Albanian Language Media:

• PM Kurti on energy situation: There are almost no power cuts (media)
• “Government has taken measures; but consequences are inevitable” (Kosovapress)
• Haxhiu: Agreement with Denmark; no need for constitutional amendments (EO)
• Minxhozi: Kosovo-Albania railroad construction in 2024 (EO)
• PAI leader refutes party member: We remain part of government (Gazeta Express)
• Ministry: Vaccination remains most effective protection from COVID-19 (media)
• COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: ”I see I am to blame for the lack of electricity in Kosovo also, but the results are winning” (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)
• Serbian families of the missing uninformed about the Brussels dialogue (KiM radio)
• Veljko Odalovic banned from entering Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever, RTK2)
• Jeremic: Opposition should be ready to defend election results on streets (N1, Beta)
• Ambassador Godfrey: America’s goal is same as Serbia’s (N1, Beta, RTS)
• Petkovic: Since Kurti came to power, number of incidents against Serbs 50 percent higher (Kosovo Online)
• Tombstones in Kisnica village desecrated, condemnations of the act (KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, gracanicaonline.info) 
• “Stop Hate Speech” (KiM radio)

Albanian Language Media  

PM Kurti on energy situation: There are almost no power cuts (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that thanks to increased liquidity and subsidizing the import of electricity, the government has managed to stabilize electricity supply and that there are almost no power cuts.

“Together with the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, we are in regular contact with KEK, KOSTT and ERO. By increasing liquidity and subsidizing import, we have managed to stabilize the power supply and the power cuts have almost been eliminated. We are doing everything in our power. We thank you for your support and we appeal on you to save and rationalize electricity as much as you can.”

“There are two internal factors that have brought us to this crisis. The lack of vision for social and economic development in Kosovo, the lack of plans for the energy sector for a steady supply and affordable prices, both for households and the industry. Second, the government corruption which became random and then culminated with the privatization of the distribution and supply network for only €26 million. Over the last two decades, different projects lacking long-term strategies were destined to fail. In 2022, we will have a national energy strategy for the next decade and for the paths we need to follow toward 2050.”

Several news websites note in their coverage of Kurti’s remarks that he keeps criticizing previous governments for the energy crisis.

“Government has taken measures; but consequences are inevitable” (Kosovapress)

A spokesman for the Kosovo Government told the news agency today that they have taken all necessary measures to address the energy crisis but that when the crisis is global and Kosovo has not managed to improve its production capacities for 20 years now, the consequences are inevitable.

“In addition to forming the task force two months ago that made the necessary preparations for the right decisions in managing the situation, we have also recently adopted a decision to subsidize the consumption of electricity in order to avoid a situation where the citizens would have to pay higher electricity fees and to secure a stable supply,” the spokesman said.

Haxhiu: Agreement with Denmark; no need for constitutional amendments (EO)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said in an interview with the news website that after signing the letter of intent with Denmark to bring 300 inmates to Kosovo, she has instructed the Legal Department to see if the decision requires constitutional amendments. “After the signing of the letter of intent, the phase of discussions between our Ministry of Justice and the Danish ministry will focus on the draft of the agreement and the treaty. I have instructed the Legal Department to see if any constitutional amendments are required, although I believe they are not needed being that the agreement will be ratified by the Assembly. This is not something that enters into force after I sign it … Nevertheless, I will wait for the opinion of the Legal Department and we will act in line with the suggestions we receive from them,” she said.

Minxhozi: Kosovo-Albania railroad construction in 2024 (EO)

Albania’s Ambassador to Kosovo, Qemal Minxhozi, said in an interview with the news website, that the Berlin Process is the main pillar of relations in the region and that it is important for all regional initiatives to be inclusive.

“We must outline that the Berlin Process is the main pillar of relations not only between Albania and Kosovo, but also for all relations in the region. This process started some time ago. At the same time representatives of the international community have said that they would welcome other initiatives in the region but that it is important for these initiatives to be inclusive. We need to see how agreements between the two governments are being implemented and I can gladly say that this process is finding the spirit of implementation. Therefore, we should not lose focus and we need to address what the two governments have agreed upon in the latest meeting in Elbasan. The decisions made in that meeting are very important for both Albania and Kosovo. That is why we must not lose focus,” he said.

Minxhozi said that the construction of the Durres-Prizren railroad will mark a very important step for the economies of both Albania and Kosovo. He said the railroad will be projected in 2023 and construction will commence in 2024.

