UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, June 20, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kosovo, Albania governments hold eighth joint meeting (media)
Rama: Open Balkan does not unite us, but it does not divide us either (media)
EU member states agree to extend Lajcak’s mandate for another 18 months (RFE)
KLA war veterans warn with other protests in front of Assembly (media)
Sunny Hill Festival returns to Kosovo (RFE)
Slovenia supports visa liberalisation for Kosovo (Telegrafi)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Decision on EU-WB summit to be made after consultations (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, RTS)
Rakic: Return to Kosovo on the lowest possible scale (Kosovo Online, TV Most)
EU enlargement hot topic again, WB leaders in Brussels on Thursday - what is on the table (RTS, Radio Mitrovica sever)
Florian Bieber: Vucic still trying to avoid deciding on sanctions against Russia (N1, nova.rs)
Petkovic: We are close to reaching an agreement on energy (Kontakt plus radio)
Jablanovic: Kurti’s government is anti-Serbian (KiM radio, Slobodno Srpski)

Opinion:

The EU Mustn’t Betray its Promises to the Western Balkans (Balkan Insight)

International:

EU Rapporteur Adds To Pressure For Brussels To Give Balkans 'Something' Amid Ukraine Push (RFE)
Kosovo Reclaims Dua Lipa Festival After Sudden U-Turn (BIRN)
Slovenia to Seek EU Candidate Status for Bosnia (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

Film Recreates Albanian’s ‘Swim to Freedom’ from Communism (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Kosovo, Albania governments hold eighth joint meeting (media)

The leading story in the media today is the eighth joint meeting of the governments of Kosovo and Albania, in Prishtina. Ministers from the two governments signed 19 agreements today, in the areas of education, agriculture, customs, energy, road infrastructure, transport, healthcare, defence and justice.

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that the agreements between the two governments have made the lives of people easier and have helped the development of Kosovo and Albania. He said he was pleased with the implementation of agreements so far, adding that the agreements that were signed today will help further the cooperation between the two sides.

Kurti is quoted as saying in Kosovapress that “relations between our two countries are proof that when there are no unresolved political problems, the success of relations in all other areas is guaranteed. It is also proof that cooperation, integration, and sustainable development throughout the region can be secured by resolving political problems at the start and not at the end.”

Rama said in his remarks that after every joint meeting, “we are closer to the major objective of the document on Strategic Partnership between our two states signed in Prizren in 2014”. He said the trade exchange between Albania and Kosovo has increased and that the trade volume last year was €433.

Rama suggested a joint meeting of the parliaments of Kosovo and Albania on November 28, honouring the 110th anniversary of the independence of Albania.

Gazeta Express and Nacionale highlight Rama’s remarks that there are no problems between him and Kurti. “People try to create friction between us and look for open issues between myself and my counterpart here. There is no such friction because we are very open, and on issues that we do not agree we are pleased to say that we agreed to disagree,” Rama is quoted as saying. He also thanked Kurti saying, “it is a special pleasure that whenever we meet, we have full synergy and we laugh a lot, and this is what is important”.

Rama: Open Balkan does not unite us, but it does not divide us either (media)

Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, said in a joint press conference with Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, that their different positions about the Open Balkan initiative are not an obstacle to further their bilateral relations.

“It is true that the Open Balkan does not unite us, but it does not divide us either. We have different positions about this, but these positions do not prevent us from furthering our bilateral relations. My message to my government is that everything we implement with the Open Balkan, we need to do the same with Kosovo. All companies that contribute to the trade volume between the two countries, and which are not suspicious, will be authorised to have a corridor at the customs point. We have this with the Open Balkan, and we want to have the same with Kosovo, too,” Rama said.

Asked to comment on reports that he mentioned removing Kurti from power, Rama said “only a protest by Albin can bring down the government. As long as Albin does not go out in a protest, there is no one that can remove him.”

Rama also said “with the current government we have the highest level of implementation of the agreements that have been signed. I hope this will be seen as a fact and not serve as a pretext to make political speculations, because I am not interested in being included in Kosovo’s political life”.

Several news websites highlight in their coverage that Kurti has again turned down an eventual participation in the Open Balkan initiative. “I have nothing new to say about the issue,” he said.

EU member states agree to extend Lajcak’s mandate for another 18 months (RFE)

EU member states will agree to extend the mandate of the Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, for another 18 months. Citing diplomatic sources in Brussels, the news website reports that there was no opposition from any of the member states to the extension. The decision is expected to become formal these days in Brussels.

KLA war veterans warn with other protests in front of Assembly (media)

The War Veterans Organisations of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) warned with other protests if amendments are not made to the draft law on the minimum wage which has already passed its first reading at the Kosovo Assembly. Faton Klinaku, acting leader of the war veterans, told a press conference in Prishtina today that if an increased pension for the veterans is not included in the bill, the veterans would hold another protest in front of the Assembly premises on the day of the second reading. “The government has time until then to correct the mistake,” he added.

Klinaku said an agreement was not reached in their meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti last Friday. “Kurti continues to insist on his discriminatory positions and tendencies to politicize the issue of the war veterans. He also failed to meet our minimal demand and that is to not discriminate against the veterans on the minimum wage law,” he said.

Klinaku also said they were expecting new proposals from the Government and Assembly.

Kosovapress and Indeksonline note in their coverage that the war veterans have “softened their positions”. Both news websites recall that the war veterans earlier said they would hold protests and not allow any session of the Assembly until their demands are not met.

Sunny Hill Festival returns to Kosovo (RFE)

The Sunny Hill Festival will be held in Prishtina on August 4, 5, 6 and 7 this year, it was said in a joint statement by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Municipality of Prishtina and the Sunny Hill Festival. The statement notes that central and local institutions will provide support for this year’s edition, which is said to be held in a convenient location. Past editions of the festival were held in Germia Park in Prishtina.

On June 14, the founder and organiser of the festival, Dukagjin Lipa, announced that Sunny Hill would be relocated to Tirana, “due to numerous delays caused by the lack of response and the final decision to allocate space for the festival ”.

Slovenia supports visa liberalisation for Kosovo (Telegrafi)

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, said today that her country supports visa liberalisation for the citizens of Kosovo. Fajon will attend today’s meeting of chief diplomats of EU member states in Luxembourg, which will discuss the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of giving it the candidate status. “This is my first time here as Foreign Minister of Slovenia and I am honoured to attend this meeting. Today we will have an important discussion about Ukraine. Slovenia will continue its policy in support of Ukraine and its people. We also support giving the candidate status,” she said.

Fajon also said that the meeting must not forget about the Western Balkans and countries that are waiting to become members of the European Union. “ … we will also discuss visa liberalisation for Kosovo, which we support,” she added.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Decision on EU-WB summit to be made after consultations (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday he would hold consultations with the PMs of North Macedonia and Albania, Dimitar Kovacevski and Edi Rama, and the Government of Serbia on Tuesday about a June 23 EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels before making a decision on whether to attend it, reported Tanjug agency.

"Then we will make a decision on whether to go to Brussels and what our position will be," Vucic told reporters in response to a question whether he had received an invitation to the summit, whether he would attend and what position Serbia would take.

Vucic said he had also received an official invitation last Friday.

"We will wait, tomorrow we will hold consultations with Rama and Kovacevski within the Open Balkan, then I will have consultations with members of the Government of Serbia and then we will make a decision on whether to go to Brussels and what our position will be," Vucic said.

"On Thursday we will see what Europe's architecture will be like"

Ahead of tomorrow's continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina at the technical level in Brussels, Vucic stated that he hoped for at least some agreement, reported RTS.

"I hope that we can reach an agreement, because that would be the first agreement on some elementary things, which would be important," Vucic said.

He pointed out that he was very interested in what will happen on Thursday, at the Summit of the EU and the leaders of the Western Balkans, because based on that, he said, he will be able to conclude what the Europe architecture would be like.

He mentioned that this will be perhaps the most important and interesting day in the last 10 years at the European level.

"Because after that, we will see what the architecture of Europe is like, to understand what is coming to us and to better understand our place, without underestimating or overestimating either us or them," said Vucic.

About the special envoys: "Too many cooks spoil the broth''

The bigger the "flood" of special envoys for the Western Balkans is, the more I am afraid that there are less and less valid and good proposals for us, said Vucic.

"I guess everyone shows too much concern, and sometimes it seems to me - 'too many cooks spoil the broth'. We will see," said Vucic, answering the question whether he was worried about the "flood" of special representatives for the Western Balkans, and after speculation that France could appoint its special envoy.

As he said, it was important to talk on the domestic political scene in Serbia, in the parliament, as soon as it was formed, with representatives of the Government, as well as with the surrounding countries, in order to see what our attitude should be towards everything.

He said that ''our job is to talk to everyone, to respect everyone, but Serbia has its own policy, plans, program, and that is how it will be done in the future'', reported RTS.

Rakic: Return to Kosovo on the lowest possible scale (Kosovo Online, TV Most)

Minister of Communities and Returns Goran Rakic stated that this June 20, 2022, on the World Refugee Day, he can state with regret that the return of displaced persons in Kosovo is on the lowest possible scale and said that all those who want to return to Kosovo should follow the example of Dragica Gasic from Djakovica and her persistence, reported Kosovo Online.

Minister Rakic said that “following the 1999 Kosovo conflict, 226,418 citizens fled their homes. After more than two decades since the eviction, the total number of returnees in this area is 29,108”, cited Kosovo Online.

He added that “more than two decades have passed since they left their homes, but many of these homes are still empty, because there are no adequate conditions and sincere desire and help of other Kosovo institutions to help us, as an umbrella institution dealing with the return process, to realize part of the work entrusted to us in a quality and successful way”.

He pointed out that the “image that we have today when it comes to the return process, we can only change if we jointly solve the problems that stand in the way of the success of this job which is not at all easy”.

“If you are wondering how we can do that, then I will tell you that when the attacks on returnees and their property stop, when the problems of usurped property are solved in a concrete and swift manner, when we provide better economic conditions for returnees, if we enable those who return to visit their churches without fear, cultivate the land and go to their neighbours without hindrance, then we will have a more favourable situation in a larger number of those who return and survive on their properties”.

He stated that at a recent meeting with displaced persons in Belgrade, he supported the return of 40 families to Kosovo.

“I am rejoiced by the fact that they have a sincere will to return to their homes even after many years” he said, emphasizing that his mandate as the head of the Ministry of Communities and Return will be dedicated to all those who have such a desire, because it is a fundamental right of every displaced family to return to their home,” Rakic said.

EU enlargement hot topic again, WB leaders in Brussels on Thursday - what is on the table (RTS, Radio Mitrovica sever)

The EU and Western Balkans leaders meeting is scheduled on Thursday in Brussels. A new enlargement policy is on the table, and it includes the idea of giving candidate countries access to Union funds even before membership. The consequences of the war in Ukraine on the region will also be discussed, as well as the supply of energy and food, reported Radio Mitrovica sever, citing RTS.

The leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans will have a proposal for a gradual phased accession.

The essence of the idea, according to RTS, is to offer social and economic benefits during the membership negotiations, instead of waiting for their end, reported the radio.

This reform has already been supported by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, Austria through its "non-paper", as well as many domestic and European experts.

"We need to break the system whereby, while outside the EU, you wait 10 or 15 years to get billions of euros at once as a member," said Pierre Mirel, the European Commission's former director for the Western Balkans.

He adds that Bulgaria, which has a similar population as Serbia, received six times more from the European budget than Serbia.

That, he says, is not good for the economy or for the implementation of reforms.

Progress and EU funds

One of the principles of such proposals is: more for more. The more the country progresses, the more funds are available.

"If each of the countries, in each of the listed areas, makes serious progress, it will be enabled deeper integration," explains Jelica Minic from the European Movement in Serbia

She indicates that there is a reversibility clause.

"If countries go backwards, then all privileges will be revoked. It is also proposed that everything be much more measurable," adds Minic.

Expansion and stuck process

The countries of the Western Balkans were told at the summit in Thessaloniki in 2003 that they will be members of the EU when they meet the conditions.

In Brussels, they still say that the policy of enlargement can no longer live from that promise, which is 19 years old.

"I think some leaders, Michel and Macron, for example, have realized that the EU's offer to the Western Balkans needs to be more consistent and convincing. It must also be innovative because the process so far is simply stuck. Obviously, the only solution is to start in a new way," said Shada Islam, editor of the EUobserver.

One of the proposed novelties is that the Balkan countries would not automatically have the right to veto by joining the EU.

"In the first phase of membership, we would have all the advantages of a member state and all funds at our disposal, but not the right to veto during voting, nor the position of commissioner. That would help member states, which fear paralysis of decision-making, to accept new members, "said Pierre Mirel.

With numerous criticisms, reform proposals and three new candidacies: Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, awaiting a response, enlargement policy is at a crossroads again, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

Florian Bieber: Vucic still trying to avoid deciding on sanctions against Russia (N1, nova.rs)

Florian Bieber, an expert on the Balkans and a professor at the University of Graz, told daily Nova that Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, still hopes to avoid the decision to impose sanctions on Russia and that Germany has been insisting for years that Serbia should recognise the independence of Kosovo.

