Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Three mayors in the north will swear in tomorrow in public premises (media)
• Krasniqi: New mayors will exercise mandates in their municipalities (Albanian Post)
• Osmani on Kosovo-Serbia dialogue: There is more pressure on Kosovo (Dukagjini)
• Freedom House report: War deepens a regional divide (media)
• Senior western diplomat: If Kosovo doesn’t propose statute for Association, facilitators could seek solutions outside the Constitution (Albanian Post)
• LDK proposal for own source revenues will go to the Assembly (Koha)
• LDK’s Lumir Abdixhiku goes to party elections, certain of another mandate (Express)
• Faton Bislimi resigns from LDK presidency (Paparaci)

Serbian Language Media:

• Diplomatic corps visits Visoki Decani Monastery, recalls unimplemented Constitutional Court decision (KoSSev, media)
• Jevtic: The Constitutional Court assessed that Kostic, the defendant in the “Brezovica” case, was unjustifiably detained (Radio Mitrovica sever, Blic, KiM radio)
• Pristina: Ceremony of signing memorandum to organise European judoka championship without translation in Serbian (Radio KIM)
• General Mojsilovic met Brig Gen Romano (Tanjug)
• Petkovic: Strong willingness of Serbs from Kosovo to come to Belgrade, despite Pristina’s threats (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
• Momcilo Trajkovic called on fellow citizens of Kosovo not to go to the counter rally on May 26 (N1, FoNet, KiM radio)
• Peci to take the oath at the “Tower of Isa Boletini”, Zeqiri in Cabra, Hetemi in Bistrica (Kontakt plus radio, Koha)
• Orlic receives Theophylactou (Tanjug)
• Vucic: Escobar should read Brussels Agreement again (Tanjug, RTS)
• Poll: Majority of respondents believe that BG and PR authorities benefited after Serbs withdrew from Kosovo institutions (KoSSev)

International:

• Germany’s Unique Opportunity to Locate Kosovo War Mass Graves (BIRN)
• Freedom House: Democratic institutions in the Western Balkans continued to falter in 2022 (EWB)

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Three mayors in the north will swear in tomorrow in public premises (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that the new mayors of the northern municipalities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic will swear in and constitutive sessions will be held tomorrow in public premises in these municipalities.

“Yesterday one month passed since elections in the four northern municipalities. There were no incidents, they were calm and peaceful. Intimidation, lynching and pressure from Belgrade directly led to a low turnout of our Serb citizens in the elections. The lacking vote was the lack of free will and not an expression of political will. Such intimidating campaigns by Belgrade against local Serbs, especially in the four municipalities in the north of our country, are frequent and continuous. Just because something happens frequently and continuously it does not mean that it is normal and acceptable,” Kurti said at the start of today’s government meeting.

Kurti also mentioned the swearing-in of Erden Atic as mayor of Mitrovica North last Friday. “This is normal after an election process … Yesterday four directors were appointed: a Serb, a Bosniak, an Egyptian and an Albanian, two of them women. This is a progress that needs to be normalised,” he said.

Kurti said it is necessary to undertake actions because the citizens have been left without public services since the resignations of the previous mayors. “Six months have passed since these municipalities have been left without mayors. Two of these municipalities did not even have municipal assemblies and the residents there were left without municipal services. This is not normal. Our actions were aimed at the democratic functionalization of state institutions and to guarantee the provision of public services for citizens without any difference. This is not a choice, this is our obligation. We are engaged to do this by protecting human rights, civil liberties, the rule of law, political pluralism, peace and security in the country, because these are all normal in a democracy and in a Republic,” he argued.

Krasniqi: New mayors will exercise mandate in their municipalities (Albanian Post)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, told a press conference in Pristina today that the newly elected mayors in the north will exercise their constitutional and legal mandates in the municipalities where they were elected. “They will be in the service of the citizens. The Law on Local Self-Government foresees every detail; therefore, the mayors will work in the municipalities where they were elected,” he said.

Asked if the new mayors will use the municipal buildings or if they will perform their duties in alternative premises, Krasniqi did not answer directly and said that local Serbs are interested to join the offices of the new mayors in the north. “There will be deputy mayors from the Serb community in the other municipalities too and not only in Mitrovica North. There will be directors from the Serb community too. Serbs are interested to be part of a normal local governance, where the mayor is in their service and not in the service of criminal groups,” he said.

Osmani on Kosovo-Serbia dialogue: There is more pressure on Kosovo (Dukagjini)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with Dukagjini today that Kosovo is a party faced with more pressure in the dialogue with Serbia. She argued that the Serbian side is being caressed while Kosovo is confirming its European values. “Kosovo is under greater pressure than Serbia, and this is regrettable because Kosovo is 100-percent pro-American, for rule of law, a model of democracy in the region and beyond. Now we are in the top three in terms of development and rule of law, whereas Serbia which is an autocratic state and which coordinates its policies with Russia is being caressed,” Osmani argued.

During the interview, Osmani also talked about her relationship with Prime Minister Kurti. “There are sectors in which we cooperate more, and sectors where we cooperate less. There are sectors in which we agree every day, and sectors where we don’t agree at all. What we do is this: we discuss our disagreements understanding that we all have a good intention and that is a better life for the citizens, and we find solutions to go forward. I don’t think that institutional competition or animosity between institutions helps Kosovo. On the contrary, it creates a bad image … Certainly there are topics on which we don’t agree, but we solve all of them because there is a mutual objective. This doesn’t mean that we don’t criticise each other. For example, I had major disagreements about the Law on Wages, I have expressed them, and I hope they will be taken into account because there are sectors that require a more dignified treatment, sectors that keep our state alive and protect it,” Osmani said.

Freedom House report: War deepens a regional divide (media)

Several news websites cover the latest Freedom House Nations in Transit 2023 report titled “War deepens a regional divide”. On relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the report notes that “long-strained relations between Serbia and Kosovo have continued to undermine democratic progress in both countries, though in differing respects. Remarkable efforts by Kosovo’s civil society to effect positive policy changes on gender-based violence and ethnic divisions were overshadowed during the year by an uptick in violence in the Serb-majority north, where the Serbian government’s influence and activities continue to subvert Kosovo’s full authority over its territory. Within Serbia, the opposition returned to the political playing field after a 2020 electoral boycott, but the 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections were once again marred by irregularities, resulting in victories for incumbent president Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party. Vucic has maintained his grip on power in part by positioning himself as the key to both domestic stability and regional security, using various self-serving crises to distract from his government’s ongoing capture of the media and silencing of critical voices in civil society. Negotiations between Vucic and Kosovo prime minister Albin Kurti have been plodding, despite frantic attempts by US and European envoys to resolve the countries’ protracted dispute over Kosovo’s sovereignty.”

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/efnsU

Senior western diplomat: If Kosovo doesn’t propose statute for Association, facilitators could seek solutions outside the Constitution (Albanian Post)

The news website has published a public letter written by a senior western diplomat who is deeply involved in the process of normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The letter argues for the need for a healthy internal debate in Kosovo for steps that need to be taken to form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

The diplomat argues that the process has reached a critical point and that the international community has certain expectations about the process and that they are cemented. He said that the Kosovo government knows very well what the expectations are.

The diplomat also said that for the time being, Kosovo’s friends are asking for a model that accommodates the international expectations and which at the same time is fully within the constitutional framework of Kosovo. “The existing Kosovo legal framework is quite liberal and accommodating. Upon careful reading, legal formulas can be found that accommodate both the Serbian community’s legitimate needs and the Kosovo leadership’s concerns. However, the process might go astray if Kosovo fails to present a creative solution within its constitutional and legal framework. Kosovo needs to reflect and treat the momentum seriously,” the diplomat said. 

Citing unnamed sources, the news website says that if the Kosovo government does not present its own model for the Association and stand strongly behind it, very soon Miroslav Lajcak [EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia] and Josep Borrell [EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Affairs] could cement a model that is completely unfavourable for Kosovo and based on models that cannot be accommodated in Kosovo’s constitutional framework.

LDK proposal for own source revenues will go to the Assembly (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, said today that the amendment of the Law on Budget, requested by the Democratic League of Kosovo, will go to the Assembly very soon. Krasniqi said the amendment was made after the request of mayors of municipalities for the own source revenues of municipalities.

“We had a meeting with [Prime Minister] Kurti last week and we agreed that the mayors make a request for the amendment requested by the LDK for the Law on Budget. We have received a request and it is being processed. It will be sent to the Assembly very soon according to the requests of mayors of municipalities,” Krasniqi told reporters.

The news website notes that the blocking of own source revenues by the government triggered many reactions from opposition parties and the mayors. There were warnings that the municipalities could send the government to the Constitutional Court, but on Monday an agreement was reached in a meeting between Kurti, the line ministers and the mayors.

LDK’s Lumir Abdixhiku goes to party elections, certain of another mandate (Express)

The presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will announce internal elections at all levels today. Citing unnamed sources from the party, the news website says that party leader, Lumir Abdixhiku, will be reelected and that the process is only formal. “So far everyone has supported Abdixhiku. I don’t believe he will be challenged in the election process,” a source said.

Faton Bislimi resigns from LDK presidency (Paparaci)

Faton Bislimi has resigned his post as member of the presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). He announced his resignation in a Facebook post where he published the resignation letter he sent to party leader, Lumir Abdixhiku. Bislimi claims he was ignored unreasonably and that his resignation is not easy. He also criticised the LDK for paying what he called fake homages at the graves of the founding figures of the party and calling on friendship with the United States only to score political points.

Serbian Language Media 

Diplomatic corps visits Visoki Decani Monastery, recalls unimplemented Constitutional Court decision (KoSSev, media)

Around 30 diplomats, heads of EU, UNMIK, OSCE missions, Quint ambassadors and KFOR Commander visited Visoki Decani Monastery yesterday and extended support to implementation of the Constitutional Court decision in the protection of religious rights and heritage, KoSSev portal reports.

Majority of diplomatic delegations were led by ambassadors, including the EU Office Head in Kosovo Tomas Szunyag, OSCE Head Michael Davenport, UNMIK Head Caroline Ziadeh and KFOR Commander Major General Michele Ristuccia.

“Today, we had the distinct honor of welcoming thirty international heads of mission, ambassadors, and other diplomats accredited in Kosovo to the Visoki Dečani Monastery. The immediate occasion for this gathering was to reaffirm strong international support for the implementation of the 2016 Kosovo Constitutional Court’s decision concerning the land of the Dečani Monastery, a ruling that has regrettably still not been enforced by Kosovo authorities. This court ruling was decisively supported by the Quint countries’ ambassadors as well as by the heads of mission of the EU and OSCE a few days ago, on its 7th-year anniversary. Furthermore, this gathering served as an opportunity to express strong support for the rule of law and respect for religious freedom for all communities in Kosovo.

Fr. Sava answered questions and clarified the Serbian Orthodox Church’s perspective on its future and the long-term formalization of its legal status. He emphasized the importance of protecting our people, safeguarding their human rights, and preserving the holy sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He stated that resolving the legal challenges of the Serbian Orthodox Church could significantly contribute to promoting multiethnicity and tolerance in Kosovo, benefiting all communities and aiding the continuation of dialogue”.

Read the full statement at: bit.ly/3olxtKF

KoSSev portal reported that Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of UNMIK (SRSG) Caroline Ziadeh was glad to visit the monastery together with international partners.

In a post published on Twitter, UNMIK said that “SRSG calls on Kosovo institutions to uphold rule of law & implement a longstanding Const. Court decision on monastery land ownership. Respect for judicial decisions promotes trust in public institutions & communities”.

Jevtic: The Constitutional Court assessed that Kostic, the defendant in the “Brezovica” case, was unjustifiably detained (Radio Mitrovica sever, Blic, KiM radio)

The mayor of Strpce, Dalibor Jevtic, announced that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo judged that one of the defendants in the “Brezovica” case, Jadran Kostic, was in unjustified detention and that his human rights were violated, reported Radio Mitrovica sever. 

Jevtic announced the decision of the Constitutional Court on his Facebook profile with the words “justice is slow, but attainable” and that “the truth, just like water, always finds its way”.

“The Constitutional Court declared admissible the request of one of the defendants for release from custody. The truth, like water, always finds its way”, said Jevtic.

He added that the Constitutional Court announced the verdict on Kostic’s appeal.

“Today, the Constitutional Court announced the verdict based on the appeal of one of the accused in the case of “Brezovica”, Jadran Kostic, who is still in custody as of December 2021. So, what we have been talking about for some time has now been confirmed by this decision of the Court. Jadran Kostic, and we firmly believe all the others who are still in custody as of December 2021, are against the law and in violation of basic human rights, separated from their families for a year and six months,” Jevtic said. 

He added that the complaint submitted by Kostic was submitted in June last year.

“It took a lot of time, patience, but faith that justice will win in the end, that the basic human rights of Jadran Kostic and our other colleagues, neighbours, friends will be respected in the end. Without going into the court process itself, about which the trial has not even started yet, I feel an obligation on behalf of the Kostic’s family, on behalf of the families of others who are still in custody, on behalf of thousands of citizens who called for justice and for our Braca, Mija, Kole, Lale, Kurta, Raif, Dragomir,” said Jevtic.

He added that the question is still raised today, how is it possible for someone who shoots children, people, how is it possible for such people to be quickly released from custody.

“While those who are respectable citizens of our society do not have the right to be treated in the way that the laws provide for, even within the framework of the current laws? How is it possible that the former director of urban planning, Dimitrije Racicevic, is accused of issuing permits in one trial before the court, and that on the other hand, he is accused of not issuing permits before the same court? There are many other questions. Believing in justice, we will insist on it. Patiently. I will soon speak on this and other topics, just as I promised,” Jevtic said.

Pristina: Ceremony of signing memorandum to organise European judo championship without translation in Serbian (Radio KIM)

The final competition of the European Judo Federation for 2023 will be held on December 16, in Pristina and Kosovo will host an one-day event for male and female participants, competing in two categories. A memorandum of cooperation for the organisation of the open European judo championship was signed in Pristina by representatives of the local Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, European Judo Federation and Kosovo Judo Association. For journalists reporting in Serbian language there was no translation in Serbian provided, Radio KIM reports.

Radio added that the speeches of the Kosovo Minister of Culture Hajrullah Ceku and head of Kosovo Judo Association Agon Kuka were not translated into Serbian.

In further explanation of the event, Radio KIM notes that upon arrival at the Ministry of Culture its journalist found out from the translator that he was responsible to translate from and to English only, but told her he will make sure to do translation in Serbian language as well, although that was not foreseen.

According to Radio KIM when Minister Ceku started his address, the translator began interpreting into Serbian for the Radio KIM journalist, however, an unnamed female official from Ceku’s cabinet reacted and prevented him from continuing it.

Asked by the journalist why the invitation for the event was sent to the Serbian media if translation was not provided, Radio KIM further said, that Minister Ceku replied in Albanian that “they apologise for omission, and at the end they will send recording (of the speech) in Serbian language”.

Until publishing of the news, Radio KIM adds, yesterday afternoon, the recording was not sent.  

General Mojsilovic met Brig Gen Romano (Tanjug)

Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic spoke with the chief of the NATO Military Liaison Office in Belgrade, Brig Gen Giampiero Romano, on Tuesday about the security situation in the region, the Office’s activities, and overall SAF-NATO relations, with particular emphasis on cooperation with KFOR.

Mojsilovic said a partnership with NATO and a professional relationship with the alliance helped to build peace and stability in the region and noted that the SAF was committed to continue cooperation in all fields of mutual interest and that cooperation mechanisms established within the Partnership for Peace Programme made that possible, the Serbian Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Speaking about the security situation in Kosovo-Metohija, Mojsilovic said the presence of a mission of international forces was crucial for protection of the Serbian national, cultural, historical, and religious heritage in the province.

He expressed the confidence that KFOR, as the only legitimate security actor in Kosovo-Metohija, would act in an unbiased and professional manner in all situations in line with UN SC Resolution 1244.

