Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Energy Strategy to offer stead supply for households and businesses (Telegrafi)
• Enver Hoxhaj elected vice president of Kosovo Assembly from PDK (Lajmi)
• Krasniqi to Kurti: The people have spoken, your pace is insufficient (Koha)
• Kusari-Lila: We will engage maximally on election reform (Koha)
• Kosovo launches inquiry into import of certain products from Serbia (Klan)
• A group of Afghan citizens leave Kosovo for U.S. (media)
• COVID-19: 11 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 47 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM)
• US donates 3.7 million Dollars to Serbia to fight pandemic (N1)
• Svetomir Bacevic pleaded not guilty at hearing in Pristina (Radio KIM)
• EUObserver: EU documents say Western Balkans, Turkey, Dubai are crime hotspots (N1)
• Rakic and Radojevic with Szunyog on important issues for the Serbian people (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• “Procrastination and unreadiness for any sort of compromise” (Radio KIM)
• Pristina announcing possibility of introducing new measures on products from central Serbia (KiM radio, Beta, N1)

International:

• Kosovo and Serbia Fail to Agree on Dialogue Topics (Exit News)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Energy Strategy to offer stead supply for households and businesses (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today during the presentation of the Energy Strategy 2022 – 2031 that it will offer a steady supply for households and businesses and that it will bring economic development and sustainable employment for the people of Kosovo. “In the last 20 years, the energy sector in the country did not have a single decision for the good of the citizens based on analysis, studies and factual data. We need to offer a secure supply for households and business so that we can have economic development and employment in the country,” he said.

Kurti said the energy strategy will promote regional cooperation. “The Energy Strategy 2022 – 2031 is the first of its kind in Kosovo drafted through democratic and transparent processes and we are identifying action plans so that our plan can be on the right track and diversify the energy mix. It will maintain a steady supply and will promote regional cooperation, first with Albania and then with other countries too. The strategy will have quite ambitious objectives toward clean energy and decarbonization and will include the best practices from the United States of America and the European Union,” he said.

Enver Hoxhaj elected vice president of Kosovo Assembly from PDK (Lajmi)

Abelard Tahiri, head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), proposed MP Enver Hoxhaj to be elected Vice President of the Kosovo Assembly as PDK MP Bedri Hamza had to leave this post after being elected mayor of Mitrovica in the October local elections. Hoxhaj was elected to the post with 80 votes in favor.

Krasniqi to Kurti: The people have spoken, your pace is insufficient (Koha)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Memli Krasniqi said today that the people have spoken clearly in the last municipal elections and that the pace of the Kurti-led government is insufficient. “I call on the Prime Minister to properly read the results of the local elections. The government must support all municipalities equally. You must stick to your responsibilities as Prime Minister. I call on you not to get distracted by power or the loss [in elections] because the people have spoken clearly that your pace is insufficient,” Krasniqi said in today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly.

Kusari-Lila: We will engage maximally on election reform (Koha)

Mimoza Kusari-Lila, acting head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, said today that the government will engage maximally to push forward the election reform. She praised the citizens and political groups for their culture in the last elections. “We concluded a two-month process of local elections. The citizens and political groups showed a high culture in the election process. For the diaspora and all citizens waiting for the election reform, I can confirm that as the ruling party we will initiate this important process for the safe and credible participation of all those that want to take part in elections in Kosovo. As a parliamentary group, we remain committed to pushing forward projects that are for the good of the people,” she said.

Kosovo launches inquiry into import of certain products from Serbia (Klan)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, has decided to open an official inquiry into the import of confectionery products. 

“We have a law which has been in force for many years, but has not been implemented and there is a basis, when we have an injustice from foreign countries, to protect our local producers from Serbia, or other countries,”  Minister Rozeta Hajdari said today at a press conference. 

Hajdari said the inquiry will be carried out within a 180-day timeframe and the measures on the confectionary products will depend on the findings. “There is sufficient basis showing that imported products in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo have increased and in such circumstances are causing damage and threatening our producers and other similar or competing products in the Republic of Kosovo.”

A group of Afghan citizens leave Kosovo for U.S. (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that a group of 54 Afghan citizens left Kosovo this morning, bound for the United States. 

“We bid farewell today to 54 of our Afghan friends who departed this morning from Pristina to the U.S. We had the pleasure of welcoming them here and expressing our country’s hospitality. We are continuously working with our partner, the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, to ensure our guests from camp Liya to leave Kosovo and begin a new life,” the Ministry said on Facebook. 

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

11 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 16 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 400 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 47 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM)

Out of 136 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, 47 tested positive for Covid-19, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced today, Radio KIM reports. At the same time two people passed away.

The new cases were registered as follows: 16 in Leposavic, 13 in Mitrovica North, 12 in Zvecan, four in Zubin Potok, and one each in Gracanica and Priluzje.

Deceased persons were from Mitrovica North and Leposavic.

Currently, there are 606 active cases of Covid-19 in the Serbian areas in Kosovo.

A total of 25.569 persons have been tested in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo since the outbreak of the pandemic, and 7.760 persons tested positive for Covid-19.

Also, a total of 183 persons passed away up to date due to Covid-19 related complications in the Serbian areas. 

US donates 3.7 million Dollars to Serbia to fight pandemic (N1)

US Ambassador Anthony Godfrey said on Wednesday that his country is donating USD 3.7 million to Serbia as a second stage of aid to combat the coronavirus pandemic, N1 reports.

He said that the US is partnered with the UNDP and Serbin Batut Public Health Institute in battling the pandemic. According to the ambassador, the cooperation effort will help people who haven’t been vaccinated get the right information.

Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar told the meeting at the UN offices in Belgrade that US aid to Serbia since the pandemic broke out exceeds nine million Dollars. He said that cooperation is important in combating the virus across the world.

See at: https://bit.ly/3228nVo

Svetomir Bacevic pleaded not guilty at hearing in Pristina (Radio KIM)

Svetomir Bacevic, accused of committing the criminal act of “war crime against civilian population” in the village of Belo Polje near Pec pleaded not guilty at the first hearing at the Basic Court in Pristina, Radio KIM reports.

Following the reading of the indictment by the prosecutor in charge, Bacevic pleaded not guilty for the criminal act he is accused of. His defense lawyer, Dejan Vasic was also present.

Kosovo special prosecution raised an indictment against Bacevic on November 9, this year.

He was arrested in Pec in December 2020, under the same charges. Bacevic, originally from Belo Polje village, is a displaced person. He lives in Gornji Milanovac, central Serbia and was arrested in Pec, after coming to collect his personal documents. 

EUObserver: EU documents say Western Balkans, Turkey, Dubai are crime hotspots (N1)

The EU Observer portal quoted leaked European Union documents which named Dubai, Turkey, and the Western Balkans as hotspots of criminality in the EU neighborhood, adding that several police forces have launched operations to extradite criminals, N1 reported.

”We know that a vast amount of high-value targets mastermind and enable their criminal activities while residing in countries (e.g. Dubai, UAE, and Turkey) being particularly attractive for European expat criminals,” the EU said in a memo dated 13 November and seen by EUobserver. Police from nine EU states as well as Norway, Switzerland, and the US were conducting joint operations ”to locate and extradite the ‘untouchable’ expat criminals and to confiscate their criminal assets,” EUObserver quoted a memo as saying.

The portal said that Europol was helping draw up ”a list of HVT [high value targets] residing in Dubai-UAE-Turkey”. EUObserver said that the ”Operational Action Plan 2022 on high-risk criminal networks”, was drafted by EU officials and was circulated ahead of EU member states’ talks on crime-fighting priorities later this month.

”In addition to trafficking hubs in the EU, Dubai (UAE) has emerged as a key location for key organisers and money-laundering activities associated with the cocaine trade in the EU,” another EU memo, dated 14 November, said. Unnamed EU officials told the portal that the Union wants to establish cooperation with the authorities in Dubai to ”target [suspected] containers originating in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan transiting through Dubai towards the EU”.

EU sources also warned of a rise in drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

The portal said that Turkey is the key transit country for heroin trafficking to the EU through Balkan and southern Caucasus routes. The portal quoted EU officials who said that joint EU, US and Colombian police operations are underway to combat what they said is a global threat from a Balkan cartel ”mainly composed of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia” which is bringing cocaine to Europe from Latin America.

The Western Balkans were named as ”a source of illegal firearms” with ”Albanian-speaking criminal networks sexually exploit Albanian victims [of human-trafficking] across Europe, particularly in Kosovo, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK”.

Turkey and the Western Balkans were also named as ”hubs” for migrant-smugglers, in leagues with gangs in Belarus, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine.

See at: https://bit.ly/3qS48WS

Rakic and Radojevic with Szunyog on important issues for the Serbian people (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Minister for Communities and Returns, Goran Rakic and the Mayor of North Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic met today with the Head of the European Union Office, Tomas Szunyog, reported Radio Mitrovica sever, citing the statement.

The formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities was highlighted as vital for the Serbian people, as well as that blocking this process does not lead to any progress. During the meeting held in Pristina, they also talked about new investments when it comes to the environment in which minority communities live, as well as about the development fund for the North of Kosovo and its importance, reported the radio

Minister Rakic and the Mayor of North Mitrovica, Milan Radojevic said that it was important to constantly work on creating better living conditions in Kosovo, and that for Serbs, the Community of Serbian Municipalities is the primary mechanism for that.

