Albanian Language Media:

• Osmani, at invitation of Erdogan, to participate at Antalya Forum (media)
• Osmani meets Erdogan, Turkiye key partner for peace, security and regional development (media)
• Kurti received today Ambassador of Belgium to Kosovo, Gregoire Cuvelier (Klan)
• Begaj receives `Dr Honoris Causa` title: Connection with Kosovo, unwavering (RTK)
• Syla representing Kosovo in group for military assistance to Ukraine (RTK)
• Joint border crossing point with North Macedonia opens tomorrow (Klan) 
• PDK with final “block” to the vote for the assembly speaker from VV (Insajderi)
• New PDK and LDK MPs to register today in the Assembly (media)
• Kica Xhelili criticizes Kurti: The poorest citizens, with the highest electricity bills (media)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Djuric to participate at the fourth Antalya Diplomatic Forum (Tanjug, Blic)
• Hearing in case of Gavrilo Milosavljevic postponed, witnesses did not appear (Kosovo Online)
• Stanic: Serbia is preparing arguments for talks with the US, proposal to abolish tariffs possible (Kosovo Online)
• Preparations for going to Vucic's rally in Belgrade (KiM radio) 
• Price hike in Kosovo compared to last year (KoSSev)
• Central Belgrade closed down for weekend gatherings (N1)
• Police release Pescanik columnist Dejan Ilic (N1)

Opinion:

• Serbia, the bitter EU (balcanicaucaso.org)

International Media:

• Caught between Belgrade and Pristina, Kosovo’s Serbs face an uncertain future (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
• Western Balkans peace threatened by new military alliances? (DW)
• China Raises Tariffs on U.S. Imports to 125% (The New York Times)

Albanian Language Media 

Osmani, at invitation of Erdogan, to participate at Antalya Forum (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Tukiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan has traveled to Turkiye to participate in the fourth edition of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum. This year's forum, with the theme "Restoring Diplomacy in a Fragmented World", aims to address international challenges in a polarized global context, emphasizing the need for diplomacy to regain its role as a stabilizing and peace-building force.

President Osmani, at the Antalya Forum, will discuss the central theme of this year's edition, the restoration of diplomacy in a fragmented world. She will also hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from various countries around the world, with the aim of strengthening bilateral relations and deepening the international cooperation of Kosovo.

Osmani meets Erdogan, Turkiye key partner for peace, security and regional development (media)

In a Facebook post, she said that Erdogan is a leader who has always stood by Kosovo, in every challenge and in every success. “He is a powerful voice of friendship and shared vision. A proven friend of Kosovo, a powerful voice for our rights, and a strong pillar of support at every stage of our state-building.”

“Turkey is and will remain a key partner for peace, security and regional development. Our relations are more than friendship, they are a partnership built on trust, respect and a shared vision for the future,” said Osmani.

Kurti received today Ambassador of Belgium to Kosovo, Gregoire Cuvelier (Klan)

Kosovo government's announcement states that during the conversation between them, Kurti initially expressed gratitude for the support provided by Belgium in all stages of Kosovo's state-building. "He added that our country welcomes the additional troops that Belgium has sent within the framework of the KFOR mission, starting from April 1, 2025. Part of the discussion were also the possibilities for expanding cooperation in areas such as economy, investment, justice and the rule of law. The will and readiness to further deepen bilateral relations with the aim of strengthening cooperation were emphasized."

Begaj receives `Dr Honoris Causa` title: Connection with Kosovo, unwavering (RTK)

The President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj, expressed his gratitude and honor for the award of the title "Doctor Honoris Causa" by the Public University "Kadri Zeka" in Gjilan, emphasizing that this connection will be strong and inseparable for his entire life. "From today, my connection with the city and the university is great, but my connection with Kosovo is very great, and this connection will be always, everywhere, in every circumstance and situation", Begaj said.

He assessed this title as a continuous commitment to protect the interests of Kosovo, not only as the president of Albania, but also as a citizen of the nation.

