• Bislimi: European Commission progress report contains inaccuracies (Koha)
• Szunyog: There is no shortcut to EU without rule of law reforms (Kosovapress/Koha)
• Vallac, Serbia’s battlefield with Kosovo (RFE)
• Gervalla to KFOR commander: Serbia’s toughened rhetoric threatens regional security (Zeri)
• Rasic: There is no room for a third-tier government (Koha)
• “Send me evidence of Grenell’s employment by Serbia and I will deliver it to U.S. authorities” (media)
• Specialist prosecutor asks judge to reject interim release for Veseli, Selimi, Krasniqi (media)
• Kosovo prosecution charges person for war crimes (RTK)
• Serbia’s police detain activist over war crimes protest (Reuters)
• COVID-19: 11 new cases, no deaths (media)

Bislimi: European Commission progress report contains inaccuracies (Koha)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi spoke about the latest report of the European Commission at a round table in Pristina yesterday and noted that there were ‘inaccuracies’ in the document and that in some cases there was ‘information absorption’. He said the report recommends adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code when this legislation was completed in September.

“The same goes also for economic development and budget revenues figures but also the statistics regarding the vaccination process. The progress reports makes note of the 30 September agreement on license plates meaning that with a little cooperation we could have included all these information by 30 September,” he said.

Szunyog: There is no shortcut to EU without rule of law reforms (Kosovapress/Koha)

Head of the EU Office for Kosovo Tomas Szunyog said that there are no shortcuts to European Union integration without reforms in the field of the rule of law and fight against organised crime and corruption.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion on the European Commission report on Kosovo, Szunyog added that the vetting of the judiciary ought to be considered as a last step and taken only when all other means are exhausted.

“In the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, progress has been limited. Even limited progress is still progress. The 2021 parliamentary elections were well organized, transparent but the election framework needs to address shortcomings. Kosovo has made no progress on public administration. We have taken note of the Government’s initiatives and encourage these reforms.”

Vallac, Serbia’s battlefield with Kosovo (RFE)

The power substation in Vallac is an asset of Kosovo’s Transmission, System and Market Operator (KOSTT) and in need of rehabilitation, KOSTT officials told Radio Free Europe.

KOSTT officials said that the company has planned revitalisation of the substation and replacement of high voltage equipment in an effort to “increase security and reliability of this substation’s operation” but did not give any details as to when this work is expected to be carried out.

At the same time, Serbia’s Electricity Network has said that the energy issue in the north of Kosovo is not only technical but also a complex political and legal matter and that it is an object of negotiations.

Former Kosovo chief negotiator, Edita Tahiri, said however that the energy agreement reached within the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue in Brussels makes it clear that Kosovo’s energy system will be operating in the north which, she said, also includes the Vallac substation.

RFE reached out to the Government of Kosovo to respond to statements of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that he expects Kosovo authorities to try to take control of the Vallac power substation in the coming period but the only reaction from Kosovo institutional leaders so far came from Blerim Vela, chief of staff to President Vjosa Osmani, who published on Twitter the map of the Kosovo’s energy transmission network saying that “Serbia’s gov’t officials are spreading false information & threatening to use force as if Vallaq is their asset. It is clear that it’s not, its Kosovo’s.”

Gervalla to KFOR commander: Serbia’s toughened rhetoric threatens regional security (Zeri)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla, met yesterday the new KFOR Commander, Major General Ferenc Kajari.

Gervalla underlined the fundamental role that KFOR has in maintaining peace and security in Kosovo and the region and at the same time warned that “the toughening of the Serb rhetoric recently and the significant influence of anti-Kosovo axis through Serbia constitutes a real threat for the security in the region and merits a joint response.”

Rasic: There is no room for a third-tier government (Koha)

Nenad Rasic, leader of the Progressive Democratic Party (PDS), spoke about the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and noted that he sees no prospect of it being established as a third-tier government.

“I do not see any room for the creation of a third level of government because [the law] does not allow it. You would have to change a whole set of laws and the Constitution of Kosovo to do that. For it to be created it first would take a year or a year and a half of legal preparations. The only way of survival, of developing Kosovo is through dialogue, agreement, moderate approach, because that is the only way we are part of the EU,” he said in an interview with KTV.

Rasic said that the Kosovo Police operation in October should have been carried out differently. “I would not have done it in that way because I see shortcomings that make it look as if someone made us do it. After every action, there needs to be a recap: see what we did, what are the successes, what good did the operation achieve for citizens be it of Pristina or Mitrovica. I have not seen any good of it.”

Rasic also said that no major change has come for the Kosovo Serbs from the new Government of Kosovo led by Albin Kurti. “There is no change that would affect the essential form of Kosovo Serbs. In the meantime, there have been some political confrontations, statements and use of a fierce vocabulary. I am afraid that the possibility of influencing the Serbian community in a positive way is decreasing by the day. We had contact with Kurti, but nothing happened in that direction. That’s the only thing I can say. Not only do I have ideas, but I have underlined from the beginning that we need a level of communication from the ground up.”

“Send me evidence of Grenell’s employment by Serbia and I will deliver it to U.S. authorities” (media)

Daniel Serwer, Balkans analyst from the Johns Hopkins University, commented on reports that the former U.S. envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Richard Grenell, is in Serbia’s payroll for lobbying activities.

“Send me documentary evidence that this is true and I will personally deliver it to the Justice Department,” Serwer wrote on Twitter.

Earlier, Dusan Janjic from the Belgrade-based Forum for Ethnic Relations, said that Serbia pays former U.S. Presidential Envoy for the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, Richard Grenell, US$100,000 a month for lobbying. “We even pay Grenell US$100,000 a month, and I don’t know why because his boss is no longer in power,” Janjic said.

Grenell meanwhile rejected the reports, saying: “Absolutely fake news. Shameful.”

Specialist prosecutor asks judge to reject interim release for Veseli, Selimi, Krasniqi (media)

The Specialist Prosecutor Office has asked the Kosovo Specialist Chambers pre-trial judge to reject the request of Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi for interim release.

The prosecution said that Kosovo has still not provided adequate guarantees to mitigate the serious risks posed by the accused. “Continued detention is not only proportional, but – in light of the risks at issue – also necessary to ensure that no interference with SC proceedings takes place, and to guarantee witnesses’ safety and lack of intimidation,” the specialist prosecutor argued.

Kosovo prosecution charges person for war crimes (RTK)

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed an indictment with the Basic Court in Pristina against a person on charges of war crimes against civilian population during 1998-1999.

The suspect is accused of having held hostage an elderly married couple in the village of Bellopoje, Peja municipality, and subjected them to inhumane treatment.

Serbia’s police detain activist over war crimes protest (Reuters)

The Serbian police late on Tuesday briefly detained a local opposition activist after she threw eggs at a downtown Belgrade wall painting of Ratko Mladic, a convicted war criminal and the wartime commander of Bosnian Serbs.

A video posted on an Instagram profile showed plainclothes men who identified themselves as police officers, whisking away Aida Corovic, after she threw eggs at the wall painting depicting Mladic saluting and wearing his officer’s cap.

“This outrage tonight is the face of (Serbia’s President) Aleksandar Vucic’s regime,” the Belgrade-based N1 TV quoted Corovic as saying after she was released from a local precinct.

Corovic’s detention prompted protests by dozens of opposition and leftist activists and riot police cordoned off the area near the building with the mural.

Read more: https://reut.rs/3n0nZAK

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

11 new cases with COVID-19 have been 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.