UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 30, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Barricades removed, border crossings in the north still closed (Koha)
Vela: Kosovo-Serbia relations can only be based on mutual recognition (media)
Gervalla: Serbia creates artificial conflicts; no force can blackmail us (media)
Italy welcomes the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (Klan)
Joseph: Barricades, proof how Vucic plays the U.S. and EU (RFE/Koha)
Buhler: Serbia's threatening rhetoric is intolerable (DW, media)
PDK submits the Law on Public Officials to the Constitutional Court (Telegrafi)
Man in Leposavic reports he was attacked by two masked men (media)
Barricade in Zupc removed, regular traffic begins (media)
Vucic offers job in the ministry to young man sentenced to prison in Kosovo (Express)
COVID-19 cases increasing in Kosovo (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

Removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online)
Visoki Decani Monastery on absence of international representatives in Kosovo reaction on Patriarch entry ban, impertinence of Pristina (Kosovo Online, social media)
Dacic: Germany’s position on Kosovo different to others (N1)
Opposition MP on Kosovo: Exercise badly played, we did what suits Kurti (N1)
When journalists “guard“ barricades, but guards are nowhere to be seen (KoSSev)
Lajcak: Tensions in Kosovo remain high, level of mistrust higher than ever (FoNet, N1)
Dacic receives Romania's special Western Balkans envoy (Tanjug)
Man arrested at Gazimestan to work on humanitarian issues at KiM Office (N1, KoSSev)

Albanian Language Media

Barricades removed, border crossings in the north still closed (Koha)

The border points in Jarinje and Brenjak are still closed to traffic, while on Thursday the barricades placed on the roads leading to these points have been removed.

The news website has asked the Kosovo Police when these points are expected to open, but has not received an answer yet.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Border Management has said that they do not have any information on when these points will be opened for traffic.

Jarinje and Bernjak were closed on December 10, after local Serbs blocked several roads, as a sign of revolt against the arrest of the former Kosovo policeman, Dejan Pantic. He was arrested as a suspect for organising attacks on officials of the Electoral Municipal Commissions in the north and the Kosovo Police.

Vela: Kosovo-Serbia relations can only be based on mutual recognition (media)

Chief of Staff for Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Blerim Vela, said in a Twitter post on Thursday that relations between Kosovo and Serbia can only be based on mutual recognition.

“Barricades in Kosovo set up by Serbia’s illegal structures are being removed. However, what remains unacceptable is the attempt by Vucic’s regime to ‘normalise’ covert actions, violence and threat of aggression as a guiding norm for relations between Kosovo and Serbia.”

“Kosovo-Serbia relations can only be based on mutual recognition, equality and reciprocity. Vucic’s regime is falsely claiming that there is a new ‘political and legal reality in the north of Kosovo’. Our police and institutions are carrying out their duties in all territory, including the north.”

Gervalla: Serbia creates artificial conflicts; no force can blackmail us (media)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Donika Gervalla, commenting on recent tensions in the north of Kosovo, said that Serbia does not want to resolve issues through dialogue. She argued that Serbia creates artificial conflicts, such as the issue of licence plates, and then moves them to real conflicts as was the case with the barricades in the north of Kosovo.

Gervalla said that dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia cannot move forward without mutual recognition. “We will build relations with Serbia on a principled basis. Serbia does not have consensus to resolve issues through dialogue, except for mutual recognition which would pave the way for greater cooperation between our countries,” she said.

“There is no force that can blackmail Kosovo. We know that it is not easy, but it is a battle that will lead to better relations in the region than in 2021.”

Commenting on the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Gervalla said that “this association, which had an agreement in 2013 and was then corrected in 2015, died when the Constitutional Court said that 23 of its articles are in contravention. It is not legitimate for our government to be offered concepts that go against the Constitution of our country. Prime Minister Kurti presented in Brussels a six-point plan, one of which relates to national minorities,” she said. “We would like for all countries in the region to provide rights for minority communities as we do in Kosovo. The Association cannot happen in Kosovo but we will sit and discuss solutions for communities.”

Italy welcomes the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (Klan)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Italy has welcomed the removal of the barricades in the north of Kosovo. According to this ministry, the government of Kosovo and that of Serbia should work to strengthen the dialogue.

"The removal of obstacles in the north of Kosovo is a further achievement of the work carried out in synergy between the EU, the US and KFOR to reduce tensions and governments should work to strengthen the dialogue facilitated by the EU . Italy will continue to support the process".

Joseph: Barricades, proof how Vucic plays the U.S. and EU (RFE/Koha)

Tensions in the north of Kosovo have not been overcome in a way that ensures stability, but on the contrary, they call for continued instability, Edward P. Joseph, lecturer at the John Hopkins University in Washington and former OSCE Deputy Head of Mission in Kosovo said in an interview for Radio Free Europe.