Syla representing Kosovo in group for military assistance to Ukraine (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Shemsi Syla, is representing Kosovo with a five-member delegation at the meeting of the contact group for military assistance to Ukraine, which is being held in Brussels. This is the highest NATO forum, which was previously led by the U.S., and has now passed under the leadership of the Europeans, since the coming to power of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Joint border crossing point with North Macedonia opens tomorrow (Klan) 

On Saturday, the joint border crossing point “Hani i Elezit – Bllace” is expected to be inaugurated. The announcement of the acting government states that the opening will begin at 11:00 hours, and is being carried out in cooperation with the Government of North Macedonia. “This joint border crossing point is one of the two joint border crossing points envisaged under the Protocol of Implementation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia on the Joint Border Crossing Points Hani i Elezit – Bllace and Glloboqice – Jazince, signed in November 2024 at the joint meeting of the two governments,” the government announcement states.

PDK with final “block” to the vote for the assembly speaker from VV (Insajderi)

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has confirmed its final “block” to the vote for the Assembly speaker from LVV. The leader of PDK Memli Krasniqi has said that his party will not vote for the assembly speaker. Krasniqi made these statements during his registration as a member of parliament. He told reporters that they have not received any invitation for a meeting from the leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, Albin Kurti. He however added that they are constantly in talks with other opposition parties about forming a government in case Vetevendosje, as the winner of the elections, fails to form a government.

New PDK and LDK MPs to register today in the Assembly (media)

Following the conclusion of the parliamentary elections in Kosovo, the process of constituting the new legislature has officially begun. The registration of the newly elected MPs has begun in the premises of the Assembly, since Thursday, as a formal step preceding the constitutive session.

After the LVV MPs, registration is expected to continue today with representatives of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo. The registration of the MPs from the AAK-Nisma coalition and the representatives of the minority communities is planned for Monday. 

Otherwise, the constitutive session of the Assembly will be held on April 15, 2025. During this session, in addition to the swearing in of the MPs, the Speaker of the Assembly is expected to be elected and the first parliamentary structures to be formed.

Kica Xhelili criticizes Kurti: The poorest citizens, with the highest electricity bills (media)

The elected MP from the ranks of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Doarsa Kica Xhelili, has reacted harshly through a Facebook post on the eve of the decision of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) to increase the price of electricity. She recalled that Vetevendosje used to speak in a moralizing tone about the high cost of living and injustices against people. “The poorest citizens in Europe are paying the most expensive electricity bills,” she wrote, highlighting the contrast between the words of the past and the actions of the government today.

In her criticism, she also highlighted the recent statements of the Minister of Economy, who had mentioned the increase in electricity consumption due to drug cultivation, as well as the behavior of the representative appointed by the Government to the ERO, whom she accused of “insulting the intelligence of citizens every day”.

According to her, people are left to survive in a difficult economic reality, while the government, as she writes, behaves with a profound lack of responsibility and reflection, depending on political and electoral interests. At the end of the post, she recalled a statement by Kurti during the election campaign: ‘Do you remember the prime minister during the elections? “I knew I was strong, but I didn’t know I was this strong’. Kica Xhelili ironized these statements by saying “Martin was strong, Prime Minister. You are the weak one!”.

Serbian Language Media

Djuric to participate at the fourth Antalya Diplomatic Forum (Tanjug, Blic)

The fourth Antalya Diplomatic Forum (ADF2025), hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, will be held from April 11 to 13, with the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the technical mandate of the Government of Serbia, Marko Djuric. 

The forum in the Turkish city of Antalya will be held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the theme of this year's forum is "The Return of Diplomacy in a Fragmented World."

On the sidelines of the forum in Antalya, the head of Serbian diplomacy will have several bilateral meetings.

The forum will last three days and will gather more than 4,800 participants from more than 140 countries, including 19 heads of state and 64 ministers, including 52 heads of diplomacy.

The forum will be opened by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan, and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, the head of Hungarian diplomacy Peter Szijarto, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, the Minister for Europe and the Americas of Great Britain Stephen Doughty, the Secretary General of the OSCE Feridun Sinirlioglu, as well as the former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will also participate.

Among the participants are the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatovic, the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Goran Grlic Radman, members of the Presidency of BiH, the wife of the Turkish President Emina Erdogan, the head of UNMIK and the special representative of the UN Secretary General Caroline Ziadeh, the former President of Slovenia Borut Pahor, the President of the UN SDSN Jeffrey Sachs...

This year's forum theme reflects the urgent need to reassert diplomacy as a stabilizing force amid growing global divisions.

