Albanian Language Media:

• Konjufca at Summit for Democracy: Kosovo has made extraordinary progress (media)
• Vela on reports that Constitutional Court “will bring down” Osmani: attempted coup against institutions (Klan)
• KSF will have a military airport (media)
• Two vehicles with RKS license plates burned in Zubin Potok (media)
• Vela reacts to vehicles of Kosovo Serbs set on fire in Zubin Potok (RTK)
• Haradinaj after meeting Szunyog: Parties should fulfill obligations arising from Ohrid agreement (Klan)
• GLPS with a report on achievements and setbacks in second year of Kurti government (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• ”If the Constitutional Court accepts the request of the former MP Berisha, it may lead to the dismissal of the President of Kosovo” (NMagazin, Beta)
• Hopes and fears of families regarding the Declaration on Missing Persons in Kosovo (RFE)
• Dveri: Serbs in the north left to themselves, they are re-registering their cars massively (NMagazin, Beta)
• Pantovic: Every Serb accused of a war crime in Kosovo accused in advance (KoSSev)
• Serbian Chamber of Commerce chief says EU needs stable Western Balkans (N1)
• Petkovic: Pristina has no intention of allowing the CSM (ZSO), it wants to deceive Brussels again (Blic, Tanjug)

International:

• Kosovo Guerrilla Chiefs’ Landmark Trial: What are the Charges? (Balkan Insight)
• Four Western Balkan countries launched “100% Alignment with CFSP” platform (EWB)

Albanian Language Media  

Konjufca at the Summit for Democracy: Kosovo has made extraordinary progress (media)

Within the framework of the activities taking place at the second Democracy Summit, the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca participated in the panel on the topic “Free and fair elections – The role of Congress in promoting sound electoral policies and voter participation”.

“Kosovo has shown extraordinary progress on its way towards the consolidation of democracy and that all electoral processes in recent years, according to local and international reports, have been organized meeting the highest democratic standards for free and fair elections, thus proving maturity and high political and civic culture,” Konjufca said in his speech.

He also stressed the role of the Assembly of Kosovo in this process, emphasizing the fact that after several years of effort, the parliamentary political groups are now on the verge of completing the work on the electoral reform, in order to enable the addressing of the shortcomings revealed during the past electoral processes and soon those changes will be approved in the Assembly.

“Despite the challenges and the work that awaits us, the achievements so far prove our political prudence and commitment to building a stable democratic society and state,” Konjufca said.

Vela on reports that Constitutional Court “will bring down” Osmani: attempted coup against institutions (Klan)

The Chief of Staff in the Presidential Cabinet Blerim Vela has reacted to the reports that the Constitutional Court will “bring down” President Vjosa Osmani, saying that all this is a perfidious aim to put pressure on the Court and create confusion in the public.

“It is completely clear that the disinformation and propaganda that is allegedly made by calling on “sources within the Court” are part of the special war carried out according to the scheme prepared by Belgrade and carried out through the criminals of the North and their realtors, who are on the U.S. blacklist. Any eventual scenario to cause an institutional crisis in Kosovo and to derail the dialogue process (in particular to prevent the implementation of Article 4 of the agreement), is only Serbia’s own scenario,” Vela wrote in a post on Twitter.

“So, this is an attempt to influence judicial decision-making and a coup attempt against the legitimate institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, and as such it will fail,” he wrote.

KSF will have a military airport (media)

The Minister of Defense Armend Mehaj and the Minister of Infrastructure Liburn Aliu have presented as they call them, two major projects aimed at increasing the training capacities of the Kosovo Security Force for strategic reasons, in Babaj, Boka, Gjakova and at Gjakova Airport.

Mehaj said that Gjakova Airport is being functionalized for the purposes of the Ministry of Defense, while Babaj of Boka will be transformed into an operational area for the KSF where tactical ranges will be built.

