UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 16, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti says meeting in Brussels will focus on missing persons (media)
• Kurti appoints new minister of health (media)
• Konjufca: Serbian List openly blackmailing the Assembly (Klan)
• Osmani: Women in Kosovo continue to face challenges (RTK)
• State Department comments on Afghans housed at Camp Bondsteel (Telegrafi)
• COVID-19: Five new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 78 new cases, one death registered in Serbian areas (KoSSev)
• Dialogue in Brussels to continue in afternoon, Belgrade insists on ZSO (Kosovo-online)
• Vucic on today’s talks in Brussels, meeting with Putin (RTS)
• Brnabic, Dacic: Serbia a militarily neutral country but seeks cooperation with NATO (Tanjug)
• Stefanovic: KFOR to prevent reckless Pristina’s acts (Tanjug)
• Serbian PM invited to Moscow International Export Forum (N1)
• Lavrov and Selakovic on Kosovo, the Balkans and bilateral relations (Tanjug, RTS)
• Lawyer Pantovic: Zoran Djokic, an innocent convict (Beta, Danas)

Opinion:

• Only room for progress on the missing persons in the Brussels talks today (Danas)

International:

• NATO Deputy Secretary General highlights 15 years of NATO-Serbia partnership (nato.int)

• New round of Kosovo – Serbia talks will be held today (Kosovapress)
• President Osmani met with US Embassy Charge d'Affaires (media)
• Borrell: Kurti-Vucic meeting to be held before end of year (media)
• Gervalla in Brussels: NATO should not tolerate Serbia’s aggressiveness (RTK)
• ENEMO's IEOM to Kosovo presents findings and conclusion (media)
• WB Foreign Ministers urge EU to play a more active role (EWB)
• Serbian PM invites neighbor countries to join Open Balkan (euronews.al)
• Kosovo awards Croatian PM with Humanitarian Medal (euronews.al)
• Kosovo court upholds jailing of Serb ex-fighter for war crimes (BIRN)
• Police arrest four Russians for illegal border crossing from Serbia to Kosovo (RTK)
• COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media)

Albanian Language Media:

• Croatian PM Plenkovic visits Kosovo (media)
• Kosovo officially invited to Biden's democracy summit (media)
• Osmani rejects reports she secured summit invitation by ‘promising land to Decan Monastery’ (media)
• Kurti comments on local election results (media)
• First interview of architect and mayor-elect of Prishtina (Euronews Albania)
• COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19 in Serbian communities: 59 new cases (KoSSev)
• Serbian List wins in Klokot (KiM radio)
• Brnabic: Compulsory military service in Kosovo concerning for Serbs (Kosovo-online)
• The Western Balkans - the first item on the EU agenda (B92, Tanjug)
• Citizens punished the demagoguery of Self-Determination in the elections (Kosovo Online, B92)
• Velika Hoca: Broken cross, flag removed from the monument to missing and kidnapped Serbs (KiM radio, N1)
• Bieber: Serbia as such will never become part of EU, Vucic knows that (nova.rs, N1)
• Serbia invited to attend Summit for Democracy in US (Tanjug)

Opinion:

• Are we equal, and why are we not? – the fate of the Serbs south of the Ibar (newsocialinitiative.org)

International:

• Kosovo Ruling Party Loses Capital in Local Election Setbacks (Balkan Insight)
• In a sign of thaw in tensions, Serbia opens trade office in Jerusalem (timesofisrael.com)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Varhelyi: EU to recognize Serbian Covid-19 certificates (N1)

