Albanian Language Media:

• COVID – 19: 634 new cases, 15 deaths (media)
• Kosovo’s government future is decided today (Express)
• Government considers declaring Arifi’s vote invalid would be unacceptable (RTK)
• LVV: Arifi’s vote and election of the government should be ruled invalid (RTK)
• Kosovo and Saudi Arabia, global partners in war against DAESH/ISIS (RTK)
• Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, part of EU’s strategy for relations with the U.S. (RFE, Koha)
• PDK requests extraordinary session on economic recovery (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• In Serbian communities in Kosovo 79 new cases of Covid-19, one death and 16 cures (Kontakt plus radio)
• Stricter anti-epidemic measures in Serbia on Friday, pending Government approval (Nova.rs, N1)
• Blakaj: Next few years we will be preoccupied with trials before Specialist Court (Kosovo-online)
• Holliday: Remains of between seven to 20 people in an unexplored tomb at Kizevak site (RFE)
• Serbian List: Double-standards policy to the detriment of Serbian people unacceptable (Kontakt plus radio)
• MCR: Returnee from Drenovac attacked in his yard; No reaction from KP (KoSSev)
• No complaints submitted regarding elections in Mitrovica North and Podujevo (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Rakic and Szunyog met, discussed current issues (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Opinion:

• Citizens’ attitudes about the army are a reflection of media manipulation (EWB)

International:

• Kosovo ethnic divide eases as Muslim cares for elderly Serb (AP)
• Kosovo Court Cuts Prison Sentence for Serb Convicted of Wartime Massacre (Balkan Insight)
• US ContourGlobal sues Kosovo over failed coal-fired power plant project (intellinews.com)
• Russia donates tanks to Serbia, NATO does not see it as a problem (EWB)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Interpol warns that COVID-19 vaccines could be targeted by criminals (Reuters)
• Tourist Organization of Serbia: 75 pct foreign tourists less in Serbia (FoNet, N1)

Albanian Language Media 

COVID – 19: 634 new cases, 15 deaths (media)

634 new cases of COVID – 19 and 15 deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 340 patients recovered from the virus during this time. There are 14,989 active cases of the virus in Kosovo.

Kosovo’s government future is decided today (Express)

Today at 10:00 hours, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo holds a public hearing to discuss legality of a disputed vote of Kosovo MP, Etem Arifi, which was decisive for the formation of the new Government led by Avdullah Hoti. 

Arifi, an MP representing the Ashkali community, was convicted of fraud in 2018 but this did not prevent him in June 2020 to attend the Parliament session and vote in favour of establishment of the new government led by Avdullah Hoti of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). His vote was crucial to create a majority of 61 votes in a 120-seated Parliament which elected Hoti as new Prime Minister of Kosovo.

On 11 June, the opposition party of Vetevendosje, whose leader Albin Kurti was ousted as prime minister of Kosovo in a no-confidence vote triggered by the LDK, submitted a request with the Constitutional Court disputing the constitutionality of Arifi’s vote. The Vetevendosje quoting the Constitution stated that the mandate of an MP comes to an end or becomes invalid when “the deputy is convicted and sentenced to one or more years imprisonment by a final court decision of committing a crime.”

Today the Constitutional Court during a public hearing is expected to hear the opinions of the parties and is expected to issue a ruling on the legality of Arifi’s vote. A decision in favour of the Vetevendosje would question the legality of the government and produce a new political situation in Kosovo. The Vetevendosje led by Albin Kurti are convinced that the Court will decide in their favour. The party on this dispute will also attend the government of Kosovo represented by the government’s lawyer, Besnik Berisha. The involved parties will be given a chance to present their position through a video link due to COVID-19 pandemic measures. Following the hearing session, judges of the Constitutional Court will advise and draft a ruling.

Government considers declaring Arifi’s vote invalid would be unacceptable (RTK)

The representative of the Hoti government in today’s hearing session of the Constitutional Court has considered inadmissible the request of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) that the vote of the MP Etem Arifi in the formation of the executive be declared invalid.

