Albanian Language Media:

• Mehaj: Kosovo’s objective is NATO membership (media)
• Operation against Kosovo Police and Customs officers suspected of bribery (media)
• PIK: police superiors who participated meeting with Vucic, will be interviewed (Kallxo)
• Minister Krasniqi: Advancing the rights of communities is a priority (RTK)
• Kosovo union members protest demanding higher wages (media)
• Kosovo Police anti-smuggling operation in the north (Express)
• COVID-19: 26 new cases, no deaths (media)   

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic met UNMIK Head, the continuation of cooperation discussed (Tanjug, media)
• Russia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council; Serbia voted yes (media) 
• Serbia to be exempted from EU sanctions on Russian oil, gas (Tanjug)
• Serbian PM Brnabic met the new UNMIK chief Ziadeh (Tanjug, media)
• Escobar, Lajcak and Cadez at the economic forum in Delphi (KiM radio, FoNet)
• Petkovic: Kurti again trying to intimidate the Serbian people in Strpce (KiM radio)

Opinion:

• The War in Ukraine and the Western Balkans (visegradinsight.eu)

International:

• Did Serbia’s Elections Signal a Further Tilt to the Right? (Balkan Insight)
• Opinion poll: Leading EU countries want Ukraine more than Western Balkans (EWB)

Humanitarian/Development:

• International Roma Day (KiM radio, KoSSev)
• KWN presents report on gender-based discrimination and labour in Kosovo (media)
• Food prices hit record high in March, U.N. agency says (Reuters)

Albanian Language Media  

Mehaj: Kosovo’s objective is NATO membership (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, said today that Kosovo’s objective is membership in NATO “because Kosovo shares the democratic values and positions with NATO and therefore our priority is to further build the operational capacities of the Kosovo Security Force in line with NATO standards”.

Mehaj made these remarks during the transfer of authority ceremony at the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team (NALT). He also said that Kosovo’s Ministry of Defence and the Kosovo Security Force “were built and developed through with the help of crucial support from Kosovo’s friends and partners in NATO”.

Operation against Kosovo Police and Customs officers suspected of border bribery (media)

The Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK) and Special Prosecution of Kosovo (SPRK) launched Friday morning an operation targeting Kosovo Police and Customs officers suspected of receiving bribes and misuse of official duty or authority, media report.

The SPRK said in a statement that today’s action came following a one-year investigation involving cover investigative measures. According to the SPRK the investigation also involves cooperation with the Albanian authorities.  Gazeta Express has learned that about 20 Kosovo Police officers and 40 Albanian police and customs officers are expected to be arrested during this operation.

A similar operation codenamed Pika (Point) was carried out last month which resulted in arresting of 48 Kosovo Police and two customs officers suspected of receiving bribes.

PIK: police superiors who participated in the meeting with Vucic, will be interviewed (Kallxo)

On March 22 of this year, five superiors of the Kosovo Police in the north, were seen in the meeting convened by the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, after the meeting of the National Security Council. Kosovo Police Inspectorate (KPI) told the news portal that they have initiated some investigative actions and will be taking others, such as interviewing these officers. The inspectorate has indicated that actions will be in full coordination with the prosecution. 

“Within the legal authorisations, PIK investigators have so far undertaken several investigative actions and have contacted the competent prosecutor, while they are expected to undertake other investigative actions to clarify all the circumstances in full coordination with the competent prosecution, including interviewing the officials concerned,” PIK noted in a reply to the news portal, adding that other details cannot be revealed at this stage of investigation. 

Director of Kosovo Police, Samedin Mehmeti in his report about the issue before the Commission for Security and Defense Affairs said that the five superiors were not suspended because they assessed that they should first be investigated by the PIK.

Minister Krasniqi: Advancing the rights of communities is a priority (RTK)

A regional conference to develop employment policies and strengthen the role of the Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali communities, was held today on the International Roma Day.

The Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, said that advancing the rights of communities is one of the priorities of the Kurti government.

“As MLGA, advancing the rights of communities is one of our priorities.,” said the Minister adding that employment of communities continues to be one of the main topics of the discussions with the municipal mayors.  

Habit Hajredini, director of the Office for Good Governance, Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination, pledged to promote the employment of the three communities.

“We talked to see the possibility of introducing a mechanism that encourages and promotes the employment of the three communities that interconnects the entire institutional spectrum, including that of the local level. I think this would be effective in increasing the employment of communities,” he said.