Apart from the mentioned topics, the return process was discussed during the meeting, as well as the security situation in Kosovo, it was said in the statement.

“Procrastination and unreadiness for any sort of compromise” (Radio KIM)

Failure of the last round of Belgrade-Pristina talks in Brussels analysts see as reflection of unreadiness on the both sides to compromise, adding that part of responsibility for it certainly goes to the European administration, Radio KIM reports today. It still remains unclear if a new meeting of Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti will take place by the end of the year.

The talks at the level of Belgrade and Pristina chief negotiators took place in Brussels over the last two days, however given disagreements over the topics of the meeting, the two sides didn’t sit at the same table. Mediator in the talks, Miroslav Lajcak said he expects progress in the talks, echoed by the US Embassy in Pristina.

Radio KIM interlocutors believe one cannot expect some serious breakthrough in the negotiations in the times to come given the attitude of the both sides.

“The attitude of the both sides regarding the necessary solution that has been prolonged for years, without reason, is unrealistic. I do not see even a small readiness of any side to reach eventual compromise. We see no clear indicators supporting the fact that there is, eventual, readiness to reach some sort of solution. Anyhow, I think the dialogue would last for years”, professor and political analyst Belul Beqaj said.

His colleague, Mazlum Baraliju believes the culpability goes to the side of Serbia, since as he said, the latter insists on talks regarding the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities. He added that the European Union shares part of responsibility too, as it has no unified and firm stance on how to move forward.

Political analyst Ljubomir Stanojkovic also opined that the international community was the main culprit.

“First of all, the European Union is not active and decisive enough that what has been agreed upon and signed so far must be implemented. There is no energy to reward or punish those who do not implement what has been agreed upon”, he said.

According to him, further course of the dialogue would depend upon the attitude of the American administration, recalling that Deputy Assistant of the US State Secretary Gabriel Escobar, who is also US envoy for the Western Balkans said that American administration will be much more present in the dialogue.

“What could also influence the lack of recent results in the dialogue are elections in Serbia. However, there is also the Kosovo government which at this moment doesn’t want to discuss the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, something that Belgrade rightly insists upon. The Kosovo government, if it wishes some progress in the dialogue, needs to make a proposal regarding the Community of the Serb-majority Municipalities, and it is not doing it right now. I think we can’t expect anything tangible in this dialogue to happen soon”, he concluded. 

Pristina announcing possibility of introducing new measures on products from central Serbia (KiM radio, Beta, N1)

The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade in Pristina, Rozeta Hajdari, announced the possibility of introducing measures on confectionery products from central Serbia, in order, as she stated, to protect local producers from imports, reported KiM radio.

At a press conference in Pristina, Hajdari said that the law has existed in Kosovo for a long time that was not being implemented, in order to protect local producers, in a situation of enormously increased imports.

“Products imported into the territory of Kosovo have an enormous increase and damage domestic producers. In conclusion, as they say in the trade department, there has been an increase in imports from Serbia, unlike last year. Kosovo’s exports are at only one percent in 2020 and in 2021. We will take measures against confectionery products such as biscuits and sweets produced by Serbia, because those products had an enormous increase in imports. We will look at the evidence and then decide on the measures,” Hajdari was quoted as saying by Pristina media.

Hajdari announced last month that the government in Pristina had made decisions on anti-dumping protection measures against animal and poultry concentrate and building blocks produced in central Serbia.

“One decision imposes an anti-dumping measure of three cents per kilogram on the import of animal and poultry concentrate from Serbia. Another decision imposes an anti-dumping measure of three cents per unit of a building block originating from Serbia,” said Hajdari then.

International 

Kosovo and Serbia Fail to Agree on Dialogue Topics (Exit News)

There will be no dialogue between the negotiating teams of Kosovo and Serbia this time around after they failed to agree on the topics to be discussed.

EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak met separately several times with the two teams in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday but to no avail. 

The Kosovo negotiating team demanded to discuss the issue of nearly 1,600 Albanians who are still missing from the 1998-99 war with Serbia. It refused to have the dialogue focus on Serbia’s demand – the establishment of the Serb-only association of municipalities which would have executive powers.

An agreement between the two countries was reached in Brussels in 2013 for Kosovo to establish such an association, but its constitutional court ruled it unconstitutional, arguing it would practically amount to a second government.

While it has not implemented dozens of other agreements signed, Serbia insists for this association to be established.

Kosovo’s government maintains that the association would make the country dysfunctional, similar to Bosnia and Herzegovina.