• The Big Inversion (Koha Ditore)
• Kosovo governing party loses capital in runoff mayoral vote yesterday (AP News)
• Kosovo’s opposition wins the run-off election for Mayor of Prishtina (Exit News)
• The punitive spirit of the local elections (Radio Free Europe)
• Palokaj: No guaranteed votes in Kosovo (Koha)
• Albanian PM congratulates Rama on victory in Prishtina (media)
• Shpend Ahmeti congratulates Perparim Rama on winning (Euronews.al)
• EU Council to discuss Kosovo-Serbia dialogue today (Koha)
• Borrell: A Strategic Compass for Europe (media)
• "Kosovo to be invited to Biden's democracy summit" (media)
• Kurti: It is our task as leaders to advocate for more equality and justice (media)
• Vela: Vucic doing all to block reconciliation with neighbours (media)
• Rama: Serbia to recognise Kosovo as a sovereign and independent country (Kallxo)
• COVID-19: 14 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Survivors of sexual violence and the transmission of trauma (Kosovo 2.0)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 12, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

• Borrell meets Kurti on margins of the Paris Peace Forum (media)
• Bislimi: EC report recognises Government's work on license plates agreement (media)
• Assembly committee discusses dialogue, visa liberalisation with German ambassador (media)
• COVID-19: 16 new cases, one death (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Serbian PM Brnabic on Kosovo at the 41st UNESCO General Conference (RTS)
• Brnabic: Serbian heritage in Kosovo proof of UNESCO’s importance (RTS)
• Serbian Ambassador to US sends letters to all Congress members (B92)
• Serbian FM lays wreath at WWI Allied cemetery in Greece (N1, Danas)
• Jeton Neziraj: Ghosts of war ready to jump into a new war (Beta, Danas)
• The last day of the campaign for the second round of local elections (KiM radio, KoSSev)
• Bancroft: If Grenell were really getting paid by Serbia would he refer to Merdare ‘as border’ (Kosovo-online)
• UNESCO: We continue to preserve Serbian medieval art in Decani, Sopocani and Studenica (Kosovo Online)
• Trajkovic to Osmani’s reference of Kosovo as ‘source of hope’ (Kosovo-online)

International:

• Kosovo Ruling Party Braces for Test in Mayoral Runoffs (Balkan Insight)
• Trump ‘Shadow Diplomacy’? Deploys ‘Ambassador’ To Address Serbia-Kosovo Tensions (Forbes)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Free legal aid for residents in northern Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)

• Government confirms resumption of dialogue on November 16 (Kosovapress)
• President Osmani meets U.S. Undersecretary of State Nuland (media)
• An agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is a matter of urgency (EWB)
• White House: Grenell is not an ambassador, doesn’t represent U.S. (RTK)
• Trump: Agreements signed by my administration are historic (Klan Kosova)
• Kurti mustn’t forget he’s leader of an entire nation, not just VV (euronews.al)
• Rrahmani: Aleksandar in the “Serbian World” of wonders (Koha)
• Authoritarian states intensified ‘sharp power’ influence activities (geopost.com)
• COVID-19: Six new cases, no deaths (media)
• Ministry of Health will soon adopt third dose of vaccine (Telegrafi)
• Europe alarmed by COVID-19, Kosovo risks facing new wave (Koha)

Albanian Language Media:

• Mehaj: Russia wants to destabilise Kosovo at any cost (Kosovapress)
• Third dose of the vaccine in Kosovo in a matter of days (RFE)
• Citizens concerned with Delta Plus, ready to take third vaccine dose (EO)
• COVID-19: Six new cases, no deaths (media)
• Police seize 75 kg of drugs, three cars and cash, five arrested (media)
• Grenell comments on claims he asked for fall of Kurti I government (Express)
• Serbian Gendarmerie entering Kosovo in civilian clothes, residents say (Lajmi)
• Pendarovski: Kosovo no longer a priority for the U.S. (Telegrafi)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 70 new cases registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM)
• The next round of dialogue in Brussels on November 16 (RTS, Tanjug)
• Serbia against Kosovo membership in UNESCO (Kosovo-online, media)
• Vucic: Electricity prices for households unchanged, nuclear power under consideration (N1)
• Grenell visits Kosovo, talks to journalists at Merdare crossing point (B92, media)
• Bilcik urges reconciliation in Western Balkans (N1)
• Armistice Day marked in Pristina; the French ambassador calls for reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia (Kosovo Online, Ekonomia Online)
• State Department: We do not comment on why some countries were not invited to summit (Radio KIM)

