Albanian Language Media: 

• State Department calls for fair process of arrested for suspicion of war crimes in Serbia (RFE)
• Kurti asks diaspora to vote for political forces that are not extreme in EU elections (Albanian Post)
• Lajcak to continue role of facilitator until his successor appointed (Koha)
• Stano: EU elections do not affect Lajcak's mandate, he continues to be committed (Nacionale)
• France mission in CoE supports Lajcak "within the application for membership of Kosovo" (Express)
• Gresa Caka-Nimani re-elected president of Constitutional Court (Koha)
• Osmani asks municipalities for greater contribution to elimination of gender-based violence (media)
• Haxhiu: Opposition is not demanding Radojicic’s surrender, but investigation of Kusari-Lila (Albanian Post)
• Tahiri: Regular general elections on January 12 or February 16 next year (media)
• Peci: Serbs working in Zvecan municipality fear the Serbian List (media)
• Zeka: Govt’s failure to implement pledges cracked relations with U.S., EU (EO)
• “Conservative list”, including some VV MPs, expected to be created (Nacionale)

Serbian Language Media: 

• The State Department calls for a fair legal process for those arrested in Serbia for suspicion of war crimes (RFE, KiM radio, Danas)
• Sladjana Radovic detained at the Jarinje crossing (KiM radio)
• Simic: There were more talks between Kusari Lila and Radoicic (Kosovo Online)
• Peci: She took documents by force to register them in parties; Tomanic: It's a pure lie, he is justifying himself because I announced the lawsuit (KoSSev)
• Schieder: ODIHR recommendations not implemented (N1, Danas)

International:

• OSCE publishes Western Balkans Trial Monitoring Report, with recommendations for judicial reform in Montenegro (osce.org)
• Kosovo secures extra 26 mln euro from IMF (See News)

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

State Department calls for fair process of arrested for suspicion of war crimes in Serbia (media)

The U.S. State Department told Radio Free Europe today that it is aware an individual was arrested by Serbian authorities on the suspicion of war crimes committed in the 1990s, and it called for a fair and transparent legal process in this case and for other people that are arrested. A spokeswoman for the State Department made this statement when asked to comment on Serbian authorities’ detention of a Kosovo national, Tefik Mustafa, at a border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia on June 1. A court in Belgrade ordered Mustafa to be sent to a 30-day-detention. “We call on Serbian institutions to guarantee a fair and transparent legal process in this case, as well as with any other arrest, in line with the rule of law,” the State Department said.

Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on June 1 that Mustafa, in the capacity of a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army, was mentioned in different statements of witnesses as a participant in the kidnapping of three police officers. 

The Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs meanwhile said Mustafa’s detention was arbitrary and called on the international community to help with his release.

Kurti asks diaspora to vote for political forces that are not extreme in EU elections (Albanian Post)

While this Sunday, June 9, the European elections will be held in 27 member countries of the European Union, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has asked the Kosovar emigrants with the right to vote in the Union to vote for "the forces of progress and those political forces which are not extreme".

"For the forces that are clear in their positioning towards countries hostile to the European Union, but also clear towards the expansion of the EU", said Kurti through a video message published on his social platform on Facebook.

Kurti has indirectly requested that the Kosovar diaspora vote for the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. "We support their program for a social, democratic and stable Europe".

Lajcak to continue role of facilitator until his successor appointed (Koha)

Based on the EU diplomatic sources, the news website reports that although Miroslav Lajcak has been appointed as EU ambassador to Switzerland, where he should start his mandate from September 1 of this year, his mandate as the facilitator of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia can be extended for a while longer, as there should be no gap in this function. They confirmed that the election of Lajcak's successor will have to wait for the completion of the procedures for electing new leaders in the institutions of the European Union, which will follow after the end of European elections that will take place from Thursday to Sunday this week.

