Albanian Language Media:

• Konjufca meets Escobar; “no association that threatens Kosovo’s sovereignty” (media)
• Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to continue next week at level of chief negotiators (RFE)
• Kurti: EU and U.S. to apply more pressure on Belgrade (media)
• LDK leader calls for resignation of Justice Minister (media)
• Osmani and Kurti: Serbia committed genocide in Kosovo (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• Stano: The main negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina next week in Brussels (Blic, RFE, Kosovo Online, N1)
• Greek President Sakellaropoulou on two-day visit to Serbia, stance on Kosovo remains unchanged  (Tanjug, RTS)
• Petkovic: Pristina stages political process against Todosijevic (Kosovo Online)
• Stano: The EU institutions with Belgrade and Pristina starting to implement the Ohrid agreement  (Beta, NMagazin, N1, KiM radio)
• Dacic, Botsan-Kharchenko discuss situation in region, bilateral ties (Tanjug)
• Djilas: Topic of Kosovo UN membership depends on Russia, China (Beta, N1)
• House of Zikica Stevic in Laplje Selo broken into (RTS)
• Serbia committed to its European path, Vucic tells Giaufret (media)

International:

• EU history offers a model for Kosovo-Serbia reconciliation (Euractive)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Serbian climbers rescued by Albanian military (N1)

Albanian Language Media  

Konjufca meets Escobar; “no association that threatens Kosovo’s sovereignty” (media)

Kosovo Assembly President, Glauk Konjufca, met during his stay in the U.S. with the Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and discussed current political developments in Kosovo and the region, the process of dialogue and the Ohrid agreement, and also further steps for the full normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia.

“We reiterated the position of the state of Kosovo, but also the guarantees from the State Department, that there can be no association or any other mechanism that threatens the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo,” Konjufca said.

Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to continue next week at level of chief negotiators (RFE)

Spokesperson for the European Union, Peter Stano, said today that a meeting between Kosovo and Serbia chief negotiators will be held next week. The meeting will focus on the implementation of the agreement on normalisation and the implementation annex, agreed by the parties on March 18 in Ohrid.

Commenting on a proposal by Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic to hold the next meeting between Kosovo and Serbia in Montenegro, Stano said: “We are glad that the dialogue is becoming so popular in the region and an increasing number of countries are offering to host it. But let us go step by step. The dialogue is based in Brussels and we have made a very important step in Ohrid, with the accord between the President of Serbia and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, where they agreed on the agreement and the implementation annex. The focus now is on the implementation”.

Kurti: EU and U.S. to apply more pressure on Belgrade (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview with Top Channel that the European Union and the United States should apply more pressure on Serbia to recognise Kosovo.

“I believe it is necessary to put more pressure on Belgrade, because it proved that it understands this language best. Serbia is not a democratic country, the regime there applies a lot of pressure on its people, pluralism is not accepted there, human rights are not respected, there is no law over politics but politics over the law. Therefore, only a joint pressure from Brussels and Washington, but I would also say from Berlin, Paris and Rome, could bring results. This is necessary,” he said.

Kurti said that Serbia was not willing to sign the agreement in Brussels on February 27 and in Ohrid on March 18. “[It would have been signed yesterday] if it were up to me, but it is clear that the party that is not constructive, the party that is aggressive, and which does not distance itself from the past and Milosevic and from the current problematic present, is Belgrade. As a democratic and independent country, we are confident that we are more democratic and more independent than Serbia,” Kurti said.

LDK leader calls for resignation of Justice Minister (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, said today that Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu should resign as a moral act after the Constitutional Court turned down the draft law on the Prosecutorial Council. “A ministry led by a minister that threatens the constitutional order of the Republic cannot bring judicial policies. This is the interpretation of the highest Court in the country – threatening the constitutional order and the legal order … What example of justice and equality is this for honest citizens and workers?! Why should others respect the Courts when government officials do not respect them?” Abdixhiku argued in a Facebook post.

