• Government confirms resumption of dialogue on November 16 (Kosovapress)
• President Osmani meets U.S. Undersecretary of State Nuland (media)
• An agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is a matter of urgency (EWB)
• White House: Grenell is not an ambassador, doesn’t represent U.S. (RTK)
• Trump: Agreements signed by my administration are historic (Klan Kosova)
• Kurti mustn’t forget he’s leader of an entire nation, not just VV (euronews.al)
• Rrahmani: Aleksandar in the “Serbian World” of wonders (Koha)
• Authoritarian states intensified ‘sharp power’ influence activities (geopost.com)
• COVID-19: Six new cases, no deaths (media)
• Ministry of Health will soon adopt third dose of vaccine (Telegrafi)
• Europe alarmed by COVID-19, Kosovo risks facing new wave (Koha)

Government confirms resumption of dialogue on November 16 (Kosovapress)

The Kosovo Government confirmed on Thursday that the new round of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia at the level of chief negotiators will be held on November 16. Kosovo will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, and Serbia will be represented by the head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic.

“Topics of discussion at the bilateral meeting will include the forcefully disappeared during the war, the energy and the freedom of movement,” a government spokesperson told Kosovapress.

President Osmani meets U.S. Undersecretary of State Nuland (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met with the United States Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, during her stay in Washington. “The meeting reaffirmed the two countries’ continued commitment to this strong partnership, as well as their unwavering commitment to common values. Osmani said Kosovo is among the most democratic countries in the world, a true source of hope in the region and beyond, as well as a true success story of the US foreign policy. She said that Kosovo is an example of American values,” a press release issued by Osmani’s office notes.

Nuland expressed her deep gratitude to Osmani for Kosovo’s instrumental role in providing temporary shelter to Afghan refugees and said that this is another demonstration of Kosovo’s commitment to this long-standing friendship and partnership. Nuland stressed that the new administration is committed to peace, stability and development in Kosovo and the entire region, as well as to supporting the dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia.

Osmani said that “Kosovo has no greater ally than the United States and reaffirmed the commitment to the values that powerfully unite our two countries. President Osmani also stressed the commitment of the institutions to strengthen the rule of law and strengthen the economic perspective for the people of Kosovo.”

An agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is a matter of urgency (EWB)

By Agon Maliqi, Donika Emini, Florian Qehaja, Leonora Kryeziu and Ramadan Ilazi

Efforts to secure an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on the part of the international democratic community have already failed twice. In 1999, at the Rambouillet Conference, Serbia’s failure to cooperate resulted in dire consequences for the country and its people. In 2007, Finland’s President Martti Ahtisaari, speaking as the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Future Status Process for Kosovo, stated that “the parties remained diametrically opposed on the future status of Kosovo.”

Kosovo declared its independence on February 17, 2008, in close coordination with the international democratic community (the U.S and almost all of the EU members, among others). It committed itself to implement the Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement, commonly known as the “Ahtisaari Plan”. Serbia asked the United Nations (UN) to send the case to court, and in 2010 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued its opinion that the declaration of independence did not violate international law.

In the aftermath of the ICJ’s opinion, the United Nations (UN) adopted a resolution that acknowledged the opinion and stated that it: “Welcomes the readiness of the European Union to facilitate a process of dialogue between the parties; the process of dialogue in itself would be a factor for peace, security and stability in the region, and that dialogue would be to promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to the European Union and improve the lives of the people.”

It has now been a decade since the EU facilitated dialogue for normalization of the relations started, and the aspired goal of “normalization” between the two countries remains elusive. This process, too, cannot be allowed to fail. But it requires a combined change in the attitude of Serbia and Kosovo, as well as of the EU.

The failure in the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia will move the latter further into the Eastern bloc with even deeper strategic cooperation with Russia and China, which will be detrimental not just for Serbia but the entire region. As for Kosovo, it will formalize – especially its northern part – a state of frozen conflict. Options outside the framework of normalization of relations are limited for both sides.

Serbia would remain outside of the EU block whereas Kosovo would have far more to lose lacking not just an EU and NATO path but facing also other external constraints.

Serbia seems to have placed a bet on the incremental rise of far-right populist leaders in key Western countries, and the further normalization of far-right ideas in Europe. Kosovo on the other hand seems to view the dialogue with Serbia as a “blinking game”. Dominant thinking fails to consider how much the external environment has worsened with the empowerment of Russia and China, as well as the (often appalling) Western normalization of Serbia’s historical revisionism.

As a civil society leader from Kosovo recently stated in a round-table discussion: “while Kosovo’s friends no longer view Serbia as the enemy, Serbia’s friends continue to see Kosovo as the problem.”

