Albanian Language Media:

• President of Bulgaria to pay official visit to Kosovo today (media)
• Koopman: Liberalization will help exchanges between Kosovo and EU (RTK)
• Kurti met Turkish community in Prizren, talked about free movement in EU (RTK)
• Svecla on attack of policeman in north: Situation there has improved significantly (Koha)
• Aliu: Specialized Chambers, project of Serbia against Kosovo (RTK)
• Krasniqi: Kurti government has brought regression to Kosovo (media)
• Complaints of former KLA leaders about changed conditions of detention, rejected (media)
• Albanians to be represented by one MP in Assembly of Serbia (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: Letter to show foreign interference (N1)
• Petkovic: Rajska banja usurpation a robbery of Serbian Orthodox Church property (Tanjug)
• Hoxha: Mistake to present Rajska Banja as a political triumph, it is a purely technical issue (KiM radio, Kosovo Online)
• Serbian gov’t aware of ODIHR mission’s conclusions, awaits final report (Tanjug)

International Media:

• Serbian tabloids accusing Germany of fuelling violent protests in Serbia, DW denies any involvement (EWB)

Albanian Language Media

President of Bulgaria to pay official visit to Kosovo today (media) 

The President of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, will come today for a two-day official visit to Kosovo. 

He will be received by President Vjosa Osmani with a state ceremony, a ceremony that will be held on December 22, at 10:00 hours, in “Ibrahim Rugova” square. The Office of the Presidency has announced that the media will take pictures at the ceremonial reception and at the beginning of the meeting, while after the meeting President Osmani and President Radev will hold a press conference. 

The Office of the Prime Minister also informed that PM Albin Kurti will meet the Bulgarian President at 12:00 hours. 

Koopman: Liberalization will help exchanges between Kosovo and EU (RTK) 

There are still a few days left before the citizens of Kosovo will move freely in the Schengen area without having to obtain a visa. The European Union General Director for Neighborhood, Negotiations and Enlargement, Gert Jan Koopman, through a post on the “X” platform, said that from January 2024 visa liberalization will become a reality for Kosovo. 

According to him, liberalization will help a lot to promote closer ties and facilitate people-to-people exchanges between Kosovo and the European Union. He also mentioned that the citizens of Kosovo will be able to travel through the European Union without a visa, up to 90 days. 

Kurti met Turkish community in Prizren, talked about free movement in EU (RTK) 

Ten days before Kosovo joins other countries for movement in the Schengen area, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, as part of the information campaign, met the Turkish community in Prizren, with whom he talked and shared information about exercising the right to freedom of movement. 

“The democratic and economic progress at the beginning of the mandate, and especially the achievements in the rule of law, in the fight against organized crime and corruption, the management of asylum and repatriation, have raised the image of the Republic of Kosovo and convinced even the most skeptics within the European Union to finally make the decision to liberalize visas for Kosovo. So, this achievement is a joint achievement, since the marked progress would not have been possible without the support of the citizens”, Kurti said. 

Svecla on attack of policeman in north: Situation there has improved significantly (Koha) 

The Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Svecla, has emphasized on Thursday at the meeting of the Council for Democracy and Human Rights, that the biggest challenge during this year has been the maintenance of order and public safety and the preservation of territorial integrity throughout Kosovo. 

“The security institutions there have faced extremist attacks, the attack on September 24 was managed quite well even though we lost the hero Afrim Bunjaku… During these years, the Kosovo Police has been attacked about 100 times by these extremist groups and the latest news is that we also had an attack yesterday where the life of a policeman was endangered. However, the security situation there has significantly improved”, Svecla said. 

Aliu: Specialized Chambers, project of Serbia against Kosovo (RTK) 

Kosovo’s Minister of Infrastructure Liburn Aliu in an interview with RTK Prime said that the SpecializedChambers is a project of Serbia and against the state of Kosovo, but also against the historical connection of Kosovo with its struggle for freedom. According to him, it is easy to alienate a country and a people if you cut ties with its history. 

