On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Bedri Hamza, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, commemorated the victims and praised the partnership between Kosovo and the United States.

He stressed that Kosovo will continue to stand by the US, both in moments of joy and during periods of pain and whenever respect is called for.

Hamza on September 11: Kosovo will always stand by the US

“We are here to honor the victims of September 11, to pay our respects to those who lost their lives in these events, and to express our respect for and appreciation of our partnership with the US. We are grateful and deeply thankful, and we will always stand with them—in moments of joy, as well as in times of pain and when there is a need for respect,” Hamza said.

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According to an instruction issued by the Ministry of Education, 408 is the number of schools benefiting from the after-school program. In the 2026–2027 school year, the “After School” program in the pre-university education system is expected to begin implementation in September at a large number of schools across the country, 50 of them in Tirana and two in Kamëz.

Another group of schools and upper secondary schools will be included in the “Arts and Crafts” program.

This program is organized outside regular school hours and aims to reinforce learning, develop students’ academic, social, cultural, sporting and creative skills, and support their all-round development.

This is the list of schools in the capital, selected based on favorable conditions, including functional spaces and schools operating in a single shift and not undergoing reconstruction.

According to the same instruction, already published in the Official Gazette dated 27/08/2026, the structure and duration of the activities are organized as follows:

In primary education, grades 1–5: Homework Support (BDSH) and Arts and Crafts Clubs (KAZ)

b) In lower secondary education, grades 6–9: Arts and Crafts Clubs (KAZ)

c) In upper secondary education, grades 10–12: Arts and Crafts Clubs (KAZ)

Students’ participation in the program is based on a request from a parent or the person exercising parental responsibility, submitted through an application in SMIP. Meanwhile, student groups for each type of program are formed in accordance with the standards, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 participating students, as stipulated in the order of the minister responsible for education. In addition to the teachers engaged in the project, candidates on the waiting list, as well as teachers who have recently retired, will also benefit from it.

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The trial of Xhelal Sveçla in the case involving the use of tear gas in Parliament has concluded, and the court’s decision will be made public on September 2.

In its closing statement, the Prosecution requested that Sveçla be found guilty and punished in accordance with the law. In support of its request, it presented evidence and testimony which, it said, proved that the criminal offense had been committed.

Prosecutor Avni Namani said that a CD admitted as material evidence, containing a recording of the parliamentary session, shows Sveçla activating a tear-gas canister and throwing it into the plenary hall.

Namani said that after the gas spread, those present left the hall. The Prosecution also referred to a photo album prepared by police officers, which, it said, shows tear-gas canisters found in the plenary hall, both activated and unactivated.

According to the prosecution, the crime-scene report contains a total of 18 pieces of material evidence, most of them tear-gas canisters.

The defense, meanwhile, requested that Sveçla be acquitted, arguing that it had not been proven that he committed the criminal offense for which he is on trial.

Attorney Luar Prenaj said that the conclusions of the expert examination do not correspond with his client’s actions. He added that the video footage also does not show the symptoms described in the indictment among the deputies present.

In his final statement, Sveçla said that the action for which he is standing trial was part of a political activity aimed at opposing and preventing the ratification of the demarcation agreement with Montenegro.

“How is it possible that no one is held accountable for the loss of territory, but criminal responsibility is sought for preventing it?” Sveçla said. He said that the territory which, according to him, should have been defended is no longer part of Kosovo’s territory.

After hearing the final positions, the presiding judge, Sabit Sadikaj, closed the trial. The verdict will be announced on September 2.

During the hearing on April 10, 2026, Sveçla pleaded not guilty to the criminal offense attributed to him.

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The Belgrade-based citizens’ association “Badnjak” has announced that it will organize a three-day pilgrimage from the Serbian capital to Kosovo on September 26, 27 and 28. During the trip, participants are expected to visit churches, monasteries and settlements where Serbs live.

The program begins on the first day with visits to the church in Babin Most, the monasteries of Sushica and Gračanica, as well as the church in Ferizaj. The group will then travel to Hoça e Madhe, where it will visit the Church of St. Archdeacon Stephen. A group dinner is also planned in this locality, while the pilgrims will spend the night with local families.

On Sunday, September 27, participants will attend a liturgy in Rahovec. After it concludes, they will continue to Prizren, where they will stop at the Church of St. Paraskeva, the Cathedral of St. George and the Orthodox Seminary of Prizren.

The Prizren itinerary will be followed by a visit to the Monastery of the Holy Archangels. The group is also scheduled to have dinner and spend the night at the monastery.

In the early hours of September 28, the pilgrims will depart for the Deçan Monastery, where they will attend a liturgy. They will then visit the Patriarchate of Peja and the church in Vitomirica, while their return to Belgrade is scheduled for late in the evening.

