Grida Duma has responded to reports published in recent days by several portals claiming that she could become deputy prime minister in Edi Rama’s government.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Duma described the reports about her return to active politics and possible appointment to a government post as untrue.

She mocked the allegations, saying that the articles about her had “set the deal,” “found the sponsor” and even determined the position she would hold.

“For several days now, my name has been circulating as someone who will be part of the Rama government. They have set the deal, found the sponsor and determined my position. I found it amusing at first and let it run its course. It is an exercise in patience,” Duma said.

According to her, a response became necessary when what she called “the pack of rumors” began to grow larger.

“I have to respond when the pack of rumors, in fact, gives no chance to someone who must keep standing a system that, in my view, needs to be entirely reformed. Sleep peacefully; I have no intention of taking anyone’s place, because if I wanted to take someone’s place now, at this political moment, it would be bad for Albania,” she declared.

Duma also spoke about the possibility of returning to active politics. She stressed that she was not waiting to be invited by anyone and that, if one day she decided to become involved again, she would do so only if she believed she had something to offer Albania.

“No one is calling me into politics, and I am not waiting for invitations from others. If one day I make my own decision to enter politics, I will enter through my own door; I will not knock on anyone else’s door, and I am not waiting for invitations. My decision to enter politics will depend on whether I have something to offer Albania.

For days now, ministers, officials and MPs have been meeting in Pogradec and Tirana. I think all Albanians have their minds on their own doors, wondering whether white smoke will emerge in this reality of governance under dark clouds, and they mistakenly believe that this is the Albanian concern. While these people worry about their posts and chairs, Albanians have one major concern: do they still have a place in Albania?” Duma said.

She said that Albania’s challenges could not be overcome by a single person, regardless of that person’s role or stature.

“There is a great pledge to be made, in fact, a pledge of Albanian humanity to speak about the major issues of development, which are no longer connected to the individual, whoever that may be. The individual, even if that individual were a miracle of God, can no longer bring about change alone in this situation. It takes much more than one individual to deliver what Albanians expect in these days of rebellion, when they refuse to accept the situation in which Albania finds itself, a situation completely beyond the reach of those Albanians who know what the West is,” she declared.

In closing, Grida Duma called on politicians not to focus on her name or the possible names in the government, but on the citizens’ real concerns.

“What should keep Albanian politicians awake is not a name coming from outside. What should keep Albanian politicians awake is the reason why Albanians are still asking: ‘Do they have a place in Albania?’—not my name,” Grida Duma concluded.

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The Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK J.S.C.) announced that Unit A3 has begun the start-up process following the successful completion of the necessary repairs, while synchronization with the power grid is expected to take place soon.

According to KEK, during this phase, for technological reasons, more pronounced smoke emissions may be observed for several hours. The corporation described this as a temporary phenomenon linked to the unit’s start-up process.

KEK asked the Municipality of Obiliq and residents for their understanding during this brief period, thanking them for their understanding.

KOSOVO ENERGY CORPORATION – KEK J.S.C.

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Textbooks purchased with state funds are not considered the personal property of students. Regulations stipulate that they must be kept in good condition during the school year and returned to the school at the end of it. If the books are lost or damaged, parents are responsible for replacing them.

Although this requirement is clearly defined, its implementation continues to face difficulties. Some subsidized books have been listed for sale on online platforms, while parents and institutions do not share the same position on how these textbooks should be managed and preserved.

At the “Emin Duraku” Primary and Lower Secondary School in Pristina, returning books at the end of the school year has been made a condition for completing the educational process. According to school officials, around 80 percent of students returned the textbooks they had used.

Visar Osmani, principal of the “Emin Duraku” Primary and Lower Secondary School in Pristina, told RTK that the school has enforced the rule since subsidies began to be provided through direct financial payments. He stressed that he did not issue documents to students until the books had been returned, as this was a requirement for completing the school year. According to him, since funds are allocated for each student, new books should be purchased and used for their intended purpose. Osmani said it was unfair to receive the funds and then misuse them, while children attended school with old books and completed workbooks, when the funds had been allocated specifically for new books and materials.

Despite schools’ requests for their return, state-funded textbooks can be found on online sales platforms, with asking prices ranging from 20 to 50 euros.

The Ministry of Education’s Administrative Instruction stipulates that these textbooks do not personally belong to students. They must be preserved and returned to the school when the school year ends, while parents must cover the cost of replacing books that are lost or damaged.

