• Six new cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours (media)
• Health Ministry: Situation with COVID – 19 under control (media)
• Kosovo President Hashim Thaci’s interview to Klan Kosova
• Trump: Around 640 U.S. troops to remain in Kosovo (media)
• Vetevendosje wants interpellation with PM Hoti on lifting of reciprocity (media)
• Reservations over Lajcak’s visit to Prishtina (KTV)
• Thaci suggests Osmani’s family ‘served’ Serbia (Telegrafi)
• Osmani: Thaci considers serving Rugova was treason (media)
• Bahtiri reveals “Kosovo partition plan” Thaci allegedly presented to him (TV Dukagjini)
• Beqaj: Kosovo MPs would vote even for partition (KTV)
• Helsinki Committee in Serbia calls on EU to reject Kosovo partition (media)
• More land swap lobbying uncovered (Prishtina Insight/BIRN)
• Kosovo’s Ambassador to France reacts to BIRN article (media)

 Kosovo Media Highlights

Six new cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday that six new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the last 24 hours. The new cases are from the municipalities of Prishtina, Mamusha, Vushtrri and Gjilan.

Health Ministry: Situation with COVID – 19 under control (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health issued a statement on Tuesday evening saying that the small number of new cases with coronavirus (six) is a promising result in the fight against the COVID – 19 pandemic.

The Ministry called on Kosovo citizens to continue respecting measures set out by the institutions and the recommendations of the National Institute for Public Health.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci’s interview to Klan Kosova

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said in an interview to Klan Kosova on Tuesday that he wants a broad-based team in the dialogue with Serbia and that he will perform only the function ascribed to him by the Constitution and the legislation in force.

“I will be involved based on my legal mandate, nothing more and nothing less. Any agreement must be sent to the Assembly. We will complement one another, and we will have proper coordination. There is no competition among us, but in relation with Serbia,” he said.

Thaci said the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo – Serbia Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, must change his position vis-à-vis Kosovo’s independence. He said he would attend the talks mediated by the United States, and that the Government will be part of the EU-brokered process.

Thaci said he doesn’t believe that Lajcak can bring the mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia, and that he is confident that Washington can deliver this.

“Lajcak lacks the support to move forward the process for mutual recognition. He must know that he comes to Kosovo as an independent and sovereign country and not in a country with Resolution 1244. We need to work closely with the United States and the European Union, because our sole destination is the European Union, but they need to be fair toward Kosovo.”

Thaci also said: “Lajcak must be very clear before he visits Kosovo and Serbia. His visit here without a clear vision will be a fiasco. Everything depends on his approach toward Kosovo. If he doesn’t treat Kosovo as an independent country, I have my reservations if I will take part in that process. The EU must change its position vis-à-vis Kosovo. I will check his platform and suggestions and then take a position. I will decide in line with the will of the people”.

Thaci welcomed Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s decision to lift the measures of reciprocity against Serbia. Thaci said Hoti’s decision was right and that unlike the former Prime Minister [Kurti] he does not have populist causes.

Thaci said he does not know the exact date of a possible final agreement with Serbia but said that the U.S. is making serious preparations.

Thaci denied allegations that a possible amnesty of crimes could be included in a final settlement between Kosovo and Serbia. “The amnesty of the Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo has never been discussed,” he said.

Trump: Around 640 U.S. troops to remain in Kosovo (media)

The U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi that around 640 U.S. troops in Kosovo will remain as part of the NATO peacekeeping force.

In the letter, which speaks about the deployments of the U.S. army forces around the world, Trump said: “The United States continues to contribute forces to the Kosovo Force (KFOR), led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in cooperation with local authorities, bilateral partners, and international institutions, to deter renewed hostilities in Kosovo.  Approximately 640 United States military personnel are among KFOR’s approximately 4,000 personnel.”

The U.S. president further underlined that he has directed the participation of United States Armed Forces in all the operations mentioned in the letter.

Vetevendosje wants interpellation with PM Hoti on lifting of reciprocity (media)

The Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement (VV) submitted a request to the Kosovo Assembly on Tuesday for an interpellation with Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti on the decision to lift reciprocity measures against Serbia. VV said in a statement that the measures must be reintroduced as soon as possible.

