Albanian Language Media:

• Guterres condemns Banjska attack, calls for authors to face justice (Zeri)
• Presidency confirms Osmani’s participation in the UNSC session (Klan)
• Kurti: 2013 agreement violates Constitution of Kosovo (media)
• Serbian army drills at border; Kurti: Serbia poses a threat to Kosovo (RTK)
• Uglanin: Certain that April 21 vote will not be successful (media)
• Zeqiri confident he won’t be dismissed: Serbs don’t trust Serbian List (Nacionale)
• Dutch MEP reacts after the mistreatment of Kosovars in Serbia (RTK)
• “If Association not sent to court, CoE membership postponed for a year” (media)
• Dimic on Serbia stopping Kosovars: Brings back Milosevic’s time (Kosovapress)
• Police confiscate weapons in Mitrovica North (Kosovapress)

Serbian Language Media: 

• Vucic: Eleven years they have been looking for the culprits in Serbs and Serbia, and the essence of the Brussels Agreement has not been implemented (RTS)
• Stano: Brussels Agreement obligation, consequences for Pristina if it does not form the A/CSM (RTS, Tanjug, KiM radio)
• Lajcak: No stronger incentive to resolve the Belgrade, Pristina relations than a clear perspective in the EU (Kosovo Online)
• Eleven years since the Brussels Agreement; Simic: Dead letter (RTS)
• Combating Human Trafficking Director in KP accused of domestic violence (FoNet, N1, Kosovo Online)
• CEC approved 23 locations for voting on April 21 in the north (Kosovo online)
• Surlic: The situation between Belgrade and Pristina would have been more relaxed if the A/CSM had been formed 11 years ago (Kosovo Online)
• Belo Polje struggles with wild landfills, stray dogs and an unbearable stench, no response from the authorities (KiM radio, Radio Gorazdevac)

International:

• North Kosovo Vote to Dismiss Mayors Risks Failure Amid Boycott (BIRN)
• Senior Kosovar Police Officer Released After Detention At Serbian Border (RFE)
• Witness to Violence: Photojournalist Recalls Decades of Documenting Kosovo’s Turbulent Times (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Murati: Kosovo receives €90 million funding from the World Bank (media)
• “Women in focus” photo exhibition: Everything is against women when they strive for a position (KiM radio, KoSSev)

Albanian Language Media  

Guterres condemns Banjska attack, calls for authors to face justice (Zeri)

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in his report on the work of UNMIK, called for the organizers of the attack in Banjska in September last year to be brought to justice without delay and for the EU-facilitated dialogue to continue urgently to find a solution on the issue of the Dinar, the news website reports.

The UN Security Council session on the work of UNMIK has been scheduled for April 22, while Guterres notes in his report that there is progress on the implementation of agreements reached with EU facilitation, but that tensions between Belgrade and Pristina have increased and that the situation in the north of Kosovo remains fragile.

Guterres hailed the progress achieved late last year on the implementation of agreements, including the energy roadmap and the free movement of vehicles between Kosovo and Serbia.

He said that continuous constructive engagement is needed to ensure the implementation of agreements, as this is necessary to prevent new tensions and conflicts.

“I strongly condemn the grave security incident that happened on September 24, 2023, in Banjska, which led to the tragic loss of lives, and I call for the investigation to be concluded and for the organizers to face justice without delay,” he said.

Guterres said he is concerned about the enforcement of the new cash payment regulation which, according to him, has affected the economic and social rights of minority communities, especially the vulnerable groups. He called for the issue to be urgently discussed in the EU-facilitated dialogue and to ensure that the rights of all affected communities are respected and protected.

Presidency confirms Osmani’s participation in the UNSC session (Klan)

The Presidency of Kosovo has confirmed that Vjosa Osmani will soon travel to New York to participate at the next session of the UN Security Council.

In an announcement issued by the Presidency regarding Osmani’s regular meeting with the U.S. ambassador, Jeffrey Hovenier, it is said that the topic of discussion was the preparations being made as well as coordination with the allies on the eve of the next meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where Kosovo will be represented by President Osmani.

Earlier on Thursday, the news website based on sources within the UN, has reported regarding Osmani’s participation.

Sources within the United Nations (UN) have informed Klankosova.tv that Osmani will participate in the regular reporting session on the situation in Kosovo, which according to the calendar will be held on April 22, Monday. The same sources added that the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, will be representing Serbia.

Kurti: 2013 agreement violates Constitution of Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on the 11th anniversary of the 2013 agreement between Kosovo and Serbia signed by then Prime Ministers Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic, that there cannot be talks only about the Association of Serb-majority communities if the Basic Agreement reached in Brussels and the Implementation Annex accorded in Ohrid last year are not accepted and respected.

Kurti writes: “Today marks 11 years since the 19 April 2013 agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, signed by then Prime Ministers Thaci and Dacic. The agreement has 15 articles, and the six first articles talk about an ‘Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo’. The other articles talk about the integration of the Serb community in Kosovo institutions, the issue of energy and the agreement not to obstruct each other’s path toward EU integration. The implementation of articles on the ‘Association’ was followed by another agreement of general principles/main elements that was reached two years later, on August 25, 2015, by then Prime Ministers Mustafa and Vucic. The latter [agreement] ended up at the Constitutional Court in December that year. Consequently, as the 2015 agreement derived from the agreement in 2013, the court addressed both. The Constitutional Court said in its decision that the competencies foreseen for the ‘Association’, according to the two agreements, violate the principles of the Constitution, the multiethnic character of the state and that they seriously threaten the legal order. After the decision of the Court which noted that the ‘Association’ with its cope and competencies gravely violates the Constitution, Serbia violated the other articles of the agreement. Serbia never respected article 14 of the agreement for not obstructing Kosovo’s path toward the EU, and it also violated all other articles on the integration of Serbs in the institutions, by collectively boycotting them and with Belgrade’s orders. 11 years ago, an agreement was reached which on the one hand violated the Constitution of Kosovo, and on the other hand it was violated by Serbia. Last year, we reached a new Basic Agreement, which on the one hand brings mutual de facto recognition and normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, and on the other hand, through Article 7, addresses the findings of the Constitutional Court on the ‘Association’. Serbia, instead of agreeing to sign the Basic Agreement reached in Brussels last year, which includes article 7, is insisting and demanding the agreements from 2013 and 2015, and this constitutes a double violation. We cannot talk and discuss only about the ‘Association’: without accepting and respecting the Basic Agreement (Brussels, February 27, 2023) and the Implementation Annex (Ohrid, March 18, 2023); without including all 39 agreements reached in Brussels (article 10 of the Basic Agreement); without concluding that the Thaci-Dacic agreement (2013) was violated and is still being violated by Serbia, whereas its continuation by Mustafa-Vucic (2015) was overruled by the Constitutional Court. Today also marks 11 years since the unilateral pledge by former Prime Minister Thaci in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Rasmussen that the Kosovo Security Force will not cross the Ibar river without the consent of KFOR. On this 11th anniversary, the Serbian Army in Pester of Sandjak (30 kilometers from the border with Kosovo and three kilometers from the border with Montenegro) will launch drills with kamikaze drones! Our government has way more inherited problems for Kosovo’s progress than challenges of the time. And despite all, we are being successful”.

Serbian army drills at border; Kurti: Serbia poses a threat to Kosovo (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that the location where the Serbian Army will conduct drills with kamikaze drones today is only 30 kilometers away from Kosovo and only 3 kilometers away from the border with Montenegro. “This is another proof that Serbia is the main actor of efforts to destabilize the Western Balkans and it poses a threat to our Republic which they don’t recognize,” he said.

Kurti also said that all preparations have been made for the vote on Sunday for the dismissal of the Albanian mayors of four Serb-majority municipalities in the north. “It is the will of the government for the vote to be held, and in municipalities where 50 percent + 1 of citizens vote to end the mandate of the current mayors, we are the guarantee that this will be implemented fully and swiftly. These mayors can leave their offices, but not with fascist gangs that violate KFOR, and the reporters and police of Kosovo. One cannot enter the offices with bombs and grenades, which were used to attack the security personnel and reporters. Therefore, I call on all citizens regardless of their ethnic background, to go out and vote on April 21 to end the mandate of the current mayors, if they think they have not governed well, or if they think that there are people better suited for those offices. But this needs to happen through a democratic process, and not with violent gangs,” he said.

