UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 30, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

EU ambassadors give green light to visa liberalisation (media)
Kurti welcomes decision on green light for visa liberalisation (media)
Osmani: Serbia created crisis in order not to talk about final settlement (RFE)
Bislimi: Kosovo will apply for EU candidate status around mid-Dec (Koha)
Haziri: We’re getting ready to take the government as the first party (Kanal 10)
7 Kosovo soldiers expected to be sent to mission in the Falkland Islands (Nacionale)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Grateful to China for support to territorial integrity of Serbia (Kosovo Online)
Dacic: We will continue cooperation with China despite inappropriate pressure (Tanjug)
"Families of kidnapped and missing persons discriminated against and without answers" (KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)
Dacic meets Petrides, says Serbia grateful for Cyprus support on Kosovo issue (Kosovo Online)
Brnabic welcomed by French PM at Matignon Palace (Tanjug)
Grenell for RTS: US leadership in Belgrade-Pristina talks needed, Kurti not helpful (RTS)
EFJ Secretary General on lack of cooperation in resolving cases of murdered and missing journalists in Kosovo (media)

International:

EU Moves Finally to Scrap Visa Regime for Kosovo Citizens (BIRN)
Kosovo’s Kurti Feels the Heat Over Licence Plates Crisis (BIRN)
Combatting Ethnic Hatred with Graffiti in Serbia (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

Over 2,000 cases of violence against women until October (Ekonomia Online)

Albanian Language Media

EU ambassadors give green light to visa liberalisation (media)

EU member states’ ambassadors today agreed the Council’s negotiating mandate on a regulation on visa free travel for holders of passports issued by Kosovo. On the basis of this mandate, the presidency will start negotiations with the European Parliament.

“Today we have taken an important step towards visa free travel for Kosovo and we now hope to reach an agreement with the European Parliament swiftly to make this promise a reality. Visa liberalisation has been made possible by Kosovo’s efforts to strengthen its border controls, migration management and security, and we trust that this good cooperation will only grow stronger in the future,” Jan Lipavský, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement published on the website of the EU Council.

Kurti welcomes decision on green light for visa liberalisation (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti took to Twitter to welcome “today’s important and overdue decision by COREPER on visa liberalisation for Kosova, an acknowledgment of our commitment to rule of law, fighting corruption, strengthening border controls and managing migration. Thankful to @EU2022_CZ and look forward to the finalisation of this process.”

Osmani: Serbia created crisis in order not to talk about final settlement (RFE)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said today that Serbia created a crisis in the last couple of weeks in order not to talk about a final settlement with Kosovo. “It is time for the mediator in the dialogue, the European Union, to understand that Serbia has been using the tactic of obstruction through participation. This is how they are trying to block Kosovo’s prospect in the region and at the international level. Our interest of course is to conclude the dialogue with a legally implementable agreement, and we need to understand that the other side on the table is not interested for this process to conclude successfully,” Osmani said in a joint press conference with Bulgarian President Ruman Radev in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Osmani said that Serbia started creating a crisis several months earlier when the European Union, backed by the U.S., France, and Germany, came out with a proposal to resolve the disputes between the two countries. She said that the proposal, which is known in public as the French-German proposal, foresees several steps that would resolve problems between Pristina and Belgrade. “Our interest is for discussions to start as soon as possible,” Osmani said, adding that she hopes that the EU will send a message to Serbia that it can no longer block the process.

“It is time for Serbia to finally decide what direction it wants to take. Toward Europe or toward Moscow? You cannot be with both sides,” she said.

Bislimi: Kosovo will apply for EU candidate status around mid-Dec (Koha)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, said today that Kosovo will apply for the candidate status for EU membership around mid-December and that the application will be made in coordination with the Czech Presidency of the European Union.

During a report to the Kosovo Assembly Committee for European Integration, Bislimi also talked about visa liberalisation, saying that it was never linked with the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

“The reason why it [visa liberalisation] was removed from the agenda last week was that some sceptical country could have used the situation with the licence plates. The decision of the Council was well-intended, and it was not conditioning. Why liberalisation is happening now and why it did not happen earlier depends on the ability of the government to fight crime and corruption. The application for the candidate status, we said this since last year, that we are going to apply this year. It is wrong to talk about the right timing, because if we wait for the right time, the EU will not give a response. We have a four-member team that is staying and holding talks in Brussels with every member state. We are also in close coordination with the Czech Presidency about the date. We have a date, but we are also coordinating, and we expect this to happen around mid-December. I know that there will be hesitating countries, but this does not diminish the value of the application. The application will be on the desk of the EU and there is no risk from any negative effects, there will be only positive effects,” Bislimi said.

Haziri: We’re getting ready to take the government as the first party (Kanal 10)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lutfi Haziri, said in an interview with Kanal 10 on Tuesday that this party is preparing for internal elections. “We are preparing as a political party for internal elections according to our calendar. We are getting ready to take the government as the first political party. We say ‘No’ to the PDK and to other opposition parties. We have our own parliamentary group and with these capacities we will represent our policies with a development agenda. By the end of this year, the LDK will make public its objectives,” Haziri said.

7 Kosovo soldiers expected to be sent to mission in the Falkland Islands (Nacionale)

The Kosovo Government in an online meeting on Tuesday decided to send for approval to the Assembly the decision to deploy a contingent of the Kosovo Security Force in support of the peace operation in the Falkland Islands. Up to seven members of the KSF are expected to join the mission for three years, with a possibility of extension.

“The KSF mission will be in support of peace in the Falkland Islands and during this mission will be subject to the agreement signed with the United Kingdom. In this mission, up to 7 KSF members will be sent and this mission can last up to three years with the possibility of extension. The KSF in this mission will be under the command of the Armed Forces of the host country and will be financially covered by the Budget of the Republic of Kosovo,” a government press release notes.

Most news websites report that with 77 votes in favour, the Kosovo Assembly today adopted the government’s decision.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Grateful to China for support to territorial integrity of Serbia (Kosovo Online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in a meeting with Qian Hongshan, vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee stressed the gratitude of Serbia to the Chinese President, state and Communist Party for support to the territorial integrity of Serbia and its independence, Kosovo Online portal reports.

As the press statement from the president's press office reads, Vucic also underlined that Serbia unwaveringly and consistently supports the "one China" policy in all international forums.

Vucic discussed with Hongshan many aspects of the strategic partnership with China and assessed that relations between Belgrade and Beijing are entering a new phase of development, especially through plans for comprehensive economic cooperation, improvement of trade exchange and influx of new Chinese investments.

China Ambassador to Serbia, Chen Bo also attended the meeting.

Dacic: We will continue cooperation with China despite inappropriate pressure (Tanjug)

Serbia is China's greatest friend in Europe, Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Ivica Dacic said after meeting with a Communist Party of China delegation in Belgrade on Tuesday, Tanjug news agency reports.

"In spite of all the inappropriate pressure, we will continue our cooperation with China", Dacic said in a press conference at the SPS headquarters, adding that this was in mutual interest. He thanked China for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, adding that China, too, could count on Serbia's support when it comes to its own sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Citing historical facts, Dacic recalled the Chinese embassy in Belgrade had been one of the targets during the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia. Speaking about cooperation between the two parties, Dacic said it had been going on for decades and that, within the framework of successful Serbia-China cooperation, inter-party cooperation was growing stronger as well.

Qian Hongshan, vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the discussions with the SPS delegation had addressed ways of strengthening cooperation in all areas at both inter-government and inter-party level.

Qian invited the SPS delegation to visit China and noted that Dacic's visit to China in February 2020, following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, was still remembered in the country as a brave decision and a great gesture of support to the people of China. He said Serbia and China were together protecting international law and noted that he was pleased to see Serbia developing.

"Families of kidnapped and missing persons discriminated against and without answers" (KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)

Members of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija organised a meeting in Gracanica to discuss the deadlock in solving the problem of missing persons. The invitation was sent to the Office for Missing Persons of the Kosovo Government and the British Embassy, but their representatives did not respond, reported KiM radio.