Aliu said that Kosovo is a temporary project without a complete identity and  expressed belief that the unification of Albanians in one state creates stability. 

“Kosovo is under constant threat from Serbia, and if it wasn’t for the danger from Serbia, I wouldn’t even see Kosovo as a temporary project”, he said. 

He emphasized that the union of Albanians would bring stability because according to him Kosovo cannot rely on the presence of KFOR. “When we talk about long-term and stable solutions, we cannot rely on the presence of KFOR today, because it is not known how things will go, and with the danger from Serbia, the best solution and certainly for stability, is the union”, Aliu said. 

Krasniqi: Kurti government has brought regression to Kosovo (media) 

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Memli Krasniqi, has said that the Kurti government has only brought regression in Kosovo. He accused the central government, during a visit he made on Thursday to the municipality of Gjakova, where he met businessmen of this municipality. Krasniqi said that the citizens of Gjakova are being discriminated against, especially with the budget for new capital investments. 

“Unfortunately, Gjakova is also among the municipalities punished by the Kurti government, because not a single cent has been allocated to Gjakova for new capital investments for the year 2024”, said Krasniqi.  

Krasniqi said that his party “will bring back to the central level the effective model of governance, which keeps its word, performs work and makes life easier for citizens”. 

Complaints of former KLA leaders about changed conditions of detention, rejected (media) 

The Trial Panel in the case of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) – Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi – rejected the complaints of the defense teams regarding the changed conditions of detention, namely the restriction of phone calls and visits of family members, finding them in non-compliance with the work instruction procedure. 

The Specialized Chambers of Kosovo (DHSK) in The Hague, Netherlands, through a press release on Thursday, announced that the Trial Panel noted that complaints about restrictive measures must first be submitted directly to the administrator and, if rejected, detainees can request from the Judiciary a judicial review of the decision within 30 days. 

Albanians to be represented by one MP in Assembly of Serbia (media) 

Albanians living in Serbia will be represented by one MP in the Assembly of Serbia resulting from the December 17 elections. Mr. Shaip Kamberi, elected MP for another term, told the Voice of America that his battle in the Parliament of Serbia remains the same – to raise the many concerns and difficulties faced by Albanians in the Presheva Valley. Meanwhile, researchers criticize Serbia for systematic discrimination against the Albanian minority, which according to them has changed the ethnic relief in this region and is leaving deep traces on the political representation of Albanians in Serbia.  

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic: Letter to show foreign interference (N1)

President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday that Serbian state bodies are drafting a letter about outside interference in the elections.

He said, “the important letter is about the interference of an important country in the election process in Serbia in the most brutal way.” “It will be completed by the New Year, and we will send it to the entire world to see how that kind of interference in processes that belong to an independent country are done,” he told reporters in the town of Vrbas.

Vucic said the parliamentary elections process would be completed by December 30 and the Belgrade city election process “a little later”. “In terms of the (Belgrade) city elections we will probably, if Branimir Nestorovic’s election ticket doesn’t support anyone, repeat the vote while parliament will be constituted very quickly,” he said.

According to Vucic, Sunday’s elections were the cleanest and fairest to date, adding that the opposition should prepare for the local elections next spring. “I respect every vote. The former regime got almost 900,000 votes but we won 1.8 million. The election will of the people will be respected,” he said.

Vucic said the opposition was talking nonsense and asked, “where did the 40,000 voters from Republika Srpska go when in the end there weren’t even 6,000” and recalled that those people were granted citizenship before he came to power.

Petkovic: Rajska banja usurpation a robbery of Serbian Orthodox Church property (Tanjug)

The head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic said on Thursday Pristina’s usurpation of the Rajska banja spa complex near Zvecan was a sheer robbery of private property owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church, reported Tanjug agency.

At the unveiling of a project to provide free legal assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees and returnees, Petkovic said Rajska banja was one of the most significant investments by the Office for KiM and Serbian Government, aimed at empowering the local community, employing young people and offering treatment to thousands of patients and jobs to dozens of people.