Uglanin: Certain that April 21 vote will not be successful (media)

Nexhat Uglanin, chair of the Municipal Assembly of Mitrovica North, commented in an interview with Front Online on the referendum on the dismissal of the mayors of the four Serb-majority municipalities. According to him, the vote will not be successful. “No no, it will not be successful. It is a done deal because it is mandatory for the Serb-majority community to take part in the process. But there is also a call from the political party that represents and is influenced by Serbia, to boycott the vote,” he said.

Zeqiri confident he won’t be dismissed: Serbs don’t trust Serbian List (Nacionale)

Izmir Zeqiri, mayor of the municipality of Zubin Potok, said that the vote on Sunday for the dismissal of the mayors of the four Serb-majority municipalities will not be successful. “The Municipal Election Commission is on the field and is verifying the polling stations. The polling stations will most certainly be open. I don’t believe it [the vote] will be successful, but the Municipal Election Commission and the Central Election Commission are prepared to open the polling stations … A large number of Serb citizens no longer trust the Serbian List and will not vote,” he said.

Dutch MEP reacts after the mistreatment of Kosovars in Serbia (RTK)

The Dutch MEP Tineke Strik reacted after the mistreatment that Serbia did to the citizens of Kosovo, on Wednesday, while they were traveling in transit by bus.

MEP Strik, wrote on the “X” platform that Vucic proves that he has zero intentions to advance relations with Kosovo. She emphasized that after these events, it would be even more absurd for him to be de facto rewarded by the EU with the liberalization of visas for Serbian passports issued in Kosovo.

“I hope that the European Parliament will reject the Commission’s proposal next week,” Strik wrote.

“If Association not sent to court, CoE membership postponed for a year” (media)

Director of the Pristina-based KIPRED Institute, Lulzim Peci, said in an interview with RTV21, that he has information that if the Kosovo government does not send the statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities to the Constitutional Court, the vote on Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe will be postponed for one year. 

“We cannot strip ourselves from the political and state responsibility we had to form the Association, and now we have to face the political reality. The QUINT countries told the Prime Minister this … The Prime Minister knows. According to my information, if it [Association statute] is not sent to the Constitutional Court, the vote [on Kosovo’s CoE membership] will be postponed for one year,” he argued.

According to Peci, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is an enemy of the Association. “He is doing all this to prevent the formation of the Association. He wants the division of Kosovo and wants to show that Kosovo does not implement anything … He does not want any other solution except for a strong territorial autonomy and only in the north so that the latter can then join Serbia,” he said.

Dimic on Serbia stopping Kosovars: Brings back Milosevic’s time (Kosovapress)

Radomir Dimic, leader of Kosovo’s Multiethnic European Perspective and reporter, said in an interview with the news agency that the stopping by Serbian authorities of hundreds of Kosovo passengers and police officers at the border between Croatia and Hungary, proves that Serbia does not want normalization with Kosovo.

“They [Serbian authorities] blocked people for several hours, including women and children. It was a bad and shameful decision by Belgrade, a decision that reminds us of the time of Slobodan Milosevic. There can be no justification for such an irresponsible decision,” he argued.

According to Dimic, with this action “Serbia tried to manipulate its citizens because it had nothing to say at the Council of Europe”.

Police confiscate weapons in Mitrovica North (Kosovapress)

Kosovo Police units confiscated several weapons and bullets in two different locations in the north of Kosovo on Thursday. 

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic: Eleven years they have been finding fault in Serbs and Serbia, and the essence of the Brussels Agreement has not been implemented (RTS, Blic)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic said, on the anniversary of the Brussels Agreement, that it was 11 years of everyday nonsense and finding fault in Serbs and Serbia, while the essence was not implemented, which is the formation of the A/CSM, reported RTS. 

President Vucic, in his address after the “Whirlwind 2024” exercise in Pester, commented on the eleventh anniversary of the Brussels Agreement.

He pointed out that Serbia was ”developing during that time, but that it was eleven years of terror and lies, eleven years where the essence was not implemented, which was the formation of the Community of Serbian municipalities, eleven years of everyday nonsense, inventing reasons and finding fault in Serbs and Serbia”.

“After eleven years, the question arises as to what kind of trust we can build,” the president pointed out, reported RTS.

