Albanian Language Media:

• Osmani wishes “best of luck” to Albania as it takes over UNSC Presidency (media)
• Opposition MPs call extraordinary session for school books (Ekonomia Online)
• September is here; opposition doesn’t plan to organise protests (Albanian Post)
• Sources: Milan Radoicic brutally assaulted Aleksandar Spiric (Dukagjini)
• Rama suspends decision to block road that leads to former RTP (Express)
• Emini: Kosovo’s membership in EPC, major step for athletes (Kosovapress) 

Serbian Language Media:

• Petkovic: ''We are fighting for every Serb in Kosovo and Metohija'' (Tanjug)
• The session of the N.Mitrovica MA marked by chairman’s accusations against the mayor (KoSSev)
• The Prosecutor’s Office received a request to question Vucic in the case of the murder of Serb youths in the “Panda” café (KoSSev)
• Dusan Janjic: Vucic does not have a strategic policy towards Kosovo, he is only interested in Serbian List (Danas, Beta)

International:

• Kosovo School Year Starts Amid Turmoil Over Missing Textbooks (BIRN)
• Schallenberg: It is time to be bold about EU enlargement, we cannot wait (EWB)

   

Albanian Language Media  

 

Osmani wishes “best of luck” to Albania as it takes over UNSC Presidency (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani wished best of luck to Albanian President Bajram Begaj, Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Albanian mission at the United Nations, as Albania today takes over the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council. “At this crucial time for peace and security, it is important that we continue to stand united in promoting our shared democratic values globally,” Osmani said.

Opposition MPs call extraordinary session for school books (Ekonomia Online)

Opposition MPs have called an extraordinary session of the Kosovo Assembly for September 4, about “the government’s failure” to secure school books for the pupils at the start of the new school year. MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Eliza Hoxha, published the request and said that the Assembly should interrupt its leave and “return to work”. “Faced with the inability and inactivity of the government, the Assembly should interrupt its leave and return to work, and discuss the government’s responsibility and the unprecedented failure to meet its constitutional and legal obligation,” Hoxha said.

September is here; opposition doesn’t plan to organise protests (Albanian Post)

The news website notes that “despite affairs and scandals involving the government this summer, the opposition, except for some posts on Facebook, does not intend to undertake any institutional or non-institutional action on this issue”. Contacted by the news website, Blerta Deliu-Kodra (PDK), Arben Gashi (LDK) and Shemsedin Dreshaj (AAK), said that except for creating parliamentary investigative committees and asking the government to report to the Assembly, they have not foreseen any other actions, not even protests.

Deliu-Kodra said an extraordinary session of the Assembly will be called for Monday to discuss what she called the government’s failure to secure school books for pupils. “We deem it very necessary to address the way that the government chose to secure financial means for the parents through reimbursement,” she said, adding that “these funds seem to be insufficient to secure the school books”.

Deliu-Kodra also said they will hold the government accountable for abuses with state reserves. “We will see how we can organise an investigative committee. Certainly this will be only the start of our initiatives to hold this government accountable,” she said.

Deliu-Kodra said they will address the leaked conversations between Vetevendosje parliamentary group chief, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, “and also the drug affairs, the attacks against the prosecution and the courts”. “It is obvious that lacking arguments to deal with these scandals, this government has turned to attacks against the judicial institutions, the opposition and the media”. She said the PDK have not discussed eventual protests.

Gashi from the LDK said that in the first assembly session in September “we will request the formation of a parliamentary committee for the scandal of state reserves”. “Then we will also investigate other cases related to affairs and the corruption that has become endemic in this government,” he said. “We will also address the relations with internationals, the sanctions against Kosovo and other crisis that are expected to break out soon”. Gashi ruled out the organisation of protests in the near future.

Dreshaj from the AAK said the actions of this party “will be political steps in addressing the current situation in the country which is not good”. “We need to make the people aware and also the people’s representatives in the Assembly that the country is not on the right track,” he argued. Asked about possible protests against the government, Dreshaj said “for the time being we don’t favor them, but we can also not rule them out”.

Sources: Milan Radoicic brutally assaulted Aleksandar Spiric (Dukagjini)

The news website reports that the mayor of the parallel municipality of Mitrovica North, Aleksandar Spiric, has been brutally assaulted by Milan Radoicic, deputy leader of the Serbian List. The information was confirmed by unnamed sources in Kosovo’s security bodies. The incident reportedly happened last week, and according to the sources Spiric was sent to the mountains in Kopaonik where he was brutally beaten by Radoicic. Sources said that he was beaten because of financial interests and also because Spiric met with people who in Radoicic’s opinion are considered suspicious. Spiric is meanwhile being treated in a hospital in Serbia and he is said to be in serious condition.

