Albanian Language Media:

• Prime Minister Kurti confirms he will attend Peace Forum in Paris (media)
• Escobar officially takes post of US Representative to Western Balkans (media)
• Civil society asks U.S. to reconsider non-invitation for Kosovo (RFE)
• Mehaj: Kosovo’s next destination, joining the U.S.-Adriatic Charter (media)
• “Key point for Balkans, Kosovo’s recognition by Serbia” (Kosovapress)
• Government: We are working on Law on Salaries (Telegrafi)
• “Kosovo among first in region in terms of assembly transparency” (Indeksonline)
• AJK hires legal professional to represent journalists (media)
• Ministry: Vaccination against COVID-19 open to non-Kosovo citizens (media)
• COVID-19: 11 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19 in Serbian communities: Two people died, 85 new cases (Kontakt plus radio)
• Vucic and Botsan-Kharchenko: “Putin understands Serbia” (B92, Kosovo Online)
• Paris: Serbia’s and Kosovo’s PMs to take part at Peace Forum (N1, Beta)
• PM Brnabic: US congressmen letter written by paid lobbyists, it’s child’s play (FoNet, N1)
• US Embassy: Not all partners could be involved in the initiative (Danas)
• Petkovic: Osmani was not paying attention in class, US advocates the respect of all agreements, including ZSO (Kosovo Online)

International:

• Without a clear commitment of Member States to enlargement, EC reports lose power they once had (EWB)
• In Bosnia, US overtakes EU as crisis boils (Politico)
• Mutiny in Serbia: How a State Security Unit’s Rebellion Went Unpunished (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media  

Prime Minister Kurti confirms he will attend Peace Forum in Paris (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will attend the Peace Forum in Paris on Thursday and Friday, a Kosovo Government spokesperson told the media today. 

Escobar officially takes post of US Representative to Western Balkans (media)

The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo congratulated the new Special Representative to the Western Balkans, Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar. 

“He’s already working on the EU-facilitated Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, securing regional EU accession, and pressing Bosnia leaders to advance reform and respect BiH sovereignty/territorial integrity,” the Embassy wrote on social media.

Civil society asks U.S. to reconsider non-invitation for Kosovo (RFE)

A group of non-governmental organisations from Kosovo have sent a letter to Gabriel Escobar, US Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Shanthi Kalathil, Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights at the National Security Council, calling on the US to reconsider their decision not to invite Kosovo to the Summit for Democracy organised by US President Joe Biden on December 9-10. One of the signatories of the letter confirmed the authenticity of the letter to the news website.

Radio Free Europe has published a copy of the letter which among other notes: 

“The theme and the goals of the Summit are fundamentally important to the work that we do to advance democracy and human rights in our country, with continuous support of the U.S. government. While we do not intend to question the criteria to invite individual countries to the Summit, as they are under the discretion of the U.S. as a host, we would like to ask you to consider our viewpoint on the issue with the hope that the decision on Kosovo could be reconsidered.”

“From a foreign and security policy perspective, the people of Kosovo continue to be the most unwavering supporters of the transatlantic alliance in the Western Balkans and beyond. In fact no country in the region is more concerned by the malign authoritarian influence of China and Russia, than Kosovo. We understand that Kosovo and the U.S. have had areas of disagreements over the years. We also understand and in many cases share the frustrations that the U.S. has with Kosovo’s political elites. Yet we fail to see any difference in U.S.-Kosovo relations that are fundamentally irreconcilable, and which would merit Kosovo’s exclusion from the global pro-democracy camp.”

“We strongly believe that Kosovo’s participation at the Summit would help advance the state of democracy and human rights in our country and would empower us in our efforts to hold institutions accountable. We thereby hope that the U.S. government would be willing to reconsider its decision.”

Mehaj: Kosovo’s next destination, joining the U.S.-Adriatic Charter (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence Armend Mehaj has travelled to Split, Croatia on the invitation of the country’s Defence Minister Mario Banozic to attend the two-day ministerial meeting as part of the U.S.-Adriatic Charter.

“The Adriatic Charter-U.S. is the next destination in our path to Kosovo’s membership in NATO,” Mehaj wrote on Facebook, adding that “my participation in this meeting is an excellent opportunity to strongly present the need for Kosovo to be accepted with an equal status in this organisation.” 

