Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti accuses "Russia's allies" of undermining the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (RFE)
• Svecla on threats from Serbian terrorist organization: enemies of Kosovo will end up being accountable to the law (Reporteri)
• After being admitted to the OGP, Kurti talks about the developments in Kosovo (media)
• Konjufca: Association can be made in 1 minute, but only after we have de facto recognition (Albanian Post)
• Kurti meets Prime Minister of Estonia, discuss about situation in Kosovo (media)
• German Government: Our position on visa liberalization remains unchanged (media)
• Special Prosecutor approves request for Kurti as witness in case of Serb arrested for war crimes (Reporteri)
• Selmanaj accuses Kurti of sanctions by the democratic world (Reporteri)

Serbian Language Media:

• Serbian List: “We reject Pristina's ultimatum to leave the premises of the building in North Mitrovica” (Kosovo Online)
• Andric Rakic: The Constitutional Court will overturn the instruction for the petition to remove the mayors (Kosovo Online, Danas)
• Bugaku: The best option is the resignation of mayors in the north (Kosovo Online, RTK2)
• Between European promises and conditionality - three scenarios for Serbia (Radio Mitrovica sever, RTS)
• In seven months, 14 people killed in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• The mayor of Zubin Potok appointed his daughter as the municipal director: I was forced (Danas, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

   

Albanian Language Media  

 

Kurti accuses "Russia's allies" of undermining the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (RFE)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, accused "Russia's allies" that through disinformation and other malicious behavior in the cyber field, are influencing the process of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. During the "Open Government Partnership" summit in Tallinn, Estonia, Kurti said that these actions in Kosovo are intensifying.

"In Kosovo, efforts by Russia's allies to distort the truth, past and present, are visible and intensifying. During this sensitive time, when our country is committed to the process mediated by the European Union and the United States to normalize relations with our northern neighbor, Serbia, but also for the full inclusion of minorities in the democratic processes of the state, without influence from abroad, these cyber threats, such as disinformation, cyberbullying and other forms are particularly defining," said Kurti.

Even in the past, the authorities in Kosovo have accused Russia of pushing its ally, Serbia, to incite tensions in Kosovo, namely in the north inhabited by a Serb majority. However, these claims have been rejected by the Kremlin.

Also, the United States and the European Union have repeatedly warned about Russian influence in the Western Balkans.

In an earlier report by the Kosovo Center for Security Studies, it was stated that Russia's influence in Kosovo can be interpreted as "malicious" and "hostile". However, the report said that Russian influence operations "are mainly limited to Kosovo Serbs".

Kurti's comments on September 6 come days after Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said, without providing evidence, that Serbia intends to implement a plan similar to the one Russia implemented in Ukraine in 2014. She referred to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the support of pro-Russian separatists in their fight against Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas region.

Svecla on threats from Serbian terrorist organization: enemies of Kosovo will end up being accountable to the law (Reporteri)

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Xhelal Svecla, has spoken about the threats that have come from the Serbian terrorist organization "Severna Brigada".

Svecla told reporters that he feels safe thanks to the work of the Kosovo Police, as he added that the enemies of Kosovo will end up being accountable to the law.

"I feel extremely safe thanks to the Kosovo Police and their professionalism. Undoubtedly, in our fight for justice, law and order, there will always be enemies of this fight who will attack Kosovo's institutions in one way or another. Let's not forget that we also have policemen who fell in the line of duty, who are not among us today. The work will continue, our enemies will always end up being accountable to the law", Svecla said today.

On Tuesday, the Serbian terrorist organization had threatened Svecla, after an action carried out by the Kosovo Police in Zvecan, where a quantity of weapons was seized.

Today, this organization was reported to have threatened the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.

Last night, the profile of this organization shared on Facebook a photo of a "sniper" type weapon, above which they wrote "Kurti, we have tons of this".

After being admitted to the OGP, Kurti talks about the developments in Kosovo (media)

During his stay in Tallinn, Estonia, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, held a meeting with the chief executive of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Sanjay Pradhan, with whom they discussed Kosovo's membership in this international organization, after many years of efforts. The meeting also discussed the benefits, responsibilities and role of Kosovo as a new member.

Prime Minister Kurti informed Chief Pradhan about the work of the National Coordinating Committee regarding the drafting of the National Action Plan 2023-25, which is based on four main pillars: Digital Governance; Open Data (Open Data); Involvement of Citizens; and Anti-Corruption.

