Albanian Language Media:

• Pahor: Kosovo and Serbia to trust the dialogue, respect agreements (media)
• Osmani: EU should react towards Serbia’s destabilizing rhetoric in the region (RTK)
• Prosecution: Investigations in Decan are not easy (RFE Albanian)
• Ibishi: Attack threats should be taken seriously (Ekonomia)
• Croatian Ambassador to Albania: “Serbian World” is being legitimized with “Open Balkans” (Klan)
• COVID-19: Two new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 65 new cases registered in Serbian areas on Saturday (Radio KIM)
• Vucic: I am completely convinced that we should not recognize Kosovo (KoSSev, KiM radio, Tanjug, TV Pink)
• Vucic meets with Pahor in Belgrade (Tanjug)
• Pahor on ZSO in Pristina: I understand decision of Constitutional Court, but agreements must be respected (KoSSev)
• Visoki Decani Monastery extends condolences to families of victims in Glodjane (social media)
• Blinken: Indispensable role of Serbia in promoting the regional stability (Tanjug)
• Survey on Law on Referendum: Most people think it is related to Kosovo and Rio Tinto Company (KoSSev)
• Petkovic elected member of SNS Presidency, Djuric Vice-President (Kosovo-online)
• Glass on a store belonging to Blagoje Radic from Orahovac broken (Radio kontakt plus)

International:

• Kosovo’s Forensic Investigators: ‘We are the Voice of the Dead’ (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Three weak earthquakes hit Kosovo (N1, RTS, KiM radio)

Albanian Language Media  

Pahor: Kosovo and Serbia to trust the dialogue, respect agreements (media)

The President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor has requested overcoming all disagreements about all the agreements of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and to resume further towards the final agreement.

During the joint press conference with President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, he said that Slovenia will support the dialogue and Kosovo’s perspective in the Euro-integration process. However, he added, both parties should respect the reached agreements.

“The main condition is to trust in the dialogue and respect agreements,” Pahor said.

Speaking about the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, he said that both countries should take steps in this direction.

“The EU should liberalize visas and in dialogue more should be done about missing persons. We understand that they need to join the EU, we need to commit and overcome the problems that lie ahead. This is not easy, dialogue is not simple, complex issues must be resolved, and this can be achieved if there is political will.”

“After the conversation with Vucic, they say that you do not have the will and you say that there is no will there, but from my experience I say that these problems should be overcome. All agreements reached must be implemented and disputes resolved. The first condition is to respect the agreements and we also understand the decision of the Constitutional Court for the Association. As a friend of Kosovo and Serbia, I see a dialogue that is difficult, everyone can finally resolve international issues,” he said.

Pahor also met with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti.  

Osmani: EU should react towards Serbia’s destabilizing rhetoric in the region (RTK)

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani has requested from the European Union to react towards Serbia’s destabilizing rhetoric in the Western Balkans region.

After meeting Slovenian President Borut Pahor, Osamni said at the press conference that Serbia is not interested in reaching an agreement with mutual recognition.

“Kosovo has been the constructive party in the dialogue process. Serbia is not interested in reaching an agreement with Kosovo. Mutual recognition should be in the center of this process. Our northern neighbor does not want a peaceful Balkans. The EU should react to its harsh rhetoric in the region,’ she said.

President Osmani once again criticized the EU for not liberalizing visas for Kosovo.

“Visa liberalization is delayed, and this could harm the EU’s credibility. This should happen as soon as possible,” she said. 

Asked about the Open Balkans, Osmani said that it is a space for expansion of Serbian hegemony, adding that in this aspect she has a different opinion from Pahor.

“We of course have a different opinion on this issue. We had the opportunity to discuss this today with mutual respect. To us, the Open Balkans is a space for the expansion of Serbian hegemony. Now that Serbia is trying to play a leading role in this initiative, there are no good intentions in relation to our region. It would be different if Serbia was a state that aims for peace and stability and if it had recognized Kosovo. As long as it aims for Kosovo to join initiatives as its province, and the reality is quite different, as Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state, of course such initiatives do not serve the interests of our country, nor the region. There are some other concerns. This initiative has violated the basic principle of regional initiatives which is that of inclusiveness. When it was initiated, there were only three or two states. The second, it has violated the principle of equal treatment of all states. Third, we have concerns about the fact that it would become a waiting room and give reason to skeptics within the EU to let us deal with each other for a long time, rather than clarify our European perspective,” Osmani said.

