UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, July 18, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti meets Lajcak, discuss de-escalation and normalisation of relations with Serbia (media)

Escobar in Congress: Kosovo and Serbia fulfill all obligations (RTK)

De-escalation in north and sequencing plan to be discussed in Brussels (Koha)

Bayraktar drones cannot be used without KFOR authorization (Radio Free Europe)

KLA War Veterans Organisation request meeting with President Osmani (media)

Kurti and Papandreou open Balkans panel at SYMI Symposium in Greece (media)

Rama doesn’t want to comment on Kurti’s absence, “who wanted came” (media)

Mujka: I will not allow to be used for attacks against PM’s successes (media)

Hovenier meets Devolli, discuss also Klan Kosova situation (media)

RTK: Serbia continues silent cleansing of Albanians

Serbian Language Media:

Association of Journalists of Serbia requests international organizations to support RTS reporter over her years-long ban to enter Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online)

KFOR on KSF acquiring Turkish drones: KFOR Commander has primary authority for airspace over Kosovo (KoSSev)

Dalibor Spasic released on bail (Kosovo Online, media)

Brnabic attends Tirana meeting of Western Balkan leaders (Tanjug)

Varhelyi discusses economic, social integration with WB PMs (N1)

Grenell says Escobar’s report devoid of facts from ground (Kosovo Online, social media)

International Media:

Guerrilla Leaders Were Outside Kosovo for Most of War, Trial Told (Prishtina Insight)

Wings of Change: Why Armed Drones Are Proliferating in Western Balkans (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti meets Lajcak, discuss de-escalation and normalization of relations with Serbia (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Twitter post on Monday evening that he “had a long conversation with EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak on the sidelines of the 25th SYMI Symposium in Crete on the de-escalation of tensions and normalization of relations with Serbia. We remain committed. The weather was far hotter than our discussion.”

Escobar in Congress: Kosovo and Serbia fulfill all obligations (RTK)

The special envoy of the USA for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, in his report in front of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, on the involvement of the USA in the Balkans, wrote about the tensions in the north of Kosovo.

He called on both parties to fulfill all their obligations, which are necessary for continuous progress in the European journey for the two states, Escobar writes in a document that will be discussed tomorrow in the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Since the parties reached these agreements, there have been serious provocations, escalating tensions, and unacceptable violence by Serb protesters against KFOR, police, and journalists in northern Kosovo. In response, NATO deployed reserve force elements to reinforce the mission; it maintains an enhanced posture in northern Kosovo to ensure a safe and secure environment in line with its UN mandate. With the EU, we have called for immediate de-escalation, to include holding new municipal and mayoral elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo with the participation of ethnic Serbs, and a refocus implementing the agreement reached under the EU-facilitated Dialogue. Together with our European partners, we remain engaged with Kosovo and Serbia, urging both parties to fulfill all their obligations, which are essential to continued progress on both their European paths,” Escobar wrote.

De-escalation in north and sequencing plan to be discussed in Brussels (Koha)

Kosovo and Serbia will hold their next meeting in the Brussels dialogue on Wednesday where among other issues they will discuss actions to de-escalate the situation in the north and the sequencing plan for the implementation of the Brussels agreement. Regardless of the agreement between the Kosovo government and the European Union, the latter has not said if the Serbian side has offered guarantees that it will engage constructively and will not call for new elections in the north to be boycotted.

An advisor to Kosovo’s chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi told Koha on Monday: “as highlighted in Point 4 of the Bratislava agreement, the discussion will focus on the sequencing plan for the implementation of the Brussels agreement and the Ohrid implementation annex. We are continuously proving our readiness for de-escalation and our total focus on the implementation of agreements and the sequencing plan, which needs to be fair, equal, and implemented in its entirety”. The advisor also said that Serbia must stop its destructive actions in the north of Kosovo “and the intimidation campaign against Kosovo Serbs”.

Bayraktar drones cannot be used without KFOR authorization (Radio Free Europe)

NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo – KFOR – told the news agency that it expects Kosovo’s institutions to coordinate in using all categories of drones, including the Bayraktar TB-2. KFOR said in their response that the commander of peacekeeping troops has the primary authority over Kosovo’s airspace since the end of the war in 1999. KFOR also said that Kosovo’s lower airspace “can be used for specific requirements” and with “prior authorization from the commander of KFOR”.

KLA War Veterans Organisation request meeting with President Osmani (media)

Acting head of the KLA War Veterans Organisation, Faton Klinaku, said in a Facebook post on Monday that the war veterans have sent a request for an official meeting with President Vjosa Osmani, “on the approval of the Kosovo Assembly of the law on the minimal wage, which excluded the KLA war veterans”.

Kurti and Papandreou open Balkans panel at SYMI Symposium in Greece (media)

At the 25th edition of the SYMI Symposium, held in Greece, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti held a conversation with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. A press release issued by Kurti’s office notes that he briefed the audience about the work of Kosovo’s institutions, with emphasis on democratic and economic progress, the rule of law and the fight against corruption, human and minority right, social policies and political pluralism.

“During the conversation there were also discussions about relations between the countries in the Balkans, European integration and the basic agreement with Serbia on the normalisation of relations,” the press release notes.

