UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, June 7, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Scholz in Kosovo on Friday; 4 hours in Prishtina, 2 hours in Belgrade! (Indeksonline)
Joseph: Lavrov gave ‘Open Balkan’ the kiss of death (Telegrafi)
Finance Minister: €80 million a year for the veterans; lists must be cleaned (Koha/RTK)
Prime Minister Kurti meets UK Minister of Armed Forces (media)
“Croatia fully supports Kosovo membership in EU and NATO” (media)
Swiss State Secretary to visit Kosovo, Serbia over threats against Marty (Klan Kosova)
Rizvanolli: Renewable energy of 500 MW to be achieved in three years' time (Koha/RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Preventing talks with Sergey Lavrov must be condemned (Tanjug, RTS)
Vucic announces changes in gov't, Belgrade city authorities (Tanjug, RTS)
Stefanovic: Serbia refuses to be a pawn (N1)
State Department: Sovereign decisions of Montenegro, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia (RTS, VoA)
Stano: EU welcomes Lavrov flight ban (N1)
Botsan-Kharchenko: Invitation to Selakovic to visit Russia accepted (N1)
EU document on Serbia: “Vucic postpones the break with Russia, and the opposition is helping him” (RFE, N1, RTK2)

International:

Serbian Leader Rages About ‘Hysteria’ After Russian Minister’s Visit Blocked (BIRN)
Russia’s Lavrov Slams Balkan States for Blocking His Serbia Visit (BIRN)
Albania’s Rama Bets on Military Man for ‘Normal’ President (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

KFOR distributes food packages to families in Istok and Klina municipalities (Kosovo Online)

Albanian Language Media

Scholz in Kosovo on Friday; 4 hours in Prishtina, 2 hours in Belgrade! (Indeksonline)

The news website claims to know the agenda of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s tour to the Western Balkans which starts on Friday. Citing unnamed sources, it reports that Scholz will arrive in Kosovo on Friday morning and stay for four hours. He will then travel to Belgrade where he will stay around 2 hours and then he will have meetings in Thessaloniki. On Saturday morning, Scholz will stay in Skopje, North Macedonia, and travel to Bulgaria in the afternoon.

Joseph: Lavrov gave ‘Open Balkan’ the kiss of death (Telegrafi)

Edward Joseph, foreign policy specialist and lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University, commented on Twitter the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in support of the ‘Open Balkan’. Joseph said Lavrov gave the initiative "the kiss of death".

In a series of posts, Joseph said that “Open Balkan” is an open invitation for Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic to “exploit Serbia’s economic size for political advantage – free from political constraints or values of EU.” He added: “Open Balkan = ‘Serb World’ via the marketplace for Serbia’s smaller neighbours.”

Joseph said that the U.S. officials have bought into the notion that trade equals trust in believing Vucic that Serbia wants to join the EU. “What counts is the character of the regime you are trading with. Ask Ukraine: up to 24 Feb, Russia has been a top trading partner of Kyiv, for exports and imports. Ask Japan, South Korea or Taiwan if trade has built trust with China. Same story in the Balkans. Serbia is Montenegro’s number one trading partner, for imports and exports – and Belgrade is in last place in terms of trust. Montenegro PM's recent endorsement of Open Balkan has exacerbated divisions in the country.”

“Just as Putin has boosted NATO, hopefully Lavrov will boost the alternatives to Open Balkan that build a Regional Common Market on common EU values,” Joseph concluded.

Finance Minister: €80 million a year for the veterans; lists must be cleaned (Koha/RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, said today that an article that links the minimum wage with the pension of war veterans was removed from the Law on Minimum Wage in 2017. “Let us not forget that article 18 which links the minimum wage with the pension of veterans was removed in 2017,” he said during his briefing to the Kosovo Assembly committee on healthcare and social welfare.