“Reciprocity is an international principle based on the equality between states … Equality is a precondition, and reciprocity defines Kosovo’s statehood in relations with others, especially with Serbia. It is a state and constitutional obligation for citizens, entrepreneurs and professionals to be treated equally and without prejudice,” the VV statement noted.

Reservations over Lajcak’s visit to Prishtina (KTV)

The European Union’s Special Representative for the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected to visit Kosovo in mid-June. The visit, his first since his appointment to the post, is expected to determine the resumption of dialogue between the two countries, the TV station reported on Tuesday.

EU spokesman Peter Stano told said: “Mr. Miroslav Lajcak plans to visit the region in the coming days to meet the partners and to prepare the basis for the resumption of the Dialogue in Prishtina and Belgrade and to discuss the modalities with the parties”.

Visar Xhambazi from “Democracy for Development” said Lajcak’s visit confirms that circumstances are being created to resume the talks between Kosovo and Serbia.

Arber Fetahu from the Group for Political and Legal Studies said Lajcak’s visit marks the return of the process of dialogue in the competencies of the European Union.

The TV station inquired with the Government and the Office of the President if they are notified about Lajcak’s visit, but they were not available for comment. According to KTV, none of the political parties have been informed about the visit.

The TV station recalls that the EU Special Representative is not welcomed by Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. The latter said in a statement on Monday that the process of dialogue must be led by the United States of America.

Thaci suggests Osmani’s family ‘served’ Serbia (Telegrafi)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci is reported to have suggested in a recent interview that family members of the Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani worked for the interests of Serbia in Kosovo.

He said his projects have always been to fight Serbia’s control over Kosovo and that this is how freedom and independence of Kosovo was achieved. He added: “If someone from Osmani has served Serbia at that time, I fought them. If I were in Osmani’s place, I would sweat. I will come out with many other things if she continues to slander.”

Osmani: Thaci considers serving Rugova was treason (media)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani has reacted to the allegations made against her family by President Hashim Thaci. Referring to Thaci as ‘snake’, his nom de guerre, Osmani said that he was declaring her family to be traitors which is something he also called the late President Ibrahim Rugova.

“According to Thaci, serving your country by recognising Rugova as the leader is the same as serving Serbia. Declaring political opponents as collaborators of Serbia has always preceded physical attacks and liquidations. The same logic, it seems, is trying to be installed now to justify premeditated and preplanned attacks,” Osmani wrote.

“There will be no bigger stain in the history of the Democratic League of Kosovo blacker than electing this man as president of the country. The Democratic League of Kosovo will connect with the people again the day it sincerely apologises by bowing before the citizens about this mistake which is taking our country towards the abyss,” she also said.

Bahtiri reveals “Kosovo partition plan” Thaci allegedly presented to him (TV Dukagjini)

Mitrovica Mayor and member of Vetevendosje Movement, Agim Bahtiri, claimed in an interview to RTV Dukagjini on Tuesday that President Hashim Thaci presented to him a plan for Kosovo’s partition.

“Thaci explained to me the plan for partition. I said that the epicenter of Thaci’s plan for partition will be in Mitrovica … According to Thaci, the partition would begin from Zubin Potok, then to the village of Caber. Vinarc i Eperm, Vinarc i Ulet, Gushavc, Suhodoll and Vedimeriq would remain in Kosovo. The village of Boletin would also remain in the south,” Bahtiri said.

According to Bahtiri, Thaci promised he would make him mayor of both municipalities of Mitrovica if he agrees with the plan. Bahtiri also claimed that according to the plan, the Trepca mining complex would remain in Kosovo whereas the Gazivoda Lake would be managed by internationals.

Beqaj: Kosovo MPs would vote even for partition (KTV)

Political commentator Behlul Beqaj said in a debate on KTV on Tuesday that the issue of Kosovo’s territorial division is deeply rooted and that members of the Kosovo Assembly lack moral.  

“The issue of territorial division is deeply rooted. The idea has not died. We have had bitter experiences with our MPs. The most recent example is the no-confidence motion; it showed that they have no moral,” he said.