A consistent and important piece of advice from Kosovo’s friends has been that the surest path to success for the country is to build its credibility as a rational actor, albeit rational behavior in the past was often not rewarded but rather undermined. Nevertheless, to move in that direction, it is important that Kosovo becomes actively involved in regional cooperation initiatives and approaches them in a constructive manner. Kosovo should take the advantage of joining regional agreements as an equal partner, to the benefit of citizens’ mobility, facilitated trade exchange and recognition of documents.

Kosovo should pursue its interest through other platforms where all Western Balkans states are included, not only Open Balkan. Kosovo should understand that by engaging and participating it has more leverage to achieve its goals than by sitting out.

Internally, Kosovo should make decisive steps towards implementation of the agreements reached in the framework of the normalization dialogue, including the establishment of the ASM along the lines of the ruling of the Constitutional Court. It also needs to implement the court decision concerning the Decani Monastery and launch a meaningful internal dialogue with the Serb-community to address legitimate concerns. It is also clear that the dialogue will have very limited chances for success without clear progress on dealing with some parts of the past, chief among them is the issue of the missing persons.

Serbia, shares the overwhelming burden in this context, and therefore must deliver on its commitments. The fact that the presumed front-runner in EU accession talks does not cooperate in a meaningful manner on the issue of the missing people – considering that war crimes were a state venture of Serbia against ethnic Albanians – is truly appalling and indicative of a lack of willingness to reach an agreement.

The EU was assumed to have learned crucial lessons in the 1990s from the violent Balkan Wars, which was clearly manifested both in the framework of the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997 and at the Franco–British Summit held in St. Malo at the beginning of December 1998. Resolving the Kosovo and Serbia dispute, a responsibility the EU accepted from the United Nations (UN), is not only imperative for EU’s own credibility as an aspiring geopolitical actor, but it is essential to prevent the spillover effects from an inevitable deterioration of the security situation.

The risk is not just an eventual armed conflict and refugees flocking towards the EU, but the addition of another catalysator propelling far-right populism further into the mainstream of EU member states.

The EU should seize the opportunity to work with a cooperative U.S administration and provide the incentives needed for a historic agreement centered on mutual recognition. Waiting and hoping that the weaker side will at some point budge into paralyzing compromises will prolong the agony for all involved and seriously amplify risks to regional security.

As it is commonly believed in Kosovo, the normalization of relations with Serbia does not equal reconciliation. But, without the normalization of state relations, the social process of reconciliation is unthinkable. Serbia remains a pebble in Kosovo’s shoes and vice versa, while by extension both countries are a boulder in the region’s boots.

For reconciliation to eventually become a possibility, Serbia must first and foremost address the true underlining structural cause of its conflict with Albanians of Kosovo: the historic, institutional and societal racism which has lately been revived in the vernacular of state officials. Continued efforts at historical revisionism; the revival of rebranded nationalists’ pursuits (“Serbian world”); and a hegemonic attitude towards neighboring states are not only an obstacle to reconciliation, but they undermine any practical chance at normalization and regional cooperation.

Contradictory approach over Association of Serb-majority municipalities (Koha)

The daily reports on its front page that Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other government officials have opposed in TV interviews the formation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, but they have not followed this up with government documents. In documents deriving from the contractual relation between Kosovo and the European Union, the government has pledged to implement all agreements, including the agreement on the Association/Community. The paper asked the Office of the Prime Minister about the contradictory positions on the matter but they were not available for comment.

White House: Grenell is not an ambassador, doesn’t represent U.S. (RTK)

Jennifer Epstein, a Bloomberg News reporter from The White House, cited a statement by The White House on Thursday that former U.S. Presidential Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Richard Grenell, who was in Pristina during the last days, does not represent the United States of America.

“White House responds to former President Trump sending his “Envoy Ambassador” Ric Grenell to the Kosovo-Serbia border: “Outside of his very active imagination, Donald Trump is no longer President and doesn’t have any ‘envoy ambassadors’ representing the United States,” Epstein tweeted.

Trump: Agreements signed by my administration are historic (Klan Kosova)

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said in a statement on Thursday that “the great people of Serbia and Kosovo have overcome tremendous obstacles in their pursuit of economic normalization”. “The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake. The region is too important and the people have waited too long for this work to cast aside. Today, my envoy ambassador Ric Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border to highlight this important agreement. Just like we proved in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords, peace and economic normalization is possible, but it takes a sincere effort and unwavering leadership. Peace is possible, don’t give up-long term prosperity for those two nations is at stake!” Trump said.

Kurti mustn’t forget he’s leader of an entire nation, not just VV (euronews.al)

Editor-in-chief of the news agency Telegrafi.com, Muhamet Hajrullahu, spoke on this week’s Balkan Talks about the second round of voting in Kosovo’s 2021 local elections, saying that it’s time for citizens to place more importance on the program presented by each candidate rather than the parties they represent.

