Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 15 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Lajcak: If you don’t trust the EU, go somewhere else (Koha)
• Kosnett: Kosovans can achieve peace by working together (media)
• Hyseni slams Kurti’s appearance at Brussels meeting (media)
• Budget committee recommends dismissal of RTK board (Kallxo)
• Opposition boycotts meeting of CEC, called by new chief (Telegrafi)
• Konjufca expresses Kosovo’s goal to join OSCE (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: Pristina wanted to avoid dialogue, report to the Assembly on June 22 (RTS, Blic)
• The only news from the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue was that a meeting was held (RTS)
• Odalovic: Kurti’s statement about me for internal use (N1)
• Spahiu: Kurti should not use derogatory terms for Odalovic; Kandic: Odalovic can’t lead Commission for Missing Persons (Kosovo Online)
• Petkovic on Kurti, dialogue in Brussels (Kosovo-online)
• Serbia’s MFA: Pristina delegation shows ”frivolity, irresponsibility” (N1)
• Serbian List conveyed security concerns in meeting with US Ambassador (RTS)
• Selakovic: ”Viola von Cramon increasingly lobbying for a self-proclaimed Kosovo” (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

International:

• Serbia, Kosovo restart EU-brokered talks, remain far apart (AP)
• Serbia, Kosovo remain at loggerheads as talks resume (DW)
• Kosovo President Osmani: Today’s challenges require ‘an entirely different governing mindset’ (Atlantic Council)
• Serbia, Kosovo Leaders’ First Meeting Marred by Disagreement (Balkan Insight)
• National Digital Transformation: A Conversation With Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic (forbes.com)
• Carla Del Ponte: “I Keep Telling Myself that Justice Will Prevail” (spiegel.de)

 Humanitarian/Development:

• Finding shelter in Kosovo (Kosovo 2.0)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 15 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo recorded 15 new cases of COVID-19 and no deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 67 persons recovered from the virus during this time. 

According to the Ministry of Health, there are currently 186 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

The Ministry also announced today that 7,492 vaccine shots were administered in the last 24 hours in Kosovo while the media report that members of the Kosovo Police have begun receiving Covid vaccines as of today.

Lajcak: If you don’t trust the EU, go somewhere else (Koha)

Samir Beharic, researcher with the Balkan Forum, reported that at a “GLOBSEC” Forum underway in Bratislava, he asked the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, Miroslav Lajcak, whether the Western Balkans leaders should trust the EU promises considering the bloc’s failure to deliver visa liberalisation to Kosovo and begin accession talks with North Macedonia to which he responded “abhorrently”: “If you don’t trust the EU, go somewhere else.” 

“It has now become trendy to criticise the EU over visa liberalisation but Kosovo leaders should go to those countries blocking freedom to travel and ask how to comply,” Lajcak continued. He further confirmed that Kosovo has met all the visa liberalisation criteria. 

Kosnett: Kosovans can achieve peace by working together (media)

The U.S. Ambassador Philip Kosnett visited Mitrovica North yesterday and had discussions with political leaders, civil society, and independent media. 

“Kosovans will only get the peace they need, the justice they deserve, & the prosperity they earn by working together to solve common problems,” he wrote on Twitter following the visit.

Hyseni slams Kurti’s appearance at Brussels meeting (media)

Skender Hyseni, Kosovo’s former chief negotiator in dialogue with Serbia, criticised the positions presented by Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the meeting with Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels today.

In a Facebook post, Hyseni said: “The arrogant behaviour with no diplomatic sense of Albin Kurti in yesterday’s meeting in Brussels was a desperate attempt to undermine dialogue to a halt. As a result, yesterday, Albin Kurti caused one of the greatest diplomatic failures of the Republic of Kosovo since the declaration of its independence.”

Hyseni said Kurti damaged Kosovo’s negotiating position in dialogue. “Kurti showed his desire to preserve the status quo,” wrote Hyseni, adding that such a scenario would best suit Serbia’s strategy and interests. 

Budget committee recommends dismissal of RTK board (Kallxo)

Kosovo Assembly’s committee on budget, work and transfers has recommended initiation of procedures for dismissing the board of the public broadcaster, RTK. The recommendation was adopted with the majority of committee members voting in favour.

