Albanian Language Media:

• Lajcak: Intense discussions underway in Brussels (media)
• Kurti: Kosovo supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity (media)
• Foreign Ministry: Kosovo stands with Ukraine (media)
• PDK’s Hoxhaj says National Security Council must meet urgently (media)
• Gervalla: New recognitions did not stall only last year (RTK)
• Mehaj: Together with NATO and US, we will confront any threat (media)
• President Osmani discusses deepening of relations with the Holy See (media)
• COVID-19: 158 new cases, one death (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: Pressures on Serbia after Putin’s decision will be even stronger (RTS)
• Ukrainian ambassador: Ukraine expects Serbia to condemn Putin’s recognition of Donetsk, Luhansk (N1, Kosovo Online)
• “Witnesses against Thaci fear they could be murdered” (Radio KIM)
• A new round of Belgrade and Pristina dialogue in Brussels (N1)
• Covid-19: 14 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (Kosovo-online)

Opinion:

• The Ukraine Crisis And Great Power Rivalry In The Balkans – OpEd (eurasiareview.com, TransConflict)

International:

• Greece says recognition of Ukraine breakaway regions violates international law (ekathimerini.com)
• Serbia Under Pressure to Join Sanctions Against Russia, Says Vucic (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Patriarchal mindset and fragile institutions, a challenge for victims of violence (EO)
• Mladenovic: Serbian language endangered (Radio KIM)

Albanian Language Media  

Lajcak: Intense discussions underway in Brussels (media)

Kosovo and Serbia chief negotiators, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, are meeting in Brussels today in the framework of the dialogue for normalisation of relations.

The Kosovo side already concluded a bilateral meeting with the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. A trilateral meeting is expected to take place later today.

Lajcak gave an update on the talks. “Intense discussions with the two Chief Negotiators @BislimiBesnik and @PetkovicPetar on a number of concrete topics are underway today in Brussels,” he wrote on Twitter.

Kurti: Kosovo supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in today’s session of the Assembly that the government supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. “Without a doubt, we support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and as we have done so far we will forever stand with the European Union, the United States and NATO,” Kurti said. 

Foreign Ministry: Kosovo stands with Ukraine (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a Twitter post today that “Kosovo stands with Ukraine against Russia’s outright aggression. Putin is once again waging war against a peaceful democracy. He has been waging hybrid wars against democracies across Europe for many years. The free world must respond to Putin and his proxies with resolve”.

PDK’s Hoxhaj says National Security Council must meet urgently (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) MP, Enver Hoxhaj, said in today’s session of the Assembly that the government must immediately assemble the National Security Council due to the situation in Ukraine. He argued that if necessary, the Assembly should adopt a resolution for tensions on the Ukrainian border and even mentioned the possibility of sanctions against Russia.

“Because of history, we need to have solidarity with the people of Ukraine which is protecting its independence. Perhaps we need to adopt a resolution. Secondly, Ukraine is the front line, and the Balkans is the second line. We are the frontline in the Balkans. The government must assemble the National Security Council, and thirdly, if the United States and the European Union decide to impose sanctions, our government must follow suit. This Assembly must not be distanced from what is happening in Ukraine,” Hoxhaj said.

Gervalla: New recognitions did not stall only last year (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla, said the new recognitions of Kosovo did not stall only during the last year but for several years now.

“MFAD and the Government in general, including the institution of the president, are working continuously on new recognitions. I cannot comment on the progress because these are sensitive issues that risk taking on a wrong direction if we publicly speak about them,” Gervalla said at the Assembly session today.

She added that once there are tangible results, the relevant institutions will timely announce them. Gervalla also said that a strategy for application in international organisations has been prepared and when the votes are secured, applications will be lodged. 

With regards to the moratorium that the parties pledged to in Washington, Gervalla said the Serbian side never respected it.

Mehaj: Together with NATO and US, we will confront any threat (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, took to Facebook today to say that together with NATO and the United States of America, Kosovo will be ready to confront any threat.