PAI leader refutes party member: We remain part of government (Gazeta Express)

The Ashkali Party for Integration (PAI) leader, Hetem Arifi, denied an announcement by a member of this party that the PAI has left the ruling coalition with the Vetevendosje Movement. Arifi told Gazeta Express that this party is still part of the coalition and the central government. “The information you received is wrong. We are part of the coalition and the government,” Arifi said.

Ministry: Vaccination remains most effective protection from COVID-19 (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Health said in a statement today that the immunity created from infection with COVID-19 might not be sufficient to protect people from getting re-infected with the virus. The Ministry called on all to respect the restrictive measures in force and on the people to get vaccinated. “Encourage others to get fully vaccinated too. Kosovo has enough vaccines approved by the most relevant world bodies. Vaccination can be done everywhere, without an appointment and regardless of location or nationality,” the statement notes.

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

Four new cases with COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 10 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 343 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: ”I see I am to blame for the lack of electricity in Kosovo also, but the results are winning” (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)

Portal Kosovo Online reports, citing Tanjug, that President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said today, on Pristina’s claim that Serbia was to blame for the power outage in Kosovo, that he does not have a problem with being criticized by whoever and about whatever.

In Novi Pazar, Vucic responding to the statement of journalists that investments and construction have been made in Serbian communities in Kosovo in the past eight years as never before and was asked whether that was ”one of the reasons why he and Kosovo Serb representatives were attacked by Pristina”, pointed out that he saw that he was also to blame for the lack of electricity, cited portal Kosovo Online.

When asked if and what is the plan that the opposition in Serbia has regarding Kosovo, he said that their only plan is ”how to shoot, kill, drown Aleksandar Vucic…, and to judge everyone around him”

“That is the main plan for Kosovo and Metohija as well,” he pointed out.

Vucic pointed out that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, posted a nice post on social networks, and that is that “if you want to avoid criticism, you have to say nothing, do nothing, or be nothing”.

“I have no problem with being criticized by whoever and for whatever, because I believe that results and work always win,” according to Vucic.

Serbian families of the missing uninformed about the Brussels dialogue (KiM radio)

Representatives of the families of the missing said today, at the meeting in Gracanica, that they did not receive any information about the dialogue that is being held in Brussels regarding the fate of their loved ones, KiM radio reported.

Veljko Odalovic, President of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, and Andin Hoti from the Pristina Commission for Missing Persons did not attend the meeting in Gracanica, which was organized by the Coordinator of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons, Silvana Marinkovic, and representatives of the Resource Center, Negovan Mavric. The first was not allowed to enter Kosovo by the Kosovo authorities, and the second, as KiM radio was told, refused to come because of the invitation in which it was written “Kosovo and Metohija”.

“The answer was that there is no term Kosovo and Metohija in the Government of Kosovo, that it is unconstitutional and that is the reason why he does not want to attend the meeting. And if I hadn’t written like that, I believe he certainly wouldn’t have come. Mr. Veljko Odalovic confirmed his arrival and set off, however, he was stopped at the Merdare crossing and prevented from coming,” explains Silvana Marinkovic for KiM radio.

“We are not politicians, nor do we deal with the terminology of whether someone writes” Republic of Kosovo “or” Kosovo and Metohija “, we are only interested in when we invite someone, and these are two key people for us, Andin Hoti and Veljko Odalovic, to come, and we hear what, in fact, has been done so far since there was a dialogue in Brussels. Of all that, I don’t have any information, at least as a representative, I know nothing. This is a question of clarifying the fate of the missing, it is not a question of plates or electricity. We need that, just that answer. The fact that they do not allow Mr. Odalovic to enter Kosovo is not our problem, it is their problem,” says Negovan Mavric.

The reason for this meeting was the desire of the representatives of the association to be informed about whether there is progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on missing persons, which, as both sides claim, is a priority. Members of the Working Group for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, Vesna Boskovic and Suza Matejevic, attended the meeting in Gracanica, but they did not want to give statements to the present media.

“I really don’t know if anything was achieved during 2021. We have been hearing for a long time that this case is a priority. However, I only know that in the first dialogue, the Albanian side avoided discussing this issue, and the only thing we know from the media is that it is one of the topics. We do not have information about what was said and whether something was agreed, we do not have any details from those meetings. The only thing we know is that there are conversations about missing persons. Families are interested in detail,” says Marinkovic.

“Andin Hoti does not cooperate with the Serbian Association of Families of the Missing”

Representatives of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija pointed out that since the arrival of Andin Hoti at the head of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Kosovo, they have no cooperation with this institution, and that the new president does not invite them to meetings.