“Gjakova Airport is being operationalized for defense purposes. Babaj of Boka will be transformed into an operational area of the KSF, where tactical ranges will be built according to NATO standards. The tactical ranges in Babaj of Boka will be modern and will be built according to the standards of the U.S. army and NATO. These polygons will be in operation not only for our army but also for all our strategic partners. While at the airport, the construction of various facilities with operational purposes for the Kosovo army is planned,” Mehaj said at the press conference on Thursday.

He has thanked the strategic allies for the help in the realization of these projects.

Aliu has said that the expropriation of properties to realize these projects have been priorities for the Ministry that he leads. He emphasized that they have expropriated almost all the properties that have passed on behalf of the Government, while they have spent 9.4 million euros so far.

Two vehicles with RKS license plates burned in Zubin Potok (media)

Two cars, which were re-registered with Republic of Kosovo (RKS) license plates about a week ago, were burned in Zubin Potok, the Kosovo Police announced.

The police said that two persons of Serb nationality, have presented the case to the police, indicating that their cars were burned around 02:30 by unknown persons.

“The complaining parties report that their cars were parked in their neighborhood, in front of residential houses,” the announcement states.

Vela: Two vehicles of Kosovo Serbs set on fire in Zubin Potok (RTK)

Blerim Vela, chief of staff of the Kosovo President, reacted after two cars owned by Kosovo Serbs were set on fire in Zubin Potok last night, which, as Vela says, seems to have happened only because of RKS license plates.

“Serbia’s illegal structures continue to intimidate the local Serbs in Zubin Potok. Last night two cars owned by Kosovo Serbs were burned apparently just because they had RKS car plates. As per Brussels agreement, Kosovo car plates are the only legal car plates throughout Kosovo,” he wrote on Twitter.

Haradinaj after meeting Szunyog: Parties should fulfill obligations arising from Ohrid agreement (Klan)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj, discussed with the head of the EU Office in Kosovo Tomas Szunyog the political developments in Kosovo as well as normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. 

“In a substantive meeting held today with Mr. Tomas Szunyog, head of the European Union Office, at the same time Special Representative of the EU in Kosovo, we openly discussed the political developments in the country, this also in the spirit of the obligations that the parties must perform as a result of the agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” Haradinaj wrote on his Facebook page.

“I expressed my consideration for the unique commitment of EU member states to reach this agreement. Also, I had the pleasure of accepting the appreciation of Ambassador Szunyog for the constructive role of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and mine throughout this process,” he added.

“The implementation of this agreement opens a clearer integration perspective of Kosovo in the European Union and Euro-Atlantic structures,” Haradinaj wrote.

GLPS with a report on achievements and setbacks in the second year of the Kurti government (media)

The Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) has published today a report on the second year of Kurti’s government.

The report states that in general, the second year of government has been characterized by the phenomenon of the positions of acting officials exceeding in most cases even the legal deadlines. This phenomenon, according to GLPS, has seriously damaged the functioning of the public administration in Kosovo.

Another phenomenon that characterizes the Kurti government, GLPS emphasizes, is the long-term incompleteness of important positions within key departments and institutions, such as the position of the Minister of Health, the Director of Police, various secretaries and executive agencies.

The GLPS report states that Kosovo is still at an early stage in the fight against corruption and organized crime, however, the police operations against smuggling in the north of Kosovo and the cases of “Subsidies” and “Brezovica” are seen as positive signs in the fight against organized crime and corruption.”

The adoption of several laws such as: the new Code of Criminal Procedure, the Law on the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the new Law on the Declaration of Assets, the legislation on the financing of political parties and the decision on the creation of structures for the drafting of the Strategy State and Anti-Corruption Action Plan, are also considered positive.

“The Veting process and that of the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets have gone through several stages viewed chronologically. Among other things, the local actors have addressed the Venice Commission for advisory opinions which have already been published, which should be considered positively.

However, at the moment both draft laws are “frozen assets” due to the fact that both are in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo for constitutionality assessment,” it is stated also in this report.

The GLPS report also analyzes foreign policy, public administration reform, the issue of European integration and dialogue with Serbia.

