UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, October 27, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Von der Leyen in Western Balkans next week to present details of Growth Plan (media)
Rama: Kosova accepted EU proposal, time for Serbia to do the same (media)
Haradinaj: A big step forward, we are in the right position (Albanian Post)
Kearns: A month since Radoicic admitted guilt, yet he remains free in Serbia (media)
S. Senator Peters meets Gervalla (media)
Kelmendi criticises Borrell for never putting blame on Serbia (media)
Selimi: Do we let the progress of Kosovo be hostage to Serbian refusal? (media)
“Former chief of special police for north was involved in Banjska group” (Kallxo)

Serbian Language Media:

Michel: At European Council summit today on dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (Kosovo Online, RTV)
Vucevic: In Brussels, Serbia avoided scenario of being culprit and disruptive factor (N1, Beta)
KFOR, Serbian military commanders meet in Kosovo (N1)
The trial in the case of Ivanovic's murder postponed due to the impossibility of broadcasting the video material (KiM radio)
Von der Leyen visiting the Western Balkans next week (Kosovo Online)
Part of Serbian opposition reaches final agreement on elections (N1)

International:

Kosovo’s Ruling Party Takes Risk in Snubbing Parliamentary Inquiry (BIRN)
OSCE, Serbian Church Criticise Damage to Serb Cemetery in Kosovo (Balkan Insight)
Leaders of Serbia, Kosovo End Talks In Brussels With No Sign Of Progress On Normalizing Relations (RFE)
Pressure builds on Serbia over controversial new media laws (Euractive)

Humanitarian/Development:

Kosovo Alpinist Uta Ibrahimi featured at a UNHQ exhibition honoring 50 women from around the world for their contributions to Women, Peace and Security (media)

Albanian Language Media

Von der Leyen in Western Balkans next week to present details of Growth Plan (media)

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will start a four-day visit to North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday. This will be the occasion to discuss bilateral cooperation, and notably to present in more detail to regional leaders the EU's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, the European Commission said in a press release today.

On Sunday, President von der Leyen will meet the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski. The following morning, the President will meet with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski, in Skopje.

Later in the day, she will travel to Pristina, where she will meet the President and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani and Albin Kurti.

On Tuesday morning, the President will be in Podgorica, Montenegro. She will meet with President Jakov Milatović and the caretaker Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović.

In the afternoon, President von der Leyen will travel to Belgrade. There, she will meet the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, as well as the Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić.

Lastly, on Wednesday, President von der Leyen will meet in Sarajevo with the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She will also meet with the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto.

The President will hold press conferences during all her visits and they will be broadcast on EbS.

The visit comes after the meetings of President von der Leyen in Albania earlier this month, on 15-16 October. There, she participated in the inauguration of the liaison office of the College of Europe in Tirana and in the Berlin Process Summit.

Rama: Kosova accepted EU proposal, time for Serbia to do the same (media)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said today that Kosovo is in a much better place today by accepting the EU proposal on October 21, and that Serbia should do the same. “The wise Albanian people, and not only them, by the way, say "better later than never." I can't hide my satisfaction that Kosova's leadership finally made the right call in yesterday's Brussels meeting! Kosova is in a much better place today by wisely accepting the EU proposal on the 21st of October—a very significant step forward. It's high time for Serbia to do the same. Everything that is accepted and agreed upon needs to be implemented without any delay. I call on our Western partners to maintain this momentum and push forward towards a final breakthrough. Enough with watching the finger while the finger shows the moon. Enough with more of the same old and dangerous platitudes. Enough with avoiding peace and indulging in the ghosts of the past for the sake of petty domestic politics. Look at what happens to those who avoid peace and engage in zero-sum games. We need peace, stability, and cooperation in our European neighborhood. Make peace, for God's sake, and let’s move on. All together!” Rama wrote on X.