“We continue preparations to take part in the multinational exercise of NATO and its partners ‘Vigorous Warrior 2022’. We will stand together with NATO, led by the United States of America, and will be ready to confront any threat against regional, continental and global security,” Mehaj said.

President Osmani discusses deepening of relations with the Holy See (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani met today the Apostolic Delegate of the Holy See to Kosovo, Monsignor Jean Marie Speich.

In a statement, the Kosovo presidency said: “The relations between the Republic of Kosovo and the Holy See were discussed at the meeting. President Osmani thanked Mr. Speich for the attention that the Vatican has consistently shown to the people of Kosovo. Furthermore, President Osmani expressed her conviction that relations with the Vatican can be further expanded and the readiness of the country’s institutions to closely work with the Holy See to further extend this cooperation. Monsignor Jean Marie Speich thanked President Osmani for the reception and expressed his readiness and that of the Holy See for the continuation of cooperation and its further deepening.”

COVID-19: 158 new cases, one death (media)

158 new cases with COVID-19 and one death from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 644 persons recovered from the virus during this time. 

There are 3,396 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Pressures on Serbia after Putin’s decision will be even stronger (RTS)

After the decision of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the recognition of two self-proclaimed territories in eastern Ukraine, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia’s position was not easy and it put it in a situation where there are numerous challenges – political, security and economic.

Vucic, who is on official visit to Monaco, told TV Pink that the pressure on Serbia after Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk will be much stronger than ever before, that this will destroy the entire security architecture of the world and that “no one knows how anyone will behave and what will they do”.

As he pointed out, it is important for Serbia that in terms of political and security architecture, “our commitment to peace must be strong, and our deterrent power even stronger and powerful”.

When asked about the conversation with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and when asked how worried he is about the current situation, as well as what it means for Serbia, Vucic emphasised that political, security and economic challenges are numerous in this situation.

He also said what he experienced in the previous three days confirms his words, that the pressure on Serbia was growing.

“Everything we knew until yesterday no longer exists today. What is important for us is that our commitment to peace must be firm, strong, and our strength to deter potential aggressors must be even stronger and more powerful”, Vucic explained.

He reminded that a session of the National Security Council was held yesterday, at which, as Commander-in-Chief, he issued an order to the army and police forces, as well as a request to special units to be prepared in the best possible way and to continue arming and equipping the army and police.

“In the political sense, we have to work hard, we have to understand that peace is not something that is taken for granted, which is seen today. We will have to invest a lot of effort and work to preserve peace, to ensure security for our children, our parents, and to secure the future”, he said.

“I think that this de facto and substantially changes the world order in which the forces will restore dominance on one side, that is, that there will be more superpowers and centres of political and economic power”, Vucic explained. 

As for the economic part, he pointed out that immediately the price of oil has increased, that the process of all raw materials have gone up, that the stock exchanges of the directly affected countries dropped, and that all this will cause additional nervousness and problems.

Vucic noted that there is a problem with the biases of Serbian media.

“When you look at our headlines, you see that in 80 percent of the media there is no objectivity, but that they’re on the Russian side regardless of what was happening, the same way as the other 20 percent are siding with the West. In such conditions of great political fervour, we’re all harming ourselves, instead of “being on our own”, being calm, to pull through the great world crisis only with scratches. We can’t do that. We always have passion, cheering, and we will have a hard time recovering from that”, Vucic said.

He added that he had an important conversation with Macron about the situation in the region. He also talked, as he reported, with representatives of other countries in the world, and announced that he would have talks in the coming days.

“There are great fears that everything could spread to other parts of Europe, especially the Balkans”, Vucic said.

“Calls and hotlines for sanctions against Russia have started”

President Vucic also said that Serbia has yet to experience increasing pressures with the request to impose sanctions on Russia, adding that he already had such calls and “hot lines”, but that Serbia would withstand all pressures.

He added “there would be pressure on us from different sides and additionally regarding the relations in the region”.

“Because, when they can’t answer someone stronger than us – ‘let’s show it to someone less strong”, the president said.