Blic reported that he also said, “There is no one who did not react to the fact that some persons were detained, detained and released. Shame on you”.

He criticized the arrests of Serbs in Kosovo, according to Blic.

– The beating of Stefanovic in Zubin Potok, no announcement, the arrest of the wounded Sofronijevic… Shame on you, you liars. One was a member of the KLA… That is the biggest problem in the world. We’ll have to get used to that hypocritical, disgusting approach; it’s obviously not going to change. It is up to us to strengthen, take care of the EXPO, infrastructure projects, but also the strengthening of our army – said Vucic among other things.

Commenting on Greece’s vote in favor of Kosovo when the Council of Europe was deciding on the initiation of steps towards admission to the Council of Europe, he said “we will follow the votes”.

– As for Dora Bakoyannis, I think it’s a shame what she did. We should have met first. So, they gave up. We should have had a video link. Even the basic obligation to talk with Belgrade has not been fulfilled. It was forgotten overnight that the basic principle was Community of Serbian Municipalities – said Vucic, reported Blic.

Stano: Brussels Agreement obligation, consequences for Pristina if it does not form the A/CSM (RTS, Tanjug, KiM radio)

European Union spokesman Peter Stano said, on the occasion of 11 years since the signing of the Brussels Agreement, that all obligations from that agreement, as a valid document, must be implemented and said that if Pristina does not form the Association/Community of Serbian Municipalities, it will face the consequences, reported RTS, citing Tanjug. 

When asked by Tanjug, how the EU can influence Pristina to fulfill its obligation to form the A/CSM,  as stipulated in the Brussels Agreement, and whether it is still a valid document for Brussels, Stano said that it is a valid document and emphasized that the EU, together with its international partners, made it clear to Pristina that it must form the A/CSM, which it says is one of the “key and most urgent issues” within the dialogue.

“It is a valid document. All agreements reached within the dialogue with the help of the EU are valid documents, they are valid obligations and should be implemented. This must be respected, and this is something we constantly repeat to our partners,” said Stano.

He emphasized that all agreements reached within the dialogue must be implemented, both when it comes to earlier agreements, such as the Brussels Agreement, and when it comes to the Ohrid Agreement.

“The issue of the A/CSM is one of the key, and most urgent issues. The European Union, together with our international partners, was very clear and remains very clear (in relation) with their Kosovo colleagues that they must implement it. Because if you don’t do it, it will lead to consequences,” Stano said.

He reminded that the high representative of the EU and the EU member states made it “very clear” that the progress in the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement is inevitably connected with the progress of Belgrade and Pristina on the way to the EU.

Stano added that if the partners do not fulfill their obligations and the agreements they made, “there will be very serious consequences”, and, as he says, the only ones who will pay if there is no progress in implementing the obligations within the dialogue are the people “in Serbia and Kosovo”, reported RTS.

Lajcak: No stronger incentive to resolve the Belgrade, Pristina relations than a clear perspective in the EU (Kosovo Online)

The EU’s special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, said today in Ljubljana that enlargement is a geopolitical need for the Union to be stronger and more resilient, and pointed out that there is no stronger incentive to resolve open issues, such as the relations between Belgrade and Pristina or the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina, than a clear perspective for membership in the European Union, reported portal Kosovo Online. 

At the “Western Balkans in the EU” conference, Lajcak pointed out that everyone is in a difficult era in which global rules are missing, and the global architecture after the Second World War no longer works.

As he stated, the lack of global authority, which could stop negative processes, encourages “some players” to solve things unilaterally, disobeying the rules, pointing to Ukraine as the most visible and tragic situation, reported the portal. 

He noted that there is no attempt to define new rules that would be in line with the 21st century.

“Everyone complains, but there is no real initiative for that,” Lajcak added, among other things. 

Referring to the Western Balkans he said that it was realized that ”we can no longer afford to keep this region in the gray zone. Enlargement is now seen as a geopolitical necessity for the EU to be stronger and more resilient”, Lajcak emphasized.

Referring to the results of the Eurobarometer, he stated that the majority of the citizens of the member countries have a positive view of enlargement, which means that geopolitical understanding exists.

However, he noticed that, despite the understanding, there is also the impossibility of progress.