“Kosovo’s application for membership in the Council of Europe in May 2022 and in the European Union in December 2022 should be evaluated positively.

In the second year of Kurti’s government, Kosovo faced several important obstacles in foreign affairs. Despite its efforts, it failed to obtain any new state recognition or secure membership in international organizations.

In 2022, Kosovo’s foreign service found itself in the face of a major financial scandal involving Martin Berishaj, the country’s ambassador to Croatia.

Meanwhile, regarding the process of European integration, it is said that the process remains limited within the mechanisms of the Stabilization Association Agreement and the European Agenda for Reforms – ERA II.

Regarding the dialogue with Serbia, GLPS considers that there is a lack of a real and regular dialogue with the opposition parties regarding this process.

“Shortly before two years of governance, in principle an agreement was reached between the parties in Ohrid for the implementation of the Franco-German Plan. GLPS considers that in principle it is not a bad plan but it is insufficient in the sense that it does not guarantee de-jure recognition although based on what we have seen it guarantees at least some kind of de facto recognition because it includes recognition of symbols, territorial integrity, recognition of diplomas , stamps, license plates and provides for the opening of missions or liaison offices,” the report states.

Serbian Language Media 

”If the Constitutional Court accepts the request of the former MP Berisha, it may lead to the dismissal of the President of Kosovo” (NMagazin, Beta)

Former member of the Assembly of Kosovo, Veton Berisha, the president of the Egyptian Liberal Party, stated last night that in the last parliamentary elections of February 14, 2021, there was an “orchestration” of the votes of the “Roma Initiative” with the Serbian List and that this was, by a unilateral decision of the Election Panel for Complaints and Petitions, led to the fact that there were illegitimate representatives from the “Roma Initiative” in the Parliament, reported portal NMagazin.

On this occasion, Berisha filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court in Pristina, but he has been waiting for its decision for almost two years.

Berisha stated this for Channel 10 and added that if the appeal ends in favour of the Egyptian Liberal Party, then there are deputies who are unconstitutional, and since the votes of those deputies were decisive for the election of the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and bearing in mind the previous cases, the election of the president may be declared illegal.

He also assessed that he and the members of his party were discriminated against by the Constitutional Court’s failure to act.

“The case had to be treated as a priority because democracy was violated, votes were orchestrated, and the constitutional right was denied to the communities that were guaranteed that place. The decision at the time, neither in the Election Panel nor in the Supreme Court was fair, we were not treated the same, but unequally. I expect the possibility of orchestration to stop, that those who did it will be prosecuted,” said Berisha.

He stated some time ago that the court used double standards in the case of vote fraud in the February 14, 2021, elections.

Otherwise, in the practice of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, there have been two cases of removal of the President of Kosovo, Fatmir Sejdiu and Bexhet Pacolli, as well as Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti due to violation of constitutional provisions.

Hopes and fears of families regarding the Declaration on Missing Persons in Kosovo (RFE)

The members of some of the families of the missing from both sides are not convinced that the authorities of Kosovo and Serbia will respect the last agreement from Ohrid and urgently accept the declaration on missing persons, which has been negotiated for more than a year and a half, reported Radio Free Europe. 

Whether the document will talk about missing or “enforced missing persons” is crucial for the Kosovo side, because the wording “enforced” would mean that Serbia as a state is responsible for war crimes in Kosovo.

“Serbia has never, in any process, raised the issue of the missing as a humanitarian and priority issue. It always perceived it as a political process. Whenever it could, it used it (the issue) as a political one,” Ahmet Grajqevci from Obilic told RFE. 

Seven members of his family disappeared during the war in Kosovo, and the fate of three is still unclear.

“The very fact that it (the issue of the missing) was not put as a priority, but was put together with energy and the like, means that it is less important,” believes Silvana Marinkovic from Gracanica, whose husband has disappeared.

Annex to the Agreement on Normalization of Relations

Over 13,000 people were killed in Kosovo during the war, and 6,000 went missing. In the meantime, bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in both Kosovo and Serbia, but around 1,600 people are still being sought, reported RFE.