According to the organizers’ announcement, the trip will cost 90 euros per person. The same announcement also mentions a humanitarian component, but does not specify what it will include.

Pilgrimage trips from Serbia to Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo take place regularly. An article published by KoSSev notes that demand for such multi-day itineraries is high and that some organizers schedule several dates throughout the year.

So far, “Badnjak” has not clarified whether it will hire a tour guide licensed by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo for this visit.

Since August 1, Kosovo’s institutions have begun implementing the Law on Tourism. Among other things, the law requires a guide licensed by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo to be present during every tourist visit, even if the organizers have hired a “foreign” guide.

“Kosovo’s Law on Tourism stipulates that a foreign guide who is not registered in Kosovo may accompany a foreign group as a tour escort, but while providing guiding services, they must be accompanied by a guide registered in Kosovo. The law does not stipulate that a religious pilgrimage in itself is considered a tourist guiding service,” the law states, according to KosovaPress.

Kosovo regulations tie the licensing requirement to the provision of a professional tourist guiding service. At the same time, priests, monks and religious representatives who accompany believers as part of their spiritual role are not considered tour guides solely because they accompany them.

Nevertheless, the issue has prompted strong reactions, including from the highest levels of the Serbian state and from the Orthodox Church. Representatives of the latter have said that visits by believers to monasteries should not be treated as commercial tourist tours, as these are places of worship, prayer and monastic life.

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Among the main problems that continue to harm farmers and the sector’s competitiveness are low subsidies for agriculture and livestock compared with countries in the region, high production costs, a lack of irrigation infrastructure, and the removal of excise-free diesel.

Because of these difficulties, farmers and livestock breeders have warned that they will resume protests at the beginning of September if the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development does not take their demands into account.

During the first week of September, representatives of farmers and livestock breeders are expected to submit a series of demands to the Ministry of Agriculture, mainly concerning the national agricultural scheme, subsidies, VAT and production costs.

According to members of the Association of Dairy-Producing Livestock Breeders, one of the main demands will be a review of the national scheme, particularly the removal of thresholds for receiving direct reimbursements for livestock.

Livestock breeders will also demand that the subsidy for cows be increased from 12,000 to 20,000 lek per head, that VAT be reduced, and that the labeling of domestic dairy products be regulated, as these products are made with fresh but imported milk.

If these demands are not reflected in the fiscal changes and the national scheme for 2027, farmers are warning of protests.

According to them, there is now discussion of having tractors take part in the protest, taking the fulfillment of their demands beyond the usual forms of protest that farmers have organized in the past.

Subsidies and excise-free diesel remain the farmers’ main demands.

For livestock breeders, the main issue remains the difference in state support compared with countries in the region. Dashamir Çela, who runs a farm with 60 cows in the village of Samaticë in Berat, has stated that the lack of competitiveness is making it increasingly difficult to continue the activity.

According to him, livestock farming is going through its most difficult period. The lack of competitiveness is one of the main problems faced by the few livestock breeders who remain in the country.

We produce at high cost because of a number of problems affecting the sector, ranging from the high price of diesel and the lack of irrigation canals to low subsidies.

He emphasizes that, currently, a livestock breeder in Serbia receives direct subsidies of 350 euros per cow, as well as 16 lek for every liter of milk produced. In total, a livestock breeder with a farm similar in size to his receives 45,000 euros in subsidies per year.

With such support, the farmer in Serbia and other countries in the region has a profit guaranteed by the state. As a result, he sells milk more cheaply than the Albanian farmer, almost at the level of production costs.

Meanwhile, we receive only 12,000 lek in subsidies per cow and, following the latest changes to the scheme, subsidies for calves have been eliminated.

He says that a review of subsidies—which would mean increasing their amount and removing thresholds for the number of animals—remains one of the sector’s main demands, for which a solution is being sought through fiscal interventions in the drafting of the draft budget and the upcoming fiscal package.

According to livestock breeders, these differences with countries in the region are directly affecting milk prices and processors’ supplies.

According to agricultural experts in Kosovo, subsidies reach 600 euros per cow. In North Macedonia, farmers receive 250 euros per cow, plus 10 lek per liter of cow’s milk produced. In total, annual support for milk reaches around 900 euros.

This difference in the level of direct subsidies, together with high animal-feed costs and the high price of diesel for cultivating the land, continues to create double pressure on domestic farmers: on the one hand, their expenses are rising, while on the other, they are unable to compete with producers from the region.

In March this year, the government reviewed the national agricultural scheme. One of the most widely discussed changes was the removal of excise-free diesel, a scheme that had been in force since 2021.

The Ministry of Agriculture argued that the benefits for farmers would be replaced by a new scheme providing for the reimbursement of 10% of the VAT paid on agricultural inputs through self-invoices for purchases issued by processors.

On the other hand, the changes led to an increase in the amount of some direct subsidies and a reduction in the animal-number thresholds for receiving them.