In an era of increased instability and unpredictability, marked by complex challenges and multiple crises, ADF2025 aims to assess the systemic problems of the multilateral order and encourage dialogue on the return of diplomacy, in a rapidly evolving international environment.

The Antalya Forum will bring together global leaders, policymakers, academics, business experts, as well as media and civil society representatives, to explore ways diplomacy can lead through a fragmented world and to find common ground for collective action.

Hearing in case of Gavrilo Milosavljevic postponed, witnesses did not appear (Kosovo Online)

Hearing in the case of Gavrilo Milosavljevic, accused of allegedly committing war crimes against civilian population in Dubrava prison in 1999, that was supposed to take place at the Basic Court in Pristina today, has been postponed as the witnesses did not appear, Kosovo Online portal reported.

Two witnesses of the defense were supposed to be interviewed today but they did not appear. Lawyer Dejan Vasic has requested postponement of the hearing, as he could not get in contact with them. Yesterday, two witnesses of the prosecution were interviewed.

Milosavljevic was arrested in December 2022, after coming to Istok to report his usurped property. Indictment against him was raised almost a year after the arrest, on November 23, 2023.  

Stanic: Serbia is preparing arguments for talks with the US, proposal to abolish tariffs possible (Kosovo Online)

Bojan Stanic, Assistant Director of the Sector for Strategic Analyses, Services, and Internationalization at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, told Kosovo Online that, according to unofficial announcements, a high-level meeting between Serbia and the United States is expected within the next month or two. A reasonable outcome may be reached regarding US tariffs on Serbian goods, potentially ensuring the sustainability of Serbian exports to the American market.

According to a decision signed by US President Donald Trump on April 2, tariffs on goods from Serbia were increased by 37 percent. However, on April 9, Trump postponed the implementation of the new tariffs for around 75 countries by 90 days to allow time for the negotiation of new trade agreements.

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

Preparations for going to Vucic's rally in Belgrade (KiM radio) 

KiM radio reported that Serbs from Strpce will go in an organized manner to the upcoming meeting in Belgrade, to which the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, invited. Dalibor Jevtic says that their task is to provide transportation. People travel to Belgrade from other majority Serbian areas. Milija Bisevac says that people are being blackmailed.

"When things need to be solved, you lead them to your mill, politically, party-wise. Always. Just like you will lead the team to Belgrade on Saturday. Serbian List (SL) will lead the team from here," said one of the citizens of Strpce to Mayor Dalibor Jevtic, otherwise the vice-president of SL, at yesterday's meeting in the Municipal Assembly there. To which Jevtic replied: "With pleasure."

Lawyer Stefan Stamenkovic then asked Jevtic if it was democratic, to which the mayor replied with the question: "Who are you to define what democracy is? You will define what democracy is...

"It's not democracy if you force someone to go," added Stamenkovic.

Jevtic, however, says that everyone goes voluntarily. He repeated the same in his statement to the media.

"Regarding the meeting on April 12, a large number of citizens have come forward who want to go to that meeting, and our job will be to organize transportation for them, both here in Strpce and in other areas. I know that there will be a really large number of our compatriots at that meeting who will go to support President Vucic, and I don't see anything controversial in that. That is the right of those people. Those stories about someone being forced in one way or another will always exist. It exists on both sides. You know, when someone else organizes another rally, I can say that someone forced someone to come today to protest. I don't think that's right. Therefore, no one can force anyone. People will go voluntarily," saif Jevtic.

He gives special support to the Serbs from Kosovo who are walking for days towards Belgrade to join the great national assembly. "No one understands better than the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija how important it is for our country to be stable, for peace, for there to be no problems, for any type of instability to negatively affect our life and position here. I feel that in the conversation with the representatives of the international community".

That is why it is logical, he says, that Serbs from Kosovo will be at the meeting in Belgrade tomorrow.

When asked where and to whom the citizens applied to go to Belgrade, Jevtic answered: "Do I now need to bring you one person at a time? They called, what is interesting is that it is a large number of young people and pensioners. So, some of them reported to party bodies, some of them reported to institutions, asked, inquired in one way or another, through social networks, one way or another. I don't know what kind of evidence you are looking for, I don't know why you find it controversial in general?!".

He says that "nobody should be bothered by the fact that Serbs want to go and support President Vucic". "Regardless of the views. We respect democracy, there are different views, but democracy means the majority. I think the vast majority, and the last elections prove it, support the policy led by President Vucic, or here, if you like, Serbian List. This is expressed through votes, there is nothing in dispute there."