Rama doesn’t want to comment on Kurti’s absence, “who wanted came” (media)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama did not want to comment on the absence of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the informal meeting of leaders of the Western Balkans in Tirana on Monday. Asked if he feels bad that Kurti did not take part, Rama said that everyone was invited. “Everyone was invited and who wanted to come came, who could not come, did not come,” he said.

Mujka: I will not allow to be used for attacks against PM’s successes (media)

Faruk Mujka, chief executive officer of hydro-economic enterprise Iber Lepenci, who was arrested and then released to be defended in freedom on charges of abuse of duty, said on Monday that he never avoided responsibility and justice. He argued in a Facebook post that he will not be allowed to be used “for attacks against the work and successes of the government in general and the Prime Minister in particular”.

Hovenier meets Devolli, discuss also Klan Kosova situation (media)

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said in a Twitter post on Monday that he met with Shkelqim Devolli from the Devolli Corporation, “one of the largest exporters of Kosovan products to the United States. We had a good conversation on a range of topics - including the Klan Kosova situation. As I've said before, free & independent press is a vital pillar of democracy.”

RTK: Serbia continuing silent cleansing of Albanians

RTK reported on Monday that over 10,000 citizens of Presevo Valley have lost their political and legal rights as a result of Serbia deleting their addresses. The figures could be even higher because these are not official statistics. Meanwhile, Albanians from Presevo Valley who live in Kosovo are afraid to talk about this in public, fearing other measures from the Serbian state.

Nevzad Lutfiu, leader of the Albanian National Council in Presevo Valley, told RTK that the silence of the European Union toward what is known as the silent ethnic cleansing of Albanians from Presevo Valley, is surprising.

In Pristina, the Albanian National Democratic Front protested Serbia’s violence against the citizens of Presevo Valley. “It is precisely the method of ethnic cleansing in Presevo Valley that has forced us to protest here in Skenderbeu Square in support of our brothers and to oppose Serbia’s ethnic cleansing,” Nikolle Perkaj from the Albanian National Democratic Front said.

Raising awareness in the international community about the passivisation of locations and addresses of Albanians in Serbia remains a great concern for Albanian leaders in Presevo Valley.

RTK recalls that two years ago the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an independent investigation into the passivisation of the addresses of Albanians in that region. The investigation however has not been made yet.

Serbian Language Media

Association of Journalists of Serbia requests international organizations to support RTS reporter over her years-long ban to enter Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) sent letters to the International Federation of Journalists and seven more press and media organizations requesting their support and reaction in relation to the ban imposed on Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to carry out her journalist assignments in Kosovo.

UNS sent letters to International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Organization Article 19, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), organizations Free Press Unlimited and OBS Transeuropa, Reporters without Borders, International Press Institute (IPI) and to Safe Journalists network.

UNS also said they informed the President of the European Federation of Journalists Maja Sever about the case of Svetlana Vukmirovic and requested her support and reaction, but that no response had been received yet to the letter UNS sent to her last Thursday.

Svetlana Vukmirovic since 1997 does reportages and broadcasts about Kosovo for RTS. She is the editor of the Right to Tomorrow (Pravo na sutra) broadcast featuring lives of Serbs and problems they face in Kosovo.

UNS recalled that Vukmirovic has been banned from entering Kosovo since 2021, thus her right to freedom of movement and right to carry out journalist work had been grossly obstructed.

Vukmirovic encountered first problems entering Kosovo in 2018 when she was kept waiting at crossings for half an hour or one hour. In March that year the team of the broadcast “Right to Tomorrow” preparing reportage on usurped properties of Serbs in Pec, along with five lawyers who worked within EU project “Free Legal Aid” were arrested by Kosovo police. They were all searched, identified and interrogated for five hours.

The first ban to enter Kosovo was imposed on Vukmirovic in February 2021 and after four days of waiting at Jarinje crossing point the RTS team was told they may enter Kosovo but not Vukmirovic. She was then banned from entering Kosovo on December 26 and 27 last year. On May 1 this year she was again banned from entering, this time Pristina authorities cited the Law on Foreigners to justify their decision, disregarding the fact that Vukmirovic was born and lived in Kosovo and has appropriate documents.

KFOR on KSF acquiring Turkish drones: KFOR Commander has primary authority for airspace over Kosovo (KoSSev)

“Regarding the use of all the categories of drones and the related limitations, including the Bayraktar TB-2, in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 Kosovo Force (KFOR) Commander has the primary authority for airspace over Kosovo“, KFOR said in a statement, a day after Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that the KSF, which he referred to as Kosovo army, acquired Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drones, KoSSev portal reports.

KFOR reacted to the news, explaining the procedures for the use of Kosovo airspace and calling attention to the fact that it requires the KFOR Commander’s authorization, the portal adds.

“The Kosovo upper air space can only be used to overfly Kosovo from one country to another by commercial flights; the lower airspace can be used for specific needs, on a case-by-case basis and under previous authorization by the KFOR Commander“, KFOR announced.

This Mission added that they expect that Kosovo institutions will ensure coordination and comply with existing procedures.