Anita Kadriu, director of the Department of Pre-University Education at the Ministry of Education, told RTK that, under the Administrative Instruction currently in force, this is the current year in which books are subsidized from level one through level nine. She explained that in the following year, subsidies under this instruction will cover levels one through five. Kadriu said that all students in Kosovo, in accordance with the legislation in force, are required to return teaching aids, textbooks and school materials to their schools at the end of the year. Any damage to a textbook, she added, must be compensated for by parents, meaning that preserving the books is the responsibility of each student.

Education experts believe that the issue is not a lack of legal rules, but their failure to be enforced.

Rinor Qehaja, an education expert, told RTK that the Law on Pre-University Education, the Law on School Textbooks and the Administrative Instruction on preserving school textbooks were adopted decades ago. According to him, the need to preserve textbooks is nothing new; what is surprising is the failure to do so and the lack of accountability when books are not returned. Qehaja said responsibility begins with schools, which, in his view, have so far not encouraged students to return textbooks, but also extends to municipal institutions and the Ministry of Education, which have failed to remind or hold other parties accountable for the obligations set out in legislation regarding the return of textbooks subsidized by the Ministry.

Argjend Osmani, also an education expert, believes that responsibility for looking after textbooks should be shared among all parties. He said that preserving books financed with taxpayers’ money should be a priority for the Government, as well as for students and parents. According to him, requiring parents to pay compensation for damaged or lost books is an appropriate measure, as it would also help raise awareness about preserving these textbooks for future generations.

In a written response, the Parents’ Council said that the requirement to return textbooks has existed for a long time but has not been adequately enforced over the years.

According to the Council, one reason is the poor quality of some books, including the paper used to produce them. It also emphasized that another problem is that some textbooks require students to write directly in them.

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The Kosovo Energy Corporation has announced that Unit A4 has entered the phase of returning to operation after the necessary rehabilitation work was successfully completed.

According to KEK, the start-up process has already begun, and the unit is expected to be connected to the electricity grid shortly through synchronization.

The corporation has warned that, during start-up, denser smoke may be observed for several hours due to technological processes.

KEK has asked the Municipality of Obiliq and its residents for their understanding during this brief period.

The commissioning of Unit A4 is expected to increase electricity generation capacity.

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After their summer holidays in Albania, emigrants have begun returning to Greece. The high volume of traffic has also been recorded at the Kapshtica border crossing, where long lines of vehicles have formed in the neutral zone.

During just three days, from August 17 to 19, 18,000 exits from Albania were recorded at Kapshtica.

The flow is expected to continue in the coming days, while the Albanian side is working at full capacity to process vehicles and travelers and reduce waiting times at the border crossing as much as possible.

Kapshtica is one of the main crossing points for Albanian emigrants who live and work in Greece and return to the country during the summer months to spend their holidays with their families.

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When the Albanian government finalized the ban on gambling in 2019, the official narrative promised to uproot a social plague that had filled every street corner in Albania.

At that time, there was no neighborhood without two or three betting shops, some of them near schools or places frequented by minors.

Seven years later, the Albanian government is preparing to legalize online sports betting again, which despite legal bans, has continued to operate informally.

After the law was passed in Parliament in 2024, the Ministry of Finance told BIRN that all by-laws have now been approved and the regulatory framework is considered complete.

“The system is ready from a legal standpoint, but the licensing competition has not yet been officially opened,” the ministry stated in a written response.

The new legislation promises the issuance of no more than 10 licenses to operators offering online platforms, with the essential requirement that these operators freeze a capital of at least 120 million lekë as a guarantee for winners and have proven experience in Western countries.

Although the law promises a limited online betting market to enable strict state monitoring, the process has raised concerns about a lack of transparency and the risk of creating a monopoly market.

On the other hand, Albania is reopening the betting industry completely unprepared to manage the inevitable addiction crisis — one of the main reasons this industry was temporarily outlawed.

The shift of gambling from physical outlets to a mobile phone screen turns it into a danger with unlimited 24-hour access in everyone’s pocket.

“Legalization does not create addiction, but it increases access to an activity that is potentially very dangerous for a part of the population,” says psychiatrist Neli Demi, who noted that the country had no specialized center and no national rehabilitation program, leaving the burden of addiction treatment entirely on the shoulders of families.

In response to BIRN’s questions, the Ministry of Finance said that preventing gambling addiction and protecting players and their families were among the main objectives of the law, but admitted that the law does not create any special scheme for these individuals.