Kosovo union members protest demanding higher wages (media)

The Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo (BSPK) has organsied Friday a protest March in capital Pristina demanding the government to increase minimum wage and threatened with general strike if their demands are not met. 

Hundreds of protesters were seen holding a big banner reading “Prime Minister, fulfill our demands! Prevent general strike!” The unionists addressed several demands to the government, including increase of salaries. They also demanded increase of minimum wage, adoption of the Law on wages, implementation of the Law on health insurance, signing of the collective agreement, amending and supplementing of the Law on Pension Schemes financed by the state.

Kosovo Police anti-smuggling operation in the north (Express)

The Kosovo Police have launched Friday morning an anti-smuggling operation in northern part of the country, Gazeta Express reports.

Sources within the Kosovo Police told Gazeta Express that the operation has been launched on Friday morning and the suspects were under police observation. The operation is ongoing and the police are searching certain premises at the Bosniaks Neighborhood in Mitrovica North.  

COVID-19: 26 new cases, no deaths (media)

26 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 32 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 544 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic met UNMIK Head, the continuation of cooperation discussed (Tanjug, media)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic met the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UNMIK, Caroline Ziadeh, ahead of the upcoming session of the UN Security Council on April 20, where the report of Secretary General Antonio Guterres on UNMIK’s work will be discussed, reported Tanjug agency, citing the president’s press service.

”Vucic pointed out that regular contacts with UNMIK representatives are important for Serbia because of the continuity of consideration of the issue of Kosovo and Metohija,” said the announcement.  

“For Serbia, the UN is the most important international organization in the context of preserving territorial integrity and sovereignty, and we are, as always, committed to continuing cooperation with UNMIK, Vucic said, adding that Serbia considers important timely, adequate and visible UN responses to numerous incidents and provocations.”

”In this context, the President expressed hope that the report of the UN Secretary General on the work of UNMIK, which should be presented at the upcoming session of the UN Security Council, will be fair and honest and will contain all remarks and examples of incidents in Kosovo and Metohija, which he presented during the meeting with Ziadeh.” 

”The President pointed out that the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija should include a clear and unequivocal condemnation of the denial of fundamental rights, dangerous provocations and unilateral decisions of Pristina and violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and the Brussels Agreement, by which constantly the stability in the region is called into question.” 

”The President also reminded that nine years have passed since the signing of the Brussels Agreement, and that there is still no progress in the implementation of obligations undertaken by the other side, primarily in connection with the establishment of the Community of Serbian Municipalities and added that Serbia expects that the agreements reached will be fully respected and implemented.” 

”Caroline Ziadeh stressed that the mandate of UNMIK and KFOR is clear, and that the scope and role of these missions are clearly defined, and that the Mission’s presence is very important for maintaining stability in Kosovo and Metohija, both through consistent implementation of UN Resolution 1244, as well as through the commitment to implement the agreements reached within the Brussels dialogue.” 

”She also pointed out the necessity of continuing the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the importance of all efforts in the direction of constructive regional cooperation.”

”The head of the UNMIK mission, Caroline Ziadeh, congratulated President Vucic on his election victory and expressed confidence that Serbia will continue productive and good cooperation with UNMIK in the future.”

Russia suspended from the UN Human Rights Council; Serbia voted yes (media) 

The UNGA voted for Russia suspension from the UB Human Rights Council, with 93 votes in favour, 24 against and 58 abstentions, Serbia was among the countries that voted for suspension, reported Serbian media.

The draft resolution states that the General Assembly may “suspend the right to membership in the Human Rights Council of a member of the Council that commits gross and systematic violations of human rights”.

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said last night that it was originally planned to be “abstained”.

“It was planned that Serbia abstained in the UN on Thursday, but ‘they’ reminded us that a vote on the ban on oil imports to Serbia would follow very soon,” Vucic said on Thursday night, explaining why the decision on vote was changed at the last minute. He did not specify who “those” who pressured the change of the Serbian representative’s vote were. 

“Serbia is now threatened by what the Croatian press calls a ‘nuclear strike’, i.e., a ban on oil and gas imports, the introduction of additional sanctions and a halt to the country’s European path,” Vucic said. The Serbian President also said that he had previously communicated his position on the UN vote to Russian President Putin in a telephone conversation on Wednesday.