Haradinaj: A big step forward, we are in the right position (Albanian Post)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, said today that “Prime Minister Albin Kurti by accepting the implementation proposal of the Quint has put Kosovo in the right position after many mistakes and after wasting a long time in the dialogue”.

Haradinaj said in today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly that after Kosovo accepted the proposal the European Union should lift the penalty measures against Kosovo. “It is meaningless to continue with sanctions on Kosovo,” he said.

Haradinaj said that in the new situation, Kurti must not send the process backwards and act in full coordination with Kosovo’s allies. “We want to start the process of membership in NATO,” he said.

Kearns: A month since Radoicic admitted guilt, yet he remains free in Serbia (media)

UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee chief Alicia Kearns, who recently visited Kosovo, writes in a post on X that it has been a month since Milan “Radoicic admitted guilt for the paramilitary attack on Kosovo with Belgrade provided weapons. Yet he remains free in Serbia.With no accountability for Belgrade’s role”. Kearns also writes that she has “seen the weapons” seized by Kosovo Police in the north and that she’s met with the family of the Kosovo police officer who was killed during the attack. “They deserve justice,” she writes.

U.S. Senator Peters meets Gervalla (media)

U.S. Senator Gary Peters met on Thursday with Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz. “A strong relationship between our two nations is essential for stability, peace, and security in the region,” he wrote on X after the meeting.

Kelmendi criticises Borrell for never putting blame on Serbia (media)

Kosovo publicist and former CEO of Klan Kosova, Adriatik Kelmendi, writes in a post on X that he doesn’t recall EU High Representative Josep Borrell “ever putting a blame on #Serbia for not reaching deals with Kosovo”. “When both sides are not pragmatic he blames Kosovo, when Serbia is not pragmatic he blames both sides. This does not help de-escalation, nor democracy!” he writes.

In an earlier post about the lack of agreement in Brussels on Thursday, Kelmendi wrote: “once again Serbia refused to sign an internationally mediated agreement with Kosovo. They did so in Rambouillet in ‘99 and in Vienna in ’07. After Rambouillet, Kosovo was liberated. After Vienna, Kosovo declared independence. Waiting for the third and final part of the drama”.

Selimi: Do we let the progress of Kosovo be hostage to Serbian refusal? (media)

Former Foreign Minister of Kosovo and CEO of Millenium Foundation Kosovo, Petrit Selimi, writes in a post on X today that “the EU says no deal was made because two sides put preconditions. Somewhat unfair but expected since Ohrid was also a deal without signatures, a certain (bad) precedent was made. But I was right to be pessimistic. And Kosovo loses here more than Serbia. To recap, the plan offered by the Quint in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue was first accepted by both sides as “good basis”. But then Kurti asked to be signed by both sides, which Vucic refuses. Vucic also asked for no UN seat for Kosovo (a bogus request as Russia can prevent that easily at UNSC). What if Serbia doesn’t sign? Do we let the progress of Kosovo be hostage to a Serbian refusal? This is currently the situation. I do believe Speaker Glauk Konjufca was right: we should dialogue with the West and agree/implement with them ASMM and benefits for Kosovo’s inclusion in NATO membership path”.

“Former chief of special police for north was involved in Banjska group” (Kallxo)

The former chief of Kosovo Police special units for the north, Uglesa Jaredic, has been identified as one of the people involved in the Banjska case. A document that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted to Kosovo’s institutions mentions Jaredic as being involved in the case. To document this, the ministry included a picture of Jaredic in a vehicle with two other people. The news website notes that Jaredic was the leader of the special units in Mitrovica North several weeks before Serb police officers resigned en masse. Jaredic was suspended from duty in February last year under the suspicion of domestic violence after his former wife reported him to police.

Serbian Language Media

Michel: At European Council summit today on dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (Kosovo Online, RTV)

The President of the European Council (EC), Charles Michel, announced that today, on the second day of the EC summit, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will be discussed, reported Kosovo Online, citing RTV.