Question marks over licenses

The gambling sector in Albania has fluctuated between anarchic liberalization and radical prohibition. The complete closure of 2019, as a continuation of the so-called “End of Madness” operation, outlawed a market that operated with over 4,000 physical outlets.

However, the legal ban did not erase gambling, but pushed it into the underground of informality and control by criminal networks, where neighborhood cafes turned into hidden collection points.

The entry into force of the new law is seen as an opportunity to emerge from illegality, although criticism is not lacking over the government’s marked lack of transparency regarding the competition process.

Currently, the competition has not yet opened. The Ministry of Finance said that “the decision to open the competition must be taken by the Licensing Commission” and only after this commission decides will AMLF publish the official call for applications.

Endri Meksi, a business invested for years in formalizing gambling, estimates that the black market for betting has an annual turnover of 2.5 billion euros and its formalization would bring about 20-22 million euros per year to the budget.

Nevertheless, Meksi is disappointed by the lack of institutional communication and the fact that no one yet has clarity on what will happen.

“The Minister of Finance is totally absent in this story, he doesn’t comment on anything,” said Meksi, implying uncertainty about the number of licenses that will be initially issued in the market.

“The Licensing Commission is the one that decides and can open a maximum of 10 licenses for competition, but it can open competition for one license. In that case, we would have a monopoly. It can open for three, let’s say, almost an oligopoly,” Meksi added.

Opposition representatives also think that the formal legal framework is hiding the core of a deeply clientelist scheme.

According to Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku, the law was passed before the state was truly ready for its implementation. Tabaku believes the whole scheme is designed to serve the interests of the government and people linked to it.

“The problem is not just the existence of online betting. The problem is who will get the licenses, how the beneficial ownership of companies will be verified, the real source of capital, the connections among shareholders, and whether the competitive procedure will be open,” Tabaku stresses, adding that without transparency, “the terrain where clientelist interests, dubious capital, and government decision-making can meet” is created.

For the opposition MP, the control mechanism for this phenomenon that creates social problems “must be under full parliamentary and public oversight from day one.”

Alarm bell for addiction

Even though the new law was supposed to create mechanisms against gambling addiction, bettors will apparently always have their betting point with them.

Mental health experts view this as a risk of increased uncontrolled addiction, in a country where the treatment infrastructure for such cases is nonexistent.

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Neli Demi warns that the exclusive “online” shift plays a much more dangerous role compared to physical outlets.

“From a clinical point of view, the shift from the physical betting point to the mobile phone changes the quality of exposure. If before you had to leave home, go to a betting point and this created some psychological ‘friction,’ now gambling can be in your pocket 24 hours a day,” Demi emphasizes.

This, according to him, increases the frequency of play, adds impulsivity—since the bet is placed within seconds—and reduces social control by the family, a significant risk factor especially for young people who are deeply connected to their devices.

Demi also stresses that the country lacks an organized system for treating these cases.

“We have no specialized centers for gambling addiction, no national rehabilitation programs, and most patients are treated within general mental health services or in private practice. This means that help exists, but it is fragmented and insufficient,” he added.

Demi appreciates some legal steps such as the electronic register for self-exclusion of players, but considers them minimal.

For its part, the Ministry insists that addiction will be combated through the legal mechanisms provided. Arguing protective measures, the institution cites that in addition to the national electronic register of excluded players, the law guarantees “player self-exclusion” and allows “the possibility for family members to request the blocking of a person’s access to gambling,” relying on new dedicated programs for player protection.

The Ministry also claims that a role will be played by the fact that “operators are obliged to publish information on the risks of addiction, the real chances of winning, and the structures that offer counseling or treatment for people with gambling-related problems.” But this appears to be on paper, as such counseling structures are almost nonexistent in the country./BIRN

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Acting Minister Fitore Pacolli has strongly condemned last night’s attack on the Berisha family’s home in Zvečan. She described the incident as an unacceptable act intended to spread fear and insecurity among Albanian families returning to their properties.

According to Pacolli, the Berisha family is a beneficiary of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo’s project to reconstruct and renovate homes. She said such attacks are intended to obstruct the implementation of state policies that guarantee citizens the right to return to and live on their properties.

The acting minister stressed that no barbaric act would stop citizens from returning to their homes in the north. According to her, these cowardly attacks will succeed neither in halting the families’ return nor in preventing the project’s implementation.

