Albanian Language Media: 

• Government: Financial support for "Trepca" depends on promise to resume increase in production (Koha)

• Gervalla appoints Nita Shala as Kosovo's ambassador to Italy (RTK)

• Members of KIA Supervisory Committee met director Petrit Ajeti (RTK)

• Kurti convenes Security Council, discuss fires and traffic safety (Koha)

• LVV MP asks Osmani: On what grounds did you not allow Konjufca to replace Kurti in the meeting? (Reporteri)

• Abdixhiku asks public actors to boycott RTK (Koha)

• FOL: Government has implemented 33% of 147 activities (media)

 

Serbian Language Media: 

• On the remains of the Dolac monastery near Klina: Albanians erase the traces of the sanctuary (KiM radio, Politika)

• Petkovic: Unlawful ban of dinar in Kosovo, the state will continue with regular payments (Tanjug, RTS)

• Residents of central Kosovo half a year without the dinar: We struggle to function, this is a crime (Kosovo Online)

• North Mitrovica: In addition to the ban on dinars, residents also worried about the shortage of certain products (Kosovo Online)

• Residents of Strpce: Without the dinar, life hard for both the people and the merchants (Kosovo Online)

• A forest owned by Serbs burned down in Susica, they suspect arson (KoSSev, KiM radio, Radio Mitrovica sever)

• Borrell condemned the attacks by bots from Kosovo on Djordje Bojovic, Viola von Cramon's assistant (NMagazin, Beta)

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Government: Financial support for "Trepca" depends on promise to resume increase in production (Koha)

 

The miners of "Trepca" have been refusing to go to the workplace for days due to non-execution of wages and working conditions. The government, in a statement issued on Thursday, has pledged to engage in finding a long-term solution to the "Trepca" issue, but has emphasized that financial support depends on the promise that expenses will be reduced and production growth will resume.

 

"At the same time, the Government is dealing with the plan proposed by the company Trepca Sh.A. The financial support depends on the concrete plan and commitment that the expenses will be reduced and the production growth will resume... There is no other way but intensive work and commitment, order, control and responsible management of the enterprise for success", the government statement emphasizes.

 

"The Ministry of Economy has supported the company with subsidies in the amount of 3.3 million euros, which is beyond the amount planned for the whole year. However, these funds have not been enough to ensure the coverage of operating expenses and employee salaries, which constitute a significant part of the company's expenses", the response states.

 

The government has also shown the expectations it now has from the Board and the management from which an action plan has been requested. "We expect the company's challenges to be addressed in a clear, effective and sustainable manner. In particular, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo expects the company to ensure an increase in revenue production and a decrease in expenses, as the only way to achieve stabilization of the company's operational and financial condition and regular employee compensation in a sustainable manner ", it is said further.

 

Gervalla appoints Nita Shala as Kosovo's ambassador to Italy (RTK)

 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla, has announced that from today the ambassador of Kosovo in Italy will be Nita Shala.

 

"Nita Shala is a law professor and lawyer with extensive professional experience in international institutions. She holds the title of doctor of sciences in law from the Graduate Institute-Geneva and has completed basic studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Pristina, master's studies in criminal justice at the University of Oxford and executive studies at Harvard, the Kennedy School of Government," Gervalla said.

 

She emphasized that relations with Italy will mark new steps of development and strengthening.

 

Members of KIA Supervisory Committee met director Petrit Ajeti (RTK)

 

The members of the Committee for the Supervision of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency have met the director of the KIA, Petrit Ajeti. A post on the website of the Assembly of Kosovo on the Facebook social network, informed that at the end of the spring session of the Assembly, they met the director of the KIA, Ajeti, in the central office of this institution.

 

"Members of the Commission for Oversight of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), at the end of the spring session of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, headed by Speaker Ganimete Musliu, met the director of the KIA, Petrit Ajeti, in the central office of this institution", the post says.

 

Kurti convenes Security Council, discuss fires and traffic safety (Koha)

 

On Thursday, the Security Council held a meeting in which, in addition to general issues, current challenges related to fires and traffic safety were also discussed. In an announcement from the Prime Minister's Office, it is stated that the meeting was invited by the head of the government, Albin Kurti. The announcement states that the security situation in Kosovo, the activities of the member institutions of this mechanism and the plans for the following period were discussed in this meeting.

 

"Among other things, general public safety issues and current challenges related to fires and traffic safety were discussed at the meeting. The institutions of the Republic of Kosovo in coordination have increased their activities to prevent but also keep under control the spread of fires, as well as other measures in the service of increasing traffic safety", the announcement states.

 

It is further emphasized that the institutions will increase their efforts also in the context of raising citizens' awareness in preventing the spread of fires and for increased safety in traffic.

