Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Vetting, a request of citizens (media)
• Haxhiu: Every citizen has the right to have a justice system (media)
• LDK and PDK with 206 municipal advisers each, LVV with 193, AAK 120 (media)
• Russia with a harsh campaign: Kosovo extremists are problem of Balkans (RTK)
• KP Special Unit Commander explains how he got wounded in the north (RTK)
• COVID-19: 21 new cases, one death (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Rakic with Kajari: KFOR the only guarantor of security in Kosovo (Radio KIM)
• Belgrade & Podgorica on improving bilateral relations, no problems mentioned (N1)
• Agricultural materials removed from House of Culture in Gorazdevac (Radio KIM)
• Petkovic: Albin Kurti’s messages are a direct threat to the Serbian people (Danas, RTK2)
• Vulin: “If Serbia wanted to return to Kosovo by force, it would not need Russians or anyone else” (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)
• Office for KiM: Insulting graffiti written in Mogila village, near Vitina (Kosovo-online)
• Trajkovic: Kurti either naive or malicious when comparing Serbs in BiH with Serbs in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• The main trial in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic due to continue November 22 (Kosovo Online)

Opinion:

• Bieber: Joint US-EU action needed in the region (RTK2)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Vetting, a request of citizens (media)

The first meeting of the working group for drafting and finalizing the legislation on the Vetting process in the justice system has started today in Prishtina.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that vetting is a request of the citizens for justice.

He stressed that justice reforms are already underway, aimed at restoring citizens’ trust. He further added that the country needs fair prosecutors and an efficient court.

“After the approval of the concept document of the vetting process, today we have the first meeting of the working group. The main pillar of the country is justice. Justice reforms are behind us, and we have no dilemmas whether it can happen or not. With this process the trust of the citizens is being restored. We need fair prosecutors and efficient judges.”

Kurti further said the current government is bringing reforms and professionalism in justice in general and not only with vetting.

“Apart from vetting, the government of Kosovo has started justice reforms such as the one supplementing the law of the Prosecutorial Council, and all these provide appropriate solutions for citizens and justice. A positive response to the reforms shows prudence that will bring independence, professionalism and trust to justice. Accountability increases efficiency and trust is returned to justice, and with this trust, we have the independence of power.”

Kurti added that they are determined to complete this reform.

Haxhiu: Every citizen has the right to have a justice system (media)

The first meeting of the working group for drafting and finalizing the legislation on the Vetting process in the justice system was held today.

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu vetting is the key to a justice system where all citizens will have equal access and that it will enable having judges and prosecutors with high moral and professional integrity within the legal system.

She said that she has invited this week the parliamentary groups for discussion in order to reach the required consensus for the vetting process.

“Every citizen without exception has the right to have a justice system that fights corruption, every citizen has the right to a justice system that is independent of various factors and that is effective in administering justice. Unfortunately, the current situation of the judiciary and the prosecution in our country is caused as a result of insufficient independence, influence from outside and lack of accountability and transparency. Therefore, the citizens have decided on the justice reform and vetting is the key to guarantee long-term success in this initiative,” she said.

LDK and PDK with 206 municipal advisers each, LVV with 193, AAK 120 (media)

The Central Election Commission has announced the final results for municipal councilors.

According to the same results, it turns out that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) have the most municipal councilors, 206 each in the entire Kosovo.

As far as the votes for municipal councilors are concerned, LDK received 170,134 votes, while PDK 161,645 votes.

Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) has secured 193 seats in the Municipal Assemblies after receiving 168,084 votes.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) received 9863 votes throughout Kosovo, and it will have 120 assembly members.

The Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) won 21 seats after receiving 18,455 votes.

The New Kosovo Alliance will have only 8 assembly members after receiving 10,277 votes.

The independent list Bekim Jashari will have 10 seats in Skenderaj after receiving 6694 votes.

The Serbian List will have 147 municipal councilors in the municipalities where it competed.

Russia with a harsh campaign: Kosovo extremists are the problem of the Balkans (RTK) 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media Telegram on Wednesday that the West is a collaborator in igniting the latest developments in the Balkans and because of this, Kosovar extremists can ignite a conflict there at any time.

Speaking about the recent events in the north of Kosovo, Zakharova said that Kosovars’ aggressive plans are not limited to these episodes.

“It is no secret that Kosovo’s authorities, under the leadership of the so-called prime minister Albin Kurti and his nationalist party Vetevendosje Movement, prioritise energy independence in their efforts to completely sever ties with Serbia. It is the Valac substation that prevents Pristina from finalising the split. At the same time, chances are that Serbian communities in northern Kosovo will be left without electricity if the Kosovars seize the substation,” Zakharova wrote.

