UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, February 6, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Enforcement of regulation only through accounts in Kosovo banks (RFE)
Is the Association becoming meaningless? (Radio Free Europe)
Roth: Serious doubts about EU and US strategy to deescalate (Albanian Post)
Rizvanolli: Investments in Trepca will be a priority (Gazeta 10)
Kurti: Measures that are launched will boost economic growth (RTK)
Court postpones execution of decision on property exchange (Koha)
D4D: Media in Serbia publish news about public persons in Kosovo, Kosovo media translate them without verifying (EO)
Unknown persons demolish machine for documents withdrawal in Zvecan (Koha)
Serbian police again stop lawyer that laid flowers at Jasharaj cemetery (Express)
Osmani wishes Charles III rapid and full recovery (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Gorazdevac residents: This has crossed all limits; we don't even have money for medicine (Kosovo Online, KiM radio, Radio Gorazdevac)
Clinical Hospital Centre: Decision on dinar threatens to terminate medical treatment of Serbs, drive them out of Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)
Sarkovic on Kosovo police raid in Vidanje, Klina municipality (Kosovo Online)
Milivojevic: If West prevents UNSC session it would mean they support Kurti’s policy (RTS)
Vucic hands over letter for Chinese President Xi to Ambassador Li (Tanjug)
Atiq: Call opened for reconstruction of houses for “non-majority communities” in Mitrovica North municipality (KoSSev)
Trial to Svecla and others for throwing tear gas in Kosovo Assembly postponed (Kosovo Online)
Serbia gets new Parliament (Tanjug, N1)
Selimi: Kosovo Government with all its forces meddles in North Macedonia elections (media, social media)
EP draft resolution calls for international investigation into Serbian elections (N1, media)

Opinion:

Bogdanovic on the situation in Kosovo: "The only thing left is for them to take our lives" (N1, Danas, KiM radio)

International:

‘Worse Than Death’: Male Wartime Rape Survivors in Kosovo Speak Out (BIRN)
Kosovo accused of raising ethnic tensions by banning use of Serbian dinar (The Guardian)
‘She is just a woman and that is brave enough’ (Kosovo 2.0)

Albanian Language Media

Enforcement of regulation only through accounts in Kosovo banks (RFE)

Only in Euros! This is the response that several financial experts gave when asked by Radio Free Europe about the possible solutions for Serbs in Kosovo for payments, after the banning of the Serbian Dinar. They also argue that the only thing that needs to be done is to give time to inform and educate about opening accounts in commercial banks in Kosovo. As for the licensing of a bank from Serbia in Kosovo – an idea that was raised by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – they say that this is a competency only of the Central Bank of Kosovo. The latter did not respond to a question from the news website on the matter.

The news website notes that “since the war ended in 1999, Serbia has used its currency to pay pensions, social aid, and wages for its parallel institutions in Kosovo”. Citizens in Serb-majority municipalities could also withdraw Dinars from ATMs that were based in Serbia. In the majority of stores the prices too were printed in Dinars. But starting on February 1, a regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo entered into force, and it stops this practice, namely it determines that the Euro is the only currency for cash payments in Kosovo. Dinars can be kept in bank accounts or exchanged into Euros. Several Serb citizens interviewed by the news website said they were concerned about what will happen with the pensions, wages, and other payments they receive from Serbia. The Central Bank of Kosovo meanwhile assured that the regulation does not prohibit or limit receiving funds in bank accounts in Euros in banks licensed in Kosovo and has called for the opening of bank accounts. The regulation however has triggered strong reactions from the international community, especially from the U.S., which called for the enforcement of the regulation to be postponed.

While Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti expressed readiness to “swiftly address” any concerns about the Dinar, the CBK told the news website: “the CBK has not received any new request about the regulation and has made its position clear, by presenting its legal arguments in timely fashion and with full respect”. The CBK also said it was ready to engage in talks with a counterpart institution from Serbia about the issue, but the National Bank of Serbia called for a solution through political dialogue.

Shkumbin Misini, professor economy at a private college in Pristina, said the decision of the CBK is right but not at the right time, and argued that Serb citizens did not have enough time to get informed and that therefore the enforcement [of the regulation] should be postponed for some time. “The CBK needs to inform the Serb citizens, raise awareness, so that they can open accounts in commercial banks in Kosovo,” he said.

Milazim Abazi, financial commentator in Kosovo, argued that a 45-day postponement would be sufficient for the appropriate information of Serb citizens. “And they would understand that this is not against them, that this is for their good too, and they can open accounts in Euros and also in Dinars, in banks that are licensed in Kosovo,” he said. Abazi added that procedures to open a bank account are fast and can be done online too. The citizens can then send the accounts to the institutions of the Serbian Government, from which they get wages, pensions, or social aid.

According to Abazi, it is the competency of the CBK to set the conditions for the possible licensing of a banking institution from Serbia. “The CBK can issue a license and can reject it. It is not important whether it is from Serbia or from another country, it needs to be a credible bank with credible and reliable shareholders. But it cannot be the state bank of another country and transactions must be made only in Euros,” he added.

The Kosovo Government has ensured that it will provide “a facilitated transition” from Dinars to Euros, enabling the citizens “to adjust as fast and easily as possible and without any damages”. But the Serbian List – the biggest party of Serbs in Kosovo – said the decision of the CBK is a tool to expel Serbs from Kosovo.

There are 11 commercial banks operating in Kosovo and their products and services include bank accounts, loans, local and international payments, bank cards, bank guarantees, and e-banking. The news website asked most of them if they have branches or ATMS in the ten Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo and so far only Raiffeisen Bank responded saying it has branches in Mitrovica North, Brnjak, Jarinje, Gracanica, and in Shterpce. The other banks did not respond but their websites show that most of them don’t have branches and ATMs in those areas.

Is the Association becoming meaningless? (RFE)

All of Serbia’s institutions in Kosovo – from municipalities to schools and hospitals – would join the Association of Serb-majority municipalities which is expected to be formed. This was foreseen in a draft statute of the Association, prepared by the international community, and presented to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Alekandar Vucic.

Commenting on the document, Kurti said it was written “with care and in line with the Constitution of Kosovo”.

But in the last couple of weeks, law enforcement authorities have carried out several actions that resulted in the shutting down of at least seven Serb parallel municipalities, including those in Dragash, Peja, Istog, and Klina.

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said the actions showed that “the time of illegality is over” and that Serbia’s sole institution in Kosovo “will be its embassy in Pristina”.

Serbian representatives on the other hand have reacted with outrage, and so has the international community which said that such steps increase ethnic tensions.

Reactions were similar after the entering into force of a decision by the Central Bank of Kosovo on February 1, which banned the use of the Serbian Dinar in Kosovo after over two decades.

Radio Free Europe sent to several addresses the question if the latest actions of Kosovo’s authorities are making the Association meaningless. The Kosovo Government did not answer the question but in a press release Kurti said that institutions were ready to address “swiftly any concern” related to the regulation that bans the use of the Dinar.

Spokesperson for the European Union, Peter Stano, suggested referring to a reaction issued by the EU on February 4. According to him, the issue of Serbian-run institutions in Kosovo should be resolved in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.

Leon Hartwell, senior associate at LSE IDEAS, said “it is necessary to recall that the initial goal of the Association was to dissolve Serbian parallel structures and not fortify them”. He said that in light of Aleksandar Vucic’s regime in Serbia “which increasingly threatens to escalate the conflict with Kosovo”, Kurti seems to be focused “on two fronts”. On the one hand, he is taking measures “to strengthen Kosovo’s independence” by slamming Serbian parallel structures, which according to Kosovo law are illegal, and at the same time he is “trying to position Kosovo on the path toward the EU”. “By mandating the use of the Euro for all, including the Kosovo Serbs, Kurti not only signaled Kosovo’s unwavering commitment for EU integration, but also aimed to prevent illegal financial inputs from Belgrade to the north of Kosovo,” he argued.