The committee also refused to adopt the annual financial report of RTK while chairperson of the committee, Armend Muja, said the failure of the RTK board to cooperate with the committee is ‘concerning’. 

Opposition boycotts meeting of CEC, called by new chief (Telegrafi)

The new head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Kreshnik Radoniqi, called representatives of political parties to an informal meeting today to which only those of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) and the Serbian List (SL) responded positively to the invitation.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) boycotted the meeting.

PDK’s representative Arianit Elshani said the absence was in sign of protest to President Vjosa Osmani’s decision to dismiss Valdete Daka from the post and name Radoniqi as her successor. “President of Kosovo, without facts and politically motivated, decided to sack the head of the CEC and appoint a new acting chief. This decision threatens the process of local elections this year. I therefore urge the politics and political agendas of the LVV to keep their hands away from the institutional independence of the CEC.”

LDK’s representative Florian Dushi justified his absence saying he received the invitation late while AAK’s Ibrahim Selmanaj said he was in Decan today as the municipality marks the anniversary of liberation. 

Konjufca expresses Kosovo’s goal to join OSCE (media)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca received the head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Michael Davenport and discussed the current developments and the priorities of the new legislature.

According to a press release issued by the Assembly, “Ambassador Davenport expressed the readiness of the OSCE to support and assist Kosovo in furthering reforms and democratisation” while Konjufca thanked the OSCE for the support to Kosovo institutions and underlined the importance of cooperation and Kosovo’s goal to join the organisation. 

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Pristina wanted to avoid dialogue, report to the Assembly on June 22 (RTS, Blic)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in his address to the public today said it was clear to him Pristina delegation came to the meeting in Brussels yesterday with intention to force Belgrade out of the dialogue and that there would be no dialogue, Serbian public broadcaster RTS reports.

Vucic announced a session of the Serbian National Assembly on June 22 where he would talk, as he said, about any topic of crucial importance for the situation in Kosovo and Metohija. He also said he would talk to the Serb representatives in Kosovo about the issues pertaining to their survival, such as the issue of energy.

Speaking about missing persons issue Vucic said Serbia has investigated 21 locations, and found remains of murdered Albanians at four of them. “We hid nothing, we responded to everybody and started to work. The last location was the one at Kizevak, where remains of 12 bodies have been found, and we informed Albanians. We requested several locations (in Kosovo) to be investigated, one of them is Kosare. And we received no information neither for Lapusnik, Dojnice-Prizren, Javor-Suva Reka, Lugovo-Istok, Budisavci-Klina, Livoc Lake-Gnjilane, and Meja-Djakovica. We received no response from Pristina about any of these locations”, Vucic said.

Vucic also said that the chief of the Pristina negotiation team Bislimi told him they will not allow excavations, so that people would not think Albanians committed crimes.

He also spoke about details of the meeting with Kurti in Brussels.

“He said ten times “recognition of Kosovo” and after that he yelled when, when, when, when (…). I told him only once “never”. He perhaps thought we should accept everything they say, and I told him we are a sovereign state and we shall not change our stance”, Vucic said.

According to Vucic, Albanians blamed Serbia over armament and close ties with Russia and they were told that Serbian Army purchases weapons from France as well.

“They asked CEFTA to become SEFTA. It means they want a new agreement on free trade, so they can join it as “Republic of Kosovo” and say that Serbia recognized them. Since they are in CEFTA with an asterix. They tried to do it through the back door”, Vucic said.

He added Albanian side termed the liturgy at the Christ the Savior Temple in Pristina as a major provocation. “I remained silent for about 30 seconds. And writing hateful graffiti on the church’s wall is not a provocation”? Vucic asked.

Vucic said Serbian side demonstrated decisiveness that the dialogue continues. “Rational people, who know what their rights and possibilities are and how far they may go are needed for the talks”, he said.

Vucic once again stressed that Serbia demands everything promised regarding the Community of the Serb-majority Municipalities must be implemented.    

The only news from the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue was that a meeting was held (RTS)

After two and a half years, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina continued in Brussels with the EU mediation. The vice president of the Center for Foreign Policy, Suzana Grubjesic, speaking on the RTS TV show “Oko”, said that Albin Kurti again reduced everything to the recognition of Kosovo. The President of the Assembly Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, Milovan Drecun opined that the preparations for the meeting were not done properly. While the assistant at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Stefan Surlic pointed out that progress would come only when the two sides show mutual understanding.

