Albanian Language Media:

• Bugajski speaks about Kosovo-Serbia dialogue at U.S. Senate committee (Zeri)
• Kurti urges for discussion on reparations in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Prishtina Insight)
• Gucati: Kurti should keep his promise, abolish Special Chambers (RTK)
• 102 additional criminal charges for Serbs suspected for war crimes (RTK)
• Kosovo statistics agency ready for population census in 2021 (KP/Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

• The Security Council on Kosovo on Thursday, despite Pristina’s opposition (RTS, Tanjug, FoNet, N1)
• Dacic: Still no news if Kosovo requested membership in UNESCO again (Tanjug)
• Kocijancic: Pristina to revoke tariffs, Belgrade to enable conducive environment for talks (FoNet, N1)
• Basketball players from central Serbia banned to enter Kosovo in Brnjak (Radio KIM)
• Families of the missing persons in Kosovo: Last chance for the truth (RTS)
• Grubjesic: No reconsideration of previous agreements, should be a Brussels message (RTS)
• Medvedev: Free trade agreement to help Serbia’s exports (FoNet, N1)

International:

• NATO ‘Respects’ Serbia’s Joint Military Drills With Russia (RFE)
• Kosovo Activist’s Lawyer: Swiss Experts Deprived of Evidence (Balkan Insight)
• France is pushing the E.U. toward strategic disaster (Washington Post)
• Serbia’s Attitude to Kosovo ‘is Damaging Kosovo Serbs’ (Balkan Insight)
• Putting Kosovo on EU’s map: A short (and easy) guide for the new government (European Western Balkans)

Humanitarian and Development:

• Taking the stone from the Earth (Prishtina Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Bugajski speaks about Kosovo-Serbia dialogue at U.S. Senate committee (Zeri)

Janusz Bugajski from the  Center for European Policy Analysis spoke before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about the situation in the Western Balkans and underlined the importance of Kosovo-Serbia agreement saying that the failure to reach such a deal would heighten prospects for radicalism and regional instability. 

Bugajski said Washington needs to be closely involved throughout the process of normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia noting that the EU seems to be unable to make any significant progress on the matter. 

“The revived talks have to be based on two clear principles: first, Kosovo’s final status was settled over a decade ago when it declared independence and cannot be revisited without sparking chaos and conflict. Second, Serbia and Kosovo need cooperative relations to promote their own self-interests in moving into key multinational organisations,” Bugajski said.

He added that the ideal scenario would include Serbia recognising Kosovo as an independent country but said this seems highly unlikely to happen in the near future. 

Kurti urges for discussion on reparations in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Prishtina Insight)

While negotiations between the winners of October’s parliamentary elections continue, Vetevendosje’s Albin Kurti has already used several media appearances to stress the need to discuss wartime reparations in the Brussels dialogue.

While results from the parliamentary elections on October 6 are not yet officially certified, Vetevendosje currently look set to finish in first place, and are in ongoing talks with the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, about forming a governing coalition. Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti meanwhile, is widely expected to become prime minister.

In opposition, Kurti consistently pressed for a different approach to Kosovo’s participation in the EU-facilitated dialogue with Serbia, including discussing issues related to the Kosovo war. 

Post-election media appearances suggest it is a position he will stand by. In various interviews for both international and local media, Kurti has reiterated that he believes Kosovo should aim to put the subject of war reparations on the table in the dialogue and seek compensation from the state of Serbia for the human and material damages caused in Kosovo in the 1998-99 war.

Speaking to an Albanian news channel, Kurti claimed his approach will be entirely new. “I am the first prime minister that will officially demand the debts, and I will keep Brussels, Washington, New York, London, Paris, and Berlin CC-ed for that debt that Serbia owes us,” he told News24. “Serbia owes us billions and we have an obligation towards all of the martyrs and the more than 1,000 children that have been killed in this country.”

Through the Brussels based dialogue, Kosovo and Serbia have signed numerous agreements over the last eight years, on subjects including energy usage, freedom of movement and recognizing educational diplomas, but never on any issues related to the Kosovo war.

Discussions over reparations have never previously been on the agenda, though EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic told BIRN that both parties are able to propose any issue to be discussed. “The EU facilitates the dialogue,” Kocijancic said. “The content, the proposals that come to the table, and the agenda belong to the parties.”

Bekim Blakaj is the executive director of the Humanitarian Law Center in Kosovo, an NGO specializing in dealing with the past and transitional justice. He believes that prioritizing the issue of war reparations in the dialogue seems ‘impossible,’ as there is a lack of proper documentation of the damages caused.