While a livestock breeder received a direct subsidy of 10,000 lek in 2025, in 2026, under the approved changes, they receive 12,000 lek per head. Meanwhile, support for small livestock increased from 1,200 to 1,500 lek.

The new scheme also halved the thresholds for the number of animals on a farm required to receive subsidies. The threshold for farms with cows was lowered from at least 10 cows to at least 5 cows, while for small livestock the threshold was reduced from 100 to 50 head.

However, farmers and livestock breeders did not welcome these changes; they are seeking greater support and measures that, they say, would guarantee the competitiveness of domestic production.

At the beginning of April, hundreds of farmers protested outside the Ministry of Agriculture. Their main demands included the reinstatement of excise-free diesel and an increase in subsidies for cows.

The removal of the diesel scheme came at a time when fuel and agricultural-input costs were rising, adding to the pressure on farmers.

After several hours of protest, a delegation of farmers met with the ministers of Agriculture and Finance, where they discussed the possibility of reviewing and addressing the demands during September.

Sector representatives have stated that they want the changes to be reflected before the fiscal package and draft budget for 2027 are prepared. Otherwise, the protests could reappear, this time with a broader demand for lower costs and increased support for the domestic sector.

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The new school year in Kosovo will begin without delays, on September 1.

The United Education, Science and Technology Trade Union (SBAShK) has assured that teachers are fully prepared for the start of classes.

However, as the start date approaches, the union has raised its voice over a problem that has persisted for years. Ymer Ymeri, SBAShK’s secretary, expressed surprise at claims in some municipalities that a number of teachers are being treated as a “technological surplus.”

According to him, this label is incomprehensible, particularly in municipalities where vacancies for teachers are continuously announced and new staff are hired. He suggested that the real aim may be to silence critical voices.

Regarding the progress of the educational process, Ymeri confirmed that, according to the data available to the union, all educational institutions are ready to welcome students. The teachers they represent have already begun reporting to schools, while preparations have been completed at most facilities. At some other schools, renovation work is in its final phase, indicating that classes will begin as planned.

The union leader also expressed hope for a smooth process of subsidizing textbooks, adding that students should not face delays in receiving the books they need.

He put an end to any speculation about possible strike action by the union, expressing confidence that their demands would be seriously considered by the central authorities.

The Ministry of Education has also given similar assurances, confirming to Klankosova.tv that September 1 remains the unchanged date for the start of classes.

Meanwhile, the Parents’ Council has reiterated its concerns and dissatisfaction, particularly regarding the way the book-subsidy process is being carried out, as well as other demands which, according to them, have been ignored by the Ministry of Education and Science.

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Judicial proceedings before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague are expected to enter a decisive phase in September.

On September 16, 2026, the verdict is scheduled to be announced for former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

The KLA War Veterans’ Organization has said it has been waiting for this conclusion for a long time.

Gazmend Syla, a representative of the KLA War Veterans’ Organization, told Telegrafi that the verdict must be based on evidence and facts. He added that the organization’s hope is for an acquittal.

According to Syla, the veterans and his organization have followed the proceedings with great anticipation, as it has now been 6 years since their fellow fighters were placed in detention without a final verdict. He stressed that, although he hopes they will be acquitted, the way the court has operated from its establishment until now has raised doubts within the KLA War Veterans’ Organization.

Syla said there is a fear that the court may not base its decision on evidence and facts, but instead adopt a negative position. According to him, the possibility of political influence on the decision-making process also remains a concern for the organization.

The KLA War Veterans’ Organization representative also mentioned the verdict against two other fellow fighters, who have already been convicted by this court. He assessed that the institution has deviated from the mission for which it was established, recalling that Dick Marty’s report, on the basis of which it was created, is no longer part of the indictment.

Syla said that if the verdict against Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi is based on evidence and facts, they will return to their homes. Otherwise, if the decision is political, the organization believes it will be negative.

The KLA War Veterans’ Organization’s next steps are expected to be determined at a meeting of its leadership, which will be held on August 25.

Syla announced that following the meeting, the public and the media will be informed about the actions the organization will take. Until then, he said, the KLA War Veterans’ Organization has not yet made any decision.

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The defense team of Tirana’s mayor, Erion Veliaj, is expected to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in September.

The defense is preparing the file in cooperation with two international law firms, one British and one American, along with Veliaj’s Albanian lawyers.

Lawyer Plarent Ndreca stated that all legal avenues will be pursued to highlight the alleged legal violations in the criminal proceedings against Veliaj.

According to the defense, the American lawyers have not been able to get permission from SPAK to meet their client in the detention facility.

Meanwhile, lawyer Ben Brendon, representing the British law firm, held a meeting with Erion Veliaj in prison this Tuesday, where he also reviewed the investigation file.

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