“Key point for Balkans, Kosovo’s recognition by Serbia” (Kosovapress)

Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, President of the NATO Defense College Foundation and former acting Secretary General of NATO, said in an interview with the news agency that the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is a high priority and that it is important to include Euro-Atlantic institutions and friendly countries in the process so that the parties can reach good compromises in the interest of all. He said that “the starting point should be the full recognition of Kosovo’s independence and the recognition of the Serb minority”. 

“We must understand that relations between Kosovo and Serbia are key for the Balkans region, and perhaps the key to greater developments in the future in the region. It is also part of the process of including European and Euro-Atlantic institutions. The recent developments are not encouraging because they do not show progress and are a strong sign that relations between Pristina and Belgrade are far from normal,” he said.

Government: We are working on Law on Salaries (Telegrafi)

Following a protest by healthcare workers and their demands to the government to start implementing the law on salaries in January next year, a government spokesperson told the news website that the government is working on the law on salaries. “The working group is working on the draft law on salaries, which will then be sent for preliminary consultations and then public consultations. The government plans to organise a series of public hearing so that the law is properly drafted and provides long-term solutions to problems,” the spokesperson said.

“The law on salaries in the public sector is one of the most complex laws in our legislative agenda. The law adopted by the previous government had created major inequalities and as a result the verdict of the Constitutional Court has narrowed the terrain for drafting the law. These are additional reasons why the drafting of the law takes a long time so that we can properly address previous mistakes that resulted in inequalities, and also for the new draft law to be in compliance with the verdict of the Constitutional Court.”

“Kosovo among first in region in terms of assembly transparency” (Indeksonline)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca said today that parliamentary democracy is the basis for the development of the political system and that the Assembly plays a central role in the development of Kosovo. He made these remarks during a meeting with partner organisations of the Kosovo Assembly.

“This was an important meeting for the Kosovo Assembly because I believe that parliamentary democracy is the basis for our development and the development of our political system. As we are a parliamentary democracy, the role of the Assembly is central for the development of Kosovo,” he said.

Konjufca also said that Kosovo ranks among first in the region in terms of the transparency of the assembly. “The Assembly has managed to include civil society and to restore the level of transparency and we are ranked among the first in the region,” he said.

AJK hires legal professional to represent journalists (media)

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) has commissioned the services of a lawyer, through the support of the OSCE – Mission in Kosovo, to represent journalists that may need legal assistance.

“For AJK, it is important that the legal representation and protection of journalists and media workers will be enabled due to the hiring of Mr. Brajshori, where he will be engaged until the end of this year. In cases where you are hindered while reporting, or you are subject to attacks and threats, we encourage you to report it to AJK,” the Association said.

Ministry: Vaccination against COVID-19 open to non-Kosovo citizens (media)

The Ministry of Health has announced that non-Kosovo citizens will be eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Kosovo.

“The vaccination of non-Kosovo citizens is being undertaken to protect public health in this end-of-year period when there is a greater influx of arrival of citizens from different countries to Kosovo and when Kosovo institutions have the opportunity to offer vaccines to all citizens in Kosovo, over the age of 12, regardless of whether they are nationals of the Republic of Kosovo or not.”

COVID-19: 11 new cases, no deaths (media)

11 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 26 persons recovered from the virus during this time. 

There are 447 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19 in Serbian communities: Two people died, 85 new cases (Kontakt plus radio)

The Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced today that in the Serbian communities in Kosovo two more people died as a result of Covid – 19, from North Mitrovica and Gracanica.

85 new cases of infection were registered from 161 tested samples.

Newly infected by municipalities: North Mitrovica (35), Leposavic (23), Gracanica (11), Zvecan (6), Zubin Potok (5), Strpce (2), Priluzje (2) and Kosovska Kamenica (1).

566 cases are currently active.

Vucic and Botsan-Kharchenko: “Putin understands Serbia” (B92, Kosovo Online)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, met today with the Ambassador of Russia, Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko.

They discussed preparations for the upcoming visit to Russia and a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, as well as joint Serbian-Russian projects and current regional and global issues.

“Vucic pointed out how important his upcoming visit to Moscow is, having in mind the reputation and influence of the Russian Federation and President Putin on the world political scene, as well as in world economic trends. Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko said that he was convinced that this visit would be successful, as well as all previous ones, given the friendly relations and good cooperation between the two countries,” reads the statement from the office of the President of Serbia.

