UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, February 2, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti talks about conditions for formation of Association (Koha)
Abdixhiku: February 2 is date when Kurti accepted Association (Telegrafi)
President Osmani travels to Iceland (media)
Osmani: Important to advance Kosovo’s membership at Council of Europe (media)
Krasniqi: Kosovo is happy and proud to have an ally like the U.S. (media)
Citaku: Senior members of government with shameful remarks against allies (Nacionale)
Court of Appeals reduces sentences for Gucati and Haradinaj by three months (RFE)

Serbian Language Media:

At the same time, Vucic and Kurti talk about ZSO in their assemblies (KoSSev)
Hill: Serbia chose to go West, relations with Russia weakening by the day (N1, media)
Works in Dren village halted, special police left village (media)
Rakic sends protest letter to international community over expropriation (RTS)
Lawyer says owners of properties affected by expropriation to file complaint to Supreme Court (Kosovo Online)
Dacic: Discussions at US State Department successful (Tanjug)
State Dept spokesman says Blinken thanked Vucic (N1)
Group of public figures urges government to accept Franco-German plan (Beta, N1)
Proclamation with a petition against the European proposal, Kostunica among signatories (KoSSev)
UNS says “most media in Serbian language not invited” at meeting on CSM (Beta, N1)
Jevtic visits US, to talk about difficult position of Serbs in Kosovo (media)
Djurovic: Quint states changed stance on Pristina's CoE bid in past two weeks (Tanjug)
Office for KiM report: Serb side fulfilled its obligations from the roadmap, a contract to be signed for Elektrosever to become operational (KoSSev)
Cramon: No ultimatums were given to Serbia regarding the Franco-German plan (KiM radio, Vreme, FoNet)
UNMIK calls for responsible reporting (KoSSev)

International:

Government Reveals Coefficient for Wages in Public Sector (Prishtina Insight)
Serbia could become 'pariah' over Kosovo, president warns (The Washington Post)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti talks about conditions for formation of Association (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that in all meetings organised with the U.S. mediator so far, he has reiterated Kosovo’s commitment to reach an accordance on the French-German proposal. He said they see the proposal as a good basis for further discussions and that they are interested in working intensively for the document to be signed by the parties.

Kurti said they want the office of EU High Representative Josep Borrell to invite the parties as soon as possible to regular and frequent meetings.

“I am willing to contribute with maximal constructiveness. Point 10 of the proposal for a basic agreement is dedicated to the implementation of agreements and this also includes the agreement on the Association. Any attempt to use the agreements as a precondition for moving forward are meaningless. A normal democratic country does not discriminate against minorities but safeguards them as a social value. This is our position on the Association. The association stemming from the Thaci-Dacic agreement, as a mechanism, can be considered only under these conditions,” he said.

Kurti said that the association needs to be in line with the Constitution of Kosovo and cannot be monoethnic. He argued that the name must be changed, that it cannot have executive powers and that it needs to serve only the horizontal cooperation between municipalities.

Kurti argued that before the association is formed, illegal structures must be dissolved, and all illegal weapons must be handed over. “The Association is part of the final agreement, and it is implemented after mutual recognition. The President of Serbia would also have to withdraw the letters he sent to the five EU member states for not accepting Kosovo in the EU,” he said.

Abdixhiku: February 2 is date when Kurti accepted Association (Telegrafi)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, said today in the Kosovo Assembly that February 2 is the date when Prime Minister Albin Kurti agreed to the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. “This date, February 2, is the date when Prime Minister Kurti accepted the Association. Kurti said that the 2013 agreement is doable under several conditions … Prime Minister Kurti engaged in dialogue with Vucic, and he never came to the Assembly to talk with the Albanian and non-Albanian MPs,” he said.

President Osmani travels to Iceland (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has travelled to Iceland where she will President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Parliament Speaker Birgir Ármannsson and Foreign Minister Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir.

A press release issued by Osmani’s office notes that during the one-day visit, topics of discussion will include intensifying cooperation during the Iceland’s chairmanship of the Council of Europe to push forward Kosovo’s membership in the organisation, furthering bilateral relations with Iceland, advancement of Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic path, and other issues of mutual interest.

Osmani: Important to advance Kosovo’s membership at Council of Europe (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met today during her visit to Iceland with Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, and discussed intensifying cooperation in many areas of mutual interest especially during Iceland’s presidency of the Council of Europe. “Further advancing the process of Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe is of particular importance because all our citizens, without any differences, would benefit from this,” Osmani said.