As this is the first year of Kosovo's membership in OGP, the prime minister underlined the importance and need for support from this organization in the beginning of the implementation of the National Plan, as he expressed his thanks for the cooperation so far, the announcement of the Kosovo executive states.

Next to Prime Minister Kurti in this meeting were the Kosovo ambassador to Estonia, Shkendije Geci Sherifi and the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi.

Konjufca: Association can be made in 1 minute, but only after we have de facto recognition (Albanian Post)

Kosovo has accepted the agreement in which it pledges to form the Association of Municipalities with a Serb Majority, however the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, who once said that the 11 articles inspired by the Basic Agreement of the two Germanys are an opportunity that should not be missed, now says that Kosovo has no obligation to establish the Association, "not at all".

According to him, the agreement is actually invalid, because from the beginning it was not signed by the Serbian side, since "Vucic has deceived the international community" and that all that is happening now is that "the international community is trying to find a way to justify this trick done to them".

Konjufca said that lack of signature presents an insurmountable problem and turns the agreement into non-serious.

"This is a joke", he said on the DPT show te Fidani on "A" Television.

"He deceived the international community as he said he could not put a physical signature on the agreement, this is ridiculous, how come you can't sign the agreement, why did you come to the table, sir?" Konjufca asked Vucic from afar.

"Behind the cameras, he told them that he cannot sign, that the prosecutor is waiting for him at the Belgrade airport and will put him in jail, this is ridiculous. What did Borrell do? Borrell said all right Mr. Vucic, can we say that you have consented to the Agreement".

"This is not serious, I'm sorry", continued Konjufca's reprimand, also on the address of the European Union.

The path that Serbia wants is this: "first the Association in the form of executive powers and then the acceptance of Kosovo, this acceptance for which the international community will try to convince Vucic for some kind of affirmation of the statehood of Kosovo only after the formation of the Association ".

Therefore, to the Speaker of the Parliament of Kosovo, he who decides to form the Association at this point, when Serbia has not moved at all, is a traitor.

"It is a major deceit (formation of the Association without recognition) and whoever does this will go down as a traitor in the history of Kosovo," declared Konjufca.

Kurti meets Prime Minister of Estonia, discuss about situation in Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, during the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit. Kurti said that he and Prime Minister Kallas talked about the political situation in Kosovo and the region.

"Now in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, during the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit. We talked about the political situation in the country, in the region and the contribution that our country can make as a member of the OGP", Prime Minister Kurti wrote on Facebook.

German Government: Our position on visa liberalization remains unchanged (media)

The Federal Government of Germany, led by the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said that Berlin's official stance on visa liberalization for Kosovo remains unchanged.

The German Government has said that they support the decisions on visa liberalization belonging to the Council of the European Union, which guarantee Kosovo visa-free movement from January 1, 2024.

"The German position remains unchanged: We support the decisions on visa liberalization that belong to the Council of the European Union", said a spokesman of the German Government to the Express Newspaper's questions about whether the liberalization will take place on January 1, 2024 and whether it is likely to be postponed as a result of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

Special Prosecutor approves request for Kurti as witness in case of Serb arrested for war crimes (Reporteri)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has been invited to testify in the case of Dragisa Milenkovic from Gracanica, who was arrested in June for war crimes during 1998-1999.

Dejan Vasic, Milenkovic's lawyer, submitted on Tuesday the request to the Prime Minister's Office for Kurti to testify in his client's case, as it is reported that the Special Prosecutor's Office has previously approved the request for the head of the government of Kosovo to be heard as a defense witness.

"I expect that the testimony will be accepted in the coming days", said the lawyer.

Vasic had announced earlier that he would request for Kurti to be a witness in Milenkovic's case, as he says he was detained in a prison in Pristina at the time Milenkovic worked there.

"For his part, he should say two words about the credibility of the suspect and his behavior towards the current prime minister, and the then detainee Albin Kurti, whom he kept company during his stay in the cell, brought books for him to read, and spent a lot of time in conversations", Vasic said.

Dragisa Millenkovic was arrested on June 21 in Kisnica. The Special Prosecutor's Office accuses him of war crimes against the civilian population in the period from 1998 to 1999. It is suspected that he systematically practiced torture, physical and psychological violence, as well as inhuman treatment of Albanian prisoners.

Selmanaj accuses Kurti of sanctions by the democratic world (Reporteri)

Driton Selmanaj, MP of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) wrote on his Facebook profile that Kosovo has been under sanctions for 70 days. He wrote that although Kurti has accepted that the sanctions are harming Kosovo, he is hiding that Kosovo for the first time after 24 years is being punished by the democratic world and its allies.