“In that long conversation, Putin was very correct and calm, and he told me in detail about the situation regarding Ukraine. He is certainly not a new Hitler or a psychopath, he claims that everything is working as planned…,” he said. 

Reactions of one part of the opposition 

Conservative opposition party Oathkeepers (Zavetnici) and movement Dveri condemned the vote by Serbian UN representative. Oathkeepers said that Serbia’s decision was scandalous, while the movement Dveri said that after that vote, Serbia would be listed as an enemy state of Russia. Stating that this was the third time that official Belgrade had openly sided against Russia in the UN General Assembly, Oathkeepers assessed that the government with such decisions was bringing Serbia into confrontation with a country that was its strategic ally in defending Kosovo’s territorial integrity.

Dveri assessed that with this vote in the UN, the current government sided with NATO. “Vucic betrayed Russia and now there are no obstacles to the final betrayal of Kosovo,” they said. 

The president of the Liberation (Oslobodjenje) movement, Mladjan Djordjevic, said today that the decision of the Serbian delegation to the UN GA to vote for ”Russia’s exclusion from the UN Human Rights Council was an indication that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was continuing his treacherous policy”, reported NMagazin.

In a written statement, Djordjevic stated that Russia is Serbia’s main protector in the UN, not only as ”a guarantor of Resolution 1244, which keeps Kosovo and Metohija part of Serbia, but it was even when some Western countries wanted to mark the Serbian people forever as genocidal”, said Djordjevic among other things.

The President of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), Milos Jovanovic, said today that Serbia’s vote in the UNGA  “clearly shows that the President of the Republic and the Serbian Government are making a radical turn in their technical mandate, deviating from a balanced policy in international relations,” reported Beta agency. 

“This new scandalous decision by which the current government, against the will of the majority of citizens, puts Serbia on the side of Russia’s enemy states, inflicts incalculable damage on state and national interests. The stabbing in the back of a friendly country that defends Serbia’s territorial integrity in the UN Security Council and provides it with energy stability cannot be interpreted as recklessness, but as a move with well-calculated consequences,” said Jovanovic in a statement, who was a candidate for the NADA coalition on Sunday.

Serbia to be exempted from EU sanctions on Russian oil, gas (Tanjug)

Serbia will be exempted from EU sanctions on imports of Russian oil and gas, diplomatic sources in Brussels confirmed to Tanjug on Friday.

The sources said the exemption applied to both the EU and its neighbourhood – Western Balkan countries and the European Economic Area.

As part of its fifth package of sanctions on Russia, the EU on Friday banned vessels sailing under the Russian flag from accessing EU ports, but allowed exemptions for transport of food, fuels, medicines and humanitarian aid.

Serbian PM Brnabic met the new UNMIK chief Ziadeh (Tanjug, media)

News agency Tanjug reported yesterday that Serbian PM Ana Brnabic spoke with the new head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Caroline Ziadeh on Thursday about the political situation in Kosovo and a continuation of Belgrade-Pristina talks.

According to an official statement, Brnabic pointed to the significance of communication with UNMIK and Belgrade’s readiness to continue dialogue, as well as the necessity of Pristina meeting its commitments under the Brussels Agreement.

She said she expected this to be presented in an objective and transparent manner also in the UN secretary-general’s report on UNMIK at an April 20 UN Security Council session.

Brnabic said Serbia consistently advocated respect of the principles of international law and implementation of UN SC Resolution 1244 and would continue to invest efforts towards maintaining peace and stability, but that, at the same time, it expected Pristina to meet its commitments.

The PM pointed to continued instability and ethnically motivated incidents targeting Serbs and other non-Albanians, as well as to the fact that Kosovo Serbs had been denied their right to vote in a January referendum on constitutional amendments concerning the judiciary and participate in the April 3 Serbian elections in the territory of Kosovo.

Ziadeh said UNMIK would continue its engagement towards achieving a more peaceful and more prosperous future through advancement of respect of human rights and building trust among communities, reported Tanjug, citing the statement.

She confirmed UNMIK’s commitment to supporting the EU-facilitated dialogue aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement and long-term peace and reconciliation.

Escobar, Lajcak and Cadez at the economic forum in Delphi (KiM radio, FoNet)

The President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC), Marko Cadez, will participate today in the Economic Forum in Delphi (Greece), in a panel dedicated to the Western Balkans, and the speakers will be EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Gabriel Escobar, reported KiM radio.

