B92: ”Albanians returned eight buses transporting Serbs from the south of Kosovo to a rally in Belgrade” (Tanjug)
April 19, 2019
Media Coalition: Journalists in Serbia exposed to threats, their safety at risk (N1, Beta)
April 19, 2019
UNMIK Media Reports View All →
UNMIK Headlines 20 April
• 110 persons returned from Syria to Kosovo (RTK)
• U.S. commends on Kosovo on return of 110 citizens from Syria (media)
• Jahjaga to testify at U.S. Congress on war crimes in Kosovo (media)
• Former Klokot Mayor stopped by Serbian security (media)
UNMIK Headlines 19 April
• Haradinaj reiterates: Agreement with Serbia in current borders (media)
• Thaci: I will request from Merkel and Macron visa liberalisation (Klan)
• “Dual sovereignty” idea rejected in Kosovo and Serbia (Koha Ditore)
• Scott: Comprehensive agreement should contain mutual recognition (RTK)
• O’Connell: Berlin meeting, important initiative (media)
• Djuric: No bilateral meeting with Pristina representatives in Berlin (Telegrafi)
• Veseli writes to internationals about Serbia’s ‘genocide’ (Kosova Sot)
• Haradinaj not afraid of possible early elections (media)
• Serbia’s ultimatum will not lift the tax (Zeri)
• “Specialist chambers to indict Thaci and Veseli” (Express)
• Elections in the north: Serbian List applies last minute (Zeri)
• Government allocates funds for extraordinary elections in the north (media)
• Kosovo pledges €20,000 for Notre-Dame renovation (media)
• EBRD confirms support for Kosovo (media)
UNMIK Headlines 18 April
• No coordination between Thaci and Haradinaj for Berlin meeting (Koha)
• PM Haradinaj speaks about upcoming meeting in Berlin (media)
• Der Standard: Land swap idea to be ‘laid to rest’ in Berlin (Zeri)
• “The Economist” predictions on Berlin Summit (media)
• McAllister: Berlin meeting will contribute on Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (RTK)
• Veseli: We will never forgive Serbia’s atrocities in Kosovo (media)
• O’Connell: Those who deny massacres in Kosovo, lie (Bota Sot)
• Vucic: They have buried every possibility of an agreement (media)
• Kurti: Kosovo needs new elections and a new government (media)
• So far, only PDK has applied for elections in the north (Zeri)
• Municipal assemblies in the north hold session after five-month recess (Zeri)
• Haradinaj defends decision to pledge funds for Notre-Dame cathedral (Telegrafi)
• Vucic to meet Putin on 26 April in China (Sputnik/B92)
• Russian Foreign Minister: Moscow wants Resolution 1244 to be respected (media)
• EBRD Director to visit Kosovo today (RTK)
UNMIK Headlines
• Thaci: Vucic, difficult person to negotiate with (The Independent)
• Haradinaj: Those acting ‘unfairly’ towards Kosovo will be put to shame (media)
• Veseli: Political parties to come together to conclude agreement with Serbia (KP)
• Hoxhaj: I believe leaders will go with a joint position in Berlin (RTK)
• Serbia threatens with countermeasures (RTK)
• Analysts: Berlin meeting, opportunity for Kosovo and Serbia (RFE)
• EU reignites political ‘battle’ in Kosovo (Zeri)
• Serbia Sentences Ex-Officer to 15 Years for Kosovo Massacre (media)
• CEC appoints members of election municipal commissions (media)
UNMIK Headlines 16 April
• Merkel, Macron to come out with concrete proposal for Kosovo-Serbia agreement (Express)
• Haradinaj: Border correction idea wasted previous time (media)
• Thaci meets Tusk and Hahn, calls for visa liberalisation (media)
• Commissioner Hahn requests lifting of the trade tariff (Epoka)
• Kosovo “overturns” trade balance with Serbia (Zeri)
• Assembly sets up committee for sanctioning denial of crimes in Kosovo (Koha)
• U.S. Embassy: Denying atrocities insults victims, undermines progress (media)
• Hoxhaj: Serbia should accept responsibility for crimes in Kosovo (RTK)
• Hoti: We will not negotiate Kosovo’s statehood with Serbia (Klan Kosova)
• OSCE will have advisory role during elections in the North (Epoka)
• Kosovo leaders saddened by Paris fire (media)
UNMIK Headlines 15 April
• Thaci: Denying crimes in Kosovo is like denying the holocaust (RTK)
• Limaj: Serbia continuing Milosevic’s mindset (Kosovapress)
• Government ready to discuss all topics, including free trade (Koha)
• Thaci traveled to Brussels to meet Tusk and Hahn (Epoka)
• Norway calls for suspension of tax and resumption of dialogue (Zeri)
• Vucic: Lift the tariff in order to resume with dialogue (RTK)
• Analysts: PDK signals government’s fall (Zeri)
• No political party applied for elections in the north (Epoka)
• Verbal confrontations at PDK party election rally (media)
• Sexual violence survivor: This crime cannot be ignored any longer (media)
• Thirty days detention for Serb man accused of war crimes (Kosova Sot)
UNMIK Headlines 13 April
Thaci: We do not allow return of Serbs who leave Kosovo institutions (RTK)
Pacolli: We should resolve inherited problems with Serbia (media)
Thaci to meet Hahn on Monday, they will discuss visa liberalization (media)
Pacolli: Dialogue with Serbia is necessary (RTK)