Petkovic: Strong willingness of Serbs from Kosovo to come to Belgrade, despite Pristina’s threats (Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said today no matter how much Pristina and PM Albin Kurti attempt to intimidate Serbs and prevent them from coming to Belgrade on May 26 so is stronger their will to attend the rally in large numbers, Tanjug news agency reports.

He also said that no one exerts any pressure, neither officials, nor the people, nor Serbian List or any representative of institutions, on Serbs in Kosovo to go to Belgrade and attend the rally.

Petkovic met in Smederevo with a group of Serbs who took off on foot from Kosovo Pomoravlje to attend the rally “Serbia of Hope” scheduled on May 26 in Belgrade and extend support to the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Another group of Serbs from northern Kosovo is also on their way walking towards Belgrade to attend the rally. Petkovic said that young men who are walking demonstrate how much they care about their state of Serbia “because they have one state and one president”.

Petkovic also said it was a paradox that Kosovo police, which accused Serbs of exerting pressure on their compatriots, in fact is the one exerting pressure and intimidating Serbs. He added that based on anonymous reports Kosovo police yesterday brought in for informative talks the director of the Center for Social Welfare and Provisional Municipal Authority President in Kosovska Kamenica.

“Those anonymous reports said that someone was forcing some people to go to the gathering in Belgrade, and when you look what this anonymous report was about, a fake report, there is nothing there, neither who is accused, nor who is exposed to pressure”, Petkovic said. 

Momcilo Trajkovic called on fellow citizens of Kosovo not to go to the counter rally on May 26 (N1, FoNet, KiM radio)

The leader of the Serbian National Forum (SNF), Momcilo Trajkovic, called on fellow citizens from Kosovo and Metohija not to respond to invitations and “excuses of work obligations” to attend the counter rally on May 26 in Belgrade, reported N1.

“Directors of public institutions receive ‘quotas’, as if it were about domestic animals that should be transported to Belgrade. The SNF calls on the Serbs not to respond to those blackmails, because this terror must stop once and for all,” it was written in the statement, reported N1. 

Trajkovic emphasised that they have much more important priorities in Kosovo than someone’s positions in Belgrade and “the bank accounts of local bullies from the Serbian List”.

He invited fellow citizens to “imagine” how they will feel when they cross Jarinje and Brnjak in buses owned by “Përparimi” and provide personal documents to Kosovo police officers, “who will see you off with a smile to support your own downfall.”

“You don’t need the authorities in Belgrade, who wrote us off with the Ohrid agreement, except to show by your presence at the counter rally that you voluntarily want to stay in Greater Albania,” concluded Trajkovic.

Peci to take the oath at the “Tower of Isa Boletini”, Zeqiri in Čabra, Hetemi in Bistrica (Kontakt plus radio, Koha)

The newly elected president of the municipality of Zvecan, Ilir Peci, intends to take the oath of office for mayor at the “Tower of Isa Boletini” in the village of Boletin in this municipality. He is expected to be sworn in tomorrow at a ceremony that will begin at 10:00 a.m, reported Kontakt plus radio, citing Koha. 

At the same time, Izmir Zeqiri will take the oath in the village of Čabra in Zubin Potok.

Three hours later, Lulzim Hetemi, the newly elected mayor of Leposavic, intends to take the oath in the local office in Bistrica, reported Kontakt plus radio, citing Pristina based Koha.

Orlic receives Theophylactou (Tanjug)

Serbian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Orlic received a farewell visit from Cypriot Ambassador Demetrios Theophylactou on Wednesday.

A statement released by Orlic’s office said the parties had reiterated that Serbia and Cyprus maintained strong mutual trust, based primarily on mutual support to the vital national interests of preserving sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Orlic conveyed to Theophylactou Serbia’s gratitude for Cyprus’s principled position on non-recognition of Kosovo and for its support to Serbia, confirmed by its vote in the Council of Europe.

Orlic informed Theophylactou of the difficult situation in Kosovo and Metohija and daily threats to the security of the Serb population there.

“We are facing dangerous moves by Albin Kurti, who is now openly wishing for an armed conflict, as well as a usurpation of municipalities in northern Kosovo that are inhabited by Serbs and their transformation into an occupation zone through the establishment of so-called local authorities without any legitimacy at all. Whoever recognises such ‘authorities’ supports the causing of a large conflict”, Orlic said.