"I am sorry that we Serbian families are discriminated against in every way here in Kosovo. This is not the first time that loyalty has been shown to only one side, the Albanian side," said Silvana Marinkovic, representative of the Association of Families of Kidnapped and Missing Persons.

For more than 20 years, family members of kidnapped and missing people have been asking the same questions.

"There has never been more politics in this problem of ours than now," stated Marinkovic, who is searching for her missing husband.

"Albanians want this issue to stop for now, because the Special Court has started its work and because some people have been arrested and the process against them is being conducted. This is part of politics, because for political reasons someone from the Commission from Pristina is not with us. This issue is most involved in politics, and none of us are politicians. We are people who work in the fields, we do not understand politics, but we are involved in it," she said.

The families are left to hope and be persistent to solve this issue, Marinkovic said.

"I'm afraid that when all the excavations in Serbia are finished, we will be left without answers to our questions, and then no one will be interested in digging potential graves in Kosovo and finding someone who is ours."

The President of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, who was supposed to meet with the families of kidnapped and missing persons, was again not allowed to come to Kosovo. Members of the Working Group for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia attended the meeting, Vesna Boskovic and Suzana Matejic.

"The deadlock started the moment this problem was transferred to the jurisdiction of local institutions. From that moment, when those with whom we could communicate, talk, and agree have withdrawn, as much as we could, nothing was perfect, but it has been never worse than now. We have meetings, the conclusions and agreements from the meeting are not respected," said Boskovic.

"We are still not satisfied with the results. The Republic of Serbia is fully committed to this problem. For the Republic of Serbia, through the Commission for Missing Persons, this represents a first-class, moral, social, humanitarian problem,'' said Matejic and added that ''we cannot leave a good legacy to our generations, if we have not yet dealt with the burdens of the past that weigh us down. The burdens of our past are the missing persons and you, the families of the missing", reported KiM radio.

She added that the priority of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia was to examine the morgue in Pristina.

"We do not know whose remains are in the morgue in Pristina. Our colleagues have started this work and we have been informed that they are working on it. The exact number of remains is still unknown, it is approximately some number of 400, even 450. We have information that 80 of those 450 remains belong to Serbs and non-Albanians," Matejic said.

Boskovic stated that more than 90 percent of families gave blood samples for identification.

"A year passed, and despite our question, we have never set foot in the morgue, nor do we know exactly how many remains there are, what has been done so far and what the plan is".

"There are fewer of us, and the truth is further and further away"

More than 1,600 people from the Albanian, Serbian, Bosniak, Askali and other communities are still missing in Kosovo.

Sasa Perenic is looking for his brother Ranko, who, as a journalist for Radio Pristina, went on an assignment together with his colleague Djuro Slavuj.

"A lot of time has passed; we know that nothing may come of it. We talked about how there are fewer and fewer of us, many families ended tragically, unfortunately my parents too, who did not reach the truth. There are fewer of us, and the truth is further and further away. The only ones to blame are the international organisations that dealt with those problems, starting with the International Red Cross. My brother disappeared in 1998 in the month of August; yes there were occasional conflicts, but there was no official conflict and the only culprits I can blame is the International Red Cross because it was based in Pristina together with the OSCE mission which was also in Pristina who were the only ones on the ground and who could, at that time, reach to some truth", he said.

Miroslava Djordjevic has been searching for her missing father-in-law since 1999.

"We left the house in 1999, he stayed. They took him from the house. We also know who took him, first and last name. But nothing is done. He should be found, dead or alive," she said.

The meeting in Gracanica was attended by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the American Embassy in Pristina. However, they did not want to answer the questions of the families of the kidnapped and missing persons, reported KiM radio.