Veseli: I expect a special court for Serbian massacres in Kosovo (RTK)
Patriarch Irinej to visit Peja today (Koha)One month detention for the war crimes suspect (RTK)
UNMIK Headlines 12 April
• PM’s Office: Regional relations to be discussed in Berlin meeting (Zeri)
• Haradinaj speaks about expectations from Berlin meeting (RTK)
• Ahead of Berlin meeting, German ambassador calls for tax suspension (Kos. Sot)
• Haradinaj: No reconciliation without accepting the truth (Klan Kosova)
• EU reacts to denials of Recak massacre (Koha)
• Serwer: No need for Kosovo to rush into agreement with Serbia (Bota Sot)
• Assembly fails to adopt resolution tackling migration (Zeri)
• EU, OSCE welcome political parties’ pledge to improve elections system (RTK)
• Rasic: Elections in the north will be only a farce (Epoka)
• Hoxhaj: In 2019 Kosovo is not only a Balkans’ issue (RTK)
• Kurti: Removal of current government, only solution to the crisis (Koha)
• Mogherini to participate at the meeting of Western Balkans’ leaders (RTK)
• Djuric escalates with ‘siptari’, calls Albanians criminals and terrorists (Klan)
• KFOR announces new training and exercises in the north (media)
Opinions View All →
Op-ed: A new campaign for dividing Kosovo (Koha)
Columnist Enver Robelli writes that the statement of European Commissioner Johannes Hahn that possible land swap between Kosovo and Serbia could be discussed ahead of the 29 April Berlin summit of Western Balkans leaders, is not ‘coincidental’. “Ahead of the summit called by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Hahn wants to dig out from the hole […]
Read More →My Europe: Merkel’s final battle takes place in the Balkans (Deutsche Welle)
Bodo Weber, senior associate with the Berlin-based Democratization Policy Council, writes that the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia is putting at stake the German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s foreign affairs legacy. Weber says that Germany opposes the border correction idea between Kosovo and Serbia as an “ill-fated alliance of two Balkan authoritarian leaders with the EU […]
Read More →Women in Dialogue – Women designing the future (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore carries on its supplement “Koha for women” issue today an editorial piece by Sonja Licht, President of the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence. Below find the complete opinion piece. I felt really honored when the Kosovar Gender Studies Center asked me to write a piece for the Koha Ditore supplement Koha per Grate. […]
Read More →Opinion: Serbia-Kosovo land swap will open Pandora’s box (DW)
By: Christian Schwarz-Schilling A momentous step shrouded in secrecy is currently underway: Serbia and Kosovo are planning to trade territories. But shifting borders in the Balkans is a mistake, writes guest policy expert Christian Schwarz-Schilling. The West’s ironclad common principle, that the practice of redrawing borders along ethnic lines be avoided at all costs, doesn’t […]
Read More →Pacolli: The EU must grant visa free travel to Kosovo (EURACTIV)
In an op-ed published in EURACTIV, Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacollli called on the EU to deliver on its promise for visa-free travel to Kosovo. “We are still faced with the shameful situation of having to apply for a visa (a costly and time-consuming process) just in order to take holidays or visit relative,” Pacolli […]
Read More →Scott, Kosnett: 2019 should be the year for agreement (Zeri/Politika)
In a joint op-ed published in Zeri, the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, and the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, said that the courage and creativity of leaders in Athens and Skopje to resolve decades-long dispute should serve as inspiration for all other leaders in the region and that it is time for […]
Read More →All the president’s fish (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore columnist Adriatik Kelmendi recalls an anecdote attributed to the former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who asked: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” and draws a parallel with the current situation in Kosovo characterized by ‘cacophony’ and ‘lack of unity’. “Today, it can be said in an unreserved […]
Read More →Veseli: Dialogue (Klan Kosova)
Op-ed by Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli. In the year we are leaving behind, we lost too much time pointing fingers at one another for problems and issues that are a joint responsibility of the whole political landscape. Regrettably, the whole political discourse was dominated by an absurd race of negative criticism. The public and […]
Read More →Articles from Kosovo media View All →
Soltes: I hope visa are lifted this year, people are leaving in search of better life (Indeksonline)
