Albanian Language Media:

• The EU confirms the agenda of the May 2 meeting between Kurti and Vucic (RFE)
• Kurti at the Economic Forum in Delphi, meets Lord Stuart Peach (RTK)
• Lajcak meets Dendias, discuss the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Albanian Post)
• The Assembly of Mitrovica decides to open for traffic the bridge over river Iber (Koha)
• The ruling MPs are boycotting the Parliament, says KIJ (Koha)
• The CEC certifies elections results for mayors of four northern municipalities (Kallxo)
• Krasniqi: The door of autonomy for Serb community, opened  (TV21, ekonomia)

Serbian Language Media:

• Security Council on Kosovo – between ZSO, UNMIK and war crimes accusations (RTS)
• Dacic: Dialogue with Pristina in very complex, decisive moment (Tanjug, media)
• Dacic: UN SC members noted Pristina’s obligation to form Community (Tanjug)
• Poll shows low support for Franco-German agreement (NSPM, N1, Beta)
• Vucic: Kurti to open Ibar bridge in Mitrovica to expel the Serbs (RTS)
• Petkovic reacts to decision of Mitrovica North councillors on opening main bridge, says Pristina wants conflict (Tanjug)
• Serbian List: International community to prevent implementation of decision on opening main bridge (Kosovo Online, social media)
• Aleksandar Arsenijevic opposes decision to open bridge on Ibar River (social media)
• Councillors in North Mitrovica voted to open the Ibar Bridge (Kosovo Online)
• Lajcak: Serbia dissolved parallel structures; Kosovo did not form the CSM (ZSO) (RTK2)
• Strpce Missing Persons Association president: To stop separating missing persons based on nationality (RTK2)
• Qerkini:  During Kurti’s government, solving the issue of missing persons stagnated (Kosovo Online, ekonomiaonline.com)
• EEAS: Vucic, Kurti confirm attendance on May 2 (N1)
• Fidesz MEPs reject EP report on Serbia (N1)

Opinion:

• Vuletic: The words heard in the UNSC sound nice, but do not mean much, the most important thing not included in the report (RTS)

Humanitarian/Development:

• 24 years waiting for his son, the sad story of a father who still lives with hope (euronews.al)
• Statistics office publishes Serbian census results (N1)

Albanian Language Media  

The EU confirms the agenda of the May 2 meeting between Kurti and Vucic (RFE)

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, confirmed that in the new high-level dialogue meeting between the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia, the agenda will be the approval of the Declaration on the missing and the first draft of the statute for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serb majority will be presented.

Stano did not want to comment on the criticisms made by Serbian state leaders for the local elections that were held on April 23 in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo. He also did not comment on the complaints presented by Belgrade regarding the initiation of Kosovo’s membership process in the Council of Europe.

“We discussed this issue extensively two days ago. I can repeat that we do not comment on the statements of the parties, but we expect them to focus on the implementation of the obligations they have before them. We expect that on Tuesday we will have the continuation of the dialogue, which is the only platform for discussion,” Stano said.

“The meeting will focus on the implementation of the Agreement towards the normalization of relations. The first item on the agenda will be the approval of the Declaration on the missing. The second point will be the presentation of the first draft of the statute for the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serb majority. After these two topics, it will be seen whether other issues can be discussed,” Stano said.

Asked how the process will move forward if there is no progress on the establishment of the Association during the May 2 meeting, Stano reiterated that the EU expects the parties to implement the obligations they have taken.

“Generally, we don’t speculate about what will happen if something doesn’t happen. We expect the parties to be committed to implement the obligations. And the formation of the Association is a clear obligation. We expect to move forward and we, as facilitators, expect the obligations that the parties have undertaken to be implemented,” said Stano.

The May 2 meeting will take place at a time when Kosovo has accused Serbia of violating the Agreement towards the normalization of relations, reached earlier this month. Serbia has voted against Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, despite the fact that with the Agreement towards normalization it has pledged not to prevent Pristina from joining international organizations.

Likewise, officials in Belgrade have warned that they will apply the measure of reciprocity to states that do not respect its territorial integrity.

According to the Serbian Constitution, Kosovo is considered part of Serbia.

This warning of Serbia for reciprocity, in Kosovo, has been described as a violation of the Agreement towards the normalization of relations, reached under the mediation of the EU and the support of the United States.

Kurti at the Economic Forum in Delphi, meets Lord Stuart Peach (RTK)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is participating in the annual Economic Forum in Delphi, which is organized under the patronage of the President of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. 

On the first day of his participation, he met with the United Kingdom’s Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Lord Stuart Peach, with whom he discussed the bilateral relations between Kosovo and the United Kingdom and the current developments in Kosovo and the region.

“Prime Minister Kurti thanked Lord Peach for his and the United Kingdom’s continued support, which was also confirmed in the case of the acceptance of Kosovo’s application for membership in the Council of Europe, at the beginning of this week. They discussed the holding and smooth running of the elections in the four northern municipalities of Kosovo, which were calm, peaceful and incident-free,” the Prime Minister’s information office announced.

They also discussed the relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the importance and urgency of the full and unconditional implementation of the Basic Agreement and the Implementation Annex agreed in Brussels, respectively in Ohrid, and about the expectations from the next meeting of high political level that will be held on Tuesday next week.

“In addition to the meetings, today at 17:30, Prime Minister Kurti will also be a panelist in a discussion within the forum entitled “The Western Balkans in the new Geopolitical Chess Field,” this announcement states.

Lajcak meets Dendias, discuss the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (Albanian Post)

The special envoy of the European Union for the Belgrade Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak met today with the Foreign Minister of Greece Nikos Dendias. They discussed the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process.

After the meeting, he thanked Dendias for Greece’s interest in the Western Balkans and for supporting the EU’s efforts in the region.

On the other hand, the Greek diplomat announced that in the meeting with Lajcak, the issue of dialogue and the perspective of the European Union in the Western Balkans was discussed.

Otherwise, in an interview with the Slovak media “Dennik”, Lajcak said that the establishment of the Association of Majority Municipalities in Kosovo will be at the top of the agenda of the high-level meeting within the dialogue in Brussels on May 2.

He emphasised that on the negotiating table where the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, will sit and talk, will be the Draft Statute of the Association to “determine the legal status of the Serbs of Kosovo” and “what their powers will be.”

“To me, it is important that on May 2 we have a planned meeting between President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti in Brussels, where the beginning of the process of establishing the Association of the Municipalities with a Serbian majority will be on the agenda. The draft statute will be presented, which is the first mandatory and important step,” Lajcak said.

“It’s a sensitive topic, there’s still a lot to talk about, but to me it’s important that we finally start defining what this Association means, what its legal status will be, what powers it will have. We will stay behind the European models,” he added.

The Assembly of Mitrovica decides to open for traffic the bridge over the river Iber (Koha)

The Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica on Friday decided to open the bridge over the Iber River for vehicle traffic and free movement.

The Speaker of the Assembly Nedzat Ugljanin told the news portal that they are asking to restore something that existed 20 years ago, nothing more. He added that the decision will be sent to the security structures to ensure its implementation.

“Yes, according to the legality and the proposal of Aida Ferati-Doli, who has requested within the assembly to include this decision in the agenda, it has been submitted as a request and we have decided on the free movement of vehicles in the space from the bridge. This does not depend on the assembly, but on the security structures, the MIA, the Kosovo Police, EULEX, KFOR,” he said.

Ugljanin said that such a decision was expected, since “even the international community has requested the revitalization of the bridge”.

13 assembly members voted in favor of the decision, one abstained and one was against.

The reaction of the Kosovo Serbs was also immediate, Ugljanin said.

“They immediately reacted negatively. We expect it to happen after this decision. Other decisions will come, because we are only looking for what was 20 years ago,” he declared.

The ruling MPs are boycotting the Parliament, says KIJ (Koha)

The Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD) has assessed the work of the Assembly of Kosovo during 2022 as weak.

According to the KIJ “Weak – Report of the monitoring of the work of the Assembly of Kosovo for 2022,” which was published on Friday in Pristina, the Assembly started work without approving the Work Program for 2022, even though it is said that such a program is foreseen by the Regulation of the Assembly of Kosovo, and without approving the work program of the autumn session in the plenary session.

According to IKD, in 2022 the sessions of the Assembly were characterised by a large number of agenda items from the remaining sessions from 2021.

“The regular sessions of the Assembly are characterised by numerous continuations of the sessions, which make up 53% of the total regular sessions. Parliamentary control over the work of the government and the supervision of independent institutions has been almost non-existent. In at least 18 cases, the Assembly has failed to approve the annual reports of constitutional institutions and independent agencies. Also, it has failed in 18 cases to elect collegial and individual bodies, hindering their functioning,” the report states. 

Regarding the government’s accountability to the Assembly, the KIJ has found that the Assembly was ignored by the government, while the Speaker of the Assembly or the Chairman of the session did not take measures against the government, as required by the Regulations.

“This legislature is also characterised by non-parliamentary language, extreme polarisation between MPs and parliamentary groups and also between MPs and the government cabinet,” says the report that was presented at a discussion table by the researcher at KIJ, Naim Jakaj.

The report states that during the past year, 9% of MPs have faced the law. Meanwhile, it is emphasised that the transparency and accountability of the Assembly remains a challenge.

“The meetings of the parliamentary committees continue not to be broadcast by the Assembly. While electronic voting remains out of order in plenary sessions, making it impossible to inform citizens about their votes,” the report states.

In relation to legislative activity, according to KIJ, the work of the Assembly has been carried out inefficiently.

“In each plenary session, draft laws have been carried over from one session to another due to the lack of quorum on the part of the parliamentary majority and the opposition’s non-participation in the voting process. At the end of 2022, the Assembly did not consider nine draft laws in principle and two draft laws in the second reading. Despite the fact that it examined them, the Assembly failed to decide on three draft laws in the first reading and one draft law in the second reading. These draft laws have been brought forward for consideration and voting in the spring session of 2023,” the report states.

It is further emphasised that the Assembly has not voted any draft law sponsored by the opposition parliamentary groups (4 of them), in the meantime it has voted two draft laws sponsored by the parliamentary majority group.

Jakaj said that the Assembly has increased the use of the practice of avoiding the deadlines set by the Assembly’s regulation regarding the review of important draft laws.

“11% of the draft laws were approved in an accelerated procedure, where in most cases, the acceleration was proposed by the Vetevendosje Parliamentary Group,” he emphasised during the presentation of the report.

The CEC certifies elections results for mayors of four northern municipalities (Kallxo)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has certified the results for the extraordinary elections for the mayors of the municipalities: North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok. The final results are as follows: In Leposaviq, the Vetevendosje Movement won with the candidate Lulzim Hetemi who received 100 votes, in the municipality of Zubin Potok the PDK candidate Izmir Zeqiri leads with 197 votes, in Zveqan the PDK candidate Ilir Peci who received 114 votes and in North Mitrovica LVV with the candidate Erden Pantic who received 553 votes. The early local elections were held on April 23 in the Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo – North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq – but were largely boycotted by the Serb community. According to the CEC, the turnout was slightly more than 3 percent. These municipalities, until last November, were led by officials of the Serbian List, the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo, which did not participate in the April 23 elections.

Krasniqi: The door of autonomy for Serb community, opened  (TV21, ekonomia)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Memli Krasniqi said that the door of the Association was opened with the agreement of Albin Kurti in Ohrid.

“The door of the Association and more than the association, autonomy for the Serb community was opened with the agreement of Mr. Albin Kurti on March 18 with the agreement that took place in Ohrid. Anyone who has read the agreement without prejudice, without burdens and without believing anyone’s propaganda, sees that in Article 7 there is a danger and a path towards political autonomy for the Serb community along with extra territoriality for the Serbian Orthodox Church. Whereas, in the second paragraph of Article 10, the association and any other agreement,” Krasniqi told RTV21.

He stated that this is not territorial autonomy but can become political autonomy. “The models that Lajcak is talking about, are models which do not necessarily have the essence of the territory. This is also the defense of this government in the Assembly where it says, “territorial autonomy is not accepted.” Sir, you can’t make territorial autonomy because you can’t connect Zvecan with Shterpcë or Kllokot with Gracanica or between them, but political autonomy, they can have. Normally, the association should be formed together with the bodies that are expected to be formed. But this is an exceeds the agreements of 2013 and 2015,” he said.

The PDK leader further said that this version of the agreement has drastic changes. “There is nothing written about recognition, but the most problematic sentence among the worst ever that Mr. Kurti has accepted with this agreement is where it is said that the parties agree that they do not have the same opinion about the status. That it is a formal legal agreement of Kosovo not to ask Serbia to recognize us. And that it is not only a mistake, but it is surprising how it is possible that he accepted such a thing without experiencing any extraordinary discomfort,” he said.

Emphasising how recognition will be sought from, for example, Spain when you have in the agreement that recognition is not being sought even from Serbia, Krasniqi stated that this agreement is insufficient and does not address the demands and objectives of Kosovo. “We received a temporary, non-comprehensive agreement with many question marks about its applicability and legal and international obligation, and no longer focused on mutual recognition, but on autonomy for the Serb community,” Krasniqi said.

Serbian Language Media 

Security Council on Kosovo – between ZSO, UNMIK and war crimes accusations (RTS)

RTS reported yesterday that sharp polemics marred the latest UN Security Council session on Kosovo while central topics included establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, future of UNMIK and situation in Kosovo. RTS also reported about fierce accusations of a Pristina official against top Serbian officials, accusing them of being responsible for the war crimes. 

Russia thinks that any agreement between Belgrade and Pristina must be confirmed by the Security Council. To their end, Western countries supported closure of the UNMIK, a move opposed by Russia, China and some other countries.  

All ambassadors of the member states of the most powerful body of this world organisation emphasised the necessity of establishing a Community of Serb Municipalities, RTS further writes while Russian Ambassador at UN Vasily Nebenzya opined that Pristina “was completely uninterested” for implementation of this agreement.

“Pristina, supported by the West, attempts to take over control over Serbian areas, of whose rights, as it seems, no one cares. This way, purely Albanian areas are being created”, he said recalling information on the slow and unsatisfactory number of Serb and other non-Albanian returnees in Kosovo.

He said that the stance of Moscow on Kosovo and Metohija remains unchanged, adding Belgrade and Pristina should reach an agreement based on UNSC Resolution 1244.

“The agreement must be in the interest of Belgrade and Serbs and must be supported by the UN Security Council”, he added.

Nebenzya also dismissed allegations of the Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervala that she was not able to address the Council in Albanian language by saying that he was informed that she will speak in English.

“If you wished to speak in Albanian, we would allow you that”, he said.  

Fate of UNMIK – divided stances at SC

The Mission of United Nations in Kosovo (UNMIK) whose report on the situation in Kosovo was met with divided opinions among participants of the discussion, was once again the topic of debate.

According to Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervala 90 percent of the report presented to the Security Council “were inaccurate”.

France, Japan, Germany and the US called for re-assessing the role of the UN in Kosovo, some of them noting “that the Mission has fulfilled its mandate a long time ago”.

The United Arab Emirates welcomed the role of UNMIK in building mutual dialogue, understanding and trust, adding that the UN was proven to have done the same numerous times in the Middle East.

Brasil also supported the stay of UNMIK in Kosovo. China also supported the remain of UNMIK and Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Geng Shuang said significance of this Mission in building multi-ethnic cooperation and in other fields of society can not be replaced.

Dacic: Dialogue with Pristina in very complex, decisive moment (Tanjug, media)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told the UN Security Council on Thursday the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue was in a very complex, politically significant and perhaps decisive moment, and that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s report on the work of UNMIK in Kosovo partially demonstrated that an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and pressure on Serbs and other non-Albanian communities persisted on the ground.

On the other hand, the EU-facilitated February 27 agreement from Brussels and the March 18 agreement from Ohrid have maintained the momentum of attempts to normalise relations, Dacic said at an UN SC session on the report.

He said that, above all, it was necessary that all agreements reached to date, ever since the Brussels Agreement he had signed ten years ago with then EU foreign policy and security chief Catherine Ashton and Pristina’s Hasim Taci, be implemented consistently and in full.

He also said a Community of Serb Municipalities needed to be formed as soon as possible as the only possible mechanism of protecting the rights and the security of the Serb community in Kosovo-Metohija.

We are aware that Pristina is consciously avoiding that commitment, and it is devastating that discussions on this important topic are to begin as late as May 2 even though it has been recognised by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell as the crucial and first step in the implementation of the European plan, Dacic said, noting that Borrell had told the entire European community a Community of Serb Municipalities must be formed immediately.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3VlWd1h

Dacic: UN SC members noted Pristina’s obligation to form Community (Tanjug)

In a statement after Thursday’s UN Security Council session on the work of UNMIK in Kosovo, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said the fact the body’s members had noted Pristina’s obligation to form a Community of Serb Municipalities was the most important thing for Serbia, Tanjug news agency reports.

“As you know, under pressure from Western countries, the number of sessions has been reduced and they are now held twice a year. I think they desire that there be as few such sessions as possible and that, eventually, there will be no UNMIK either. The most important thing here for us is that the opinions of UN SC member states are heard. The members noted Pristina’s obligation to form a Community of Serb Municipalities because representatives of Pristina institutions are acting as if they have fulfilled all obligations, and they are now lecturing others”, Dacic told Tanjug.

The fact that “representatives of the US, the UK and, especially, France, kept noting the significance of forming a Community of Serb Municipalities”, is important, Dacic said, adding that, needless to say, Russia and China were Serbia’s traditional allies.

Everyone kept referring to UN SC Resolution 1244, Dacic said, adding that it could be said the atmosphere at the session had been fair when it came to the approach of leading powers.

“However, if, on the other hand, you have a leadership that does not care about dialogue or peace…,” he said in a reference to Pristina, adding:

“They demonstrate that everywhere, in all spheres. They also demonstrated that in New York today. It went so far that several statements by (Pristina representative) Donika Gervalla, including that ‘Kosovo is the most democratic country in the region’, will go down in the history of hypocrisy”, Dacic said.

Commenting on Pristina’s allegations of “genocide,” he said:

“What kind of genocide is that when a large number of Serbs have been expelled and 14th century churches are being burned down?”

“We are witnessing great pressure on our people, and we have also witnessed the fact that 13 Serbs turned out to vote in (Pristina’s) recent local elections,” Dacic noted.

He said he had made it clear at the session that Serbia would never vote for Pristin’s admission to international institutions.

“Whatever the topic is, they are always saying the same things – genocide, Vucic, Dacic, Milosevic, that we are ‘little Russia’ and that I am ‘little Slobo’ and personally responsible for genocide…”, Dacic added.

Poll shows low support for Franco-German agreement (NSPM, N1, Beta)

Only 17.5 percent of Serbian citizens support the Franco-German agreement on normalisation of relations with Kosovo, and almost 38 percent are against it, said New Serbian Political Thought magazine (Nova Srpska Politicka Misao – NSPM) editor Djordje Vukadinovic, adding that 46 percent of respondents said they did not have an opinion, reported N1.

Presenting the results of a poll by NSPM, Vukadinovic told a media conference that this is the first time this question was asked, adding that the degree to which the people are uninformed about the content of this agreement indicates that the pro-government media are not exactly “flooded” by this information.

He said only 9.5 percent of respondents, most of whom are supporters of the opposition Party of Freedom and Justice and the Serbian Movement Dveri, said they were fully acquainted with the content of the agreement, 41.1 percent of respondents said they were partly acquainted with it, while 49.4 percent said they knew nothing about it.

Asked if under this agreement Serbia has de facto recognized Kosovo, 27.7 percent of respondents gave a positive response, 36.6 said they do not think so, while 35.7 percent said they did not know.

Of those polled 45.7 percent expressed satisfaction with the way Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is handling the negotiations on Kosovo, 33.4 percent said they were dissatisfied, while approximately 21 percent of respondents either have no opinion on the matter or do not wish to express it, said Vukadinovic.

Vucic: Kurti to open Ibar bridge in Mitrovica to expel the Serbs (RTS)

Radio Television of Serbia reported President Aleksandar Vucic as saying that Serbia was not in an easy situation and that today ”the occupying Gauleiter in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, Albin Kurti, made the decision to open a bridge over the Ibar River between southern and northern Kosovska Mitrovica with only one goal – to expel the Serbs”.

“Just so you know, even today, the occupying Gauleiter in the north of KiM, Albin Kurti, made a decision, only a few days after the shameful fake elections they held, to open the bridge that was a dam and guardian of the interests of our people in the north of KiM, so that the Albanians from southern Mitrovica take over northern Mitrovica. This is their long-standing idea, and for many years our people opposed it,” said Vucic, addressing the citizens during his visit to Sokobanja today.

He said that ”Kurti justifies it by saying that they apparently do not want a ghetto in Mitrovica but open cities, which will easily pass with Western representatives, even though he only wants to expel the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. And they want conflict at any cost”. 

“We will do everything in our power to keep the peace and we will do our best to preserve the peace, so that never again will any mother think about who she is going to send to war. But we are also telling them before May 2 and Brussels, and that will continue even after that – do not even dream that you will succeed in your intentions to expel or destroy the Serbs in any part of Kosovo, in that case we will know what to do,” said Vucic. 

We want good relations with NATO, but we have lines that we do not cross

Speaking about the NATO pact, Vucic said that he wanted to have the closest and partner relations with NATO, but that there were red lines. 

He repeated that Serbia was one of the few countries that has an independent and militarily neutral policy, and that it would remain so while he was president.

“As long as I am the president, we will neither join NATO nor join any military bloc. That is our choice. All those who lecture me every day and who claim that they are smarter than me and know everything, they have met with foreign statesmen and know what is the best. I cannot override the wishes of the people. I want us to have the closest relations with those who attacked us in 1999, but we must have some lines that we will not cross. Serbia will defend its own people,” said Vucic.

Petkovic reacts to decision of Mitrovica North councillors on opening main bridge, says Pristina wants conflict (Tanjug)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti unequivocally showed today that “he dreams of war and wants to drag entire northern Kosovo and Metohija into conflicts”, Tanjug news agency reports.

“He (Kurti) ordered today to his councillor Aida Ferati to include a topic of opening the bridge on Ibar River dividing northern and southern parts of the city and which represents an importance security rampart for the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to the agenda of the assembly session in northern Kosovska Mitrovica. The aim of this Kurti’s unilateral and illegal act is to generate new tensions and provocations against the peaceful Serbian population in northern Kosovo and Metohija”, Petkovic said.