Hartwell also said that if one takes into consideration “the secret nature of transactions with Dinars in cash”, some estimates suggest that this amounts to an annual financial contribution that varies “from 300 to 500 million euros” for the Kosovo Serbs. “This financial aid makes up 10 to 15 percent of the total budget of the Kosovo Government. As such, the possible consequences of such a financial influence by Vucic’s regime are significant,” he said.

According to Hartwell, an alternative to the Association could be “embracing diversity as a social asset”, and that the current approach could unintentionally incite “a form of apartheid” between different identity groups.

Afrim Hoti, professor of international law at Pristina University, said in an interview with RFE that the latest actions of Kosovo’s authorities, including the Dinar and Serbia’s parallel structures, “do not make the Association meaningless”.

He argued that the authorities are trying to make clear the constitutional and legal situation before forming the Association. “With the measures against actions that have been illegal so far, the Kosovo Government is trying to dissolve an anti-constitutional and illegal situation, in order to create conditions to implement the Association and other activities which in other circumstances would be completely legitimate and constitutional,” he said.

Bodo Weber, senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, criticized the international community on the issue, saying that both the European Union and the United States “need to acknowledge that their policy so far has failed”. He also argued that the Ohrid agreement on the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations – reached last year and ten years after the Agreement on the Association – will also not be implemented. According to Weber, the only way to a permanent solution between Kosovo and Serbia are “negotiations for a final comprehensive agreement” that would lead to mutual recognition.

Roth: Serious doubts about EU and US strategy to deescalate (Albanian Post)

Michael Roth, chair of the German Bundestag’s Committee for Foreign Affairs, writes in a post on X today that “many distinguished colleagues from Bundestag and other Parliaments in Europe have serious doubts about EU and U.S.’ “strategy” to deescalate between Serbia and Kosovo. It’s neither balanced nor smart. It’s high time for a ‘Zeitenwende’.”

Roth shared an X post by Boris Mijatovic, member of the German Bundestag, who said that “‘Serb-run institutions’ in Kosovo? Isn’t that part of the ongoing conflict? Belgrad keeps supporting illegal structures but has signed a couple of documents to withdraw official institutions. Arrived today in Prishtina and received many questions. The EU is so unsensible”

Rizvanolli: Investments in Trepca will be a priority (Gazeta 10)

Kosovo’s Minister for Economic Development, Artane Rizvanolli, visited the Trepca enterprise and the Stan Trg mine. At Horizon X, she met with miners and said, “it was a special experience to talk to them up-close and to experience the difficult working environment, but also inspiring to see their will for work”. “We assured them that in the planned investments for Trepca, the equipment and tools for work, safety and protection of the mineworkers will be a priority,” Rizvanolli writes in a Facebook post.

Kurti: Measures that are launched will boost economic growth (RTK)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Economy today launched a public call to support family consumers and SMEs for investments in renewable energy systems. Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the measures implemented so far and the ones that are being launched will help boost economic growth and a more sustainable energy sector. “The measures we are launching today and the ones we have implemented so far, are supported by the European Union and are in full compliance with our long-term objectives for the energy sector. Kosovo stands alongside European countries in developing policies that aim for a sustainable, clean, and citizen-centered energy sector,” Kurti said.

Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli said the measures will help reduce energy expenses. “The Ministry has prepared and adopted in the first reading the Law on Renewable Energy Sources that will make more attractive the setup of solar systems by consumers,” she said.

Court postpones execution of decision on property exchange (media)

Koha reports that the Basic Court in Pristina approved the request of the Kosovo Law Institute (KDI) to postpone the execution of a decision by the Municipal Assembly of Pristina to exchange municipal property in the ‘Prishtina e Re’ zone with a private property in Badoc. Koha had reported on the issue for several weeks now.

A press release issued by the KDI notes that the decision will not be executed until the Court decides on the case. “The Court assessed that postponing the execution of the decision is not against the public interest and that it does not inflict great damage to the opposing party or the interested person. On the contrary, the Court found that precisely postponing the execution of the decision represents public interest,” the statement notes.