The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Igor Soltes, told the news website today that he hopes Kosovo will finally get visa liberalization this year. “I hope it will happen this year, but everything depends on the member states and those that give the green light so that European institutions can continue their legal work in […]
Read More →Ahmeti: Berlin Summit will focus on Kosovo – Serbia dialogue (Klan Kosova)
Shpend Ahmeti, co-head of Kosovo’s delegation for talks with Serbia, said on Thursday that the upcoming Berlin Summit will focus on the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue. “There will be discussions on whether or not there is a new idea to find a solution. Discussions will focus on getting the two countries of the current stalemate,” […]
Read More →Haradinaj reiterates: Agreement with Serbia in current borders (media)
Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj reiterated his position that an agreement with Serbia should be reached in the current borders, most news websites report. Haradinaj told a press conference in Pristina today: “we notice that there is movement in positions and statements. This is not final, and I think it is a new energy on […]
Read More →Burim Ramadani appointed national coordinator for NATO membership (media)
Deputy Minister of the Kosovo Security Force Burim Ramadani has been appointed by the Government of Kosovo to the post of National Coordinator for NATO Integration and Membership.
Read More →Haradinaj: There will be no talks on Kosovo’s territory in Berlin (media)
Several news websites quote Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj as saying that there will be no discussions about Kosovo’s territory at the upcoming Berlim Summit on April 29. “The Berlin Summit is a good opportunity and a joint table for the Western Balkans. Kosovo has its European perspective. Europe has a debt to Kosovo and […]
Read More →Kosovo pledges €20,000 for Notre-Dame renovation (media)
The Kosovo Government has pledged €20,000 for the renovation of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The funds will be allocated from the category of expenditures. Koha notes that Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s decision to allocate funds for the renovation has triggered many negative reactions in Kosovo. Haradinaj said on Wednesday that the financial to the […]
Read More →Government allocates €471.000 for extraordinary local elections in the north (media)
Several news websites report that the Kosovo Government decided in today’s meeting to allocate €471,000 for the extraordinary elections in the four northern municipalities of Mitrovica North, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan. Kosovo President Hashim Thaci announced the snap elections for May 19.
Read More →Case of two murdered UNMIK police officers in 2004 on retrial: two more suspects accused (Klan Kosova)
The Pristina Basic Court has started a hearing on the murder case of two UNMIK police officers in 2004. Shkumbin Mehmeti was the only one sentenced for this case, but the Special Prosecution has filed further testimonies, on two new accused: Alban Dezdari and Bedri Krasniqi, informs Klan Kosova. Prosecutor Bukurije Xhonbalaj said that they […]
Read More →Serb. Monitoring View All →
B92: ”Albanians returned eight buses transporting Serbs from the south of Kosovo to a rally in Belgrade” (Tanjug)
Eight buses with Serbs from three Kosovo South municipalities, who were going to Belgrade for the “Future of Serbia” rally, were returned from the administrative crossing Konculj. The president of the temporary authority of the municipality of Vitina, Srdjan Nikolic, said that refusing to allow these buses to pass was justified by the fact that […]
Read More →Rakic, Vulovic, Jankovic and Todic mayoral candidates again (KIM)
Srpska Lista candidates for mayors in the four northern municipalities are Zoran Todic, Srdjan Vulovic, Vucina Jankovic and Goran Rakic, Radio KIM reports referring to Pristina-based daily Zeri. Srpska Lista submitted on Thursday its request to the Central Election Commission for the participation at the forthcoming extraordinary mayoral elections in the north. The elections are […]
Read More →Dacic: Serbia will never join anti-Russia sanctions (Tanjug, B92, TASS)
Serbia will not impose any restrictive measures on Russia despite pressure, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said. “The friendship between Russia and Serbia is already a tradition. Now our relations are at the level of strategic cooperation. That’s why Serbia never has and never will impose sanctions or other restrictive measures against Russia despite […]
Read More →Media Coalition: Journalists in Serbia exposed to threats, their safety at risk (N1, Beta)
The Coalition of journalists’ and media associations called on public on Thursday to defend professional media and journalists who had been exposed to insults, serious threats and whose safety was jeopardised, the Beta news agency reported. In its statement, the Coalition said that in the last several days only, some journalists were publicly lynched on […]