“In addition to being unknowledgeable, they are dangerous too. Resignation, as a moral act, is a necessity, the constitutional order is sacred – something that the populists never manage to understand,” he added.

Koha notes that the Constitutional Court turned down the law on the Prosecutorial Council on Friday, saying that it violates several articles of the Constitution. The ruling was accepted by the Ministry of Justice, but the latter also expressed remarks on several points of the decision. Haxhiu said she would not resign after accusations and demands from the LDK.

Osmani and Kurti: Serbia committed genocide in Kosovo (RTK)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti paid homage today at the memorial complex in Izbica, Skenderaj, on the 24th anniversary of the Izbica massacre, where in March 1999, Serbian police and military forces killed 147 men, youths, and elderly.

Osmani said that the massacre was one of the biggest atrocities against the Albanian people. “Crime does not end with the killing and massacre of our citizens in Izbica, but was multiplied when Serbian forces exhumed the victims and buried them in mass graves in different locations in Serbia and in Kosovo,” she said.

Kurti said in his address that “the Izbica massacre is proof of the genocide committed by Serbia”. He also said that the massacre is mentioned in the indictments of six former senior state, political, police and military leaders of Serbia, “which we will never forget, and we will also never forget to bring justice for the victims and the families.” 

Serbian Language Media 

Stano: The main negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina next week in Brussels (Blic, RFE, Kosovo Online, N1)

The chief negotiators of Serbia and Kosovo, Petar Petkovic and Besnik Bislimi, next week will meet in Brussels, confirmed the spokesperson of the European Union (EU) Peter Stano, reported Serbian media, citing Radio Free Europe.

According to Stano, Bislimi from Pristina and Petkovic from Belgrade are coming at the invitation of the European facilitator in order to “present everything that was agreed in Ohrid and start the next steps towards implementation”.

N1 learned that the meeting was scheduled for 4 April.

N1 recalled that  President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said today, after a meeting with the President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, that Serbia is striving for EU membership, that it will continue reforms and work on improving human rights, as well as that it will “implement everything that has been agreed.”

Greek President Sakellaropoulou on two-day visit to Serbia, stance on Kosovo remains unchanged  (Tanjug, RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic welcomed Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport on Monday. President Sakellaropoulou is paying a two-day official visit to Serbia, Serbian media report.

On Tuesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ceremonially welcomed President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in front of the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade. In a joint media address following the tete-a-tete meeting, President Vucic said the two states are bound by more than traditional, friendly, sisterly and brotherly relations.

“It seems to me that our peoples understand each other very well, and politicians are there to only build upon what people feel for a long time”, Vucic said.

“Serbia and Greece reconfirm their commitment and support to UN Charter principles and UN resolutions on territorial integrity of this and other states, and same as they support ours, we also support integrity of the Hellenic Republic on the land, sea, islands, air and that policy will not change”, Vucic said. He also thanked his Greek counterpart for clear support to the integrity of Serbia.

Speaking to the media, President Sakellaropoulou said that the stance of Greece on Kosovo remains unchanged. She added pressure exists, but it did not impact the stance of her country.

“We have consistency in our policy, it is important for dialogue to continue”, she said, adding Greece is ready to help Belgrade and Pristina.

“My country has always thought that Serbia belongs to the European family. We support Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and recent talks. Our aim is to strengthen the economic position of Serbia. Our stance on Kosovo remains unchanged and stable”, she said.  

The meeting between two presidents, will be followed by a plenary meeting of Serbian and Greek delegations.

Petkovic: Pristina stages political process against Todosijevic (Kosovo Online)

Zvecan Provisional Municipal Authority President Ivan Todosijevic received a summon to report for serving prison sentence on Monday, April 3 over his remarks on Racak case although he had not previously received the court’s verdict in this case, Kosovo and Metohija Office Director, Petar Petkovic told the media.

Petkovic said the summon to report to prison Todosijevic received last week, and only today he received the verdict of the Court of Appeals by which his one-year prison sentence was upheld.