“I feel discriminated against. As a man living here, I get information that Albanian associations met on Friday with Andin Hoti, who provided a meeting with Besnik Bislimi, the chief negotiator in Brussels for missing persons. We wonder why they didn’t invite us? That is why today we asked both, the Serbian side, and the Kosovo side, to be together, to hear what is really happening, what is being done and what is planned. For now, I don’t see any plan, I don’t know it exists, but we know that almost nothing has been done for the last five or six months. We have no results, no excavations of graves, mass graves that are known to exist,” he said.

“Just because he invited Albanian families on Friday, but did not invite Serbian families, it means that he does not want cooperation with us, that he is not interested in us, us as the Serbs,” said Silvana Marinkovic.

Mavric says that Hoti has no understanding for Serbian families of missing persons, that he always cited his obligations when he needs to give concrete answers.

“Both Andina Hoti and Veljko Odalovic have the first obligation to shed light on the fate of the missing, work with families, work with associations. Everything else should be set aside. Mr. Hoti, whenever he needs to explain to us what is happening in Brussels, he has some other business,” says Mavric.

He reminds that the search for several locations in Kosovo should have started this year, including Kosare, but that there is no information on whether anything has been done.

Representatives of the Association of Families of the Missing emphasized once again that they are looking for not only missing Serbs, but also Albanians, Roma and all people of other nationalities who disappeared during the war in Kosovo. There are currently over 1620 of them, reported KiM radio.

Veljko Odalovic banned from entering Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever, RTK2)

The President of the Commission of the Government of Serbia for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, was banned from entering the territory of Kosovo today at the Merdare administrative crossing.

Odalovic was supposed to attend an important meeting of the Association of Families of the Missing and Kidnapped today, and he announced his visit two days ago.

“This is just one of the extremely unreasonable moves of Pristina’s institutions when it comes to missing persons. It is obvious that they are not interested in that question. They politicized the issue of the missing so that we do not have any contacts or information now. They forget that this Working Group is a mechanism that has solved over 1,800 cases of missing persons so far. We have always strived to work together with Pristina on the locations, to attend all the meetings, someone who will stand in front of families and tell them what we have done and what we will do next. This is how we have a total stalemate. Pristina is constantly talking about the missing, and they are not doing anything. I believe that someone will be found who will bring reason to the Pristina side and make them do what is in the interest of families, not politics. We are the ones who are responsible, families ask us for information, and we cannot do our job, among other things precisely because I cannot cross the administrative line and I cannot attend the meeting and inform them what we are working on,” stated Veljko Odalovic.

Odalovic appeals to the families, together with the families of the missing Kosovo Albanians, to put pressure on the Pristina institutions to return the issue of missing persons.

Jeremic: Opposition should be ready to defend election results on streets (N1, Beta)

Vuk Jeremic, the People’s Party leader and former Foreign Affairs Minister of Serbia, said that the opposition should be ready to take to the streets and defend the will of people.

“Don’t’ have any doubts, we will have to take to the streets on April 3 to defend our victory and there is no return to home until this is over. And once it is over, the moment will come for us to start fulfilling our promises,” said Jeremic.

He made a promise that, in case of the election victory, his political party will pass a set of laws and regulations on lustration, seizing of illegally gained property, seizing of national TV frequencies for the broadcasters who breached the rules of objective fair reporting, etc., within 100 days of the rule.

According to previous announcements, Serbia will see presidential, parliamentarian and Belgrade local elections on April 3 next year.

Ambassador Godfrey: America’s goal is same as Serbia’s (N1, Beta, RTS)

US Ambassador to Serbia Anthony Godfrey said on the occasion of 20th anniversary of work of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Serbia, that the US is putting efforts in supporting Serbia in its development goals.

“America’s goal is the same as Serbia’s. The United States is trying to support Serbia in its development goals to become a member of the EU and we are all focusing on that goal,” Godfrey was quoted as saying to the public broadcaster RTS.

The ambassador said that he was proud of what had been done in the last 20 years, the partnership they had and that America was helping Serbia to develop in accordance with the development goals it had chosen.

We want to help our partners develop in a democratic and economically acceptable way, Godfrey said, adding that the USAID enjoys the support of both the Republicans and Democrats.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3z2Leib

Petkovic: Since Kurti came to power, number of incidents against Serbs 50 percent higher (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Office for KiM, Petar Petkovic posted today on Twitter that since the arrival of Albin Kurti to power, the number of incidents directed against Serbs in Kosovo has increased by more than 50 percent, reported Kosovo Online.

”Is this supposed to be that oasis of peace and tolerance you talk about @albinkurti? Since you came to power, the number of incidents targeting Serbs rose for more than 50%! Not even the dead Serbs are spared, as witnessed by yesterday’s images of demolished tombs from Kisnica,” Petkovic tweeted.

Tombstones in Kisnica village desecrated, condemnations of the act (KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, gracanicaonline.info) 

RTV KiM reported on Sunday that seven tombstones at the Orthodox cemetery in Kisnica village were desecrated, a resident of this village, told the Gracanica Online portal.

“The cemetery was not destroyed in 1999, nor during the March 2004 pogrom. This is the first time. “

The village of Kisnica, home to both Serbs and Albanians, is near Gracanica. The case was reported to the Kosovo Police.

Mayor of Gracanica prof. Dr. Ljiljana Subaric condemned the desecration, destruction and breaking of tombstones in Kisnica, reported KiM radio. 

Subaric said in a statement that “yesterday’s news about the vandalism at the Orthodox cemetery in Kisnica have disturbed, frightened and disappointed, and that such incidents take us back to the past”.

“We wanted to believe that such scenes are behind us, but someone constantly set us back as a society, and it is being done very persistently and in a tendential manner. Sacred sites of Serbian people and Serbian Orthodox Church’s property continue to be targets of vandals and extremists. The messages sent by such a disgraceful and at the same time sad act are clear to us, but we will not respond to those messages in any other way than with the firm belief that such things will not sway us,” among other things, it is stated in the statement. 

Subaric also emphasized that the investigation is ongoing, and that she hoped that “the authorities will take all necessary measures and investigative actions in order to shed light on this case, which is the basic precondition for further prevention of such misdeeds”.

Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia also issued a press release and strongly condemned the act of vandalism and said that the attacks were “directed against the Serbian people and their survival in Kosovo and Metohija, but at the same time they are profoundly at odds with universal civilizational and cultural achievements”. The statement added that ”this was an attempt to use violence and mindlessness to install fear and among Serbs who want to stay in their homes” and appealed to international organizations and institutions to clearly recognize such actions and not to turn a blind eye to the policy of hatred and protect the fundamental human rights and cultural heritage within its mandates.

Office for KiM pointed out on Sunday, in a statement, that “it was disgraceful and devastating the desecration of eight Serbian tombstones in the Orthodox cemetery in the ethnically mixed village of Kisnica, near Gracanica, six of which were completely destroyed and two were damaged”, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

“It seems that it is not enough to openly demonstrate religious intolerance over the Serbian people living in Kosovo and Metohija, but Albanian hooligans do not allow the dead Serbs and their graves to rest in peace” the Office said, adding that during that time, Pristina politicians, led by the most outspoken advocate of anti-Serbian politics, Albin Kurti, declare that ”Kosovo and Metohija are an oasis of peace and harmony, while we witness ethnically motivated attacks and incidents against Serbs on a daily basis”.

The Office recalled that they informed international representatives several times this year about the threat to the monuments of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian Orthodox cemeteries in Kosovo.

“Stop Hate Speech” (KiM radio)

Concerned about the reactions, comments on social networks and the language of irresponsible commentators towards Bajram Qerkinaj, a representative of the Resource Center for Missing Persons, the Initiative on Principles for Dealing with the Past calls for increased caution and avoidance of hate speech and belittling relatives of missing persons, reported KiM radio on Friday.

Members of the Initiative for Dealing with the Past call on all citizens, members of political parties and representatives of Kosovo institutions to refrain from inciting hate speech, insults and belittling family members who demand more effort in finding their loved ones. 

“The language used in the comments of online media and social networks incites hatred, undermines the demand for responsibility and only increases the anger of family members seeking clarification of the fate of their loved ones from all ethnic groups in Kosovo. Therefore, the Initiative calls media portals to work strictly on moderating comments on the portals and social networks they follow, to ensure that these media do not become a conduit of hate messages, and not allow insulting, belittling and inciting hatred towards the relatives of missing persons,” the statement said.

The initiative believes that hate speech is a threat to human rights, democratic values, social stability, and peace. Opposing hate speech is not contrary to freedom of expression.

“Hate speech can escalate into something more dangerous, especially incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence,” the statement said, recalling that ” victims and survivals of armed conflict should be treated with respect and dignity, as do the families of war victims who are trying to find them”, cited KiM radio.

“The media and citizens, without political differences, must treat them with dignity and accept and respect their suffering,” concluded the Initiative.