Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti to meet citizens in Prizren on Tuesday; to present budget for 2023 (Klan Kosova)

• American congressman, Ritchie Torres meets Osmani (Koha) 

• Kosovo Defence Minister meets Swedish counterpart, discuss cooperation (media)

• Gjoshi: Kurti is negotiating with Vucic on an internal issue (media)

• Elezi: CEC considering postponement of some election deadlines (RTK)

• Lutfiu: Presevo Valley Albanians discuss withdrawal from Serbian institutions (Klan)

• Interview with President of Special Court, Ekaterina Trendafilova (Albanian Post)

• Noam Chomsky: I was never opposed to Kosovo’s independence (Albanian Post)

Serbian Language Media:

• Dacic: Two possible outcomes in Brussels – reason or riots (Tanjug, RTS)

• Minister says Serbian Army ready to defend Kosovo Serbs (N1, Beta, Telegraf)

• Kosovo journalist: Without plates agreement, small armed conflict is possible (N1, FoNet)

• Janjic: Suspension of the Brussels Agreement being discussed (N1)

International:

• Floods Across Kosovo Damage Land, hit Drinking Water Supply (BIRN)

• Letter from Belgrade (Financial Times)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti to meet citizens in Prizren on Tuesday; to present budget for 2023 (Klan Kosova)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will visit Prizren on Tuesday where in a meeting with citizens he will present the budget for 2023, a Kosovo government spokesman said in a Facebook post today. The meeting will start at 15:00. Kurti will be accompanied by Finance Minister Hekuran Murati and Local Government Minister Elbert Krasniqi.

American congressman, Ritchie Torres meets Osmani (Koha) 

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani received the U.S. congressman Ritchie Torres, in a meeting on Monday. 

Osmani’s meeting with the co-chairman of the Albanian Affairs Group of the Congress is being held behind closed doors for the media.

The American congressman, after Osmani, will also meet with the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca at 1:30 p.m.

Kosovo Defence Minister meets Swedish counterpart, discuss cooperation (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, said that during his stay in Canada where he is attending the International Security Forum in Halifax, he met with Swedish Defence Minister Pal Johnson. The two ministers discussed issues of mutual importance, the importance of the enlargement of NATO, the membership of Sweden and Finland, and said that supporting both countries is very important for the Republic of Kosovo and stability in the Western Balkans.

Mehaj and Johnson also discussed cooperation in the area of trainings, the further education of new staff of the Kosovo Security Force, and the joint participation of troops from both countries in missions abroad.

“As two countries that believe in democratic values, we agree that in the next months we will reach a bilateral agreement to make our cooperation concrete,” Mehaj said.

Gjoshi: Kurti is negotiating with Vucic on an internal issue (media)

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Betim Gjoshi, took to Facebook today to criticise Prime Minister Albin Kurti for “negotiating with Vucic on an internal issue”. “Today, Albin Kurti is negotiating with Aleksandar Vucic on an internal issue and a decision of the sovereign government of the Republic of Kosovo. Albin Kurti turned down the friendly request and advice from the United States, but he agreed to submit to Serbia’s destructive and hostile policies. A Prime Minister of Kosovo must discuss such issues only with Kosovo’s friends, especially the Americans. Any meeting and negotiation with Serbia about a decision of the sovereign government of the country one represents, is submission. This submission makes Serbia stronger in the internal issues of the Republic of Kosovo,” Gjoshi argued.

Elezi: CEC considering postponement of some election deadlines (RTK) 

The spokesman of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Valmir Elezi said that the issue of changing some deadlines for election activities, including the deadline for applying for certification of political subjects and candidates who want to participate in these elections, is being addressed, and that they will come with more information during the day.

“Until now (November 21, 14:00) the CEC has received a request for certification for participation in the extraordinary elections for the mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica,” Elezi told RTKlive. He said that the Mitrovica Civic Initiative political entity has submitted the request for participation in the extraordinary elections for mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica.

Lutfiu: Presevo Valley Albanians discuss withdrawal from Serbian institutions (Klan)

Nevzad Lutfiu, candidate for leader of the Albanian National Council in Presevo Valley, said in an interview with Klan Kosova today that following the withdrawal of Serb representatives from Kosovo’s institutions, Albanians in Presevo Valley too have discussed their withdrawal from Serbian institutions. He said they also asked for the opinions of Kosovo and Albanian on the matter and that Albanians in Presevo Valley always coordinate with them.

Interview with President of Special Court, Ekaterina Trendafilova (Albanian Post)

Because of the way the Special Court was established and the work it carried over the years, this institution is widely criticized in Kosovo, and not only in television studios from analysts and legal experts, but also by heads of institutions themselves. The most recent one being the Speaker of the Parliament of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca.

After his visit in The Hague to the former heads of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Konjufca expressed concern over the process.