Also, according to KiM radio, from other areas in Kosovo people are going to ''great people's assembly". As this media unofficially learns, employees in Serbian institutions, health, education, local self-governments that were closed in January, as well as members and sympathizers of the Serbian List and SNS, will leave central Kosovo. Some of them also with their cars.

Because of the rally in Belgrade, a gathering of dissatisfied citizens who have been protesting for days about the employment process in health institutions in central Kosovo is also canceled. Their gathering was announced for tomorrow and Sunday at 12, but it was canceled due to Vucic's rally. The participants of the protest, however, did not want to say whether they were going to Belgrade.

Bisevac: This turns into a kind of repression

According to KiM radio's learning, the departure of Serbs from the north of Kosovo is also planned. From North Mitrovica and Zubin Potok, for now.

Milija Bisevac from the Serbian People's Movement told KiM radio that lists of citizens' names are being made, but that those who are dissatisfied are not ready to speak about it publicly. Bisevac expects that employees of Serbian institutions and members of the Serbian List will travel to Belgrade.

Bisevac adds that this is already an established practice. "We are used to the fact that the Serbian List and its representatives invite citizens to participate in rallies that are organized in central Serbia, in Belgrade and other places, we have had cases before. However, when politics becomes repression, i.e., when high-ranking officials of the SL and representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo use state instruments, it is not good. "You saw yesterday at the protests in Strpce how people rebel against such people who have been managing those institutions for years and who are appointed from Belgrade, and who have never been elected to the Provisional Bodies, then it turns into a kind of repression," says Bisevac.

Bisevac claims that people are invited to go to the meeting to "sustain livelihoods". "They are being blackmailed with those 20,000 famous dinars, the ones president announced earlier, but again we see that it is divided into party functions, to blackmailed people for whom this is the only livelihood, and then they have to participate in such rallies and other party activities of the Serbian List," says Bisevac.

The SNP leader, however, adds that people are slowly being freed and more and more frequently point to irregularities in the work of institutions and pressures, and he emphasizes that the student protests led to the liberation of the people in Kosovo.

Price hike in Kosovo compared to last year (KoSSev)

Prices of basic commodities have increased in March 2025, compared to the same period last year. According to the Kosovo Statistics Agency, the harmonized index of consumer prices increased on average by 2.9 percent compared to March 2024, KoSSev portal reported, citing Pristina-based Koha.

This price hike is a consequence of prices hikes in the following groups of products and services, coffee, tea and cacao (17.1 percent), vegetables (8.7 percent), meat (8.3 percent), services of personal transportation means (7.6 percent), milk, cheese and eggs (7.1 percent), fruits (6.7 percent), alcohol beverages (6.3 percent), newspapers, books and office material (6.2 percent), hotel services (5.8 percent), mineral water and non-alcohol beverages (5.4 percent), footwear (5.4 percent), financial and medical services (5.3 percent each).

Also consumer prices increased compared to the previous month, February 2025. Monthly inflation stands at 0.8 percent, the portal added.  

Central Belgrade closed down for weekend gatherings (N1)

Parts of central Belgrade were closed to traffic on Friday in preparation for 2 public gatherings which Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic scheduled for Saturday.

The gatherings will be held under the titles Belgrade Family Days and Not Giving Up Serbia. The president is planning to set up the Movement for the State and People at the gatherings. The center of the Serbian capital will be virtually closed to traffic over the weekend. Public transport has been redirected and streets around the Serbian Parliament and central Slavija Square will be closed. Make-shift white tents have been put up on the street outside parliament in front of a large stage.

The opposition is claiming that the gatherings are an attempt to counter the months of protests and mass gatherings by students and their supporters following the Novi Sad Railway Station tragedy which claimed 16 lives. Some politicians and analysts are saying the gathering recalls the Milosevic-era counter-rally organized in response to months of protests in Belgrade by the opposition in the mid-1990s.

Tractors were escorted into the city by the police overnight to be deployed around the park outside the Serbian Presidency building where supporters have been camping in tents since mid-March. Vucic went on a late-night visit to the camp on Thursday, accompanied by some media crews.