She further added that ‘the main source of problems in Kosovo are the Albanian ultra-nationalists who are currently in power. They are flexing their muscles in the run-up to the local elections whose first round was held on October 17 and the second round is scheduled for November 14. They are being indulged by Western capitals, primarily those that unleashed NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia in 1999 in order to sever Kosovo from Serbia, without any regard for numerous human casualties. The very same countries are assuring Serbia that all will be well, all it has to do is surrender and renounce its national interests and historical memory.’

Read her full post at: https://bit.ly/3mBteqt

KP Special Unit Commander explains how he got wounded in the north (RTK)

The Commander of the Special Unit of the Kosovo Police Besart Ahmeti spoke about the action in the north of Kosovo to fight smuggling, where he himself was injured during the confrontation with the protesters.

He explained that they were there to assist the investigative teams that were fighting smuggling and that his point of duty was at the bridge, where protesters started to gather.  

“Initially, they threw strong tools, bottles, stones, and shocking grenades, but by the end, the real combat grenades started. We had to intervene to disperse the crowd as a measure of not endangering the other group.  At the very moment that we reacted there was an explosion of a grenade and out of the four of us, three got injured,” Ahmeti said.

Ahmeti said that Special Units engage in operations when there is a medium and high level of risk, and that professionalism helps them to be correct and restrained.

COVID-19: 21 new cases, one death (media)

21 new COVID-19 cases and one death have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 16 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 445 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Rakic with Kajari: KFOR the only guarantor of security in Kosovo (Radio KIM)

Minister for Communities and Returns Goran Rakic met KFOR Commander Major General Ferenc Kajari, stressing that establishment of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities is a mechanism to ensure better lives of Serbs in Kosovo and that is why they insist on its establishment, Radio KIM reports.

Rakic wrote on Facebook the topics of his first meeting with the new KFOR Commander included the security situation and latest actions of the ROSU members in the  north, as well as the fear from incidents among returnees in areas where they live.

“Ensuring security and safety must be a priority and we all need to work on that. It is the only way to reach a lasting peace and stability”, Rakic said.

He also thanked General Kajari for the principled stance of KFOR adding that this Mission based on UN SC Resolution 1244 must remain the sole guarantor of the stability and security in kosovo. 

Belgrade & Podgorica on improving bilateral relations, no problems mentioned (N1, media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic discussed in Belgrade on Wednesday how to improve bilateral relations, regional cooperation and the economic links between the two countries, N1 reports

Unlike on his arrival at Belgrade’s airport when he was welcomed by a minister wearing jeans and no tie, N1 continues, Krivokapic was greeted outside the Palace of Serbia by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and the guard with honour.

Neither leader referred to issues the two countries have had lately, including the dispute regarding the Serbian Orthodox Church and unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church and alleged Belgrade’s interference with Podgorica’s internal affairs.

Montenegro’s Government said in a statement following Vucic – Krivokapic meeting that the country’s Prime Minister visit to Serbia “represents a positive impetus for intensifying cooperation between the two countries, but also a clear signal to the international community that there is capacity in the region to overcome possible open issues through dialogue and common interest“.

Krivokapic later had talks with Brnabic and the ministers.

On Tuesday, Krivokapic talked to the US, Germany, UK, France and Italy ambassadors and 32 non-residential envoys who he informed about his Government’s economic plans.

Vucic said the intensive and continued dialogue at the highest level was a precondition for better understanding and made it easier to overcome possible differences between the two countries. He added that Serbia attached particular importance to further developing overall bilateral relations with Montenegro in the spirit of friendship and mutual respect.

Krivokapic tweeted that “the meeting with the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, took place in an open and constructive atmosphere. We agreed that the relations between Montenegro and Serbia must be of better quality and more intensive, in line with the interests of all our citizens“.

Later on Wednesday, Krivokapic is due to meet Serbian Parliament Speaker Ivica Dacic.

Media also reported that Krivokoapic will attend the dinner organized on the occasion of Open Balkan Initiative meeting, while the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Branbic said the call to join the initiative is opened to all, but that decision whether to join it or not is up to Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and North Macedonia Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov arrive in Belgrade today to attend the meetings regarding the Open Balkans initiative as well as the mentioned dinner. 

Agricultural materials removed from House of Culture in Gorazdevac (Radio KIM)

Agricultural materials placed at the entrance of the House of Culture in Gorazdevac over the weekend have been removed, Radio KIM reports.

Several tonnes of the agricultural seeds were placed by Pec Interim Municipal Authority prompting reactions of Radio Gorazdevac, whose premises are located inside the building.