Asked if he thinks MPs would even vote in favor of Kosovo’s partition, Beqaj said: “They would vote even for partition, even more so when the Assembly is weaker than before the fall of the Kurti government”.

Helsinki Committee in Serbia calls on EU to reject Kosovo partition (media)

Several news websites covered on Tuesday a press release issued by the Helsinki Committee in Serbia calling on the European Union to reject the eventual partition of Kosovo. The press release notes:

“The EU initiated a political dialogue negotiation process to resolve issues between Serbia and Kosovo related to the consolidation and ultimate recognition of Kosovo as an independent state. On 13 April 2013, the Brussels Agreement on normalization of relations between the two countries was signed. Despite the agreement, Serbia has been obstructing full consolidation of Kosovo as a sovereign independent state. The implementation has been stalled and negotiations have turned towards making a deal between Serbia and a segment of Kosovo’s political elite to partition Kosovo. Wider public in Kosovo as well as the significant part of the political establishment have rejected the proposal.

“In fact, Serbia has never given up on its project to partition Kosovo. In that it enjoys the strong support of Russia. The position of the United States is not clear. Macedonia and Montenegro both categorically reject any change of borders since the very idea directly threatens their territorial integrity and the stabilization of post-Yugoslav regional order.

“In parallel, Serbia’s international campaign against recognition of Kosovo and the media’s demonization of Albanians and criminalization of their liberation movement are intensifying. And while not surprising, but no less dangerous, after several unsuccessful attempts to involve Tirana in resolving the issue of Kosovo, Belgrade has finally succeeded and it requires strong condemnation.

“The idea of partition of Kosovo should be denounced as unacceptable at all levels in the EU forums and at the level of individual European governments. Its furtherance in the Western Balkans threatens the stability and peace in the region and the credibility of EU commitments and support for the region. It would be dangerous precedent for entire Europe.”

Read full press release at: https://bit.ly/3cUNkEh

More land swap lobbying uncovered (Prishtina Insight/BIRN)

BIRN has discovered more evidence of Kosovo institutions lobbying for a land swap with Serbia: a Le Monde journalist states that Kosovo Ambassador to France Qendrim Gashi advocated for territory exchange, while an American academic has revealed that Hashim Thaci asked him to prepare a paper endorsing the plan.

On May 28, BIRN revealed that the PAN coalition Government paid 168,000 euros to Paris-based company, Majorelle PR & Events, who promoted the “Kosovo position” of “territorial modifications” as a route to a Kosovo-Serbia peace deal. 

Dhurata Hoxha, who then served as the Minister for European Integration and signed the contract with Majorelle, subsequently described the story as “fake news” and threatened to sue for defamation. She also encouraged Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly Vjosa Osmani, who tweeted Prishtina Insight’s story, to “apologize and distance herself from her public statement.” 

However, BIRN has since been in contact with one journalist and one academic who confirm that they were lobbied to write positively about ‘border corrections’ and a potential land swap between Kosovo and Serbia. 

Jean-Baptiste Chastand, the Central Europe correspondent for Le Monde, has been covering the Balkans since 2015. He was contacted by Majorelle PR & Events in both 2018 and 2019.

In September 2018, a Majorelle representative called to arrange a meeting between Chastand and Qendrim Gashi, Kosovo’s Ambassador to France, in order to discuss a territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia. A meeting between Chastand, Gashi and a representative from Majorelle took place on 19 September 2018.* 

“Qendrim Gashi came to Le Monde with a woman from Majorelle in order to talk about territorial exchange,” Chastand told BIRN on Friday. “He was basically saying that [territorial exchange] is a good idea to bring about peace, but he wasn’t very specific as it wasn’t clear what territory we were talking about.” 

According to Chastand, Gashi was the only one talking in the meeting and the representative from Majorelle was silent. “What was strange to me is that Qendrim Gashi knew me,” Chastand said. “He had my number and we had met before. He did not need Majorelle to arrange the meeting with me.” 