Murati also said that €80 million are allocated every year for payments for the war veterans. “Initially the lists [of war veterans] must be cleaned so that there can be a rightful treatment of those that have truly fought in the war,” he added.

Murati is quoted as saying in RTK that the proposed minimum wage does not discriminate the war veterans and that “the discrimination happened in 2017 when article 18 was removed and thus removed this category [the war veterans] from the law on wages”.

Koha notes that KLA war veterans protested on Monday before the Kosovo Assembly, as MPs were scheduled to vote on a draft law for amending the minimum wage. The protest escalated when protesters tried to enter the assembly premises, and two police officers and a citizen were injured. The war veterans are expressing their dissatisfaction for not being included in the minimum wage increase proposed by the government.

Prime Minister Kurti meets UK Minister of Armed Forces (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, during his stay in the UK, met with the Minister of Armed Forces, James Heappey, and discussed cooperation in the areas of defence and security. Kurti thanked Heappey for the UK’s continuous support for Kosovo in all phases: liberation, rebuilding, independence, development, and democratisation. A press release issued by Kurti’s office notes that the PM expressed Kosovo’s gratitude for the support it receives from professional defence institutions, especially from the Sandhurst defence academy. The meeting also focused on security issues, highlighting the challenges that result from the Russian invasion and aggression in Ukraine. Kurti said the Republic of Kosovo sided with the democratic world, UK, EU and the United States, in condemning the attack and imposing sanctions against the Russian Federation.

“Croatia fully supports Kosovo membership in EU and NATO” (media)

Croatia will support Kosovo on its path toward integration in the European Union and NATO, said Croatian Ambassador Danijela Barisic after meeting with members of Kosovo Assembly’s committee for foreign affairs today. “Croatia has continuously supported Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic path, and we will continue to support Kosovo in its path toward European integration, and also membership in NATO,” she said.

“I thank the members of the foreign affairs committee for the invitation. I was honoured to discuss many topics. We talked about our relations, which are very friendly, and we also discussed regional cooperation.”

Barisic also said: “Kosovo is surrounded by member states of the EU and NATO. You are a European country that shares the values of the EU, and you proved this with the sanctions against Russia”.

Swiss State Secretary to visit Kosovo and Serbia over threats against Marty (Klan Kosova)

The news website reports that Switzerland has activated its diplomacy on the issue of reported threats from Serbian intelligence services against Dick Marty. Citing reports in Swiss media, Klan reports that Swiss State Secretary Livia Leu is expected to visit Kosovo and Serbia to discuss this issue and other political matters late this month.

Rizvanolli: Renewable energy of 500 MW to be achieved in three years' time (Koha/RTK)

Kosovo's Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, said that Kosovo plans to produce 500 megawatts from renewable energy sources within a period of three years.

Rizvanolli said at a press conference today that a large group of experts, supported by the USAID, has worked on finalising the energy strategy which she said will shape Kosovo’s economy. "The Government of Kosovo has maintained ownership and decision making throughout this process. During the preparation of the strategy there was dialogue with all parties and experts. Tens of meetings with experts, NGOs, businesses, international organisations took place. There were many ideas on the way forward but the end goal was clear from the outset," she said.

The path that the Government of Kosovo has chosen, she noted, is aimed at making the energy system cleaner, more reliable and more decentralised. Rizvanolli also stated that integration of the energy market between Kosovo and Albania is a priority.

At the same time, with regards to the energy in the north of Kosovo, Rizvanolli said that they expect it to be resolved in line with the 2015 Brussels agreement and conclusions that preceded it. This would enable the billing of electricity in the north to begin in a matter of months, she added.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Preventing talks with Sergey Lavrov must be condemned (Tanjug, RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told RTS main news edition last night he was not surprised by the cancellation of the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit, adding he has expected complications, Tanjug news agency reports.

He added that for a long time he has not seen such a collective atmosphere created in Europe and the world regarding Lavrov’s visit and an organised attack against, as he said, small country such as Serbia is.

“You can not imagine how many countless conversations there were demanding from Serbia to revoke hospitality to the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister”, Vucic said.

Touching upon damages inflicted upon Serbia regarding the Russian oil, he said Serbia loses USD 600 million annually.

Commenting on the atmosphere regarding the Lavrov’s visit which he termed as ‘hysteric’ Vucic said that “the hysteria seen over the last 24 hours relating to the announced visit of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Serbia demonstrated what some truly want – since they can’t do or say anything to Russia, they take it out on Serbia”, Vucic said, adding he doesn’t talk about Americans and others, but about “some smaller ones”.

Commenting on Lavrov’s statement following the cancellation of his visit that Serbia was ready to be his host and he perceives its policy as courageous act, Vucic said it was not about his personal bravery, but rather about rational, reasonable and pacifying path to Europe, in which it is difficult today to hear the voice of reason and dialogue.

Vucic also spoke about the upcoming meeting of the Open Balkan Initiative in Ohrid, North Macedonia, saying it brought benefits to the three countries that are currently members of this initiative, adding it is open to all to join, however he will not implore anyone to do so.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and Chairman of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija will attend dinner organised as part of the Open Balkan meetings in Ohird, taking place on June 7 and 8.

Vucic also said that German Chancellor Olaf Shaulz would visit Belgrade even if Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Belgrade.

Commenting on the reporting of international media on Serbia, Vucic said they utter a number of inaccurate articles, and when it comes to the sanctions against Russia “there is a major hypocrisy in place”.

He said this commenting on the article published by BBC in which it described in details Serbia’s refusal to join sanctions and close ties it maintains with Russia, while a month ago in an article on pro-Russian protests in Belgrade, Vucic was marked as “a traitor” because Serbia voted for UN resolution condemning Russia’s attack against Ukraine.

He also announced that Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Sijarto will visit Belgrade on Friday and sign an agreement on storing the gas in Hungary.

Vucic announces changes in gov't, Belgrade city authorities (Tanjug, RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced late on Monday there would be major changes in the Serbian government and the Belgrade city authorities.

In an appearance on an RTS, Vucic said he expected the next government to give Serbia's EU integration processes a strong push but to make its decisions independently.

When asked about the composition of the new government, Vucic said he was in discussions with his aides about the matter.

"There will definitely be major changes, from the city, which you will see soon, to the government of Serbia," he said, reported Tanjug agency.

Stefanovic: Serbia refuses to be a pawn (N1)

Serbia is protecting its right to decide on its own path, to independently make decisions that are solely in the interest of its people and refuses to be a pawn in clashes between the interests of others, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said Monday in a written statement in relation to the cancelled visit of the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, N1 reports.

Serbia has nothing to do with the 100-day conflict in Ukraine and it has taken a very clear stand on the issue, Stefanovic added.

He also said that Serbia and President Vucic have been under propaganda fire for the same period of time from the opposition and from the region.

“Serbia is under fire from everyone who does not like it as an independent and free country, everyone trying to realise their own interests”, Stefanovic said.

State Department: Sovereign decisions of Montenegro, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia (RTS, VoA)

The State Department said on the occasion of the decision of Montenegro, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia not to allow the overflight of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's plane on the way to Belgrade, that they, as sovereign states, "made sovereign decisions on airspace, which reflect Europe's determination to hold Russia accountable" for the attack on Ukraine, reported RTS, citing VoA.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press conference that the US called on "Serbia to focus on its goal of membership in the European Union, including harmonising its foreign and security policy with the rest of Europe," the Voice of America reported.

''We constantly call on Serbia to take steps to advance on the European path, including diversifying energy sources, reducing energy dependence on the Russian Federation, and harmonising foreign and security policy with the European Union. We still want to be Serbia's partner and help it in its efforts to strengthen energy security in the long run,'' Price said.

