August 7, 2018 | Tuesday

Five trainees from the DG NEAR in Brussels visited the EUICC premises in Pristina during their visit to Kosovo.

On 17 July, the trainees met with several journalists from different media outlets in Kosovo, exchanging thoughts and expectations on various important matters.

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Eraldin Fazliu from the magazine Kosovo 2.0 , Fitim Gashi from Koha Ditore Newspaper, Plator Gashi from Prishtina Insight, Arlinda Kqiku from Zëri Newspaper and Arber Selmani on behalf of KultPlus online magazine and EUICC welcomed the trainees for a fruitful discussion varying from the visa liberalisation process to minority rights.

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Trainees from Brussels shared their experience in dealing with European institutions and assured the journalists that the European Union’s future is one of shared values with a commitment to the ongoing enlargement process.

When talking about the freedom of the press, journalists from Kosovo present at the meeting agreed that the situation in Kosovo is far better than the one elsewhere in the Western Balkans region. In the 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Kosovo’s rank is 78 out of 180 , with a total score of 29.61, up four positions since last year’s ranking (82).

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An interesting discussion followed up on the Public Broadcaster – RTK and the overall public opinion towards what RTK broadcasts.

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During their visit to Kosovo, trainees from DG NEAR met with the Minister of European Integration – Dhurata Hoxha, OSCE representatives, the Heads of Sections of EU Office/EU Special Representative and  with Ms Isabelle Servoz-Gallucci, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina.