Albanian Language Media:

• Croatian PM Plenkovic visits Kosovo (media)
• Kosovo officially invited to Biden’s democracy summit (media)
• Osmani rejects reports she secured summit invitation by ‘promising land to Decan Monastery’ (media)
• Kurti comments on local election results (media)
• First interview of architect and mayor-elect of Prishtina (Euronews Albania)
• COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19 in Serbian communities: 59 new cases (KoSSev) 
• Serbian List wins in Klokot (KiM radio)
• Brnabic: Compulsory military service in Kosovo concerning for Serbs (Kosovo-online)
• The Western Balkans – the first item on the EU agenda (B92, Tanjug)
• Citizens punished the demagoguery of Self-Determination in the elections (Kosovo Online, B92)
• Velika Hoca: Broken cross, flag removed from the monument to missing and kidnapped Serbs (KiM radio, N1)
• Bieber: Serbia as such will never become part of EU, Vucic knows that (nova.rs, N1)
• Serbia invited to attend Summit for Democracy in US (Tanjug)

Opinion:

• Are we equal, and why are we not? – the fate of the Serbs south of the Ibar (newsocialinitiative.org)

International:

• Kosovo Ruling Party Loses Capital in Local Election Setbacks (Balkan Insight)
• In a sign of thaw in tensions, Serbia opens trade office in Jerusalem (timesofisrael.com)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Varhelyi: EU to recognize Serbian Covid-19 certificates (N1)

Albanian Language Media  

Croatian PM Plenkovic visits Kosovo (media)

Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, is visiting Kosovo and met Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

At a joint press conference after meeting Kurti, Plenkovic said Croatia would be supporting Kosovo on the visa liberalisation issue and European integration process. “You know Croatia is the newest member there and will help you in transformation,” he said.

Plenkovic also said he hoped the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia would continue: “Croatia’s position is that we support a dialogue for stability and not have situations like that several weeks ago. Croatia is interested in having good relations with Kosovo and improve relations with Serbia,” Croatian prime minister is quoted in Koha. 

Klan Kosova reports that Plenkovic was asked by reporters in Pristina whether Serbia should join the EU without recognising independence of Kosovo to which he said that the mutual recognition between Pristina and Belgrade should be at the end of the process.  

Kurti on his part said that relations between Kosovo and Croatia have been traditionally good. “Our two countries are not only geographically close but understand one another and the region better than anyone else, having shared a common past,” he said, Zeri reports. 

Asked about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Kurti said that Kosovo supports the achievement of a comprehensive agreement centred on mutual recognition. He also said Serbia should change its Constitution and recognise Kosovo as an independent country. “So far there has been an approach that Kosovo should make concessions for Serbia to recognise us and Serbia has benefited from concessions and has not recognised us. We now have a new situation after the February 14 elections, where we have a political leadership which believes that there should be mutual recognition at the core of the future agreement, and around it there should be other things, such as the reciprocity of minority rights, economic and trade relations in the future, European integration, rule of law and democratisation.”

He said the most pressing issue that needs to be discussed with Serbia includes that of missing persons. 

Kosovo officially invited to Biden’s democracy summit (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani announced that she has received the official invitation from the U.S. President Joe Biden to take part in the Summit for Democracy, set to take place between 9 and 10 December. 

“I thank President Biden for the invitation to the Summit for Democracy organised by the White House and the recognition of the partnership offered by Kosovo to work towards building a democratic society that respects human rights which enable each citizen to fulfill its potential,” Osmani said.

A press release issued by the Kosovo presidency, states that the invitation to Kosovo has been extended following Osmani’s meetings in Washington D.C. last week.

“On behalf of the American people, I send my best wishes to you and the people of the Republic of Kosovo. We recognize and appreciate your partnership in working to build democratic and human rights-respecting societies that allow the citizens to thrive. In a movement of significant challenge and enormous opportunity, it is more important than ever for democracies to prove that we can deliver for the needs of our people and address global challenges,” the invitation reads. 