Several weeks ago, Koha reported that three years ago, Pristina Mayor Perparim Rama had as clients the owners of over 8 hectares of land in Badoc, where the construction of a neighborhood was being planned. The project was stopped while [current LDK leader] Lumir Abdixhiku was a government minister. But in late December, with Rama’s proposal and with the help of Vetevendosje municipal councilors who helped reach the required quorum, the Municipal Assembly decided to exchange that property with a property that is almost three times bigger in the Prishtina e Re zone. The Ministry for Local Government approved the legality but later withdrew it. Following Koha’s reporting, the KDI filed a lawsuit in Court, while Vetevendosje and the Democratic Party of Kosovo called an extraordinary session of the Municipal Assembly on Thursday to annul the decision.

Several news websites report that the head of PDK municipal councilors in Pristina, Leotrim Retkoceri, said in a Facebook post today that “the day after tomorrow, we will annul Mayor Perparim Rama’s illegal exchange in Badovc. The public interest of the citizens of Pristina will triumph over the interests of landowners and the paying off business debts. We also welcome the decision of the Basic Court to suspend the earlier decision for the damaging exchange of properties in Badovc. The millions-worth expropriation to the detriment of the citizens and the municipality will be definitely stopped the day after tomorrow”.

D4D: Media in Serbia publish news about public persons in Kosovo, Kosovo media translate them without verifying (EO)

Pristina-based D4D Institute published two reports today about news published with the aim of misinformation, creating political divisions, personal benefits and using hate speech. The objective of the reports is to monitor irregularities in Albanian and Serbian online media about developments that happened in the last quarter of 2023 in Kosovo. A concerning phenomenon noticed in Kosovo media is that some of them translate news from Serbia without verifying them.

Rrezarta Delibashzade-Krasniqi, director of D4D, said the report monitored over 100 online media both in Albanian and Serbia. She mentioned several cases when the reader falls prey to manipulation and misinterpretation. “We monitor over 110 online media in Albanian and in Serbia. We have also launched a report on hate speech in social networks and in different media. Our monitoring reports show that the last couple of months have been characterized mainly by conspiratorial news, about other possible attacks that are spreading insecurity among the readers and are based on subjective opinions. There are mainly exaggerated headlines which make a person read these articles. There are cases when the headline has no relation to the content we read inside the article,” she said. “In the sample of the Serbian language, the same narrative continues. We have noticed that they are mainly built around public and official persons in Kosovo, many media in Serbia publish news which are then translated into Albanian language and shared in different news websites without being verified”.

Unknown persons demolish machine for documents withdrawal in Zvecan (Koha)

Kosovo Police said in a report that a man reported that unknown persons demolished the machine for the withdrawal of personal documents near the Centre for the Registration of Vehicles in Zvecan. Police units are investigating the incident.

Serbian police again stop lawyer that laid flowers at Jasharaj cemetery (Express)

Belgrade-based Serbian attorney Cedomir Stojkovic, who paid homage at the cemetery of the Jasharaj family in Prekaz, Kosovo, said in a post on X that he has been stopped again by Serbian Police. “Again I have been held illegally at the border crossing point in Horgos, this time as I was leaving the country. For exactly the same reasons: 1) I laid flowers at the grave of an Albanian girl on 18.1.2024, in Prekaz, 2) I represent Nikola Sandulovic – and this is why BIA [Serbian Intelligence Agency] is not allowing me to move freely,” Stojkovic writes.

Osmani wishes Charles III rapid and full recovery (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in a post on X that Kosovo “extends our deepest sympathies to His Majesty King Charles III, the Royal Family, and the people of the United Kingdom in light of the King’s recent diagnosis. The people of Kosovo join you in hope and solidarity, wishing His Majesty a rapid and full recovery”.

Serbian Language Media

Gorazdevac residents: This has crossed all limits; we don't even have money for medicine (Kosovo Online, KiM radio, Radio Gorazdevac)

Kosovo Online portal reports that the residents of Gorazdevac are scared after the incursion of the Kosovo Police in the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Pec and the Post Office, as well as the apprehension of three employees of this institution. They are afraid of what will happen if they do not receive regular cash income after the Central Bank of Kosovo banned the use of dinars.