Pacolli said that the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning would remain committed to implementing this program in every part of the Republic of Kosovo.

Finally, she called on the competent authorities to solve the case as quickly as possible and to identify the perpetrators of the attack and bring them to justice.

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In a conversation for “Info Magazine”, KFOR Commander Ozkan Ulutash clarified the decision of the North Atlantic Alliance to review its military presence in Kosovo.

According to him, this step follows a careful analysis of the security climate in the country, which has shown continuous progress over recent years.

Ulutash emphasized that the optimization announcement is based on a joint assessment that the overall situation remains stable. However, he assured that the mission will continue to be fully functional and adapted to its tasks.

The commander wanted to highlight two key aspects. First, any adjustment in the number of troops will be measured and gradual, based on the reality on the ground and fully reversible in case of any serious development that could undermine local security or regional stability.

Second, he stressed that KFOR will maintain its equipment and positioning throughout Kosovo, so as to continue ensuring a calm and safe environment for all residents.

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The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council has rejected the request of five Serbian prosecutors and 15 administrative staff of the Basic Prosecution in Mitrovica to return to their positions, following resignations submitted in November 2022 during the mass abandonment of Kosovo institutions.

At that time, around 130 judges, prosecutors, and administrative staff withdrew from the justice system, while members of the Kosovo Police and local officials in the four northern Serb-majority municipalities—North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan, and Zubin Potok—followed the same path.

This organized action came in response to the Kosovo Government’s decision to replace Serbian vehicle license plates with those of the Republic of Kosovo, an initiative backed by the Serbian List, the main local Serb party funded by Belgrade.

According to jurist Blerim Burjani, the process of reviewing return applications should be based on an objective analysis, taking into account the reasons for leaving and the possible influences of criminal groups.

Burjani emphasizes that the return should not happen immediately, but in accordance with legal procedures through an open competition, where each applicant has equal chances and promises to act independently of political influences.

“A real and objective assessment is needed, analyzing the intentions and reasons for leaving, the incitement or pressure on them from the criminal structures of Radoičić and Vučić. I think facts and circumstances must be balanced. The request for return must be based on the laws in force. I think a competition should be opened and all those worthy of exercising work independent of politics should apply,” he told “Bota sot”.

“So, I think they, as part of the application, should sign a sworn statement to perform their duties independently of politics and political emotions. I think in a public competition everyone has the right to apply, but not to demand to return as if nothing happened, meaning an automatic return without reasons and motives,” he added.

Meanwhile, the acting President of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, announced that she has signed decrees for the dismissal of seven prosecutors from the Serb community, following the decision of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

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At its meeting held on July 20, the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) rejected a request by five Serb prosecutors and 15 administrative employees of the Basic Prosecution Office in Mitrovica to withdraw their resignations. They had left their posts in November 2022, during the collective withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions.

At the time, around 130 judges, prosecutors and administrative employees also left the justice system. Members of the Kosovo Police and local government officials in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north—North Mitrovica, Leposaviq, Zveçan and Zubin Potok—also submitted their resignations.

The withdrawal from the institutions followed a call by the Serbian List, the main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, which is backed by Belgrade. The move came in opposition to the Kosovo Government’s decision to replace vehicle license plates issued by Serbia with official Republic of Kosovo plates.

Legal expert Blerim Burjani says the former employees’ requests to return should undergo an objective review. According to him, the process should examine the motives that led to their departure, as well as the possibility that they may have been under pressure from criminal structures.

Burjani believes that reinstatement cannot take place automatically. He considers that the procedure should be conducted in accordance with the law through a public competition that guarantees equal opportunities for all candidates and requires them to pledge to perform their duties free from political influence.

He called for an impartial and realistic assessment of the intentions, causes, incentives or pressure that may have influenced their departure, including possible pressure from the criminal structures of Radoiçiq and Vuçiq. According to Burjani, the facts and circumstances must be weighed carefully, while any request for reinstatement must be based on the legislation in force.

In comments to “Bota sot,” Burjani said that a competition should be announced and that all individuals worthy of performing the duty independently of politics should apply. He added that, as part of the application, candidates should sign a sworn declaration pledging to act independently of politics and political emotions.

According to him, everyone has the right to apply in a public competition, but the former employees cannot seek to return as though nothing had happened, namely without providing reasons and motives for automatic reinstatement.

Meanwhile, today, Kosovo’s acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, announced that she had signed decrees dismissing seven prosecutors from the Serb community, following the decision of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council.

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