• Lajcak: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to produce positive results (RTK)
• Meta visits Kosovo: Open Balkan doesn’t guarantee stability or peace in the region (euronews.al)
• Residency and Social Contribution Agreements on Friday (Exit)
• Head of EU Office Szunyog gives interview to KTV
• Kosovo Assembly approves in principle 2022 Budget (media)
• Rohde: Government coalition reiterates visa liberalisation commitment (RTK)
• President of Slovenia, Pahor, to visit Kosovo next week (media)
• Vucic meets Putin in Sochi, Kosovo among topics discussed (euronews.al)
• New Dragash mayor to be decided by Diaspora ballots (Telegrafi)
• The darkness of the black chronicles (Kosovo 2.0)
• Kosovo Buffeted by Waves of Public Sector Strikes (BIRN)
• COVID-19: 12 new cases, no deaths (media)

Lajcak: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to produce positive results (RTK)

EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak met Thursday evening with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, with whom he discussed about the continuation of the dialogue in Brussels, however he did not mention a concrete date when the next meeting could take place, saying that he wants Kosovo- Serbia meetings to bring results.

“It is not only about the meetings, but also the results. It simply came to our notice then. It is not just about the meetings, but also the results. This week I have met Prime Minister Kurti twice and talked to President Vucic, but there have been no positive results from these meetings. Our ambitions are different at the moment and it is not only about organizing the meeting, but also about an agreement and that is why we are working in this direction”, Lajcak said.

Asked what he expects from the next Kurti-Vucic meetings, the Slovak diplomat said he did not want to speculate. “The meeting will produce good results. The dialogue will continue because it is important and we have a good will. We just have to make sure that the meeting will produce good results,” Lajcak said.

He added that his visit to Kosovo is about full preparations for the next meeting in Brussels, but did not give an exact date when this could happen.

Lajcak also met with President Vjosa Osmani, who conveyed the message to the Slovak diplomat that the dialogue should end with mutual recognition of Kosovo-Serbia.

Meta visits Kosovo: Open Balkan doesn’t guarantee stability or peace in the region (euronews.al)

Albanian President Ilir Meta met on Thursday with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti in an official visit to Pristina.

The most important topics covered by the two leaders were bilateral relations, implementation of the agreements signed during joint meetings.

President Meta commended Kosovo’s municipal elections, hailing them as “an example of democracy”.

In regards to the Dialogue process with Serbia, the Albanian head of state highlighted internal political cooperation as a priority. Meta maintained a critical stance on the Open Balkan, the regional economic initiative of which Kosovo has refused to be a part. According to the Albanian president, the initiative does not “guarantee stability, security, or peace in the region”.

Kosovo’s premier Kurti spoke along the same lines, stating that “there can be no Open Balkan, if Serbia keeps a close stance on Kosovo”, pointing to the fact that Belgrade does not recognize its diplomas, IDs, or custom stamps.

Residency and Social Contribution Agreements on Friday (Exit)

In a joint meeting on Friday, the governments of Albania and Kosovo will sign agreements to ease the provision of residence permits and recognize social security contributions in their respective countries, Exit News reported.

Kosovo citizens will be able to get a five-year residence and work permit in Albania through a single application, requiring a reduced number of documents, Albania’s Minister of Interior Bledar Çuçi told journalists on Wednesday.

Albanians living in Kosovo will also face fewer requirements to get the respective permits.

Albanian Minister of Finance Delina Ibrahimaj said that the mutual recognition of social security contributions will benefit those on pregnancy leave, people who have suffered accidents at work, as well as those on disability pensions in both countries.

This will be the seventh joint meeting between the governments of Kosovo and Albania. While a number of agreements have been signed between the two throughout the past eight years of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s rule, their concrete benefits have been questionable.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has been calling on Rama to prioritize bilateral relations with Kosovo instead of pushing to establish controversial regional initiatives like Open Balkan, which Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina refuse to join.

Rama maintains that cooperation between all six Western Balkan countries is the right way to go.

However, in principle both leaders agree that despite their disagreement regarding Open Balkan, bilateral cooperation should be strengthened.

The seventh joint government meeting comes two days before the celebrations in both countries on November 28 of Albania’s declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, which at that time included Kosovo as well.

Head of EU Office Szunyog gives interview to KTV

The Head of EU Office/EU Special Representative Tomas Szunyog gave an interview to KTV where he spoke about visa liberalisation, said that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities is an obligation for Kosovo and that this is not the time for Kosovo to be undertaking a vetting of the judiciary.

On the visa-free travel, Szunyog said he did not want to give concrete dates as to when a decision can be expected. “We as EU institutions act in coordination with the Government, I think it is achievable soon.” He noted that the decision depends on the EU Council comprising of ministers of all 27 EU member states. “I cannot promise any concrete date or clear objective but I can say that Kosovo is on the right path towards visa liberalisation,” he added.