The interlocutors assessed that the forthcoming visit of President Vucic continues the exceptional political dialogue between Serbia and Russia, which is intensifying from year to year, and that it represents an expression of mutual desire for all-round progress in cooperation between the two countries.

On this occasion, President Vucic said that President Putin understood the position of Serbia and reiterated his gratitude for the support on the issue of Kosovo, i.e. the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

President Vucic and Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko discussed the activities after the session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Trade, Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation and the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Yuri Borisov. President Vucic emphasized that the realization of joint infrastructure and energy projects is being realized in accordance with the deadlines, and that in parallel we are working on other concrete proposals for closer cooperation in numerous areas of mutual interest.

In addition to bilateral relations, President Vucic and Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko also discussed current issues in the region and the world.

Paris: Serbia’s and Kosovo’s PMs to take part at Peace Forum (N1, Beta)

The prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ana Brnabic and Albin Kurti, confirmed they would participate at the Paris Peace Forum to be held in the French capital on Thursday and Friday, the Elysee Palace said on Monday.

About 30 heads of state and government are expected to attend the event to be opened by French President Emmanuel Macron and US Vice President Kamala Harris,

“A total of 450 participants are expected in Paris, including about 30 heads of state and governments, as well as about 15,000 online participants,” the French presidency said.

The presidents of Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Botswana, and the Ivory Coast will take part.

Macron launched the Forum in 2018 to promote multilateralism. He and Harris will open the gathering.

This year’s event, held as part of the celebration of World War I Armistice (or Remembrance) Day, is dedicated to the economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

See at:https://bit.ly/3wrRr65

PM Brnabic: US congressmen letter written by paid lobbyists, it’s child’s play (FoNet, N1)

Commenting on a letter from a group of the US congressmen, Ana Brnabic, Serbia’s Prime Minister, told reports on Monday she did not expect “absolutely any change in the US policy towards Serbia as a consequence.”

The congressmen asked the US president Joe Biden to consider sanctions on those who destabilised the Western Balkans and accused Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic of deepening corruption and pressuring the media.

“As the famous congressman’s letter is concerned, I may be naive, but I don’t expect anything as a result because it is more than obvious that the letter is the result of some lobbying agencies. That is allowed everywhere, especially in the US,” Brnabic said, adding she doubted that congressmen in the USA followed the situation so closely to know what the state-owned Telekom Serbia or private TV Pink were doing.

She also said the number of congress members who signed that letter was not impressive.

“I have never heard anyone saying the elections in Serbia were irregular and illegitimate,” Brnabic added. She said it was “just the opposite” and that everyone asked why we had early parliamentary elections when the elections were regular and legitimate.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3oi6Diy

US Embassy: Not all partners could be involved in the initiative (Danas)

The President’s Democracy Summit is one of many U.S. initiatives aimed at advancing democracy, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights around the world. Not all partners could be included in this initiative, the United States Embassy in Belgrade told Danas daily when asked whether it was true that Serbia was not invited to the Summit for Democracy and what the reasons were.

As added by the Embassy, the goal was to gather a regionally and socio-economically diverse group of countries and legal instances, which includes both countries with already strongly developed democracies and emerging democracies, different in population, ethnic composition and geographical location.

“The United States remains committed to working with Serbia to advance and strengthen democracy through other forums, as well as to prevent the decline of democracy, promote respect for human rights, and combat corruption to work together to prove that democracies meet the needs of their peoples,” the US embassy said.

Danas recalled that, according to the writing of the American Politico, Serbia, BiH and Kosovo were not invited to this year’s Summit for Democracy, which will be organized by the American President Joseph Biden.

Representatives of 100 countries, including Albania, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia, were invited to participate, US Politico reported, citing sources.

Biden will host a virtual summit on December 9th and 10th, bringing together representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector.

Petkovic: Osmani was not paying attention in class, US advocates the respect of all agreements including ZSO (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic reacted to the statement of Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo, that “Community of Serbian municipalities with executive powers cannot be formed”.

Petkovic stated that “by replacing the thesis that the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) in the so-called Kosovo would form the Republika Srpska, Vjosa Osmani showed that she did not pay attention in the class when unequivocal messages arrived from the State Department and the US Embassy in Pristina that Pristina must form the ZSO”.