The vice president of the Center for Foreign Policy, Suzana Grubjesic said that the only news from the meeting in Brussels was that it was held. 

“Everything that Kurti presented as his proposals, again comes down to the recognition of Kosovo. He repeats, who knows how many times, that phrase about mutual recognition,” Grubjesic said. 

She warned that it should not be forgotten that Kurti had just come to power and that local elections awaited him. 

“He addresses his electorate and shows his strength by opposing Brussels and the United States. He is building an image before the elections and dialogue with Belgrade is not his priority. He has said that so many times, so I guess someone will believe him now,” Grubjesic said. 

She added that it was impossible to predict when the agreement will be reached and that setting deadlines was counterproductive.

“Preparation for the meeting was not done properly”

The President of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the Assembly of Serbia, Milovan Drecun said that there was a setback, not progress, in Brussels, and he believed that Matthew Palmer and Miroslav Lajcak totally missed with the preparation for the meeting.

“Preparations for the meeting were not done properly because Kurti had to be put in a position that he would suffer certain sanctions if he continued like this,” said Drecun. 

He said that yesterday was the culmination of several months of systematic and very well-designed campaigns of Pristina to make the conversation meaningless and to prevent progress.

“Kurti reversed the agenda and the content of the talks. The technical teams discussed the formation of the Community Serb Municipalities, they refused. There were four issues – economic co-operation, the issue of missing and expelled, financial claims and property. They did not want to talk about it, maybe only on the issue of the missing,” Drecun said.

He said that Kurti refused excavation of nine locations, suspected to contain the bodies of the killed Serbs, with the explanation that Veljko Odalovic cannot lead it, because he (Kurti) knew that his whole story about the missing would fall into the water because there were many Albanians killed by the KLA.

Drecun said that Kurti was ”a great Albanian separatist”, whose goal was the unification of Albania and Kosovo, and that, if he continued that way, it must lead to the failure of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

“It’s time for mediators to play a more proactive role”

Assistant at the Faculty of Political Sciences, Stefan Surlic said that the negotiations have been hostages of various elections for a long time, and that it was justified by both Europeans and the United States, because of the stable majorities.

“It is completely pointless. We are talking about a dialogue that should lead to a final historical agreement. We should talk openly about all the problems that the two societies face and in the end we should all be ready to put into practice what has been agreed. That is not the case. It does not depend from election to election,” Surlic said.

He emphasized that he believed in dialogue and that was why he supported the policy pursued by Serbia – that dialogue has no alternative.

“It is not a daily political question, but really a question of whether we will be a modern and developed society,” Surlic explained.

He pointed out that it was time for mediators to have a more proactive role, because there was obviously a big gap due to which it was impossible for the dialogue to continue without the crucial role and pressure of Europeans and Americans, primarily on the Pristina side.

Surlic believed that the problem was that the dialogue was presented as a ”must” process. 

“We must all try to show that normalization is something tangible and concrete, something that has economic, political and social consequences. We must have louder messages from the civil sector, but also from politicians. When we show a certain kind of catharsis and understanding for the other side, I believe that there will be progress and normalization of relations,” Surlic pointed out in the RTS TV show “Oko”.

Odalovic: Kurti’s statement about me for internal use (N1)

Chairman of the Serbian Government Missing Persons Commission, Veljko Odalovic said request by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that he should not hold this position as he was both “Goring and Goebbles in one person” said this statement was for internal use, adding the biggest damage was inflicted to the families of missing persons, N1 reports.

Speaking for RTS news edition, Odalovic also said he was not the one doing excavations on mass grave sites of Serbs and non-Albanians in Kosovo, but Pristina bodies.

“If I am a problem that was the least important. However, Kurti is not the one to decide on it, but our government”, Odalovic said, pointing out that no one in Serbia, at any level, prevented excavations on mass grave sites and investigations of localities that Pristina pointed out to.

According to Odalovic, Kuriti is bothered by him because of the fact that he has complete information about mass graves in Kosovo, gathered from different sources, including international ones, and he missed no opportunity to openly talk about that everywhere, including in Pristina.