In the EU, they expect Lajçak's successor to be appointed by Josep Borrell's successor to the post of High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security. Among the names mentioned are the former minister of Finland, Pekka Havisto, and the diplomat from Denmark, Peter Sorensen. Both of them have experience from the region, because they have also served in international missions from Kosovo to Bosnia-Herzegovina. But at this moment, European diplomats say, it is too early to predict who will be in that post as the next head of the EU's common diplomac.

Diplomats in the EU assessed that they are not satisfied with the current course of the dialogue, but they blame the "parties” for failures, more precisely Kosovo and Serbia, because they consider that "they have not demonstrated readiness and sincerity to engage constructively in the implementation of the obligations from the dialogue".

Stano: EU elections do not affect Lajcak's mandate, he continues to be committed (Nacionale)

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, has said that the bloc elections will not affect the mandate of the representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

"The transition period does not affect the special representative. He has a mandate in the office, and currently this mandate of emissary Lajcak is continuing, and will continue in the coming months. He is still fully committed to the interactions between partners, both in the region and in the EU, to push the issues forward and help the parties to resolve them, of course prioritizing the urgent implementation of the Ohrid Agreement,"Stano said.

Speaking about the possibility of holding a meeting, Stano said that currently the EU has nothing new to announce.

France mission in CoE supports Lajcak "within the application for membership of Kosovo" (Express)

France has expressed its support to the EU emissary, Miroslav Lajcak, for his work in mediation in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue "in the framework of Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe".

"France expresses its support for the mandate of the EU's special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, for the normalization of Serbia-Kosovo relations and the stability of the Western Balkans within the framework of Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe," said the mission of France in the Council of Europe through a post on X where it also tells about a meeting held, and where Lajcak was also a participant.

Gresa Caka-Nimani re-elected president of Constitutional Court (Koha)

Gresa Caka-Nimani has been re-elected as president of the Constitutional Court for another term. On Wednesday, the judges of the Constitutional Court re-elected Caka-Nimani as president, according to the announcement of this court.

Caka-Nimani had succeeded Arta Rama-Hajrizi at the head of the Constitutional Court in May 2021. Her mandate will be three years.

Osmani asks municipalities for greater contribution to elimination of gender-based violence (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has asked the municipalities of Kosovo to make a greater contribution to eliminate gender-based violence. Osmani, in a meeting with the Council of Mayors of the Association of Municipalities on Wednesday, said that it is necessary for the victims of gender-based violence to be supported at the local level.

She has said that she supports the municipalities' request for additional budget to increase security in social work centers.

The President of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, Agim Aliu, criticized the government for lack of cooperation, after complaining that their requests are not being addressed.

After the introductory speeches, the meeting of President Osmani with the mayors of the municipalities continues closed to the media.

Haxhiu: Opposition is not demanding Radojicic’s surrender, but investigation of Kusari-Lila (Albanian Post)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu described the opposition's request for the dismissal of the head of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, after the publication of the audio recording where she is heard talking to Milan Radojicic, as an attempt to divert attention from the failure to go to early elections.

"An opposition that does not ask Serbia to hand over a terrorist who committed a terrorist attack in Kosovo, did not ask international partners to put pressure on Serbia to hand over the terrorists, now they have asked for an investigation into Mimoza Kusari", she said in a statement to the media.

Tahiri: Regular general elections on January 12 or February 16 next year (media)

Head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group, Besnik Tahiri, in an interview with Kanal 10 on Tuesday, said that regular general elections will be held on January 12 or the latest on February 16 next year. He argued that starting in August this year, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani should start consultations with the political parties to set the date for elections.

Peci: Serbs working in Zvecan municipality fear the Serbian List (media)

Ilir Peci, mayor of the municipality of Zvecan, in an interview with Tirana-based A2CNN, argued that Serbs living in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo are afraid to work with public institutions run by Albanian mayors fearing retaliation from the Serbian List. He said that even Serbs working in the municipality are careful not to appear on camera and they travel to work using taxis so that their vehicles are not identified. “I see that the officials working in the municipality have great fear from the Serbian List. Some of them walk on foot or come to work with taxis, because they fear for their vehicles being seen in front of the municipality. They said they fear that their vehicles will be set on fire, they really fear the Serbian List,” he said.

