UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, January 5, 2023

President Osmani decrees the Law on Wages (media)
Opposition seeks clarification about U.S. ambassador's statement (Nacionale)
Stano: Kosovo, an example of cooperation between EU and NATO (media)
Germany: Return of Serbian troops, completely unacceptable (Express)
“Every mistake can cost Kosovo; should learn from North Macedonia” (media)
Haziri: Kurti doesn’t have problems with envoys, but with the people (Reporteri)
Weber skeptical: Unlikely agreement will be reached this year (RFE)
North Kosovo: time to turn to civil society (Social Europe)
Vucic: Chollet will visit Belgrade next week (Kallxo)

President Osmani decrees the Law on Wages (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani decreed the Law on Salaries in the Public Sector, on Wednesday, January 4. This has been confirmed by Osmani’s media adviser, Bekim Kupina, who said that the law was accepted for promulgation, also today.

"The Office of the President has accepted for promulgation, Law No. 08/L-196 on Wages in the Public Sector, today, January 4, 2023. After legal analysis by the Office of the President, President Osmani has decreed the promulgation of the Law on Wages in the Public Sector, today, January 4, 2023," he said.

Meanwhile, the Law on Wages, which was approved in December 2022 in the Assembly of Kosovo, had caused many reactions since the coefficient is not yet known. 85 MPs were present in the hall, of which 63 voted for the Salary Bill.

Opposition seeks clarification about U.S. ambassador's statement (Nacionale)

The publication of an article by Tim Judah in UnHerd, which quotes the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier as saying that "recognition between Kosovo and Serbia is now impossible," has provoked numerous reactions in Kosovo. Opposition officials have held the government accountable for this issue. According to them, the U.S. attitude comes after the government has degraded the Brussels process.

The first to react to this statement was former Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. "Government officials should tell the people where they have gone wrong that has pushed the USA — Kosovo's main ally — to declare that it is not time for recognition by Serbia. What has happened in Kosovo's relations with the USA that mutual recognition is no longer at the center?!" Hoti wrote on his "Facebook" profile.

PDK MP Ganimete Musliu also demanded a response from the government. "The American Ambassador's statement that: 'Recognition between Kosovo and Serbia is now not possible' cannot be simply passed over and kept silent in the calm of the New Year holidays. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo must be transparent to citizens in terms of dialogue. Experiments like those in the north of Kosovo that took place at the end of last year, the degradation of communication and cooperation with the USA cannot be tolerated. The government of Kosovo must be accountable for the destructive level of governance," Musliu wrote.

Stano: Kosovo, an example of cooperation between EU and NATO (media)

Spokesman for the European Union, Peter Stano, when asked about the signing of a joint declaration between the EU and NATO, said on Wednesday that EULEX and KFOR cooperated in the north of Kosovo during the recent tensions, after Serbs erected barricads there. “It is not a secret that in the current strategic context the European Union’s cooperation with NATO is more important and relevant than ever. We see it in the practical examples already on the ground. The latest one being in the north of Kosovo, between the Christmas and the New Year holidays, when the EU and NATO coordinated very closely on the ground. We are coordinating very closely, and we are working together very closely in the context of the Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine. So of course, we deem it important that the signature of this new joint declaration takes place as soon as possible,” Stano told a press conference in Brussels.

Germany: Return of Serbian troops, completely unacceptable (Express)

The German Embassy in Kosovo said in a statement to the news website on Wednesday that German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock made it clear in December that Serbia’s request to return its military forces in Kosovo is completely unacceptable. “As Foreign Minister Baerbock has publicly stated on Twitter on 11 December 2022: ‘Suggesting sending Serbian forces to Kosovo is completely unacceptable’” the German Embassy said.

The embassy also said that Berlin’s position is that the dialogue is the only way to avoid tensions and normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia. They also said that the normalisation of relations is a precondition for membership into the European Union for both Kosovo and Serbia.

“Every mistake can cost Kosovo; should learn from North Macedonia” (media)

From January 1, North Macedonia took over the chairmanship of the OSCE. The Foreign Minister of this country, Bujar Osmani, has announced that the Western Balkans and the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue will be at the top of the agenda.

He said that Kosovo should use the opportunities offered to it in this process. According to him, Kosovo should not make the mistake that North Macedonia has made for 30 years, missing favorable opportunities. He has invited Kosovo to be careful in the dialogue process with Serbia, adding that when small countries are concerned, every wrong step or missed chance can cost a lot.

Haziri: Kurti doesn’t have problems with envoys, but with the people (Reporteri)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lutfi Haziri said on Wednesday that the formation of the Association of Municipalities with a Serb Majority, under international pressure, as a "burden" on the conscience of Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Haziri said that Kurti, not without reason, is avoiding the formation of the Association. According to him, if Kurti accepted the Association, he would be contradicting his own words when he was in the opposition.

"Now he does not have a problem with the international mediators, nor with the emissary Escobar, nor with the other emissaries that many countries have appointed, but he has a problem with the people of Kosovo because he has caused a different expectation in relation to "Zajednica" as he calls it. and at this point Kurti the prime minister must surpass Kurti of the opposition," he said.

Haziri thinks that, from what is revealed by the U.S. representatives, the basis of the document of the Association does not harm Kosovo.

Weber skeptical: Unlikely agreement will be reached this year (RFE)

Bodo Weber, senior associate of the Council for Democratization Policies in Berlin, has spoken about the developments of the end of the year we left behind. According to him, the installation of barricades, despite their subsequent removal, is expected to play a negative role in terms of dialogue, respectively the final agreement.

"In such a heated atmosphere, there is always the risk that some incident may occur, which can then escalate things. I must say that if an agreement is expected - as it is now known, as an interim agreement, leading to the final one that goes far, to the recognition of Kosovo's independence from Belgrade - then, in my opinion, this will require a completely different preparation of the terrain in Serbia. If we compare it with today's atmosphere and the official narrative, then we see the exact opposite," Weber told RFE.

North Kosovo: time to turn to civil society (Social Europe)

The evolving relationship between Kosovo and Serbia, facilitated by the European Union, is facing its sternest test since 2011, when barricades throughout north Kosovo reflected a situation threatening to spiral out of control. Hopes are high for a final agreement in the coming year or so, to normalise relations between the two, and so are the diplomatic stakes. To supplement however this path towards sustainable peace, the EU must consider how it can better engage those constructive voices from civil society thus far largely neglected.

For the last year and a half, the predominantly Serb north of Kosovo has been gripped by soaring tensions—amplified by Russia’s war in Ukraine and concerns about the stability of the western Balkans more generally. Last July, Kosovo moved ahead with plans to end the use on its territory of vehicle licence plates issues by the Republic of Serbia. Simultaneously, it announced that Serbian identity cards would no longer be valid to enter Kosovo, Belgrade having long rejected those issued by Pristina.

While the latter argument was swiftly resolved, the former lingered on. Kosovo resisted repeated pleas from the EU and the United States for a delay. As the stakes rose, Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s president, reiterated calls for the establishment of an ‘Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities’. This was a central element of the Brussels Agreement to normalise relationships, brokered by the EU in 2013, but which remains unimplemented.