Asked by VoA how the United States and NATO would protect Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria, which closed their airspace, from ''Russian threats'', according to the American media, Price answered that "all three are members of NATO, and the commitment to Article 5 in relation to all three is binding", wrote RTS.

He reminded that the fifth anniversary of Montenegro's membership in NATO was marked on Monday, and the second anniversary of North Macedonia's membership in March.

The Kremlin described the move by Montenegro, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia, which banned the overflight of Sergei Lavrov's planes, as "an act of hostility" and said that "such acts of hostility can cause certain problems", reported Voice of America in Serbian language.

Stano: EU welcomes Lavrov flight ban (N1, RTCG)

European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano on Tuesday welcomed the decision by three Balkan countries to ban Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s flight to Belgrade, reported N1.

Stano told Montenegrin state TV (RTCG) that the European Union welcomes Podgorica’s full alignment with EU foreign and security policies, including restrictive measures as demonstrated by the ban on Lavrov’s flight. He said that EU member states and other countries have imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, including closing their air space to Russian aircraft, preventing “war mongers and individuals like Lavrov” from travelling.

Stano said he sees no reason to comment on the threats made by a senior Russian official over the flight ban. Russian aerospace agency (Roscosmos) chief Dmitry Rogozin said in a Twitter post that Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles would not need permission to fly through the airspace of those countries, reported N1.

Botsan-Kharchenko: Invitation to Selakovic to visit Russia accepted (N1)

Serbia, with a great pleasure, accepted the invitation of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov extended to his Serian counterpart, Nikola Selakovic to visit Russia and appropriate instructions in this regard have already been made, Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said, N1 reports.

He also said that President Vucic has given instructions to organise the visit.

EU document on Serbia: Vucic postpones the break with Russia, and the opposition is helping him (RFE, N1, RTK2)

European intelligence services have prepared an analysis in which it was estimated that the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, was trying to take steps on the domestic and international scene in order to postpone his break with Russia, and in the meantime continue to win concessions from the West, reported today Radio Free Europe in Serbian.

This document, classified as "secret", was prepared by several European intelligence services, for the needs of the European External Action Service (EEAS), headed by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, wrote Radio Free Europe.

RFE reported that it had an insight into this document, which analyzed the next Vucic’s steps in preserving the balancing policy. According to European intelligence, the Russian invasion of Ukraine presented the problem of power relations for President Vucic, thus reducing Serbia's maneuvering space in the field of foreign and security policy.

The analysis listed possible steps that the President of Serbia could take in the near future.

What could Vucic do?

"In order to alleviate the strong pressure of the West regarding sanctions, President Vucic plans to take various moves, internationally and domestically, in order to prevent negative implications for Serbia, but mostly to preserve his own political power," the document read, reported RFE.

Among other things, it was stated that it was very likely that he would postpone the formation of the new government as long as possible, using that as an excuse to postpone the introduction of sanctions against Russia. RFE recalled that elections in Serbia were held on April 3rd, where Vucic's progressives (SNS) won 120 seats in the Assembly of Serbia, while in the Parliament of 250 seats, at least 126 votes are needed to form a government.

On the other hand, the EU document estimated, it was expected that the President of Serbia would probably implement a "policy of small steps" in order to bring Serbia closer to the West. The goal was to postpone its final break with Russia and use the future change of foreign policy direction in order to get as many political and economic concessions for Serbia as possible.

The role of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the event of a break with Russia

The EU document mentioned the key role of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) if Serbia decided to move towards the West, reported RFE adding that the Patriarch Porfirije was very close to the Serbian president, and that he would play an important role in the population accepting the pro-Western policy of Serbia.

"Generous state donations to the Serbian Orthodox Church will help Porfirije to convince the clergy in that regard," the internal document read, wrote RFE.

It was added that the original "neutral" choice of the Church not to take either side in the war in Ukraine eased the situation for Vucic, creating a certain space for him to distance himself from Russia.

