• Thaci: No new idea opened and none closed in Berlin summit (media)
• Thaci: I’d like Presevo Valley to be closer to Kosovo, without changing borders
• President Thaci gives up on border correction idea (Koha)
• Rama: Dialogue will continue, Macron and Merkel will engage personally (RTK)
• Hahn: Time for Western Balkans to join EU (media)
• Switzerland supports dialogue but not border correction option (Zeri)
• Wadephul: Negotiations not to get stuck on fighting over territory (DW/Bota Sot)
• War crimes committed in Kosovo recounted before U.S. Congress (media)
• Thaci requests urgent resolution on Serbia’s crimes (Klan)
• Pacolli: No reconciliation without punishing Belgrade (RTK)
• Draft-resolution on Serbian crimes in Kosovo to be discussed today (RTK)
• Kosnett: Serbs should live in Kosovo, build the future of the country (media)
• Hoti summarizes the Summit in three conclusions (RTK)

Thaci: No new idea opened and none closed in Berlin summit (media)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said that the Kosovo delegation spoke in one voice at the Berlin summit in that the import tariff on Serbia will remain in force while the hosts of the event, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, were urged to support visa liberalisation for Kosovo. “We presented a single stance and it was clear on all issues relating to our important focus as my focus was to convince Merkel and Macron to support visa liberalisation and the message was clear that we have fulfilled all necessary criteria,” Thaci said.

“With regards to the tax, we were very clear, in all three speeches I had, that it is Kosovo’s legitimate right and that it needs to remain in force. There are attempts at lining the tax more with visa liberalisation than with dialogue. Dialogue will continue with or without it,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Thaci said that organisers of the meeting did not call on the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic nor five EU member states to recognise Kosovo. He said he welcomed the good will on the part of Merkel and Macron to contribute to Kosovo and Serbia normalizing relations but noted: “No new idea was open and none closed.” Thaci added: “Some believed that anything can happen if Vucic were only to be told to recognise Kosovo and close the issue but they saw this is not the case as I saw no such call being made to Vucic by either Merkel or Macron.”

Thaci further reiterated his support for Presevo Valley joining Kosovo but without undermining Kosovo’s territory. He also said that no agreement with Serbia is possible without the U.S. role in the process. “All alternatives are open for an historic agreement between the two countries,” Thaci stressed adding that Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are nonnegotiable.  He also said that Kosovo has confirmed participation at the 1 July meeting in Paris.

Thaci: I’d like Presevo Valley to be closer to Kosovo, without changing borders

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, said in an interview to Der Spiegel on Wednesday that he would like “Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac to be closer to Kosovo but without changing the current borders”. Thaci also talked about the Berlin Summit and the need for consensus among the Quint countries. “I didn’t have great expectations from the Summit, but I highly appreciate the initiative and personal commitment of Chancellor Merkel and President Macron and I hope that we will achieve the first tangible results at the upcoming summit,” he said. According to Thaci, the idea for territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia was not his idea. “There has been a lot of misunderstanding. We will not agree to territorial exchange. I will not allow such a swap. We also don’t want to have a Republika Srpska in Kosovo. This could happen if we would give a special status to the north. Kosovo is a multiethnic country. There will be no border demarcation along ethnic lines,” Thaci said.

President Thaci gives up on border correction idea (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that following the Berlin Summit, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci “stands somewhat corrected” with regards to his idea for border correction between Kosovo and Serbia. During the summit and afterwards in Pristina, Thaci talked about border demarcation and did not mention border correction as a final settlement between the two countries. Thaci also accused the Quint countries, political officials in Kosovo, and diplomats and analysts, for intentionally misinterpreting his idea. German officials and other participants at the Berlin Summit said the meeting gave an end to the border correction idea. Thaci however said that alternatives remain open.

Rama: Dialogue will continue, Macron and Merkel will engage personally (RTK)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday that the Berlin Summit was of special importance for Albanians as it discussed widely a new rhythm of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. “Things were discussed openly, and positions were clear,” he said. “The final conclusion was very clear: French President (Emanuel Macron) and German Chancellor (Angela Merkel) will engage personally together with their teams,” he said. He added that there will be an intensive dialogue process and that there will be no conditionings.

Hahn: Time for Western Balkans to join EU (media)

On the fifteenth anniversary of the European Union enlargement, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn said the time has come for finalizing the project by integrating the Western Balkans into the bloc. “I am sure that – with joint efforts – it will be a success story, too, for both sides!” Hahn wrote on Twitter.

Switzerland supports dialogue but not border correction option (Zeri)

Switzerland has expressed support for the continuation of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue but not for the option that would include border changes. The Swiss Human Security which operates under the country’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement that Germany and France are committed to a sustainable agreement between Kosovo and Serbia without territorial exchange. Switzerland “has been actively supporting this policy for a long time, thus contributing to stability in the region.”