This year’s seventh Delphi Economic Forum is held from April 6th to 9th and is dedicated to topics such as world security, global economic trends, climate change, the future of the European Union, technological and social change, and the recovery of the Greek economy, announced the SCC. 

The activities of the forum are focused on the development of national and regional activities to promote the sustainable development of the economies of Greece, Europe, the Mediterranean and Southeast Europe, KiM radio cited.

Petkovic: Kurti again trying to intimidate the Serbian people in Strpce (KiM radio, KoSSev)

Several members of the Special Unit of the Kosovo Police stormed this afternoon, accompanied by Customs representatives, several Serbian stores in the municipality of Strpce, in search of Serbian goods, according to a statement from the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, KiM radio reported.

“They blocked three stores, and the locals who started shopping were unable to make a purchase and were intimidated by the latest demonstration of Albin Kurti’s force,” Petkovic said.

The director of the Office for KIM notes that this is the fourth time in just a few months that Kurti is sending armed special forces to Strpce, all with the goal of intimidating and trying to expel the remaining Serbs from the municipality of Strpce.

“For that purpose, Kurti uses some kind of confrontation with plasma and smoki as a screen for attacking Serbs and demonstrating power, thinking that he will succeed in shaking up Serbs and provoking some irresponsible move,” he said.

Also, today in Bosniak mahala in Mitrovica, after several hours’ operation, the Special Units of the Kosovo Police left a store with a truck of goods, accompanied by vehicles of the Kosovo Police and Kosovo Customs, reported KoSSev. 

Opinion

The War in Ukraine and the Western Balkans (visegradinsight.eu)

By Alba Cela

The more things change the more they remain the same.

The expression above is commonly used in English-speaking countries to show inertia as an often decisive force in political and social developments even when everything seems to be changing shape. This expression came to my mind as I read the scenarios in the Western Balkans Futures report published by Visegrad Insight. (Read the Report)

The above-mentioned report underlines the fact that the war in Ukraine was unimaginable in this form and at the scale we see today. The Russian invasion of Ukraine took all experts by surprise and even more so those who try to make predictions by looking at the various long-term trends as is the case of this report.

Of course, many variables and assumptions are taken for granted and naturally, other trends take on primary importance in this context. And yet after reading the report I had to give the authors an encouraging message that resembles that expression at the beginning. The report sheds light and highlights various developments whose value does not fall even in this new context, on the contrary, some of them take on more importance.

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

International 

Did Serbia’s Elections Signal a Further Tilt to the Right? (Balkan Insight)

Serbia’s president, and others, say the country has tilted “dramatically” to the right following April elections. BIRN has taken a look at whether this is really the case, and who stands to benefit from such a perception.

Taking the stage on Sunday night, Aleksandar Vucic not claimed victory for himself and his Progressive Party in Serbia’s presidential and parliamentary elections. He also acknowledged the apparently strong showing of three other contenders in the parliamentary vote – the right-wing Dveri party and NADA alliance and the far-right Zavetnici, or Oathkeepers.

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

Opinion poll: Leading EU countries want Ukraine more than Western Balkans (EWB)

LONDON – Public support for the accession of Ukraine to the EU has doubled since 2018 with almost half of citizens in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain saying that Ukraine should join the Union. The highest support is seen in Spain, where 60% of the citizens are in favor of Ukraine joining the EU and only 14% are opposed.

YouGov, an international research data and analytics group has conducted the newest research in March about the support towards Ukraine’s accession to the EU of citizens in four of the largest EU countries. The comparison with the Western Balkans shows some interesting takeaways.

Ukraine, which hasn’t even entered the formal accession process tracks more support than all of the countries in the Western Balkans. The average support of the Western Balkans countries is 15% lower than the average support for Ukraine.

Support for Kosovo joining the EU is lowest among all other Western Balkans countries and remains below 30% and the highest support is for Montenegro albeit it is just 36%. Bosnia and North Macedonia enjoy similar support at around 35% and Albanian accession to the EU has the support of every third citizen. Serbia has the second-lowest support with only 31% of those in favor of it joining the EU.

See at:https://bit.ly/3v5JKSC

Humanitarian/Development

International Roma Day (KiM radio, KoSSev)

Today is the International Roma Day. 

Poverty, unemployment, poor living conditions, discrimination are the problems of the Roma community, which remain the same. The only positive shift is in the education process, according to Deputy of Returns and Communities, Gazmen Salijevic, KiM radio portal reported. 