Vucic's benefit from the rightists

RFE reported that European intelligence services estimated that in the coming period, the President of Serbia, Vucic, would try to use the Russian right-wing opposition in the parliament as an excuse not to adopt or postpone difficult foreign policy decisions.

"The presence of such opposition suits Vucic because it allows him to present himself to the West as a moderate politician," the document read, but also emphasized that these right-wing parties (NADA / DSS - National Democratic Alternative / Democratic Party of Serbia, Oathkeepers and Dveri) are linked to SNS and have the financial and logistical support of this party, wrote RFE.

Tensions within the Progressives (SNS) and Moscow's favourites for ministers

European intelligence services predict, according to RFE, that tensions within the SNS would increase during the distribution of power at the local and state level, but also due to future foreign policy decisions.

The government’s composition, once formed, would be a clear indicator of Serbia's foreign policy direction. According to the document, reported RFE, Aleksandar Vucic most likely would continue to hold pro-Western and pro-Russian ministers in the future government to continue balancing policy.

In this regard, the analysis predicted that the future prime minister will be from the ranks of the SNS. Sinisa Mali (current Minister of Finance and former mayor of Belgrade), Nikola Selakovic (current head of diplomacy) were mentioned as possible candidates, and the current Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, possibly President of the Assembly or she would receive an important ambassadorial position, wrote RFE.

A special paragraph was dedicated to the career of Nikola Selakovic, for whom the document emphasized that if he did not become prime minister, then he would have an important ministerial position.

Selakovic remained a candidate for the post of foreign minister, although according to European intelligence, the name of Marko Djuric, Serbia's current ambassador to Washington, also circulated, but that "Moscow recommends Selakovic" for the post, reported RFE.

"Trojan horse" from the opposition

The analysis of European intelligence services also dealt with the role of the president of the Freedom and Justice Party, Dragan Djilas, in the political scene in Serbia.

RFE wrote that, according to the document, intelligence shows that there are indications of "behind-the-scenes cooperation with Vucic and his role as a 'Trojan horse', which caused discord among opposition parties and has been weakening them for some time".

It was mentioned that Dragan Djilas rejected cooperation with the SNS several times before the elections, but that cooperation between him and Aleksandar Vucic became more likely after a personal meeting in mid-April and the announcement of possible early city elections in Belgrade in autumn 2022 or spring 2023.

The constitutive session of the Belgrade Assembly was scheduled for Saturday, June 11. The new city parliament and government will be elected more than two months after the April general elections. The reason is the repeated voting at two polling stations, on April 21.

After the results of 110 councillors, the list around the ruling SNS won the most seats, but not to form a government on its own with 48, RFE recalled.

International

Serbian Leader Rages About ‘Hysteria’ After Russian Minister’s Visit Blocked (Balkan Insight)

After Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s plane was blocked from flying to Belgrade, President Aleksandar Vucic complained that excessive pressure is being put on Serbia amid anti-Moscow “hysteria” in Europe.

Aleksandar Vucic told state broadcaster Radio-Television Serbia on Monday evening that he has never seen so much hysteria against Serbia as was caused by the announcement that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be visiting Belgrade.

The visit was eventually cancelled after Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bulgaria, who all back EU sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, closed their airspace to block Lavrov’s flight.

“Of course one has to express one’s dissatisfaction. First of all, I haven’t seen the kind of hysteria for a long time that little Serbia has been exposed to in Europe and around the world due to the arrival of Lavrov. You can’t believe how much pressure there was on Serbia because of that visit,” Vucic told RTS.

Humanitarian/Development

KFOR distributes food packages to families in Istok and Klina municipalities (Kosovo Online)

KFOR members distributed 172 food packages to the families of non-majority communities, including Serbian, Bosniaks, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian in Istok and Klina municipalities, Kosovo Online reports.

KFOR wrote on Twitter that food packages were provided to families in the six villages of those municipalities.