Albanian Language Media:

• Gervalla: September 24 attack in Banjska changed everything (media)
• Baerbock with clear messages for Kosovo’s prospect of EU membership (Klan)
• Croatian FM: Visa liberalization for Kosovo, a major step forward (RTK)
• Stano doesn’t comment on draft statute published by Ramadani (media)
• PSD warns it will “escalate actions” against Association (Albanian Post)
• Tahiri: Scandalous, Resolution 1244 is part of the Association’s statute (media)
• Over 1,350 citizens in north re-register their vehicles to RKS plates (Telegrafi)
• Svecla meets Turkish Defense Minister (media)
• Petkovic: “In time of Serbian List and Vucic, 40,000 Serbs fled Kosovo” (Dukagjini)

Serbian Language Media:

• Borrell on Western Balkans: We insist on alignment with EU foreign policy (N1)
• Office for KiM reacts to relocation of Serb soldiers memorial plaque (Radio KIM, Kosovo Online)
• New KFOR Commander visits Visoki Decani Monastery (Radio KIM, Kosovo Online, social media)
• Ambassador Vilan denied Israeli soccer coach: Serbia showed that it is a true friend (Kosovo Online, RTS)
• Office for KiM: Flag of Serbia set on fire at the monument to the murdered Serbs in Orahovac (Tanjug)
• SNF gathering: “Prevent ‘Albanization’ of Serb-majority municipalities with ‘tacit approval’ of Serbian List” (KoSSev)

International:

• Belgrade Paid for Lawyers Defending Kosovo Serbs Accused of Corruption, Documents Reveal (Balkan Insight)
• Kosovo Defeats Israel In Soccer Match Amid High Security, Small Crowd (RFE)

Humanitarian/Development:

• 53 grants worth €500,000 allocated for women and minority led businesses (KSP)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Gervalla: Gervalla: September 24 attack in Banjska changed everything (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, said in a post on X today that she will take part in today’s meeting of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss recent developments and security in Europe. “For Kosova and the region, the September 24 paramilitary attack by Serbia changes everything and proves the urgency of dealing with major security threats,” Gervalla said.

Baerbock with clear messages for Kosovo’s prospect of EU membership (Klan)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sent clear messages today about the prospects of EU membership for Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, the news website notes.

Talking to reporters before the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Baerbock highlighted the importance of the foreign ministers from the six Balkan countries attending a session with European diplomats. “The offer of peace and security in the European Union is the most important defense shield for our partners and friends in the Western Balkans too. This is why it is so crucial in these times to understand that enlargement is a geopolitical issue, and that for peace and security in Europe, there should be no ‘gray areas’. I am glad that the ministers and six countries of the Western Balkans are in a meeting with us again today,” she said.

Baerbock also said that the EU would grow stronger with the expected enlargement with new member states.

Croatian FM: Visa liberalization for Kosovo, a major step forward (RTK)

Croatian Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlic-Radman, said in Brussels today that visa liberalization for Kosovo is a major step forward. “Good neighborly relations and regional cooperation remain essential. We hope to see progress by the end of the year, or early next year, especially in terms of starting membership negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and opening the first chapter with Albania and North Macedonia. Also, the long-awaited visa liberalization for the citizens of Kosovo, starting in January 2024, is a major step forward,” he said.

Grlic-Radman also said that “enlargement is still a priority for the EU, but in order to make it a success story, the key is in the fulfillment of criteria, the implementation of necessary reforms, and aligning with the values and standards of the EU”.

Stano doesn’t comment on draft statute published by Ramadani (media)

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in an interview with Euractiv that he doesn’t know who Burim Ramadani and that he sees no reason to comment on anything that he might be claiming or publishing, when asked to comment on the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities published by Ramadani, former chief inspector of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency and a former member of the Haradinaj-led Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

Stano said that a new balanced European proposal for the association was presented at the end of Europe and was discussed by both parties. The EU proposal, he said, has not been made public since diplomatic efforts are ongoing.

“We never pass on official documents that are being discussed and expect the same from the partners, as it is normal practice in international mediation to conduct the process in confidentiality,” he said, adding it is the Commission’s long-standing policy not to comment on alleged leaks.