Money from the Post Office in Gorazdevac was confiscated by the Kosovo police on Friday, so the locals have nowhere to withdraw their regular income, reported the portal.

Milena Jovanovic, a pensioner from Gorazdevac, invited representatives of the international community to see what the situation is on the ground, pointing out that the elderly citizens do not even have money for medicine.

"I live here, I was born here, I'm here all the time, I went through all the hardships, but this is beyond all limits. It's not good, especially for us pensioners, we can't buy, we don't have dinars, we don't have money. Even so, the pension is small and it does not meet our needs, but this has crossed all limits, and that is why I am asking the international democrats, who shape our politics here, to come and see what is being done and how we live and whether this is normal, and whether there is something like this anywhere in the world," said Jovanovic.

Slavica Dasic says that her husband receives minimum wage, and that there is no money in the post office. She points out that they pay all their bills properly in Kosovo, so she asked Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti how they will pay their bills in the coming period, if they have nowhere to withdraw money.

"I don't know how we will do it. My husband receives the minimum wage. We pay electricity, we pay water, we pay house tax, we pay communal waste, we pay for everything. We are afraid, but I have hope for our Serbia, I guess someone will help us. He (Kurti) does not give us that, that's what my husband earned, that minimum wage. He worked in the Pec brewery, and he earned it like all the other workers. Now he does not receive anything from Kosovo, and he pays for everything. Kurti needs to ask himself. Everyone in the village needs to rebel and ask where to pay him from,'' said Dasic.

Radio Gorazdevac reports that pensioners from the returnee villages of Belo Polje and Brestovik also said that they will be too in a difficult situation. They told Radio Gorazdevac that for them it will be very difficult to survive, pointing out that they need money for the medicines.

Shkodran Nikqi, the spokesman of the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Pec/Peja, did not answer the questions of Radio Gorazdevac journalists about what will happen to the confiscated dinars.

"We are currently conducting pre-investigative actions regarding the seized money and its legality," Nikqi commented briefly for Radio Gorazdevac.

Clinical Hospital Centre: Decision on dinar threatens to terminate medical treatment of Serbs, drive them out of Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)

“Decision of Pristina authorities to ban dinar in payment transactions, threatens to terminate the medical treatment of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and expel Serbian population out”, Clinical Hospital Centre (CHC) in Mitrovica North said in a statement today, Radio kontakt plus reports.

If the decision remains in force, the health system and entire Serb community in Kosovo will be in a very difficult and unfavorable position, reads one of the conclusions of CHC extraordinary collegium meeting.

“It is not only the issue of salaries. The question arises how medications will be obtained, sanitary materials, food for our patients, that we even now have difficulties to obtain. How to get means to maintain our surgery rooms, repair and purchase instruments (…)”, CHC said in a statement, adding that “if decision remains in force our doctors would be left without possibility, to care for the health of our citizens and help our patients recover in XXI century, on European soil”, Danica Radomirovic, director of CHC said.

She recalled that dozens of thousands of Serbs, Bosniaks, Roma, Gorani and also Albanians are receiving treatments at Clinical Hospital Centre in Mitrovica North. The collegium also noted that all agreements clearly defined autonomy of Serbian people in relation to the health system and the right of Serbia to finance directly the health system in Kosovo.

It urged Quint states to most urgently react in order to “prevent a situation in which Serbs would disappear from those areas”. They also appealed to professional associations in European and world bodies to react and seek protection of the Serbian health system workers and institutions in Kosovo.

Sarkovic on Kosovo police raid in Vidanje, Klina municipality (Kosovo Online)

Bozidar Sarkovic, Serbian Commissariat for Refugees commissioner in Klina municipality and Serbian List member told Vecernje Novosti daily about Kosovo police raid of Klina Provisional Municipal Authority premise located in the village of Vidanje, Kosovo Online portal reported.

