• Borrell: Deal reached on freedom of movement between Kurti and Vucic (media)
• Borrell: If no agreement, there could’ve been a crisis on Sept 1 in north (media)
• Osmani: Freedom of movement, foundation of democratic societies (media)
• Kurti: Reciprocity is spirit of principled and just solution (media)
• NATO SG welcomes agreement on free movement (media)
• Kurti: Full reciprocity until agreement on mutual recognition is reached (Kallxo)
• Kurti’s warning for a government reshuffle seen as an urgency (Koha)
• Kurti: Energy price always on the rise; we need to save (Telegrafi)
• COVID-19: 89 new cases, two deaths (media)

 

 

Borrell: Deal reached on freedom of movement between Kurti and Vucic (media)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Saturday that a deal on freedom of movement was reached between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Below is Borrell’s statement:

I am happy to announce that after last week’s High-level Dialogue meeting in Brussels and intense follow-up efforts in Pristina and Belgrade in the past few days, today we have an agreement on freedom of movement between Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Under the EU-facilitated Dialogue, Serbia has agreed to abolish the entry/exit documents for Kosovo ID holders, and Kosovo agreed to not introduce them for Serbian ID holders.

Kosovo-Serbs, as well as all other citizens will be able to travel freely between Kosovo and Serbia using the ID cards. The European Union has received guarantees from Prime Minister Kurti to this end.

I am very happy that we found a European solution that facilitates travel between Kosovo and Serbia. This is in the interest of all citizens of Kosovo and Serbia. I would like to thank both leaders for making it happen, in particular President Vucic, who showed responsibility and leadership today.

The last few days have also been an example of excellent practical EU-US cooperation and I would like to thank our American partners for their support to the EU-facilitated Dialogue.  And I would also like to thank EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak for this excellent work he has done.

But this work on freedom of movement is not over. There are some problems still pending and I expect both leaders to continue showing pragmatism and constructiveness in order to solve the problem with the license plates.

As I said many times before, in times of war in Ukraine, with the challenges that we, as Europeans are facing, Europe does not need any tensions. We need solutions. We need solutions in the Western Balkans. And today we reached a solution. There are some problems pending and we will need to continue working to solve them. But today is a very good day. And I have this very good news to announce.

Borrell: If no agreement, there could’ve been a crisis on Sept 1 in north (media)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell said in an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ORF that if an agreement on documents between Kosovo and Serbia was not reached, there could have been a crisis in the north on September 1. Borrell said the agreement reached on Saturday is good news. “We operate on the modality of crisis prevention. A crisis could have broken out on September 1 if we hadn’t reached an agreement on border crossings. This is good news,” he said.

Borrell said he is hopeful that an agreement on license plates too will be reached. “I am confident we can resolve this too,” he added.

Osmani: Freedom of movement, foundation of democratic societies (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani thanked the United States and the European Union for their engagement in reaching a deal on free movement between Kosovo and Serbia. “Reciprocity and equality! Freedom of movement is the foundation of democratic societies and European values. Kosovo is committed to dialogue centered on mutual recognition & will continue to contribute to peace. Thank you to US and EU for their engagement,” Osmani wrote on Twitter.

Kurti: Reciprocity is spirit of principled and just solution (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Saturday after a deal with Serbia was reached on free movement: “Citizens of our Republic may now travel to Serbia freely as equals. I want to thank HRVP Borrell, EUSR Lajcak, DAS Escobar & Ambasador Hovenier for their contribution. Reciprocity is the spirit of a principled and just solution. Kosovo will not introduce entry-exit docs for Serbian IDs”.

In another post on Twitter, Kurti shared part of his interview with the BCC where he says, “we had talks in Brussels which were not easy, but the result is satisfactory because now we have reciprocity measures between Kosovo and Serbia in terms of freedom of movement for citizens on both sides of the borders”. You can listen to the interview at: https://bbc.in/3Kq7YhR

NATO SG welcomes agreement on free movement (media)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took to Twitter on Sunday to welcome the EU-facilitated deal on free movement between Kosovo and Serbia. Stoltenberg said he encourages Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti “to resolve outstanding issues through political dialogue”. “NATO_KFOR remains vigilant,” he tweeted.

Kurti: Full reciprocity until agreement on mutual recognition is reached (Kallxo)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that Kosovo wants to reach an agreement with Serbia that is centered around mutual recognition. But until this agreement is reached, Kurti said, Kosovo will gradually introduce full reciprocity toward Serbia.

“Reciprocity in relations is dictated by our sovereignty. We cannot but enforce the sovereignty which we have declared, the same way we cannot act neutrally toward ourselves or make decisions that create dualisms in our legal system,” Kurti said.

Kurti’s warning for a government reshuffle seen as an urgency (Koha)

The news website notes that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was very harsh in his address to the General Assembly of the Vetevendosje Movement. He talked about ministers and deputy ministers that act as chiefs that want to rule and not serve the people. Kurti also talked about the possible reshuffling of the government and criticised VV MPs and warned them that if they do not help the government, they will no longer serve as MPs. Meanwhile, civil society representatives argue that the need for a government reshuffling is urgent because of setbacks in the work of several government ministries.

Kurti: Energy price always on the rise; we need to save (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Prime Minister and Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader Albin Kurti in his address to the General Assembly of this party talked about other things about the energy situation. He said that although the government has allocated €100 million to alleviate the situation, the energy price is always on the rise. “We have now allocated €100 million to help alleviate the increased energy bills for the citizens, but the price of energy is always on the rise,” he said. “This is why we need an open and honest debate about the situation we are faced with and the challenges that lie ahead so that in winter we can focus on what is possible and above all this is about saving energy”.

COVID-19: 89 new cases, two deaths (media)

89 new cases with COVID-19 and two deaths from the virus were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. There are 1,685 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.