PSD warns it will “escalate actions” against Association (Albanian Post)

Leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Dardan Molliqaj, together with several activists, organized a symbolic action in front of the Kosovo Government building in Pristina today, claiming that the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities will undo Kosovo’s multiethnic project.

PSD activists replaced the flag of Kosovo and presented an improvised flag with only two stars and several parts of the territory of Kosovo painted in white, symbolizing the Serb-majority municipalities.

“From today even the flag of Kosovo can no longer be the same. As of today, the flag of Kosovo has only two stars. They have formed an internal confederation between Albanians and Serbs, without the support of the people. Our actions will escalate, and we will organize protests too,” Molliqaj said.

Tahiri: Scandalous, Resolution 1244 is part of the Association’s statute (media)

Kosovo’s former chief negotiator in the talks with Serbia, Edita Tahiri, reacted after former Kosovo Intelligence Agency chief inspector Burim Ramadani published what he claims to be a draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. Tahiri said that the content of the published draft is scandalous. “Kosovo is a state of UNMIK, according to Kurti. Resolution 1244, part of the statute of the Association. Scandalous and unacceptable,” Tahiri wrote in a Facebook post.

Over 1,350 citizens in north re-register their vehicles to RKS plates (Telegrafi)

The news website notes that there has been great interest these days among citizens in Mitrovica North to re-register their vehicles with illegal plates to RKS plates. From November 1 until now, over 1,350 citizens have applied to re-register their vehicles, Kosovo Police Acting Director for the north, Veton Elshani, told Telegrafi.

On October 30, the Kosovo Government decided to postpone the deadline for the re-registration of vehicles with illegal Serbian plates to RKS plates. The decision came after a request by the Kosovo Police Directorate in the north to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, following requests by Serb citizens to postpone the deadline.

Svecla meets Turkish Defense Minister (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, during his stay in Türkiye, met with the Minister of Defense, Yasar Guler, thanking him for the continuous support for Kosovo and greater opportunities for cooperation between the institutions. The meeting focused on the security situation and the challenges faced by Kosovo and Türkiye. During his stay, Svecla also met with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Yerlikaya. 

Petkovic: “In time of Serbian List and Vucic, 40,000 Serbs fled Kosovo” (Dukagjini)

Slavisa Petkovic, former Kosovo Minister for Communities and Returns, said today that in the last ten years over 40,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo and for this he blamed the Serbian List and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “The biggest percentage of Serbs in the north fled in the last ten years ever since Vucic came to power and installed the so-called Serbian List in Kosovo, which took over everything, it became the absolute owner of life and death as far as Serbs were concerned. With overall support from Pristina and with the help of the Serbian List and the policy led by Aleksandar Vucic, nearly 40,000 Serbs fled in the last ten years,” he claimed.

According to Petkovic, the assassinations of two candidates for Mitrovica North mayor, Dimitrije Janicijevic and Oliver Ivanovic, also affected the immigration of Serbs. He said that the process of recognizing Kosovo’s independence started after the signing of the Brussels Agreement. “In fact, it is a process of concluding internal independence and then later reached when Von der Leyen said in Belgrade that Serbia needs to de facto recognize the independence of Kosovo. One part of Serbs simply did not want to accept this, they didn’t want to live in an independent Kosovo and this is why they are leaving. The second reason is a permanent one, throughout the years: pressure, burning of Serb cars by Serbs in the north, throwing of bombs against Serbs, the assassination of Janicijevic, the assassination of Ivanovic … all of this installed fear, especially among the Serbs in the north,” he argued.

     

Serbian Language Media

  Borrell on Western Balkans: We insist on alignment with EU foreign policy (N1)

European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said some Western Balkans countries do not have the best results in aligning with the EU foreign and security policy and sanctions against Russia, reported N1.

“We will have a specific meeting together with the Western Balkans ministers in order to show how important this region is, to discuss the recent proposals of the (European) Commission for Enlargement and to insist on the need of following our foreign policy closer. Some countries do not have a bright record on alignment with our foreign policy and sanctions,” said Borrell on Monday morning.

A meeting of EU and Western Balkans foreign ministers is to be held Monday in Brussels, and the topics on the agenda include joint security challenges, cooperation in the field of foreign and security policy and participation at the coming high-level meetings.