“We say that we are serious, and in the Balkans, they say – that they have already heard it… That is why I think that now one country should come forward, make dramatic progress towards membership, because that would encourage pro-European pauses in the Balkans and increase support for the European Union,” said Lajcak, who spoke on the panel “Political and security situation in the Western Balkans in the context of geopolitical changes in Europe and the world”.

He said that there is no stronger incentive for solving open issues, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, than a clear perspective for membership in the European Union.

He added that the leaders in the Union and in the region have a great responsibility to “not lose momentum”.

“We have to overcome the fear of expansion. We have introduced rules in the EU and are making it difficult to start the process. But we have to find a balance between geopolitical need and deserved progress. The process must be credible and transparent, which was not the case before,” said Lajcak.

He stated that it is important for the EU to understand that enlargement is a two-way street.

“We are not only doing this for the Western Balkans, but also for us. If we believe that the EU is a global player, then the Western Balkans is a region where we can have influence. And the time will come when we have to talk about a new order and then it will be necessary for the EU to be a global player, respected as such. For that, we need to have the Western Balkans,” said Lajcak.

Eleven years since the Brussels Agreement; Simic: Dead letter (RTS)

Radio Television of Serbia recalls today that it has been 11 years since the signing of the Brussels Agreement. Then it was a historic agreement that was supposed to mark the beginning of the coexistence of the two peoples in Kosovo, and the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. However, the implementation of the key part of the agreement – the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities – has been on hold for 11 years. The vice-president of the Serbian List, Igor Simic, told RTS that the Brussels agreement remains a dead letter.

The text of the agreement, which was formally called “The First Agreement on Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations”, was negotiated for six months before three signatures were placed on the document.

Simic: Serbs are leaving Kosovo solely for security reasons

The vice-president of the Serbian List, Igor Simic, told RTS that what was written in the Brussels agreement, which was in favor of the Serbs, remained a dead letter by the decision of the authorities in Pristina, with the full support of Kosovo’s independence mentors. 

“The same ones who should have guaranteed us that an umbrella institution for the protection of individual and collective rights of the Serbian people will be created through the Community of Serbian Municipalities,” said Simic.

When asked where the Serbs are today after 11 years, Simic says that it is difficult to give an answer. “Most of us are still down there, but a part left under the pressure, above all, of the regime in Pristina led by Kurti. I believe that they only temporarily left the area of Kosovo and Metohija and we expect them to return. But that is a fact. Under the repression of that regime, the Serbs had to leave the area of Kosovo and Metohija,” says Simic.

According to Simic, Serbs are not leaving the territory of Kosovo for economic reasons, but for security reasons. 

Simic says that without the support of Serbia through the Office on Kosovo and Metohija, there would be no Serbs on the territory of Kosovo, adding that ”Belgrade is our only natural ally”.

Combating Human Trafficking Director in KP accused of domestic violence (FoNet, N1, Kosovo Online)

Director of the Directorate for Combating Human Trafficking in the Kosovo Police (KP), Riza Murati, was accused by his wife of systematic domestic violence, Kosovo Online reported, referring to the portal Nacionale. 

Murati’s wife stated that ”her husband threatened to kill her, which forced her to leave Kosovo”.

“He beat me in front of the children. I was threatened with murder and that I would disappear without a trace. I quit my job and left Kosovo,” are just some of the key statements of this woman.

According to media reports, she explained that she decided to disclose her case after two murders of women took place in Kosovo within just three days, one in Urosevac and the other in Pec. Murati’s wife explained how she feared she might suffer the same fate.

When asked about that trial, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Xhelal Sveqla, said that this case is in the investigation phase.

“We are dealing with the case in question, this case is being handled in the IPK. I believe that the IPK will come out with its conclusions very soon,” said Sveqla. 

The Kosovo Police Inspectorate, in response to Nacionale, announced that it confirmed the protective order for the victim and added that they are coordinating with the Prosecutor’s Office in Mitrovica for further action.

CEC approved 23 locations for voting on April 21 in the north (Kosovo online)

The Central Electoral Commission has approved the lists of polling stations for the April 21 vote “for” or “against” the dismissal of the current mayors in four municipalities in the north, CEC Secretary Burim Ahmetaj confirmed, reported Kosovo Online, citing Telegrafi. 

According to him, there are a total of 23 polling centers where the voting process will be organized.