Osmani rejects reports she secured summit invitation by ‘promising land to Decan Monastery’ (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani reacted in her Facebook account to reports by certain media outlets suggesting that during her recent visit to the U.S., she agreed on Kosovo’s behalf to implement the court’s decision on the Monastery of Decan in exchange for a White House democracy summit invitation.

Osmani said reports that she “promised lands for the Decan Monastery or anyone else in exchange for getting invited to the Summit for Democracy in the U.S is a LIE.” She vowed to take legal actions against news portals that reported “such propaganda”. 

“Kosovo deserved to be invited because it is a democracy. Our American friends are not the ones who ever asked for land from Kosovo,” she wrote, adding: “The time of those politicians that put Kosovo’s land in the market has ended once and for all.”  

Gazeta Metro reported quoting what it said were sources from the Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that in the U.S., Osmani was presented with a list of demands that Kosovo would have to meet in the future in order to get invited to the summit. In this regard, Osmani is alleged to have agreed to the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the Decan Monastery. 

Kurti comments on local election results (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and leader of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) commented on the result of the second round of mayoral elections that took place on Sunday. 

Kurti said LVV’s performance was not satisfactory and is a result of “certain internal defects” and of “all the others teaming up against LVV.” He added that the results would be analysed in greater detail in the coming period.

He also congratulated the new elected mayors and vowed to cooperate with them. “There will be many battles and work ahead in countering crime and corruption,” he said, adding that this is particularly true in the field of ‘wild’ construction where “our money is being laundered”.

First interview of architect and mayor-elect of Prishtina (Euronews Albania)

‘My main enemy is urban chaos’, declared the newly elected mayor of Prishtina – Perparim Rama – in an exclusive first interview since his election, on Euronews Albania.

“I’ve been mentioning this since the very start and I’ve perceived this race beyond its political aspect, and focused more on the coming together of good people and professionals. Our war is against urban chaos, not against one another. We come from different backgrounds and after a short break, in the next couple of days we need to get to work,” – said Prishtina’s mayor-elect.

Rama underlined that he believes that there will be a strong collaboration between him and the current administration, adding that he will be inviting PM Kurti to his office in order to speak about his plans for the future of the capital.

“We will certainly collaborate fully with Mr. Vitia. He has called and congratulated me on my win, which is something I cherish greatly. He has said that he will be open to collaborating on whatever it is that the citizens of Prishtina need. We will do great work in collaboration with the government. I will invite Mr. Kurti to be our guest in the commune and discuss our great plans for the future,” – said Rama.

During his interview, the mayor-elect of Prishtina also stated that he was expecting to win because he had entered the race with the intention to do so.

In addition, Rama declared that the first project he will be involved in will be to convene the communal staff and discuss their mission to deeply transform the capital of Prishtina.

While deeming himself and the communal employees as servants of the city, he noted that the first important project will be that of freeing up pedestrian sidewalks, which has to be implemented as soon as possible.

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

Four new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. Eight persons recovered during this time.

There are 424 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19 in Serbian communities: 59 new cases (KoSSev) 

The Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced today that, out of a total of 155 tested samples in Serbian communities in Kosovo, 59 new coronavirus cases were registered. 

New cases by municipalities: Leposavic – 27, Zvecan – 14, North Mitrovica – 12, Zubin Potok – 10, Gnjilane – 5, Gracanica and Prizren 1 each.

Currently, there are 528 active cases in Serbian communities in Kosovo, and 75 people have come out of the fourteen-day isolation.

Serbian List wins in Klokot (KiM radio)

The second round of elections for municipal presidents was held in 21 municipalities in Kosovo. In Klokot, the candidate of the Serbian List, Vladan Bogdanovic won, reported KiM radio. 

According to 43 percent of the processed data, Vladan Bogdanovic, the candidate of the Serbian List for the mayor of Klokot, won 54.3 percent of the votes, while Strahinja Spasic from the CI Serbian people unity (Srpska narodna sloga), received 45.7 percent of the votes.

The polls closed at 7 p.m. According to the CEC, the turnout in the second round was 38 percent.