He said around 30 Kosovo police members raided the premise, and that he, Vesna Pesic, Provisional Municipal Authority president, secretary Ivan Popovic, and member Mladen Sarkovic were in the premise. “They took our mobile phones, searched us in detail, asking if we had weapons, and then came the search of drawers, cabinets, bags, pockets, and everything... They took everything we had, and they even took away the certificate of gratitude I received from the children of the local school. After that, they took us to the police station in Klina, where they interrogated us for hours", Sarkovic said.

He added Popovic and Mladen Sarkovic were released from questioning earlier, he was released after almost four hours, and Pesic was kept for questioning for about five hours.

"In addition to municipal documentation and the entire inventory they seized and took away with a truck that was in front of the building, they also took pictures from the wall, calendars, notebooks, even three bags of flour, some cans from the refrigerator, meat, yogurt, drinks – absolutely everything that was in the house where the Provisional Municipal Authority is located", Bozidar Sarkovic said.

Milivojevic: If West prevents UNSC session it would mean they support Kurti’s policy (RTS)

Former Serbian high-ranking diplomat Zoran Milivojevic told RTS it is difficult to tell whether the UNSC session on Kosovo would convene, adding that it does not suit Western states.

According to him, the West ‘privatized’ the issue of Kosovo, and regardless of the outcome of the session, if it occurs, it would somehow mean a change in stance on this issue. Commenting on international criticism of recent Pristina’s acts, Milivojevic said that in the US the criticism of Albin Kurti-government acts is verbal, and no measures on the ground are following it.

He opined that an extraordinary session of UNSC could be useful to the West as well to establish a function “to control Kurti”. “If the West prevents the session it would be clear indication then that they support Kurti’s policy. But then Serbia has the right to bring into question their honesty related to mediation in the dialogue”, Milivojevic siad.

Vucic hands over letter for Chinese President Xi to Ambassador Li (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Chinese Ambassador to Belgrade Li Ming on Tuesday to present to him a letter for Chinese President Xi Jinping about the situation in Kosovo and accelerated development of Sino-Serbian bilateral relations.

"An excellent meeting with the Ambassador of PR China, Li Ming. I presented to him a letter I am sending to President Xi about the situation in Kosovo and Metohija as well as about accelerated development of our bilateral relations", Vucic wrote in a post on his official Instagram profile.

He noted that he had thanked the ambassador for a strong and unequivocal reaction by the Chinese MFA following Pristina's most recent irresponsible moves that he said were clearly aimed against Serbs in Kosovo.

Atiq: Call opened for reconstruction of houses for “non-majority communities” in Mitrovica North municipality (KoSSev)

Mitrovica North mayor, Erden Atiq, said last night that a public call has been opened for the reconstruction of the houses, adding that those houses, however, will be reconstructed only for “the members of non-majority communities in Mitrovica North municipality”. He also said the Kosovo Government allocated more than three million euros for reconstruction of the houses in this municipality. He called upon residents to apply, KoSSev portal reported.

Although he made an announcement in the Serbian language as well, he published application templates in the Albanian language only, while the document listing criteria for application is available in both official languages.

It was also said that members of “non-majority communities” must have Kosovo documents, and a land plot with cadastral paper on which the house would be reconstructed.

KoSSev portal added while Mitrovica North mayor is announcing a new call for house reconstruction in the north, the project of Kosovo Ministry of Infrastructure to reconstruct houses in the northern municipalities damaged during the conflict is underway.

Atic did not provide details if the call is part of the same project or not.

Trial to Svecla and others for throwing tear gas in Kosovo Assembly postponed (Kosovo Online)

The session for initial revision in the case against four Self-determination Movement members for throwing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly on March 21, 2018 has been postponed to February 28, Kosovo Online portal reports.

The current Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla, Drita Milaku, Salih Ziba and Fitore Pacoli-Dalipi, in the period of being Self-determination Movement MPs, are accused of committing criminal acts of “use of weapons or dangerous tools” and “obstructing official persons in carrying out official duties”. The indictment was raised by Basic Prosecution in Pristina on July 29, 2019.