Police release Pescanik columnist Dejan Ilic (N1)

Pescanik columnist Dejan Ilic was released by the police on Thursday evening after being questioned, the Pescanik portal and Internal Affairs Ministry (MUP) said.

“Following interrogation in the New Belgrade police station in the presence of a prosecutor and lawyer, the detention measure against Dejan Ilic was revoked,” a MUP press release said adding that he was summoned to the station, ordered into detention by the prosecution on suspicion of causing panic during a live appearance on N1 and Nova S TVs. “He was released after interrogation under a decision by the prosecutor and criminal charges for causing panic and unrest will be filed against him,” the press release said.

A Pescanik X post simply said that Ilic had been released. Ilic was summoned to the New Belgrade police station for questioning about statements made on live TV.

Ilic told the FoNet news agency after his release that “only a moron could believe that I caused panic”. He said he would not change a single word of what he said on live TV. “Nothing will change, I’m going on as I did so far,” he said and added that he was treated well in detention.

Ilic said in a live appearance on Nova S on March 29: “You can choose – either open the door to these people, and the opening of the door is a transitional government, or you reconcile yourself to blood on the streets, the loss of I don’t know how many lives to get rid of them”.

Opinion

Serbia, the bitter EU (balcanicaucaso.org)

By Danijela Nenadic

After decades of unfulfilled promises and months of protests against President Vučić, many in Serbia no longer see the EU as a sincere interlocutor truly interested in the democratic future and human rights in the country. A bitter comment from our correspondent

A banner reading “Here you have Vučić and stabilitocracy, leave us lithium and democracy” best depicts the feelings of the majority of Serbian citizens towards the European Union and its attitude towards the ongoing protests in Serbia. This slogan sums up what I think today about the (in)action of the EU.

I am no longer surprised by the double standard policy – or perhaps it would be better to call it hypocrisy – of the European Union. The fact that Ursula von der Leyen and her ilk pat the Serbian president on the back, calling him a guarantor of stability and peace, is certainly noting new either. We have swallowed bitter pills many times supporting Serbia's European path. We had no other choice. The EU, as it is, is the best option we have in this part of the world.

Maybe we, the citizens of Serbia, are the ones to blame. We look at Brussels and the capitals of the member states that continuously emphasize the importance of the rule of law, protection of human rights, functioning institutions, the fight against corruption, not only for the candidate countries, but also for the member states of the Union.

So, we naively think that the EU and its institutions should react to the blatant violation of the right of Serbian citizens to participate in free and fair elections. However, we do not expect the EU to notice these violations on its own, so we provide a lot of concrete evidence to show that the elections in Serbia are anything but free and fair, a mockery of democracy.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4a5ckz4e

International

Caught between Belgrade and Pristina, Kosovo’s Serbs face an uncertain future (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

In the long-running standoff between Serbia and Kosovo, ethnic Serbs in Kosovo find themselves increasingly isolated. As political pressure mounts from both sides, tens of thousands are left asking the same question: Should we stay or go? A report on a marginalized community caught in the middle.

High above the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica stands a brutalist monument from the Yugoslav era: two massive concrete pillars bearing a stylized mine cart. It honors the miners, both Albanian and Serb, who fought and died together resisting the Nazis during World War II. Once a symbol of Yugoslav unity, the site now looms over a region where that brotherhood has long since fractured.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/4numa9sy

Western Balkans peace threatened by new military alliances? (DW)

Croatia, Albania and Kosovo recently formed a new military alliance. Serbia and Hungary responded with their own military ties. Do these new alliances threaten the security situation in the region?

Every Serbian media outlet, whether newspapers, TV stations or websites, has praised the military alliance between Hungary and Serbia signed in Belgrade earlier this month.

Shortly afterwards, the Republika Srpska, the Serb-run part of Bosnia also announced its intention to join the "new military alliance".

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3dz3erdh

China Raises Tariffs on U.S. Imports to 125% (The New York Times)

Beijing’s retaliation came after the White House raised its tariff on Chinese goods to 125 percent, on top of an existing 20 percent tax.

China responded to President Trump’s tariffs on Friday, raising its own tariffs on American goods to 125 percent, from 84 percent.

The announcement by China’s State Council came after Trump administration officials clarified on Thursday that China was now facing a minimum tariff rate of 145 percent on all exports to the United States. China said its new tariffs would take effect on Saturday.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/ycy4a68r