Vitia congratulated Rama 

The candidate for the mayor of Pristina from the Self-Determination Movement, Arben Vitia, congratulated the LDK candidate, Perparim Rama, on his victory.

“Pristina already has a winner, and he is Mr. Perparim Rama,” Vitia said at a press conference.

Brnabic: Compulsory military service in Kosovo concerning for Serbs (Kosovo-online)

Three-day Rose-Roth Seminar organized by NATO Parliamentary Assembly for three decades opened today in Belgrade, Kosovo-online portal reports.

The seminar was an opportunity for the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic to once more point out to the military neutrality of Serbia and the importance of cooperation with the Alliance in preserving stability not only in the region, but in an entire world, the portal added.

Brnabic said Serbia is a military neutral state which doesn’t aspire to join the Alliance, however it wishes to advance the dialogue and partnership cooperation with the Alliance, within the Partnership for Peace, aiming to preserve security and stability.

Talking about regional cooperation and Kosovo as an important security topic, Brnabic recalled that “Kosovo takes an important place in relations with the Alliance, given the presence of KFOR”.

She underlined that 115 ethnically motivated incidents and nine incursions of heavily armed Kosovo police special forces to the north of Kosovo took place since the beginning of the year.   

She also touched upon the danger of transforming Kosovo Security Forces into armed forces and introduction of compulsory military service in Kosovo which is an additional concern for the Serbs in Kosovo.

She underlined that such an issue must be resolved in a responsible manner in order to achieve a sustainable solution in the interests of people, regional peace and stability. She added that this was the reason why permanent cooperation and dialogue with the Alliance were important. 

The Western Balkans – the first item on the EU agenda (B92, Tanjug)

At today’s meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers will have engagement and the situation in the Western Balkans as the first item on the agenda, reported B92.

The ministers will discuss the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue, and the discussion document was prepared by the EU Foreign Policy Service (EEAS). The document states that “there has been no progress in the dialogue” in recent months, and that the overall atmosphere around the Belgrade-Pristina talks “remains complicated”.

“The focus must return to the implementation of the still unfulfilled obligations from the dialogue, the atmosphere must be improved through concrete positive moves and work must be done on progress towards a comprehensive agreement on normalization, and thus on the European future of Kosovo and Serbia,” the paper prepared for ministerial discussion said.

Member states are asked to continue supporting the EU mediators in the dialogue, Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, and at a “high level of dialogue with Belgrade and Pristina”. In addition to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the EU-27 ministers will discuss the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which Brussels estimates currently as “the worst political crisis since the adoption of Dayton Agreement.”

The EEAS states that the solution can be seen in the dialogue, primarily within Bosnia-Herzegovina, and that so far no official proposal has arrived in Brussels for a possible lifting of sanctions in order to resolve the political blockade in BiH. At the meeting in Brussels, the foreign ministers will also discuss sanctions against the authorities in Belarus, which the EU blames for the instrumentalization of migrants in order to destabilize the situation at the external borders of the Union, as well as in the border countries Poland and Lithuania.

The ministers will not adopt new restrictive measures today, but will approve the legal framework for the introduction of the fifth package of sanctions against official Minsk, this time against those responsible for the migrant, humanitarian and geopolitical crisis at the EU’s external borders.

Selakovic will attend the meeting

Today, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Selakovic, will be in Belgium, where he will talk to EU officials, participate in the ministerial meeting of the Cooperation Process in Southeast Europe and the conference organized by the European College from Bruges.

Selakovic will first participate in an informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Southeast European Cooperation Process in Brussels, and then in Bruges at the conference “Discussion on the Future of Europe – Perspectives and Role of the Western Balkans”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

In Brussels, Serbian Foreign Minister will meet separately with the European Union Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi, as well as European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová.

See at: https://bit.ly/2YQv51I

Citizens punished the demagoguery of Self-Determination in the elections (Kosovo Online, B92)

The Self-Determination Movement aimed to win this local, as well as parliamentary elections, without a clear program, but with demagogic rhetoric instead, assesses analyst Leon Duhanaj for Kosovo Online portal. He believes that the citizens of Kosovo recognized the empty promises and deservedly punished them for that.