“It is unheard of that a summon to serve sentence is handed to anyone without a written verdict received previously, which unequivocally proves that Pristina, led by Albin Kurti, is conducting a political and staged process against Todosijevic, which aims to try Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija for a verbal offence and that they are prohibited from freedom of opinion and expression”, Petkovic said.

He added that Todosijevic learned about the verdict from Pristina media, which further supports the claim that he is a victim of political persecution.

He also announced that Todosijevic’s defence lawyer will use the possibility of an extraordinary legal remedy and submit an appeal to the Supreme Court in Pristina against the decision on the prison sentence and the verdict.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija will also inform EU special envoy for Belgrade-Pristina talks Miroslav Lajcak about the latest violation of the agreement and the trampling of Todosijevic’s basic human and democratic rights and also ambassadors of Quint states.

Serbian List reacts to Todosijevic’s verdict

Reacting to the verdict Serbian List said it represents “a crown in Serbo-phobia by Albin Kurti’s regime”.

They argued the fact that Todosijevic learnt about the verdict from the Albanian media, before the verdict was delivered to him proves it was about political persecution, coupled by a fact that the summon to serve the sentence was handed over to him prior to the verdict.

“After several decades, Ivan Todosijevic is the first man on European soil to be convicted for a verbal offence in front of the entire international community and their representatives who claim for years that the rule of law and democracy are of utmost importance to them”, Serbian List said in a statement. It added, this is probably not the case when it comes to Serbs in Kosovo. 

Stano: The EU institutions with Belgrade and Pristina starting to implement the Ohrid agreement (Beta, NMagazin, N1, KiM radio)

In the coming days, the EU institutions, with the support of EU leaders, will take the first steps towards the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement together with Kosovo and Serbia, European Commission (EC) spokesperson Peter Stano told the Beta agency in Brussels.

The spokesperson of the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, stated that Belgrade and Pristina are contractually obliged to implement the Ohrid Agreement and the Annex, and made it clear that if they do not do so, then they are abandoning the path to the European Union, NMagazin portal reported.

Stano reminded that Borrell stated that he would “advise the two parties in carrying out their work” in the implementation of the Agreement on the path to normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, including the implementation annex.

The EC spokesperson underlined that “the international reputation and trust in Kosovo and Serbia will now be at stake, so they should show themselves as trustworthy partners for the EU and therefore it is necessary to implement what they promised”.

He pointed out that the provisions of the agreement and the annex will be incorporated into Chapter 35 of the EU-Serbia negotiations on membership and the program of the EU Special Group on normalisation with Kosovo.

“This means”, he made it known, “that the two parties will be contractually obliged to implement those provisions if they want to progress towards the EU, and non-implementation means abandoning the path towards the European Union”.

Stano pointed out that Borell informed the EU leaders about the talks in Ohrid last week and said that Kosovo and Serbia now have to put into practice what they reached with an agreement.

And, as he pointed out, “Borrell once again presented that any speculations about the signing or validity of the Ohrid agreement are worthless, and everything that has happened in the dialogue so far has proven that the importance of the agreement is measured by the degree of its implementation, not by the signature”.

The high representative of the EU, Stano pointed out, “made it very clear that the Ohrid agreement has been finalised, that it must be implemented and that there is no room for choosing what is wanted and what is not”.

Borrell’s media representative stated that last Thursday the EU leaders called on Kosovo and Serbia to quickly and in good faith fulfil their obligations undertaken at the meeting in Ohrid and emphasised that “Kosovo and Serbia have fully committed to implement all the items of the agreement and the annex”.

Beta asked Stano to say what the EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak meant, by saying that “it needs to be focused, and start with the issues that Serbia and Kosovo can do, and which they can do immediately.”

Stano replied that “both sides know very well what they need to agree on and implement because they expressly accepted it in the Ohrid agreement and the EU will certainly help them, but it is not the EU that will propose specific solutions, while the obligations have been clearly undertaken”.