 

LVV MP asks Osmani: On what grounds did you not allow Konjufca to replace Kurti in the meeting? (Reporteri)

 

The MP of the Assembly of Kosovo from the Vetevendosje Movement, Adnan Rrustemi, has criticized the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, who did not allow the Speaker of the Assembly and the deputy leader of the LVV, Glauk Konjufca, to participate in yesterday's consultative meeting for setting the date of the parliamentary elections.

 

"Prime Minister Kurti cannot be in two places at the same time, so he had to weigh: cancel the confirmed participation three weeks ago in the lunch with 21 ambassadors, or to go there and instead of him the first deputy and speaker Konjufca go with the political parties to President Osmani. He rightly chose the second one. The question that must be asked is: on what constitutional and legal basis does the President refuse to replace the head of the political entity (who is also the Prime Minister) with the first deputy leader (who is also the Speaker of Parliament)?", he wrote on social network Facebook.

 

Abdixhiku asks public actors to boycott RTK (Koha)

 

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, has asked public actors to boycott the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) to follow the example of what he says the LDK has been doing for a year and a half.

 

Abdixhiku's party decided to boycott RTK from February 2023 after the election of Rilind Gervalla as director of the Albanian-language channel RTK 1, 3 and 4. The LDK accused Gervalla of being a member of the Vetevendosje Movement.

 

In a status on Facebook on Thursday, Abdixhiku said that the LDK will not have any cooperation with the RTK without the dismissal of the militants of the ruling party who have been put in charge of the public medium. According to him, LDK has not reacted to the recent developments involving RTK, as he says that their position has been known for a year and a half. He added that they also realized the influence on RTK of the "politburo group from Tirana".

 

FOL: Government has implemented 33% of 147 activities (media)

 

"The Government of Kosovo, out of 147 activities planned to be carried out within the period of January-June 2024, has managed to carry out only 49 or 33% of them, while 59 or 40% of them have remained unrealized".

 

This is what Mexhide Demolli-Nimani, the director of the FOL Movement, said after monitoring the National Development Plan for the period January-June 2024.

 

"The Office of the Prime Minister - had foreseen only 16 activities to be carried out during the period January-June 2024 within the framework of the National Development Plan, of which 13 have been carried out and 3 have not been carried out", announced the FOL Movement.

 

Demolli-Nimani also listed the ministries that have not planned any activity for the first six months of 2024; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Communities and Returns.

 

According to them, the FOL Movement has made a comparison between the years of the implementation of the activities within the National Development Plan scheduled to be completed in the period January-June for the years 2022, 2023, 2024. In 2022, the level of implementation of the Government's Work Plan has turned out to be 48%, while in 2023 the Government of Kosovo has realized 34% and in 2024 this plan has realized only 33% for the first six-month period.

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

On the remains of the Dolac monastery near Klina: Albanians erase the traces of the sanctuary (KiM radio, Politika)

In a special, protected zone near the Dolac monastery in the municipality of Klina, the Kosovo authorities are building a road. It can be seen from the works on the expansion of the Pristina-Pec road that have been conducted so far that they will continue through a special and protected zone, which extends 50 meters around the monastery and the remains of the medieval fortification. In the internal reports of international organizations, it is said that it is impossible to conduct the works without entering the plots belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church, reported KiM radio.

The expansion of the road Pristina-Pec, on the section Kijevo village - Dolac village, is a project that could have bypassed this holy place, but this was obviously not taken into account, so to the questions, again of international officials, the municipality of Klina answered that it was responsibility of the central government in Pristina and that the local authorities are not aware of the expropriation and works. 

In avoiding answers and games about jurisdiction, due to illegal work endangering the sanctuary and facilities of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Church was the only one who was not contacted. And it was the only one (SOC) that the permission could be asked from for any work in the special zone established for churches and monasteries by international and local legislation, included in the constitution of Kosovo.

From church sources and from the international community, "Politika" learns that the Eparchy of Raska-Prizren reacted immediately and "expressed concern to international representatives about the construction of a road through a special protected zone around the Dolac monastery. It is clear that due to the widening of the road, the remains of the fortress and this legally protected medieval monastery and site will be undermined."

We photograph from the excavated ground and the future lane of the road leading to the monastery towers. The truck driver blows his horn. Littered garbage next to the neglected monastery path.

A few kilometers further towards Pec is the village of Grebnik and in it nine returnee families, through whose properties this road passes. 

Although an expropriation plan was made there, the four families have not yet received any compensation.

This entire region with the villages of Dolac, Grebnik, Drsnik, Kijevo, Mlecane had as its central point the Dolac monastery, which is located at the very entrance to the fertile plain of Metohija. It has been the spiritual, cultural, and national center of this region for more than 800 years.