“The list of voting centers was approved by the CEC. There will be a total of 23 polling centers where the voting process will be organized. There are eight locations in Leposavic where voting can be organized at 18 polling stations. In Zvecan five, Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica also five each, and most of them are municipal facilities or state property,” said Ahmeti.

Portal Kosovo Online reported, in a separate article, that even though less than 48 hours are left until the opening of polling stations in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, citizens still do not know where they will be able to exercise their right to vote if they decide to go out and vote for or against the mayor remaining at the head of the municipality.

According to this portal’s unofficial information, in North Mitrovica the polling centers will be in the settlements where Albanians live, although the citizens themselves were not aware of this until the publication of the article, added the portal. 

Surlic: The situation between Belgrade and Pristina would have been more relaxed if the A/CSM had been formed 11 years ago (Kosovo Online)

On the anniversary of the Brussels Agreement, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences Stefan Surlic expresses the belief that today the political situation between Belgrade and Pristina would have been much more relaxed if the A/CSM had been implemented 11 years ago and that the Brussels Agreement fulfilled its mission, which, as he stated, was the accommodation of differences, enabling freedom of movement, living, the right to distinctiveness, and the right to cultural heritage, reported Kosovo Online in English. 

Unfortunately, Surlic points out, it has been shown that the dialogue is constantly blocked, and Kosovo and Serbia have not progressed beyond the points of the Brussels Agreement, except for those that Belgrade was obligated to implement.

“All the points that were on the Serbian side as obligations have been fulfilled, while those points that primarily concerned the A/CSM have not been implemented,” he noted.

He believes that the latest agreement, known as the Franco-German plan, was not even necessary if the Brussels Agreement had been respected.

Read more at: https://t.ly/izD2K

Belo Polje struggles with wild landfills, stray dogs and an unbearable stench, no response from the authorities (KiM radio, Radio Gorazdevac)

In Belo Polje, near Pec/Peja, new wild landfills are appearing, which bother the residents of this village because of the collection of stray dogs, unpleasant odors, and destruction of the environment.

The journalists of Radio Gorazdevac, after a call to the newsroom from returnees from this village, went to the field and verified the factual situation.

One of the residents of Belo Polje told the radio that that people are dumping their garbage, building materials and even wool from sheep into this village every day and thus destroy the environment. According to him, this makes life difficult for the people who are residents of this village. 

“Every day, people from the city and settlement dump garbage from their homes onto our private property. In the yards of people who don’t live here, they make garbage dumps. They throw away garbage and construction materials, even sheep’s wool. It bothers us a lot. They pollute the environment, stray dogs gather, a foul smell is felt. At the invitation of the Albanian neighbors, who reported once, they came to clean and never came again,” the resident of Belo Polje told Radio Gorazdevac.

He adds that they have complained to the competent institutions several times, but that no one is removing these landfills.

“We have addressed the public utility company in Pec/Peja several times. They never came to clean the garbage at the entrance to the village,” said Belo Polje resident. 

The editorial staff of Radio Gorazdevac tried to contact the Communal Inspection in the municipality of Pec/Peja, which is responsible for such problems. However, until the publication of this text, the radio did not receive their response.

International 

North Kosovo Vote to Dismiss Mayors Risks Failure Amid Boycott (BIRN)

More than 46,500 voters have been called to cast ballots on Sunday in four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo. In an unprecedented process, they will not vote to elect mayors but to dismiss them.

This is the first time Kosovo has organised this type of ballot in which voters can exercise their right to dismiss the mayors of Leposavic, North Mitrovica, Zvecan and Zubin Potok that they never considered as legitimate.

But on Wednesday, the Central Election Commission, CEC, announced that 33 school premises in the four municipalities will not serve as polling stations because their directors refuse to allow the votes to be held there.

Schools in Serb-populated areas in Kosovo function under the umbrella of the Serbian “parallel system” and calls for a boycott made by the Belgrade-backed party Srpska Lista last week were echoed by the school principals.

Burim Ahmetaj, CEC Secretary, said only ten schools in the four municipalities are accessible to the CEC to distribute voting material.

“The justifications of the school directors were that on April 21 they’d planned other activities on school premises,” Ahmetaj said.