Lawyer Besnik Berisha told the judges of the Constitutional Court that MP Arifi has lost his mandate in the sixth legislature.

“Mr. Arifi has lost his mandate as a deputy in the sixth legislature. So the consequence of this decision was executed and had power in the sixth legislature. It is irrelevant when the Assembly was notified because his notification of a decision of the sixth legislature made it irrelevant and unconstitutional in the present case. In this case, the essential element is not the challenge of the regular court because they are blamed for not imposing an additional sentence … any other claim to extend the power or consequence of a decision that has been correctly and clearly regulated, is inadmissible and illegal,” he said.

LVV: Arifi’s vote and election of the government should be ruled invalid (RTK)

Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) has asked the judges of the Constitutional Court to declare invalid the vote of MP Etem Arifi in the election of the Hoti government. Consequently, according to Albin Kurti’s party, the election of the Hoti government is also unconstitutional.

LVV member, Blerim Sallahu in today’s hearing of the Constitutional Court said that MP Arifi lost his mandate as a result of effective imprisonment.

“The parliamentary group of LVV claims that the government of the Republic of Kosovo has not managed to be voted by a majority of all deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo. Respectively, failed to get 61 votes in order to be considered elected. This is because Mr. Etem Arifi elected as a member of the Assembly of Kosovo has lost his mandate based on Article 70 of the Constitution of Kosovo, after being convicted by a final decision of the Court of Appeals for the criminal offense with a sentence of 1 year and three months. Consequently, the composition of the government has not received the necessary majority of votes for its election as defined by the Constitution,” he said.

Sallahu, said that Etem Arifi should not have been certified as a candidate for MP in the October 6, 2019 elections.

According to him, the deputy sentenced to imprisonment has lost his mandate even though he was sentenced by a final decision before being elected deputy.

Kosovo and Saudi Arabia, global partners in war against DAESH/ISIS (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla had today a virtual meeting with the Foreign Minister of the Saudi Arabia  Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

“Kosovo is in a new historical momentum of deepening diplomatic relations with the Middle East and today’s virtual meeting with Prince Fahran Al Saud confirms our good relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are committed to increasing bilateral communication and cooperation, but also multilateralism, to advance our common interests for stability and security in the region. We are committed to mutual official visits and look forward to reaching bilateral cooperation agreements, especially in increasing cooperation on security issues as global partners in the fight against Daesh / ISIS,” Minister Haradinaj-Stublla said.

Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, part of EU’s strategy for relations with the US (RFE, Koha)

The European Commission approved on Wednesday (November 2nd) the meeting of the college of Commissioners, a strategy for the new transatlantic relations agenda, more precisely the relations between the European Union and the United States of America.

The Commission, in this document, underlines the need to work with the United States to strengthen the multilateral world order and to face together new challenges, from the spread of the coronavirus to strengthening defense and security.

This strategic agenda of the European Commission also mentions the need for the EU and the United States to continue cooperation in the Western Balkans, especially in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

“Europe has given the Western Balkans the prospect of EU membership. Continuing the EU-US partnership and close coordination in the Western Balkans is essential, especially in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. We must work together to support reconciliation, improve governance and push forward key reforms,” reads the text of the European Commission’s strategy for relations between the EU and the United States.

The European Union plans to hold a summit between the EU and the United States in the first half of 2021.

PDK requests extraordinary session on economic recovery (RTK)

Acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, said today that his political entity has started collecting signatures of the MPs to convene an extraordinary session to vote on the law on economic recovery. His statement comes after the government included PDK’s four proposed measures which help workers of the private sector and businesses with over 400 million euros budget.

Hoxhaj said that PDK is ready to be part of the session on Friday where the economic recovery package could be voted with the measures proposed by PDK.

Serbian Language Media

In Serbian communities in Kosovo 79 new cases of Covid-19, one death and 16 cures (Kontakt plus radio)

The North Mitrovica Crisis Staff announced today that in Serbian communities in Kosovo, according to the latest data, one person died as a result of covid-19, while 79 new cases of infection and 16 cures were recorded, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

The deceased is from Zvecan.