Patriarch Pavle loved this shrine very much. It is a simple building on a high hill, surrounded by thick walls, which was mentioned as early as 1198 in the charters of Simeon Nemanja. Until the final fall under the Turks, Dolac was the monastery of Hilandar. Both are dedicated to the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Despite time, changes in government and destruction, three layers of paintings were preserved in the church - until the fatal bombing in 1999. "Saint Petka and Saint Lazar, although their faces are worn out, preserved the nobility of the light basic drawing placed in strong ocher and gray tones on a lime background", academic Gojko Subotic wrote about the first layer of painting of the Dolac monastery. Saint Lazar is a character from the Gospel and was resurrected by the Lord Jesus Christ, and this very rare portrait on the walls of Dolac is associated with the image of the Serbian prince Lazar, who died shortly before the creation of this fresco, recalled Zivojin Rakocevic for Politika daily, cited KiM radio among other things.  

Now, from the ruins of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Serbian returnee village of Dolac can be seen, almost without sound or movement. Heavy trucks and noise can be heard from the other side of the complex. Somewhere in between, on the eastern wall of the sanctuary, between the metal stumps and the burnt tar, the great snake had left its sheath.

"This is the first time I've seen this. The snake changed its clothes", says Stasa Tosic Lazovic. She stands precariously on one of the most beautiful viewpoints, looking towards Studenica Hvostanska, towards the places of Kos and Osojane - there, after her uncle, the national hero, Rados, the only Serbian elementary school in the whole area is named.

Although everything is a pile of broken stones, outlines of walls, fragments of paint on pieces of fallen plaster and traces of burnt candles that were lit in the place where the altar used to be - almost everything here is named after Serbs. They seem to be names and candles above eight centuries of prayers and uninterrupted life. The yellow drops from them on the plaques are small wax tears on this wall of prayer, weeping and history.

Petkovic: Unlawful ban of dinar in Kosovo, the state will continue with regular payments (Tanjug, RTS)

Half a year ago, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, put into question the survival of the Serbian people by illegally banning dinars, announced today the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, who pointed out that the state of Serbia will continue to regularly pay salaries, pensions, social and all other benefits.

"Through seven rounds of negotiations in Brussels, Pristina refused every constructive proposal from Belgrade. Kurti's only goal is to expel the Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija by causing a humanitarian disaster," Petkovic said on the X social network.

Petkovic pointed out that Kurti "jeopardized the work of hospitals, kindergartens, schools, attacked the socially vulnerable and the elderly, prohibited the payment of financial resources".

Residents of central Kosovo half a year without the dinar: We struggle to function, this is a crime (Kosovo Online)

Half a year has passed since the ban on the use of the dinar in Kosovo, and residents of central Kosovo still cannot withdraw their salaries and pensions in their towns but have to travel to the nearest crossing to collect their earnings. Citizens interviewed by the Kosovo Online portal say that a crime is being committed against them and that they are struggling to function.

Zoran Stevic emphasizes that he spends half of his pension on travel expenses.

"It is hard, we go to Serbia for our pensions. I spend money on taxis, I exchange it there for euros, and half of my pension is gone. I don’t hope that the dinar will return, what is gone will not come back," Stevic says.

Mileva Vucic points out that due to her age, she cannot travel alone to collect her pension.

"It is a redundant question, it’s known that it is very hard for us, especially for us older people, the young ones manage somehow. I think it is a crime, a real crime. My daughter works and helps me with this, otherwise, I couldn’t go to Serbia at my age, it’s absolutely out of the question," Vucic says, adding that she is optimistic that the dinar will be used again in Kosovo.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/5yda2ck5

North Mitrovica: In addition to the ban on dinars, residents also worried about the shortage of certain products (Kosovo Online)

Half a year has passed since the Central Bank of Kosovo abolished payment transactions in dinars, and in North Mitrovica, according to residents, the situation is getting worse. Everyday life is difficult, old, and sick people suffer the most, who have to travel to the first branch in Central Serbia for their income.

"We go to Raska, we buy there and that's how we supply ourselves. It made life difficult for us, of course. I should go sick, and the ambulance was coming to me. It's very hard... it's too hard," said an elderly citizen told Kosovo Online.

Her fellow citizen agrees with her, adding that for six months nothing is better but getting worse. 

In addition to the ban on dinars, citizens are also worried about the shortage of certain products, which, due to the ban on Serbian goods, do not arrive in Kosovo for a year.

"It's difficult, because we have to go to Raska to withdraw the money. No food, no goods. We are waiting for this issue to be resolved," a passer-by told the portal. 

Another resident of North Mitrovica assessed the current situation as very bad and added that pensioners suffer the most.