“The Self-Determination Movement lost the elections from February 14 to November 14, as a result of the unrealistic offer it made to the citizens over the years. The citizens understood the fraud that was done to them, promising them paradise, but without a program that would offer them a minimum of dignified life. The elections have shown that every candidate must be prepared and have a program for victory. To a large extent, with a few exceptions, the programs, not empty rhetoric and demagoguery won in the end,” Duhanaj told Kosovo Online.

The ruling Self-Determination Movement, headed by the current Prime Minister of the so-called Kosovo Albin Kurti, won only four of Kosovo’s 38 municipalities, which is considered a major failure given how much voter support they enjoyed earlier this year. According to Duhanaj, opposition political parties are the winners of local elections in Kosovo. At the same time, he points out that the citizens of Kosovo have shown maturity, as well as that they are not subject to manipulation.

“Yesterday’s elections and the results in the municipalities proved that the citizens of Kosovo are politically mature, they are not easy to manipulate. In my opinion, the result, with a few exceptions, is satisfactory and expected. It has also been proven that the opposition wins this election, while the ruling party suffers a deep loss only a few months after it won more than 50 percent in the parliamentary elections. And this testifies to the condemnation of deceptive demagoguery,” Duhanaj said.

He pointed out that Kosovo is a successful example of democratic maturity in relation to countries in the region and beyond, which, in his opinion, is more than promising for the future, except for Serb communities in Kosovo, where, in his opinion, democratic values are “stifled”.

“It is worth mentioning the disturbing degradation within the Serbian community. Other parties have almost disappeared, and the electoral space, along with democracy, has been suffocated by the Serbian List,” Duhanaj concluded.

Velika Hoca: Broken cross, flag removed from the monument to missing and kidnapped Serbs (KiM radio, N1)

A monument dedicated to the killed and kidnapped Serbs from the territory of the municipality of Orahovac was desecrated in Velika Hoca. The cross on the monument to the victims was broken, the mast with the flag was knocked down and the Serbian tricolor that was standing here was taken away, it is stated in the announcement of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, reported KiM radio.

The case was reported to the Kosovo Police, and the fact that their members for more than an hour did not find it necessary to go and investigate, which was especially worrying, the Office stated.

“That speaks enough about the obstruction of the Pristina authorities and the unwillingness to adequately prosecute crimes against Serbs and their shrines,” the Office said in a statement

The Office for KiM stated that this was not the first time that the memorial has been desecrated, and they remind that the monument to Serbian victims in Gorazdevac was desecrated in February this year.

“These events show a clear and unambiguous attitude of Pristina and Albanian politicians towards Serbs and their suffering and fallen victims,” the statement added.

The Office said it will again repair the damage but that will also demand from all instances, international missions, as well as EU officials that the perpetrators of this and similar misdeeds be severely sanctioned.

The monument in Velika Hoca was placed in memory of 84 innocent Serbs from the municipality, who died during 1998 and 1999.

Bieber: Serbia as such will never become part of EU, Vucic knows that (nova.rs, N1)

Serbia has a serious problem with corruption, freedom of media and lack of democracy, and as such will never be able to become a part of the European Union, said Florian Bieber, the professor at the Centre of Southeast European Studies of the University of Graz.

“(President of Serbia Aleksandar) Vucic knows that very well. He is aware that the way of his rule is not in line with European principles. It is up to him to decide whether he will reduce his own influence and give up on being ‘almighty’ or he will continue to rule in the same manner,” Bieber was quoted as saying to Nova.rs.

Asked if the West is tolerating the lack of democracy, suppression of media and enslavement of institutions, Bieber said it is difficult to publicly criticize a government, if there is an objective fear of that government distancing itself from the West.

According to him, this is a message that Vucic is “cleverly” sending out, that he would move even closer to China and Russia if there is no support.

