UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, July 11, 2022

Geoana: Dialogue, only path toward normalisation of relations (media)
Lajcak: 3-4 agreements between Kosovo and Serbia are ready (media)
“Only compromise between Kosovo and Serbia is mutual recognition” (EO)
Ceku: 1,247 artifacts from Kosovo held illegally in Belgrade museums (media)
UNMIK chief visits Islamic Community on Eid al-Adha, speaks Arabic (media)
2,000 new cases with COVID-19 confirmed last week; three deaths (Telegrafi)
Failure to reopen Kosovo-Serbia air link blamed on COVID-19 (BIRN)
Serbian ex-fighter testifies in Kosovo war massacres trial (BIRN)
Djukanovic cuts off support for Abazovic-led government (Radio Free Europe)

Geoana: Dialogue, only path toward normalisation of relations (media)

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana, said during his visit to Kosovo on Friday, that NATO fully supports the process of normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and that “the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is the only platform to find a solution that respects the rights of all communities, and which can lead to sustainable peace”.

Geoana met with ambassadors of 30 NATO allied countries and contributing partners to KFOR troops. Present at the meeting were also the heads of EULEX and UNMIK.

Geoana also met with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Serbian List leader Goran Rakic.

The NATO Deputy Secretary General said the new strategic concept adopted in Madrid last week reaffirms the strategic importance that the region of the Western Balkans has for NATO. He also said that NATO remains committed to peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

Geoana said in an interview with KoSSev that he does not see any threats of the situation escalating in the north of Kosovo and added that the Kosovo Security Force can go to the north only in consultation with KFOR. “Concerning the Kosovo Security Force, we always say that we must all uphold the UNSC Resolution 1244, which says very clearly that any movement toward the north cannot be done without consultation with the commander of KFOR. And this is the message that we sent to all decision-makers in Prishtina today,” he said.

Lajcak: 3-4 agreements between Kosovo and Serbia are ready (media)

The Special Representative of the European Union for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said on Saturday at the Dubrovnik Forum that there are positive steps and that three or four agreements between Kosovo and Serbia are expected to be finalised soon. Lajcak commended both sides for the commitment shown so far in the process of dialogue and said there is agreement among leaders from both sides to raise the level of monthly meetings between the chief negotiators at the level of the leaders. “The normalisation is on the agenda of the leaders, not the chief negotiators. They have agreed to engage more and define what normalisation is and how to achieve it. I expect this in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Lajcak also said: “The most important and pressing issue is to finally unblock the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. Equally urgent, because it has been delayed for long, is the issue of visas for Kosovo. I would also like to say that the most strategic process in the Western Balkans is the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia”.

“Only compromise between Kosovo and Serbia is mutual recognition” (EO)

MPs from the ruling party and from opposition parties argue that Kosovo should not make any compromise in the dialogue with Serbia and that a final settlement should be centered around mutual recognition.

Mimoza Kusari-Lila, head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, said in an interview with the news website: “as far as an agreement with Serbia is concerned, we have all realised that there cannot be any compromises because these ideas have led to very dangerous projects such as the idea for territorial exchange which would plunge the Balkans into another war”. She argued that a mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia would bring stability to the region and help deal with the past. “Without dealing with the past we cannot talk about a safe future,” she said.

Hajdar Beqa, MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said the last compromise Kosovo agreed to before declaring its independence was the Ahtisaari Package. He said that the current government should be serious about the dialogue and not engage in technical issues. “In reality, the only remaining compromise between Kosovo and Serbia is mutual recognition and the final agreement. The time of more compromises is long gone,” he argued.

Ceku: 1,247 artifacts from Kosovo held illegally in Belgrade museums (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Ceku, said on Sunday that “1,247 artifacts of Kosovo’s public museum collection were taken from the National Museum of Kosova during wartime (1998-99) by the Serbian Academy of Sciences. It was part of Serbia's genocidal project against Albanians' history/identity, alongside destruction of over 1,000 heritage sites.”

“Almost 24 years after, the collection is still being held unjustly and illegally in Belgrade museums. According to the original agreement (Book of Return), the artifacts were taken for a temporary exhibition, but still not returned to where they belong, the National Museum of Kosova. Serbia is blatantly violating the original agreement of 1998/99 signed between respective institutions of Kosovo and Serbia, the @UNESCO 1970 Convention on return of cultural property to the place of origin and the Ahtisaari document that sets a timeframe for the return of the collection,” Ceku wrote in a Twitter post.

UNMIK chief visits Islamic Community on Eid al-Adha, speaks Arabic (media)

Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of UNMIK, Caroline Ziadeh, visited the headquarters of the Islamic Community of Kosovo (BIK) on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. She met with Mufti Naim Ternava and congratulated Muslim believers on the holiday. Klan Kosova and Insajderi note in their coverage that Ziadeh, who is from Lebanon, spoke with the Mufti in Arabic and did not need a translator.

2,000 new cases with COVID-19 confirmed last week; three deaths (Telegrafi)

There has been a large number of new infections with COVID-19 in Kosovo last week and this has caused concern among the people about the outbreak of a new wave of the coronavirus, the news website reports. Over 2,000 new cases were confirmed in Kosovo last week and three people have succumbed to the virus. There are 2,169 active cases with COVID-19. For now, Kosovo’s health institutions have not announced new measures against the virus.

Failure to reopen Kosovo-Serbia air link blamed on COVID-19 (BIRN)

Direct flights between Belgrade and Pristina, announced in January 2020, have not been restored yet due to the Corona crisis, BIRN has been told.

The Lufthansa group subsidiary that was supposed to realize the project, Eurowings, told BIRN that on this route “unfortunately there is still no further movement as a result of the Corona pandemic”.

Eurowings did not answer BIRN’s questions about deadlines for resuming flights, nor about why they decide to operate this line in the first place, in terms of assessments about possible traffic and profit.

Kosovo and Serbia institutions have stayed silent on the matter.

Bujar Ejupi, head of the Kosovo Civil Aviation Authority, told BIRN he “has no information” on why the Pristina-Belgrade airline was not active. BIRN also contacted Kosovo’s Ministry of Environment, Urban Planning and Infrastructure, as well as the Prime Minister’s office but did not receive any responses from them by the time of publication.

BIRN did not get any answers from Serbia’s Ministry of Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure nor Ministry of Economy, whose then minister signed the deal.