Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Electricity in four northern municipalities will be billed soon (media)
• Konjufca: Kosovo’s future in EU and NATO, not in Serbia’s initiatives (Telegrafi)
• Gervalla: War has returned as a real threat in the Balkans (Koha)
• Kurti: Today we commemorate women and girls lost to violence (Klan Kosova)
• Specialist Chambers confirm some detainees are infected with COVID-19 (Klan Kosova)
• Mobile team vaccinates school pupils in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)
• COVID-19: 12 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 33 new cases in Serbian communities (Kontakt plus radio)
• Putin: Russia supports Serbia’s position on resolving the Kosovo issue (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
• Dacic: The law on the referendum has nothing to do with Rio Tinto, the Constitution preamble will not change (Danas)
• Petkovic: The only one destabilizing the region is Albin Kurti (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)
• Mojsilovic with Kajari: The only legitimate security actor in Kosovo is KFOR (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
• US envoy to Serbia on ‘Open Balkan’: We support economic linkage; Escobar agrees (N1, FoNet)
• DSS official won’t run with anyone who says that genocide was committed in Srebrenica and Kosovo is independent (Beta, NIN, N1)
• Protesters in Belgrade threaten to block Serbia if two laws are passed (N1)
• 520 kg of marijuana seized in Nis (B92, N1, Kosovo Online)

International:

• Western Balkans in the coalition agreement of the next German government (EWB)
• Venice Commission: Serbia followed ‘most’ constitutional recommendations (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Electricity in four northern municipalities will be billed soon (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly that soon the four northern municipalities will have to start paying for electricity. Asked by an opposition MP how long the government will cover the electricity expenses of these municipalities, Kurti said that in cooperation with the Energy Regulatory Office, the European Union and other partners, everyone including the residents of the four northern municipalities will pay for their electricity expenses and that this would happen for the first time in 22 years.

“Many unfavorable agreements for Kosovo were reached in Brussels and we are suffering the consequences now. In our relations there, including with international partners, but also in talks with Serbia, the main arguments against us are the agreements of previous governments. I must operate with the legacy that was left behind. I am doing the best in the service of constitutionality and sovereignty of Kosovo and there is no doubt that I would not want to be in this position. Very soon the day will come when electricity in the north will be billed because it is a great injustice against all citizens of the Republic,” Kurti said.

Konjufca: Kosovo’s future in EU and NATO, not in Serbia’s initiatives (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Assembly President, Glauk Konjufca, met today with Albanian President, Ilir Meta, and discussed intensifying cooperation between Kosovo and Albania, developments in the region and the EU integration process. Konjufca said Kosovo is open to regional cooperation but only based on equality, reciprocity and EU inclusion. “The Republic of Kosovo deems unacceptable Serbia’s initiatives such as the so-called ‘Open Balkan’, which aims to sidestep the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans and the European Union. The future of our country and the region is in the European Union and NATO,” Konjufca said.

Gervalla: War has returned as a real threat in the Balkans (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, said today that war has returned as a real threat in the Balkans. During the meeting of the Partnership Commission of the US-Adriatic Charter in Zagreb, Croatia, Gervall said: “Allow me to be straightforward, in terms of security, we are in a very difficult point. The current situation reminds me of the situation 20 years ago. Back then we were warning that war would be inevitable, but no one took us seriously. Today we are facing the threat of conflict again. Therefore we need to be very clear – among us, true Europeans, here in the region, and with our strong European partners, and above all with our American allies. Ignoring reality is never a good choice. It was not a good choice in the 1990s either and it would be a dangerous choice now. Last week we participated at the Halifax Security Forum in Canada and we alarmed NATO and US officials, senators, partners and allies. Unfortunately, we are faced with a crisis that will not be solved only by sending some diplomats to the region. We have waited for too long and the increase in military, political and propaganda capacities has been going on for over a decade,” .

“It is sad but unfortunately true: war has returned as a real threat in the Balkans. Never since the 1990s has the word war been mentioned so often. And never since the 1990s, has the aggressive and nationalistic leadership in Serbia used a language so similar to that used by Milosevic. Never since the 1990s has the aggressive nationalistic propaganda for the Serbian audience been prepared so strategically by the government in Belgrade. We simply need to see the efforts of Dodik, Vucic and Putin in Bosnia to see that the partitioning of states, initiated by Serbia and Russia, is on the table.”

Gervalla said that proper analyses are needed to see what is happening on the ground. “This is not only about diplomatic talks. Let us talk as real Europeans, NATO and the U.S., in order to avoid what can happen if we don’t act properly and decisively,” she said.

Kurti: Today we commemorate women and girls lost to violence (Klan Kosova)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, that “today we commemorate the women and girls that lost their lives to violence. Today we honor their memory and we pledge to fight the violence against women.”

“In response to the increased violence, our institutions have improved the legal framework with the recent changes embracing the Istanbul Convention. We have also advanced by defining violence against women as ‘a criminal offence in our criminal code,” Kurti said.

“Marking November 25 and opening the campaign of 16 Days of Activism is a call for greater cooperation among us to prove zero tolerance to violence against women and girls and to strengthen the institutional chain … We must not allow our citizens to live in fear and anxiety for the future which although guaranteed with legal norms has been challenged by a mindset that does not view women as equal individuals with full rights. This calls for immediate action and when drafting our policies we need to put the elimination of the violence against women at the core of our actions,” Kurti said.

Specialist Chambers confirm some detainees are infected with COVID-19 (Klan Kosova)

A spokeswoman for the Specialist Chambers told Klan Kosova that some COVID-19 tests in this institution have resulted positive but she did not disclose further details. “For privacy reasons, we cannot comment on the COVID-19 status of individuals in the detention facilities, but we can confirm that some tests have resulted positive. The medical services are fully engaged and every person that has resulted positive receives full medical care including a medical officer that visits them at least twice a day,” the spokeswoman said.

Mobile team vaccinates school pupils in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)

The Ministry of Health sent a mobile team to vaccinate pupils of the ‘Xhevdet Doda’ school in Prishtina, to encourage more youngsters to get jabs.

Dozens of students from the Xhevdet Doda high school in Prishtina waited in line on Wednesday to receive vaccines against COVID-19 after the Ministry of Health dispatched a mobile medical team.

Deputy Health Minister Dafina Gexha-Bunjaku said the government had provided safe vaccines, and school children also needed to get them.

“It can be seen that in this school there is a great interest among pupils for vaccination. We call on everyone to get vaccinated as much as possible, especially children, because that is how we will keep schools open,” she said.

She added that her own 15-year-old daughter had been vaccinated that day, and was feeling fine.

The principal of the Xhevdet Doda gymnasium, Azem Jaha, said that the students were vaccinated with the approval of their parents.

“It is very important that students get the vaccine. “The number of students interested in vaccination is large, while there is little reluctance on the part of younger students,” he said.

The Ministry of Health has announced that the vaccination process in Kosovo using mobile teams in schools and at other levels will continue in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Municipal Directorates of Education.

The ministry has called on all those who have not yet had or completed vaccination, with both doses, to do so.

Since the campaign started, over 1.5 million doses of vaccine have been issued to all towns and cities of Kosovo. According to official data, over 700,000 citizens of Kosovo have had a first and second dose.

Last week, the Ministry of Health appointed teams to vaccinate citizens at mosques during or after Friday prayers.

Getting a vaccine in Kosovo is permissible to anyone over the age of 12, and can now be done without having an appointment.

COVID-19: 12 new cases, no deaths (media)

12 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 323 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 33 new cases in Serbian communities (Kontakt plus radio)

The Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced today that another 33 cases of coronavirus infection have been registered in Serbian communities out of 109 samples tested, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

Newly infected by municipalities: North Mitrovica (12), Leposavic (12), Zubin Potok (8) and Priluzje (1).