Theophylactou said Cyprus’s position on the Kosovo issue would not change and that Cyprus and Serbia continued to defend international public law and their national interests and red lines.

Vucic: Escobar should read Brussels Agreement again (Tanjug, RTS)

Commenting on US special envoy Gabriel Escobar’s statement that Washington was waiting for Pristina’s proposal on a Community of Serb Municipalities, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday evening Escobar should read the Brussels Agreement again, reported Tanjug agency.

“He should read the Brussels Agreement and its annexes and principles. The Pristina authorities have no powers or competencies,” Vucic told the RTS.

He said the situation in Kosovo-Metohija was extremely difficult but that, thanks to “tolerance, wisdom, intelligence and a boycott of everything the ethnic Albanian institutions in the north represent, we have succeeded in preserving peace and stability.”

Poll: Majority of respondents believe that BG and PR authorities benefited after Serbs withdrew from Kosovo institutions (KoSSev)

The withdrawal from institutions, followed by the boycott of elections by the Serbs, led to the fact that there are almost no representatives of the Kosovo Serbian community in local institutions in the north of Kosovo. And while representatives of minority communities in Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok have yet to come into the office, the new mayor of North Mitrovica from Self-determination, Erden Atic, has already been sworn in. He took the oath on May 19th in the municipal building, where Kosovo flags were displayed. On that same day, at an unscheduled press conference, Srpska Lista gave Kurti a June 1st deadline to stop the „repression“ of Kosovo Serbs, while the head of the Kosovo Office announced that the occupation of the north of Kosovo had begun.

Did the withdrawal of the Serbs from the institutions, which preceded these events, benefit anyone and if it did – whom did it benefit? – we asked our readers.

Six months after the majority of Serbs from the north left almost all Kosovo institutions, with the exception of the Fire Department and the Detention Center, only a few respondents believe that the Serbs benefited from this move, while the majority share the opinion that the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina were the ones who benefited the most. On the other hand, the vast majority of respondents pointed out Srpska Lista and official Belgrade as the ones who caused the current situation, highlighting messages about “betrayal” and “Serbs being sold out to Albanians”.

The question “Who benefited from the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo institutions“ was shared in the form of a 24-hour poll on our social networks – Instagram and Twitter, with four possible answers provided – Serbs, Albanians, the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina, and no one. More than 700 people participated in the poll.

The majority of respondents on Twitter – 40%, or 24 out of a total of 60 – believe that the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina benefited the most from this move.

On the other hand, 35% (21 respondents) believe that Albanians were the ones who actually benefited, and 21% (thirteen respondents) selected ‘no one’.

On the other hand, only two people (3.3%) believe that Serbs benefited from the withdrawal from institutions.

We posed the same question on Instagram. As many as 651 users of this network expressed their opinion, and the results of the poll are similar to those on Twitter.

The majority of users of this social network also believe that the withdrawal from the institutions was mainly beneficial to the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina – 231 of respondents (35%).

A total of 226 users chose „Albanians“, while 156 believed that it did not benefit anyone.

Just like on Twitter, the smallest number of users believes that this decision benefited the Serbs – 38 users, i.e. only 6%.

Read more at:https://shorturl.at/bmow8

International 

Germany’s Unique Opportunity to Locate Kosovo War Mass Graves (BIRN)

The European Union’s recent efforts to broker a lasting agreement between Kosovo and Serbia remains in the headlines for its more politically-sensitive elements, such as the extent to which Kosovo will grant rights to majority-Serb areas in its north and the extent to which Serbia will formalise relations with Kosovo.

However, the Declaration on Missing Persons signed in Brussels earlier this month and the March 2023 agreement signed in Ohrid each offer Germany an important opportunity that can help lead to reconciliation and lasting peace.

In both this month’s Declaration on Missing Persons and the annex to the Ohrid Agreement, Kosovo and Serbia recognised the need to urgently find the more than 1,600 persons from both sides who are still missing in relation to the conflict.