Out of 207 processed samples, positive cases were recorded in the municipalities: North Mitrovica (17), Zvecan (13), Zubin Potok (13), Leposavic (10), Gracanica (7), Gnjilane (7), Kosovska Kamenica (6), Lipljan (3), Priluzje (2) and Pec (1).

16 patients recovered: North Mitrovica (4), Zvecan (4), Leposavic (1), Gnjilane (4), Priluzje (2) and Kosovska Kamenica (1).

67 people were hospitalized in the North Mitrovica Hospital, and two patients in the Nis Hospital.  

The measure of home isolation was determined for 1047 people.

There are currently 1116 active cases.

So far, a total of 1,265 people have recovered.

57 people died of coronavirus in the Serbian communities in Kosovo.

Stricter anti-epidemic measures in Serbia on Friday, pending Government approval (Nova.rs, N1)

Serbian anti-epidemic Crisis Team, made up of both doctors and politicians, decided on Tuesday to tighten the existing measures against the coronavirus epidemic, including shorter working hours of cafes, restaurants and service facilities from Friday.

The measures are to be adopted by the Government on Thursday and in force from the next day.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic says she will talk to President Aleksandar Vucic about their compliance with the Constitution.

If remaining the same, the measures envisage working hours to 5 pm during the week for the catering and service facilities, clubs, shopping malls, playrooms, bookmakers, shops and all other sales facilities, beauty and hairdressing salons, beauty salons, fitness centres, gyms, spas and swimming pools. They will be closed on weekends.

Also, theatres and cinemas must close at 5 pm every day, including weekends, while open markets will work on weekdays regularly and from 6 am to 3 pm on weekends.

Grocery stores can be open every day until 9 pm, including weekends. Pharmacies, gas stations and courier delivery can work indefinitely, seven days a week.

See at: https://bit.ly/3g5nIHN

Blakaj: Next few years we will be preoccupied with trials before Specialist Court (Kosovo-online)

Humanitarian Law Center in Pristina Director, Bekim Blakaj said he expects the trials at the Specialist Court in The Hague would take years, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Pristina-based Koha.

Blakaj also said the public would be preoccupied with the trials before the Specialist Chambers over the next few years.

“We have seen it at the last statutory session, where sort of discussion between the prosecution and defense of the defendant took place. The prosecution attempted to start the trial as soon as possible, while the defense certainly needed more time to prepare. Still, we do not know when the trial could commence. Certainly not before the summer, perhaps June or July next year”, Blakaj said.  

According to him, the prosecution mentioned a large number of witnesses it would invite and apply other evidence, meaning the trials would probably take years.

“Of course, we can not exactly predict it now, but it would last at least two or three years.  Whether we will have other indictments soon depends on how extensive they are. I think that in  the next few years, we will be preoccupied with trials before the Specialized Chambers”, Bljakaj reiterated.

Holliday: Remains of between seven to 20 people in an unexplored tomb at Kizevak site (RFE)

It is estimated that between seven and 20 human remains were found at the Kizevak mine site near Raska in Serbia, but the tomb has not yet been excavated, says Matthew Holliday, the Head of the Western Balkans Program of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), in an interview for Radio free Europe (RFE).

The Office for Cooperation with the Media of the Government of Serbia announced on November 30 that the exhumation of these bodies has begun, which were suspected to be Albanian victims from Kosovo.

ICMP experts are providing forensic assistance for the exhumation of the bodies, about 250 kilometers south of Belgrade, and according to Holliday, the team was deployed earlier this week, which would be the very beginning of the exhumation that began on Monday, November 30, writes RFE.

Holliday: It was a long process, the Commission for Missing Persons (of the Government) of Serbia started researching the location of Kizevak in November 2015. They conducted that research from then until the beginning of this month, when concrete traces were found. It was a long process, but the human bones were located by the Commission in Serbia and the Commission turned to ICMP and asked for technical and forensic assistance in performing the exhumation.

