Albanian Language Media:

• EU: The meeting in Ohrid will focus on finalising the Annex to the Agreement (media)
• Escobar optimistic about Ohrid: USA, the biggest supporter of Kosovo in the world (media)
• PM Kurti meets U.S. Envoy Gabriel Escobar (Klan)
• Osmani: Any tendency of Serbia to hinder agreement through conditionality damages dialogue (media)
• Konjufca meets with Escobar: Kosovo is constructive, unlike Serbia as an undermining party (media)
• March 22, deadline for applications for certification of political entities for elections in the north (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 19 years since March violence, organisers not held responsible yet (N1, KoSSev, media)
• Activities to commemorate anniversary of  March violence in Kosovo (KoSSev, media)
• Serbian officials on March violence (media, social media)
• US Ambassador Hill on March violence (Kosovo Online, Kurir)
• Vucic: We have still not received draft paper on what EU wants (Tanjug)
• KSF member suspected of wounding Serb youth in Gotovusa sent to house arrest (KoSSev)
• Reactions to send KSF member suspected of wounding Serb youth in Gotovusa to house arrest (Radio KIM, media)
• Vucic thanks Cuba for supporting Serbia’s territorial integrity (Tanjug)
• Obradovic: Vucic never said he is against Kosovo membership in UNESCO, Interpol (BETA)
• Vucic: We will preserve integral Serbia as written in Constitution (BETA, N1)

Humanitarian/Development:

• KoSSev director wins award for a story about life in Cernica, award money to be donated to a family in Koretiste (KoSSev, media)

Albanian Language Media  

EU: The meeting in Ohrid will focus on finalising the Annex to the Agreement (media)

On Saturday 18 March, High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell will convene a High-level Meeting of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue in Ohrid, North Macedonia, informs a media advisory issued today by Borrel’s Office.

“President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti confirmed their participation.

The Dialogue in Ohrid will begin in the morning at 10:00 with arrivals of the individual participants.

The High Representative, supported by EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, will first hold separate bilateral meetings with the leaders one after another, starting at 10:30, followed by a joint trilateral meeting.

The meeting will focus on finalising the Implementation Annex of the EU Agreement on the path to normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

There will be a statement to the media by the High Representative at the end of the meeting. The exact timing will be specified in the course of the afternoon. The press statement by High Representative Borrell will be transmitted live on Europe by Satellite,” informs the communique.

Escobar optimistic about Ohrid: the USA, the biggest supporter of Kosovo in the world (media)

Washington’s special envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar expects positive results from Saturday’s meeting in Ohrid between the prime minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic.

Escobar has said that the U.S. supports every opportunity that leads the region towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

“I welcome very productive meetings in Ohrid together with the Serbian president and the prime minister of Kosovo. We intend to fully support any outcome that brings peace closer to the region and intensifies opportunities for Kosovo, Serbia and the rest of the region to become full members of the Euro-Atlantic community,” he said at the press conference after the meeting with the president Vjosa Osmani.

Escobar emphasised that the European proposal is an extraordinary opportunity for peace, while he added that the USA, as the main supporter of Kosovo, wants this to work for Kosovo.

“This European proposal facilitated through the EU dialogue provides an extraordinary opportunity for peace and stability between two important countries of the region. As the biggest supporter of Kosovo in the world, we intend for this to work for Kosovo, but not only for Kosovo, but for the entire region, to unlock some of the resources that the Balkans provides for itself and for all of Europe. I welcome a positive result in Ohrid, I am very optimistic about the possibilities for a peaceful solution between Kosovo and Serbia. I hope that after Saturday we will have good news,” Escobar concluded.

PM Kurti meets U.S. Envoy Gabriel Escobar (Klan)

Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with the US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, at the government building.

Although there was no address to the media before or after the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office has only published photos from this meeting.

On Thursday, the U.S. official stayed in Belgrade, where he met with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic as well as the “pro-European opposition”.

And in the evening hours, he arrived in Kosovo. At the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, he met the representatives of opposition political parties in Kosovo: Memli Krasniq (PDK), Lumir Abdixik (LDK) and Ardian Gjin (AAK).

The next meeting between Kosovo and Serbia will take place tomorrow, Saturday, starting at 10:00 hours, in Ohrid.

Osmani: Any tendency of Serbia to hinder agreement through conditionality damages dialogue (media)

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, said at the joint media conference with the U.S. special envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar that she expects the meeting between Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, which will be held on Saturday in Ohrid, to have a positive result.

“We believe that a fair, stable and comprehensive agreement where we are treated as two equal states is the only way to ensure long-term peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Kosovo goes to Ohrid with this mindset and with hope for a positive result. Any tendency on the part of Serbia to prevent this result through conditionality can then completely damage the dialogue process,” Osmani said.

She also spoke about her expectations from the meeting. “My expectation as president is that the agreement will bring concrete tangible results for Kosovo, therefore it will ensure the integration of Kosovo in the Euro-Atlantic institutions, it will ensure the comprehensive integration of the Serbian community in the institutions of the Republic, this will then result in the disintegration, effective and immediate removal of the illegal structures of Serbia, this agreement also includes important principles of international law and international relations, which will pave the way to mutual recognition,” Osmani said.

“It is important to repeat that the constitutional order of Kosovo, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country, as well as the internal functionality of Kosovo, are preserved at all costs in every negotiation process,” she added.

Osmani emphasised that Kosovo will continue to engage in dialogue with full commitment and a more constructive approach, as according to her, “it has done throughout this process and especially now, understanding the important momentum that the meeting in Ohrid represents.”

“Escobar’s visit today, in addition to the commitment of several months by Kosovo and international partners, reaffirms our common commitment to make progress in the dialogue,” Osmani said.

Konjufca meets with Escobar: Kosovo is constructive, unlike Serbia as an undermining party (media)

The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca took to Facebook to announce that he welcomed to the meeting the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States of America, at the same time the Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar. They discussed the current political developments in Kosovo, region and further, the dialogue process and the next steps, with a special focus on the EU’s proposal for the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Konjufca emphasises that Kosovo is committed to good neighbourliness, peace and stability in the region and that, as he said, ‘unlike Serbia as a mining party, the Republic of Kosovo has played a constructive role throughout the process of dialogue, including the February 27 meeting in Brussels.’

“I reiterated that we will never lose focus on full recognition, and that any agreement that can be reached in the dialogue process with Serbia must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo,” Konjufca wrote.

He also expressed that he thanked the emissary Escobar for the commitment and the irreplaceable role of the USA in the dialogue process and expressed his readiness for the further strengthening of the mutual partnership, as well as the advancement of the excellent relations between Kosovo and the United States of America.

March 22, deadline for applications for certification of political entities for elections in the north (media)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has notified all political parties, independent candidates, coalitions and citizen initiatives, that the deadline for applications for certification of political entities and candidates for participation in the extraordinary elections for mayor of North Mitrovica, Zubin -Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan and in the early elections for the municipal assemblies in Zvecan and Leposaviq, that will be held on April 23, ends on March 22, 2023.

According to an announcement by the CEC, requests for certification must be submitted to the CEC, namely to the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities, during working hours from 08:00 to 16:00. All the details for the application period for certification of political subjects are published on the website of the CEC.

Serbian Language Media 

19 years since March violence, organisers not held responsible yet (N1, KoSSev, media)

Today marks 19 years since the worst ethnic violence that took place in Kosovo following the arrival of the international military and civilian forces in 1999. During the violence in 2004, also called March pogrom, Albanians first in Mitrovica North and then in other parts of Kosovo and Metohija organised expulsion of Serbs, destruction of their properties and religious shrines, N1 reports extensively.

N1 recalled that six towns and nine villages were ethnically cleansed, and that more than 4000 Serbs left their homes. Eight Serbs and 11 Albanians were killed in the unrest, the latter as media reported died in clashes with French and US troops trying to prevent the violence, more than thousand people were wounded, including several dozens of international forces members. Several dozens of UN and international vehicles were also set on fire. Around 1000 Serbs houses were burned down or heavily damaged, dozens of Serbian schools, health houses, post offices and other institutions were also destroyed.

Within 48 hours, N1 writes further, the Church Holy Mother of Ljevis, Prizren Seminary, the Saint Djordje Temple, Christ the Saviour Church and guest house of Saint Archangels Monastery near Prizren were burned down, Monastery of Saint Healers Kozma and Damjan in Zociste was mined, same as Devic Monastery near Srbica. The Church of Saint Sava in Mitrovica South, and the Church of Saint Nikola in Pristina were burned down, and the cross on a Church of Saint Andreja in Podujevo was taken down. During two days, 35 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were desecrated or fully destroyed, and more than 10.000 valuable frescoes, icons, church relics went either missing or got damaged. Some of the monasteries and churches damaged dated back to the XIX century. The list of damaged cultural and religious heritage is available at Raska-Prizren Eparchy website. 

Serbs were expelled from Kosovo Polje, Obilic, Plemetina, Lipljan, Urosevac, Djakovica, Gnjilane, Svinjare and the Serbs from Belo Polje, near Pec had to leave their houses for the second time, given that all houses built there following their return few months ago were burned down again.

The violence, N1 continues, took place while 38.000 KFOR members from 39 states and 8.000 UNMIK police officers were present in Kosovo. Those who masterminded unrests, which international cycles termed as organised on several occasions, were never punished, and those who directly participated in the violence received minimal prison sentences, N1 said.

Fake news

The reason for the worst ethnic cleansing since 1999 was the drowning of three Albanian boys in the village of Cabra, bordering Serbian village Zupce in Zubin Potok municipality on March 16, 2004. Kosovo media accused Serbs of chasing the children with dogs forcing them to the river. International investigation later proved no outside involvement into this case, media reported.

UNMIK Police Spokesperson Derek Chappell refuted the news circulated by Kosovo Albanian media that Albanian boys drowned while escaping from Serbs, however it didn’t stop the violence, N1 reports.

The role of Kosovo media in this violence became a particular topic, and the OSCE in Vienna published the report in which it criticised “an obvious spin”, “irresponsible and sensationalist” reporting of the Albanian broadcasting media.

“Also, one should note that the media, in particular broadcasting ones, displayed unacceptable levels of emotion, bias, carelessness and falsely applied ‘patriotic’ zeal. In particular, reporting by three main Kosovo TV channels on the evening of March 16 deserves the strongest possible criticism”, reads the report.

The full report is available at:  https://bit.ly/40g0qot

Activities to commemorate anniversary of March violence in Kosovo (KoSSev, media)

Today marks 19 years since March 17, 2004 – the worst ethnic cleansing which took place in Kosovo and Metohija following the arrival of international military and civilian forces, Serbian media report.

The anniversary will be marked in Mitrovica North with a number of activities. At 10.00 near the Monument of Truth located next to the Ibar bridge a memorial service and laying of wreaths will be held, followed by laying the wreaths at the memorial plaque of two civilians from Mitrovica – Borivije Spasojevic and Jana Tucev who were murdered during the violence.

The central manifestation will start at 11.00 in Gracanica. Memorial service will be held by Raska-Prizren Bishop Teodosije in Monastery Gracanica, followed by laying the white roses in front of the installation Missing dedicated to missing persons in a yard of Cultural House in Gracanica.

After that an exhibition from an art colony “Autumn in Prizren 2022” will open and an academy dedicated to March pogrom will take place. 

Representatives of Raska-Prizren Eparchy, Office for Kosovo and Metohija, local self-governance, Kosmet Victims association of families, artistic ensemble Venac, participants of an art colony, choir of Prizren Seminary, actors and students of Gracanica ballet school will be present.

The state ceremony on the occasion of Remembrance Day of March 17 violence in Belgrade will be headed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and take place at the National Theatre in Belgrade. Serbian government ministers, MPs, representatives of the City of Belgrade, high Serbian Army officials, Serbian Orthodox Church representatives and representatives of other religious communities, veterans’ organisations and diplomatic corps will attend the ceremony, starting at 20.00. 

Serbian officials on March violence (media, social media)

Serbian List President Goran Rakic on the occasion of 19th anniversary of the March 17 violence in Kosovo said that Serbs today also live lives of uncertainty, adding they are still experiencing pogrom, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“Pogrom because our children are still shot at, our compatriots as well, pressure on Serbs is exerted, returnees’ places are still forbidden for those wishing to return, everyone thinking Serbian is intimidated and mistreated, and all this goes without adequate or no punishment whatsoever for misdeeds committed”, Rakic said in a statement.

Rakic also said that although the violence took place 19 years ago, Serbs still remember sufferings they were exposed to, adding that “only by truth, justice and lead by fact that pogroms against Serbs must never happen again can we reach mutual reconciliation and co-existence”.

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director, Petar Petkovic said March violence “represents one of the most aggravated mass crimes in recent European history” noting that not only those responsible for this crime are left unpunished but also that political and social environment this violence derived from are still present. He also said “that chauvinism and hatred towards anything Serbian is still present among Albanian political elite representatives in Pristina”.

Director of the Department for Cooperation with Diaspora and Serbs in the Region within the Serbian Foreign Affairs Ministry Arno Gujon said events that took place 19 years ago were decisive for him to start his humanitarian work.