"We had two meetings with Vucic and Kurti. We support normalisation and de-escalation," Michel said at a press conference held together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

When asked by Albanian journalists whether measures will be taken against Belgrade due to the events in Banjska on September 24, von der Leyen said that the investigation is still ongoing.

"The investigation is ongoing, when it is finished, we will decide whether to take measures and what kind," she said.

Vucevic: In Brussels, Serbia avoided scenario of being culprit and disruptive factor (N1, Beta)

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said today that the talks in Brussels with European representatives regarding Kosovo were difficult and painful, but that Serbia "avoided the scenario of being the culprit and disruptive factor", reported N1, citing TV Happy.

"Nothing is nice and easy there for us, nor will we hear anything overly nice and easy from those conversations. The good thing is that Serbia avoided that scenario of being the culprit, of being a disruptive factor, of wanting conflicts, because that scenario has already been prepared with the aim of not only accusing Serbia, but also punishing it," Vucevic told Happy television.

According to him, Serbia is ready to negotiate on all proposals that exclude Kosovo independence and a seat in the United Nations.

"We do not accept any form of de jure or de facto recognition of Kosovo as an independent state. We can talk about other things, whether it's a customs declaration, a stamp, this or that... Everything that does not lead to the independence of Kosovo is for us something that can be a topic on the table," he said.

According to the minister's estimation, 90 percent of citizens would like to hear that Serbia rejects everything from that dialogue and that it leaves it.

"Everyone would be happy to see our army in Kosovo and Metohija, but we must know, we must remember, that we withdrew from Kosovo and Metohija in 1999 in accordance with the Kumanovo Agreement and Resolution 1244 and that we left military authority to KFOR de facto there,'' said Vucevic.

He assessed that Kurti has no intention of forming the CSM (ZSO) and that he will firmly hold that position, as well as that the international mediators in the dialogue want it to be formed out of the context as it was conceived.

KFOR, Serbian military commanders meet in Kosovo (N1)

KFOR and Serbian military delegations met at Camp Villaggio Italia outside the Kosovo city of Pec to coordinate and plan Synchronised Patrols and discuss any problems along the Administrative Boundary Line, a press release on the KFOR Facebook page said.

A Commander Level Meeting was held by a delegation of the Regional Command West and East of KFOR and a delegation of the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) in the framework of periodic cooperation meetings, provided for by the directions for implementation of the temporary operating procedures agreement, the press release said.

KFOR and the Serbian military have been coordinating joint patrols along the administrative boundary for years.

The trial in the case of Ivanovic's murder postponed due to the impossibility of broadcasting the video material (KiM radio)

KiM radio reported that the court hearing of those accused of assisting in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic was postponed due to the impossibility of broadcasting the video surveillance footage, which is the prosecutor's evidence in this case.

In the Basic Court in Pristina hearing this morning, however, at the moment when the evidentiary video material was to be shown to those present, the court's technicians failed to broadcast it.

The recordings, including the one that should show the place in the period after the assassination of the CI SDP leader Oliver Ivanovic, could not be broadcast. Judge Valon Kurtaj cited technical impossibility as the reason for this and expressed the hope that at the next hearing on Monday, October 30, they will try to broadcast recordings and install and test other equipment.

Today, it was expected that recordings would be broadcast which, as Milos Rosic's defense lawyer Mahmut Halimi stated, should prove that his client was not on them, as well as recordings from and around the premises of the office where the murdered Ivanovic worked.

At the last hearing, the prosecutor Burim Qerkini brought the videos, and they were then forwarded to the defense of the accused Marko Rosic, Nedeljko Spasojevic, Zarko Jovanovic and Dragisa Markovic. The defense attorney of the accused Rade Basara, lawyer Tom Gashi, said that he does not need video recordings because, as he claims, his client was not even in Kosovo on the day of Ivanovic's murder.

At the beginning of today's hearing, Gashi and the accused Basara presented to judge Valon Kurtaj documents which, they claim, prove that Basara was in Croatia in the period from January 6 to 20.