I do not want to prejudge what will be discovered in the tomb, but this is the second tomb that is probably connected to the exhumation in Rudnica near Raska a few years ago. The victims found in the Kizhevak area are also believed to be linked to the same event in Kosovo in 1999.

RFE: How long can an exhumation take (based on previous experience)?

Holliday: It’s hard to say, the estimates are between ten and fifteen days for this location, but it all depends on the number of cases that are found and investigated on the location. If there are more cases, it will take longer, if there are fewer, the exhumation will be completed faster.

RFE: When do you think that the results of this exhumation will be known, that is, when will the families find out who is buried at that location?

Holliday: It very much depends on the War Crimes Chamber within the High Court in Belgrade; the location is under the jurisdiction of the prosecution. I know that a team for forensic and anthropological investigation of cases has been formed and that samples are being taken, which are then forwarded to ICMP for DNA analysis. It is complicated and difficult to say how long it takes for these samples to be analyzed, there are many variables.

First, it depends on when the samples will be handed over to ICMP, it depends on how much DNA matches the samples. ICMP has developed many identification techniques. Then begins the process of checking DNA matches with samples provided by families. There is a rigorous confirmation that ensures that we have a DNA match, and the minimum match is 99.98%. There are many variables, but I think we can expect the results to reach the authorities, if we have a DNA match in relation to the database, by the end of the first quarter of next year.

RFE: What will be the role of ICMP in Kizevak and who will be involved in further research?

Holliday: ICMP is a team composed of two forensic archaeologists and one forensic anthropologist at the Kizevak site. ICMP does not lead the excavation, exhumation is led by, as far as I know, archaeologists from the Commission of Serbia for Missing Persons.

In terms of the future work of the ICMP team, they are working on the tomb, working with the Commission to remove the top of the soil, and the tomb is expected to be excavated on Wednesday and the remains discovered. Then they must be documented and researched. ICMP has a role in terms of assisting the Commission in Serbia.

RFE: Do you have information whether there will be new exhumations in Kosovo or in Serbia, other potential graves?

Holliday: There are several locations that are of interest to Kosovo on the territory of Serbia, and the subject of interest of Serbia on the territory of Kosovo. I believe that there is an exhumation plan for the spring of 2021, but I cannot give more details. These are questions for the Departments for Missing Persons in Kosovo and Serbia.

RFE: How do you comment on the fact that 21 years after the conflict, more than 1,400 people are still listed as missing?

Holliday: For families whose loved ones have disappeared, it is a permanently painful legacy of conflict, for sure. On the other hand, we can see the fact that at least 2,500, out of a total of 4,500 missing during the war in Kosovo, were located and identified by ICMP’s DNA analyses. I don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that a lot has been achieved in the last 20 years.

If we look at exhumations on the territory of Serbia such as Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, Bajina Basta, Rudnica near Raska and now Kizevak, if we exclude Kizevak, close to 97% of almost 900 cases found in Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, Bajina Basta, Rudnica was identified based on DNA analysis. I think these are significant achievements and I think both sides, Kosovo and Serbia, remain committed to resolving these priority cases, both sides have set up dedicated commissions to work on cases and coordinate investigations.

We would like to see that intensified because a lot of time has passed, information is lost, memory and witnesses are lost, and more can be done to determine the locations of graves.

One of the key problems is not so much in locating new graves, but how to solve unidentified cases in the Pristina morgue. There are at least 350 cases. ICMP is working with the Commission in Kosovo in the process of detecting unidentified cases, what can be done to resolve other important cases that have arisen within the Commission’s mandate.

ICMP will work dedicatedly to support the Commission in Kosovo in this work, I think it is important to say that this should be done within a complex group for missing persons, a regional multilateral mechanism that includes the Commission in Serbia, Kosovo, but also Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. All of these countries face the same problem of unidentified cases found in their territories.

RFE: What are the challenges when it comes to DNA analysis? Why these remains have not been identified?

Holliday: There are potentially three reasons why this is so. The first is that the remains may be historical, they do not originate from the mentioned conflict. We have collected more than 14,000 reference samples from families looking for loved ones who went missing during the Kosovo war, if they are historical, they will not match these samples. That is one reason.