Opinion:

• Legal framework for Kosovo Serbs tailored to Pristina (KoSSev)
• Turkey’s Pragmatic Policy in the Balkans has its Limits (Balkan Insight)

International:

• US Warns Berisha Not to Retake Albanian Democratic Party (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Group of young Albanians visited Visoki Decani Monastery (Radio KIM)

• Next round of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue scheduled for 16 November (RFE)
• Kurti: Mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia at the centre of agreement (ATV)
• In U.S., Osmani meets State Department officials, MCC chief (media)
• Escobar on Open Balkan: U.S. supports any initiative for region’s economic integration (Koha)
• PM Kurti comments on Kosovo not invited to democracy summit (Telegrafi)
• Von Cramon says Biden administration made a mistake by not inviting Kosovo (Koha/Klan)
• Spanish congressman calls on PM Sanchez to ‘recognize Kosovo at once’ (euronews.al)
• 'Mysterious' visit of Richard Grenell to Pristina (Kallxo)
• Kosovo War Trial Witness ‘Saw Guerrillas Beating Prisoner’ (BIRN)
• RTK: KSC justifies Trendafilova's contradictory statements on detention duration
• United States pledge additional $2.5million assistance for Kosovo (Koha/RTK)
• COVID-19: 14 new cases, no deaths (media)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 10, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

• Civil society urges U.S. to invite Kosovo to Biden’s Democracy Summit (Prishtina Insight)
• Government forms mechanism to document war crimes (Indeksonline)
• Reka: Balkans in a geopolitical vacuum; Escobar has a lot of work (Klan Kosova)
• President’s Office reacts to Mladic mural in downtown Belgrade (media)
• Government pledges €100 million investments in agriculture (Telegrafi)
• Ministry of Health could be given to “Guxo” List (Koha)
• COVID-19: 14 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: "ZSO to print three lighters and to deliver two pencils, so that Osmani is satisfied'' (KoSSev)
• “ZSO must be established with all competencies that belong to it” (Radio KIM)
• US stance on ZSO remains unchanged: Respect Brussels agreement (RTS)
• One more Serb accused of war crime in Kosovo (Radio KIM, media)
• Serbian Chamber of Commerce Office opens in Jerusalem today (Kosovo-online)
• Arlov: Kosovo police grossly violates my rights, banned from entering Kosovo for third time (Kosovo-online, media)
• EU: Time for Serbia to muse on reforms of judiciary and election process (N1)
• Dodik meets with Erdogan in Ankara to discuss political situation in Bosnia (N1)
• US embassy: Accusations against congressmen absurd, offensive, false (Beta, N1)

International:

• In Albania, a Worrying Rise in Drug Gangs Hiring Minors (Balkan Insight)
• North Macedonia PM Parks Resignation Ahead of No-Confidence Vote (Balkan Insight)
• Ratko Mladic Mural Hit by Paint Attack in Belgrade (Balkan Insight)

• Bislimi: European Commission progress report contains inaccuracies (Koha)
• Szunyog: There is no shortcut to EU without rule of law reforms (Kosovapress/Koha)
• Vallac, Serbia's battlefield with Kosovo (RFE)
• Gervalla to KFOR commander: Serbia's toughened rhetoric threatens regional security (Zeri)
• Rasic: There is no room for a third-tier government (Koha)
• "Send me evidence of Grenell's employment by Serbia and I will deliver it to U.S. authorities" (media)
• Specialist prosecutor asks judge to reject interim release for Veseli, Selimi, Krasniqi (media)
• Kosovo prosecution charges person for war crimes (RTK)
• Serbia's police detain activist over war crimes protest (Reuters)
• COVID-19: 11 new cases, no deaths (media)