Dacic meets Petrides, says Serbia grateful for Cyprus support on Kosovo issue (Kosovo Online)

First Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met Minister of Defense of Cyprus Charalambos Petrides and discussed mutual support to sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states, as well as deepening bilateral relations, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Statement issued by the Serbian Foreign Ministry notes interlocutors agreed that challenges facing both countries were very much alike, therefore a joint action was needed in overcoming them.

During the talks Dacic also expressed gratitude for the support Cyprus extends to Serbia on Kosovo issue, in all international forums, and for its support to Serbia’s EU path.

Brnabic welcomed by French PM at Matignon Palace (Tanjug)

Serbian PM Ana Brnabic met with French counterpart Elisabeth Borne at the Matignon Palace in Paris on Tuesday evening, Tanjug news agency reports.

Brnabic was given a red-carpet welcome with a guard of honour and Borne greeted her outside the palace.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Brnabic said the meeting with Borne would address advancement of bilateral economic cooperation and French investments in Serbia, as well as key issues related to the situation in Western Balkans.

The meeting is Brnabic second with a French PM this year after she also met with former head of government Jean Castex in February.

Grenell for RTS: US leadership in Belgrade-Pristina talks needed, Kurti not helpful (RTS)

We see that Belgrade-Pristina discussions are falling apart, because the State Department is consenting with Europeans, and when you let them be in charge, you get a lot of talks but not a lot of action, former EU special envoy for Belgrade-Pristina talks in Donald Trump’s administration Richard Grenell told RTS.

He added it was necessary that “US leaders step up” and have trust of both sides. Commenting on Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, Grenell said that he refuses all the ideas and ‘is not helpful’.

Asked to comment on the current talks between Belgrade and Pristina, Grenell said he thinks that “we know Kurti is simply not helpful in this situation. I negotiated with him, and he is someone who has never liked any idea”, Grenell said.

“He had refused every idea Americans offered to him. He is also now refusing the ideas offered by Europeans. Even Biden’s administration must criticise him. And I think he is not serving his people. He is not helping in this situation. We miss Thaci these days”, Grenell is quoted as saying.

Referring to Kurti as “Mister No” over his frequent refusal of the ideas Americans put forward as Grenell said, he added that the American system sees it and finally came to the conclusion on both sides that “Kurti is not being helpful to the Americans”.

Asked that in case some Serbian leader or representative would act the same way Serbia would get punished but nothing happens to Kurti, Grenell responded that while he was in Trump’s administration they were “very tough” on Kurti. “Some people would say that I was too tough. Even that I was not fair”, Grenell said. “I believe that I was fair. I believed that I looked at the policies and I saw that people were willing to take steps forward. No one thinks this is an easy process, it is difficult, but both sides have to be able to move forward”.

According to him, instead of sitting around the table and having talks about politics that lead nowhere, Trump’s administration wanted economic development, adding it would make things move forward.

“Young people watching this, young people in an entire region want better paid jobs. And the way to achieve that is to end this frozen conflict and move towards developing the economy. And bring to this region US and European businesses to create a better economy with higher paid jobs”.

Asked to comment on the US role in Belgrade-Pristina talks now, Grenell responded that Trump’s administration believed the US should take a lead. “I was appointed to be a presidential envoy, not that of the State Department. I represented President Trump. I could walk into the Oval's office and give some ideas. I could move forward and say two parties want to do this”, he said.

“We do not have that right now with President (Joe) Biden. He has allowed the State Department to coordinate with Europeans and I believe that when you put Europeans in charge you are gonna get a lot of talk but you are not gonna get a lot of action. And I think we are seeing this happening now. We see the discussions are falling apart. We need American leadership, we need American leaders to step up and be trusted by both sides”, he added.

Commenting on the region, he said he sees it as “exciting”. “I like to come to Serbia. Economy is growing. There is an energy here, perhaps you do not feel it because you live here, but if you come from outside, when Americans come here they feel that incredible energy. You can’t feel that in other places in the region, but in Serbia yes. I hope we will bring many US investors, we must move things forward with the great friendship between US and Serbia”.

He also said he will support Donald Trump in his US presidential candidacy adding that US Serbs should vote for him and support him.