She added that other concerns relate to the economy, security and politics.

Osmani added that Serbia is part of many other regional initiatives, where Kosovo is an equal part, but even there, Serbia does not respect the agreements.

“Take the Berlin Process, where Kosovo is equal, we support this process led by the German Chancellor and the French President, which has the full support of the EU. Despite this high-level leadership, Serbia continues not to implement the agreements signed there. Especially the one signed in London for missing persons by force. If the agreements of a credible process such as the one in Berlin are not implemented, imagine how much it would implement the agreements in a process where it has a leading role,” Osmani said. 

Prosecution: Investigations in Decan are not easy (RFE Albanian)

The Department for Serious Crimes in the Basic Prosecution in Peja said that it has obtained some information, which could lead to the clarification of the case of the murder of three people in Decan, however admitted that the investigation “is not easy”.

“We have some indications, which we are following, and we are moving forward to confirm them. Some circumstances tell us that we will not have it easy, but I am optimistic that we will do it,” the case prosecutor Sahide Gashi told Radio Free Europe, but without giving further details.

On the evening of November 26, three people – including two schoolchildren – were killed by gunfire in the direction of a bus near the village of Gllogjan in the municipality of Decan – about 100 kilometers from Pristina.

The motive for the shooting is not yet clear, but Kosovo Police have said there is no reason to believe the incident was a terrorist act.

Prosecutor Gashi said that elite units “are working 24 hours” in search of the suspected attacker.

Ibishi: Attack threats should be taken seriously (Ekonomia)

Security expert Nuredin Ibishi is saying that warnings of possible attacks in Kosovo, made by the U.S. State Department, pose risks.

Ibishi in a statement for Ekonomia Online, said that this is a threat not only to Kosovo, but also to the region.

He even said that such terrorist acts could lead to inter-ethnic conflicts in the four northern municipalities that could be part of the hybrid Russian war.

“These are early warnings that in a way pose risks not only for Kosovo, but also the entire Balkans from the return of persons who have been sent from terrorist organizations also in Kosovo. Not only the U.S. State Department, but also the Intelligence Agency in a way are warning of the possibility that in places where there is a greater concentration of the population, especially now during the New Year holidays, there may be terrorist acts, as well as inter-ethnic conflicts in the four northern municipalities that may be part of the Russian hybrid war.

According to Ibishi, the Kosovo Police has taken all necessary measures to prevent any terrorist attack in Kosovo.

“The security sector in Kosovo is functional and acts both in a preventive and reactive manner. But we must keep in mind that the right information in this case from the profitable State Agency and from our strategic allies, must be taken seriously.”

“Kosovo Police has taken immediate measures in order to prevent possible acts of terrorism in some places that have been warned to prevent any terrorist act. While the U.S. Embassy in Pristina did not consider these Monday warnings as a novelty.

Embassy spokesman Eric Brassil said that this is not something new, neither in Kosovo nor in the Balkans in general, adding that they are in communication with the Kosovo Police about everything.

“The U.S. Embassy monitors local threats to ensure the safety of our employees and American citizens living in Kosovo. Therefore, we are in constant communication with the Kosovo Police. We were not one of the missions / embassies that warned our staff and / or American citizens about this particular threat, and we have no plans to do so at this time.”

“The notice about possible terrorist activity in the Balkans has been on the website for many months. This is not new. In fact, last Monday, November 22, travel advice went down from ‘Do not travel’ to ‘Reconsider travel’. This is mainly driven by data from the CDC regarding the risk of Covid-19 for Americans who may travel to Kosovo.

Croatian Ambassador to Albania: “Serbian World” is being legitimized with “Open Balkans” (Klan)

Klan reports that Croatian Ambassador in Albania, Zlatko Kramaric in an interview for the Albanian News Portal talked about the “Open Balkans” initiative, saying that it is important to recognize in time, before it is not too late, all political consequences behind the ‘innocent’ phrase ‘Serbian world’ which is slowly but surely legitimizing itself through Open Balkans initiative and with international support.