Krasniqi: Kosovo is happy and proud to have an ally like the U.S. (media)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Memli Krasniqi met during his stay at the Pentagon with Principal Director for Europe & NATO Policy, Andrew L. Winternitz. They discussed the constant security challenges in the world and in the Western Balkans in particular. “I thanked Mr. Winternitz for the continuous and multidimensional support that the United States has given to the Kosovo Security Force and to our aspirations for NATO membership … Kosovo is happy and proud to have an ally like the U.S. in our path of strengthening and state-building,” Krasniqi said after the meeting.

Citaku: Senior members of government with shameful remarks against allies (Nacionale)

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, said in a Facebook post today that Kosovo needs to carefully treat relations with the United States and other allies. She said that this requires maturity and seriousness. “Any kind of disagreement must be treated with the necessary diplomatic discretion. Unfortunately, we have even seen senior members of the government scribbling shameful remarks against the allies in social networks,” Citaku wrote. “We now live in the era of inter-dependence and alliances are equally important as sovereignty”.

Court of Appeals reduces sentences for Gucati and Haradinaj by three months (RFE)

The Court of Appeals at the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague decided today to reduce by three months the sentences of former leaders of the KLA War Veterans Organisation, Hysni Gucati and Naism Haraidnaj. The sentences will be four years and three months of imprisonment. In May 2022, Gucati and Haradinaj were found guilty of obstructing the administration of justice.

Serbian Language Media

At the same time, Vucic and Kurti talk about ZSO in their assemblies (KoSSev)

At the same time, when a special session of the Serbian Assembly on Kosovo is being held in Belgrade, the assembly in Pristina also gathered its deputies today, reported portal KoSSev.

Aleksandar Vucic is present in the Serbian parliament, and Albin Kurti in the Kosovo one. Both touched upon the topic of the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities. While Vucic says that there is "nothing left to agree and negotiate" on this issue, but that he is afraid that the other side still refuses to form it, Kurti just today listed his six conditions for its formation in front of the deputies.

The special session of the Assembly of Serbia, where the negotiation process with Pristina is discussed, started at 10 am.

The Serbian president gave the opening speech, and while presenting the report of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, he also covered the issue of the Community of Serbian Municipalities - an agreement from the Brussels dialogue that Pristina refuses to form, despite the increased calls of the international community, especially the USA recently.

Vucic today points out that it was agreed to go with what is the obligation from the Brussels Agreement, pointing out that the Kosovo side still does not want to form the ZSO, and that even if it wants to, it cannot be like a non-governmental organisation.

"The community of Serbian municipalities must be what was signed in Brussels - and the first agreement was signed, which in the first 6 points talks about the formation and functioning, then we have the implementation agreement, then the Principles on which the ZSO is formed - 22 principles, very important responsibilities for us, very important in the South and we have an agreement on the management team".

He claims that there is nothing more to negotiate and agree on, because these obligations have already been taken. On the other hand, he says that he is worried that Pristina will try to negotiate again "in order to reduce the competences of the ZSO".

"They are not ready to implement what they signed. This will be the cause and reason for new problems, but it is of great importance for us, because after that the situation is different with the police in the North, because the Serbs will not return to the institutions before then. Then the situation on the ground becomes much easier, and for control, more security for our people," said Vucic.

On the other hand, in Pristina, also at 10 o'clock, the session of the Kosovo Assembly began. Although it was not planned to discuss Pristina's negotiations with Belgrade, Kurti touched on the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities in his speech.

Today he listed his conditions under which this body can be formed.

Kurti, speaking about the previous meetings organised with American mediation, stated that he continuously emphasised his commitment to reach an agreement on the Franco-German proposal as soon as possible: "I am ready to contribute with maximum constructiveness."

The tenth point of the proposal, as he repeated today, concerns the implementation of the agreement, and the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities is included in that.

Even today, he repeated that, therefore, any preconditions for advancement are "meaningless", but also that the Community, which emerged from the agreement led by Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, must have certain conditions, and there are six of them:

It must be in accordance with the Constitution and applicable laws.
The community cannot be uninational, it must change its name, it cannot have a board and it can only serve the horizontal cooperation of municipalities according to the Law on Local Self-Government.
The rights of national minorities and the corresponding protection mechanisms should be based on the principle of reciprocity between the two states.
Before the establishment of the Community, the illegal structures in the north should be shut down and all illegal weapons surrendered.
The Community is part of the final agreement and is implemented after mutual recognition.
The President of Serbia withdraws the letters sent to EU members regarding the non-admission of the Republic of Kosovo to the EU.

However, wrote the portal, the opposition criticised him regarding the Community, stressing today's date as the day when Kurti decided to accept it, but that his problem is how to explain it to the deputies.