Nevertheless, according to the president of this court, Ekaterina Trendafilova, a famous Bulgarian judge, her data say quite another thing on the impression of Kosovo citizens regarding the court. 

Asked by Albanian Post, her first interview with an online media in Kosovo, about the court being ill reputed, she states that the numbers speak a different sort of truth.

“In fact, our public opinion polling last year showed that, regardless of those in Kosovo who have vocally opposed the KSC, a majority of the people believe that the court will ensure that the rights of the accused are respected, that the proceedings will be fair and that we will do whatever we can to protect our witnesses.”

Trendafilova says that despite the fact that the Specialist Court was not created to be popular, she herself and the structure of the court in general “remains committed to ensuring that information about its work and mandate is disseminated transparently and efficiently to the public in Kosovo and the wider region.”

Trendafilova, being one of the most widely recognized judges in Europe, told the Albanian Post that “the KSC is focused primarily on fulfilling its mandate, given to it by the Parliament of Kosovo, by ensuring that its proceedings are conducted in an independent, fair, safe, secure and impartial manner”.

“The decisions and judgments of the KSC will speak for themselves, demonstrating that the KSC will have legitimately and credibly conducted its mandate.” she says convincingly.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/3OnDKxM

Noam Chomsky: I was never opposed to Kosovo’s independence (Albanian Post)

Philosopher and political theorist, Noam Chomsky, has never been easily digestible by the general Kosovar public.

Being a hardcore critic of US foreign policy for almost a lifetime, his critiques have never been warmly welcome in Kosovo, a country that arguably is the most pro-American in the world.

His critiques of the NATO intervention in Kosovo, have faced uncompromised resistance.

However, in an interview with Albanian Post, which is also his first conversation with an Albanian media, he says that “I was never opposed to Kosovo’s independence”.

Chomsky states that he that it was “a good idea”. His critiques, he says, were directed towards NATO.

“First of all, I was not opposed to Kosovo’s independence, I thought it was a good idea. What I was opposed to was the NATO war, which radically escalated the atrocities exactly as it was anticipated”, he told Albanian Post.

“If you look at the Kosovo situation in 1998-1999, we know a great deal about it, because Kosovo was saturated with OSCE observers who wrote detailed reports about what was going on. There was a regular level of crimes”. 

Read more at: http://bit.ly/3XjhoBA

Serbian Language Media 

Dacic: Two possible outcomes in Brussels – reason or riots (Tanjug, RTS)

There are two possible outcomes of today’s meetings in Brussels, one is that common sense prevails, and the other is that it comes to incidents, said Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ivica Dacic, who hopes that the international community will put pressure on Pristina, reported RTS, citing Tanjug agency.

“It is clear who can initiate these types of incidents and the address for pressure is completely clear. Whether someone wants these pressures to be directed towards Pristina or not, the international community has to clear up with itself,” said Ivica Dacic for Tanjug.

He expressed the hope that the international community will put pressure on Pristina not to implement repressive measures against the Serbian people, because this, he warned, could lead to a serious disruption not only of public order and peace, but also of regional peace and stability.

He also says that the meeting in Brussels, in this situation, completely unnecessary, that is, if someone wanted to put pressure and prevent incidents in Kosovo, it was enough to call ”the Prime Minister of the temporary institutions of Pristina, Albin Kurti, given that he is the party causing trouble”.

“Serbia has never refused dialogue and we will always participate in all of this. We are here fighting for the application of the Brussels Agreement, unlike Kurti, who not only does not want the Brussels Agreement to be applied but wants as much as possible for the situation on the ground to get more complicated with unilateral acts,” said Dacic.

“Kurti’s plan for the Albanian side to occupy the north of Kosovo and Metohija”

He emphasised that ”Kurti’s plan is for the Albanian side to occupy the north of Kosovo and Metohija, that the entire sovereignty, which they believe is sufficient for the declaration of a state, expand and to the north, bearing in mind that this has not been the case so far”.

He pointed out that precisely because of this attitude of Pristina, the Serbian people do not take lightly what is happening around the licence plates and assessed that this is another attempt by the Albanian side to ”force the Serbs to recognize the so-called state of Kosovo”.

He reminded that the Albanian side is forcing Serbian police officers to apply punishments to their own people, which is why, he adds, the decision was made for the Serbs to leave the institutions until such a decision is withdrawn, i.e., until the Community of Serbian Municipalities is formed as envisaged by the Brussels agreement.

He said that the Serbs will not allow themselves to be victims of the tolerant attitude of the international community towards, as he said, ”the outrageous behaviour of Kurti, who tramples not only the signature of Pristina but also the signature of the EU”.

He believes that ”Kurti has so far shown that for him there is neither the EU, nor the Brussels Agreement, nor the Western great powers, but that he is only interested in the independence of Kosovo at any cost”.

“Most people want what they don’t have, and for me such behaviour is completely understandable psychologically. They are far from that, they cannot get more than 83 out of 193 votes in the United Nations General Assembly,” Dacic concluded.