He noted he believes there would be no war in Ukraine if Trump would have been the president. “(…) I think he knows what tough diplomacy is, he talks to people directly. You saw what he did with North Korea. He was willing to pick up the phone and talk to President (Vladimir) Putin. He is somebody who is unafraid of negotiations. And that is what we need in the American leadership”, he added.

EFJ Secretary General on lack of cooperation in resolving cases of murdered and missing journalists in Kosovo (media)

European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) Secretary General Ricardo Gutierrez said he believes that the main problem in not identifying those responsible for 19 murdered, kidnapped and missing journalists more than two decades ago in Kosovo and Metohija was the lack of mutual cooperation between Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, Serbian media report.

In an interview with the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS), Gutierrez recalled that international organizations such as KFOR, EULEX and UNMIK had launched investigations into the issue of murdered, missing and kidnapped journalists, but those investigations were not done properly and gathered evidence was not preserved. "None of these organisations forwarded the results of their investigation to the government", he claimed.

On the other hand, he said, they were told that Kosovo had no right to investigate those cases because "Kosovo did not exist at that time."

"We have forty cases of impunity in Europe, most of which are from Kosovo, so it's a big problem for us, and that's why we are constantly asking for cooperation from those countries."

He also said that after the missions in Kosovo and Albania, they noticed there was no progress, and nothing has been done. "And their excuse is it is Serbia which does not want to cooperate", Gutierrez pointed out.

He added what EFJ can do is to once again call upon governments to cooperate, "without which we will see no progress".

"I believe without doubt that all of us in the journalist community want clarification of those cases. But it doesn't depend on us, we don't have means to make governments cooperate".

International

EU Moves Finally to Scrap Visa Regime for Kosovo Citizens (BIRN)

EU ambassadors agreed on Wednesday to end the visa regime for Kosovo citizens by January 1, 2024, with the EU's Czech Presidency saying it was 'time to make this promise a reality'.

Kosovo citizens may be able to freely travel to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone by January 1, 2024, after European Union ambassadors on Wednesday agreed to resolve the issue. On the basis of this approval, the EU Presidency said it will start negotiations with the European Parliament.

Humanitarian/Development

Over 2,000 cases of violence against women until October (Ekonomia Online)

The Initiative for Justice and Equality (INJECT) and the Kosovo Stability Initiative (KSI) organised a public discussion today on the new legal initiatives for the protection of women. Participants at the discussion welcomed the draft law for the prevention and protection from domestic violence, violence against women and gender-based violence.

IKS Executive Director, Brikena Hoxha, said around 2,040 cases of violence against women were reported until October. She said that many cases go unreported and that they are causing deep psychological wounds, damaging the health of women and girls, and in many cases are even resulting in fatalities. “Around 2,040 cases of violence against women were reported until October and to make matters worse the violence against women mainly goes unreported because of impunity, silence and shame,” she said.

“Gender-based violence endangers the health, integrity, and dignity of the victims. Every case of abuse can cause deep psychological wounds, damage the health of women and girls, and in most cases even result in fatalities”.

Head of the Kosovo Assembly Committee for Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons, and Sexual Related Violence Victims and Petitions, Duda Balje, talked about the draft law for the prevention and protection from domestic violence, violence against women and gender-based violence. She said the draft law is now in the Assembly Presidency and that there is no division on the issue between the government and the opposition. “We have received comments from the government. We have cooperated with NGOs in drafting the law and we are pleased with the feedback. I can say that we have drafted a very good law … We have engaged experts and we were very careful with every article of the law. The draft is now in the Assembly Presidency, and we are waiting for it to be sent to the session. There are no differences between the government and the opposition about the law and I believe it will pass,” she said.

Head of the Law and Justice section at the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Mark Lasser, said that violence against women is a world-wide phenomenon. “The problem of domestic violence has been going on for a long time. During my work in the OSCE, I have monitored cases of domestic violence and it has been a very big problem. We need to fight this. I want to say that not only in Kosovo but everywhere in the world there is violence against women,” he said.