On the issue of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, Szunyog underlined that its establishment is important for two reasons: first because it part of an international agreement signed by the representatives of Kosovo and the second that some of these agreements have already been ratified by the Kosovo Assembly. “I think the reason why we are insisting on this issue now is that there are some voices saying these agreements are not relevant and that they will not be implemented.”

Asked to comment on Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti’s statements that the agreement for establishment of the Association is not in line with the Constitution of Kosovo, Szunyog said: “Let me be clear on this point, there are two agreements. One is from 2013, so this one that I talked about and that was reached as an agreement, was signed and ratified in the Assembly. There is another agreement of 2015 and which has been put under the magnifying glass of the Constitutional Court, but the Constitution does not say that the Association can not be formed and that this obligation can not be implemented. In fact, it says that it is asking the state that the statute of this Association is re-drafted and sent to the Constitutional Court again.”

Szuynog said the EU wants to see Pristina and Belgrade reach a legally binding agreement that would resolve all open problems and enable Kosovo and Serbia move forward on their European integration path.

On the judicial vetting process, the head of the EU in Kosovo said that this is an ‘extreme’ measure that should be considered as a last resort. “And we simply do not consider the situation in Kosovo is such that it calls for such an extreme measure.”

Kosovo Assembly approves in principle 2022 Budget (media)

Kosovo Assembly approved Thursday in principle The Draft Law on Budget for 2022 projected to be 2.7 billion euro.

MPs with 65 votes in favour, no vote against and no abstention have approved in principle the Budget 2022.

Ahead of vote opposition MPs have criticised the government for poor planning of the budget, Gazeta Express reported. Koha writes that the second review of the budget bill has been scheduled for 22 December.

Rohde: Government coalition reiterates visa liberalisation commitment (RTK)

Three political forces in Germany, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP), announced on Wednesday the arrival of a ruling coalition. This agreement also mentions support for visa liberalisation for Kosovo, the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and the integration of the Western Balkans into Euro-Atlantic structures.

The ambassador of this country in Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, also expressed his satisfaction that Kosovo is on the agenda of the new German government. “The next ruling coalition in Germany underlined the commitment to visa liberalization for Kosovo, support for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and stressed the need to support the integration of the Western Balkans into Euro-Atlantic structures,” Rohde wrote on Twitter.

According to the agreement reached, there are also some important points that affect foreigners.

Dual citizenship, indefinite residence permits in the country as well as protective support for places of worship belonging to Muslims, will be facilitated.

Children born to foreign parents in Germany will be able to obtain German citizenship provided that one of the parents is a legal resident of the country for 5 years.

The level of language required in relation to citizenship for the first generation of guest workers who have gone to Germany will be reduced and the naturalization of these persons will be facilitated.

President of Slovenia, Pahor, to visit Kosovo next week (media)

President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, is expected to visit Kosovo on Monday, 29 November. He will meet President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Pahor’s visit to Kosovo will follow that in Serbia on Sunday.

Vucic meets Putin in Sochi, Kosovo among topics discussed (euronews.al)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic met in Sochi, in a meeting that reportedly lasted for about three hours.

Vucic hailed the cooperation among the two countries, especially in the military and technical areas, and emphasized his wish for new agreements.

“I believe relations between Serbia and Russia are now at the highest level in history and are moving forward in all areas. As you know, we are strategic partners and Serbia considers this as a privilege”, Vucic said.

Putin expressed his appreciation to Vucic for creating programs that teach the Russian language in Serbian schools.

In reference to Kosovo, Putin reiterated Russia’s support in finding a solution.

“As you are aware, our position of principle is not vulnerable to current political factors. We support your position on Kosovo. I hope that a solution will eventually be found that will meet the interests of all people living in the region”, said Putin.

Putin said he hoped for a solution that would fit the interests of all Western Balkan countries.

New Dragash mayor to be decided by Diaspora ballots (Telegrafi)

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) called a meeting to discuss preparations for re-vote of Diaspora members for election of the mayor of Dragash.

Burim Ahmetaj from the CEC Secretariat said there are 1,090 voter applicants from the Municipality of Dragash that currently reside abroad and that the CEC would soon decide on the timeframe during which the voters will have to send in their ballots.

The counting of the Diaspora votes showed the candidate from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Bexhet Xheladini winning the second round of elections against the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) candidate Shaban Shabani. PDK appealed to the Election Complaint and Appeals Panel (ECAP) which decided to annul Diaspora votes. The final verdict came from the Supreme Court which ordered a re-vote of Diaspora.

