Albanian Language Media:

• Konjufca: Dialogue with Serbia no longer a priority for Kosovo (RTK)

• Roth: Serbia and Kosovo must act more constructively (media)

• Rohde: Kosovo and Serbia to engage in dialogue; Lajcak has our support (RTK)

• Osmani visits Croatia, meets highest leaders (media)

• Rasic says “there is evidence that EU was biased” (TeVe1)

• Joseph: Sanctions against Serbia until recognition of Kosovo (KTV) 

• Police arrest Serb in Merdare suspected of war crimes in Kosovo (media)

• Police raids a building in Leposavic, confiscate three vehicles (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Stano: EU has not seen satisfactory steps on de-escalation yet (Radio KIM)

• Kosovo police arrested Serb under war crimes accusations (Kosovo Online)

• Office for KIM: Pristina wants to intimidate Serbs, cause new crisis instead of de-escalation (Tanjug, media)

• Serbian List reacts to arrest at Merdare (media)

• Kosovo police searched warehouse near sports hall in Leposavic, confiscated three municipal vehicles (media)

• Brnabic meets with Al-Halbousi, voice commitment to international law principles (media)

• Vucic to meet with NATO’s Munsch in Belgrade today (media)

• Dacic: No indication Serbians have been kidnapped in Israel, most tourists have left (media)

• “Big Five” to visit Serbia by end of month (Tanjug)

Albanian Language Media

Konjufca: Dialogue with Serbia no longer a priority for Kosovo (RTK)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca said in an interview with RTK on Tuesday that the dialogue with Serbia is no longer a priority for Kosovo, and that Kosovo’s security is the top priority. “The political process is in third place now and the issue of Kosovo’s security is in first place. I think that the Kosovo Police today is not thinking about the Association [of Serb-majority municipalities]. It is thinking about avoiding another potential attack from the Serbian state,” he said.

Konjufca, who is visiting Berlin, had meetings with leaders of the Bundestag with whom he discussed the armed attack in Banjska near Zvecan on September 24. After the meetings, he said that Germany commended Kosovo’s institutions for the police reaction to the attack.

Roth: Serbia and Kosovo must act more constructively (media)

Chairman of the German Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael Roth, said in a post on X on Tuesday after meeting Assembly President Glauk Konjufca that the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement is crucial. “Serbian provocations and violence must end now. Serbia and Kosovo must act more constructively to bring the normalisation process forward. The people of Kosovo deserve peace,” Roth said.

Rohde: Kosovo and Serbia to engage in dialogue; Lajcak has our support (RTK)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said that after the September 24 events, Kosovo and Serbia must engage in dialogue, namely in the implementation of the Brussels and Ohrid agreements. “You could have seen even before the attack that the EU, which facilitates the process, in the statement on September 18 once again reiterated what is expected from Kosovo and Serbia. Serbia was criticized for not implementing the energy roadmap, and for intimidating police officers, but we also said that Kosovo has not implemented several points that were requested since June 3,” he said.

Rohde said that the EU classified the September 24 attack as a terrorist act. He said the attack was murderous and cowardly and called for the perpetrators to be punished. He also said that evidence must be collected and assessed, and then a political decision must be made.

Rohde said Germany made it clear to Serbia that it needs to support investigations into the attack. “If it is not transparent, there can be consequences. But I cannot predict what can happen. You have seen the clear statement, because the murderous attack on September 24 is a clear turnin point, and a clear dimension about the weapons that were found, and as I have said in another interview, they were not just unsatisfied citizens. This was a military-style attack aimed at causing havoc,” he said.

Rohde said that Germany supports the EU facilitators of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. “Lajcak and Borrell have our support. They have made great efforts these years and I don’t think it is wise to slam the facilitator. For the time being we have a difficult situation but Lajcak has our full support,” he said.

Osmani visits Croatia, meets highest leaders (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani is staying in Croatia for a two-day visit. On Tuesday she met her Croatian counterpart Zoran Milanovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic. After meeting Milanovic, Osmani thanked Croatia for its support to Kosovo and stressed that Croatia is a friend and ally of Kosovo in the region and in the Euro-Atlantic structures. A press release issued by her office notes that Osmani informed Milanovic about the September 24 attack and “Serbia’s act of aggression against Kosovo, coordination with allies and the international security presence in Kosovo, and also discussed the expansion of cooperation in order to overcome the security challenges”. She said the people and institutions of Kosovo “are committed to peace, stability and security in the country and in the region”. In her meeting with Plenkovic, Osmani argued that Serbia must be held responsible “for its act of aggression against Kosovo”. She also said that Kosovo’s priority is “its membership in NATO due to the security challenges that our region faces, potentiating the importance of advancing the country’s membership in the Council of Europe and the European Union as well as other international organizations”. 