During his conversation with Balkan Talks host, Franko Egro, the reporter emphasized that during the electoral process, political subjects made use of public resources. According to him, PM Kurti has become part of these local elections, promising LVV’s candidates his support, forgetting however that he is a leader of an entire nation, not just his party.

“There needs to be a clear distinction between the institutional stance and the political party stance because the promises made by Mr. Kurti and his administration should attend to the needs of all citizens of Kosovo, not only to his candidate, be it in Prishtina, Gjilan or elsewhere,” – said Hajrullahu.

The editor-in-chief of Telegrafi.com also noted that Albin Kurti’s LVV (Self-determination Movement) has distanced itself from other parties and hasn’t made any collations ahead of this second round of voting for the local elections.

“LVV finds it difficult to change after 6 months before the general public, even though local elections differ from political ones,” – he said.

In regards to the municipality of Prishtina, he said that the lack of parks, schools, kindergartens, and spaces dedicated to citizens with special needs, are amongst the issues that need to be addressed by the new local government.

In addition, he said that it would be better for citizens to vote for the program and the candidate rather than the political party they represent.

LVV is heading to runoffs in 12 communes. It will be racing in Gjilan, Prizren, Prishtina and Gjakova – which are the main communes in Kosovo.

According to Hajrullahu, LVV will face great challenges ahead if it were to lose in these communes.

“If they lose in Prishtina, Gjilan or even in Podujeva, then you can’t really call it a victory of the Self-determination Movement (LVV),” – he said.

In Prishtina, LVV will face LDK and according to Hajrullahu, everyone will be waiting to see if Kurti will be able to keep the same votes as the previous elections or if LDK will be able to reclaim the votes they lost.

Rrahmani: Aleksandar in the “Serbian World” of wonders (Koha)

Columnist Asdren Rrahmani argues in an opinion piece that “Serbia continues to glorify war criminals in Bosnia and Herzegovina who were indicted by The Hague tribunal”. “The events of the last couple of days in one of the streets in Belgrade where a mural of the criminal Ratko Mladic was painted, are proof of this. A group of citizens gathered to protest against the mural, while another group of citizens were protesting in defense of the mural and glorifying it … The statements by Serbian President Vucic are regrettably in defense and glorification of these figures. But it cannot be any different – he himself was part of this history of Serbian shame,” Rrahmani writes.

Authoritarian states intensified ‘sharp power’ influence activities (geopost.com)

Foreign authoritarian states in the face of Russia – and increasingly China, have significantly intensified their ‘sharp power’ influence activities, which have been focused on derailing confidence in liberal democracy and positing the authoritarian political and economic model as a supposedly viable alternative for Southeast European countries, says Rumena Filipova, the Chairperson and Co-Founder of the Institute for Global Analytics in Bulgaria.

She says that “these influence efforts have been facilitated by domestic trends across the Balkans linked to democratic backsliding, the erosion of civic and political liberties and corruptive networks taking power, which frequently enable foreign authoritarian interests.”

According to her, Russia has an extensive political, economic, cultural and media foothold in the Balkans. The foothold on media is especially troubling because it aims to capture ‘hearts and minds’ by undermining Balkan societies’ confidence in democracy and a pro-Western foreign policy orientation.

Filipova noted that Serbia represents the pivot of Russia’s malign influence activities in the Balkans. As regards media, Russian propagandist messages are being disseminated not only via Sputnik’s Serbia edition, which reaches Serbian-speaking populations across the Balkans, but also by pro-government Serbian outlets. Moreover, Belgrade has positioned itself as a Chinese digital hub based on the construction of Huawei-based 5G telecommunications networks and AI facial recognition systems.”

Read full interview at: https://bit.ly/3kvZ9XY

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

Six new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 21 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 429 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Ministry of Health will soon adopt third dose of vaccine (Telegrafi)

Kosovo health authorities are soon expected to adopt the booster against COVID-19 and the third dose of the vaccine. Kosovo’s Ministry of Health told the news website on Thursday: “the immunisation committee against COVID-19 has addressed giving the booster and the additional dose (third) against COVID-19 and the recommendation to give these doses is expected to be made soon”.

Europe alarmed by COVID-19, Kosovo risks facing new wave (Koha)

“Kosovo remains one of the most stable countries in terms of management of COVID-19, but it is not known if the key institutions are making concrete actions,” the daily reports in one of the front-page stories. At a time when most countries in Europe are hit with record numbers of new cases with COVID-19, Kosovo has yet to announce a concrete plan on how it will manage a new possible wave. National Institute for Public Health officials did not comment on the matter, while the head of the Pulmonology Clinic in Prishtina said the new wave will have a lower intensity than previous waves of the virus.