The darkness of the black chronicles (Kosovo 2.0)

The news about the murder of Sebahate Morina in March this year shocked and frustrated many in Kosovo. It mobilized feminist activists to protest in the streets, where they reiterated for the umpteenth time that femicide is preventable and that the state is failing to protect women’s lives. When Dardan Krivaqa and Arbër Sejdiu left the dead body of Marigona Osmani at the Emergency Center in Ferizaj in August, activists took the streets once again, accompanied by many others, to demand justice and call on the state to end femicide, this invisible pandemic.

Had activists not reacted publicly to the two cases, these murders would have been just a short brief in the “dark chronicles” of Kosovar media. They would have earned some quick glances at the headlines but would not have garnered any real attention.

The outdated dark chronicles news section — “kronika e zezë” in Albanian and “crna hronika” in Serbian, literally “black chronicles” in English — is found in most regional news publications, most likely inherited from the old Yugoslav press era. It seems to be an adaptation of American and British crime reporting which has been around since the early days of journalism. Newspaper owners noticed how reporting on crime, due to its attention-grabbing nature, appealed to people’s curiosity for the grotesque and was easy to sensationalize. Meanwhile, associating the color black with the crime section further emphasizes the lurid and the scandalous, suffocating the news with sensation.

Today, November 25, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls. The news will report that some public events are taking place, that in the evening some iconic buildings and monuments were draped in orange to bring attention to gender-based violence. Business as usual.

We will hear and read calls for actions in education, in the judiciary, throughout the government — the message being that we all have to step up. However, there is another powerful sector — the media itself — that maintains and reproduces harmful narratives about how women and men should be seen, and which perpetuates all the wrong images and messages about gender.

The fact that gender-based violence is treated as news fit only for the dark chronicles shows that most Kosovar media lack a gender perspective in their editorial policies. Taking cases from police reports and publishing them as daily briefs without putting them into context turns a long history of oppression into a simple show of violence.

The murders of Sebahate Morina and Marigona Osmani, like any other femicide, and in truth like any other form of violence, are just normal pieces of news for the vast majority of Kosovar journalists and editors. They have become something to file next to other news that arouses curiosity, such as theft, car accidents, police raids and fines for minor offenses.

In fact, the dark chronicle section itself is controversial; the moment an article enters that box, its content becomes completely detached from any social and economic context, remaining nothing but a poor rewrite of a police report. For example, reports of stabbings between men for a parking space, not uncommon in the dark chronicles, only reinforce the idea that conflictual situations usually end in violence. This style of reporting leaves unconsidered the importance of discussing toxic masculinity and the economic and social context that enables its expression.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3cMJcs8

Kosovo Buffeted by Waves of Public Sector Strikes (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Federations of Health Unions, FSSHK, held a strike on Thursday, at a time when the government of Albin Kurti is coming under almost constant pressure from other unions and their protests.

Health workers at the main University Clinical Center of Kosovo, UCCK, in the capital, Pristina, and in all seven regional hospitals in the country, stopped providing services from 7am to 3pm on Thursday, demanding urgent approval of the draft Law on public sector pay.

They want the approval of this draft law and its immediate implementation within the 2022 state budget.

Blerim Syla, head of the health unions, told BIRN that his members “will hold all-day strikes, everyday, if they do not fulfil our requests by next Thursday”.

In June 2020, Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled that the 2019 law on public sector pay was unconstitutional. That law had increased the salaries of 70 per cent of public sector employees, leaving 30 per cent aside.

The FSSHK also claimed it will sue the Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, over his Facebook post claiming the federation had received 3 million euros in the last five years – with no track of what the money was used for.

“In the last five years, FSSHK has received over 3 million euros in the name of contributions that were deducted from the salaries of health personnel and transferred to the FSSHK. I doubt health personnel have ever been notified of where this money has gone,” Murati posted.

Another protest demanding implementation of the stalled Law on salaries was announced for Friday by the Independent Union of Kosovo Administration workers, SPAK.

SPAK on Tuesday claimed the government had ignored: “The Law on salaries; the budgeting of resources for the implementation of the Law on salaries in the 2022 budget; general collective agreements; health insurance; recognition of the work of all public officials who were wrongfully and violently fired during the 1990s; setting minimum salaries”.

The United Union of Education, Science and Culture, SBASHK, meanwhile announced a protest for December 4, also over the Law on salaries.

The updated law was due to be sent for approval in parliament in late October, but is still in the process of being changed, based on the 2020 Constitutional Court ruling.

Prime Minister Kurti told the media in late October it wasn’t that simple and pay rises had to be matched by rises in productivity. “In their electoral promises, they (former governments) tried to increase salaries, but the economy does not work that way. With us, in the coming months and years, an increase in salaries will follow an increase of productivity.”

The law on wages is part of a public administration reform backed by the EU. The head of the EU office for Kosovo told BIRN in July that if Kosovo does not finalize the reform, it risks losing EU assistance of up to 10 million euros.

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.