“After the representatives from Srpska Lista resigned from the Municipal Election Commissions on April 6, we could not communicate with these directors. They have refused [to communicate],” he added.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/dgIZ4

Senior Kosovar Police Officer Released After Detention At Serbian Border (RFE)

Deputy police commander Dejan Jankovic, a Kosovar Serb, was detained on the morning of April 17 “without any explanation,” the ministry said in a statement.

A Kosovar police deputy who was detained at the border by Serbian police has been released and was on his way back to Kosovo, the Kosovar Foreign Ministry announced late on April 18.

Police Deputy Director Dejan Jankovic was detained on April 17 at the Jarinje border crossing and accused of undermining Serbia’s constitutional order, according to Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Facebook quoting Kosovar Ambassador to Serbia Jetish Jashari as confirming that Jankovic had been released.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said earlier on April 18 at a government meeting in Pristina that four other police officers who were detained together with Jankovic had been released.

Ten off-duty Kosovar police officers, both ethnic Albanians and Serbs, were detained by Serbian authorities while returning to Kosovo. Five of them were released the same day.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/hxGQ7

Witness to Violence: Photojournalist Recalls Decades of Documenting Kosovo’s Turbulent Times (BIRN)

“I had stayed in their Oda (a traditional room for hosting guests in Albanian households), filmed them playing football in the yard and, seven years later, I took photographs of them dead; it was difficult and heavy.” 

Ilaz Bylykbashi, a photojournalist from Kosovo, was telling Kallxo Përnime of the moment he documented the massacre of Kosovo Liberation Army commander Adem Jashari and 58 others, including dozens of his relatives. 

In March 1998, after they were killed by Serbian forces, Bylykbashi “photographed each body one by one”.

“I took over 500 photographs of this massacre in 45 minutes,” he recalls.

He adds that the then Mayor of Skënderaj, Xhafer Murtezaj, “saved” him. “When he saw I wanted to put the cameras in my bag, he told me: ‘Leave that, do not touch them, I will bring them tomorrow to Prishtina,’” Bylykbashi says. 

Being caught “returning with cameras” would have risked serious consequences under the harsh Serbian regime in Kosovo.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/qCQV7

Humanitarian/Development

Murati: Kosovo receives €90 million funding from the World Bank (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, and World Bank Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia, Antonella Bassani, signed an agreement on Financing Development Policy for Fiscal Policy, Competitiveness and Green Growth. The Ministry of Finance said in a Facebook post that “the funding is €90 million and was made possible after Kosovo completed the actions agreed with the World Bank, such as strengthening fiscal and macroeconomic stability, increasing public spending efficiency, creating a favorable environment for investments and starting the transition to a green economy. The World Bank’s decision to support the Republic of Kosovo confirms the government’s commitment to support development policies and to continue implementing projects of interest for the citizens of Kosovo.”

“Women in focus” photo exhibition: Everything is against women when they strive for a position (KiM radio, KoSSev)

“Everything is against women when they aspire to a certain position, and they still have to look good,” it was said at the exhibition of photographs by Arben Lapashtica entitled “Women Leaders in Focus” at the Barabar Center in Pristina last night, reported KiM radio. 

The photos show successful women from Kosovo, and one of them is the president of the Association of Business Women “Avenija” Gordana Djoric. 

Curator Eliza Hoxha reminded the present visitors that the exhibition was held immediately after the day of mourning dedicated to women recently killed by their male partners.

“These women you see here are just some of the hardworking women of Kosovo. They overcame the patriarchy and, in a way, went into some new areas without knowing that they were creating a new agenda for young girls and women,” she said, talking about the exhibited photos.

Noting the recent murders of the two women by their partners, the Deputy Head of UNMIK in Kosovo Barrie Lynne Freeman stressed that the rallying of government, civil society and international partners around their tragic deaths must translate into the full implementation of policies and laws that protect women in vulnerable situations and hold perpetrators fully accountable. 

She paid homage to the women leaders featured in the exhibition as “brave and bold trailblazers who challenge patriarchal norms and set strong examples of women in public life, across sectors and across generations.”

Counselor for gender issues at the EU office in Kosovo, Reyes Charle Cuellar, stated that “women have the capacity to be successful in any field they choose”. 

The photo exhibition entitled “Women Leaders in Focus” was realized by Integra and Barabar Center with the support of UNMIK.