Qendrim Gashi was appointed as Ambassador of Kosovo to France by the PDK-LDK coalition government in 2016, when current Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was serving as foreign minister. 

Gashi told BIRN on 27 May that he had been in touch with Majorelle PR & Events in order to “make contacts with journalists easier.” However, Gashi “categorically” denied that he had ever been involved in lobbying related to border changes. “The answer is simple, categorically: no,” he stated in his reply.

BIRN challenged Gashi with the new information, asking him to confirm if he ever held a meeting with journalists from the Le Monde newspaper in which he pushed for territory exchange between Kosovo and Serbia to be seen in a positive light. Kosovo’s Ambassador to France failed to deny the allegation, his reply on 30 May stating that he has “no further comment.” 

After his meeting with Gashi, Chastand wrote a story reporting on the idea of an exchange of territories, as well as the potential risk of violence if this idea came to fruition, but he says he did not need to quote the ambassador in the article. “My story on this topic was about to be published and I had been in Kosovo two weeks before,” Chastand said, adding that while in Kosovo he had met with President Thaci, who told him the same thing as Ambassador Gashi. 

However, Chastand’s description of the meeting raises serious questions about Gashi’s conduct. Gjyljeta Mushkolaj, a former constitutional court judge, told BIRN that protecting the territorial integrity of the country is an obligation for any ambassador, even if he receives orders to do the opposite. 

“Article 16 of Kosovo Constitution implies that, even if the prime minister or president asks you to do something like lobby for change of borders, the ambassador must serve the country because the constitution is above every other authority and it is one’s duty to protect it,” Mushkolaj said. 

In addition to these constitutional duties, Article 10 of the Law on Foreign Service of the Republic of Kosovo states that all diplomatic missions have the function of “protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity and other interests of the Republic of Kosovo.” 

BIRN spoke to Behgjet Pacolli, who served as Foreign Minister in 2018, asking whether Gashi had broken this diplomatic code by speaking in favour of border changes to foreign journalists. 

Pacolli said that he made it clear to all Kosovo diplomats and ambassadors around the world that the ‘border correction’ that Thaci was pushing was not the official Kosovo position. “The Government’s official position about this matter was clear, Kosovo’s territorial integrity was non-negotiable in the dialogue with Serbia,” Pacolli told BIRN on May 29. 

However, while this may have been the Kosovo Government’s official position, articles discussing territory exchange continually appeared in French media. In September 2018, Le Figaro published an article describing the readiness of Hashim Thaci and Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian President, to exchange territories. 

Isabelle Lasserre, the journalist who wrote this story told BIRN that she had been in contact with representatives from Majorelle, who helped her arrange an interview with Hashim Thaci. However, she insisted that the company did not influence her article. 

In Majorelle’s ‘activity report’ that it sent to the Kosovo Government on 21 October 2018, articles in French newspapers including Le Figaro and Le Journal du Dimanche (which also published an article on a Kosovo-Serbia peace deal in September 2018) were cited. 

“We have raised positive awareness on the Serbian-Kosovo dossier amongst French public decision makers through recent articles in mainstream media such as Le Figaro and Le Journal du Dimanche, both read by a large public,” states the report from Majorelle PR & Events.

The report also makes reference to Majorelle’s success in setting up meetings between high profile French journalists and Qendrim Gashi. “Numerous briefings between influent [sic] French journalists from established media (press and radio) and your Ambassador Qendrim Gashi have been set-up: Le Monde, Le Point, La Croix, AFP, France Inter,” the report states. 

Chastand said that he was also contacted by Victoria Rey, a representative of Majorelle PR & Events on 4 April, 2019, in order to arrange a meeting with Dhurata Hoxha, the former Minister of European Integration. 

According to Chastand, the official purpose of the meeting was to discuss the issue of visa liberalisation, but it did not take place because Chastand did not respond to the Majorelle representative. 

American academic asked to write favourably about land swap 

Since its first investigation, BIRN has also discovered that lobbying to have territory exchange between Kosovo and Serbia reflected in a good light was seemingly not restricted only to French media. 

David Phillips, an American academic, has told BIRN that he was asked by President Hashim Thaci to prepare a paper endorsing land swap in the autumn of 2018.