Such an opinion was caused by the fact that, while on the one hand Kurti presents the conditions for the Community, today he never once denied that he would completely reject the Community, reported KoSSev.

Hill: Serbia chose to go West, relations with Russia weakening by the day (N1, media)

It is important that the Serbian side has been very constructive in terms of engaging on the European plan with Kosovo and ultimately that will affect the pace by which Serbia moves toward the West, said US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill.

Serbia has already made a choice to go West and I think for many Serbs it has been very frustrating that the process is taking so long, Ambassador Hill said on the Behind the News talk show.

“I hope that the result of all this will be a much better pace, a faster pace (of European integration),” said Hill.

Asked why the European proposal is a secret, he said he would not call it a secret, but something in traditional diplomatic channels.

“If you try to do diplomacy in the newspapers or even on television, you run into a lot of misunderstandings,” he said, adding he thinks it is better to discuss such matters across the table.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3l397mT

Works in Dren village halted, special police left village (media)

Leposavic Interim Municipal Authority president Zoran Todic told Kosovo Online portal the night in Dren village went peacefully with the presence of around 300 residents protesting the work on disputed land expropriated by decision of the Kosovo government. According to the information Todic received from the police the works have been halted until further notice, adding Kosovo special police left the village. Construction machinery and members of regular police remained on the spot same as residents.

Dren residents gathered yesterday to protest the works to widen the local road leading from the main road in direction of Leposavic to Zaselje hamlet in Lesak and to the top of the hill expropriated by decision of the Kosovo government. Residents and Leposavic municipality say expropriation is illegal.

Coordinator of yesterday’s action, Kosovo police colonel Veton Elsahni said that a border police station is supposed to be constructed there and police was only carrying out the decision of the government.

Todic argued that number of procedures of the law on expropriation have been violated by Kosovo government prior to making decision on expropriation, noting Pristina informed no one, no one spoke with local residents and affected owners, no public hearings took place where people could make their comments if they consent to it or not, no one informed them about purpose of the expropriation.

He said the decision to start work yesterday was also a unilateral act. “Yet another unilateral and illegal act, they informed no one, they just came and started working”, he said.

Asked to comment on colonel Elsahni's statement that it was a technical error to have Orthodox cemetery in Dren village included in the parcel to be expropriated, Todic said it is about a parcel owned by municipality and that municipality confirmed a cemetery is located there.

He stressed this is yet another evidence that everything was done without consultations with others, in particular those on the ground, KoSSev portal reported.

Todic said residents are determined to stay on the ground as long as it takes, “until decision makers do not give up on implementation, respectively illegal appropriation of their properties”. He once again underlined that citizens object the most construction of any police base on their properties.

Rakic sends protest letter to international community over expropriation (RTS)

Serbian List President Goran Rakic sent a protest letter to the ambassadors of US, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, the heads of EU, UNMIK and OSCE missions as well as KFOR Commander, RTS reports today.

“Serbian List President Goran Rakic on behalf of the Serbian people and owners of the properties seized by illegal expropriations of Albin Kurti’s government, sent a protest letter to the ambassadors of US, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany, heads of EU, UNMIK and OSCE missions as well as KFOR Commander”, Serbian List said in a statement.

It added the letter pointed out “to the clear violation of all legal procedures regulating the issue of expropriation, that this act is unacceptable to the owners of the immovable properties and Serbian people living in northern Kosovo and Metohija and that they perceive those unilateral acts as an institutional violence and appropriation of the Serbian land”.

The Serbian List also urged all “to immediately stop those illegal acts and prevent further endangerment of peace, legal and physical security of Serbian people by the Albin Kurti regime”.

RTS recalled that Kosovo Government made a decision on expropriating privately owned land in Dren and Lesak villages, in Leposavic municipality without the consent of their owners on January 16. Ten days after the decision, the Kosovo Government informed local authorities in this municipality about details on affected parcels.

Lawyer says owners of properties affected by expropriation to file complaint to Supreme Court (Kosovo Online)

Nebojsa Vlajic, a lawyer engaged to represent interests of residents from Dren and Lesak in Leposavic municipality, affected by decision of Kosovo government on land expropriation said the owners of the properties will file a complaint to the Kosovo Supreme Court, Kosovo Online reported.

He told the portal he will represent them, the process of collecting authorization was underway and he will file a complaint by the end of this week.

Dacic: Discussions at US State Department successful (Tanjug)

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said his discussions in Washington ahead of Thursday's National Prayer Breakfast had been successful for Serbia and that the US State Department had once again confirmed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's actions were correct. He added Serbia was protecting its state and national interests without jeopardising its own future, Tanjug news agency reports.