Many of the missing are ethnic Albanians who were killed during the war and had their bodies moved to Serbia in an organised cover-up campaign, where they were dumped in mass graves. The May 2023 declaration, in particular, implicitly acknowledges what we all know; There are more mass graves to be found.

A key witness and architect of Serbia’s cover-up operations now sits in a German jail. Vlastimir Djordjevic, former Serbian police chief, was convicted of war crimes in 2011 by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY in The Hague and was sent to Germany to serve an 18-year sentence. Djordjevic is likely the last and best opportunity to obtain information from a central figure in that mass cover-up and clear violation of the laws of war.

Djordjevic’s knowledge about where mass graves were placed in Serbia is well-established. According to the ICTY and to a Serbian Interior Ministry working group created in 2001, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic called a meeting of his army and police leaders in March 1999 as he was faced with the threat of a NATO air campaign. At the time, Serbia’s brutal operations and war crimes committed in Kosovo were leading news broadcasts around the world.

The ICTY’s earlier indictments related to the war in Bosnia had put Serbian leaders on notice that they could be on the court’s radar. There was talk that Milosevic himself might become the first sitting head of state to be indicted by an international court.

Djordjevic suggested a solution. At the meeting’s end, Djordjevic raised the issue of ‘clearing up’ the terrain in Kosovo. The ICTY later found that this was a clear reference to concealing war crimes committed in Kosovo. According to the ICTY, Milosevic then ordered the Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic to “take measures to eliminate all traces which could point to the existence of evidence of crimes committed”. In turn, Stojiljkovic assigned his assistant minister – Djordjevic – to the task.

Djordjevic took to it. ICTY records show that he was the primary orchestrator of the cover-up operations. He insisted that bodies be exhumed from Kosovo and transported in refrigerated trucks to be reburied at particular sites in Serbia and authorised the personnel expenses. When the existing trucks were full, he ordered extras. Djordjevic directed at least one of these refrigerator trucks to be destroyed to cover-up the cover-up.

Though particular operations were conducted by the Serbian army, police and more irregular forces, they were all done in a very coordinated way that Djordjevic oversaw. In the end, Djordjevic was convicted of concealing nearly 1,000 murders in every mass grave in Serbia that had been found by the time of his indictment.

Nearly all the Serbian leaders convicted by the ICTY who were involved in the cover-up operations, like the commander of the Yugoslav Army’s Pristina Corps, Vlastimir Lazarevic, and Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, have already been released and welcomed homes as heroes in Serbia. Others, like Djordjevic’s former officemate Goran Radosavljevic, a commander of the Petrovo Selo training ground that was the site of one of the mass graves, have never faced justice.

Djordjevic’s superiors, President Milosevic and minister Stojiljkovic, are both dead. This makes Djordjevic one of the last people accused of involvement in the cover-up operations and the only person convicted of orchestrating them that is still in custody.

However, about 1,000 Kosovo Albanians are still missing. There are still undiscovered mass graves in Serbia. Djordjevic knows more.

Read more at: https://rb.gy/1jx0d

Freedom House: Democratic institutions in the Western Balkans continued to falter in 2022 (EWB)

WASHINGTON –  According to the “Nations in Transit 2023” report published by Freedom House, the 10 non-EU countries that are rated as Hybrid Regimes – positioned in the grey zone between democracy and autocracy. Democratic institutions in the Western Balkans continued to falter in 2022.  Modest improvements in Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia were balanced by declines in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia’s score remained unchanged.

At the same time, drawn-out EU accession processes in the Western Balkans reinforced disillusionment with the union and sapped its power to stoke reform. The challenges associated with accession only increased with the addition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, and Ukraine as formal candidates for EU membership.

“As with the other Hybrid Regimes in Nations in Transit, people living in the non-EU countries of the Western Balkans maintain strong support for accession to the bloc. In 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted EU candidate status, while Kosovo officially submitted its application for consideration. Yet despite these important markers of progress, citizens in the Western Balkans have felt abandoned by domestic elites who resist democratic reforms that would weaken their grip on power, and by international elites who lack the resolve to follow through on the accession process”, writes FH.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/hpAH8