“I felt the same pain and anger as if they set fire to the church in my village in the Alps. Instead of protesting, I decided to establish a humanitarian organisation Solidarity for Kosovo with my brother, to help children and victims of the pogrom. This is how it all started”, Gujon said in a post on Twitter.

Serbian Ministry of Culture said that Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo “continues to be endangered on a daily basis by desecration, destruction or falsification”, adding that “continuous misuse of the Serbian cultural and religious heritage is ongoing”, and warned of frequent examples and attempts to appropriate Serbian heritage there as “Albanian or Kosovo” heritage.

US Ambassador Hill on March violence (Kosovo Online, Kurir)

The US Ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, said today that the persecution of Serbs from Kosovo 19 years ago was a terrible event, pointing out that because of such suffering, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity provided by dialogue under the EU auspices, so that everyone in the region has a peaceful and prosperous future.

He emphasised that he is not able to change history, but that he will do his best to contribute to a better future in the region.

“What happened in 2004 was terrible. Violence destroys peace and stability; it does not contribute to anything better. Those terrible events can serve as a reminder of the risks that we are facing in dealing with the same problems today. That is why it is very important to take advantage of the opportunities that dialogue is providing to us, under the auspices of the EU, and to give everyone in this region the peaceful and prosperous future, which they deserve”, Hill told Kurir daily.

Vucic: We have still not received draft paper on what EU wants (Tanjug)

In a public address last night, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Serbia had still not received a draft paper on what the EU wanted from the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and that both sides had submitted their own proposals.

“I worked with them (the EU) on that issue for three days. We have submitted our proposal, and the (Kosovo) Albanians have submitted their own. We have not received anything from Brussels as yet, and the paper still does not exist, as of 6 pm today”, Vucic said following meetings with EU and US special envoys Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar.

He said an upcoming meeting in Ohrid, North Macedonia, would not be a fateful one and noted that, like anywhere else, he would try to do the best for Serbia and continue to work on normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations.

He said it was not about what he would sign, but about whether he would sign anything.

“But, in fact, no one is hoping I will not sign something because no one cares about Kosovo and Metohija… All those who are organising protests are hoping I will sign so that they can demand my head on a platter – not because they would be afraid or dissatisfied as a result of the (EU) plan being accepted”, Vucic said.

“We will continue to work on normalisation and we will be a constructive partner to the EU. We firmly stand by our red lines – I have not lied to anyone in discussions”, he added.

KSF member suspected of wounding Serb youth in Gotovusa sent to house arrest (KoSSev, media)

The Basic Court in Urosevac removed a KSF member (A.K.) suspected of wounding two Serb boys – S.S. (11) and M.S. (21) in Gotovusa on Christmas Day from police custody and ordered him to be placed under house arrest instead.

A.K. was charged with “causing general danger“ and “the use of a firearm“, the lawyer of one of the wounded boys, Milos Delevic, confirmed for KoSSev portal.

Delevic revealed that he would insist on the reclassification of the criminal offence into “attempted aggravated murder“. On the other hand, A.K.’s defence counsel believes that this criminal offence did not take place and that he actually “acted in self-defence“.

A young boy S.S. (11) and a young man M.S. (21) of Serbian ethnicity were wounded on Christmas Day in the village of Gotovusa near Strpce when they were shot at from a passing car.

Soon after the incident, a thirty-three-year-old Albanian man, A.K. a member of the KSF, was detained.

Reactions to send KSF member suspected of wounding Serb youth in Gotovusa to house arrest (Radio KIM, media)

Reacting to the decision of the Basic Court in Urosevac to send A.K. member of Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) the main suspect in a shooting incident in Gotovusa village, near Strpce, in which two Serb youngsters were wounded, Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said it is a step towards his acquittal and appealed on international community representatives to diligently monitor this case, Radio KIM reports.

Petkovic also said that “while Serbs in Kosovo are rendered draconic punishments without any witnesses or material evidence, the crimes of Albanians are being relativized and all this happens ahead of the Pogrom anniversary and horrific sufferings of Serbs for which no one was held responsible adequately”.

“Decision of the court in Urosevac to send KSF member to house arrest, is a step towards acquittal of (Albin) Kurti’s extremist who wanted to murder Stefan and Milos on Christmas Day in Gotovusa. International representatives are obliged to follow this case with utmost diligence and not allow the culprit for wounding Serbian children to get away with that”, Petkovic wrote in a post on Twitter.