He also expressed concern regarding the current political situation in the Balkans, saying that the region is still a barrel of gunpowder. On the other hand, according to him, the international community, as a rule, is late with its reactions, and even when it does react, that reaction is inadequate.

“Balkan politicians like to repeat all the mistakes they have made many times throughout history. And they are very persistent in these activities,” Kramaric is quoted as saying. 

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

Two new cases with COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 15 people recovered from the virus during this time. There are 322 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 65 new cases registered in Serbian areas on Saturday (Radio KIM)

Out of 165 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, 65 were positive for Covid-19, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced on Saturday, Radio KIM reports.

New cases were registered as follows: 20 in Mitrovica North, 15 in Leposavic, 12 in Zubin Potok, seven in Zvecan, three each in Gracanica and Strpce, two in Gnjilane, and one each in Kamenica, Prizren and Priluzje.

Currently there are 538 active cases, and 80 people have completed two-week isolation period.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the Serbian areas in Kosovo a total of 26.219 persons have been tested, and 8.003 were positive for Covid-19.

Also, a total of 185 persons died in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo due to Covid-19 related complications. 

Vucic: I am completely convinced that we should not recognize Kosovo (KoSSev, KiM radio, Tanjug, TV Pink)

“We lost everything from 1961 to 1991,” Serbia’s ”hands are quite tied, and it hasn’t had direct sovereignty in Kosovo since 2008. ” However, “not everything is like that”, Serbia has “its own Constitution and its own regulations”, but also a president who is now “completely convinced that he should not recognize Kosovo’s independence”, reported portal KoSSev

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said this appearing last night in a TV Pink Show “Hit Tvit”. 

Speaking about the events in Kosovo and everything that preceded Kosovo’s independence, Vucic said that it was quite certain that “we were not always white angels”, but also that there was no doubt that an external factor – those who came from the West – influenced the destruction of the former Yugoslavia for various reasons and goals.

Vucic estimated that “we lost everything from 1961 to 1991”.

He claimed that the West now cannot explain why it gave independence to Kosovo, and the Albanians “cannot explain to themselves that they have independence because they still do not have it in many prerogatives and competencies”.

On the other hand, he claimed that we “were in a difficult position, because we are under pressure from the largest Western powers to recognize Kosovo’s independence”.

He also added that Belgrade has “pretty tied hands in everything”, because since 1999, and especially since 2008, Serbia has had no direct sovereignty.

On the other hand, the president said that he knows well what problems Albanians are facing, but also that Serbia has “its own Constitution and its own regulations”, and that he knows that not everything is exactly “as they present it to us”.

Last night he again criticized the EU for not reacting to the statements of the Kosovo Prime Minister on unification with Albania and said that a different reaction would have been if someone from Serbia had said “that we should unite with the Republika Srpska”.

“So they would immediately explain to us that we are the people of the past and that we are the burden of the Balkans, to bring crises and everything else,” Vucic claimed and added that he was now convinced that ”Serbia should not recognize Kosovo’s independence”.

“I am completely convinced that we should not recognize the independence of Kosovo, we pursue such a policy, I as president have a constitutional restriction, but also as a free man I think we should not do that, to fight politically as much as possible, to keep the peace so that we would have the right to say what we say today, that we would have the right to commemorate and the suffering of Serbs, respecting all other victims,” Vucic said, reported KoSSev.

Vucic meets with Pahor in Belgrade (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor in Belgrade on Sunday.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Vucic said they had discussed the situation in the region, bilateral relations, Serbia’s EU perspective and all topics of mutual interest.

“This meeting is another confirmation of substantial, intensive dialogue. We think we have very, very good relations with Slovenia,” Vucic said, adding that Serbia’s bilateral trade with the country had doubled to 1.2 bln euros from 572 mln euros ten years ago.

“Of course, there is room for even better and more successful cooperation, and we think that bilateral trade will only grow,” he added.

Vucic said a date would soon be set for a joint session of the two countries’ governments in Slovenia.

He said the meeting with Pahor had addressed regional stability and all problems.

“We also discussed the situation in Kosovo-Metohija, our relations, the Brussels dialogue and the problems we are facing while trying to maintain peace and stability. I noted the significance of maintaining peace, stability and security for all people in the region,” Vucic said.