The second, potential, is that families refuse to give samples, or all family members disappeared during the war, so there are no samples at all. The main reason for the impossibility of identifying the victims in the Pristina morgue is that 2,000 cases were identified in 1999, 2000 and 2001 without DNA, the traditional method of identification based on anthropomorphic data, objects found in graves, and these analyzes are more error prone.

It is important that the Commission in Kosovo initiates an analysis of these cases, which would include an analysis of the complete documentation, where the bodies were located, potentially an additional sample database. Credible, accurate information should be provided for the families of the missing, this also applies to Belgrade, which will help depoliticize the problems of these cases.

RFE: Kizevak is the fifth mass grave found since the end of the war. How much evidence has been found so far since each missing person is linked to the crime committed? How much evidence was used to get justice?

Holliday: I cannot comment on the number of cases of crimes committed during the war in Kosovo that were prosecuted in Belgrade. We can analyze the case of Vlastimir Djordjevic (former Assistant Minister of Police and Head of the Public Security Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia) before the court in The Hague. This court works with the highest-level representatives during the war in Kosovo.

I am not talking only about the perpetrators in Serbia, but also in Kosovo. Regardless of nationality, all perpetrators of crimes should and must be brought to justice, for the sake of their victims and for the normalization of relations between the countries in the region.

RFE: Representatives of the countries of the Western Balkans in 2018 signed a Framework Plan in The Hague in which they committed to do more to solve the problem of 12,000 missing persons in the Western Balkans. You said that this is the main turning point in strengthening the cooperation between the states. What has changed for the better since 2018 when it comes to the problem of the missing?

Holliday: When the Framework Plan was signed, a group for missing persons was formed, a unique multilateral mechanism in which Kosovo participates, along with Serbia, but also BiH, Croatia and Montenegro. This provides a multilateral form for cooperation and exchange of information on missing persons. Five participants in this group, domestic institutions, commissions for missing persons, they created the foundation, a regional base for cases of missing persons. They use this database daily to share and exchange information on the missing. That is really significant.

More than 2,500 cases in that database appear on two or more lists of domestic institutions, so they are all interested in those specific cases. If, for example, Kosovo closes the case, identifies it, and it is on the list in Serbia and Montenegro, there is information and it is an example of transparency and trust in this process. I think that’s important.

This group has also formed an operational group that deals with the issue of unidentified cases. I think it is important that it contributes to the depoliticization of this issue. It should be said that the issue has not been depoliticized from time to time, we see that in the statements of politicians, in the media, but I think that this group has depoliticized the issue of unidentified cases, everyone is actively working together on exchanging these information to resolve these cases. We have some cases of identification as a result of this cooperation. I think this is the future of cooperation on missing persons cases.

RFE: The issue of the missing is also part of the Brussels dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. It is also part of the September Washington agreement. Do you have any contact with Brussels and Washington and what exactly can be expected from these agreements when it comes to the problem of the missing?

Holliday: ICMP is not a participant in the Brussels Dialogue, but we are monitoring what the outcome of the dialogue will be when or if a comprehensive agreement is reached. ICMP hopes this encourages state responsibility for the problem of the missing.

This is key to this ongoing process. When it comes to the Washington Agreement, ICMP has worked with the US Embassy in Belgrade and Pristina and we are working with colleagues from the embassies to help them identify indicators to determine progress on this issue.

Belgrade and Pristina have pledged to improve co-operation on the issue and both report on what has been done and achieved to address the issue of the missing.

Serbian List: Double-standards policy to the detriment of Serbian people unacceptable (Kontakt plus radio)

Serbian List assessed the filing of a criminal report against the Gracanica Mayor Srdjan Popovic over his statement that placing the billboard with KLA inscription at the entrance of one of the largest Serbian areas in Kosovo was provocation, “as introduction of anti-civilized bans and infringement of the freedom of speech”, Kontakt plus radio reports.