“And then someone comes and says: ‘That is not yours, but ours.’ How can it be yours when you did not build it and you have never been there, when you do not have a single document?” Petkovic said in response to claims by Pristina.

He said Serbs in Kosovo were facing huge problems that went as far as “complete disenfranchisement.”

“The institutional violence carried out by Albin Kurti and the institutions in Pristina is directly reflected in the life of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija almost on a daily basis, and this has especially been the case in the north of Kosovo-Metohija over the past year, leading to the departure of over 12 percent of Serbs from Serbia’s southern province to central Serbia,” he said among other things. 

The Serbs are being targeted by persecution, groundless arrests, seizures of private property, unlawful expropriations, construction of illegal police bases, as well as by the most direct threats to their security by the Kosovo Police, he said.

In consequence, life is extremely difficult for Kosovo Serbs and normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations is in doubt, Petkovic said.

“For its part, Belgrade is doing absolutely everything to preserve peace and stability in Kosovo-Metohija and to ensure a position of Serbs in Kosovo that would enable our people to survive and stay in their ancestral homes,” he said.

He noted that Belgrade was meeting all its commitments from the dialogue with Pristina, while, for over ten years now, Pristina was “most directly refusing” to meet its main commitment, the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

He also said the percentage of Serb returnees in Kosovo was below 2 pct, meaning that Rwanda had a higher percentage of returns compared to Kosovo.

Hoxha: Mistake to present Rajska Banja as a political triumph, it is a purely technical issue (KiM radio, Kosovo Online)

There is nothing controversial in the takeover of the facilities in the “Rajska banja” complex in Banjska by the KAP for the journalist and editor-in-chief of ATV Leart Hoxha, but what is disputed is that, as he says, the authorities in Pristina present this as a political triumph, reported KiM radio. 

Hoxha, however, points out that the Kosovo Privatization Agency has a list of other disputed facilities in the north of Kosovo.

“It is true that KAP has a list of dozens of properties of land or buildings of this Agency that currently are not at their disposal,  mainly in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo. They have them recorded in their property lists and lists for which they officially have the right to put them in the privatization process,” he told KiM radio among other things.

Serbian gov’t aware of ODIHR mission’s conclusions, awaits final report (Tanjug)

The Serbian government said on Thursday it was aware of preliminary conclusions by an ODIHR international election observation mission and added that it awaited the mission’s final report on the December 17 early parliamentary elections in Serbia.

“Serbian authorities stand fully ready to provide explanation for questions raised, engage in further advancement of the electoral environment and continue the work with OSCE/ODIHR on implementation of their recommendations. This dedication demonstrates the commitment of the Republic of Serbia to strengthen its democratic institutions and the principles of good governance,” the government said in an official statement.

“Serbian authorities have demonstrated a consistent and committed approach in implementation of recommendations from previous ODIHR election reports. Such efforts include large-scale activities after the 2020 parliamentary elections, the 2017 presidential elections and the 2016 early parliamentary elections,” the government also said.

It said 14 recommendations had been fully implemented and that 14 others had been implemented for the largest part, with 29 partly implemented.

This progress indicates Serbia’s unwavering commitment to improvement of electoral conditions and strengthening of rule of law and democratic processes, in cooperation with the EU, OSCE/ODIHR and other relevant partners, it said.

“The Government of Serbia and the relevant authorities await the ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s final report on the 2023 early parliamentary elections,” the statement noted.

International Media

Serbian tabloids accusing Germany of fuelling violent protests in Serbia, DW denies any involvement (EWB)

German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW) has denied for European Western Balkans allegations by Serbia’s pro-government tabloids that it is involved in the ongoing anti-government protests. “DW does not represent any political opinion in Serbia and therefore takes a neutral stance on the post-election protests”, DW stated in a written response.

Protesters, including representatives of opposition parties and citizens, have been protesting for three days outside the headquarters of the Republic Electoral Commission, demanding the annulment of Belgrade elections and the organization of new ones. Another protest is scheduled for Thursday.

Read more at: https://t.ly/BuxBr