Stano added that ”both sides know very well that there will be very unfavourable consequences if this is not done, because it is part of the agreement”, reported NMagazin, citing Beta. 

Beta agency recalled that Borrell told reporters that “in the annex to the agreement, it is clearly stated that Kosovo undertakes to immediately commit itself to the establishment of the Association/Community of Serbian Municipalities”, and that the  Belgrade negotiation team drafted a proposal for the status of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM). Beta therefore asked whether Pristina is doing anything to that end. 

Stano replied that the Kosovo side is very well acquainted with how to reach an agreement, a solution for the Community /Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority.

And, as he specified, “in the Ohrid agreement and the annex, the EU presented it completely clearly and it is the two parties that must implement it. The EU has provided a platform for dialogue, and everything must be implemented within that framework”.

Beta asked diplomatic sources in the EU to explain whether the fact that the leading political force of the Serbs in Kosovo, Serbian List, refused to participate in the scheduled local elections, is seen as a problem for the first steps towards the formation of the CSM, demanding that the formation of the CSM first and withdrawal of the special police from the North of Kosovo. 

Diplomats in the EU replied that “the EU regrets that the Serbian List did not use its democratic right to participate in the municipal elections”, but they also noted that “this is an internal matter, obviously political, of the Kosovo Serbs themselves, a question of democratic determinations and actions”.

“If the Serbian List believes that it should not go to the elections, that is its matter, but the obligations from the Ohrid Agreement remain, they must be implemented by agreement,” it was said.

Diplomats in Brussels were asked to refer to Borrell’s statement that “it is Kosovo’s obligation to establish specific solutions and guarantees in order to guarantee a valid level for the self-governance of the Serbian community in Kosovo”, that is, what principles have been established for it, whether the CSM will have any executive powers.

The answer was that “it must definitely be resolved through dialogue, because all open issues must be discussed, and solutions found for them. Pristina and Belgrade will get there, and the EU will help them in everything”.

To Beta’s remark that Pristina and Belgrade in Ohrid also committed to solving the problem of missing persons, but that the very painful issue of the 200,000 exiled Serbs from Kosovo and their property was not mentioned, diplomatic sources in Brussels said that “everything that is an open problem, and the two sides put it on the dialogue table, must be solved, even though it is not explicitly stated in the Ohrid agreement.”

They concluded, only solutions to all open issues will give the final desired outcome, which is the normalisation of relations between the two parties, reported Serbian media.

Dacic, Botsan-Kharchenko discuss situation in region, bilateral ties (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic received Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko on Monday to discuss the situation in the region and exchange views on plans and activities for further directions of development of bilateral cooperation, as well as on multilateral cooperation.

Dacic once again noted Serbia’s commitment to the policy of peace and cooperation with a view to preserving stability in the Western Balkans, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

He noted that Serbia would remain committed to dialogue as the only way to seek a compromise solution.

Djilas: Topic of Kosovo UN membership depends on Russia, China (Beta, N1)

Leader of the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP) Dragan Djilas said that whether or not the topic of Kosovo’s membership in the UN will ever be discussed in the Security Council does not depend on Serbia, but solely on Russia’s and China’s interests.

“And then, at the (UN) General Assembly vote, it depends on whether half of the countries are willing to accept Kosovo,” Djilas told Radio TV Vojvodina (RTV), reported N1.

Djilas said his and his party’s position is that Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of Serbia, that Serbia must never recognize Kosovo’s independence or vote in favour of its membership in the UN.

Commenting on the fact that the European Union (EU) Agreement on the path to normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia stipulates that Serbia will not object to Kosovo’s membership in any international organisation, including the UN, Djilas said this agreement is bad for Serbia and that the SSP refused to back it precisely because of such provisions.

He said he does not have a problem with recognizing documents issued by the Pristina authorities, because Serbia already recognizes Kosovo ID cards and vehicle registration certificates.