“It is necessary to document all the crimes and damage caused by Serbian rule in Kosovo,” Blakaj told BIRN. “None of the crimes committed by Serbian forces in Kosovo will be accepted without judicial processes that bring verdicts against those who led Serbian institutions during the war, and who planned the war crimes in Kosovo.”

For Blakaj, the potential for war reparations is only possible if both parties first agree to concrete steps that would shed light on the issue of missing persons, as well as to legal cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia to indict those who commited war crimes. 

The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has been at a standstill for almost a year after the Kosovo government imposed a 100 percent tariff on all goods originating from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2018. The government, then led by former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj and which subsequently dissolved in August 2019, described the tariff as a “retaliatory policy” after an “aggressive” campaign from Serbia to obstruct Kosovo’s membership to INTERPOL. The tariff remains in place.

Gucati: Kurti should keep his promise, abolish Special Chambers (RTK)

Hysni Gucati, head of the KLA War Veteran Organisation has requested from Kosovo’s main candidate for Prime Minister Albin Kurti, to keep his promise given in the past about the Specialist Chambers.

“Kurti had said at the Parliament that when he becomes a Prime Minister, he will abolish the Specialist Chambers. He will have our full support and we request from him to keep his other promise made that he would not send war veterans to this court,’ Gucati said.

He however added that he does not believe that this will happen in the future.

“Vetevendosje cannot undo this court because they intend to be in coalition with LDK, which was a fan of its establishment,” Gucati said.

102 additional criminal charges for Serbs suspected for war crimes (RTK)

The Association for War Crimes “Gjakova ’98, ‘99” has submitted 102 additional criminal charges of Gjakova/Djakovica population against Serbs suspected for war crimes. They said charges include starting from murders to destruction of property.

The charges and documents were submitted to Kosovo Police department for war crimes.

Head of the civil society group from Gjakova/Djakovica, Shkendije Hoda, said after the submission that this is the thirteenth contingent of submitted criminal charges, which contains 102 cases of crimes committed in Gjakova/Djakovica municipality.  

According to her, this is the first cooperation with Kosovo Police, where they are offering evidence on crimes. She also gave details about the submitted charges.

Finally, she said that the process was a delayed one but that they are accelerating it as much as possible. 

Kosovo statistics agency ready for population census in 2021 (KP/Koha)

Kosovo’s Agency of Statistics presented today progress in plans to carry out a population and household census in 2021.

Agency’s CEO Isa Krasniqi said preparations for the 2021 census have begun two years ago and that they are now at the stage where they have in place a concept document which then requires endorsement from the Government of Kosovo and the Assembly. 

Krasniqi said the census operation will take place in line with European standards and underlined the importance of having the support from all relevant institutions. 

Meanwhile, census manager Avni Kastrati said the projected will be implemented based on a door-to-door practice over a period of thirty days. 

Serbian Language Media

The Security Council on Kosovo on Thursday, despite Pristina’s opposition (RTS, Tanjug, FoNet, N1)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday that the UN Security Council will meet as scheduled to discuss Kosovo.

Dacic told a Serbian parliament Foreign Affairs Committee meeting that the session called by South Africa will be held on October 31 as planned.  

The Foreign Minister told the Committee that Kosovo’s Ambassador in Washington Vlora Citaku demanded a postponement, claiming that she couldn’t attend the UN Security Council session because of a prior engagement. “It’s as if she was personally invited and as if the Security Council depends on whether she has the time to attend,” he said, adding that Great Britain officially requested the postponement.

Dacic: Still no news if Kosovo requested membership in UNESCO again (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said today there are no news yet as to whether Kosovo submitted a request for UNESCO membership, prior to the General Assembly session of this organization that would be held in Paris from 12 to 27 November. Dacic added, if the request is made, Serbia would again prevent Pristina’s attempts, Tanjug news agency reported.

Dacic also said he is not certain if Pristina has time to do it and recalled that Serbia has already thwarted attempt of Kosovo to join UNESCO.

Kocijancic: Pristina to revoke tariffs, Belgrade to enable conducive environment for talks (FoNet, N1)

European Commission Spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said on Monday that the new Kosovo government, once it is established, should revoke 100 percent tariffs on goods from Serbia, adding that Belgrade should enable conducive environment for the talks, so the dialogue could be functional, FoNet news agency reports.