Read More →Gracanica: A dozen buses departed to Belgrade (KIM radio)
In Gracanica, in the early morning hours, many people gathered in front of the ETC market, which in an organized manner in buses departed to Belgrade, reports KIM radio. A dozen of buses are transporting people to the rally ”Future for Serbia”, organised today in Belgrade by the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), reports KIM […]
Read More →Moscow: Tirana’s aspirations towards Greater Albania cannot be ignored (RTS)
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it cannot ignore “a series of steps taken by the current Albanian leadership in connection with the consolidation of the Albanian factor within the regional policy of Tirana,” reported Radio Television of Serbia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an […]
Read More →“Region has not made good use of CEFTA” (Tanjug, B92)
The region has not made good use of CEFTA, aimed at making the Western Balkans a single economy and preparing the market for the EU, says Mirsad Jasarspahic. Political decisions such as (Pristina’s) introduction of taxes are among the reasons for this, the vice president of the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina […]
Read More →What is the double sovereignty? Dacic explains (RTS, B92, Beta)
Ivica Dacic said that it is expected that at the upcoming meeting in Berlin, probably would be additional pressure on Belgrade and Pristina to continue the dialogue. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia told Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that Pristina must abolish the tariffs for this to happen. “There are additional pressures on […]
Read More →International View All →
Media Freedom Vanishing in Some Balkan States, Report Warns (Balkan Insight)
The 2019 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders says media freedom is falling fast in Serbia and Albania – though the picture in some other countries in the region is more positive. The latest report by Reporters Without Borders published on Thursday noted significant declines over the past year in levels of press […]
Read More →Last Despatches: Kosovo Journalist Followed for Months, Then Shot (Balkan Insight)
The latest report in BIRN’s Last Despatches series, about journalists and media workers killed during and after the Yugoslavia wars, tells the story of Afrim Maliqi, who was shadowed by unknown men and then killed in 1998. “When we said goodbye to each other, he came back, tapped on the metal banister of the stairs […]
Read More →Prizren debates interethnic and religious tolerance (Prishtina Insight)
A public forum in one of Kosovo’s most religiously diverse cities, Prizren, was held as part of the #debatpernime series, bringing together religious officials, experts, politicians and the public to discuss interethnic and religious tolerance. See at: https://bit.ly/2VQO99i
Read More →Families of Albanian ISIS Fighters Face Long Road Home (Balkan Insight)
BIRN has identified at least 85 children born to ethnic Albanian women from Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia under the Islamic State, now stuck in a Kurdish-run camp in Syria. Lavdrim Muhaxheri, a notorious Islamic State fighter from Kosovo who declared himself the commander of Albanians fighting for the militant group in Syria and Iraq, […]
Read More →[EWB Interview] Druškić: The Balkan people like to think that Europe is afraid of them
How the Balkans look when it is seen from Brussels and why art is the only way to accept diversity, a young artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rikardo Druškić, whose mural dedicated to the Western Balkans was recently presented in the centre of Brussels, spoke with European Western Balkans. European Western Balkans: A mural got […]
Read More →Mogherini: I expect to see North Macedonia and Albania opening negotiations in June (European Western Balkans)
STRASBOURG – Balkans is in Europe when you look at the map of Europe, said EU High Representative Federica Mogherini at the plenary session of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET). “When you look at the map of Europe, you see that the Balkans is in Europe. That is why instead of the […]
Read More →Serbia begins building TurkStream gas conduit stretch (Hurriyet Daily News)
Serbia has started the construction of its section of the TurkStream pipeline to carry Russian natural gas to Europe, country’s foreign minister, Ivica Dacic, said on April 16. Speaking at a news conference in Moscow after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Dacic said Serbia’s plans for the construction of the gas conduit […]
Read More →Serbia Wants Russia To Play Larger Role In Kosovo Talks (RFERL)
Serbia says it wants its ally Russia to play a larger role in EU-mediated talks with Kosovo. Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said after talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow that “Serbia cannot defend its state interests without the assistance of the Russian Federation.” Dacic said Serbia “would not do anything without […]