Wadephul: Negotiations not to get stuck on fighting over territory (DW/Bota Sot)

Johann Wadephul, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group at the German Bundestag said in an interview with Deutsche Welle that the Western Balkans summit in Berlin was positive and an important impulse was given to the region by the hosts, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

With regards to the prospect of an agreement being reached between Kosovo and Serbia, Wadephul said that it is important for the parties now to talk “and not get stuck in unnecessary fights over territories.” He said negotiations need to focus on resolving concrete issues such as cultural heritage, protection of communities, association of municipalities. “It was an important initiative on the part of Paris and Berlin because the negotiations can now resume,” he said.

War crimes committed in Kosovo recounted before U.S. Congress (media)

Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman, survivor of sexual violence during the 1998-99 conflict in Kosovo, has addressed the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs where she shared her story of how she was raped by Serbian forces in 1999 when she was sixteen. “Twenty years have passed and justice continues to fail me. My torturer has not been held accountable for his crimes, and is still at large. There are twenty thousand women and men who survived crimes of wartime sexual violence in Kosovo. All they want is justice. All I want is justice,” she said.

Krasniqi-Goodman called on the representatives of the U.S. Congress to address the impunity of war crimes and human rights abuses committed in Kosovo by “taking immediate action to seek justice for the victims.”

Ilir Bytyqi, an Albanian-American whose three brothers were killed after being detained by Serbian police in 1999 after the Kosovo war ended, also testified at the committee hearing about his campaign for justice. He accused the Serbian authorities of shielding the killers.

Former president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, also spoke to the congress and recounted 74 massacres Serbian forces committed in Kosovo between February 1998 and June 1999. “We want to negotiate peace and bring justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Serb state apparatus,” she said adding that this is paramount to securing lasting peace.

Eliot Engel, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said that it was unbelievable that twenty years on, no one was convicted of sexual violence during conflict in Kosovo. He said the specialist chambers should not only try crimes committed by Albanians but also those by Serbs.

In its coverage of the hearing, Koha Ditore reports that the testimonies by Krasniqi-Goodman and Ilir Bytyqi, brother of three victims of Serbian forces, and the statistics presented by former President Atifete Jahjaga, could change the position of internationals on the specialist court. The U.S. Congress called that the court should address crimes committed by Serbs too.

Thaci requests urgent resolution on Serbia’s crimes (Klan)

The President of Kosovo has requested from the Assembly of Kosovo to urgently draft a resolution on Serbia’s crimes committed in Kosovo. “Today I urgently request from the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, the Assembly of Kosovo to issue a resolution on Serbia’s crimes and genocide committed against Albanians in Kosovo,” Thaci said. Thaci’s request came a day after Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman’s testimony at the U.S. Congress. He also expressed appreciation to the U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel saying that without him, Krasniqi-Goodman’s testimony would be impossible.

Pacolli: No reconciliation without punishing Belgrade (RTK)

Kosovo’s Principal Deputy Prime Minister Behgjet Pacolli said reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia is impossible without a prior punishment of Belgrade for the crimes during the conflict. Commenting on testimonies of former President Atifete Jahjaga, Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman and Ilir Bytyqi at the U.S. Congress, Pacolli said “we were not aggressors but victims and victims need justice”. He also expressed appreciation to the U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel for initiating the hearing session.

Draft-resolution on Serbian crimes in Kosovo to be discussed today (RTK)

Kosovo national broadcaster RTK informs that an ad-hoc Commission for drafting the draft-resolution for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kosovo by former Serbian regime will meet today to discuss the draft. The report will be discussed at the Assembly of Kosovo at 14:00 hours.

Kosnett: Serbs should live in Kosovo, build the future of the country (media)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett visited on Wednesday Gracanica and Partes, two Kosovo municipalities with Serb majority. In an interview for Radio Kim, Kosnett said he wants to be optimistic about the future of the Serb community in Kosovo. “I think it is important that Serbs continue to live here. It is also important that they feel welcome. There needs to be a future in Kosovo where the members of all communities can feel at home—that they feel that they can live and work and worship in peace, in both countries, in all countries in the region. I think that just by living here and building a future for their children, the members of the Serb community here are making a real contribution to Kosovo’s future. You know, Jelena, for an American, living in a multi-cultural, religiously diverse country is a normal thing, and I’ve often said that one of the things that America and Kosovo have in common is the diversity of peoples who live in their countries. And, I hope that that will always be the case,” Kosnett said.

Hoti summarizes the Summit in three conclusions (RTK)

Avdullah Hoti, caucus of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said results of the Berlin Summit could be summarized in three points. According to him, the biggest achievement of the Summit was “elimination of Thaci’s and Vucic’s idea for correction of the borders”. The second, disciplining the leaders of both countries. This is important because the war inducing rhetoric of these last months started to become e daily discourse. I believe that the two countries received the message that the dialogue is the only way to resolve disagreements. And the third, the final agreement should be reached through a transparent and comprehensive dialogue. Any other format of the dialogue does not ensure acceptable and implementable solution in practice,” Hoti wrote.