"The US sincerely supports the stance that a Community of Serb Municipalities is something that was previously agreed, rather than a topic of discussions, and that it must be formed to enable further dialogue and then start implementing an agreement", Dacic said.

He noted that he had had a series of very important meetings at the State Department. He said Derek Chollet, counsellor to US State Secretary Antony Blinken, and US special Western Balkans envoy Gabriel Escobar had made it clear they supported Serbia's principled position. Blinken has also confirmed this in a conversation with Vucic, Dacic added.

It is important Serbia's red lines were outlined clearly and that it was said we cannot let the Brussels Agreement, signed ten years ago, be annulled, Dacic said. He said the US State Department officials had told him the US would act in a transparent manner and inform Serbia of everything.

Dacic added he had also spoken with US Senator Ron Johnson and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who co-chairs a Serbian caucus. He said Tenney had proposed a visit to Serbia by a US Congress delegation led by her.

State Dept spokesman says Blinken thanked Vucic (N1)

A State Department spokesman said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for his constructive engagement on the EU proposal to normalize relations with Kosovo.

Spokesman Ned Price said that Blinken and Vucic agreed that regional stability is essential for securing Serbia’s European future.

The Serbian President’s cabinet said in a press release late on Wednesday night that Vucic had a phone call with Blinken to discuss “the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia’s European path and bilateral relations between Serbia and the US”.

Group of public figures urges government to accept Franco-German plan (Beta, N1)

A group of public figures, including former ambassadors, journalists and historians, called on the representatives of the government, political institutions and citizens to accept the so-called Franco-German plan for Kosovo as an opportunity for Serbia “to, for the first time, definitely turn toward Euro-Atlantic integration,” Beta reported.

The signatories of this public appeal assessed that “endless debates on whether Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, and Belgrade’s irresponsible policy that has been in place since the nineties of the past century, have been overridden by reality.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3jprVMG

Proclamation with a petition against the European proposal, Kostunica among signatories (KoSSev)

KoSSev portal reported yesterday on the latest proclamation related to Kosovo issue from the Movement for Defense of Kosovo and Metohija gathering Serbian intellectuals and a petition against the latest European proposal.

The petition was launched on St. Sava’s Day (January 27) and was initially signed by 205 members and sympathisers of the Movement, including several well-known names, former president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, writer Matija Beckovic, movie director Emir Kusturica, political analyst Djordje Vukadinovic, leaders of the Serbian opposition parties - Milica Djurdjevic-Stamenkovski, Milos Jovanović, Vojislav Mihajlovic, Bosko Obradovic, former Minister of Culture Vladan Vukosavljević, and several other artists.

From Kosovo, the petition was signed by Nebojsa Jovic, Zvonko Mihajlovic, Aleksandar Djikic.

The petition currently has 1444 signatures.

UNS says “most media in Serbian language not invited” at meeting on CSM (Beta, N1)

The Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) and its branch, the Journalists’ Association of Kosovo and Metohija (DNKiM), protested over the fact that “most media in Serbian language were not invited to report” from the meeting on the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) held Tuesday at the US Embassy in Pristina, Beta reported.

They also protested over the fact that a Kosovo police officer forbade Serbian public broadcaster TV (RTS) cameraman Vladimir Milic from filming the US Embassy building after the meeting.

Along with a request to the US Embassy in Pristina to enable all Serbian media to follow the events it organises, the two associations said that “selecting media is unacceptable” and that, if that is required for technical reasons, the organiser is obliged to explain the criteria applied when “selecting the media”.

They cautioned that “disabling and restricting the work“ of journalists violates the right to information, guaranteed by international conventions, and noted that it is important that all media working in Kosovo can report from meetings at which issues of importance to the Serbs are discussed.

Jevtic visits US, to talk about difficult position of Serbs in Kosovo (media)

Serbian List Vice President Dalibor Jevtic said meetings he will have in Washington, where he stays on the occasion of a Breakfast Prayer, would be a good opportunity to talk about possible solutions to the problems Serbs face in Kosovo and Metohija, Tanjug news agency reports.

Talks with congressmen, senators and State Department officials will be a good opportunity to provide them with first-hand information about the situation of the Serbs, he added.

Jevtic will meet on Friday US Special Envoy for Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar. He said he will inform Escobar about the difficult position of Serbs in Kosovo, caused by as he said wrong politics and bad Pristina’s attitude, non-implementation of not only made agreements but also existing laws and regulations on affairs belonging to non-majority communities in Kosovo.