“If there is no clear pressure from the EU and members like Germany, I doubt that Vucic sees any benefit from imposing sanctions,” Bieber said, arguing that Vucic has been trying to avoid a decision on the matter.

“As the war drags on, and the scale of war crimes, in addition to the aggression itself, is clearly visible, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see why Serbia is not joining the sanctions. Most of the explanations from Vucic, Brnabic and others seem like an excuse,” he said.

Bieber said he also noticed that reporting on Putin in media loyal to the government did not seem too critical of the Russian president and that it suggested that Vucic was not really preparing the ground for turning around his policy.

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

Petkovic: We are close to reaching an agreement on energy (Kontakt plus radio)

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated that Belgrade and Pristina are close to the possible finalization of solutions in the field of energy and approximation of positions on the issue of missing persons.

“During all of the talks, Belgrade showed sufficient firmness and determination to protect Serbian national interests, especially Serbs in our southern province, but also showed responsibility for finding sustainable and applicable solutions on the ground, which are a precondition for preservation of peace and stability, especially in these difficult times in Europe and the world,” Petkovic told Vecernje Novosti daily, ahead of a new round of dialogue in Brussels.

He emphasized that the energy agreement did not represent any new agreement, but the fulfilment of what was agreed in 2013 and 2015 and emphasized that “progress in the normalization of relations directly depends on the implementation of all agreements reached thus far”.

Petkovic opined that “for years, Pristina has had no sincere intention to fix things on the ground but saw dialogue solely as a way to consolidate the unilaterally declared independence”.

“Pristina’s dreams are not, nor can they be part of the dialogue. If there is the slightest hope that something positive and useful can be done for the people living in Kosovo and Metohija, we will participate in that process,” he said.

According to him, “there is no alternative to dialogue” and added that Belgrade will be “consistently and in principle committed to dialogue as the only correct means of resolving disagreements and open issues”.

Jablanovic: Kurti’s government is anti-Serbian (KiM radio, Slobodno Srpski)

President of the Party of Kosovo Serbs (PKS), Aleksandar Jablanovic said in the “Slobodno srpski” (Free in Serbian) TV show that the current government in Pristina was anti-Serbian, reported KiM radio.

“We have the Government in Pristina, that is, one political group for the first time since the declaration of Kosovo’s independence, which is totally anti-Serbian, I can freely say that. They congratulate us on Easter, Christmas, New Year, and then two or three days later they send us lists of people to arrest”.

“No matter how much they talk throughout various media about how they cooperate with Serbs, who are the Serbs they cooperate with?” Jablanovic wonders and actually claims that this is the first Government of Kosovo that does not have communication and cooperation with Serbs, reported KiM radio.

“Before, the government in Pristina used to be made up of people who had a serious history of war, some of them are on the wanted list of international courts and courts of the Republic of Serbia, but we as Serbs, we have always found some common language with them in normal circumstances and difficult situations. I do not see that this Government, which now exists in Pristina, has the will and desire to talk to Serbs at all. They are talking to Serbs through confrontation”.

According to Jablanovic, sending special police units to northern Kosovo over the past year, "making" lists with the names of more than 70 Serbs from that part of Kosovo suspected of overthrowing the constitutional order and the like, is bringing Serbs in northern Kosovo to the brink of endurance.

“I am afraid that the Serbs in the north of Kosovo will not accept that and that such performances of this anti-Serbian government will be possible for perhaps a little while longer. I think slowly, I am not talking now about the stances of the Serbian List, the positions of my party or someone else, but in a conversation every day with citizens, on the street, when you go out, drink coffee with someone, people are nervous, tense, electrified, brought to the extreme limits of what they are ready to put up with”.

Commenting on the recent self-suspension of Serbian List representatives in Kosovo institutions due to the suspension of the President of the Basic Court in North Mitrovica, Ljiljana Stevanovic, by the Kosovo Judicial Council, Jablanovic said that this sent a dangerous message.