Phillips, who is the Director of the Peace-building and Rights program at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights and has been writing about Kosovo since 1989, signed a contract with the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MFA, on 28 February, 2018.

His contract says he was to provide “advice as requested by the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs [..] on issues concerning Kosovo and the region, including advice related to the Dialogue with Serbia.”

Phillips spoke to BIRN on June 7, 2020, about two requests he received from Thaci while he was working for the MFA. “During the fall of 2018 Hashim [Thaci] asked me to prepare a paper arguing that the Special Court was illegitimate,” he said. “I refused.”

“He also asked me to prepare a paper endorsing the territorial swap,” Phillips added. “I don’t believe that partition is in Kosovo’s interest and I would never do anything that was not in Kosovo’s interest so I refused.” 

Phillips detailed a trip that he and his teenage daughters took to Kosovo in March 2019, when the family were attempting to restore the Mitrovica Library through Phillips family fund. During this trip, Phillips claims that Thaci accused him of being bought off. 

“I took my 15-year old twin daughters to meet President Thaci,” Phillips added. “In front of my children, he accused me of being corrupt. He asked: ‘Who paid you off to oppose my proposal to swap territories? I know you’ve been bought, where did the money come from?’” 

“No amount of money could persuade me to violate my conscience,” Phillips added. 

BIRN sent questions to President Thaci seeking a response to these claims but did not receive a reply by the time of publication. 

Behgjet Pacolli’s chief of staff, Jetlir Zyberaj, told BIRN that neither he nor Pacolli had any knowledge that the Kosovo President had asked Philips to write these two papers.

Legal implications

Responding to BIRN’s initial investigation into Majorelle, Tim Judah, who covers the Balkans for the Economist (and is also the head of BIRN’s regional board), criticised PR companies for exploiting poor countries. 

“I would like to make one point to all Balkan leaders, in all my years covering Balkan politics I can tell you that these foreign PR companies are totally useless,” Judah said. “They will vacuum your money and they produce nothing unless you are getting a kickback.” 

Chastand from Le Monde agrees with Judah. “PR agencies paid by other poor countries contact us, not just PR companies paid by Kosovo,” he told BIRN. “I agree with Tim, they have no effect.” 

But Ismet Salihu, a Criminal Law Professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Prishtina believes that there is something more sinister at play here than PR consultancies exploiting poor Balkan countries. 

Salihu believes that BIRN’s initial investigation on Majorelle, in which a former Ministry of European Integration secretary testifies about being pressured to sign a contract with the PR firm, potentially exposes the criminal offense of “abuse of official position.” 

“To pressurise a civil servant to sign a contract is judicially punishable but also, the contract that he was pushed to sign is politically catastrophic,” says Salihu.

Salihu refers to the Majorelle report that says it promoted the “Kosovo position” of “territorial modifications” as a route to a Kosovo-Serbia peace deal.

 “Article 117 of the Penal Code which is titled ‘Treason against the State’ is clear that those who sign any deal that involves ‘giving a part of the territory of Republic of Kosovo to another state, or leaves parts of the territory of the Republic of Kosovo under the sovereignty of another state, shall be punished by imprisonment of at least 15 years or life long imprisonment,” says Salihu. 

Salihu stresses that although no deal on territory exchange has been signed, it is clear that an attempt to redraw the borders and exchange territory has been made. “We judge an attempted murder almost the same way as we would judge someone committing a murder,” explains Salihu. 

“Therefore everybody who engages in giving away a piece of Kosovo territory – be those ambassadors, presidents, ministers or prime ministers – according to our penal code, can be considered complicit in attempting to commit the act of treason,” adds Salihu.

 BIRN has contacted Majorelle PR & Events but as yet received no response.

Kosovo’s Ambassador to France reacts to BIRN article (media)

Kosovo’s Ambassador to France, Qendrim Gashi, reacted against the BIRN article, in a Twitter post: “It is misfortunate that personal battles and internal political disputes sacrifice the truth that the media should be reporting on. This is not the first time that this reporter is trying to involve me in untrue events,” Gashi tweeted.