UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, September 2, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kosovo closes five Serbia-run institutions in the north (media)
Osmani meets Kasanof, “insightful discussion on recent developments” (media)
Plaques of Kosovo institutions put up in former “parallel municipalities” (media)
Osmani: Our true power lies in partnerships that have kept us strong (media)
Lajcak: Societies in Kosovo and Serbia not ready for normalization (RFE)
Lajcak will travel to Pristina to prepare next meeting of chief negotiators (media)
Canak and Biserko: Belgrade plans to displace Kosovo Serbs to Sandzak (media)

Serbian Language Media:

SRSG Ziadeh on the situation in northern Kosovo (KoSSev, Kosovo Online, NIN, Euronews.rs, media)
Controversy Erupts at Ulpiana Fest Over Burning of Christian Crosses (KoSSev)
The Eparchy of Raska-Prizren condemns the burning of crosses at the Ulpiana Fest (Kosovo Online, KoSSev, N1, media)
Hargreaves: The Kosovo government must do more to ensure Serbs feel secure about their future here (KoSSev)
How identity verification looks like in North Mitrovica (KoSSev)
Biserko, Canak informed Kurti that Belgrade plans to move Serbs from the North to Raska, asking him to prevent it (KoSSev)
Lajcak after Bled travels to Pristina (RTS, media)
Signs of Kosovo institutions placed on the buildings of Serbian institutions in North Mitrovica (Kosovo Online, media)
BIRODI: The GoK to fulfil its obligations towards Serbs in Kosovo, instead of discrimination (NMagazin, N1, Beta, KoSSev)
Kosovo’s Northern Security Sweep: An Overview (KoSSev, media)
Vucic criticizes Kosovo’s provocations and expresses doubts about Serbia’s EU accession by 2028 (N1, Beta, media)

International Media:

Protest from US after Kosovo closes Serbian offices (The Guardian)
Taking Heat From Allies, Kosovo President Blames 'Dark Forces' (RFE)
After greeting Macron in Belgrade, Serbia's Vučić sets off to meet von der Leyen in Prague (euronews.com)
EU's Balkan Envoy Says Serbia-Kosovo Stalemate Risks 'Outbursts Of Instability' (RFE)

Albanian Language Media:

Osmani: Over 1,600 remain forcibly disappeared, many of them children (media)
Kurti on the missing: In Serbia, there is no will, in Kosovo, close to 3 thousand excavations (RTK)
Kurti: France, allied country and partner, “we want close cooperation” (Gazeta10)
Goffus: Uncoordinated actions increase the risk of violence (media)
Osmani decrees 31 judges, nearly half of them women (media)
Albanian Defense Minister “friendly and open meeting” with Kurti (media)
Hovenier: We repeat call to solve missing persons cases (RTK)
Osmani travels to Prague, represents Kosovo at GLOBSEC (Zeri)
Kurti meets with head of OSCE, talk about strengthening cooperation (Reporteri)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Purchase of French Rafale aircraft is huge for Serbia (N1)
Vucic, Macron want Serbia and France as AI powers (N1)
Arsenijevic: Kurti, as if wanting to go to war with someone, because he has nothing to offer to people (N1)
Office for KiM: Verdict to Zlatkovic proof Pristina continues to oppress and intimidate Serbs (Kosovo Online, media)
International Day of Disappeared (Radio KIM)
Hovenier: Institutions and officials to overcome differences and work to resolve missing persons cases (Kosovo Online, social media)

International:

‘It was Wartime’: Kosovo man still waits for word of missing daughter (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media:

• Macron: Kosovo's unilateral moves, not a good signal (media)
• Kurti and Goffus discuss importance of continuous coordination with NATO (media)
• Osmani asks senior NATO official to draw up joint plan for opening of Iber Bridge (Reporteri)
• Osmani meets Manuel Sarrazin, discuss political developments and security (media)
• Kurti to Sarazin: Kosovo is fully engaged in Berlin Process (RTK)
• Sarrazin: We need difficult compromises between Kosovo and Serbia for EU membership (Koha)
• Abdixiku to Sarrazin: LDK will give priority to Berlin Process (Koha)
• Maqedonci meets Goffus, discuss security in Kosovo and the region (RTK)
• KSF members are being trained for battles by Turkish military (Koha)
• EULEX and IML Forensic Team visiting Novi Pazar (RTK)
• Maqedonci: The CIA chief's visit to Kosovo was to curb Russian influence in Balkans (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