There are murderers linked with all locations we want to be checked, and they would also have to be held accountable. That is why Kurti was upset, Odalovic assessed, stressing that those criminals are part of the Pristina system also today.

Odalovic recalled that 1.639 persons are still missing in Kosovo, and 570 of them are Serbs, non-Albanians and part of Albanians, whose families don’t trust Pristina and they reported their disappearance to Serbia.   

Spahiu: Kurti should not use derogatory terms for Odalovic; Kandic: Odalovic can’t lead Commission for Missing Persons (Kosovo Online)

Professor Nexmedin Spahiu believes that Kosovo PM Kurti should not have used “inappropriate expressions and words” for the head of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, at the first meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels. While Natasa Kandic, from the Humanitarian Law Center, stated that Veljko Odalovic, as a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), had no credibility to lead the Commission for Missing Persons, reported portal Kosovo Online. 

Spahiu pointed out that the meeting between Kurti and Vucic was a continuation of the dialogue process, which should continue, but without derogatory rhetoric.

“I think that the mistake of Prime Minister Albin Kurti is that he used bad words for the Serbian representative of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic. I think that the process of dialogue should continue, but without the use of such rhetoric. The mission is to get recognition, and that can only be achieved with a normal conversation,” Spahiu said.

At yesterday’s meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic as part of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, in the presence of EU representatives Josep Borell and Miroslav Lajcak, Kurti demanded that Veljko Odalovic and Zoran Andjelekovic be removed from office, the portal reported.

Kandic said on Twitter that Odalovic, as a SPS member, had no credibility to lead the Commission for Missing Persons. She reminded the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, that the chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons in the Kosovo government was Rame Manaj, whose family members disappeared in April 1999, and whose remains were found on a lake in Serbia.

Kandic opined that the families of the victims should propose a president of the Commission for Missing Persons.

“Veljko Odalovic does not have the moral credibility to lead the Commission for Missing Persons. He is an SPS cadre for positions belonging to that party – hence in the MFA, the Assembly. The families of the victims should propose the president of that Commission, a person not compromised by nationalism,” she wrote on Twitter.

Petkovic on Kurti, dialogue in Brussels (Kosovo-online)

Commenting on the latest meeting in Brussels between President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said that behavior of Kurti was worrisome, adding the EU representatives who took part in a meeting could see that, Kosovo-online portal reports.

According to Petkovic, President Vucic taught Kurti a good lesson, adding that others should have taught him that lesson a long time ago.

Petkovic said Kurti spoke little, and when he did, those were provocations.

Speaking about the request of Albin Kurti to replace Veljko Odalovic as Chairman of the Serbian Government Missing Persons Commission, Petkovic said Kurti now wants to be in charge of personnel matters, adding that Serbian side did everything regarding the missing persons issue.

“Pristina submitted requests to investigate 21 locations, and we did it, the vast majority of locations have been checked. This demonstrates the commitment of this government to resolve this issue, as it is a civilization matter. We submitted 10 requests and they fulfilled only one at the Bunker location near Djakovica”, Petkovic said.

He assessed the security situation in Kosovo and Metohija as bad, stressing Serbia will do its utmost to preserve security and people. Petkovic said the problem is that those in charge of security are silently looking at incidents against the Serbs, adding if KFOR would withdraw, “Visoki Decani and other monasteries would be wiped off the face of the earth”.    

Serbia’s MFA: Pristina delegation shows ”frivolity, irresponsibility” (N1)

Nikola Selakovic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday that the Pristina delegation showed “frivolity and irresponsibility” during Tuesday’s meeting with Belgrade representatives mediated by the European Union officials in Brussels.

On the other hand, he added, the EU officials had ”a constructive and fair” approach

”You had people (from Pristina) who would not say hello or shake hands. They suggest some ludicrous ideas not related to the so far agreed deals. They were not interested in the dialogue (on normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina), but only in the so-called recognition (of independence),” Selakovic said.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic also said his interlocutor Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti ”came not to agree” on anything.

On the other hand, Kurti said the talks would be tough but that he was an optimist.

Miroslav Lajčák, the EU special envoy for the dialogue, who, together with the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell mediated the talks, told reporters the process would not be easy but that it was important it resumed. He did not take questions.