EU Ministers will participate in the EU-Western Balkans ministerial meeting together with the foreign ministers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The meeting will be chaired by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

“The EU counts on its future members for united responses to the current geopolitical challenges through solidarity and close cooperation,” the European External Action Service (EEAS) posted on X.

Office for KiM reacts to relocation of Serb soldiers memorial plaque (Radio KIM, Kosovo Online)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija said removal and relocation of the memorial plaque dedicated to the Serb soldiers fallen in the Balkans and WWI wars, at the part of the Orthodox cemetery in Pristina, represents an attempt of erasing sings of Serb existence in Kosovo and “a brutal change of history”, Radio KIM reports.

The Office said it informed the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and other international missions there, demanding concrete answers and responsibility of the perpetrators.

It also added that in cooperation with the Raska-Prizren Eparchy it will find legal mechanisms to return the memorial plaque to its original place.  

Former Gracanica mayor and Serbian List presidency member, Srdjan Popovic said relocation of the memorial plaque represents yet another example of disrespecting Serbian history and tradition. He noted the respect for the history of other people, their customs and tradition was a basic prerequisite to the multiethnic coexistence between Serbs and Albanians. 

President of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and Gracanica-based journalist Zivojin Rakocevic termed relocation of the memorial plaque as “a civilizational precedent”, adding successors of those buried there “should launch initiative to sue all those, including ambassadors at the courts of their states, for desecration of graves and memorial from the Great War”.

New KFOR Commander visits Visoki Decani Monastery (Radio KIM, Kosovo Online, social media)

Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery Father Sava Janjic hosted new KFOR Commander Major General Ozkan Ulutas and his staff on Friday. They discussed current events in Kosovo, but also cultural heritage and importance of the Monastery, as well as the influence of Turks during the history, Radio KIM reported. Commander of the Region West Command, Italian Colonel Gabriele Vacca was also present during the visit.

“During their meeting, Fr. Sava showed General Ulutaş historical photographs from 1903-1904, illustrating the Ottoman army's protection of Dečani Monastery. This underscored the monastery's long history of safeguarding, a legacy that continues into our time through the KFOR peacekeeping mission's efforts over the past 25 years. Furthermore, Fr. Sava showcased a significant collection of Ottoman firmans (decrees) which have been granted by a number of sultans to this historical #Serbian #Orthodox #Monastery, ensuring its special protection and property rights over the centuries”, the Monastery said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Read the full Visoki Decani Monastery’s post on visit at: https://tinyurl.com/45jkrb7e Ambassador Vilan denied Israeli soccer coach: Serbia showed that it is a true friend (Kosovo Online, RTS)

Israel's Ambassador to Serbia, Yahel Vilan, reacted to the statement of Israel's national football team coach, Alon Hazan, who said that Kosovo had the same situation as Israel in the past, citing Serbia as a true friend of Israel in what he called challenging times, reported Kosovo Online.

Kosovo Online reported that after yesterday's football match between Israel and Kosovo, where Kosovo fans booed the Israeli national anthem, coach Hazan said that he is very proud to be in Kosovo.

"I know that Kosovo had the same situation as us in the past. I hope that in the future your people and our people will live in a much better and more peaceful world," he added.

On this occasion, Ambassador Vilan posted on the "X" platform and wrote: 

"I wish to vehemently disavow the words of the coach of Israel's national football team and to reaffirm Israel's deep appreciation for Serbia and the Serbian people.  Serbia had proved itself as a true friend and doing so once again during these challenging times, especially in the field of Sport, when Belgrade is the home for three of our basketball teams! Hvala Srbijo! (Thank you, Serbia!),'' wrote Ambassador of Israel, Yahel Vilan on X social network.

Office for KiM: Flag of Serbia set on fire at the monument to the murdered Serbs in Orahovac (Tanjug)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced today that during the weekend, the Serbian tricolor was set on fire at the monument to the murdered and kidnapped Serbs from the territory of the municipality of Orahovac. 

The memorial was placed at the entrance to Velika Hoca in memory of 84 innocent Serbs victims from the territory of this municipality during 1998 and 1999.

As stated, the burning of the Serbian tricolor and the destruction of this monument is ''an act of insanity by Albanian extremists who have been burning everything Serbian for years, wanting to discourage the Serbs and break the spirit of the Serbian people who resist all attacks and temptations, no matter what they may be'', reported Tanjug, citing the office for KiM.