Vucic said the Slovenian contingent in KFOR was the international military mission’s seventh-largest.

He added that Serbia wanted to have even closer cooperation with KFOR, which he said had a very important role in maintaining peace in Kosovo-Metohija.

Pahor said the political, economic, cultural and people-to-people cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia was excellent.

He said he believed the EU integration process in the Western Balkans was too slow and that, as a result, nationalistic policies and policies of border changes were on the rise again, posing a threat to peace and security.

“I think both sides should do much more than what has been done in recent years,” he said, adding that keeping EU enlargement in the Western Balkans on the agenda of European institutions was in the EU’s natural interest.

Pahor said he was concerned over some processes as well as statements that had been heard in the Western Balkans recently.

The EU can respond to them with quick and successful enlargement in the Western Balkans, he said, noting that this would be decisive for peace and security and for prosperity in the Western Balkans.

“I thank President Vucic for this conversation and for mentioning the Slovenian troops in Kosovo – I will visit them tomorrow,” Pahor said, adding that, during his meetings in Kosovo, he would push for implementation of the Brussels Agreement.

He also said he was concerned over the stall in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

“The talks need to be continued in order to regulate relations so that they do not threaten peace, security and cooperation in the region,” Pahor said.

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

Pahor on ZSO in Pristina: I understand decision of Constitutional Court, but agreements must be respected (KoSSev)

“The most important issues can be resolved through the dialogue, and respecting what was agreed is a first precondition. We understand the decision of the Constitutional Court, but as of a third party which was not a signatory of this agreement. Unless agreed otherwise, this agreement must be respected and one should always return to the dialogue”, Slovenian President Borut Pahor said in Pristina today, KoSSev portal reports.

Pahor’s statement came following the address of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, who said that the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities was not in line with Kosovo Constitution, adding Serbia didn’t implement two thirds of the agreements.

Pahor also said that Belgrade-Pristina dialogue should be a step ahead in resolving the fate of missing persons. He also advocated for liberalization of the visa regime for Kosovo.

He added that he supports the “Open Balkan” Initiative, however, he noticed this idea was not met with approval by everybody from the EU. He said the same in Belgrade yesterday, assessing that the “Open Balkan” Initiative was not an alternative to the EU enlargement in the region.

As the portal further said he also commented on Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s statements on unification with Albania by saying that “statements on changing the borders jeopardize peace and stability in the Western Balkans, and it applies to all who make such statements lately”.

Assessing that dialogue was stalled, he urged sides involved to implement all what had been agreed upon previously in Brussels.    

Pahor is paying a one-day visit in Pristina, following yesterday’s visit to Belgrade. He met Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. He will also visit members of the KFOR Slovenian contingent.  

Visoki Decani Monastery extends condolences to families of victims in Glodjane (social media)

Serbian Orthodox Church Visoki Decani Monastery extended condolences to the families of victims killed in a bus attack in Glodjane.

“Sincere condolences to the families on the occasion of the shooting at school children in Kosovo. Tragedy indeed”, the Monastery wrote on its Twitter profile, along with a link of Euronews article in Albanian language on the attack. 

Blinken: Indispensable role of Serbia in promoting the regional stability (Tanjug)

In a letter to Serbian FM Nikola Selakovic, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the US was committed to strengthening political, economic and security cooperation, and noted that Serbia had an indispensable role to play in promoting regional stability and prosperity.

“Thank you for your letter celebrating the 140th anniversary of US-Serbia diplomatic relations. I too honour this important milestone in our shared history. The strong friendship between our countries was forged fighting alongside each other in two world wars and has flourished across generations of people-to-people ties that have enriched our societies,” Blinken said in the letter, seen by Tanjug.

He said the US stood with Serbia “on its path forward as a modern, prosperous country in the heart of Europe.”

“We are committed to ever-stronger political, economic, and security cooperation, and to working with you to advance domestic reforms, foster peace and good relations with all of your neighbours and achieve your goal of European Union membership.

Serbia has an indispensable role to play in promoting stability and prosperity in its home region.

As part of this, I applaud Serbia’s advocacy on regional economic integration which, with inclusive implementation, will benefit all the citizens of the Western Balkans,” Blinken said.