The next round of the dialogue is scheduled for the end of July.

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

Serbian List conveyed security concerns in meeting with US Ambassador (RTS)

During the meeting with US Ambassador Philip Kosnett, Serbian List representatives expressed concerns over security situation in Kosovo and Metohija, in particular at returns site, as well as over frequented incidents targeting Serbian Orthodox Church, RTS reports.

Ambassador Kosnett visited Mitrovica North yesterday and met Minister for Communities and Returns, Goran Rakic, Serbian List caucus head, Igor Simic, and four northern municipalities’ mayors, Milan Radojevic, Vucina Jankovic, Zoran Todic and Srdjan Vulovic.

In a statement issued following the meeting, the Ministry for Communities and Returns said that they as representatives of the Serbs at central and local level institutions will do their utmost to improve the situation of the Serbian people in Kosovo.  

Ambassador Kosnett also met civil society representatives. Mitrovica North-based New Social Initiative (NSI) wrote on Twitter the organization was pleased to host the meeting.

“It was a pleasure to host yesterday the meeting between the US Ambassador and civil society representatives. In light of the latest tensions between the Kosovo government and parts of the Serbian community in Kosovo, we had quite concerns to express”, NSI wrote on Twitter.

Selakovic: ”Viola von Cramon increasingly lobbying for a self-proclaimed Kosovo” (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic stated that MEP Viola von Cramon, by commenting on yesterday’s meeting within the Brussels dialogue, committed a serious political and diplomatic offense, trying to relativize and defend Pristina’s complete unwillingness to discuss any topic in a constructive way and implement commitments made, reported Kosovo Online.

A statement issued to the media said that the pull in of the principle “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” in the process that was based on clearly defined deadlines for the implementation of the agreement was nothing but an attempt to ruin the dialogue.

“Such an understanding of the Brussels dialogue would also release Belgrade from any obligation to act in accordance with the agreements reached in recent years, with the mediation of the EU, and the guarantee of Brussels that the agreement will be implemented, and I hope that Ms. Viola von Cramon does not recommend such a thing,” Selakovic said.

Selakovic stated that once again there was the absurd situation where the person, building her political capacity on the fact that she is a member of an EU institution, undermines the processes whose guarantor is the EU, and “it is high time to sanction the increasingly open lobbying of Ms. von Cramon for self-proclaimed Kosovo”.

“The process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina is delicate and requires careful management, which they are aware of in both the European Commission and the European External Action Service, because any irresponsible behavior in it can result in worsening the situation on the ground and destabilization. All those who follow the course of the Brussels dialogue should, before they say something, weigh their words well, because the consequences of their irresponsibility can be far-reaching,” said Selakovic. 

He reminded that it would soon be 3,000 days from the moment when Pristina committed itself to enable the formation of the ZSO and that, not only was the fulfillment of that obligation not in sight, but Pristina “openly tells EU representatives that it is not interested in such a thing”.

International

Serbia, Kosovo restart EU-brokered talks, remain far apart (AP)

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo on Tuesday resumed EU-brokered negotiations aimed at resolving a long-lasting dispute that remains a source of tensions in the volatile Balkans.

But the meeting in Brussels between Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s new Prime Minister Albin Kurti appeared to produce little progress in the negotiations that first started in 2011 and have been stalled since last year.

“It was not an easy meeting, but it was important that it happened,” said the EU’s special envoy for the talks, Miroslav Lajcak. “What is important for the European Union is that both leaders confirmed that there is no other way forward but to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia.”

See more at: https://bit.ly/3iHTv4P

Serbia, Kosovo remain at loggerheads as talks resume (DW)

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo were back around the negotiating table on Tuesday almost a year after talks broke down between the two sides.

Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia after the province broke away in the wake of a bloody conflict that took place over two decades ago.

The ensuing feud between the pair led to the EU’s seeking a truce, instigating talks that first began in 2011.

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

Kosovo President Osmani: Today’s challenges require ‘an entirely different governing mindset’ (Atlantic Council)

As Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani faces rule of law challenges, high unemployment rates, and a slow vaccine rollout, she’s putting domestic reforms at the top of her priorities—even ahead of the country’s European Union-facilitated dialogue with Serbia.