Zeka: Govt’s failure to implement pledges cracked relations with U.S., EU (EO)

Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, Arian Zeka, in an interview with the news website, said that without the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and the implementation of agreements reached in the dialogue process, Kosovo cannot count on serious direct foreign investments. He argued that senior U.S. officials have questioned the seriousness of the Kosovo Government to safeguard the special relations with the U.S., because of its failure to implement the obligations assumed before the international partners. He also said that the government’s failure has led to cracks in relations both with the U.S. and countries of the European Union.

Zeka also said that the decision to ban the import of goods from Serbia and the enforcement of the new regulation of the Central Bank, reveal a destructive approach by the government and lack of coordination with the international partners.

“Conservative list”, including some VV MPs, expected to be created (Nacionale)

The news website learns that a new political movement is being formed, more precisely a list including several conservative politicians, around 10 of them, which is being discussed for some time now, and with the aim of running in the next general elections. Citing unnamed sources, the news website notes that the list is expected to include several current MPs of the ruling Vetevendosje Movement (VV), former government ministers, former MPs and well-known political activists that have conservative positions. According to the same sources, VV MP Eman Rrahmani and some other VV MPs, who opposed several initiatives of the Kurti-led government, are now communicating with several people outside VV to prepare a list with several names. Sources claim that the plan is to finalize the list in the coming weeks and that it is going open to negotiations with VV and other parliamentary parties, PDK and LDK.

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

The State Department calls for a fair legal process for those arrested in Serbia for suspicion of war crimes (RFE, KiM radio, Danas)

The US State Department called on Serbia to conduct a fair and transparent legal process in the case of Tefik Mustafa, who was arrested on June 1 at the Merdare crossing on suspicion of having committed a war crime in the late 90s, reported Radio Free Europe.  In the meantime, the High Court in Belgrade ordered 30 days of detention for Mustafa. 

"We call on the institutions of Serbia to guarantee a fair and transparent legal process in this case, as well as for any other arrest, in accordance with the rule of law," the State Department said in a response to RFE. 

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dacic, announced on June 1 that Tefik Mustafa was arrested on suspicion of committing war crimes against the civilian population in Kosovo. As he specified, Tefik Mustafa, as a member of the KLA, was mentioned in witness statements as a participant in the kidnapping of police officers Goran Marinkovic, Zivojin Pavic and Predrag Milosevic on June 19, 1999, near Labljan on the Pristina-Gnjilane highway, after which all traces of them were lost. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo informed the Quint countries, USA, and Great Britain about this arrest, assessing that this was an arbitrary arrest, and the international community was asked to take steps for Mustafa's immediate release.

In the last three years, several citizens of Kosovo have been arrested in Serbia on suspicion of having committed war crimes.

On April 17, Serbian authorities arrested a Kosovo citizen, Sadik Duraku, who also holds British citizenship, on charges of war crimes in 1999. He was arrested on the border between Croatia and Serbia and ordered to be detained. His detention was recently extended for another 30 days.

His family members said that the charges against Duraku do not stand up and that he lived with his family in England before the 1999 war.

Kosovo PM Albin Kurti stated at the beginning of the year that, as he said, Serbia is conducting unjust and malicious arrests of Kosovo citizens.

Sladjana Radovic detained at the Jarinje crossing (KiM radio)

KiM radio reported that Sladjana Radovic from Leposavic, a member of the Kosovo Serb Party and councilor in the Leposavic Municipality Assembly, was detained at the Jarinje border at 10:30 a.m, announced this party. 

In the statement of the Party of Kosovo Serbs (PKS), it was stated that "the alleged reason for her detention and mental harassment, according to the police, is 'untimely declaration of property from 2017'".

"This today's case of our Sladjana Radovic is another clear proof that the laws in Kosovo apply selectively, and especially zealously applied to Serbs," it was added.

It was also stated that "bandits from Self-Determination who burned and destroyed EULEX and Kosovo Police vehicles today lead the Kosovo MIA".