The House of Culture is in decay for decades, as no one takes care of it and due to inadequate use.

Half-broken windows, damaged planks and a dilapidated facade are visible on the building, which was once a symbol of all cultural and artistic events in the village.

Petkovic: Albin Kurti’s messages are a direct threat to the Serbian people (Danas, RTK2)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic stated today that the messages of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, that he will not allow “Bosnianization”, i.e. the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) cannot be understood other than as an open threat to the Serbian people, reported Danas.

Petkovic emphasized that the ZSO has the same significance for the Serbs in Kosovo as the Dayton Agreement for the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that Kurti’s messages are “undisguised undermining” of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the Office announced.

Petkovic said that the “very dangerous threat of Kurti” should be carefully read by the European Union (EU), from which he “asked to react”, because the EU is a mediator in the dialogue.

“The Brussels agreement is not a buffet from which everyone can take what suits them, but a binding document for both sides, but also for the EU,” said Petkovic.

Vulin: “If Serbia wanted to return to Kosovo by force, it would not need Russians or anyone else” (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said that if Serbia wanted to return to the north and south of Kosovo by force, it would not need Russians or any other foreigners, but that Serbs, who were born in Kosovo, would be enough, reported Serbian media, citing Tanjug.

Vulin thus responded to the statement of the former commander of the Kosovo Security Forces, Kadri Kastrati, that he had information that they were “recruiting Russian mercenaries in Serbia in order to bring them to the north of Kosovo”.

Vulin said that neither Vucic or him are preparing or looking for Russian volunteers and that “if Serbia wanted to return by force to the north and south of Kosovo and Metohija then it would not need Russians or any other foreigners” but Serbs born in Kosovo would be enough.

He added that when Kosovo Albanians’ fear and an unclean conscience speaks, they “usually are banging about Serbian aggression and Russian danger, and start whining about how dangerous Vucic is, and Serbia is great”. 

He added that the Kosovo Albanians were convinced of that when they sent “arrogant special forces” to the north of Kosovo and frightened it retreated them to the south.

According to his assessment, such claims should serve as a reason for NATO to once again raise its arms and wage a war that the Albanians themselves could never win, “just as they could not build a state on their own”, reported Serbian media.

Office for KiM: Insulting graffiti written in Mogila village, near Vitina (Kosovo-online)

Alongside the village road in Mogila, Vitina municipality graffiti “Albania”, “ALB” and derogatory terms for Serbs were written on a wall of a house this morning, Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement, Kosovo-online portal reports. 

“Ethnically motivated incidents, also took place in this mixed settlement earlier, such as inscribing graffiti of a terrorist KLA organization, near Serbian school and church, stoning of the houses owned by the Serbs, so the residents have reasons to be concerned for their safety”, the Office said in a statement. 

It also added this was a clear message that  part of Albanians in all possible ways try to intimidate and expel Serbs from their homes in particular from mixed areas, so they can create, as the Office said, mono-ethnic areas in Kosovo. 

Trajkovic: Kurti either naive or malicious when comparing Serbs in BiH with Serbs in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

The president of the European Movement of Serbs from Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic said that the statement of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, to the BBC that “the regime in Serbia wants to repeat Bosnia in Kosovo and that he will not allow it, is naive and malicious”.

“Comparing the situation of over one million Serbs in Republika Srpska (30 percent of the multiethnic population in Bosnia) with the situation of 100,000 Kosovo Serbs whose survival in Kosovo hangs on the thread, where 95 percent are ethnic Albanians, is naive at best, and malicious at worst,” stated Trajkovic in a post on Twitter, reported Kosovo Online.

The main trial in the case of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic due to continue November 22 (Kosovo Online)

The continuation of the main hearing in the procedure against those accused of assisting in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic is scheduled for November 22, lawyer Jovana Filipovic told portal Kosovo Online.

According to Filipovic, defense counsel of one of the accused Silvana Arsovic, the hearing will begin at 9.30 am.

“The president of the trial chamber originally decided that the main hearing in this case would be held on November 22, 23 and 24. But because the special prosecutor was busy in those days, according to the summons sent, it was scheduled only for November 22, when the hearing of witnesses will take place. I sent a request to the president of the chamber to explain which of the witnesses would be called to the hearing in order to prepare the defense, but I did not receive an answer. I need to know which witness we will examine, as a defense council,” Filipovic told the portal. 

Opinion

Bieber: Joint US-EU action needed in the region (RTK2)

Florian Bieber, a professor at the University of Graz and director of the Center for the Study of Southeast Europe at the university, told Radio Kosovo 2, that the situation in the region is worrying and requires strong joint EU-US engagement. Florian Bieber points out that any solution between Serbia and Kosovo would have to imply some kind of mutual recognition, to normalize relations, reported RTK2.