The urgent adoption of the Declaration is an obligation that the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia assumed in Brussels when they agreed on the Annex for the implementation of the Agreement on the Normalization of Relations.

The issue of missing people is mentioned in Article 6 of that agreement, which states that the two sides will deepen cooperation on this issue in the future.

Then, the Implementation Annex stated that “the parties agree to urgently accept the Declaration on Missing Persons, as agreed within the Dialogue with the mediation of the EU”.

What does the Declaration on Missing Persons mean?

Andin Hoti, who before the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Kosovo was in the delegation for the negotiations regarding the Annex for the implementation of the Agreement, states that the parties have already harmonized the text of the Declaration within the dialogue for more than a year and a half. According to Hoti, Serbia has so far refused to accept the Declaration, i.e. amendments to the text requested by the Kosovo side.

“First of all, in the Declaration, missing persons – as we have continuously requested – are not called just missing, because they did not disappear naturally, but they are called forcibly disappeared persons. It is the only term based on the UN international convention, which explains what forcibly disappeared persons means,” Hoti told RFE. 

He explains that the word “forcibly disappeared persons” means that Serbia as a state would be responsible for war crimes in Kosovo. Hoti adds that the Declaration should allow access to the parties and insight into all documentation of state archives – written, audio-visual or any other – including those classified as confidential.

The President of the Commission of the Government of Kosovo for Missing Persons expects that this Declaration should be signed during April.

And the president of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, hopes that on April 4, when a new round of dialogue should be held at the technical level, an agreement on the missing persons will be reached. He states that this will create conditions for checking new information and searching locations suspected of being mass graves.

Odalovic, however, did not want to comment on the declaration itself, explaining that the text should first be accepted by the main negotiators in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic.

When asked if there has been a convergence of views regarding the word “forcefully” disappeared persons, Odalovic stated that the task of the Commission’s working groups is to search for missing persons, collect and verify information, conduct exhumations and identifications, not to judge or qualify possible war crimes. 

He underlines that this humanitarian issue had to be resolved at the highest political level because no progress could be made on the ground.

“We have a lot of things that we would have to act on urgently, when it comes to checking the information and the locations that we reached, and when it comes to the Serbs and when it comes to the Albanians, they have all disappeared. That is our mission. That was, in fact, a trapped process in Brussels for two years. I hope that an opportunity will be created for the working groups to meet urgently,” Odalovic told RFE.

Without much expectation from outside ‘pressures’

Family members of missing persons say that the necessity to solve a humanitarian issue like missing persons through a political agreement leaves little room for optimism.

Ahmet Grajqevci, the president of the Coordination Council of the Association of Family Members of Missing Persons in Kosovo, assesses that the Serbian authorities have never had the political will to solve the issue of the missing. He assesses that Serbia reacts only under strong pressure from the international community and in this context adds that if there is no pressure, the issue of the missing will not be resolved either.

“If the EU, the member states of the EU that are democratic, neglect, delay the process of searching for the missing, then I don’t know what to call it,” says Grajqevci.

Silvana Marinkovic from the Association of Family Members of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo also does not expect the European Union to put pressure on the parties regarding the issue of missing persons, especially when it comes to persons who disappeared after the entry of NATO forces and the arrival of the United Nations administration in Kosovo in June 1999.

“The largest number of kidnapped people happened in that period. If solved, it would be proven that they were responsible for everything that happened,” says Marinkovic.

Practice of promises without realization

Bekim Blakaj, director of the Fund for Humanitarian Law Kosovo, points out that there were many promises about shedding light on the fate of missing persons. However, as he says, there were no results in practice. In this context, he assesses that the Declaration on Missing Persons will remain “a dead letter on paper” unless a concrete implementation plan was drawn up.

“If behind this (Declaration) there is an agreement with concrete points, where the parties promise to take concrete actions, then we can hope that there will be new developments and that there will be qualitative progress,” Blakaj told RFE.