“If I would get a guest in my office saying, ‘What about the dialogue [with Serbia]?’ My answer [is], ‘What about the vaccines?’” she told the Atlantic Council at a Front Page event last week moderated by Damon Wilson, executive vice president of the Council. She later added that “during a pandemic, where people have lost lives and those who have survived have lost jobs, our focus is clear… It’s about people.”

She said that she rejected the idea that Kosovo’s “entire foreign policy, our entire international relations, should be redundant and reduced to relations with only one country,” even though she acknowledged that the dialogue with Serbia is still “extremely important.”

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

Serbia, Kosovo Leaders’ First Meeting Marred by Disagreement (Balkan Insight)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti held their first, EU-mediated meeting in Brussels, but could not even agree on whether the talks went well or not.

The long-awaited resumption of dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo took place on Tuesday in Brussels, where Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti had their first official meeting, but their rival interpretations of what happened highlighted the differences between the two leaders.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2S5pEIU

National Digital Transformation: A Conversation With Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic (forbes.com)

We can learn a lot from small countries where big things happen. Ireland attracts some of the world’s largest corporations via far more than just low corporate taxes. New Zealand’s KEA (Kiwi Expat Association) mobilizes their diaspora better than anyone. Estonia boasts the world’s highest per capita of tech unicorns— six for a population of 1.3 million.

Upstaging everyone, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan— population 760,000—vaccinated 93% of their adult population against Covid-19 in two weeks. Having visited three times with one of my portfolio companies, www.abroad.io, I’m familiar with the challenge this presented, as well as the spirit and commitment that enabled their accomplishment.

Recently, I’ve become interested in the case of Serbia.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3cNH0RI

Carla Del Ponte: “I Keep Telling Myself that Justice Will Prevail” (spiegel.de) 

Carla Del Ponte prosecuted some of the worst war criminals of the 20th century at The Hague. These days, though, the international justice system seems to have lost its teeth. What went wrong?

DER SPIEGEL: Ms. Del Ponte, in your book, the world of 2021 sounds a lot like a jungle, in which the strongest prevail. Why is that?

Del Ponte: The world is still dependent on the will of the strongest countries. It was only possible to establish an international criminal justice system because the U.S. and Russia supported it. Unfortunately, this political will has evaporated.

DER SPIEGEL: You managed to drag some of the worst war criminals of the 20th century into court. What impression did these men make on you?

Del Ponte: Nothing special really. They’re just normal people, unfortunately. I would like to have seen them as monsters, but they aren’t. One thing they do share is a belief that the end justifies the means.

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

Humanitarian/Development

Finding shelter in Kosovo (Kosovo 2.0)

In brief conversation with residents on the way to the asylum center in the village of Magure, Lipjan, it was not uncommon to hear expressions of solidarity like, “I have lived in another country for a long time, so I empathize with migrants,” or, ”they came here because they are in trouble, their country is at war.”

Participating in large waves of emigration since the ‘70s, many Kosovars are well acquainted with the experience of being a migrant. Either on a personal level, having been migrants themselves, or through the experience of relatives, Kosovars know what it means to search for a safer, more dignified life, to have to flee your home in search of a place that seemed from afar to offer them a better life.

These stories, similar to those shared by the inhabitants of Magure, hold within themselves a mixture of longing, pain, and often the feeling of being strangers, being excluded. Beyond mere personal experiences, these conversations, often just passing small talk, are an indication of how migrants are treated and received in countries that for them were once the only hope for a better life, for a new home without war. Elsewhere, but especially in our context, these stories should be read and understood as a call and reminder for genuine efforts not to reproduce the pain and exclusion previously faced by people we know and love, but to end it and pave the way for a new narrative for migrants, precisely by leading this change ourselves.

While the experiences of Kosovars as migrants cannot be separated from our daily lives, Kosovars’ hospitality is being tested by those who are arriving in Kosovo, people searching for a better life and to be freed from wars, political persecution, conflicts and poverty in their countries of origin. While the past experiences of Kosovars as migrants and refugees cannot be undone, a joint effort can be a new window of acceptance so that at least the people seeking refuge in Kosovo do not live with similar experiences and memories. 

See more at: https://bit.ly/3cLGMu8