KiM radio recalls that Oliver Ivanovic was killed on January 16, 2018, in front of the party headquarters. The court process began in July 2021, and this was the first, and at the same time, unsuccessful attempt to present evidence in the form of video surveillance footage recorded on the day of the Serbian politician's murder.

Von der Leyen visiting the Western Balkans next week (Kosovo Online)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will begin a four-day visit to North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday, reported Kosovo Online.

"It will be an opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation, and in particular to present the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans to regional leaders in more detail," the statement on the European Commission's website stated.

As announced, Von der Leyen will meet with the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, on Sunday, and with the Prime Minister of that country, Dimitar Kovacevski, the following day.

On Monday, she will travel to Pristina, where he will meet with the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and Albin Kurti.

Von der Leyen will be in Podgorica on Tuesday morning, and will talk with the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatovic, and the Prime Minister of the Montenegrin Government in technical mandate, Dritan Abazovic.

In the afternoon, she will meet with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, as well as with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic in Belgrade.

At the end of the visit, Von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Sarajevo on Wednesday, where she will talk with the chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Kristo.

The press release announced that Von der Leyen will hold press conferences after the meetings with the Balkan leaders.

Part of Serbian opposition reaches final agreement on elections (N1)

The pro-Europe opposition reached a final agreement on their joint election ticket for the elections in mid-December, a news conference was told on Friday.

Opposition officials said that the party’s that organised the Serbia Against Violence weekly protests in Belgrade and other places across Serbia agreed on who would top their elections tickets.

The Party of Freedom and Justice (SSP), People’s Movement Serbia, Green-Left Front, Serbia Center (SRCE), Ecological Uprising, Democratic Party (DS), Movement of Free Citizens (PSG) and Zajedno party said that they agreed on Miroslav Aleksic and Marinika Tepic topping the ticket for the parliamentary elections along with Radomir Lazovic. The Belgrade City Assembly elections ticket will be topped by Dobrica Veselinovic and Vladimir Obradovic (candidate for mayor of the Serbian capital) along with Mila Popovic.

“We aren’t hiding our differences but consider them to be advantages and strengths, demonstrating our readiness to agree, appreciate and find solutions together in the interest of the citizens of Serbia”, they said in the agreement signed by party officials.

International

Kosovo’s Ruling Party Takes Risk in Snubbing Parliamentary Inquiry (BIRN)

A parliamentary inquiry into the alleged misuse of Kosovo’s state reserves has become part of an increasingly bitter tit-for-tat row between government and opposition.

On Tuesday this week, four opposition MPs spent more than half an hour in an office of the Kosovo parliament waiting for five fellow lawmakers from the ruling coalition to show up. They were waiting in vain, again.

Two days later, another attempt to kick off a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged misuse of state reserves was cancelled, with the opposition MPs waiting on advice from parliament’s legal office on how to proceed in light of the repeated no-shows.

Humanitarian/Development

Kosovo Alpinist Uta Ibrahimi featured at a UNHQ exhibition honoring 50 women from around the world for their contributions to Women, Peace and Security (media)

Kosovo Alpinist Uta Ibrahimi, a trailblazing alpinist from Kosovo, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals champion, and UNMIK partner in trust-building environmental youth projects is among the 50 women from around the world featured in the United Nations Headquarters' interactive street art exhibition.

Launched on 25 October, the photographic exhibition ‘Peace Begins with Her’ features 50 large portraits of women peacebuilders at the UN Headquarters in New York, to honor their vital contributions to women, peace and security.

The event, organized by the United Nations Department of Peace Operations, the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, UN Women and the Elsie Initiative Fund, was launched on the day the Security Council met to assess women’s participation in peace processes at the annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security.

Held on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the groundbreaking UNSC Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, the exhibition includes Uta Ibrahimi, the first woman from Kosovo to be featured in such a global initiative.

See at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2v8jtw