Petkovic also said that Albin Kurti uses “his fake and illegitimate councillors and representatives in the north of Kosovo and Metohija” for this purpose. 

Terming the act as “warmongering” Petkovic also said he had informed all international representatives and the EU mediator in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak about it, adding he expects from them “to calm down and restrain Kurti who does his utmost to avoid obligation to establish Community of Serb Municipalities and ruin the dialogue in Brussels on May 2. There is no progress nor normalisation of relations as long as Kurti makes such unilateral acts, by which he wants to drag the entire northern Kosovo and Metohija into war situation and it is on West to thwart such Pristina’s acts”, Petkovic said. 

Serbian List: International community to prevent implementation of decision on opening main bridge (Kosovo Online, social media)

Serbian List said it condemns in the strongest terms illegal and illegitimate decision made by, as they said, illegal and illegitimate municipal assembly in Mitrovica North and related to the opening of the main bridge on the Ibar River, dividing southern and northern parts of Mitrovica for motor vehicles, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“We wish to warn that possible opening of the bridge beyond doubt will have as a consequence incidents in those areas, which looks to be the intention of Pristina. The bridge on which more than thousand ethnically motivated attacks from the south against the north took place is a symbol of the sufferings of the Serbian people and intention of Pristina to expel remaining Serbs from the only urban areas they managed to remain in larger numbers (…)”, Serbian List said in a statement, adding that this decision will have far-reaching consequences on the peace, security and co-existence in this area.

At the same time, Serbian List said, “it represents a continuation of the occupation of the north by Albin Kurti”.

Serbian List said it demands from KFOR, EULEX and international community representatives to most urgently prevent implementation of this decision and give room to the dialogue to resolve all open issues, thus preserving the peace. They argued that prevention of this decision goes in line with demands of the international community to stop all actions that undermine the process of the dialogue.

Aleksandar Arsenijevic opposes decision to open bridge on Ibar River (social media)

Aleksandar Arsenijevic, leader of Civic Initiative Serbian Survival in Mitrovica North took to social media to comment on the decision of the Mitrovica North municipal councillors to open the main bridge over the Ibar River.

“I agree that freedom of movement is inviolable, but history has taught us many times that the conditions have not been created to open the bridge.

The self-determination, with the decision to open the bridge at the first session, pokes a finger in the eye (provocation), of our citizens for whom the mere mention of the opening of the bridge instil fear in their bones.

Let me remind you that the unfulfilled dream of this party is the unification of South and North Mitrovica.

Mr. Erden Atic ran away from me, locked himself in the Municipality and was afraid to face the questions.

It was self-locked for more than an hour as long as I was present in front of the municipal building!

You won’t get away with this!”, Arsenijevic wrote in his post.

Councillors in North Mitrovica voted to open the Ibar Bridge (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Online portal reported that at today’s session, the North Mitrovica Municipality Assembly made, at the request of the councillor from the Self-Determination Aida Ferati-Doli, a decision to send a request to enable the freedom of movement for cars on the main bridge over the Ibar and to free up the space around that bridge.  

The decision was made with 11 votes “for”, while one councillor was “against” and one “abstained”.

During the discussion on this issue, there were conflicting opinions. Councilor Ferati-Doli pointed out that it was time to allow freedom of movement over the main bridge and traffic, explaining that the decision should be forwarded to the Kosovo Police.

The only Serbian counsellor Dusan Milunovic voted against the decision, who pointed out that the decision was premature and could be interpreted as a step towards the unification of North and South Mitrovica and cause incidents. He added that in the current sensitive political and security situation, it is not a smart decision of the local assembly.

There were also Albanian councillors who believed that it was enough to allow unhindered movement in the roundabout by the bridge and to free that area from illegally parked vehicles. However, reported the portal, in the end the proposal was voted in the form in which the councillor of Self-Determination submitted the request, that the main bridge over the Ibar be freed for traffic.

Lajcak: Serbia dissolved parallel structures; Kosovo did not form the CSM (ZSO) (RTK2)

The European Union’s special representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in an interview with the Slovak “Dennikn” that he sees the Community as an opportunity to clarify the relationship between the Government of Kosovo and the Serbs living in the north, reported yesterday RTK2.

He stated that it was important to start determining the Community’s status and powers as soon as possible, adding that existing European models will be followed for its creation.

“The goal is to determine the legal status of the Kosovo Serbs and the Serbian minority in Kosovo, and at the same time to define the role of Serbia in supporting the Serbs in Kosovo,” he said.

The representative of the European Union stated, among other things, that it was a sensitive topic and that it was talked about a lot.

