• COVID-19: 28 deaths, 920 new cases (media)
• Health Ministry appeals for vaccination; will work on Sundays too (Telegrafi)
• Kosovo Deputy PM implies reciprocity with Serbia on license plates (Koha)
• Krasniqi: Vetevendosje attempt to postpone election suspends democracy (media)
• PDK’s Nikaj: Government must not allow for vaccines to expire (Telegrafi)
• PDK leader: Kurti is putting on a show in the dialogue! (Euronews Albania)
• Kosovo ‘will only give refuge to at-risk Afghan refugees’ (BIRN)
• Russia with an aggressive campaign against Kosovo (Radio Free Europe)

COVID-19: 28 deaths, 920 new cases (media)

28 deaths from COVID-19 and 920 new infections were recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. 1,698 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 24,484 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

The Ministry of Health said that so far 17 percent of Kosovo's overall population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. At the same time, 35 percent of people have received one dose of the vaccine, the Ministry told Radio Free Europe.

Health Ministry appeals for vaccination; will work on Sundays too (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health again called on the people of Kosovo to get vaccinated, especially pregnant women, saying that there is no scientific evidence that vaccines have any negative effects on pregnancy. The Ministry said in a statement to the news website that during this month they plan to reach or even overcome the figure of 400,000 administered doses and that starting from this week vaccination centers will work on Sundays too.

Kosovo Deputy PM implies reciprocity with Serbia on license plates (Koha)

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi implied after Tuesday’s meeting with EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak that Kosovo will not agree to extend the provisional agreement on license plates beyond September 15, when the agreement expires. Bislimi said Kosovo will act the same way as Serbia does with Kosovo license plates, implying reciprocity.

Krasniqi: Vetevendosje attempt to postpone election suspends democracy (media)

Memli Krasniqi, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said in an interview with Kanal 10 on Tuesday that the attempt by the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement to postpone the October 17 local elections is an attempt to suspend democracy. Krasniqi made these remarks after Kosovo Assembly President and senior Vetevendosje member, Glauk Konjufca, said that if he were asked local elections would be postponed.

“Cancelling the elections would be equal to suspending democracy. The local elections were scheduled in due time. We already had a round of elections [parliamentary] during the pandemic and I think there was an outstanding job by the Central Election Commission and the people and we saw that election day did not lead to an increased number of new infections,” Krasniqi said.

PDK’s Nikaj: Government must not allow for vaccines to expire (Telegrafi)

Bernard Nikaj, Secretary for Foreign Relations in the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said in an interview with Telegrafi on Tuesday that the Kosovo Government must make a plan so that the anti COVID vaccines which arrived as a donation from the United States do not expire.

Nikaj said that greater engagement is needed in the vaccination process because there is no greater priority than the vaccination of the people.

“We must wish, hope and in fact even pray that these vaccines which arrived now do not expire. Because in reality we might be the only country where there are no vaccination appointments and where vaccination centers have a day off on Sundays and at the same time we have expiring vaccines and people that refuse to take the vaccines,” Nikaj said.

PDK leader: Kurti is putting on a show in the dialogue! (Euronews Albania)

“Up until this point, Albin Kurti has had a tendency to want to put on a show regarding the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue,” said the chair of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, during an exclusive interview for Euronews Albania.

According to Krasniqi, the prime minister is heading to the dialogue with Serbia, with goals that are similar to those of the leaders of PDK, regarding the dissolution of the conflict and mutual recognition, as well as the respect for the sovereignty of Kosovo.

He added that the dialogue process should be closely coordinated in collaboration with the US and European partners, all the while protecting Kosovo’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity and internal regulations”.

In addition, Krasniqi declared that PDK will be offering its support to any agreement that enables mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia, while ensuring Kosovo’s membership into International Organizations starting with the UN.

However, according to PDK’s leader, the forced protagonism of Kurti and Rama is playing a negative and damaging role for the Albania-Kosovo relations, putting the majority of responsibility onto Kosovo’s prime minister.

“I believe that our rapport with Albania has been damaged exactly due to the approach of the prime minister of Kosovo, with regards to institutional leaders in Albania,” declared Krasniqi.

According to Krasniqi, Kurti’s involvement in Albania’s electoral campaign on April 25th has also had a negative contribution.

“Kosovo’s prime ministers should look at Albania not only as their partner but as the first country to offer them support on all matters that intermingle with our national interests,” declared Krasniqi, while adding that he is soon expected to meet with PM Rama.

Kosovo ‘will only give refuge to at-risk Afghan refugees’ (BIRN)

As more Afghan refugees are given refuge in Kosovo, the government has rejected a report by right-wing media outlet Fox News that the US is sending those who have been "flagged for criminal or terror ties".

The Kosovo government has denied media reports that Afghan refugees who have not passed the initial vetting to be allowed into the US will be given refuge in the country, as more evacuees are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

Right-wing US media outlet Fox News reported on Monday that US officials had told it that “Camp Bondsteel, a US military base in the Balkan country of Kosovo, will temporarily house Afghan refugees who don’t pass the initial round of vetting”

Fox News also claimed that the US is sending “any Afghans flagged for criminal or terror ties to Kosovo”.

The Kosovo government and the US embassy in Pristina insist however that Kosovo will only shelter Afghan citizens who are at risk due to their collaboration with the US and NATO.

In a press release on Saturday, the US embassy in Pristina said that the agreement between the US and Kosovo “allows the US to temporarily shelter… a limited number of Afghan citizens, whose applications (for visas in the US) require additional processing”.

“Some media reports have left readers with the incorrect impression that the United States intends to transfer to Kosovo individuals whom US authorities have deemed inadmissible to the United States. This is not the case,” the embassy said.

It further explained that the agreement between the US and Kosovo allows the US to “temporarily host at Camp Bondsteel, a limited number of Afghan citizens whose applications require additional processing”.

“This may include tasks such as: clarifying applicants’ identities, their employment history, or other ties to the United States. US Embassy officials in Kosovo are assisting in this process,” the press release said.

Kosovo government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu told BIRN on Tuesday said that “we have nothing to add to the explanation given by the American embassy”.

Around 700 Afghan refugees out of the 2,000 that Kosovo is expected to shelter have already arrived, according to Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla.

On Monday, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discussed the hosting of the Afghan refugees.

“Kosovo is honoured to offer a safe and secure environment for Afghan citizens during their transition. Our alliance with the US is unwavering and our friendship is growing stronger,” Kurti wrote afterwards on Twitter.

Blinken wrote on Twitter that he “thanked the government and people of Kosovo for hosting at-risk Afghans”.

“Kosovo citizens, many once refugees themselves, have again demonstrated their willingness and capacity to contribute to global peace and security,” he said

Afghan refugees arriving in Kosovo are granted a one-year residence permit and are currently staying in a former camp built by the US-Turkish construction company Bechtel Enka situated in front of the US military base Bondsteel.

Russia with an aggressive campaign against Kosovo (Radio Free Europe)

Russia’s diplomatic war against Kosovo will intensify after the end of the moratorium on new recognitions of Kosovo’s statehood, a report by the Prishtina-based Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development notes. The report titled “Kosovo Observer: Russian diplomatic warfare and media disinformation” notes that Russia could use the end of the moratorium to work together with Serbia in implementing an aggressive campaign for derecognitions of Kosovo’s independence also during 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Read the full report in the link below: http://kipred.org/repository/docs/Kosovo_Observer_Russian_Diplomatic_Warfare_and_Media_Disinformation_June_1_%E2%80%93_August_15,_2021_245324.pdf