“Finally, even Albin Kurti admits that the sanctions are damaging Kosovo financially and politically. They are harming our state agencies and Kosovo's businesses.

But what Kurti is hiding is that after 24 years, Kosovo FOR THE FIRST TIME, is punished with sanctions from the democratic world and our allies, and this also happens because of him and during his government,” Selmanaj wrote.

     

Serbian Language Media

  Serbian List: “We reject Pristina's ultimatum to leave the premises of the building in North Mitrovica” (Kosovo Online)

The Serbian List announced today that ''bearing in mind Pristina's intention to continue escalating the situation on the ground at any cost and occupy the building in North Mitrovica where the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the PIO Fund Directorate Service, the Kosovo-Mitrovica District Administrative Office, and the Center for Social Work Vucitrn are located, rejects the ultimatum of the regime in Pristina to leave the premises where those institutions are located'', reported Kosovo Online. 

The Serbian List requested that the issue be resolved in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, which is conducted under the auspices of the EU, and in the context of the establishment of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, as provided for in the agreements from 2013 and 2015.

"We remind you that the aforementioned institutions of the Republic of Serbia have been providing services for years to all citizens without distinction, both Serbs and Albanians, Bosniaks, Goranians, Roma, Turks and others, and that 40 families live thanks to the work of people employed in those institutions," it was stated in the announcement of the Serbian List.

'' The persecution and violent occupation of that building would threaten the realization of human and civil rights for tens of thousands of people, both in the field of pension and disability insurance, and in the field of social protection of the most vulnerable sections of the population.''

The Serbian List called on the international community to, as they point out, exert maximum efforts in moments of fragile peace and prevent the regime in Pristina from escalating the situation and causing additional tensions, which, according to them, could have unforeseeable consequences on the ground, cited portal Kosovo Online.

Andric Rakic: The Constitutional Court will overturn the instruction for the petition to remove the mayors (Kosovo Online, Danas)

It is to be expected that the administrative instruction for organizing a petition for the removal of mayors in four municipalities in the north will be overturned by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, because it is illegal, says Milica Rakic Andric from the NGO New Social Initiative for Kosovo Online.

The Minister of Local Self-Government Elbert Krasniqi announced yesterday the administrative instructions for new elections in the north, according to which the procedure for organizing a petition for the removal of Albanian mayors can be implemented in three months the fastest. 

"It is clear from the beginning that the Referendum Law is necessary in order to pass such an administrative instruction as was passed now for the petition to remove the mayors. The experts in Kosovo said even before the publication of the administrative instruction that it would be illegal. There are already and the first announcements by the opposition that they will send that administrative instruction to the Constitutional Court for constitutionality assessment. All of these were very predictable steps, as it is predictable that the Constitutional Court will most likely overturn that administrative instruction and that it will never really come into force," she states. 

Andric Rakic says that all this confirms that the intention is to delay the holding of extraordinary elections in the north.

If there was a will for it, the mayors would have resigned.

"What I believe the Kosovo government was trying to achieve by issuing the petition directive is to effect the lifting of the EU's punitive measures. Because one of the things the EU is asking Kosovo to do is to call elections in the north. I guess they hoped that this step towards regulating implementation of the petition for the removal of the mayors  could persuade the EU to change its position. This will certainly not happen, the EU spokesperson was very explicit, but also some ambassadors of the member states who are in Kosovo said that it is not enough, that they expect elections to be called. What they don't get into is how those elections will happen, but they still insist on calling them. So, the instruction was a way to delay, to try to place Kosovo in a better position when it comes to punitive measures, but it simply won't work," believes Andric Rakic.

Bugaku: The best option is the resignation of mayors in the north (Kosovo Online, RTK2)

Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) researcher Vulnet Bugaku said that during the drafting of the Administrative Instruction, the KDI expressed concern about the lack of transparency.

“We also expressed concern about the content of the Administrative Instruction,” he told RTK.

Bugaku added that the Law on Local Self-Government provides several possibilities for the removal of municipal mayors, but, according to him, other instances, such as the Constitutional Court, should be involved.

He emphasized that the best option is the resignation of the mayor of the municipalities in the north.

“Any other process delays the process and takes time, knowing that the request of the international community is for the elections to be held in the north,” he said.