He said that, although he did not want to return to the past, Kosovo did not implement the agreement on the creation of the Community from 2013, while Serbia, as he said, removed parallel structures as the agreement was reached.

“The essence of that agreement was that Serbia, on the one hand, dissolves parallel structures in Kosovo, mainly the police and the judiciary, which would then become part of the legal system of Kosovo. And on the other hand, Kosovo to create the Community of Serbian Municipalities. The first part happened, the second did not. I don’t want to go into the past and evaluate why it happened,” he added, reported RTK2, citing Dennikn.

Lajcak stated that at the meeting on May 2, a mandatory step was to present the draft of the Community’s statute.

“For me, it is important that on May 2 we have a scheduled meeting between President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti in Brussels, where the agenda will include the beginning of the process of creating this Community. The draft statute will be presented, which is the first mandatory and important step,” he emphasised.

Strpce Missing Persons Association president: To stop separating missing persons based on nationality (RTK2)

The president of the Association of the Missing in Strpce, Jasmina Zivkovic, whose father disappeared in 1999, said that it was time that as a society to “stop separating missing persons on the basis of nationality and recognizing some victims and others not”. 

Speaking on the RTK2 show “Razgovor”, on the National Day of the Missing, Zivkovic said that “that’s the only way we will be able to get to the complete truth when it comes to missing persons”.

“Unfortunately, I was very often present when victims of certain nationalities were acknowledged, and certain were not, above all victims of Serbian nationality, who were very often denied. Simply the fact that victims of Serbian nationality did not exist in Kosovo was always highlighted,” said Jasmina Zivkovic. 

She believed that it was high time that we “stop doing that, if we really want to come to the truth as a society, that for the sake of the piety of those missing persons and the family members themselves, we should be better as a society and not separate the victims by nationality in terms of finding the missing and finding the truth. Regardless of what name and surname they bore, and therefore what nationality, culture, and religion they belonged to,” Jasmina Zivkovic told RTK2.

Qerkini:  During Kurti’s government, solving the issue of missing persons stagnated (Kosovo Online, ekonomiaonline.com)

The president of the “Voice of Parents” Association, Bajram Qerkini, criticised the approach of the government of Albin Kurti regarding the issue of shedding light on the fate of the missing in the latest conflict in Kosovo. As he assessed, during Kurti’s government, solving the issue of missing persons stagnated, reported Kosovo Online, citing ekonomiaonline.com.

This political structure failed to convene a Working Group or a Government Commission at least once a month to inform family members about the fate of their loved ones, said Qerkini, reported the portal. 

“Unfortunately, we see that the process related to the missing has completely stagnated,” he said.

As he added, the families of the missing were more informed by the media than by the current political structure.

“We used to have the government commission or working group to present to us what they are doing. They were formed because of us, they have to work for us,” Qerkini said.

EEAS: Vucic, Kurti confirm attendance on May 2 (N1)

The European Commission said on Friday that top officials from Belgrade and Pristina confirmed their participation in a meeting of the Kosovo dialogue on May 2.

“President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti confirmed their participation” at a High-level Meeting of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue in Brussels, the European External Action Service said in a media advisory.

It added that the joint meeting will be convened by European Union High Representative Josep Borrell with the support of EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak at 6 pm on Tuesday.

The media advisory said that the meeting will focus on the implementation of the agreement to normalise relations with Belgrade and Pristina expected to endorse a declaration on missing persons and discuss the first draft statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) as well as current political issues.

Fidesz MEPs reject EP report on Serbia (N1)

The Fidesz party – Hungarian Civic Alliance – said that it rejects the European Parliament report on Serbia.

The party, headed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accused the European Parliament of bias towards Serbia. “The EP’s bias becomes even more obvious when comparing the reports on Serbia and other Western Balkan countries. The lack of balance and a uniform standard is striking”, a press release on the Fidesz web site said and added that it does not serve the goal of Serbia’s accession to the European Union as soon as possible.

It also said that the party’s MEPs voted against the report in the EP Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) because of its unfair and biassed statements. “Not only does the text of the report contain partial and politically biassed statements, but the nature and wording of the report make it clear that the European Parliament is now deliberately undermining its relations with Serbia and the partnership that has been established so far”.

Fidesz MEP Andor Deli told Subotica-based Panon RTV that the European Parliament is still thinking in terms of setting conditions for Serbia to get access to sources of financing because it hasn’t aligned with the European Union policies on Russia.

He said that the European Parliament initiated a number of things that are not going in a good direction, demonstrating an intention to upset the partnership with Serbia and not evaluating its progress properly. “It’s hard to find anything positive in the report”, he said. According to him the Fidesz MEPs were convinced that the report was politically directed.