Rasic says “there is evidence that EU was biased” (TeVe1)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic, argued in a debate on TeVe1 on Tuesday that there is evidence that the European Union has been biased on several occasions. “The majority of agreements were adopted and implemented under the leadership of Vucic. Is the European Union biased? On several occasions we have evidence that it was biased. Who considered Vucic as the best associate, it was precisely the European Union. These are facts,” he said.

Commenting on the EU penalty measures against Kosovo, Rasic said he was “the first victim” of the sanctions. “As far as the EU sanctions against Kosovo are concerned, I was the first to be punished. In June, on a Sunday we went to Brussels, then on Monday and Tuesday I had my first meetings as Minister for Communities and Returns. Believe me, on Friday afternoon our meeting was canceled. This goes to show that I was the first victim of the sanctions,” Rasic said.

Joseph: Sanctions against Serbia until recognition of Kosovo (KTV)

U.S. expert on the Western Balkans, Edward P. Joseph, said in an interview with KTV on Tuesday, that there should be sanctions against Serbia until it recognizes Kosovo. “I will say exactly what I support. I support the maximal use of this situation to get maximal concessions from Belgrade on the implementation of the agreement and the recognition of Kosovo. This is what I support. I support sanctions against Serbia that hold it accountable by using the same sanctions to reach the real objective: to push Serbia toward recognizing Kosovo,” he said.

According to Joseph, since the September 24 attack in Banjska, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is being watched and is defending himself because, as he argued, “it is apparent there was state involvement by Serbia in what happened”. “The evidence is absolutely clear,” he said.

Police arrest Serb in Merdare suspected of war crimes in Kosovo (media)

All media reported on Tuesday that Kosovo Police in cooperation with investigators from the Department for the Investigation of War Crimes, arrested in Merdare a Serb suspected of committing war crimes against civilians in Kosovo in 1998/99 in the municipality of Vushtrri. The suspect is expected to be interviewed in the presence of an attorney.

Police raids a building in Leposavic, confiscate three vehicles (media)

Kosovo Police raided a building in Leposavic on Tuesday under the suspicion that there were weapons inside. Police deputy director for the north, Veton Elshani, told Kallxo news website that they confiscated three vehicles which are believed to be a property of the municipality of Leposavic. He also said that the police operation was ongoing. He did not say if the operation is linked to the September 24 attack in Banjska near Zvecan.

Serbian Language Media

Stano: EU has not seen satisfactory steps on de-escalation yet (Radio KIM)

The EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the EU member states have not seen sufficient satisfactory steps towards genuine de-escalation and that there is no other way for Belgrade and Pristina but dialogue, Radio KIM reports.

“The EU is a mediator in the dialogue. There is nothing new to say, the EU path of Serbia and Kosovo inevitably goes through dialogue. Both sides must understand that the dialogue must continue. When it comes to the investigation into events in Banjska, I repeat, when the investigation is concluded, when it is determined who is behind the attack, then we can take certain steps”, he said.

He added that the EU has made it clear several times that it is ready for restrictive measures.

“The EU is clear, if there is no de-escalation, if the situation escalates, we are ready to introduce certain measures, some of which have already been presented. We are ready, if EU members assess, to introduce measures, not only against Kosovo, but also against Serbia. Those measures are flexible, as they can be introduced, they can be mitigated or abolished”, he pointed out.

He also said that Brussels is currently interested in seeing clear steps towards de-escalation, that both sides return to dialogue, and a report on the events of September 24 is awaited.

“We expect full cooperation from Serbia, if there is a will, there are ways to cooperate. It is not on us to send a message through the public, our Serbian partners know very well what they should do and what is expected of them”, he said.

Kosovo police arrested Serb under war crimes accusations (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo police said yesterday evening that a Serb T.B. (52) from Priluzje arrested at Merdare crossing point earlier that day was suspected of allegedly committing war crimes in the period from 1998 to 1999 in the area of Vucitrn municipality, Kosovo Online portal reports.

The arrested person was sent to the police and it was expected that he will be interrogated in presence of a defense lawyer, after which further steps will be taken, police added in a statement.  