The EU High Representative’s spokeswoman told Pristina portal Indeksonline that the European Union expects all political players to remain committed to the process which is of crucial significance for Kosovo, Serbia and the future of the region.  

“We are continuing close cooperation with EU member states and our international partners, the United States. The EU mediates the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue which is a process launched by the UN General Assembly and supported by EU member states,” Kocijancic noted.

Basketball players from central Serbia banned to enter Kosovo in Brnjak (Radio KIM)

Members of the Kosovo police have prevented on Saturday junior and cadet basketball players from Novi Pazar to enter Kosovo at Brnjak crossing point, Radio KIM reports. The members of “Ras” club were supposed to play the games in Mitrovica North with their peers from “Trepca” and “Poletarac” clubs.

Long-term sport official and coach of “Poletarac” from Mitrovica North Sasa Tripkovic said it goes beyond understanding that somebody could ban children to do sport, compete and socialize.

Radio KIM recalled that for a long time, many sports clubs and teams from central Serbia face issues with entry into Kosovo, and the most drastic example was a ban to the Red Star football players who were supposed to play the game against “Trepca” football club from Mitrovica North in Zitkovac village. As per instruction of the Kosovo Government, the police did not allow their entry into Kosovo, at Jarinje crossing point, although FIFA and UEFA made recommendations that this game can be played.

Meanwhile, Office for Kosovo and Metohija reacted to the ban of Novi Pazar basketball players to enter Kosovo. In a statement distributed to the media the Office said it is “yet another confirmation of an open chauvinist attitude of Pristina towards anything related to the Serbs and Serbia”.

The Office added, it expects the international sports associations to react and make Pristina, under the threat of punishment, to give up on such an attitude. It was also said that the EU must voice its official stance on this matter as well, and “stop tolerating systematic disenfranchisement of an entire people in the heart of Europe.”

Families of the missing persons in Kosovo: Last chance for the truth (RTS)

The Albanian political parties in Kosovo will soon form a new assembly and the government, and according to the announcement in Pristina, their first major challenge will be to face the first indictment of the Special Court against members of the former Kosovo Liberation Army, reported Radio Television of Serbia (RTS). 

The families of the missing in Kosovo say this is the last chance to come to the truth about the missing.

Milorad Trifunovic, Coordinator of the Association of Missing Serb Families in Kosovo and Metohija, expects that the time has come for the indictments to be filed.

“We had a couple of meetings and encounters with representatives of The Hague tribunal. They promised to come to us soon and tell us the names of family members for which they found evidence that they had been violently killed,” Trifunovic said.

“We have handed over 354 bodies. We have listed 274 persons we know to be murderers. We have witnesses, we have video and audio recordings. We ask the international institutions and states that were present in Kosovo to submit their archives,” Trifunovic said.

He points out that missing family members will seek a command responsibility.

Grubjesic: No reconsideration of previous agreements, should be a Brussels message (RTS)

The statements of Albin Kurti, a candidate for Kosovo Prime Minister, on reconsideration of all agreements with Belgrade represents the preparation of the ground of who will be Kosovo’s prime minister, according to Suzana Grubjesic of the Center for Foreign Policy. 

She said to the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) that there should be a clear message from Brussels that there would be no reassessment of previous agreements, but that what has not been implemented from the Brussels Agreement, should be implemented.

Grubjesic stated that Kosovo Prime Minister candidate Albin Kurti was acting as if he was still campaigning.

“Those statements derive from there, the statement on re-negotiating all agreements with Serbia, but if he becomes prime minister he will certainly speak differently, he knows that without dialogue with Belgrade, Kosovo will not be able to move on, so all this is still preparing the ground for who will be the prime minister – whether it will be Albin Kurti or Vjosa Osmani or someone else, that’s why the votes are counted; maybe to give a chance to the third one to pass the census,” explained Grubjesic.

“There must be a clear message from Brussels, at least to the Prime Ministerial candidate, that there is no review of previous agreements, but that what has not been implemented by the Brussels Agreement should be implemented, which is precisely the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO), that almost no one now mentions,” explained Grubjesic. 

She assessed that the outgoing High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, has not been “famous” of her five-year term, because in the end only results are measured. 

“The result of her five years term should have been that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue may be at some final stage, however, in the last year the dialogue did not exist. On November 20th will be the anniversary of Pristina’s introduction of fees on goods from Serbia and BiH, and the move has knocked down the dialogue,” Grubjesic said.