130 people came out of isolation, and 530 cases are currently active, the report states.

Total number of patients by municipalities: North Mitrovica (2,374), Leposavic (1,417), Zvecan (1,263) and Zubin Potok (843).

In Serbian areas south of the Ibar, 2,018 cases of infection were registered.

According to the data of the Institute for Public Health in Kosovska Mitrovica, 185 people have died so far from the consequences of the corona virus in Serbian communities in Kosovo. 

Since the beginning of the epidemic, a total of 25,998 people have been tested, and 7,915 have become ill.

Based on the latest report, the total number of new patients in the municipalities, as of today, does not match the records that have been submitted to the radio editorial office so far. Namely, the latest report shows a larger number of sick and deceased, and it is probably an omitted report for the media, reported Kontakt plus.

The radio reported that the crisis Staff was addressed but did not receive an explanation until the news was published.

A previous report for Serb communities was submitted on November 20th.

Putin: Russia supports Serbia’s position on resolving the Kosovo issue (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

After the meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that “Russia’s position on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija does not depend on the current political conjuncture and that he hopes that a solution will be found that will satisfy everyone’s interests,” Tanjug reported.

“You know that our position is principled. We support your position on resolving the Kosovo issue,” Putin said.

The Russian president also emphasized that he hopes “that in the end a solution will be found that will satisfy the interests of all the people who live there”.

At the meeting between Putin and Vucic in Sochi, gas was also discussed, and the Russian president pointed out that “Moscow and Belgrade will find an acceptable solution for the conditions of the new agreement on gas deliveries to Serbia”, portal Kosovo Online cited.

Dacic: The law on the referendum has nothing to do with Rio Tinto, the Constitution preamble will not change (Danas)

The President of the Assembly of Serbia, Ivica Dacic stated that the Law on Referendum, which is today before the deputies in the Serbian Assembly, “has nothing to do with the company Rio Tinto or any other investment” in Serbia, and added that it was necessary to vote in order to change the Constitution in the part that referred to justice, reported daily Danas. 

“As far as I am concerned, it does not have to change, I am still satisfied – that judges and prosecutors are elected in the Assembly. Now it turns out that we want something, and in fact the European Union is forcing us, so that we can open negotiation chapters,” Dacic told TV Happy, stating why the Constitution is being changed now.

He announced that the text of the amendment to the Constitution should be found in the Serbian Assembly on Tuesday, November 30, noting that it refers only to the judiciary.

“Changing the Constitution is not a work on a free topic. It is not possible to add anything else, so that the preamble on Kosovo is not on the agenda (of the session),” said Dacic, when asked whether the preamble will change. 

Such claims, he stated, reflect “total ignorance, thesis substitution and conspiracy theories”, reported the daily.

Petkovic: The only one destabilizing the region is Albin Kurti (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic reacted to a statement by Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla accusing Serbia and Russia of destabilizing the region, and said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was “hitting the same old drum of destabilization, while he encourages personally and threatens regional peace and economic development”.

“The only one who destabilizes the region is Albin Kurti, by advocating for a Greater Albania, rejecting the Brussels Agreement and deploying armed special forces against unarmed citizens in northern Kosovo and Metohija,” Petkovic wrote on his Twitter profile, reported the media.

Mojsilovic with Kajari: The only legitimate security actor in Kosovo is KFOR (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

The Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army, General Milan Mojsilovic met today in Belgrade the KFOR Commander, Major General Ferenc Kajari, which was the first meeting between the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Army and the newly appointed KFOR Commander, reported Kosovo Online, citing Tanjug. 

General Mojsilovic congratulated General Kajari on his appointment to this responsible position and stressed that “KFOR, as the only legitimate security actor in Kosovo and Metohija in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Military Technical Agreement, is expected to create conditions for a safe and peaceful life  in the whole area of the province”.

During the meeting, the current security situation in Kosovo and the activities undertaken to monitor the situation on the ground and to preserve and improve security in that area were discussed.