Office for KIM: Pristina wants to intimidate Serbs, cause new crisis instead of de-escalation (Tanjug, media)

Reacting to the latest arrest of a Serb by Kosovo police, Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija said in a statement that 52-year-old Priluzje resident Tomica B, a father of three, had crossed the administrative line without problems on several occasions in the past years.

At the time of the arrest, the Office adds, he and his wife were on their way home from Krusevac, a city in central Serbia that they occasionally visit.

“Pristina’s new arbitrary arrest of a Serb sends a message to our people that they are not welcome on their home soil and intimidates them further with a view to expelling them permanently from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija”, reads the statement.  

It also said this represented a “silent institutional ethnic cleansing of Serbs and implementation of Albin Kurti’s plan of an ethnically clean Kosovo and Metohija where the message to Serbs is that they can end up in Kurti’s dungeons at any time”.

Serbian List reacts to arrest at Merdare (media)

Reacting to the arrest of a Serb at Merdare crossing point, Serbian List said in a statement that “Albin Kurti’s regime continues implementing Croatian scenario and fulfillment of a plan to resolve the issue of the Serbian people as he promised couple of months ago – to expel one half, and arrest the other half without evidence”.

They also said that arrested Serb for the last 24 years had been crossing an administrative line without any problems.

“The feeling among all Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is horrible as (Albin) Kurti’s regime has freedom to mistreat, arrest and declares guilty Serbs without single evidence about their guilt and to do so in the presence of international missions and the most expensive European Union Mission – EULEX, which as per rule, when it comes to the violation of the rights of the Serbs, never makes announcements”, the statement added. 

Kosovo police searched warehouse near sports hall in Leposavic, confiscated three municipal vehicles (media)

A larger number of Kosovo police officers searched the warehouse near the sports hall in Leposavic yesterday afternoon and confiscated three municipal vehicles there, Serbian media report.

During the action police allowed neither access nor taking photographs, Kosovo Online portal said.

Kosovo police deputy director for the region North, Veton Elshani told the media that police confiscated three vehicles owned by Leposavic municipality. He said the action was carried  out because of suspicion that weapons were there, however, nothing was found.

“Police carried out a search because of suspicion related to weapons, but the weapons were not found. We confiscated three vehicles owned by Leposavic municipality, in a location close to the police station”, he said. 

Brnabic meets with Al-Halbousi, voice commitment to international law principles (media)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations and advancement of cooperation with Iraq.

Al-Halbousi especially underscored Iraq’s clear and principled position of non-recognition of Kosovo and expressed full support to the preservation of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Serbia, the Serbian Government said in a statement.

Brnabic said that, like Iraq, Serbia was committed clearly to respect the principles of international law, and thanked Iraq for its consistent and principled position and support for the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia.

Al-Halbousi noted that the two countries had great potential for cooperation and invited Serbia and its companies to take part in joint project cooperation and come to the Iraqi market.

Vucic to meet with NATO’s Munsch in Belgrade today (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will meet with the commander of the NATO Joint Force Command in Naples, Adm Stuart Munsch, in Belgrade today.

The meeting in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic is scheduled for 9 am, the presidential press office said in a statement.

Dacic: No indication Serbians have been kidnapped in Israel, most tourists have left (media)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday there was no indication there were Serbian nationals among those kidnapped or wounded in Israel except for a man who had sustained minor wounds, and added that the majority of Serbian tourists had left Israel.

In an appearance on Prva TV, Dacic said the Serbian Government would do everything in its power for Serbian nationals in Israel and that solidarity between states was at work as Air Serbia had evacuated a number of Montenegrin nationals from Israel two days ago, while Air Montenegro had taken 11 Serbians out of the country last night.

“Big Five” to visit Serbia by end of month (Tanjug)

A “Big Five” comprised of the EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak and envoys of the presidents of the US, France and Germany and the PM of Italy – Gabriel Escobar, Emmanuel Bonne, Jens Plattner and Francesco Tallo – will visit Serbia again by the end of this month, a source in the Presidency of Serbia confirmed to Tanjug on Tuesday.

A meeting with the envoys is expected to address Serbia’s alignment with the EU foreign policy and imposition of sanctions on Russia, as well as implementation of the March 18 Ohrid Agreement.

The “Big Five” last visited Serbia on January 20 ahead of a round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to discuss a French-German plan that was later agreed on in Ohrid.