The news website also notes that Radoicic was included in the black list of the U.S. Treasury Department and is believed to be involved in the assassination of Kosovo Serb political representative Oliver Ivanovic.

Rama suspends decision to block road that leads to former RTP (Express)

Director of Radio Kosova, Arsim Halili, said today that Mayor of Pristina, Perparim Rama, has suspended a decision to close the road that leads to the building of the former Radio Television of Pristina. Halili said this is a positive sign of good will to discuss and find a common solution that does not threaten the functioning of the public broadcaster and another two media, the work of journalists, and the public’s interest to be informed”.

Halili also said “we are ready to help in this regard and offer a solution. All we want is to have access to the road so that our teams can move freely. The entrance to the front yard of RTK-Radio is controlled, it is monitored by security 24/7, so that the area can be properly managed and not allow other vehicles to be parked there”.

Emini: Kosovo’s membership in EPC, major step for athletes (Kosovapress)

Kosovo’s Paralympic Committee has become a fully-fledged member of the European Paralympic Committee. The membership, which happened on August 9 at the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), is considered a major step for athletes with disabilities who from now on will be able to compete in world and European championships. All member states voted in favor of Kosovo’s membership, except Serbia which voted against.

President of Kosovo’s Paralympic Committee, Njomza Emini, told a press conference today that the membership is an exceptional achievement that opens the door to the athletes to achieve international success.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Youth, and Sports, Daulina Osmani, said the membership is a historic achievement for the Kosovo Paralympic Committee, and that in addition to helping sports, it will also provide for financial assistance from international organisations that support this category. Osmani also said that the ministry too will continue to support the Paralympic Committee, especially their representation at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

     

Serbian Language Media

  Petkovic: ''We are fighting for every Serb in Kosovo and Metohija'' (Tanjug)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said today that the Office is in contact with the families of all the arrested Serbs in the north of Kosovo but also south of the Ibar, that they are immediately hiring lawyers and that they are doing everything to help people who are arrested for no reason.

"Over 10 Serbs have been arrested since the beginning of the year, Bozovic and Lune and Orlovic and Virijevic are still in custody, they are all Serbs who are in the casemates because of their Serbian first and last name and because they defended their right to live peacefully in KiM. The case of Strpce residents is unprecedented in the history of the judiciary in Kosovo. All those detentions and alleged trials and everything that Albin Kurti does through the judiciary is the true face of the Serb-hating policy he leads," Petkovic told TV Pink.

He recalled the way in which the arrested Serbs are treated and pointed out that their families are also mistreated.

Petkovic stated today that Serbia has always been a responsible party and that it has always responded to the invitations of Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, unlike Pristina, which refused to do so.

He told TV Pink that Kosovo is ''a child of the West, and that the West does not want to see that child as a monster, which makes decisions that contradict the UN Charter and that disrupt peace and stability in the entire Western Balkans'', reported Tanjug.

"Those from the West who are strong and powerful and make many important decisions are the ones who say Kurti is mischievous, but he is the prime minister in Pristina, elected by the citizens, he has his mandate. They say so because they let him behave like that," said Petkovic.

The session of the N.Mitrovica MA marked by chairman’s accusations against the mayor (KoSSev)

The twentieth regular session of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly was held yesterday. All items on the agenda were adopted, however, what truly marked yesterday’s session were the serious accusations made by the chairman of this institution against the mayor of North Mitrovica, reported portal KoSSev.

One of the items on the agenda, according to the initial announcement from last week, was a draft on municipal services and conditions for subsidies, grants and the like. However, the day before the session, the agenda was changed. “Non-implementation of the decisions of the Municipal Assembly by the executive authority“ and “cooperation between the Municipal Assembly and the executive authority“ were included on the agenda.

These very points marked today’s session, during which the chairman of the MA, Nedzad Ugljanin, shared a series of accusations against the mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica, Erden Atic, who said a couple of sentences in Albanian and then abruptly left the session.

Ugljanin made serious accusations against the mayor – such as lack of communication, while also pointing out that “Atic doesn’t think for himself“.

He also commented on the Pristina government, accusing Kosovo Minister of Local Self-Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Emilia Rexhepi, of obstructing the work of this institution and „intentionally appointing their own people“ in this municipality.

Ugljanin also revealed that „99% of people who are not from the north“ are employed in this municipality.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/3vvn6ej3 The Prosecutor’s Office received a request to question Vucic in the case of the murder of Serb youths in the “Panda” café (Danas, KoSSev)

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime received a request to question Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as a witness in the case of the murder of Serb youths in the Pec cafe “Panda“ in 1998. The Prosecution will make a decision on the request submitted on behalf of the parents of the murdered youth on August 10th by lawyer Ivan Ninic, however, the attorney of the injured parties and the injured party will be notified of the decision first, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime told Danas daily. 