The Serbian List in their reaction termed the court’s decision to send A.K. to house arrest as shameful.

“As we had been warning from day one, when a member of KSF without any reason shot at Serbian children, Stefan and Milos, who carried a tree on a Christmas Day, Kosovo institutions are carrying out the process of relativization of this heinous act in order to diminish responsibility of the accused person. It comes as no wonder, but it is shameful indeed to enable such a person to be under house arrest”, Serbian List said in a statement.

Serbian List added that responsibility for such acts of Kosovo institutions also goes to the international community and their silence, given that they, as Serbian List said, did not accept their appeal to diligently monitor this case and contribute to the punishment of those responsible for attack against Serbian children.

Vucic thanks Cuba for supporting Serbia’s territorial integrity (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received the credentials of new Cuban Ambassador to Belgrade Leyde Ernesto Rodriguez Hernandez on Thursday, thanking Cuba for its principled commitment to international law and support for Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Tanjug news agency reports.

Vucic reiterated Serbia’s commitment to the friendly relations with Cuba, based on mutual understanding and support, and welcomed the ambassador, wishing him a successful tenure in Serbia, the presidential press office said in a statement.

He added that Serbia was interested in strengthening the economic cooperation with Cuba, with particular emphasis on agriculture and the food industry, medicine and other fields of mutual interest.

Obradovic: Vucic never said he is against Kosovo membership in UNESCO, Interpol (BETA)

Leader of Dveri Movement Bosko Obradovic said today Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic never denied that he was ready to accept membership of Kosovo in UNESCO, Interpol, NATO or EU, but that he always spoke only about opposing membership of Kosovo in the UN, BETA news agency reports.

“Vucic always mentions only opposing membership of so-called Kosovo in the UN, while he is completely silent in the domestic public about what he said for international media – that he was ready to support membership of so-called Kosovo in different international organisations. I claim this with full responsibility that after meeting in Ohrid, when implementation of Franco-German agreement starts, it means that Vucic’s authorities will never again and nowhere in international forums oppose admission of a fake state of Kosovo to UNESCO, Interpol, EU, NATO”, Obradovic said in a written statement.

He said that acceptance of the European proposal for normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina means consent to Kosovo membership in international organisations. He called on Serbian President Aleksndar Vucic to publicly refute this or reject tomorrow in Ohrid in its entirety the Franco-German agreement, as the only proof of not accepting blackmail for the EU.

“If contrary, he should resign and present his new policy on Kosovo and Metohija at extraordinary elections”, Obradovic said.  

Vucic: We will preserve integral Serbia as written in Constitution (BETA, N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the authorities will “preserve integral Serbia, as written in the Constitution”, BETA news agency reports. He also said Serbia will not be isolated.

“Not an easy period is ahead of us, but when we pursue responsible, serious and wise politics, Serbia comes out as a winner”, Vucic said in Donji Tovarnik, at the beginning of his tour to Srem okrug, in Vojvodina.

He also said he will preserve the peace because Serbia “has no children to waste”.

“We have made many mistakes in the past and we must not repeat them again”, he said.

Humanitarian/Development

KoSSev director wins award for a story about life in Cernica, award money to be donated to a family in Koretiste (KoSSev, media)

The Peaceful Change Initiative (PCI) presented the 2022 Media Awards. One of this year’s winners was Nevenka Medic, Director of the KoSSev Portal. The 500 euro award will be donated to the Savic family, with eight children and a ninth on the way, whose father is seriously ill, from the village of Koretiste, KoSSev portal reports.

The Peaceful Change Initiative award is part of the project ‘Amplifying Local Voices for Equitable Development’ – supported by the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.

The awards were given on the basis of two competitions – for media reporting in Serbian and Albanian. The decision was also made by two panels of judges – one in Belgrade and the other in Pristina. The panel in Belgrade comprised of Jelena Obucina, Tamara Skrozza and Milivoje Mihajlovic. The one in Pristina of Violeta Hyseni Kelmendi, Violeta Oroshi and Dr. Ismet Hajdari.

The awards were given in two categories – journalistic writing and audio-video form.

The first prize in Belgrade was awarded to RTK2 journalists Žarko Joksimović and Ersin Shamli for the documentary film “The Filigree Bridge“.

At this regional media competition, Nevenka Medic won 2nd place in the audio-visual category for her reportage about the life of Serbs in Cernica, a multi-ethnic village near Gnjilane.

The reportage was produced as part of the “Howdy, neighbour?“ series, made with the support of UNMIK.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/42l1c5j