Between European promises and conditionality - three scenarios for Serbia (Radio Mitrovica sever, RTS)

Achieving a permanent and sustainable solution to the Kosovo issue is not officially a condition for Serbia's membership in the EU, but informally it is an obstacle that cannot be bypassed. These days, the promise of membership of the region in 2030 is coming from Brussels, but also an additional message - old conflicts will not be allowed to spill over, reported Radio Mitrovica sever, citing RTS. 

No room for old conflicts within the EU, the head of EC did not hesitate to remind the countries of the Western Balkans once again, as well as to admit that resolving conflicts from the past can be more painful than reforms, recalled RTS. 

A new platform has been awaited from Brussels, when it comes to Belgrade and Pristina, wrote RTS adding, as well as the question of whether Serbia would formally receive the condition to recognize the independence of Kosovo. It's enough for one member to put it on the table.

Stefan Surlic from the Faculty of Political Sciences says that the first scenario is that, as Serbia approaches the EU, it is faced with the condition of recognizing Kosovo's independence, and the second is that the EU maintains flexibility and says that Serbia has the right to its position, and that Kosovo, due to disagreements within the EU, be treated as an entity.

"Third is what is being announced as a phased accession of politics, institutions and so on, so that Serbia would choose the degree of connection with the EU, and on the other hand it could still maintain its position regarding the status of Kosovo," says Surlic for RTS.

What the Union certainly wants to avoid are the things that made it being in the hot water. Each member must give their consent to receive a new one, and there is room for conditions. Examples are Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and before that Slovenia and Croatia.

Strahinja Subotic from the Center for European Policies says that Michel knows that without a credible membership perspective, without the specified year, it is difficult to expect bilateral problems to be solved easily.

"It is a strong political incentive to solve these problems, because we have seen that when there is no political incentive, dialogue is stagnant, and when dialogue is stagnant, wounds are opened. I think he made a good step there. He was sending us a message, and he also wanted to pressure member states to reform the Union internally, so that it would be ready for further expansion, because Macron and other member states mention that they are not ready for further expansion now," Subotic pointed out.

The trust clause as a solution

As the most effective solution, analysts see the insertion of a trust clause in the expansion act, which has the same legal force as the founding agreements. Both members and candidates would have to declare themselves about it.

"It is only important that the focus is not always only on the political, because to the public in Serbia is presented only the political condition that needs to be fulfilled, and that Serbia and the other countries of the Western Balkans largely meet the standards for EU membership. So, it's a false dilemma. Of course, that political segment should not be neglected, but issues of the rule of law, issues of economic prosperity, reaching the average of the European Union, should be a priority on the agenda when we talk about joining the EU," reminds Surlic.

And when that approach should happen, it was heard from Brussels more than once. Former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke about 2025 in 2018. Michel is now talking about 2030

"The President of the EC has more weight when it comes to the possibility of making such strategic advances. I think that by the end of the year, what Charles Michel proposed, the European Council will adopt. So that's where the battle is now. That what was said should really be put on paper and something that we can all really catch on to," said Subotic.

And it could be put on paper already in December, when the European Council is scheduled and from which everyone expects a lot.

Next year is an election year for Brussels, and if no breakthrough is made before then, they say, it will be another year of missed opportunities, reported Radio Mitrovica sever, citing RTS.

In seven months, 14 people killed in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

In the period from January to July this year, 14 murders took place in Kosovo, and security expert Drizan Shala pointed out that it is necessary for the judicial authorities to deal more seriously with the issue, reports Kosovo Online, citing Zeri. 

Shala stated that he was concerned about the large number of illegal weapons in Kosovo.

"There are many indirect factors that force certain persons to commit criminal acts. We can say that the trend is increasing. At the same time, it is alarming that citizens still possess illegal weapons that are not controlled by the police system," said Shala, reported Kosovo Online.

The mayor of Zubin Potok appointed his daughter as the municipal director: I was forced (Danas, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

The mayor of Zubin Potok, Izmir Zeqiri, appointed his daughter as the director of culture in this municipality, reported Danas, citing Ekonomia online portal.  

He said that he was forced to make such a decision because everyone in the village of Cabra is related. Zeqiri, who is from the ranks of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, mainly works from the premises of the local office in this village since he assumed the position of mayor. He won 197 votes in the April 23 elections, in which the turnout was around 3.5 percent, and which was boycotted by the Serbs.

"In the village of Cabra, everyone is related, and it is logical that most of them work in the municipality. The newly appointed director graduated from the University of Mitrovica," said Zeqiri, reported Danas daily.