“In this way, as if the Serbian List seems to be letting all of us know “here- we are now going to freeze our functions because of this woman who is the president of the court, that means she is ours”. Well, she is mine as well, she is a Serb and I feel sorry for her as a Serb, but I cannot say that some prosecutor or judge is mine. What gives the Serbian List the right and freedom to “have” judges and prosecutors as theirs. It is beyond any common sense for you to suspend the work of elected Serbian representatives because some judge or prosecutor has violated code of conduct due to participating in some political meeting. By doing so, you are clearly telling everyone that we have control over Serbian prosecutors and judges. We give them pensions through the Ministry of Justice from Belgrade, based on our suggestion they are integrated into the Kosovo judicial system, we claim them. That means, when translated, we also have the right to their decisions, on whether someone will be judged or not,” Jablanovic said and added that it casts great doubt on the credibility of judges and prosecutors.

“That is exactly what the Serbian List did with its move, and I did not see much that prosecutors and judges distanced themselves from that move of the Serbian List and rebelled,” Jablanovic said.

The Fund for Northern Kosovo has not fully come to life

Speaking about the Fund for Northern Kosovo, which is being filled through the collection of customs duties from Jarinje and Brnjak crossings, Jablanovic said that the fund is a good segment of the overall Brussels dialogue that enables the development of Serbian communities in northern Kosovo but has not come to life in full capacity.

“One of the most important projects on which money was spent from this Fund is the construction of a large regional landfill for northern Kosovo, which has not yet been completed on the road Zvecan - Leposavic. But in the last year and a half, two, this Fund for the North is slowly losing its strength due to the large volume of smuggling in the north of Kosovo. Everything that should go using the regional road and come to the administrative crossings, to be taxed and so that excise tax would be collected, which fills that Fund, that money ends up in the hands of smugglers”.

Jablanovic opined that the Kosovo Police and Customs are not able to prevent the smuggling of goods in the north of Kosovo.

“The government in Pristina is trying to do that in another, in my opinion unreasonable way, and I think that it is primarily the main political task of mayors from the north to do much more in coordination with Pristina in the coming period, if necessary, with official Belgrade, to prevent that smuggling. Prevention of smuggling will leave maybe 30 or 40 people without extra income, which is irrelevant, because it brings us great benefits. Money that is disappearing due to the goods that are smuggled across the hill will end up in the Fund for the North. That money will be used to build a wastewater collection system, roads, street lighting ...” said the president of the PKS Aleksandar Jablanovic, reported KiM radio.

Opinion

The EU Mustn’t Betray its Promises to the Western Balkans (Balkan Insight)

If the bloc gives in to Bulgaria’s abuse of its EU membership over North Macedonia next week, its enlargement agenda for the Western Balkans will have suffered a mortal blow.

Although the European Union’s enlargement policy will be on the agenda of the European Council this week, the war raging in Ukraine will put most of the focus on Ukraine’s application for membership, together with that of Moldova and Georgia.

But it would be another failure of leadership if the EU does not at the same time take urgent action with regard to the Western Balkans, whose long journey towards EU membership started over 20 years ago.

The EU has meantime left the region to drift between hope and despair, with many unfulfilled promises, the most urgent of them relating to Albania and North Macedonia.

International

EU Rapporteur Adds To Pressure For Brussels To Give Balkans 'Something' Amid Ukraine Push (RFE)

A European Parliament rapporteur for Kosovo has said ahead of this week's decision on possible candidate status for Ukraine and two other post-Soviet republics that the bloc "must also give something" to hopeful members in the Western Balkans.

The rapporteur, German Greens group Member of the European Parliament Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, suggested to reporters in Sarajevo on June 19 that immediate concessions from Brussels would help maintain trust and credibility in the region.

The comments come amid a push from EU-member Slovenia for accelerated admission of aspiring members in the Western Balkans and unconditional candidate status for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is battling secessionist efforts by ethnic Serbian leaders who are closely allied with Moscow.

Humanitarian/Development

Film Recreates Albanian’s ‘Swim to Freedom’ from Communism (Balkan Insight)

Swimming 18 hours along the Adriatic coast, Tonin Gjini’s daring escape from Stalinist Albania in 1987 has been recreated on film.

In 1987, a 22-year-old professional swimmer called Tonin Gjini slipped into the Adriatic waters in the northern Albanian village of Velipoje with his best friend, Pjerin Gjeka. They were not competitors, but collaborators in a race to freedom.

Eighteen hours later, Gjini emerged 18 kilometres along the shore in the Montenegrin town of Ulcinj, then part of Yugoslavia, leaving behind him a paranoid communist regime that had sealed Albania’s borders for decades. Gjeka drowned, 100 metres from land. Gjini pulled the body of his friend to land.