Djurovic: Quint states changed stance on Pristina's CoE bid in past two weeks (Tanjug)

The CoE Committee of Ministers did not discuss Kosovo membership bid on Wednesday after Iceland, the chair of the meeting, did not propose its inclusion in the agenda, says Serbia's Ambassador to the CoE, Aleksandra Djurovic, reported Tanjug agency yesterday.

"Two weeks ago, at a meeting held on January 18, we had a debate on the issue and it became clear that there is no unified position of the member states and that there are differing views about the timeframe in which it could appear on the agenda," Djurovic said in a statement to Tanjug.

That did not happen at the time, but there was an intent to put Pristina's application on the agenda on February 1, she said.

"However, in the two-week period we were able to see a change in the position of some of the most significant countries - in this case, the Quint states. Primarily, here in Strasbourg, Italy came forward with the position that this is not the time to raise that issue given the situation on the ground - that is, the recent numerous violations of the human rights of Serbs," Djurovic said.

She said the position had later been backed by France and, a few days ago, Germany.

"They expect a more constructive approach by Pristina in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue," she said.

When asked to comment on reports that US embassies had sent a joint note to the foreign ministries of some CoE member states, requesting that the issue of Kosovo's CoE membership not be put on the Committee's agenda until Pristina changed its stance on a Community of Serb Municipalities, Djurovic responded that she could neither confirm nor deny them.

"I can only say that has not happened in Strasbourg itself, but it may have taken place at bilateral level because the US is an active party in the dialogue itself. As we have been able to see, (US special Western Balkans envoy Gabriel) Escobar has made statements indicating their interest in the dialogue being successful. But the US is not a CoE member state, they have observer status here, so, in fact, the Quint countries that are the most active on that issue here are Italy, France and Germany," Djurovic concluded.

Office for KiM report: Serb side fulfilled its obligations from the roadmap, a contract to be signed for Elektrosever to become operational (KoSSev)

Progress has been made on the implementation of the 2013 and 2015 Energy Agreements’ Implementation Roadmap, the Kosovo Office states in its report on the negotiation process with Pristina for the period from September 2022 to January 15th of this year. The report states that Elektrosever had completed the process related to the required standard technical contracts with KOSTT, noting that only two contracts with KEDS remain to be concluded, but also that the signing of one of them was delayed due to „obstructions from Pristina“. They expressed the expectation that KEDS will submit a draft of the commercial contract to Elektrosever in the upcoming period, and that the company will become operational soon after its conclusion.

On the 21st of June 2022, Belgrade and Pristina reached a “roadmap” agreement in Brussels with the aim of implementing the previously signed energy agreements. This nine-point document defines the obligations of Belgrade and Pristina regarding the energy issue in the north of Kosovo.

Both sides presented what was agreed in Brussels as their own victory. Pristina claimed that the agreement would finally allow for the invoicing of electricity in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo in accordance with Kosovo’s laws and regulatory system, while Belgrade presented it as a confirmation that „no one will occupy the Valac substation,“ claiming the newly founded company – Elektrosever had thus gained independence.

Since the agreement was signed to date, however, officials from Pristina and Belgrade accused each other of failing to implement all obligations from this document within the stipulated period of 100 days. As time passed, there was less information about the process of implementation of obligations.

In its previous report covering the period from June 15th, 2021 to September 1st, 2022, the Kosovo Office confirmed that a supply licence was issued to Elektrosever on June 27th, 2022, i.e. six days after the adoption of the energy roadmap.

The same report stated that the Serbian side is waiting for KEDS to submit the Draft Commercial Agreement on Business Cooperation, as the remaining steps for the implementation of the roadmap depend on it.

In the new report, which covers the period from September of last year until January 15th, it is stated that “despite Pristina's obstructions“ progress has been made in the implementation of the roadmap.

International

Government Reveals Coefficient for Wages in Public Sector (Prishtina Insight)

The government has set the value of the salary coefficient for public sector wages after months of strike by public-sector workers and after, as promised, it brought in a new law on wages.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced at a government meeting on Wednesday that the value of the coefficient for salaries in the public sector this year will be 105 euros.

Kurti said that according to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, in 2024 the value of the salary coefficient will be 110 euros.

“The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Finance have made the necessary preparations according to the Law on Wages for the 82,000 public officials,” Kurti said on Wednesday.

According to the value of the new wage coefficient, the average gross wage in the public sector will be 730 euros, Finance Minister Hekuran Murati said on Wednesday.

Deputy Minister of Interior Bardhyl Dobra, after the government meeting, said that 4,157 officials’ salaries will increase from 241 euros to 394 euros.

The President will have the highest coefficient in Kosovo.

According to the new Law on Wages for the public sector, the coefficient for the position of President will be 18, which means that the salary will be 1,890 euros a month in 2023.