“We can expect a certain calmness for some time, until Aleksandar Vucic decides that he needs a crisis again in Kosovo. Above all, he wants to keep the leverage he has over Kosovo because it safeguards his regime,” Joseph said. He added that until this is understood there will not be any progress for Kosovo, Serbia and its democracy, and the region as a whole.

“The barricades, which have fortunately been removed, are only a metaphor, because there are ‘gigantic barricades’ between Serbia and Kosovo. There are also ‘barricades’ in relations between Serbia and the European Union. These ‘barricades’ serve as ‘a bridge’ between Serbia and Russia,” he added.

Joseph said he believes there are ways how to remove these barricades, but that the U.S. and the EU do not want to look into those options and that they are subject to manipulation by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “The barricades were removed so that they can be very easily erected again. Therefore, this is not a good solution. This is another proof how Aleksandar Vucic manipulates the U.S. and EU by using the leverage that Serbia has over Kosovo,” he said.

Joseph also said that the position of NATO and KFOR about the situation in the north of Kosovo and Serbia’s request for the return of its armed forces, was wrong.

Buhler: Serbia's threatening rhetoric is intolerable (DW, media)

The former commander of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) Erhard Buhler, in an interview with "Deutsche Welle", said that it is intolerable for the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, to order the deployment of the Serbian army on the border with Kosovo.

"I consider it intolerable that the leadership in Belgrade, not only today, but also in the past months, constantly uses war rhetoric," Buhler said.

However, he considered that it is not very wise for the Government of Kosovo to insist on technicalities such as the issue of vehicle licence plates. "Licence plate? Do you know how it is viewed in Europe? This is a very unimportant thing, if you consider how Europe's attention is currently focused on the Western Balkans".

Therefore, both sides should be "disarmed" verbally, the German general stressed, because "threats from one side are as dangerous as threats from the other".

"For a long time we have allowed such warlike rhetoric to come from Serbia. But we also supported the efforts to implement some things related to licence plates and documents, regardless of the side effects," he added.

That Kosovo and Serbia should engage in reaching an agreement for the normalisation of relations is not even discussed for Buhler.

"For this we need both sides, and above all one side, the Serbian side, because the politicians who were active during Milosevic's time are also responsible," he said.

PDK submits the Law on Public Officials to the Constitutional Court (Telegrafi)

Mergim Lushtaku, MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), submitted on Friday the request for the repeal of the Law on Public Officials, which was approved by the MPs of the Assembly of Kosovo.

After submitting the request, Lushtaku said in a statement to the media that the Law on Public Officials subordinates civil servants.

"Unfortunately, we have started the year 2022 backwards as the Kurti government has failed in every aspect, in the main part of governance. Today, at the request of the PDK Parliamentary Group, we have come to the Constitutional Court, as the Law on Public Officials is the next violation. We think that there is a genuine basis for the Constitutional Court not only to proceed but also to abolish this law. Civil servants are subject to this law. The agreement on the SAA has also been violated," Lushtaku said.

Man in Leposavic reports he was attacked by two masked men (media)

A Kosovo man reported to the police that he was attacked by two masked men in Leposavic at midnight and that they removed the licence plates from his vehicle. Police said in their report that the case is being investigated.

Barricade in Zupc removed, regular traffic begins (media)

The road to Zupc has just been freed from the illegal barricades, report the news webpages.

Traffic on this road, as reported by the Klan Kosova team from there, has already started to develop normally.

Vucic offers a job in the ministry to young man sentenced to prison in Kosovo (Express)

At the Gazimestan demonstration, the young Serb Nikola Nedjellkovic got on the stage to shout "kill, kill Albanians" and "Kosovo is Serbia". The Kosovo authorities sentenced him to six months in prison for inciting inter-ethnic hatred, division and lack of tolerance.

Nedjelkovic served his sentence this Monday and left for Serbia, to be received with honours by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. With congratulatory and laudatory words, Vucic offered a job to this young man.

"Do you want to work in the office for Kosovo or in the ministry," Vucic asked him.

COVID-19 cases increasing in Kosovo (Koha)

The National Institute of Public Health has announced that during the last 24 hours, 12 positive cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Kosovo.

According to the announcement, 10 positive cases were registered the day before. Five people have recovered from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

NIPH has announced that in the last 24 hours, 70 tests for COVID-19 have been carried out.