There is no clear engagement of the EU now in resolving open issues in the region, and the situation is quite worrying, said Florian Bieber. According to him, it is especially worrying in BiH, where the issue of the election law is even more moving towards ethnic divisions.

“It is very tense in BiH, because the talks on electoral reforms and threats, especially by Milorad Dodik, are very serious and have turned into an atmosphere of fear that leads to a political situation that can lead, maybe not to war, but to conflict and to even greater political blockades. So, the messages from BiH are not very encouraging, it sounds more that the solution concerning the election law of BiH leads to a greater degree of ethnic division in the political system than to reducing it. That has consequences for the whole region,” Bieber said.

According to him, the situation in Serbia is not improving and there are no prospects, while the situation regarding the local elections in Northern Macedonia could be seen as a consequence of the blockade of European integration. According to him, the resignation of PM Zaev due to the defeat of the ruling party in the local elections is a good political message of taking responsibility for the election result, which is not very common in the region.

“On the other hand, it is worrying because the nationalist opposition has not implemented some reforms since it lost power, and Gruevski probably wants to return from Budapest at some point. It is very bad for the region, and it is especially bad because the loss in the local elections is to a certain extent a consequence of Bulgaria’s blockade of Northern Macedonia,” Bieber said, adding that in this way the EU had a part in the election.

“I do not see messages and attempts by the EU to take the region seriously and thus try to resolve the open issues that exist,” Bieber said.

He pointed out that it is desirable for the US to be involved in a constructive way in resolving issues in the region, but that only with the EU there could be results. He says it remains to be seen what the engagement of President Biden’s envoy for the region will look like, because “the previous administration did not do it in a constructive way in cooperation with the EU”.

“The question is, what exactly does that mean? The US is much weaker than ten or fifteen years ago in the region in terms of legitimacy and in terms of other actors that are stronger. Now a lot depends on the extent to which the United States will try to push things. Also, the US can only bring some results together with the EU. So, the question is to what extent there is some serious cooperation and readiness for long-term engagement and perception of the wider regional picture,” says Bieber.

Evaluating the recent statement by Gabriel Escobar, the US president’s special envoy for the Western Balkans, at a hearing in the US Congress that “Belgrade and Pristina should continue the dialogue, work on resolving their differences and normalizing relations, ideally through mutual recognition,” Bieber said that without recognition, there can be no normalization of relations, and he adds that the only question is how it will be defined in the package.

“Any solution to the relations between Serbia and Kosovo would have to imply some kind of mutual recognition, whether it now means full recognition or something very close to it, but from the beginning of the negotiations it was clear that it is the minimum, that normalization cannot be interpreted without it. In that sense, the only question is how, when and what will be the package in which it will be made possible,” says Bieber and adds that it is important for that message to be understandable in Serbia

“Even today, it is strange to me that people are surprised, because the question is what is another possible solution to the outcome of the negotiations,” says Bieber.

He believes that the Community of Serbian Municipalities, on which formation Belgrade insists, will be a key topic of negotiations, but he adds that without defining a final solution, it will be difficult to implement the remaining signed agreements.

“Both the Kosovo and Serbian sides are not ready to make any compromise, because they are afraid that it will reduce the space for maneuvers when it comes to that package of final solution of normalization of relations. I fear it will be very difficult to implement the existing contractual component of previous agreements, without that final step. On the other hand, that final step will be very difficult because it means mutual recognition, for which Serbia is obviously not ready now. It seems to me that Serbia is not ready for a compromise at all, because it can live in the status quo very well. In that sense, it seems to me that the current process without strong support and the message of the USA and the EU will not lead to results,” points out Bieber.

Speaking about the regional cooperation and the Open Balkans initiative, Bieber says that any cooperation is desirable, but that it is necessary to clarify what about similar initiatives, and whether there will really be a visible cooperation.

“On the one hand, any kind of cooperation is welcome and positive, but on the other hand, what is the difference between the Open Balkans and some other existing initiatives, which enabled that kind of cooperation, such as the abolition of border control, and the like. It was not clear to many people how this initiative differed from the already existing opportunities that were not sufficiently used. This creates the impression that it is just a matter of marketing tricks or advertisements for profiling some leaders in the region,” says Bieber.

He adds that if other countries in the region do not join this initiative, it is unlikely that it will bring results in the form of better regional cooperation.

He said that his impression is that the leaders of the region are not willing to reduce tensions, political crises and resolve bilateral disputes, which is why he is not very optimistic about this initiative, reported RTK2.