"A lot has changed, the situation is very bad, payment transactions have been abolished. It is very difficult for a dinar. Old people are at risk, primarily those who have to go to Raska or Brnjak, to withdraw that money. I don't know who withdraws their money. I can't tell you anything positive," he says.

Residents of Strpce: Without the dinar, life is hard for both the people and the merchants (Kosovo Online)

A full six months have passed since the adoption of a regulation by the CBK, which practically banned the use of the dinar in Kosovo, and the residents of the municipality of Strpce point out that the situation is becoming increasingly difficult, and that the hardest part for them is traveling, often to Bujanovac, to withdraw money.

Slavisa Dobrosavljevic from Gotovusa told Kosovo Online that the situation without the dinar is hard for both merchants and the people.

"It is much worse than it was, the dinar meant a lot to us Serbs. It is hardest for the merchants, but also for us. Merchants need time to get used to the euro, the dinar was our means of payment. It is very difficult, and it will continue to be," Dobrosavljevic said.

Julija Mladenovic observes that it is hardest for the elderly and the most vulnerable.

"Everyone's life has changed, especially for the most vulnerable, because they cannot go to the border crossing or places where they can exchange money. And for children who receive scholarships and cannot travel, as well as for people with disabilities," Mladenovic said.

Igor Simanovic points out that an additional problem when going to Bujanovac for dinars is the crowd at the border crossings.

"It's difficult, we go to Bujanovac. I went yesterday, and there was a crowd at the border," Simanovic told us.

Damjan Stamenkovic says he is used to paying in dinars and that this situation does not suit him.

"The younger generations are used to paying with cards, taking money from cards, or through mobile applications, and they cannot exchange the money on the card for dinars. Personally, I am not used to paying in euros, and it doesn't suit me as a Serb. There are also travel expenses, the border crossing is not close at all. We are in the south, and all this increases costs and makes the situation even more difficult," Stamenkovic said.

A forest owned by Serbs burned down in Susica, they suspect arson (KoSSev, KiM radio, Radio Mitrovica sever)

In the fire that broke out two days ago in Susica on the way to Janjevo, the entire ban (forest) of the owner Dj.J. and P.A burned, reported KoSSev, citing KiM radio. 

About 70 ares of forest burned, that is, 65 to 70 cubic meters of firewood, KiM radio learns. 

The fire engulfed low vegetation and bushes, and the trees were completely burnt.

The damage is estimated at around 4,000 euros.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and according to one of the owners, who owns an arable field next to the burnt forest, it is suspected that it was set, reported KiM radio.

Apart from the forest of the owner Dj.J. and P.A. the fields on the other side of the road also burned, which, as they point out, could not have been affected by the same fire.

"The case was reported to the Kosovo Police, which, based on the photos that Dj.J. has, compiled the report. The police did not go to the scene. The owners did not even receive a notification as to whether there will be a search for the perpetrators," reports KiM radio. 

Dj. J. and P.A. were directed to seek compensation from the competent authorities in the Municipality of Gracanica.

Borrell condemned the attacks by bots from Kosovo on Djordje Bojovic, Viola von Cramon's assistant (NMagazin, Beta)

Attacks on the assistants of MEPs are unacceptable, said the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

When asked by former member of the EU Parliament, Viola von Cramon, back in April, about the coordinated bot attacks coming from Kosovo on her assistant Djordje Bojovic, as well as Agon Maliqi and Flutura Kusari, who publicly supported Bojovic, Borrell admitted that he was powerless to do anything, reported NMagazin. 

"Experts at the EEAS have concluded that there is some degree of coordinated messaging and strategic cross-posting of the same messages from multiple accounts. However, since analysts are working with information available from open sources, it is impossible to make assumptions about the features of several accounts analyzed in this case," the written response stated.

He added that platform X, through which the anti-campaign was organized, is "obliged to assess and mitigate systemic risks, including real or foreseeable risks to electoral processes and civil discourse," under the Digital Markets Act.

However, Borrell failed to answer the part of the question that refers to the possible responsibility of the authorities in Pristina for "intentional spreading of disinformation and state propaganda", i.e. "investigating possible connections with the current Government of Kosovo", which the Kosovo government immediately denied.

Djordje Bojovic, von Cramon's advisor for the Western Balkans at the time, was the target of a social media campaign in March, which came from Kosovo and claimed that "Bojovic influences Viola von Cramon's position on this territory" and shared a video of his old speech taken out of context.

"For those who wonder why Viola is so often out of touch when it comes to Kosovo - Did you know that her chief parliamentary aide, a Serb, organizes her meetings with Russian spies, trips to Mitrovica where she meets with Serbian criminals," read the then post from one of the accounts on X.