UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, June 30, 2022

PM Kurti publishes decisions on license plates and ID cards (RTK)
Kusari-Lila on government decisions: Credibility state is growing (Indeksonline)
Vucic accuses Pristina of preparing assault on Serb-majority area (Euractiv)
Osmani: Invitation for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, historic (RTK)
Mehaj: Kosovo needs NATO and NATO needs Kosovo (Ekonomia Online)
Lajcak after meeting with Rakic: We talked about the dialogue process (media)
U.S. Ambassador Hovenier interview with Klan Kosova
Rama: I asked for Kosovo to be invited to Partnership for Peace (media)
Italy supports visa liberalization for Kosovo (media)
Unpaid bills and a mounting debt (Kosovo 2.0)
EBRD, EU, Raiffeisen to support greener leasing in Kosovo (media)

PM Kurti publishes decisions on license plates and ID cards (RTK)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti has published Wednesday’s decisions of the Government of Kosovo on reciprocity of identity cards issued by Serbia and the registration of vehicles with RKS license plates for vehicles equipped with "KM" license plates.

"With the decision of the government today we regulated the crossing of the state border for citizens with personal documents issued by the Serbian authorities, as well as vehicles with Serbian license plates. Every person who appears to cross the state border with a personal identification document issued by Serbian authorities, at border crossings will be provided with a declaration form that temporarily replaces the use of such a document.

While vehicles with Serbian license plates that are presented for crossing the state border and are intended to move in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo, must continue to have the sticker placed in the part of the symbols and state designation. This mechanism will be valid until October 31, 2022," Kurti wrote on Facebook.

He also wrote about another decision from the meeting that enables the registration of vehicles with RKS license plates for all vehicles equipped with license plates "PR", "KM", "PZ", "GL", "UR", " PE ”,“ DA ”or“ ĐA ” from 10 June 1999 until 21 April 2022.

"Registration will begin on August 1, 2022 and will last until September 31, 2022. This decision has a non-recurring character after the end of the validity period," Kurti wrote.

Kusari-Lila on government decisions: Credibility of state is growing (Indeksonline)

Leader of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, commented on the latest decisions of the Kurti-led government on reciprocity of identity cards issued by Serbia and the registration of vehicles with RTK license plates.

“The authority of Kosovo institutions is expanding throughout the territory and for all its citizens regardless of their ethnicity. The credibility of the state is growing locally and internationally, as it should and as we are obliged to do. We will make Kosovo a safe and equal country for all and without any differences!” Kusari-Lila said.

Vucic accuses Pristina of preparing assault on Serb-majority area (Euractiv)

Authorities in Pristina are planning an assault on the north of Kosovo where mostly Serbs reside, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic claimed on Wednesday, without providing any evidence. Serbia’s president expressed his concerns meeting with Miroslav Lajčak, the EU Envoy for the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue on Wednesday. According to him, the deadline to replace Serbian licence plates on 30 September set by the government coincided with the date for when the “assault” is set to begin.

The license plate issue escalated last fall when Kosovo started requiring Serbian vehicles to temporarily change their plates to Kosovo plates while in the country, like Kosovo vehicles are required in Serbia. As a response, Belgrade sent the military to the border, including helicopters, troops, and military jets and demanded Kosovo withdraw its own police from its own side of the border. Serbia also organised protests and roadblocks, and while Kosovo reiterated its willingness to lift requirements if Serbia did the same, the latter refused. A deal was then hashed out whereby both countries would cover their flags on their license plates with stickers while in the other’s country.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3bzMOAq

Osmani: Invitation for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, historic (RTK)

President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, called historic NATO’s decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join the most powerful military alliance in the world. “Today's historic decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join NATO highlights the commitment of the Alliance to peace, security and stability. Kosovo aspires to join the transatlantic family to fulfil the ambition of our people to safeguard our hard-earned freedoms and values,” Osmani wrote on Twitter. Osmani also said that NATO’s response was a clear answer of transatlantic unity to Russia’s threats. “The Alliance reaffirmation to strengthening the European security and defense architecture, and their commitment to the Western Balkans, is crucial for our collective peaceful and prosperous future.”