Andin Hoti states that the Annex for the implementation of the Basic Agreement, which mentions the acceptance of the Declaration on Missing Persons, also implies the formation of a Joint Monitoring Committee, chaired by the EU.

This committee should oversee the implementation of the Agreement on the ground.

Also, Hoti reminds, the Annex specifies that the parties may suffer negative consequences if they do not comply with all articles.

“I do not trust Serbia, I have never trusted them, and I have enough reasons. We have seen that in the last 23 years the pressure was not enough. I believe that the EU and our friendly countries, such as the USA, will condition Serbia to implement the Declaration. This means that Serbia is obliged to hand over its archive,” says Hoti.

Odalovic believes that this time “it will be different” when it comes to the implementation of the agreement, but he did not specify specific expectations.

Dveri: Serbs in the north left to themselves, they are re-registering their cars massively (NMagazin, Beta)

Dveri movement issued a press release today in which they have pointed out that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, who are left to themselves and to the Kosovo authorities, are “forced to re-register their vehicles to RKS license plates”.

“No media in Serbia is reporting on what is happening in the north of Kosovo these days. Left to the separatist authorities in Pristina, Serbs are forced to re-register their vehicles. This example best shows the depth of betrayal by Aleksandar Vucic, SNS and their executors from the so-called ‘Serbian List’’. These days, Serbs, left to their own to the Kosovo authorities, abandoned and left by their country at the mercy of the Greater Albanian authorities, re-register their vehicles en masse, from KM plates to RKS plates (‘Republika e Kosovës’),” the statement reads, Serbian media cited.

Dveri stated that the Serbs who are “faced with an ultimatum from Pristina” that their vehicles will be confiscated after March 31, 2023, decided to take this step.

“The premises of the Automobile and Motorcycle Association of Serbia (AMSS) are buried with vehicles and requests for re-registration. The question arises, who allowed or ordered AMSS to carry out this dishonourable work on behalf of the Pristina authorities? After this example, the question arises as to what humiliations Aleksandar Vucic and the SNS will expose the Serbs and the Serbian state in the coming days in KiM, but also beyond,” Dveri movement concluded.

Pantovic: Every Serb accused of a war crime in Kosovo accused in advance (KoSSev)

KoSSev portal wrote today that the recent confirmation of the verdict, i.e. the one-year prison sentence, to the former mayor of Zvecan, Ivan Todosijevic, has once again raised the issue of fairness for Serbs in Kosovo’s judiciary. Also, the increasingly frequent arrests and subsequent convictions of Serbs based on indictments for alleged war crimes during the last war in Kosovo and “instructed” witnesses, who also change their statements, further cast doubt on that fairness.

Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic, who was a legal representative in as many as 15 such cases, is of the opinion that every Serb who is accused of a war crime in Kosovo is guilty in advance and convicted in advance. The practice does not deny this opinion of his. 

Many do not agree with his opinion – that every Serb in Kosovo is accused in advance, Pantovic said in an interview for KoSSev.

Nevertheless, he claims that this is so and that he will emphasize his assessment everywhere, first, because practice does not deny him.

He adds that, if practice contradicts him in his assessment, he will be ready to withdraw his opinion.

In those 15 cases in which he defended – two, according to him, are drastic.

As the worst example of an unfair trial against Serbs, he singled out the case of Goran Stanisic, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a war crime in the village of Slovinje in the municipality of Lipljan.

“Even though the maximum sentence for that crime is 15 years. After the appeal of the defense, they reduced it to 15 years,” adds Pantovic.

He singled out this one as the most unfair, due to the alteration of the testimony of the witnesses, who said one thing, as the lawyer says, in the investigative procedure immediately after the crime that happened, and completely different after his arrest in 2019.

“Two or three key witnesses of the Prosecution said in the investigative procedure, which was then led by UNMIK and then EULEX, that Goran Stanisic did not participate in the commission of war crimes. Even those witnesses listed completely different people. However, after his arrest, those same witnesses came to the prosecutor and said ‘yes, Goran Stanisic committed a war crime,'” he explains.