“Today, I see an even brighter future working together with Serbia as a friend and partner in Southeast Europe and as fellow security contributors on the global stage. I trust our countries will forge ever stronger bilateral relations in the years to come,” he added.

Blinken concluded the letter to Selakovic with a handwritten note saying:

“I appreciate your efforts to strengthen relations between our countries – which I greatly value.”

See at: https://bit.ly/31bldQF

Survey on Law on Referendum: Most people think it is related to Kosovo and Rio Tinto Company (KoSSev)

The Assembly of Serbia despite strong opposition by the part of the public passed last week the Law on Referendum and People’s Initiative as well as the Law on Expropriation, KoSSev portal reports. The ecological movements and activists linked the both laws with the intention to excavate jadarite in western Serbia, something that Rio Tinto company plans to do, while many politicians and activists linked the Law on Referendum with Kosovo issue resolution. Serbian authorities on the other hand denied these allegations.

The KoSSev portal organized a survey for its readers to hear their say on the Law on Referendum. The readers could take part in the survey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with a total of 670 readers taking part in the survey.

As KoSSev portal further said most of the respondents think the Law on Referendum is linked with both Kosovo and Rio Tinto Company, or only with Kosovo and with Rio Tinto only. Also, only one fifth of the respondents believe the law has nothing to do with any of the two topics.

Referendum valid regardless number of voters

The Law on Referendum, which was supported by 178 deputies and only two were against, should regulate the manner of direct voting, i.e. decision-making of citizens by referendum, and the manner in which the people’s initiative will be realized in the future.

The main feature of the Law on Referendum was abolishment of an exit threshold that half of the voters registered on the voter list must take part in a referendum so it would be successfully conducted. If the President of the Republic signs it – there will no longer be a mandatory minimum when it comes to the number of voters for the decision from referendum to be valid, the portal added. 

The Law caused great concern among the parts of the expert public, who warned about possible abuse of the will of the citizens, while the government denies such claims.

One of the criticisms of certain non-governmental organizations, associations, movements and political parties is that the law is being adopted as a preparation for projects to excavate jadarite that will be carried out by the Rio Tinto Company in the so-called “Jadarite Valley”.

Part of the opposition, however, believes that the government wants to use this law to facilitate decisions regarding the resolution of the Kosovo and Metohija issue. On the other hand, the government denied those claims as well.

“This law has nothing to do with Rio Tinto or Kosovo”, State Administration and Local Self-Government Minister Marija Obradovic said in an Assembly session on Thursday.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the Law on Referendum is actually a way for the EU to open two chapters to Serbia.

What was Vucic saying about the referendum?

Last year, the KoSSev portal continued, President Vucic criticized the stance of the Serbian opposition that a referendum should be called in which it would be determined that Kosovo is Serbia, because such a move would bring a conflict with the Albanians, isolation and sanctions.

However, in 2018, Vucic repeatedly promised that no solution for Kosovo would be officially accepted without a referendum.

“Whatever we do, we have to go to a referendum. No matter how we change and in any way, whatever constitutional changes we bring, we have to go to a referendum”, he said in mid-2018.

Citizens think different

KoSSev portal said that out of 670 respondents who took part in its survey, a large majority think the Law on Referendum is related to both Kosovo and Rio Tinto, or only with Kosovo or Rio Tinto respectively.

Out of 484 respondents who were surveyed on Instagram, 101 of them said the Law on Referendum has nothing to do with Kosovo or Rio Tinto.

At the same time 218 respondents said the law is related to Kosovo and Rio Tinto. Also, 112 respondents said the Law on Referendum is related to Kosovo only, while 53 respondents said the law is related to Rio Tinto only.

On Twitter 58 respondents took part, and 77.6 percent respectively 45 respondents said the Law on Referendum is related to Kosovo and Rio Tinto, while 8.6 percent or 5 respondents had the opposite stance. Also, the same percentage thinks the law is related to Kosovo only, while 5.2 percent or 3 respondents said the law is related to Rio Tinto only.

128 respondents took part in a survey on Facebook. 59 of them said the law is related to both Kosovo and Rio Tinto.  33 respondents had the opposite stance. The same number said the law is related to Kosovo only, while three respondents said the law is related to Rio Tinto only.