"While their colleagues who threw tear gas in the parliament of Kosovo are magically freed from responsibility in staged court processes," the announcement stated. 

"At the same time", as the PKS added, "Serbian mothers, wives and grandmothers are detained and mistreated for banal reasons."

"Serbs are instilled with fear and it is made known that in Kosovo the law is not the same for everyone and that it is applied on an ethnic basis," it was stated.

In the statement of the PKS, it is concluded "that they are especially worried, but at the same time sobered by the silence of Quint and EULEX on the now daily persecution and mistreatment of Serbs".

Simic: There were more talks between Kusari Lila and Radoicic (Kosovo Online)

Former Vice President of the Serbian List Slavko Simic told Dukadjini that there were other talks between the head of the Self-Determination parliamentary group Mimoza Kusari Lila and Milan Radoicic, reported Kosovo Online. 

"Like I said, there were a lot of other conversations that took place," Simic said.

His answer, Dukadjini recalls, came after the last publication of the conversation between Kusari Lila and Radoicic, which Prime Minister Albin Kurti described as a "fictional situation".  

Peci: She took documents by force to register them in parties; Tomanic: It's a pure lie, he is justifying himself because I announced the lawsuit (KoSSev)

KoSSev reported last night about a new series of accusations by the current mayor of Zvecan against his recent deputy, which he used to justify last week's decision to dismiss her. "He is free to say whatever he wants; he has no argument. He is only defending himself to wash away his wrongdoings," answered Natasa Tomanic. She announced that she will soon file a lawsuit, complaining that she was fired in an illegal manner.

The deputy mayor of Zvecan was dismissed from her duties last Thursday at the session of the MA. 

On the same day, Ilir Peci began a series of accusations against Tomanic with statements to the Pristina media, claiming that she allegedly "exceeded her authority several times", that she "put pressure" on the Serbs employed in the municipality, even saying that three of them quit their jobs because of her. 

On the same day, Tomanic denied Peci's allegations, and responded to the accusations in the same way, that is, she labeled Peci as someone who "misuses public money." She also accused him of "malfeasance" in connection with certain employment contracts, social assistance, and certain projects. At the same time, she said that the municipal management allegedly discriminates against the Serbs who work in this institution.

KoSSev reported that yesterday allegations continued. 

Peci told Pristina's Kallxo that Tomanic allegedly tried to "force" employees in the municipality to join certain parties. "She went and forcibly took the identity cards of the officials in order to vote and register them in different parties. She did it continuously and three Serbian officials resigned," Peci said, according to Kallxo.

He even said that some officials told him:

"If you don't replace the vice president, then 30 Serbian officials will resign."

KoSSev asked Tomanic to comment, whereby she said that ''everything he said is a lie". 

Tomanic claimed that Peci started a "media war" after she announced that she would file a lawsuit against him, and among other things, because she considers the dismissal decision to be invalid, as it was made at a meeting she did not attend.

"Since there is nothing left for him to lie about and invent, after I announced a lawsuit for violation of labor rights, for discrimination, for defamation and I told Mirsad Kelmendi (an employee in the municipality), who gives him all the information, then (Peci) called the media to 'wash away' his deeds," stated Tomanic.  She emphasized that she would file a lawsuit "very soon," but added that she was told that Peci would also file a counterclaim.

"Let him sue me and let's see who's lying and who's not, I can take a polygraph, it's no problem for me," she said.

The former deputy mayor of Zvecan emphasizes that she did not take ID cards from employees, nor did she require them to join any party, even stating that she herself is not party-oriented.

On the other hand, she says that she planned to form her own party in the future, and that she informed the employees about it and asked them to join her, if they wanted to.

"I did not take any identity card, nor did I force it, I said, whoever wants to, when I found the party, and not now, let him enter," says Tomanic, stating that on the way to her future career, she improves herself by participating in NDI seminars related to the future of women in politics.

At the same time, Tomanic rejected Peci's claims - that employees allegedly said they would quit if she was not replaced.