• Macron arrives to Belgrade, contract on purchase of 12 Rafale aircrafts signed (media)
• Odalovic: Kurti is trying to hide Pristina has done nothing regarding missing persons issue (Kosovo Online)
• EULEX and IFM collaborate as excavations begin in Novi Pazar (KoSSev)
• Serbian man sentenced to five months in prison and deportation from Kosovo for ‘insulting KLA’ (media)
• Sopjani: Presence of ministers during opening of Kosovo Post office in Mitrovica North unnecessary (Kosovo Online, social media)

International Media:

• Serbia signs deal to buy French fighter jets as Macron visits Belgrade (Balkan Insight)
• Serbia announces $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a shift away from Russia (AP)
• Serbia buys 12 Rafale jets from France's Dassault Aviation for 2.7 billion euros (Reuters)

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: Milosevic’s strategy ‘no corpse, no crime’ continues to this day (EO)
Kurti: Employment in Kosovo increased thanks to government support (EO)
Post of Kosovo branch opened in Mitrovica north (media)
PDK after meeting Sarrazin; “cooperation with partners very important” (Express)
“Readiness to restore mosque near Iber bridge; don’t want to politicize it” (Klan)
Rohde “proud to see Kosovo join Paralympics for 1st time” (media)
Hasani: Good work is done by agreeing with those that love Kosovo (Nacionale)
Sinani: Every time I cross the border I am stopped by Serbian authorities (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Macron: EU needs strong, democratic Serbia (N1)
Kosovo Post office opened in Mitrovica North amid whistles and discontent (Radio Kontakt Plus, media)
Petkovic: Opening of Kosovo Post office new unilateral act by Pristina (Tanjug)
Andric-Rakic: Kosovo Post office does not meet needs of Serbian population (Kosovo Online)
Protected witness at trial to Thaci and others about murder of 25 Serbs in Volujak cave, detention center in Malisevo (KoSSev, BETA)
Selimi: Kurti’s government turned Kosovo into security issue (Kosovo Online, social media)

International:

People picturing war: Capturing a Kosovo child’s birth in a refugee tent (BIRN)
Vucic will gain most from Macron visit to Serbia, French analyst predicts (BIRN)
Serbia will take regional celebrities off entry ‘watch list’, Minister says (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Kosovo deserves full membership in CoE, it has met all conditions (media)
• Sarrazin to visit Kosovo today (media)
• Kallas expected to engage in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, position of special emissary may be removed (Zeri)
• Opposition calls minimum wage of 350 euros an "electoral decision" (Koha)
• KLI: Kosovo failing to provide strategic approach to fighting corruption (Koha)
• Uglanin: We do not want to politicise process, but we are ready to rebuild Iber Mosque (Klan)
• Sormaz: Attack in Banjska was organised by Vucic (RTK)
• Cerkini on the missing: No August 30 has found us in worse position (RTK)
• Mayor of Presheva reacts to Vulin, says she is constantly discriminated (media)
• MPs who left VV to join PD, enter elections with AKR and Unity Movement? (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: Stances of France, USA and others regarding Ibar River bridge are firm (Kosovo Online)
• Mojsilovic met Admiral Munsch: We expect KFOR to take measures to preserve safety of Serbs in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Minister Gasic met Admiral Munsch (RTV, media)
• JFCNP post on Admiral Munsch meeting with Minister Gasic, General Mojsilovic (social media)
• Pro-lithium mining organisation formed in Serbia (N1)

International Media:

• Switch to Kosovo Driving Licences Leaves Many Serbs Stuck in Limbo (Balkan Insight)
• Kosovo Govt Doubles Minimum Wage Ahead of Elections (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media:

Government decides: Minimum gross wage in Kosovo increased to €350 (media)
Haradinaj: This minimum wage is a humiliation (media)
Kurti comments on recent visits, says they are waiting for final report on Iber Bridge (Klan)
NATO's Assistant Secretary for Operations to visit Kosovo Thursday (Klan)
Over 1,600 missing; “lack of reliable information is a challenge” (RTK)
Deadline for registration of diaspora extended to December 31 (media)
2,047,148 voters in the CEC preliminary list Elections 2025 (RTK)
Rohde hikes Kosovo’s highest peak Gjeravica (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Life under ‘police protectorate’ (Radio KIM, NIN)
Velebit: Situation for Serbs in Kosovo equivalent to a humanitarian catastrophe (Kosovo Online)
Dacic with UN Coordinator in Serbia discusses cooperation, in particular with UNMIK (Tanjug)
Lawyer: Nesic is accused of war crime with direct violation of defendant’s right to defense (Kosovo Online)
Davenport pays farewell visit to Bishop Teodosije (Kosovo Online, social media)
Meeting on Jadar lithium project closed to public (N1)
Vucic with scientists on Jadar Project: The state invested in you, it’s time to give back (N1, BETA)

International:

Choked with plastic and sewage, plight of Kosovar river highlights country’s pollution crisis (RFE)
Kosovo’s fierce divas (Kosovo 2.0)

UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, August 28, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Admiral Munsch meets Kurti in Pristina (media)
KFOR personnel carry out 24-hour operation along ABL (media)
Parties have three more days to announce pre-election coalitions (RTK)
Serwer suggests abandoning appeasing policy towards Belgrade (media)
“Serbs in north of Kosovo call for boycott of Albanian businesses” (TeVe1)
Begaj asks Albanian ambassadors to work in support of Kosovo (media)

Serbian Language Media:

‘Ethnic engineering’ in northern Kosovo - do Serbs have reasons to fear ‘albanization’? (Kosovo Online)
Can Kosovo Post replace Serbian Post in northern Kosovo? (Danas, Kosovo Online)
Admiral Stuart Munsch met Kurti, KFOR Commander Ulutas (Radio KIM, social media)
24-hour KFOR exercise along administrative line concluded (Kosovo Online, social media)
German official denies EU traded lithium for democracy (N1, Danas)
Misleading reporting in Serbian media on U.S. criticism of Albin Kurti (KoSSev)

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: Meeting with CIA chief proves U.S. commitment to Kosovo security (media)
Selimi: CIA director’s visit seems to have had an effect in Kosovo (media)
COMKFOR meets Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples (media)
Kosovo Post Office expected to open in ‘Car Llazar’ square in Mitrovica North (Reporteri)
After entry into force of law on minimum wages, salaries increase from 6.8 euros (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic denies Macron wants nuclear waste storage agreement (N1)
"They want to suppress and expel us, what else?"- Does Pristina want to change ethnic structure in north with new projects (Euronews in Serbian)
Ristanovic: Fear from ‘albanization’ of north justified, aim at expulsion of Serbs (Kosovo Online)
New Kosovo Post Office emerges in North Mitrovica after Serbian branches were closed down (KoSSev)
Media: Kurti avoided questions about Ibar Bridge (Kosovo Online)

Opinion:

For Serbia’s govt, law to ‘protect constitutional order’ is an anti-protest weapon (BIRN)

International:

Skepticism surrounds revived truth and reconciliation initiative in Kosovo (BIRN)
Kosovo’s capital expands tourism potential (Prishtina Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

Why is the employment rate among women in Kosovo so low? (RFE)

Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Our support for Ukrainian war is broad and deep (media)
• Rohde: The people of Kosovo have felt pain of Ukrainians (media)
• EU has no official confirmation on refusal to exchange information on attack in Banjska (Koha)
• Hovenier: Commitment of USA to people of Kosovo is stronger than ever (RTK)
• Indictment filed against a Serb for war crimes in Kosovo (media)
• Haradinaj: We must change government for Kosovo to be at NATO Summit in Tirana (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 35 bids for leasing five gas stations in northern Kosovo, two of them from Sedef Travel 2024 Doo (Alternativna.com)
• Albanian-owned market chain opens its first store in North Mitrovica under police security (KoSSev)
• Police arrested then released a Serb over ‘obstruction’ of works at public area, they do not know if permit for works was issued (KoSSev, social media)
• Representatives of Pupin Initiative: We will also highlight problems of Serbs in northern Kosovo in Washington (Kosovo Online)
• Indictment raised against Serb in Kosovo for alleged war crimes (Tanjug, media)
• Ramadani: Since visit of CIA chief there has been no more spreading of “hatred and arrogance” from Self-Determination ranks (Kosovo Online, social media)

Albanian Language Media:

Media: CIA chef talked mostly about Kosovo during stay in Serbia
Kupchan: Kurti should listen to the allies about the Iber bridge (media)
Lajcak in Alpbach: Interesting conversation about future of Western Balkans (media)
CEC: No officially declared coalitions yet, deadline August 30 (ekonomia)
Diaspora census: 600 thousand people registered so far (RTK)
Police arrest a Serb in Jarinje, wanted for threatening another Serb in 2022 (media)
Rama: Albania will have opportunity to host NATO Summit in 2027 (RFE)

Serbian Language Media:

Milenkovic, Arsenijevic on drivers’ license conversion, persisting problems (Radio KIM)
Ponos: Presence of Serbia in northern Kosovo nearing to an end, Vucic’s policy ‘treacherous’ (N1, BETA)
Petkovic responds to Ponos (Novosti)
Milivojevic: Kosovo one of key topics during Macron’s visit to Serbia (RTS)
D.N. arrested at Jarinje, sent to 48-hour detention (Kosovo Online)

International:

CIA chief visits Kosovo, meets President and Prime Minister (Prishtina Insight)