The importance of direct contacts at all levels between the Serbian Army and KFOR for the stable security situation in the province was emphasized in the conversation, and especially along the administrative line towards Kosovo.

US envoy to Serbia on ‘Open Balkan’: We support economic linkage; Escobar agrees (N1, FoNet)

Antony Godfrey, the US ambassador to Serbia, said on Wednesday that his country fully supported the region’s economic integration.

Ahead of the ‘Open Balkan – Road to Stabilisation, Cooperation and Prosperity of the Region’ meeting in Serbia’s Parliament, he said the idea of the ‘Open Balkan’ was crucial for European integration, but that they would fulfil its potential when the entire Western Balkans were connected.

Godfrey said that the ‘Open Balkan’ would help increase salaries and progress in European integration reforms.

Also, on Wednesday, the US special envoy for the Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, agreed the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative could not succeed if all six countries of the Western Balkans were not included.

The US position is that all six Western Balkans countries should be members of the European Union within a reasonable time, he has added.

“We believe that their voice should be heard in the structures that affect the lives of the people who live in this area. In addition, every country that joins the EU becomes more democratic, stable and prosperous. We support any economic and regional integration that leads in that direction,” Escobar said.

He added the US support for the initiative was conditioned by an equal opportunity for everyone to participate and that it should not be an obstacle to the European integration of the region.

Serbia’s Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovic said that about 100,000 people a year migrate from three countries that are part of the initiative to other states.

She added that such initiatives could help the economies work and develop without problems.

So far, Serbia. North Macedonia and Albania joined the ‘Open Balkan’ initiative while Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo still refuse to join, stating mostly they don’t want any replacement for European Union membership.

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

DSS official won’t run with anyone who says that in genocide was committed in Srebrenica and Kosovo is independent (Beta, NIN, N1)

The head of the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Milos Jovanovic told Belgrade weekly NIN that he can’t run in the coming elections with people who think genocide was committed in Srebrenica.

The DSS is a nationalist but not extremist party which was initially headed by former FR Yugoslavia President Vojislav Kostunica who beat Slobodan Milosevic in the year 2000 presidential elections.

“I respect and like debate and can listen to any argument but that does not mean that I can be on the same side with people who believe that the crime of genocide was committed in Srebrenica because that is not right and I am saying that as a lawyer, not as a Serb or a citizen of this country or a candidate for president,” he told this week’s issue of the weekly. Jovanovic was chosen to be the presidential candidate of the NADA coalition which includes his DSS and the Movement to Restore the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS).

“I can’t be on the same side with people who think Kosovo is independent and that nothing can be done about it, who believe the mural of (convicted war criminal Bosnian Serb General) Ratko Mladic is an embarrassment for the Serbian people and (convicted WW2 Nazi-affiliated war criminal) Acif Efendija is not an embarrassment,” he said.

He said that there are huge differences between the NADA coalition and himself on one side and what he called the Brussels opposition on the other in terms of ideology and the way to wage a political battle.

Protesters in Belgrade threaten to block Serbia if two laws are passed (N1)

The environmentalists and other groups organised a protest outside the Presidency building in Belgrade on Wednesday night against draft Law on Referendum and Initiative, Law on Expropriation, Rio Tinto’s lithium mining and the destruction of the city’s district of Makis where the Belgrade underground system’s construction started.

“If they (the Parliament) pass these two laws, we will call on the citizens for a warning blockade of the motorways in Serbia for an hour; if the President (Aleksandar Vucic) signs those laws, we will block the whole of Serbia, we will demand that Serbia stop,” Savo Manojlovic from the Go-Change initiative told the gathering.

He added that the protesters “are not politicians, we are not interested in elections. Some may be arrested, but they will never stop us all.”

Manojlovic said Serbia was not a colony and that everyone who supported the Rio Tinto would be considered an associate of the occupiers.

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

520 kg of marijuana seized in Nis (B92, N1, Kosovo Online)

In Nis, 520 kilograms of marijuana packed in 134 packages were seized as part of the Serbian police operation.