SNF gathering: “Prevent ‘Albanization’ of Serb-majority municipalities with ‘tacit approval’ of Serbian List” (KoSSev)

“Processes such as illegal construction and property sales leading toward ethnic structure changes in the Serb-majority municipalities and their ‘Albaniazation’ must be stopped urgently”, was the main message of Serbian National Forum (SNF) organized round table in Media Centre in Caglavica, KoSSev portal reports.

It was also said that “representatives of the Serbian List, respectively the mayors in the Serb-majority municipalities directly support the process of the ethnic change structure and ‘Albanization’ of those municipalities by their ‘tacit approval’”, the portal added.

During the roundtable while Momcilo Trajkovic, leader of the SNF, spoke about illegal construction in Gracanica municipality, he received a phone call from, as the media reported, two Albanians who presented themselves as owners of the objects under construction in Gracanica municipality. They objected to him speaking about this issue, publishing the photos on which, as they claimed, their objects are located, and they also objected to the term “Albanization”. One of them, as media reported further, asked Trajkovic several times “does he know where he lives”?

“Think well about the way you are heading ... .This is not a threat, but you should think well where you are heading to. To touch my property….Whether you are ready or not, you will pay. You and I will see one another in front of your house, you must not touch my property….”, one of them was quoted as saying.

Another person objected to the use of the term “Albanization” and threatened Trajkovic of sending him to the court.

“‘Albanization’ of Caglavica, we need to see each other in the court. That was purchased by Serbs. You have your political clashes with other representatives, do not use my personal property ... .We did not take it from anyone for free, we paid for it”, he said.

Commenting on those statements Trajkovic said he does not know any of the two persons, nor where their objects are, the only thing he advocates for was respect of the law, adding he is ready to face any court and relevant institutions.

He also said he perceives those calls as a threat and pressure to stop talking about illegal construction in the public, adding he will report the case to the police should the calls continue.

“This is an obvious threat, but we will not stop and we must continue our activities. We must put an end to this disastrous process taking place in the Serb-majority municipalities. Those responsible, respectively the (municipal) bodies are not doing their job. I think this threat has to do with the municipality. We will not stop, we will demand respect for the laws”, he said, adding that someone is now trying to shift the issue to inter-ethnic level.  

   

International 

  Belgrade Paid for Lawyers Defending Kosovo Serbs Accused of Corruption, Documents Reveal (Balkan Insight)

Documents obtained by BIRN show the Serbian government funded lawyers who have defended officials accused of corruption in Kosovo courts.

In at least two court cases in 2021, the Serbian government used its budget to fund the legal defence of corruption defendants in Kosovo courts, documents obtained by BIRN Kosovo’s website Kallxo.com have revealed.

Documents that BIRN has obtained through requests for access to public documents in Leposavic municipality show the procedures and the amount of funds that Serbia authorities dedicated to the defence of the people in question.

The Office for Kosovo within Serbia’s government did not reply to BIRN’s request for comment by the time of publication.

The Pristina Basic Court said it does not interfere in the issue of legal representation deals between lawyers and defendants. The Kosovo Bar Association also did not reply by the time of publication.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/35dp8n2r Kosovo Defeats Israel In Soccer Match Amid High Security, Small Crowd (RFE)

Kosovo defeated Israel's national soccer team in Pristina in a match played amid tight security and in front of a relatively small crowd at the 14,000-seat Fadil Vokrri Stadium on November 12.

Kosovo won the game 1-0, thanks to a first-half goal by Milot Rashica.

The 2024 qualifier was originally scheduled for October 15 but was delayed after fighters from the Hamas extremist group -- declared a terrorist organization by the EU and the United States -- attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 240 people hostage.

That Hamas attack fueled relentless Israeli retaliatory strikes against Gaza, leading to more than 11,000 deaths, according to Palestinian officials.

Kosovo authorities stepped up security measures after Israeli players arrived on November 10 and added to them as match day approached.

Personnel blocked roads around the stadium and carried out strict checks on ticketed fans. Authorities said that "any racist, xenophobic, political, religious promotional material will be banned."

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4398ak5d