“But it seems that for Osmani, the political messages from the USA are selectively valid, just as all the agreements signed thus far in Brussels are selectively valid for her and Kurti. If Vjosa Osmani had read the communiqués issued on October 21 and November 4 from beginning to end and with understanding, she would remembered that the United States is committed to respect of all the agreements reached thus far between Belgrade and Pristina, without justification and exception, including the formation of ZSO. As would, as someone who invokes American accomplishments, Vjosa had to know that for the United States, respect for treaties and agreements is sacred, and respect for human rights is the highest value in which Pristina fails every day, humiliating and violating the basic rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, without sparing children or the elderly, starting with beaten thirteen-year-old Nikola Peric from Gojbulja, to the intimidated ninety-three-year-old Rumena Ljubic from Pec,” reads the statement of the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

Petkovic said that “precisely because of their security and peaceful sleep, we will never give up on the demands and efforts to form the Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija”.

“And Vjosa Osmani can continue to spread misinformation and political propaganda, for which she will receive applause from those opposition politicians in Belgrade who obviously warmed her chair before her trip to the United States. That is why she attacks President Aleksandar Vucic, who is a true fighter for peace and stability, unlike her, who would conquer the north of Kosovo and Metohija with Kurti by sending special ROSU units and shooting at the bare-handed Serbian people and thus provoke conflicts and deepen crises. If Osmani knew what European heritage is, she would not undermine the Brussels dialogue, which is why it is out of place for her to teach anybody European values,” reads the statement.

International 

Without a clear commitment of Member States to enlargement, EC reports lose power they once had (EWB)

BRUSSELS – Clear commitment of Member States to enlargement, high costs for potential vetoes, fulfilment of promises – all of this is currently lacking when it comes to EU-Western Balkans relations, making the European Commission reports less important than they once were. Additionally, worrying indicators can be gathered from the region in terms of the public opinion.

These were some of the conclusions of the online policy dialogue “The 2021 Enlargement Package: restoring the EU’s transformative leverage in the Balkans” held on Monday. The event was organised by the European Policy Centre, in cooperation with the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG).

See more at:https://bit.ly/3EXHK21

In Bosnia, US overtakes EU as crisis boils (Politico)

There is regional frustration the EU has not matched America’s assertiveness in trying to corral nationalist leader Milorad Dodik.

U.S. officials have descended on Bosnia and Herzegovina, trying to defuse a combustible moment in the country amid regional frustration with the EU’s own efforts. 

Gabriel Escobar, the U.S. special envoy to the Western Balkans, arrived Sunday for a two-day visit amid a backdrop that, to many, resembles the leadup to the war that overtook the country from 1992 to 1995. 

Milorad Dodik, the current Serb representative in the country’s threeway presidency, has been threatening to create a breakaway Serb army, is boycotting the country’s central institutions and is pledging to withdraw Bosnian Serbs from central institutions — a campaign the nationalist firebrand started after a law was passed in July banning denial of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. For many, the actions are akin to a call for war.  

See more at:https://politi.co/3bSMQQD

Mutiny in Serbia: How a State Security Unit’s Rebellion Went Unpunished (BIRN)

In November 2001, the Serbian State Security Service’s Special Operations Unit staged a mutiny and set up roadblocks. The failure to punish the instigators of the armed revolt would have deadly consequences for the country’s prime minister.

“The commander ordered that the Communication Centre will no longer receive calls,” said a note entered at 5.10pm on November 9, 2001 in the daily log of the Communication Centre in Kula, the headquarters of Serbia’s State Security Special Operations Unit, the JSO.

By that time, the situation at the JSO headquarters was tense: commander Dusan ‘Gumar’ Maricic gathered his assistants together and told them that he had decided that the unit was going into “protest” mode and ordered all its officers to return to Kula in northern Serbia, and to remain there. JSO members abandoned their duties as bodyguards for officials or as security staff at official buildings and went back to their HQ.

This was the beginning of what soon became known as the JSO mutiny, which saw the unit blocking main roads in two cities in Serbia, demanding the resignation of Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic, and urging the adoption of new legislation to regulate Serbia’s dealings with the UN war crimes court in The Hague.

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/3bWAAyA