Explaining the postponement, the judge said replay was awaited over the health condition of one of those included in the case. If the health condition of that person does not improve, he expects the proceedings to be divided.

Svecla, Ziba and Pacoli said they do not need lawyers, but the judge informed them that defense is obligatory and he will assign them duty lawyers.

Self-determination Movement MPs protested in the Kosovo Assembly in 2018 and discharged the tear gas in an attempt to prevent voting on a demarcation agreement with Montenegro.

Serbia gets new Parliament (Tanjug, N1)

Serbia got its new Parliament on Tuesday after the mandates of all 250 MPs were approved at a constitutive session. After their mandates were approved, the MPs took the oath of office and Tuesday's sitting of the session was concluded, Tanjug news agency reported. It was presided over by Stojan Radenovic, the oldest MP from the Aleksandar Vucic-led Serbia Must Not Stop electoral list.

N1 reported that opposition MPs walked out of the parliament hall when the members of the ruling majority were taking their oaths, and the MPs of the opposition NADA and Serbia Against Violence coalitions took their oaths in the hallway.

They explained after the session that they had refused to take oath with the people “who got their seats by stealing elections, who break laws on a daily basis and for whom the words of this oath mean nothing”.

Selimi: Kosovo Government with all its forces meddles in North Macedonia elections (media, social media)

Former Kosovo foreign minister Petrit Selimi said today in a post on X social platform that Kosovo Government with all its forces available meddles in the elections in North Macedonia, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“Kosovo's governing party is now using all its forces, advisors, media, to meddle in the North Macedonian elections, mostly by sowing divisions within the Albanian vote. Today, a far-left activist of VV, writes again on how to dismantle Ali Ahmeti's position”, Selimi wrote in a post.

EP draft resolution calls for international investigation into Serbian elections (N1, media)

The European Parliament (EP) calls for an independent international investigation by respected international legal experts and institutions into the parliamentary, provincial, and local elections’ irregularities, with special attention to the City of Belgrade Assembly elections, reads the European Parliament draft resolution on the situation in Serbia following the elections that N1 had insight to.

The draft is a working document that EP political groups are to discuss on Tuesday and Wednesday in order to produce a joint text of the resolution.

The draft resolution condemns the attacks by the government officials, notably by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and President Aleksandar Vucic on election observers, including Members of the European Parliament, and calls for a return to respectful and constructive discourse.

It says that the European Parliament is deeply concerned about the attempts to discredit and intimidate the observers and urges Serbian authorities to take all necessary steps to avoid any further disinformation campaigns against elections observers and to establish conditions that allow national and international election observers to effectively do their work, to protect them from any violence, threats, retaliation, adverse discrimination and pressure.

The working document reads that the European Parliament deplores that the Serbian parliamentary and local election held on 17 December 2023 “deviated from international standards and Serbian commitments to free and fair elections” due to the incumbents’ persistent and systematic abuse of institutions and media to gain an unfair and undue advantage. It considers that these elections cannot be deemed as free and fair and said it is alarmed by the widespread and systematic scale of fraud that compromised the integrity of the elections in Serbia.

It states that the election day was smoothly conducted, but marked by numerous procedural deficiencies, including inconsistent application of safeguards during voting, and counting, frequent instances of overcrowding, breaches in secrecy of the vote, and numerous instances of group voting. The European Parliament expresses its serious concern over those irregularities and the overall election environment, which fell far below the expected standards for a European Union (EU) candidate country.

The Serbian authorities are reminded that the proper functioning of Serbia’s democratic institutions is at the core of Serbia’s EU accession process and EU accession methodology.

The European Parliament notes with serious concern the numerous evidence collected by the international and domestic observers showing illegal activities leading up to and during Election Day that altered the election outcome, critically impacted in, particularly, the results of the Belgrade city elections and seriously undermined the legitimacy of the parliamentary elections, reported N1.