Serbian List demanded an urgent reaction of the international representatives in Kosovo, as well as a clear and loud stance when it comes to the introduction of a “verbal delict”, the statement further said.

“It is in particular irritating that hundreds of statements of hatred and insults against the Serbian people by Albanian political representatives were never prosecuted nor those uttering them were held responsible. The double-standards policy to the detriment of the Serbian people is absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful”, Serbian List underlined. 

MCR: Returnee from Drenovac attacked in his yard; No reaction from KP (KoSSev)

Returnee Miodrag Stasic from the village of Drenovac near Klina was attacked last Wednesday in his front yard when several youths threw stones at him, breaking a window of his house, Kosovo Ministry for Communities and Returns (MCR) announced yesterday, KoSSev portal reports.

No reaction has arrived from the police so far. Despite multiple inquiries, the KoSSev portal was unable to get a comment or additional information from the police about the case by the time of publishing the news.

The MCR revealed that this is not the first time Miodrag Stasic was attacked, noting that the first attack took place six months ago.

The ministry also said that Stanisic informed them about the latest incident yesterday.

“On that occasion, he pointed out that the problems with the neighbors have become more frequent. He says that in addition to (cf. the neighbors) letting their cattle graze in his yard, he is often verbally provoked“, the ministry added.

The Minister for Communities and Returns Dalibor Jevtic wrote in a statement that the incidents that affect the most vulnerable group of people are harmful to everyone. He underlined urgent steps must be taken to protect returnees.

“Improving their safety is one of the basic conditions for the survival of returnees in their homes. That is exactly why I insist on more efficient work and better results when it comes to shedding light on such cases“, Jevtic stressed.

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

No complaints submitted regarding elections in Mitrovica North and Podujevo (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Political parties which took part in mayoral elections in Podujevo and Mitrovica North did not file any complaints to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), although there were such announcements by political parties, Radio Mitrovica sever reports, citing Pristina-based Telegrafi.

ECAP President Shukri Sulejmani said they had not received any complaints about Sunday’s elections.

He pointed out that the ECAP was ready to deal with possible complaints of political parties against the election process in both municipalities, and the failure to file complaints according to him shows that the elections were democratic and fair.

“Although an insignificant number of complaints related to the day of voting were announced, they were not submitted to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel. We have been ready all week, all the administrative staff and the panel were ready to deal with these complaints, but they were not submitted. This seems to show the general conclusion that these elections were peaceful and fair”, he noted.

However, he says that the complaints of political parties that participated in Sunday’s elections may appear both during the counting phase and after the final announcement of the election results.

Rakic and Szunyog met, discussed current issues (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Head of the EU Office in Kosovo Ambassador Tomas Szunyog and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government Administration Goran Rakic met yesterday. During the meeting, inter alia, the Ministry’s full readiness for better cooperation with the EU Office in order to create more favourable living conditions for all citizens in all municipalities in Kosovo was emphasized, Radio Mitrovica sever reports.

Also, they talked about future plans and projects within the development fund and economic recovery. According to the press release, the interlocutors praised the holding of local elections in North Mitrovica and Podujevo, despite the fact that the election process took place during the pandemic.

They also spoke about the current political situation as well as the situation related to Covid-19 pandemic.

Opinion

Citizens’ attitudes about the army are a reflection of media manipulation (EWB)

The militarization of the media space in Serbia in recent years has led to confusing and mutually contradictory attitudes of citizens about national security. They are confused, so although they recognize that the main security threats come from the inside, citizens believe that security can primarily be achieved by building a strong army. They are overwhelmed on a daily basis with media reports on the procurement of arms and military equipment, military exercises and sensationalist depictions of military capabilities, while the topic of compulsory military service returns to the agenda and occupies the public discourse at least once a year.

Using the mantra of military neutrality, which serves to appease the domestic public and balance foreign policy interests, government officials have convinced citizens that only a strong army can contribute to their security.

What do citizens think about the army and the return of compulsory military service?