Serbian Language Media

Removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online)

Removal of barricades Serbs in northern Kosovo erected in protest over the arrests of their compatriots and arrival of Kosovo special police forces to northern municipalities continues, RTS reports. Following guarantees Serbs received and lowering the tensions, the heightened combat readiness of the Serbian Army has also been revoked.

Kosovo Online portal meanwhile reports that all barricades in northern Kosovo have been removed, apart from two trucks, set on fire in the evening between Wednesday and Thursday used as a barricade near the place called Dudin Krs in Mitrovica North.

Visoki Decani Monastery on absence of international representatives in Kosovo reaction on Patriarch entry ban, impertinence of Pristina (Kosovo Online, social media)

Impertinence of the Kosovo government towards the head of the church who has called many times for peaceful life between Serbs and Albanians and appealed for peace, same as absence of clear reaction from international representatives in Kosovo are deeply disappointing and do not contribute to building the confidence, Serbian Orthodox Church Visoki Decani Monastery said in posts on Twitter, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“01/ On the day when most Christians in the world celebrate Christmas the patriarch of the #Serbian #Orthodox #Church & spiritual father of 10mil Christians worldwide was impertinently returned from the administrative pass & banned to enter #Kosovo & visit his historical Monastery”, Monastery said in a post.

It added that “O2/ Regrettably, no Kosovo nor international representative condemned such a decision of #Kosovo authorities which is against the Kosovo laws & is based on unfounded accusations. This reflects a serious level of religious discrimination in #Kosovo. Patriarch’s response was humble”.

“03/ A detailed comment on illegal and discriminatory ban of the visit of a Church primate to his historical seat of the #Serbian #Orthodox #Church at Peć Patriarchate was clearly given in a statement by several Serbian NGOs only”.

“O4/ Impertinence of #Kosovo Government against the Church leader who many times called for peaceful life of Serbs and Albanians and appealed on peace, as well as absence of clear international reaction in #Kosovo are disappointing and don’t contribute to building confidence”, the Monastery said.

Dacic: Germany’s position on Kosovo different to others (N1)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told B92 TV that Germany’s position on Kosovo differs from the views of the rest of the international community, N1 reports.

He said that the entire international community with the exception of Germany see that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is the main cause of all problems in northern Kosovo and in relations between Belgrade and Pristina. “Not counting Germany, I think everything is clear to everyone else. Germany would not believe even if it saw things with its own eyes”, he said and added that Berlin’s attitude towards the region is a cliché.

According to N1, Foreign Minister claimed to have been told by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock that no Kosovo prime minister would form the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM). He added that he was told by international officials that a comprehensive Belgrade-Pristina agreement will be hard to achieve as long as Kurti is prime minister.

Opposition MP on Kosovo: Exercise badly played, we did what suits Kurti (N1)

This whole exercise was badly played, from beginning to end, our starting point was far from good and now we are two, three steps lower, Serbian opposition MP Vladeta Jankovic said commenting on the tensions raised in connection with the situation in Kosovo.

Speaking for the N1 show New Day he said that, in the past 20 days, Serbia has been repeatedly watching the same performance “called the defence of Kosovo,” yet which he calls – a struggle to keep Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in power.

Jankovic explained that the starting point was “a reckless decision (for the Kosovo Serbs) to withdraw from Kosovo institutions”.

“We left a void, the Albanian police who had arrested (former Kosovo police officer Dejan) Pantic and some other people walked in, and barricades were erected as a consequence”, noted Jankovic, voicing his opinion that Serbia did what suits (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) Kurti the most.

When US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill said it was “time to remove the barricades, as you can see, they are being removed”, he said.

“Where are we now? We are two steps lower, we are not in the institutions, our police have left the police stations and the Albanians have come instead”, Jankovic added, stressing that Vucic’s policy on Kosovo is confusing, inconsistent and destructive.

He stressed that the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo “has been another fiction since the signing of the Brussels Agreement”, and that even back then the Kosovo Albanians had no intention of agreeing to it. Something will have to be formed, but that something will be far from the idea of autonomy, he opined.

When journalists “guard“ barricades, but guards are nowhere to be seen (KoSSev)

A barricade divided journalists from the Serbian and Albanian newsrooms in Rudare yesterday – media crews reporting in Serbian on the Zvecan side and journalists from Albanian newsrooms on the other side. KFOR vehicles were also stationed at the site. None of the officials were present, despite guarding the same barricades for the past three weeks, which were finally removed today. While some journalists believe that Serbian List officials belong at the barricades, others understand and justify their absence.

The barricade in Rudare near the cross installation at the site known as Veliko Rudare has been deserted since this morning. The cross in question was placed there during the barricades of 2011. The only things that remain are empty tents and a Christmas tree decorated in the colours of the Serbian flag.