When asked how, then, to resist these pressures in this situation, Vucic said:

“With unanimity, responsibility and seriousness. We have no choice but to resist. We have had many difficult moments; we have our country and we cannot swap it for any other. It is the land of our children”.

He added Serbian has no alternative in that.

“You can imagine the kinds of pressure on Serbia there will now be to impose sanctions on Russia. I have already had calls and hotlines. I haven’t talked to French President Macron about it, I’ve talked to them a lot about the Western Balkans. He’s fair about it and wants to hear us”, Vucic said.

He added Serbia has a strong economy and that it will pull through this international crisis, not easily, but easier than many others because it has a stable fiscal system.

As he said last night, he would talk with the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali for a long time about everything that needs to be procured from the reserves, and he added that “we have already procured milk powder, salt, and everything else”.

Vucic said no one should make supplies because the state has enough of everything, and it preserves it in the right way.

“Also, the state was supplied with medicines and medical devices, and millions and millions of cans of fish and other things are now being procured”, he added.

Ukrainian ambassador: Ukraine expects Serbia to condemn Putin’s recognition of Donetsk, Luhansk (N1, Kosovo Online)

“If you do nothing, they (Russians) will go on and on,” Oleksandr Alexandrovich, the outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Serbia told N1 on Tuesday, adding that “only strong resistance can stop Putin” and recalled a proverb in Russian: “When you put your finger in a bear’s mouth, it will bite your whole hand”.

Speaking about Serbia and its attitude towards the current crisis, he said he expected Belgrade to condemn Monday’s decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognise Donetsk and Luhansk, the pro-Russian parts of Ukraine.

“I agree with President (Aleksandar) Vucic, who said that these events are destroying the entire political and security architecture in the world. I would add that the Russian Federation is the only country that is destroying that security architecture,“ Alexandrovich said.

He recalled that since the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Russia had a clear obligation to “never use its power against Ukraine’s political independence“ and “will not use any weapons against Ukraine,“ which Moscow, as the ambassador said, “had repeatedly violated“.

Alexandrovich added the situation from 20 years ago in the Balkans and the current situation in Ukraine could not be compared, as the media in Serbia often did.

“I understand it is sometimes difficult for the Serbs to comprehend after experiencing (1999 NATO) bombing (over Kosovo) and Ukraine was against that. But let’s not compare those two situations. In this case, the aggressor is only one country, the Russian Federation,” he said.

Speaking about Serbia and its actions, he thanked Vucic, who had several times said that Serbia respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, just as Ukraine recognised the integrity of Serbia, with Kosovo included. 

“But it is important to take the next step. Putin’s move is directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. That is why Ukraine, and the Ukrainian people expect Serbia to condemn that move by the Russian Federation,” the Ukrainian ambassador reiterated.

See at: https://bit.ly/34RQc6U

“Witnesses against Thaci fear they could be murdered” (Radio KIM)

Witnesses in the case of former KLA leader Hashim Thaic and three others accused of committing crimes in Kosovo and Albania in the period from 1998 to 1999 live “in a rather realistic fearsome climate”, victims advocate Davide Laws says, Radio KIM reports.

“Some of the witnesses with dual status (as a victim and a witness) fear they could be killed because of their participation in this process”, Laws emphasised in a written submission to the Specialist Court for KLA crimes in the Hague, that was published on the internet page of the court.

At the same time, the prosecution pointed out once again “an already confirmed and persistent climate of intimidating witnesses and obstructing criminal proceedings against KLA members”.  

“It is reality that witnesses of the charges are and will be under tremendous pressure not to cooperate with prosecution”, they said in a written submission to the court.

As it further said, persons that prosecution invited for talks during the investigation felt forced to inform the public in Kosovo about it immediately, so the impression that they ‘cooperate’ with prosecutors is not created.

“Defence in this case for a long time attempts to depict prosecution as an enemy to the interest of Kosovo, both at press conferences and in their submissions. Witnesses of the charges are depicted as participants in an effort to undermine Kosovo, thus bringing them under tremendous and undue pressure to prove their patriotism by cooperating with defendants, and distance themselves from prosecution”, prosecutors stressed.