"Lie. They will be fired because the contracts have not been extended, because those are four-month contracts, because there is no possibility to extend their contract and then accuse me. The first time I extended them, I had the support of the government and the Ministry," she stated.

At the same time, Peci accused Tomanic of allegedly concluding an agreement with an Italian company for a facility owned by the municipality of Zvecan, stating that this was one of the reasons for the dismissal.

However, she denied these allegations as well.

"I didn't even have an ownership certificate to be able to sign the contracts," she briefly stated.

At the end of the conversation, Tomanic said that she learned about the dismissal from the media.

"They immediately typed the dismissal. And I'm glad that I'm no longer a member of that group that is in the municipality," she said.

''The municipality once, when it was a Serbian List, at least had a rating, but now it is a ''brothel''.

However, she adds that she has not yet received the decision on dismissal.

She announced that she would go to the municipality today to collect it, but also that she was told to collect it at the guardhouse. 

"It is not private property, but a state institution where I have the right to enter the municipality, and not to take over it at the guardhouse. They don't have the courage to say it to my face, and those are the ones who don't know and who are afraid," concludes Tomanic.

The municipality would have ceased to exist without the Serbs

Asked why workers are employed for a shorter period of time, Tomanic says:

"It is only a question of interest, so that the Serbs would enter the institutions and fulfill the quota. That is clearly the goal of the mayor. Because the municipality would not exist if there were no Serbs in the institutions. The moment there are no Serbs, the municipality shuts down," she said.

Tomanic, however, announced the future recruitment competition, but says:

"They set up a commission from Glogovac that will decide on Zvecan, and the members do not know Serbian - not a single word. So much for that equality," she stated.

Schieder: ODIHR recommendations not implemented (N1, Danas)

Andreas Schieder MEP expressed regret over the fact that ODIHR recommendations on election conditions had not been implemented by the Serbian authorities.

Schieder was part of the international observer mission at the mid-December parliamentary and local elections in Serbia.

Belgrade daily Danas quoted him as saying that it’s sad to see that the recommendations were not implemented, especially because the political system in Serbia has been increasingly unstable over the past few years with increasing authoritarian tendencies.

He said the elections were an opportunity for President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) to show the direction they want the country to develop in.

Schieder expressed hope that Serbia will take a constructive reform path towards rule of law and democracy as the biggest country in the region which has huge responsibility in securing peace and stability.

He warned that the Serbian authorities were not taking a path towards the European Union, adding that if Vucic, who he sees as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, continues trying to destabilize the region, the EU should consider freezing the expansion process among other things.

 

International 

 

OSCE publishes Western Balkans Trial Monitoring Report, with recommendations for judicial reform in Montenegro (osce.org)

The Western Balkans Trial Monitoring report “From Paper to Practice”, developed within the regional project implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, was published today with recommendations on how judicial response to organized crime and corruption cases in these five jurisdictions can be improved.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/26jhn8e8

Kosovo secures extra 26 mln euro from IMF (See News)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it will provide Kosovo with an extra 26 million euro ($28.26 million) to support its economic reforms, following the completion of the second reviews of the Stand-by Agreement (SBA) and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) for the Balkan country. The newly approved funding will be added to the existing 178 million euro support that the IMF decided to make available under the SBA and RSF last year in May, See News writes.

“Program performance under both arrangements remains strong. All quantitative targets have been met, and all structural benchmarks and reform measures for the second reviews have been implemented,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li was quoted as saying in a press release on Monday.

An additional 16.5 million euro will be made available under the existing 24-month precautionary SBA of about 100 million euro. An extra 9.5 million euro will be allocated to the RSF, originally amounting to 78 million euro. The RSF seeks to provide accessible funding to advance Kosovo's climate initiatives, particularly in energy efficiency and sustainable electricity.

Despite a challenging environment, Kosovo’s economy grew 3.3% in 2023, while annual inflation slowed to 2% in the first quarter of 2024. Fiscal policies remained prudent.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/otVye