Therefore, Pantovic believes that the court cannot give credibility and trust to such witnesses who are inconsistent in their statements.

“First they don’t mention the man as the perpetrator, and then they say he is guilty. Such a witness is not credible, and yet Stanisic was sentenced to 15 years in prison,” Pantovic repeated.

As another example, he cited another of his clients, Zoran Djokic from Pec, whom he considers to be “perhaps an even more drastic case.”

“In his case, the prosecutor’s indictment failed, because the crown witness said another man did it, not Zoran Djokic. Then the injured party’s attorney proposed new witnesses, after all legal deadlines had expired. Obviously, they were instructed, because they came and said ‘Yes, Zoran Djokic participated in the murder of two people’,” Pantovic states.

Contrary to this, as a bright example, he singled out only one case, and that, as he said, was the case of Milorad Zajic, who was acquitted by the Basic Court in Pec about 4 years ago of war crimes.

“That’s one exception, a shining example,” adds the lawyer.

Possibilities for those who have been convicted, says Pantovic, are not very great and they have to endure the legal means available to them within Kosovo.

“We defenders do that. We are going to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, where I now have two cases and where I filed constitutional appeals due to the violation of the constitutional right to a fair trial,” he points out.

He adds that neither of these two cases has been solved, revealing that one of them is the case of Zoran Djokic. 

When it comes to Ivan Todosijevic, who was convicted by the Kosovo judiciary for the statement that “Racak was fabricated”, Pantovic believes that it is difficult to carry the label of a fugitive from the law.

“You don’t have a peaceful sleep and a normal life if you know that someone there has issued a warrant for you. That he can stop you somewhere and tell you that you have a sentence and that you have to go to prison,” says Pantovic.

The exit of Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions – worsened the situation in the judiciary

The departure of Serbs from the Kosovo Police in November, as well as from judicial institutions in the North, only worsened the situation in the judiciary in Kosovo, emphasizes Pantovic.

Defense attorneys from the North have a drastically reduced workload, with only a couple in the Basic Court in Mitrovica and many more now in Pristina or Pec.

“Courts in the North are now working with a redacted scope of work, which ultimately leads to citizens not being able to exercise their rights before legal authorities. Most of the prosecutors were of Serbian nationality. Now when you come to the court, it is an empty building. There are no employees, no parties, no prosecutors,” says Pantovic.

In the places where there were Serbian judges and prosecutors, there are now Albanians.

Pantovic says that he cannot evaluate their treatment of Serbs now, because there are few processes, which he actually sees as a bigger problem:

“When you have 5-6 times less trials than until November last year, it is clear that something is wrong.”

He recalled that the Basic Court in Mitrovica has transferred as many as 82 cases to courts in other regions of Kosovo. As he emphasized, neither the accused nor the defense attorneys knew about that.

“We didn’t know what the cases were, nor who the defendants were, which prosecutors would now represent it. Overall, there is confusion,” Pantovic assesses.

The reports of the Fund for Humanitarian Law – do not reflect the true picture of the judiciary in Kosovo

Unlike before, trials in Kosovo, when it comes to international organizations, are currently being monitored by the Fund for Humanitarian Law – Office in Pristina, which presents an annual report every year, then it is also monitored by the OSCE, and EULEX and which reports and assessments are not published.

Referring to last year’s report of the Fund for Humanitarian Law, Pantovic points out that he is not satisfied with it, as well as with the reports of that non-governmental organization in general.

“They do not reflect the true picture of the situation in trials of this type. They generally say that the trials are in order, that the defendant’s rights are respected, the trials are fair, etc. And then they find some small things, completely secondary – to create some apparent balance in that measure. And then they say there are also bad things. Therefore, those reports are affirmative for Kosovo’s judiciary, which I do not agree with at all”.