Those warnings by prosecutors and victims advocates on intimidating witnesses are part of written discussion about ways to enable defence of the accused persons to talk to the witnesses of the charges, that they are entitled to do.

An oral discussion on this topic will also be held this afternoon with pre-trial judge Nicolas Guillou.  

The prosecution proposed to adopt a special protocol based on which defence lawyers could talk with the witnesses of the charges exclusively with their consent, under mediation of the court secretariat and presence of the prosecution. Those talks, as prosecution further proposed, would be recorded.

“There is absolutely no dilemma that any request by defence to talk to the witnesses of the charges prior to the trial will represent a significant pressure (on witnesses) because the witnesses, in particular those living in Kosovo, would “feel forced” to accept, given the environment that prevails there”, the prosecution said.

On the other hand, defence lawyers said that such protocol would be unacceptable, because it would, as they said, affect the rights of the defendants and equality of the sides in the proceedings.

They also said they intend to seek conversation with each of 327 witnesses that prosecution announced, and that “approval of the protocol would bring unnecessary delay of the trial and prolong proceedings”.

Defendants in this case include former high-ranking Kosovo officials, Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. They are accused of criminal acts committed in 42 illegal KLA prison camps in Kosovo and Albania, involving at least 407 detained persons, out of which at least 98 were killed, in the period from 1998 to 1999, Radio KIM recalled.

They are accused on ten accounts: persecution on political and ethnic grounds, imprisonment, unlawful arrest and detention, other inhuman acts, cruel treatment, torture (two accounts) and murders (two accounts). Those criminal acts are qualified as crimes against humanity on six accounts, and as war crimes on four accounts.

As per indictment, Thaci and others bear individual and commanding responsibility. They all were the members of KLA headquarters, Thaci as political commissioner, and later a commander, Veseli chief of intelligence service, Selimi the main operations officer, and Krasniqi deputy commander and a spokesperson. 

A new round of Belgrade and Pristina dialogue in Brussels (N1)

A new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is being held in Brussels today. According to the media, the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, the issue of the missing, justice, freedom of movement, as well as the right of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to vote in the elections on April 3, are topics of a meeting in Brussels with special envoy Miroslav Lajcak.

N1 correspondent from Brussels reported today that first the Pristina delegation was meeting with Lajcak, and then the Serbian delegation. A joint meeting of the two delegations with the special envoy should take place in the afternoon, according to N1.

Lajcak wrote on Twitter that he had “intensive talks with two delegations” on specific topics.

At this moment, few can say whether some progress has been made in the talks or not, but as the N1 correspondent reported, there was no indication of progress.

N1 reported that there were speculations that an agreement could be reached on the licence plates, but as an international working group dealing with the issue meets on Thursday, it is unlikely that any decision will be made today.

Covid-19: 14 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (Kosovo-online)

Out of 44 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo and Metohija, 14 tested positive for Covid-19 and two persons died, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced, Kosovo-online portal reports.

New cases were registered as follows: four each in Leposavic and Gnjilane, and two each in Mitrovica North, Zvecan and Kamenica.

Currently there are 280 active cases of Covid-19 in the Serbian areas.

Also, a total of 209 people died due to Covid-19 related complications since the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Opinion

The Ukraine Crisis And Great Power Rivalry In The Balkans – OpEd (eurasiareview.com, TransConflict)

Moscow still has the initiative in a crisis it provoked but apparent Russian failure so far to engineer a phony “internal” Ukrainian opposition leaves the situation literally on a knife’s edge.   Russian propaganda is attempting to claim victory already by portraying post-Afghanistan America as “exhausted” but Moscow has struggled to provoke Western diplomatic disarray.  For its part, the United States has lurched from a chaotic Trump Administration to the chaos of Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and finds itself having to react to Vladimir Putin’s moves all around the former Soviet periphery.  Still, Washington’s stern public warnings about Russian preparations seem to have surprised Moscow and out Putin on the back foot.