Medvedev: Free trade agreement to help Serbia’s exports (FoNet, N1)

Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev said on Friday that he expects Serbia’s foreign trade to rise after the signing of the free trade agreement with the Euro-Asian Economic Union (EAEU), FoNet news agency reports.

Speaking in a meeting of the Euro-Asian intergovernmental council, which was attended by the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, Medvedev noted that under the agreement, tariffs will not be paid on some goods.

Serbia and the EAEU have been negotiating the agreement since 2016. Serbia has had bilateral free trade agreements with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan but not with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The EAEU was formed in 2015 by those five former Soviet republics.

Serbian Prime Minister Brnabic said that the agreement which she signed in Moscow is not creating problems to Serbia’s path to the European Union, adding that Brussels confirmed that.

“This is an economic, not a political agreement. We have the right to free trade agreements with international organizations and individual countries up to the moment we join the EU when we have to break off all free trade agreements with third countries and other international organizations,” she said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3691Bea

International

NATO ‘Respects’ Serbia’s Joint Military Drills With Russia (RFE)

NATO said it “respects” Serbia’s decision to hold joint air military exercises with Russia in which the Russian S-400 and Pantsir-S air-defense missile systems are being deployed.

See at: https://bit.ly/347Oyb1

Kosovo Activist’s Lawyer: Swiss Experts Deprived of Evidence (Balkan Insight)

The lawyer for the family of Astrit Dehari, the activist who died in detention in 2016, claims the Kosovo authorities failed to send important evidence to the Swiss experts conducting an autopsy.

Kosovo’s Forensic Agency did not conduct a thorough forensic examination, so the Swiss institute that then conducted a separate autopsy had little evidence to work on, the lawyer for the family of the late Astrit Dehari said in an interview for Kosovo’s T7 network.

Tome Gashi’s statement came after the autopsy report, done by the Lausanne Institute of Forensic Medicine, became public on Thursday, and concluded that Dehari could have been killed.

Casting doubt on “the hypothesis of a suicide”, it said “the intervention of a third person in the fatal process should be considered”.

Despite not having been provided much evidence, the Lausanne Institute said it found new evidence on the surface of the late activist’s watch.

See at: https://bit.ly/2qJ9cjg

France is pushing the E.U. toward strategic disaster (Washington Post)

There is little doubt that Brexit is a strategic disaster for the European Union. But too few seem to understand that the E.U. is heading toward another strategic disaster — this time in the Balkans.

See at: https://wapo.st/31SZGXZ

Serbia’s Attitude to Kosovo ‘is Damaging Kosovo Serbs’ (Balkan Insight)

The Serbian authorities’ negative attitude towards Kosovo “makes Kosovo Serbs be perceived as anti-state elements” inside the country, Agon Maliqi, a political analyst from Pristina, told BIRN in an interview.

Until relations between Belgrade and Pristina are normalised, this situation will continue, warned Maliqi, the editor of S-Bunker, a political analysis and opinion website.

“Relations between Kosovo and Serbia cannot in any way be normal for as long as Serbia claims any rights or sovereignty over Kosovo’s territory, as it will always be seen as an existential security threat. Additionally, Kosovo Serbs will always be seen as an anti-state element,” Maliqi said.

Serbia strongly opposes Kosovo’s independence and has exerted much effort to convince small countries to rescind their recognitions of Kosovo, as well as campaigning vigorously against Kosovo’s membership of international organisations.

See at: http://bit.ly/34d7plb

Putting Kosovo on EU’s map: A short (and easy) guide for the new government (European Western Balkans)

Kosovo’s path towards EU hasn’t been easy nor fast. Since Thessaloniki summit back in 2003, when for the first time EU promised to Kosovo an undefined “European perspective”, the relations between the two haven’t always been the most fruitful ones. Despite engaging on EU integration process since declaration of independence back in 2008, Kosovo hasn’t really moved much forward in the process. The most notable development in this regard has been the ratification of Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which hasn’t really been very instrumental for Kosovo so far, due to lack of its implementation.

See at: http://bit.ly/2otGH8I

Humanitarian and Development 

Taking the stone from the Earth (Prishtina Insight)

Excessive and illegal quarrying has left rivers dry, degraded the landscape and left behind dangerous chasms in the ground. Those benefiting financially from the industry often include relatives of high-profile political figures, while the state’s attempts to prevent illegal mining have not proved a deterrent.

See at: https://bit.ly/2BMiQE8