He also recalled the recently published report of the State Department on the situation in the judiciary, not only in the entire region, but also in Kosovo, in which, as he said, the criticisms were quite strong.

“Especially regarding the extension of detention, that is, the length of detention,” Pantovic added.

“Citizens unable to request the protection of their rights through international legal mechanisms”

“International legal mechanisms for protection in Kosovo do not exist, Kosovo is not a member of the Council of Europe, citizens in Kosovo have no right to seek protection of their rights before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg – and then everything ends in Kosovo,” lawyer Pantovic points out.

In this sense, although he agrees that it is more of a political issue, he believes that the admission of Kosovo to the Council of Europe would mean a lot.

“Citizens would have the right to protect their rights, when they have exhausted all possibilities within Kosovo, to look for them in Strasbourg as well. However, those who were legally convicted in Kosovo before admission to CoE would not be able to do that.”

Serbian Chamber of Commerce chief says EU needs stable Western Balkans (N1)

Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) chief Marko Cadez said in Skoplje on Thursday that Western Balkan business communities support Belgrade and Pristina’s efforts to normalize relations, adding that Europe needs stability in the region, reported N1.

The North Macedonia Economic Chamber hosted a meeting of the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) which was chaired by Kosovo Chamber of Commerce chief Lulzim Rafuna.

According to Cadez, southeastern Europe’s economy will fail and the European Union will not be stable without Western Balkan stability and real trust between Serbs and Albanians.

“The business communities and regional chambers of commerce brought together in the WB6 CIF strongly support leaders from Belgrade and Pristina in implementing agreements to normalize relations as soon as possible,” Cadez is quoted as saying in a PKS press release. He added that there is no time to waste. “we have to run on the road to the EU, to enter the single market as soon as possible. We can’t survive if we remain outside the structural mechanisms of the EU,” Cadez said.

The press release added that those business communities are prepared to help develop economic measures as part of the normalization process to remove trade barriers and reinforce the new dynamics on their European path.

The meeting in Skoplje reached agreement on joint projects in support of companies from digitalization to third market ventures and fair promotions.

Petkovic: Pristina has no intention of allowing the CSM (ZSO), it wants to deceive Brussels again (Blic, Tanjug)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said today that Pristina has no intention of ever allowing the formation of Community of Serbian municipalities, hiding behind ”the so-called the Constitutional Court” and that it is a clear tactic to deceive Brussels again, reported Serbian media. 

Petkovic wrote this on Twitter, in connection with the statement of the Pristina Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Hajrullah Ceku, that it is possible to form the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM), requested in the Annex of the implementation of the agreement with Serbia, but that it will immediately go to the Constitutional Court for consideration and where it will fail again.

Petkovic wrote “it won’t work”.

– It is crystal clear that Pristina’s tactics are to deceive Brussels again and avoid the formation of the CSM, in accordance with the four signed agreements. Now it has been confirmed in black and white by Kurti’s so-called minister and showed everyone who is breaking the agreements – he wrote in a message sent to the EU’s special envoy Miroslav Lajcak, cited Serbian media.

International 

Kosovo Guerrilla Chiefs’ Landmark Trial: What are the Charges? (Balkan Insight)

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other wartime Kosovo Liberation Army officers who became top politicians go on trial this week in The Hague, accused of brutal crimes at detention centres where their opponents were abused and killed.

More than two years after Hashim Thaci was arrested and sent to The Hague, the landmark trial of the former Kosovo president and his three co-defendants on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges finally starts on April 3. 

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

Four Western Balkan countries launched “100% Alignment with CFSP” platform (EWB)

SKOPJE – Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, together with the Albanian Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, Kosovo’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Kreshnik Ahmeti, and the foreign policy advisor of the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Đorđe Radulović, launched the new “Western Balkans QUAD – 100% alignment with EU Common Foreign Security Policy (CFSP)” platform on Wednesday.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the focus of the meeting was full alignment of the four countries from the QUAD group with the EU’s foreign and security policy in light of the new geopolitical reality, hybrid threats, energy crisis and economic consequences caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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