Opinion 

Vuletic: The words heard in the UNSC sound nice, but do not mean much; the most important thing not included in the report (RTS)

Professor and sociologist Vladimir Vuletic told RTS that the words about Kosovo and Metohija heard in the UN Security Council sound nice but did not mean much. According to Vuletic, the most important thing was not included in the UN report, namely the elections in north  Kosovo held last week, which was why everything ended up with general messages.

In the RTS Morning Program, on yesterday’s session of the UNSC session on Kosovo, Vladimir Vuletic said that first it should be borne in mind that the SC and the UN were no longer what they were ten years ago, but only a reflection of what was happening in the world and on the field.

“So, when you have the division of the world, when you have the struggle to reconstruct the existing order, of which the United Nations is just an expression, then it is clear to you that the UN is no longer the key place where the fate of people is decided. But it is still important, and that is why it was important that we were there yesterday, that it was discussed”, believes Vuletic.

“The most important thing was not included in the UN report”

He said that also the report did not include what was most important as far as Kosovo and Metohija was concerned, namely the results of the elections that took place last week.

“That’s what was missing in a way, and for that reason the session ended with general messages about the need to continue the dialogue, lower the rhetoric to an acceptable level, but the problem is that you don’t have a dialogue there,” added Vuletic.

According to him, there were still many problems, so the words heard in the SC sounded nice, but they did not mean much. 

Ohrid was a kind of hope that there could be an acceleration of the process of normalization of relations, whatever that meant for each of sides, said Vuletic and added that it turned out that the West did not have enough power to put pressure on Kurti, or certain factions prevailed within the Western view of problem solving, which pushed into the background what was hinted at and promised. 

What to expect on May 2

When it came to the high-level negotiations on May 2 in Brussels, Vuletic stated that progress was expected, but that there were essential differences regarding the expected result of the process.

“Whichever way you look, of course it is clear that this problem is essential about what should be the result of the whole process at the end. For Pristina, there is no doubt, independence, for the West as well. For Serbia, it is not like that,” said Vuletic.

What was interesting, according to his opinion, was that Serbia got an alibi, by the SCM not formed, for not doing what was expected of it in a certain way.

“You can always simply say – what next move do you expect from Belgrade if the preconditions for any continuation of talks have not been created,” concluded Vuletic.

Humanitarian/Development

24 years waiting for his son, the sad story of a father who still lives with hope (euronews.al)

He is 85 years old, but his age is the last thing that scares him. Bajram Qerkini lives every single day with pain in his soul. For more than 20 years, he knows nothing of his son, disappeared during the war in Kosovo.

“My son went missing in August 30th, after he went out with his friends. Even today we don’t know where he is. How can a mother and a father experience this, being alive and not knowing anything about our son. 25 years living with sorrow,” he says.

Bajram shares that no one can understand what the families are going through, especially the mothers.

“As to how they’re coping, only the mothers know. How I’m coping, only my soul knows. No one can read my heart,” he says.

Bajram is concerned with the lack of action from the state of Kosovo to solve the issue of the forcibly missing persons.

“The government is at fault for not conditioning the international partners. Without knowing what’s become of the missing persons, we cannot move forward. But they [government] won’t do it. The international partners can do something. I don’t expect anything from Kosovo or Serbia,” he adds.

Even though Bajram doesn’t trust politicians, they honored April 27th, the day of the missing persons, through homages at the monument dedicated to them.

Statistics office publishes Serbian census results (N1)

The Republic Statistics Office (RZS) said on Friday that the 2022 census showed that more than 5 million people in Serbia are of Serbian nationality with more than 130,000 refusing to declare ethnic or national background.

The RZS said that 5,360,239 of the total population of 6,647,003 said their nationality is Serbian. 

It said that there are 61,687 ethnic Albanians and 153,801 Bosniaks. A total of 184,442 people declared themselves to be ethnic Hungarians and 131,936 said they are Roma.

The RZS told N1 that some people said they are Jedai, aliens, Martians, Klingon, Inhabitants of the Planet Earth, cosmopolitans, Hobbits, Liliputians, Vikings, Punkers, Apache, Pokemon, rockers, vampires.

The census showed that there are 41,730 Croats, 20,238 Montenegrins, 14,767 Macedonians, 23,044 Romanians and 2,829 Slovenians. A total of 27,143 people said they are Yugoslav. Serbia also has populations of 13,011 Moslems, 2.573 ethnic Germans, 10,486 Russians, 3,969 Ukrainians and 41,730 Slovaks.

A total of 322,013 people are of “unknown” national or ethnic background.