Opinion

Bogdanovic on the situation in Kosovo: "The only thing left is for them to take our lives" (N1, Danas, KiM radio)

"It's obvious that they took everything from us in KiM. All that's left is for them to take our lives. And they're doing it in a sophisticated way that's inappropriate for the 21st century. They're constantly violating human rights, harassing, and bullying us. We still have a life left, and it is something they take from us every day,'' Goran Bogdanovic, vice-president of the Social Democratic party (SDS) and former minister for Kosovo and Metohija, said in an interview for Danas daily, reported N1.

Answering the question about the situation in Leposavic at the beginning of this week and after the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo on the use of cash, that is, limiting the use of dinars, Bogdanovic pointed out that it is not about whether we trust or not Aleksandar Vucic.

"Already today, we started to feel the pressure of the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo. I believe that in the coming period, Serbia will do everything to reach a solution and that we will finally be able to raise incomes, social assistance, and pensions. How, that's up to Pristina and Belgrade to decide," Bogdanovic said in the interview.

When asked if this is really a unilateral move by Kurti, that is, it is not part of an earlier agreement, he pointed out that the fact was that President Vucic spoke about this possibility in February last year and it was obvious that it was discussed.

"I don't know whether an agreement was reached or not. It is also a fact that Kurti carries out many actions unilaterally, without any agreement, in order to exert pressure and torture on the remaining Serbs. And for that he has the support of a part of the international community, although the international community condemns such actions with vague statements. We don't just need a few vague statements, but concrete actions and moves to force Kurti to respect human rights and the Constitution and laws of Kosovo, which he constantly emphasizes," he pointed out.

Commenting on Vucic's statement "that success is the recognition of Kosovo license plates and that we should have done it sooner, Bogdanovic assessed that his statement shows "all the arrogance, hypocrisy of this government when it comes to KiM".

"What should have been done? Why didn't Vucic accept it earlier? Where does this late wisdom come from now? Perhaps loss of lives was awaited for, special units to take over the entire northern part of Kosovo, Serbs to be arrested and harassed and Pristina to create lists of the ineligible Serbs, us to leave the institutions into which this government forcibly dragged us in in 2013. To humiliate ourselves and demand resignations of mayors that we didn't elect... It's obvious the president informs us with statements and announcements about Kurti's public successes. Such statements are proof of the relationship this government has towards KiM," he explained.

According to Bogdanovic, the people in Kosovo are certainly more afraid of Pristina than of Belgrade.

"Definitely that it is more afraid of Kurti. Because he, and not only him but the entire administration, has shown arrogance, disrespect for the law and the Constitution for the past few years, and that Serbs are not welcome in these areas. What else, if you are able to arrest Serbs based on the statements of false witnesses, to perform torture over the arrested. Basic human and civil rights are violated every day, and there is no dialogue with the Serbs in Kosovo," Bodganovic concluded in an interview with Danas, reported N1.

International

‘Worse Than Death’: Male Wartime Rape Survivors in Kosovo Speak Out (BIRN)

When he commented on a social media post about a prison guard who had been arrested for committing war crimes in 1999 in Kosovo, Bekim did not know that it would lead to the opening of the first official investigation into male rape in the country.

But one day after he posted the comment, two police officers knocked on his door.

Until then, Bekim, a Kosovo Albanian man, had never spoken about what happened to him, either to his family or anyone else. He had not sought help, despite making two suicide attempts.

But when the police officers arrived, Bekim told them everything about what happened after he was detained on the morning of September 27, 1998.

That day, he was taken away by Serbian police from a village in central Kosovo with 18 other civilians. When they arrived at the police station, there were at least 20 more people waiting to be interrogated.

His pale face colours with embarrassment and his hands shake on the table as recalls how the sun was shining as he and the others were waiting in front of the police building. “We said to each other: ‘They will never release us.’”

He waited until the evening for his turn to be questioned. “It was around 8pm when I entered a room with a table, two chairs, and two police officers,” he said.

During the interrogation, he remembers being beaten at least five times. The questioning went on until past 11pm. “Then one of them put a pistol to my head and said, ‘Take off your trousers.’ I froze,” he recalled. He was then sexually assaulted.