In general the data showed that out of 670 respondents who took part in the survey, almost half of them, 322 believe the Law on Referendum is related to both Kosovo and Rio Tinto. Also, 150 respondents said the law is related to Kosovo only, while 59 respondents said it is related to Rio Tinto only. On the other hand 139 respondents said the Law on Referendum has nothing to do with Kosovo and Rio Tinto.

Petkovic elected member of SNS Presidency, Djuric Vice-President (Kosovo-online)

At the election assembly of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) held on Saturday, Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic was elected member of SNS Presidency, while former director of the Office for KiM and current Serbian Ambassador to the US, Marko Djuric was among the seven new elected vice presidents of this political party, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Milos Vucevic, Sinisa Mali, Vladimir Orlic, Nevena Djuric, Aleksandar Sapic and Ana Brnabic were also elected vice presidents of SNS, while Djuric’s mandate was frozen due to his ambassadorial duty.

The number of SNS Presidency members has been increased from about thirty members to one hundred, while the Main Board of SNS will have more than 1,000 members, the portal added.

Glass on a store belonging to Blagoje Radic from Orahovac broken (Radio kontakt plus)

On the night between Saturday and Sunday, the glass on a store’s door owned by Blagoje Radic in Orahovac was broken, Radio kontakt plus reports citing Radio Gorazdevac.

The glass was broken, according to the owner’s assumption, by some solid object up close, which the perpetrator probably took with him, because there was no stone or anything else in the store except the glass that was scattered everywhere.

The store is located about fifty meters from the church in Orahovac, part populated by the remaining Serb community in the town.

“Nothing was taken from the shop, which shows that the glass was not broken for the sake of robbery, but for the sake of intimidation”, Radic said.

A few years ago, the same shop was broken into and small money from the cash register and several boxes of cigarettes were taken from it. Neither the previous case nor this one were reported to the police.

International 

Kosovo’s Forensic Investigators: ‘We are the Voice of the Dead’ (Balkan Insight)

Forensics experts who work on exhumations of mass graves of ethnic Albanians killed in the Kosovo war say they feel anger, psychological pain and a huge responsibility to reveal the truth about how the victims were killed.

Forensic investigator Arsim Gerxhaliu remembers that it was a windy day in April 2002 when he and a team of forensics experts from the United Nations mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, joined their Serbian counterparts in the Batajnica neighbourhood of Belgrade to the exhume the bodies of ethnic Albanian civilians who were killed during the Kosovo war in 1999.

The Albanians’ bodies had been brought to a Serbian police training centre in Batajnica to be buried secretly in an attempt to cover up mass killings by Yugoslav Army and Serbian forces during the 78 days of NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia that eventually made Slobodan Milosevic pull his troops out of Kosovo. The exhumation of the bodies had started in 2001.

“The bodies had been thrown into the grave mercilessly and hurriedly. When I first touched the remains of a body, I shuddered with horror. It seemed to me that each of them was telling me his own history of his death. It was something surreal,” Gerxhaliu told BIRN.

He and other forensics experts from Kosovo say that their job makes them feel a huge responsibility to those who were killed, but also puts a heavy psychological burden of pressure on them to find the victims on behalf of their families.

Before going to Batajnica, Gerxhaliu had exhumed the bodies of people who died in a wartime massacre in Izbica, a village in the central Kosovo municipality of Skenderaj/Srbica, where he discovered that one of them had been buried alive. “I thought that I wouldn’t be faced with anything to shock me [in Serbia]. But Batajnica was something totally different [from Izbica],” he said.

Read more at: https://cutt.ly/OT3fYei

Humanitarian/Development

Three weak earthquakes hit Kosovo (N1, RTS, KiM radio)

Out of three earthquakes, the first of 2.4 on the Richter scale was registered with the epicenter near Strpce early on Monday, followed by the second of 2.9 magnitudes in the area of Stimlje, both in Kosovo’s southeastern district of Urosevac (Ferizaj), Serbia’s Seismological Institute said.

Serbia’s state RTS TV reported the third one of 2.6 on the Richter scale magnitude was registered in the same region an hour after the second tremor.

Earthquakes of such intensity cannot cause damage to buildings in the epicentral area.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3o4mJxj