Also, he added, the West has for a long time trusted that authorities in Serbia would make certain compromises regarding Kosovo and that’s why they have been providing support but now the European Union is aware that Vucic will not do that.

Serbia invited to attend Summit for Democracy in US (Tanjug)

Belgrade based agency Tanjug was confirmed on Friday evening, by diplomatic sources in Washington, that Serbia has been invited to attend the Summit for Democracy, hosted by US President Joe Biden. 

The summit will be held on December 9-10, bringing together over 100 countries.

As announced earlier, the summit aims to halt a regression of democracy and erosion of human rights and freedoms worldwide, reported the agency. 

Opinion

Are we equal, and why are we not? – the fate of the Serbs south of the Ibar (newsocialinitiative.org)

By Sanja Vukovic

I remember April 19, 2013, well. We were traveling to Ohrid, to one of the seminars on monitoring the work of local self-government, and by the time we got there, we were greeted by this important news – the Brussels Agreement was signed.

Honestly, we didn’t know what it meant precisely and what effects it would have on our lives. In fact, to this day, we Serbs, south of the Ibar, are yet to find this out. The Association of Serbian Municipalities was first mentioned back then, and it continues to be mentioned to this day. We did not know anything about it back then, and we are clueless about it still – what it is and what competencies it will have? The integration of the North was mentioned too. That one, we knew right away, would be a pain. And we guessed it well.

When the Brussels Agreement is talked about in public, everything is directed to the North. That is how it has been since April 19, 2013. Elections, election processes, the issue of energy, the issue of registration plates, the issue of return, the rights, the issue of the judiciary, all kinds of problems, and no one gives a dime about us – Serbs south of the Ibar. We disappeared from the radar as if we lived in the Bermuda Triangle and not in Kosovo (and in Metohija). They mention us from time to time, just for the sake of doing it, to let it be known that they know we are here, but no one is fighting over us – not Belgrade, not Pristina, not even the international community who bow down their head, look at the floor and stay silent. We are quiet, too; we don’t know what to say or whom to say it to.

The Brussels agreement did not bring us anything, but it did take everything from us – primarily, our freedom. We are the ones who live from yesterday to tomorrow, and today is especially frightening for us because we do not know what today brings; we only know it will take more from us. And that’s how it goes!

Occasionally though, when we cry out loudly, some hear that we are deprived of everything – justice, dignity, a good night’s sleep, future, perspective.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3ne3ktg

International 

Kosovo Ruling Party Loses Capital in Local Election Setbacks (Balkan Insight)

In the second round of local elections on Sunday, the governing Vetevendosje party lost the race in eight of the 12 municipalities it was competing in – including the all-important capital, Pristina.

Kosovo’s ruling Vetevendosje party suffered a heavy blow in Sunday’s mayoral election runoffs, winning only four of the 12 municipalities it was competing in, and losing in the capital.

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

In a sign of thaw in tensions, Serbia opens trade office in Jerusalem (timesofisrael.com)

Israeli diplomats hope inauguration of innovation center in capital is sign that Belgrade has moved past its anger over Israel recognizing breakaway Kosovo

In a sign of burgeoning business ties — and a possible rehabilitation of political ties — Serbia inaugurated its innovation and trade office in Jerusalem last week.

The move comes after months of Serbian anger after Israel got itself involved in a US effort to broker a bitter dispute in the Balkans and recognized breakaway Kosovo.

That saw Belgrade apparently renege on its earlier promise to move its embassy to Jerusalem, and Israeli officials now hope that beginning a better business relationship could also provide diplomatic fruits.

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

Humanitarian/Development

Varhelyi: EU to recognize Serbian Covid-19 certificates (N1)

European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said Monday that the EU will recognize Serbian Covid-19 digital certificates, N1 reports.

He added the good news was expected for Moldova and Georgia regarding the same measures.

“That means easier travel for those countries’ nationals, and for EU citizens to go to those countries”, he said.

The EU top diplomats will discuss the Western Balkans, particularly the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and relations between Belgrade and Pristina later on Monday.