Read More →Development/Humanitarian View All →
Kosovo Wartime Rape Survivor Demands Justice for Victims (Balkan Insight)
Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman made an emotional appeal for justice on Sunday in the courtyard of an abandoned house in the village of Babimoc/Babin Most, some 20 kilometres north of Pristina, where she was raped by Serbian policemen when she was a 16-year-old in 1999. “In this place, my childhood dreams vanished,” said Krasniqi Goodman, who […]
Read More →Mirror, mirror on the wall (KoSSev)
By Tamara Skrozza When I accidentally stumbled upon the list of items found near the dead bodies in a mass grave in Batajnica 16 years ago, I thought for a moment that it was the biggest thing that could happen to a journalist, that it was a „case“ that could change the minds of people, […]
Read More →Kosovo’s Silent Assasin (Kosovo 2.0)
PEERING THROUGH THE SMOG OF PRISHTINA’S POLLUTION PROBLEM. On a cold winter’s afternoon, outside one of the clinics of Prishtina’s University Clinical Center of Kosovo (QKUK), a man stands near the main entrance passionately smoking a cigarette. As he does so, he stares intently at the glass panel of the door, reading a notice that […]
Read More →Debaters in Peja demand environmental protection reform (Prishtina Insight)
Participants of a debate in the Municipality of Peja on Thursday called for reform of the construction and nature protection policies that activists and locals alike say is causing serious damage to Peja’s residents and environment. Environmental conservation, river degradation, recycling, plans for coal utilization, sewage management and illegal construction in protected areas were some […]
Read More →Rita Ora surprises 400 schoolchildren back home in her native Kosovo to support Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2019 (Daily Mail)
Award-winning singer Rita Ora has returned back to her native Kosovo on a humanitarian mission with Soccer Aid. The 28-year-old British icon, who has been a campaigner and advocate of the global charity since 2013, surprised more than 400 children at the Activate event in the capital of Prishtina on Wednesday after arriving in the […]
Read More →Music School keeps divided Mitrovica rocking (Pristina Insight)
Mitrovica may be infamous for its ethnic divisions – but the local Rock School is uniting youngsters from both sides of town around a shared passion. Ilda Krama, 19, is what she calls “a special case” in the divided town of Mitrovica – which has been split since the end of the Kosovo war between […]
Read More →Roma Abazi family: The way we are living – this is not life (KoSSev)
Roma people marked their International Day yesterday. Throughout the Balkans, pushed on social margins, and not being integrated in regional societies, this vulnerable community face poverty, stigmatization and an unpredictable future. The KoSSev team visited the Abazi family from the Roma community living in North Mitrovica on the eve of International Romani Day in order […]
Read More →“Roma community looked at with prejudices” (RTV KIM)
Roma community is still one of the most marginalized groups in Kosovo. None of the institutions, being it political, social or cultural seriously worked to overcome these issues, Roma activist Gazmen Salijevic said on the occasion of International Roma Day, Radio KIM reports. He noted that 19 years since the end of the conflict, the […]
Read More →LINKS
UNMIK
Peacekeeping
UN News Center
From Google News- Kosovo Detains Terror Suspects Returned from Syria - Balkan Insight 22/04/2019Kosovo Detains Terror Suspects Returned from Syria Balkan InsightFour terror suspects were immediately detained out of a total of 110 Kosovo citizens who were flown back to their home country after spending years in ...
- Kosovo brings jihadist fighters and their families back from Syria - Israel Hayom 21/04/2019Kosovo brings jihadist fighters and their families back from Syria Israel HayomKosovo Flies Home Jihadists’ Families From Syria The New York TimesKosovo foreign fighters: 110 citizens repatriated from Syria Aljazeera.comSyria war: Kosovo brings back 110 citizens including jihadists BBC NewsKosovo Says 110, Including Four IS Fighters, Repatriated From Syria RadioFreeEurope/RadioLibertyView full coverage on Google News
- Attacked, raped and made a refugee during the Kosovo war, a woman's life 20 years on - The Independent 21/04/2019Attacked, raped and made a refugee during the Kosovo war, a woman's life 20 years on The IndependentSihana was in a house full of children and women when she was raped by a member of the Serbian paramilitary. The men took five of the younger women into ...
- Kosovo Detains Terror Suspects Returned from Syria - Balkan Insight 22/04/2019
Office of the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General
Media Sources