There are more and more young Roma graduating from high school, and one part is deciding to continue their education, say in the Education Center in Gracanica to RTV KiM. 

Hamit and Gardian Serifovic are high school students. They are already planning to enroll in college. They believe that the education of young Roma is very important, so they pass it on to younger people who come to additional classes at the Education Center in Gracanica after school.

“I am a very good student; I take education seriously. At professional trainings, workshops, we showed parents and children that education can achieve a greater goal, and now the number of children who take education seriously has increased. After high school, I plan to study in Serbia, but that is still in question, I don’t know if I will have the financial means to study IT,” says 17-year-old Hamit, a second-grade student at the Electrical Engineering School.

Gardian is in the third grade of the Construction and Traffic School. He is a very good student.

“I take education seriously because only through education and education in life can we achieve something. This is the biggest problem in the Roma community, most of them do not take education seriously, but as far as I am concerned, I take it seriously, I am going to make it as good as possible, to enroll in college and continue my education. After school, I plan to enroll in IT, get a job and be a good person to everyone, says Gardian. 

Both the Gardian and Hamit help young people who have problems with schooling.

Demir Osmani is the coordinator of the Roma Education Center. He graduated from the Academy of Vocational Studies and is an economist by profession. He started coming to the Center as a child, at the age of 16 he became a tutor and then an educator for children.

Osmani said that the number of children is growing from year to year, adding that over 125 children currently are registered in schools. 

”This is a center for additional learning, children who have learning needs are coming,” Osmani said. He told RTV KiM that before they did not have children at all and currently, they assist 25 students. He noticed that the number of children in secondary and primary schools increased, and much fewer children are dropping out of school,” Osmani told  RTV Kim.

The position of Roma in Kosovo has changed in the last few years, but not enough, Gazmen Salijevic, Deputy Minister for Communities and Returns..

“We are not satisfied, because we believe that there may be a space for even greater investments as well as engagements of the Roma community. The only progress is in the field of education. Of course, we still have problems that children do not attend school regularly, that we have children who leave school, but we also have an increasing number of children every year, girls who enroll in college. Unlike 10 or 15 years ago, when that was not the case,” says Salijevic.

Salijevic believes that the employment of members of the Roma community is now the biggest problem.

“Many Roma families live on social benefits. Living on social benefits ranging from 100 to 200 euros, and having seven or more children is not healthy,” he said. 

When asked how the Ministry of Communities and Returns helps Roma, Salijevic points out the construction of apartments for the socially endangered who lived in the container settlement until recently. Roma families who lived there together with other tenants will be moved to apartments in Suvi Do.

Salijevic also pointed to the problem of legalization, related to the lack of documentation. 

As he said, ”one of the conditions for receiving help is that the person has a plot in his name. An initiative has been launched through the Ministry of Justice, by non-governmental organizations together with local self-governments, to find a way to legalize and help members not only of the Roma community but all socially endangered families,” Salijevic said.

Apart from social problems, the Roma in Gracanica also have infrastructural problems. The houses in which they live are mostly old and damaged, and roads and sewers are problematic. However, what they need most is equal treatment and the end of discrimination, reported KiM radio.

KWN presents report on gender-based discrimination and labour in Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Women’s Network presented the second edition of the Gender-Based Discrimination and Labour in Kosovo.

KWN’s Executive Director, Igballe Rogova, said at the launch of the publication that there is an urgent need to amend the Labour Law as it presently discriminates against the citizens of Kosovo, particularly women.

Adelina Tershani, one of the report’s authors, noted that 67 percent of respondents consider that there is gender-based discrimination at work while 44 percent of women and 51 percent of men did not report sexual harassment they experienced at workplace. She added that at job interviews, women are often asked questions not related to their professional skills, such as their marital status. At the same time, men earn €34 net more than women a month. 

“Very often the police had difficulties in identifying sexual harrasment as a form of gender-based discrimination,” Tershani said, highlighting the need for amendment and finalisation of the Labour Law. 

See the report at: https://bit.ly/37sHDA4

Food prices hit record high in March, U.N. agency says (Reuters)

World food prices jumped nearly 13% in March to a new record high as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staple grains and edible oils, the U.N. food agency said on Friday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month versus an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.

Read more at:https://reut.rs/3raJhxr