If reports from London are accurate Russia may have wanted to do in Ukraine what it failed to accomplish in Montenegro in 2016. Then, Russian interests and Serbian compradors botched an attempt to overthrow Milo Djukanovic.  Some of those Serbs may have gone off script in a plot to kill Djukanovic outright.  (Similarly, rogue pro-Russian Ukrainians may be responsible for the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in early 2020).  Djukanovic’s subsequent problems have come from his mishandling of the Serbian Orthodox Church not from any external threat – and he remains President of Montenegro no matter Moscow’s preferences.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3LTpP0G

International

Greece says recognition of Ukraine breakaway regions violates international law (ekathimerini.com)

Russia’s formal recognition of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine violates international law, the Minsk agreements and the country’s territorial integrity, Greece’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The United States and its European allies are poised to announce harsh new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin formally recognized the two breakaway regions, escalating a security crisis on the continent.

“Greece supports the respect of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of all states and condemns any decision that violates fundamental principles of international law,” the ministry said.

Greece would coordinate with its European Union and NATO partners on the response to Russia’s decision, it said. 

See at:https://bit.ly/35gJyXm

Serbia Under Pressure to Join Sanctions Against Russia, Says Vucic (Balkan Insight)

As other south-east European countries slammed Moscow’s decision to recognise two separatist-controlled regions of Ukraine as independent states, President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia is under pressure to join the West’s sanctions on Russia.

Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday evening that after Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognise the Russian-backed Ukrainian rebel regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Serbia is already facing pressure to impose sanctions on Russia, as the US and EU are expected to do.

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

Humanitarian/Development

Patriarchal mindset and fragile institutions, a challenge for victims of violence (EO)

Violence against women and delays in court proceedings have led many women to seek assistance from the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN). Besarta Breznica, coordinator at the KWN, said in an interview with the news website that the patriarchal mindset and the fragility of institutions still pose a challenge for the protection of victims of violence. Breznica said it is concerning that there are cases when victims go to the police, but they are not treated as victims and their statements are not even recorded.

“Statistics from the Kosovo Police show that there is an increase in cases of domestic violence. It is also worth mentioning that there are cases when women do not report cases of domestic violence to the police. Last year alone, we assisted around 43 or 50 women and their cases are still handled by courts. Courts always treat cases of domestic violence with priority but sometimes there are errors in the institutional chain, and numerous problems, including the police and the courts. During our monitoring and the work on the field, we have seen that there are cases when women report cases to the police, but the latter do not take their statements and this is very concerning,” she said.

Breznica also said that smaller sentences by courts create fear among the victims. “There are cases when courts do not deliver merited sentences against people that exercise violence and this automatically creates fear among the victims and they then hesitate to report cases of domestic violence. We have seen many reactions and we have also organised many protests when courts make mistakes,” she added.

Mladenovic: Serbian language endangered (Radio KIM)

Kosovo Language Commissioner, Slavisa Mladenovic told Radio KIM on the occasion of International Mother Language Day that Serbian language is endangered, adding that regardless of the law, it Is not equally represented as Albanian. Mladenovic also said there were numerous violations of the Law on Use of Languages.

“In provision of the services, availability of the documentation, information and in many other cases. As far as representation and endangerment of the Serbian language are concerned, the representation is not on equal bases, and institutions can’t endanger survival of a language, it depends upon communities, but they can reflect an ugly and unprofessional image and violate rights and obligations foreseen by the law and Constitution”, he added.

He also said Serbian language to the great extent is endangered as well as its presence and visibility in Kosovo.

“This foremost concerns educational institutions and the way how the language is nurtured within the family. This is something that is a question for educational institutions and all of us as communities. When it comes to the administration, it is endangered very much because it is not equally present as the Albanian language”, Mladenovic concluded.

Radio KIM recalled that the practice shows that Serbian language is mostly endangered in the very same institutions that adopted it. For years already, Serbian media have warned of violations of the Law on Use of Languages, particularly in the Kosovo Assembly where often there is no translation in Serbian.