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/bduf5f87 Dusan Janjic: Vucic does not have a strategic policy towards Kosovo, he is only interested in Serbian List (Danas, Beta)

The director of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Dusan Janjic, said today that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic does not have a strategic policy towards Kosovo and that his only goals are "buying time" and preserving the influence of the Serbian List, reported Danas daily, citing Beta.

Janjic told the Beta agency that no concrete agreements will be reached at the meeting between Vucic and Kosovo PM Albin Kurti, scheduled for September 14 in Brussels.

"Both Vucic and Kurti are buying time. Everyone insists on de-escalation, and basically everything boils down to two questions, when the local elections will be held and when the Kosovo police will withdraw from the north. Both Kurti and Vucic are far from solving these two essential problems," Janjic assessed and added that there is no discussion about the return of Serbs to all Kosovo institutions.

According to him, the security crisis suppressed political solutions.

"And that makes the Quint group and the international community nervous. So far, there has been no proposal from Belgrade as to when and under what conditions the Serbs would return to Kosovo's institutions. Vucic and Kurti are playing on the edge of security risks," he said.

When asked by Beta whether Vucic should return the Serbs to Kosovo's institutions before the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM) and the withdrawal of the Kosovo Police from the north of Kosovo, Janjic said that this is no longer a solution.

"Kurti created a new reality in Kosovo with his measures and inadequate behaviour of Belgrade. Among other things, he is filling the police force with the Serbs in a competition, which is by law, but not in accordance with the Brussels Agreement. Belgrade puts pressure on the Serbs who join the Kosovo police, instead of having the initiative to return to all Kosovo institutions,'' according to Janjic. 

He assessed that the north of Kosovo has seceded and that at the moment no one sees the CSM as a solution to the crisis.

He said that Vucic is only interested in the Serbian List in Kosovo. 

''Vucic has no strategy or creativity in his policy towards Kosovo. He sticks to the CSM and has rejected Western offers of regional autonomy for the Serbs. In addition, Vucic is intensifying attacks on Serbs who do not think like the Serbian List, as is the case with the persecution of Momcilo Trajkovic. Trajković is trying to form the Serbian National Council, which is most likely one of the ways out of the current crisis," emphasized Janjic.

He recalled that Kurti said two days ago that he has good cooperation with the Serbian List. 

"Vucic and Kurti agree on the elections, but without the other Serbs. The meeting between Vucic and Kurti, which Josep Borrell scheduled for September 14 in Brussels, will not lead to any concrete agreements and progress, except for the Serbian List and the Government of Kosovo to agree on the conditions for the elections, which will not be in the interest of the Serbs living in Kosovo," concluded Janjic.

     

International 

  Kosovo School Year Starts Amid Turmoil Over Missing Textbooks (BIRN)

After failing to reach an agreement with publishing houses, Kosovo’s Ministry of Education has decided to not purchase textbooks for the new school year but to instead reimburse parents for them on an online platform.

By August 31, according to Minister of Education Arberie Nagavci, who shared the update on Facebook, 81,000 people had received a reimbursement for their children’s textbooks.

“The total number of applications until now [August 31] is over 115,000 and the rest [of the reimbursements] will be done with the next group,” Nagavci wrote on Facebook, explaining that 75 applications had contained mistakes and that the “parents will be notified”.

Applications for reimbursement will be open throughout September. The government has allocated 13 million euros for the program. Students from first to fifth grade are entitled to 80 euros per student, and those from the sixth until ninth grade can get 30 euros, as they are using books from the previous school year.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2wm9akvp Schallenberg: It is time to be bold about EU enlargement, we cannot wait (EWB)

ALPBACH – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria Alexander Schallenberg emphasised the geopolitical need for EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova in an interview for Politico’s podcast “EU Confidential”. He proposed the abandonment of binary thinking about the enlargement and gradual inclusion of the candidate countries in specific policy areas and institutions.

The podcast was recorded during the annual European Forum Alpbach and released on Friday. During the interview, Schallenberg emphasised that the geopolitical litmus test of the European Union is its neighbourhood.

“Are we capable, as the European Union, to export stability, or do we want a risk of importing instability and insecurity? And I am not talking only about Ukraine and Moldova. Vienna is at the very centre of this continent, and our geopolitical seismograph kicks off not only because of the east. Five hundred kilometers south of Vienna we have the Western Balkans. The region that is not the backyard of Europe, it is the courtyard of Europe. And it is our prime task to secure this region as well”, the Minister said.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/mwkmnfuj