“I don’t see that it makes a big difference whether it’s a passport or an identity card, the whole of Europe already travels without passports. We have to be realistic when it comes to Kosovo, to know what the situation is and what is happening there, just as we have to protect our national interest, and that is the recognition of Kosovo and its membership in the UN,” said Djilas.

Although this agreement has become part of Chapter 35 in the EU accession negotiations, if this matter is ever raised before the UN, Serbia has the right to vote against it.

He said that rejecting the “bad” plan, which the EU and US consider accepted, would be very bad for Serbia and would lead to isolation, serious economic consequences, and further exodus of the population.

Asked whether Serbia can join the EU without previously recognizing Kosovo’s independence, Djilas said there is no such request and that there are five EU countries that have not recognized independent Kosovo.

“One of them is Spain, which, I believe, will never recognize Kosovo for its own reasons and arguments,” said Djilas, adding that Chapter 35 clearly reads that the Serbia-Kosovo agreement is its integral part, and there is absolutely no mention of Serbia’s obligation to recognize Kosovo’s independence in it. “This does not exist as a condition,” said the SSP leader.

He said he does not expect the five EU countries, or any country in the world to recognize Kosovo based on this agreement because it is “bad”.

“It is bad because of the fact that Aleksandar Vucic decided to negotiate and manage it himself. This agreement is a defeat of this policy, a defeat of the fact that someone thought he could decide everything on his own, a defeat of 10 years of lies we have been living in, lies saying we are defeating Kosovo at every step,” said Djilas.

House of Zikica Stevic in Laplje Selo broken into (RTS)

Unknown perpetrators have broken into the house of Zikica Stevic, in Laplje Selo on Sunday evening and stole a hunting gun with ammunition, for which the owner had the permit, RTS reports.

Stevic told RTS that perpetrators entered using the side door, ransacked the house but only took the gun with them. The case was reported to the police, and it conducted an investigation.

Another house in central Kosovo was also burglarized. The burglars entered the house of Mitar Mitrovic in Suvi Do near Lipljan and according to his daughter stole golden and silver jewellery as well as around 2000 euros. She also said that ten years ago a tractor was stolen from the family. The perpetrators were never found.  

RTS recalls that burglaries targeting Serb households in Kosovo have intensified over the last few weeks.  

Serbia committed to its European path, Vucic tells Giaufret (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with the head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret on Tuesday.

Vucic and Giaufret discussed the continuation of Serbian European integration and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, as well as joint construction and modernisation projects in the country.

“Serbia is committed to its European path and reform processes aimed at better life for all citizens and attaining the status of full European Union membership”, Vucic wrote in a post on his buducnostsrbijeav Instagram profile.

International 

EU history offers a model for Kosovo-Serbia reconciliation (Euractive)

The normalisation process between Serbia and Kosovo requires deep and thorough cooperation from both sides, similar to the post-World War II reconciliation process between Germany and France, Igor Bandović and Arban Mehmeti write.

Igor Bandović is a director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy in Belgrade, Serbia.

Arban Mehmeti is a researcher and PhD student at the Humboldt-University of Berlin. He is currently writing his dissertation on the ”Cultural Peacebuilding process between Kosovo and Serbia”.

All beginnings are difficult, especially those that аre starting again and again. Quite soon, we will find out if the latest attempt by the West (EU-US) effort to solve the biggest problem in the Balkans in the last two decades will be a success or failure.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Zl1Hda

Humanitarian/Development

Serbian climbers rescued by Albanian military (N1)

Four Serbian climbers were rescued by the Albanian military after suffering injuries in the Valbona national park area, Albanian Defense Minister Niko Peleshi said on Monday.

“Air force personnel, with two helicopters AB 206 and EC 135 have successfully transported 4 Serbian climbers who while crossing Valbona to Theth slipped suffering body injuries”, the minister said in a Facebook post. He added that one of the climbers was taken to hospital while the others suffered only minor injuries.

The four Serbian climbers were making their way through snow from Valbona to Theth on the Albanian side of the Prokletije mountain range.