Minister says Serbian Army ready to defend Kosovo Serbs (N1, Beta, Telegraf)

Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic stated on Sunday that the Serbian army is capable and ready to respond to all challenges, protecting the Serbs in Kosovo. 

“Of course, no one wants wars, however, Serbia is a serious country and takes all steps to be able to respond to every challenge and potential problem,” said Vucevic for Serbian Telegraf daily.

He repeated that Serbia is open to dialogue, but that “it has been proven many times” that “one can never be clean” with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

“Neither the international community, especially the Quinte countries, have any influence on him (Kurti). We don’t want an escalation of the conflict, but we won’t give up on our people,” Vucevic noted.

See at:https://bit.ly/3Etj8j6

Kosovo journalist: Without plates agreement, small armed conflict is possible (N1, FoNet)

Without agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on vehicle licence plates, and the Government of Kosovo start of the implementation of decision to fine on November 21 Serbs, with licence plates of the Republic of Serbia, could mean a small armed conflict, the KoSSev portal from Kosovska Mitrovica editor in chief, Tatjana Lazarevic, warned in an interview with FoNet.

Lazarevic, a journalist from the north of Kosovo, where the majority of Serbs live, said that news could arrive from Brussels at any moment that an agreement has been reached regarding the licence plates, bearing in mind the very explicit message of the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, that an urgent solution is needed before 21 of November.

She pointed out that she could not imagine how the second stage of re-registration would be technically carried out, that is, fining Serbs for licence plates, because that would require the presence of special police units.

On November 5, Serbs representatives left all Kosovo institutions due to the decision of the Government of Kosovo to re-register vehicles with licence plates of the Republic of Serbia to licence plates with the markings of the Republic of Kosovo, whose independence Serbia does not recognize.

On Monday, November 21, the second phase of the decision on re-registration should come into force, i.e. the collection of a € 150 fine from owners of vehicles with Serbian licence plates.

Due to the fear of a possible escalation, EU High Representative Josep Borrell invited Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to an urgent meeting in Brussels, in order to find a solution to the current crisis before Monday.

Janjic: Suspension of the Brussels Agreement being discussed (N1)

The meeting between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, serves to ensure that none of them is accused of abandoning the dialogue, and in fact, the suspension of the Brussels Agreement is being discussed, said Dusan Janjic from the Forum for Ethnic Relations. 

“Serbia also suspended the Brussels Agreement, at the time when it took people out of the institutions, and is rebuilding its own institutions,” Janjic told N1.

He said that the American administration “started to lose its way”, and that they are no longer talking about the dialogue on normalisation, but about the normalisation of the dialogue.

Janjic expressed hope that there would be no escalation, adding that people had hope in 1989-1992, even when they saw logs, barricades and the first murders and assassinations.

This time, hope is not enough, he said, adding that he does not believe in appeasement until Brussels takes a proactive role.

International 

Floods Across Kosovo Damage Land, hit Drinking Water Supply (BIRN)

Heavy rain risks causing floods in many cities in Kosovo, damaging agricultural land and family businesses – while some cities also facing a shortage of drinking water and are suspending school classes.

Peja, Mitrovica, Gjakova, Vushtrria, Decan, Malisheva and Klina are among the towns and cities facing floods due to the heavy rain over the weekend. As a result, many family businesses and much agricultural land have been damaged.

The Hydrometeorological Institute of Kosovo announced on November 20 that rain of varying intensity and territorial extent is expected to continue on Monday.

The heaviest rainfall, according to the Institute, will fall in Gjakova, Junik, Decan, Peja, Istog, Klina, Malisheva, Rahovec and some other places.

According to the Institute, the heavy rainfall may create conditions for rapid flooding, which could also cause landslides, blockages of sewage systems and difficulties in traffic.

In addition to damaged roads and agricultural land, some towns are also facing a shortage of drinking water.

The Prishtina Regional Water Authority has notified that some parts of Prishtina, Fushe Kosova, Obilic and Drenas will face a lack of drinking water due to the overflow in the Iber-Lepenci canal, making water sanitation treatment impossible.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3EPHiG0

Letter from Belgrade (Financial Times)

On the streets of the Serbian capital, graffitied walls show a country divided by Putin’s war in Ukraine

Just outside the flat I am staying in, near the University of Belgrade, I see murals depicting two very different men, right next to each other: Joe Strummer, the late lead singer of punk legends The Clash, and Stefan Dimitrijevic, a 33-year-old Serbian national who died in April this year, while fighting on the Russian side in Luhansk. Someone else has sprayed green “X”s over Dimitrijevic’s face, as well as over the Serbian double-headed eagle above his right shoulder. According to the law, had Dimitrijevic returned home, he would have been imprisoned, as Serbian citizens are not allowed to fight overseas.

Read more at:https://on.ft.com/3V9iluk