According to the statement of the Ministry of the Interior, the drugs arrived from Kosovo and were intended for further sale in the cities and towns of Serbia.

“The fierce struggle of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with drug dealers continues, whether Serbia is a transit country or the final destination for selling drugs, with the same determination and fight we will arrest anyone who imports and sells drugs in our country. Serbia is not and will not be a safe place for sale of narcotics or a safe place for their further distribution. Serbia will never be a safe place for drug dealers and drug trafficking,” said Minister of Interior Aleksandar Vulin, who was informed by the chiefs and members of the Criminal Police Directorate (UKP) about all the details of the seizure of 520 kilograms of marijuana.

Minister Vulin emphasized that every seizure of narcotics is a great success and a great victory for the police and announced that marijuana will not be legalized in Serbia.

“I sincerely advocate that the sale of drugs to a minor be sanctioned and treated as an attempted murder,” Vulin said.

International 

Western Balkans in the coalition agreement of the next German government (EWB)

BERLIN – The coalition agreement of the three German parties that will form the new federal government supports the European integration of the six countries of the Western Balkans, European Western Balkans has learnt.

The agreement proposes the opening of the first negotiating chapters with Albania and Northern Macedonia, visa liberalisation for Kosovo, and the continuation of negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia.

“We support the European integration of the six countries of the Western Balkans and, in that sense, the necessary reforms to meet all the Copenhagen criteria”, the document reads.

Within that framework, the civil society will be strengthened, it is further added.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3FNkC76

Venice Commission: Serbia followed ‘most’ constitutional recommendations (BIRN)

Council of Europe’s advisory body says Serbia has not followed all its recommendations on proposed constitutional changes related to the composition of judicial bodies – and the risk of their politicisation remains.

Serbia has followed “most” Venice Commission recommendations about its constitutional amendments – but the risk of politization of main judicial bodies still need to be reduced, the constitutional law advisory body of the Council of Europe said in its urgent opinion issued Wednesday.

It said in its urgent opinion that, “the recommendation related to the anti-deadlock mechanism for the election of the lay members of the High Judicial Council has not been followed, and the one related to the composition of the High Prosecutorial Council has only partly been followed”.

“Even though the solutions proposed in the revised draft amendments in respect of these two recommendations do not go against any international standards as such, the Commission wishes to insist once again on the need to reduce the risks of politicisation of the two Councils,” the opinion noted.

Serbian justice minister Maja Popovic said she was satisfied with his country’s compliance. “The Venice Commission notes that most of the key recommendations of the October opinion have been adopted, in particular the recommendations concerning the composition of the High Judicial Council, which they particularly welcome,” she said.

“With this urgent opinion, the Venice Commission removes any possible doubt, if it existed at all, that the Republic of Serbia received a positive opinion back in October”, Popovic added.

The Venice Commission issued an opinion about Serbia’s draft constitutional amendments in mid-October.

Scrutiny focused on composition of judicial bodies tasked with choosing judges and prosecutors as well as an anti-deadlock mechanism. This means that the parliament speaker, the president of the Constitutional Court, the president of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Public Prosecutor and the Ombudsman will appoint prominent lawyers to judiciary councils if parliament fails to do so with a two-thirds majority.

One of the six rapporteurs for the Commission’s opinion, Angelika Nussberger, a professor at Cologne University, told BIRN in October that the fact that ex officio members remain in the composition of these bodies was “not a good idea”.

However, at the end of October, the Serbian parliament’s committee on constitutional affairs and legislation session pushed ahead with some solutions that were deemed problematic.

They confirmed that the High Prosecutorial Council will still have the Justice Minister as a member, and that the President of the Supreme Court will be a member of the High Judicial Council. They did not adopt the anti-deadlock mechanism recommendation.

Serbia’s parliament speaker said on Tuesday: “If everything goes as planned, a referendum on changing the Constitution will be held on January 16.”