Citizens traditionally have the highest trust in the Serbian Armed Forces and consider it the least corrupt, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy during September and October 2020. When compared to 2012, citizens think that the military is somewhat more capable of defending Serbia. They associate the military capability primarily with the equipment of the army, considering that the number of those who think the army is well equipped has almost doubled.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2Voj3Y3

International

Kosovo ethnic divide eases as Muslim cares for elderly Serb (AP)

Blagica Dicic, 92 and in failing health, is the only resident of a remote ethnic Serb minority village in the mountains of eastern Kosovo that’s been abandoned by all its other inhabitants — including her own children.

Djordje, the eldest son, has moved to Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, and has no room for her. She can’t remember when they last met.

The younger son, Slobodan, lives in council-provided housing in nearby Kamenica town with his paralyzed wife. He rarely visits Dicic.

But now, she feels she’s got a new son. It’s all the more remarkable because Fadil Rama, 54, comes from the other side of Kosovo’s bitter ethnic divide, being a member of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority and a Muslim.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2VqDAuX

Kosovo Court Cuts Prison Sentence for Serb Convicted of Wartime Massacre (Balkan Insight)

Former Serbian fighter Darko Tasic, convicted over the massacre of dozens of ethnic Albanians civilians during the Kosovo war, had his prison sentence cut from 22 years to 11 on appeal.

Kosovo’s Court of Appeals on Tuesday halved the prison sentence handed down against a Serbian former police officer over the massacre of ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of Krusha e Vogel/Mala Krusha in March 1999.

Darko Tasic, a former police reservist, was sentenced in June to 22 years in prison by the district court in the southern town of Prizren. The Court of Appeals revised the sentence to 11 years, “in which the time spent in detention of remand was also calculated,” it said in a statement.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2JAWaOi

US ContourGlobal sues Kosovo over failed coal-fired power plant project (intellinews.com)

The US power generation company ContourGlobal is seeking to resolve the dispute with Kosovo over a failed thermal power plant project through arbitration, the economy ministry in Pristina said on December 1.

US company ContourGlobal announced its decision to cancel the 500 MW Kosova e Re coal-fired power plant project in Kosovo, estimated to cost €1.3bn, on March 17.

The project would have been the largest-ever energy investment in Kosovo and was intended to stabilise the country’s energy supply and to boost economic growth. However, it has been heavily criticised by environmental groups.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3mqsiml

Russia donates tanks to Serbia, NATO does not see it as a problem (EWB)

BELGRADE – Each country decides from whom it will supply its own defence, states NATO in the written answer for the Voice of America (VOA) regarding the donation of Russian tanks to Serbia.

“We appreciate our partnership with Serbia and fully respect its declared military neutrality. We also respect the sovereign decision of our partners when it comes to the security arrangements they make”, reads the written response.

An unnamed NATO official responded that NATO and Serbia are close partners and that NATO is helping Serbia to reform and train its security forces and institutions.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3g2trht

Humanitarian/Development

Interpol warns that COVID-19 vaccines could be targeted by criminals (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) – The Interpol global police co-ordination agency warned on Wednesday that organised criminal networks could be targeting COVID-19 vaccines, and could look to sell fake shots.

Interpol, which is headquartered in France, said it had issued a global alert to law enforcement across its 194 member countries, warning them to prepare for organised crime networks targeting COVID-19 vaccines, both physically and online.

“As governments are preparing to roll out vaccines, criminal organisations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains. Criminal networks will also be targeting unsuspecting members of the public via fake websites and false cures, which could pose a significant risk to their health, even their lives,” said Interpol secretary general Juergen Stock.

See at: https://reut.rs/3oaN1ec

Tourist Organization of Serbia: 75 pct foreign tourists less in Serbia (FoNet, N1)

The Tourist Organization of Serbia (TOS) said on Wednesday that a total of 48 percent fewer tourists visited the country in the first ten months of this year than at the same period in 2019, FoNet news agency reports.

The number of foreign visitors dropped 75 percent, while 22 percent less local people toured the country.

The most frequented places in Serbia were spas, Zlatibor resort in western Serbia, capital Belgrade and the northern city of Novi Sad, TOS added.