselor at the Serbian Embassy in Berlin. Among other things, he writes:

"With all due respect for freedom of the press and expression, especially for a liberal newspaper like the 'Berliner Zeitung', I must admit that the statements and demands in that article, which refer to a strategy more than a hundred years old and which led to the first great destruction of Europe in the last century, with millions of victims, only caused me fear and concern."

Muamer Becirovic, a researcher of the history of diplomacy, as well as international politics, wrote in his text that the "Habsburg Balkan strategy" from 1910 meant the following: "In order to balance Belgrade, Sarajevo needed to be more firmly tied to Austrian Zagreb. Those two countries should have put an end to Serbian hegemonic ideas and strengthened Austrian hegemony in the region." According to Becirovic, "the German strategy for the Balkans should be based on that history, because the strategic situation in the Balkans has hardly changed for more of a hundred years."

The representative of the Serbian Embassy Sasa Dinic, for his part, assesses that "the creation of a Croatian-Bosnian counterbalance for the sake of permanently balancing Serbia in the Balkans, as the author proposes, would represent a clear threat to the region and its stability, and would doom any effort to connect the region economically. Such grouping 'one against the other' is dangerous. We need cooperation 'with each other,'" points out Dinic and emphasises: "The author's proposals are also against the goals and priorities of the 'Berlin Process' that was launched in Germany."

Becirovic stated in his text that "the only country that could bring order to the Balkans and permanently ensure its own strategic interests in the region is Germany. It is by far the most important trade partner of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia, and it is geographically only a few hundred kilometres away." His thesis is that "power, German power, is needed to bring order to the Balkans. Everything else is doomed to fail in the short, medium and long term."

Dinic replies: "The author is right about one thing: Germany can do more for the Western Balkans. We also believe that Germany can take on an even more important role in the region, by encouraging economic cooperation there, by supporting European integration with a clear perspective for accession, and in addition, and by encouraging and implementing relations in the region and its own involvement in it in accordance with the UN Charter and international law."

"Stability and cooperation in the Western Balkan region," concludes Dinic, "are of the same importance for Serbia as stability and cooperation in Europe are for Germany. Serbia is and will remain a reliable partner for Germany. That partnership can achieve more than sanctions, soldiers, unrest, and instability", reported NMagazin.

Although some think that Germany has had enough of Vucic, there is no change in the attitude of the West (N1, NMagazin)

"Serbian domination that must be broken", "Putin's best friends in the Balkans", "Western strategy failed". These are three headlines in three German media published in the last two days. All three are critical of Serbia. And while a member of the Bundestag, the ruling SPD, tells N1 that Germany has had enough, there are no signs of a change in the attitude of the West towards official Belgrade for now, reported portal NMagazin. 

One after the other. As many as three articles in three German newspapers criticising Vucic and his politics, as well as the German, European and American politics of official Belgrade. Vucic responded this time via Instagram:

"I express my sincere gratitude to CNN and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for the fact that they promote me almost every day, but it is much more important to me than their writings that we are rehabilitating the road in Cetanje, Priboj municipality," Vucic wrote on Instagram.

SPD MP in the Bundestag Josip Juratovic says that in Germany it was understood that Vucic is not fulfilling what was agreed upon.

"Serbia's much more important role is in terms of factors of peace and stability in the region, and that is where Vucic and his regime are playing a terribly negative role for now, he has simply become a representative of a country in which no one trusts anymore, and that is the worst that can happen to a country," Juratovic assessed.

The articles in the German media were created by that part of the media and political establishment that was shocked by the fact that Pristina was sanctioned because of Kurti's policy, says journalist Nemanja Rujevic.

"And now, these people who are protesting against it, are protesting because they are actually losing the game in the mainstream of Western politics," Rujevic believes.

And despite the criticism, Vucic is swimming solidly, says Rujevic. 

"As far as Kosovo is concerned, it seems to me that they still see in Aleksandar Vucic the destiny of Serbia, that is, someone who is practically unchangeable, which is practical, let's not lie, it seems so for well-known reasons, and that it is better to work with him, whatever he is, but to bet against him... This is not good news for the citizens of Serbia, but not because of the reasons that the German press criticised, which constantly returns to the Serbian world, greater Serbia and so on, but because the people in Serbia live in an autocracy," Rujevic assesses.

Apart from the increased criticism of parliamentarians and some media and pressure on Vucic himself, a change of attitude that would come from the executive authorities of Germany or the West - has been absent for now.

   

Humanitarian/Development

  We’ll write our own history (Kosovo 2.0)

Women’s history is absent from Wikipedia. We’re changing that.

I was recently invited to speak at a conference in Prishtina about activism success stories, like the HPV vaccine campaign and the project of writing women into Wikipedia. In the middle of my otherwise calm speech, where I shared many wonderful experiences, I declared: “We’re all going to die!” I was being ironic, particularly saying that amidst success stories. But there was a point, people often struggled to come up with what could be worse than death.

Every child who has seen the Disney film “Coco” knows that being forgotten is worse.

Exploring the Mexican Day of the Dead traditions, similar to some traditions in the Balkans — Requiem Masses, All Saints’ Day — the animated film deals with the important topic of death after death. That is, the permanent death of the soul that occurs when there’s no one left among the living to remember us.

The always unfulfilled promise of eternal life

New technologies once promised eternal life for all. The opposite now seems to be the case: oblivion multiplies exponentially day by day. I will try to explain what I mean with the example of “Digital Majority,” a project I launched with literary editor and peace activist Ana Pejović. The project holds the utopian idea that women will ultimately become the majority in the digital world.

As soon as they were created, the internet and other contemporary technologies began to promise democratisation, while open-source repositories like Wikipedia seemed like something imaginary — for knowledge to be free and available to all. But that’s not how things turned out, even though everything is within our reach. There’s a great tweet in Serbian that says something like: Despite the fact that the entire knowledge of the world is at your fingertips, that we can learn languages and programming and ancient history, we go online and argue with random people instead.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2vtsny8a