Mehaj: Kosovo needs NATO and NATO needs Kosovo (Ekonomia Online)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense, Armend Mehaj, said on Wednesday that the decisions made at the NATO Summit in Madrid give hope for the free and democratic world. He said that Kosovo, its institutions, people and army believe in the Euro-Atlantic values. “Time for the new strategic concept of NATO. Time for a long-term plan for security challenges at the global dimension, and for the full implementation of NATO’s political and military tasks … The Republic of Kosovo, its institutions, people, and army believe in the Euro-Atlantic values and its guarantor - NATO. The Republic of Kosovo and NATO are naturally united. We walk together for global peace, stability, and security. Kosovo needs NATO! NATO needs Kosovo,” Mehaj wrote on Facebook.

Lajcak after meeting with Rakic: We talked about the dialogue process (media)

On the third day of his visit to Kosovo, the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak paid a visit to North Mitrovica, where he met with the Minister of Communities and Returns Goran Rakic, and the mayors of the four northern municipalities.

After the closed-door meeting, Lajcak spoke briefly about the topics of discussion. "Obviously, it was an opportunity for me to hear Mr. Rakic and the mayors how they see the dialogue and the situation in the north, and as such it is always useful," Lajcak said.

Asked if he would visit the bridge over the Ibar River, Lajcak denied this, saying he would visit the Brnjak and Jarinje border crossings.

U.S. Ambassador Hovenier interview with Klan Kosova

United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said in an interview with Klan Kosova on Wednesday that the U.S. government believes there should an Association of Serb-majority municipalities without executive powers.

Hovenier said he understands the concerns of Kosovo officials for not having another Republika Srpska in Kosovo “and this is a very valuable concern”. “But I want to make it clear that the United States, and I think all our partners agree, that no one wants to see that happening. None of us believes that would be an appropriate mechanism to achieve the objectives we want to see Kosovo achieve, which are a multi-ethnic, democratic state with a functioning Constitution and a functioning system of government. We believe that there may be mechanisms, including an Association of Serb-majority municipalities, that does not have that kind of executive authority, that does not disrupt the proper functioning of government, but that allows Serb-majority municipalities and their leaders to coordinate matters with each other, to consult, to exchange best practices on how to fulfil their responsibilities in the context of the law of Kosovo, in the context of the Constitution of Kosovo. So we will continue to hold the US position that we will look to the government to define what it can work with, what it can accept, and we will do our best by working with Miroslav Lajcak and others to try and see that this is - or that we believe it is essential to be an element of the overall package,” Hovenier said.

The U.S. Ambassador also said that with regards to the Open Balkan initiative, it is up to Kosovo to decide which regional initiatives it wants to join. He said the U.S. support regional initiatives that bring together the countries of the Western Balkans. “We support the Berlin Process, we support CEFTA, we support the Common Regional Market and we support the Open Balkans,” he added.

Rama: I asked for Kosovo to be invited to Partnership for Peace (media)

Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, during his participation at the NATO Summit in Madrid, stated in a Twitter post that he called for Kosovo to be invited to the Partnership for Peace Program and that countries that do not yet recognize Kosovo, should appreciate the EU-aligned stance against Russia. “TODAY in NATO: I demanded that Kosovo be immediately invited to the Partnership for Peace mechanism. Countries that do not yet recognize Kosovo should appreciate its EU-aligned stance on Russian aggression against Ukraine - despite the fact that Ukraine has not yet recognized Kosovo. I praised the agreement reached between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, appreciating President Erdogan's direct approach in view of a very serious concern of the Turkish state and underlining that this agreement is an example for resolving problems between allies. I heard from President Joe Biden the best words about Albania and its role in the Security Council and NATO, as well as the expression of his desire to organize something together on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Albania-US diplomatic relations,” Rama tweeted.

Italy supports visa liberalization for Kosovo (media)

The Undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Benedetto Della Vedova, stated that Italy supports visa liberalization for Kosovo, adding that his country could simplify the process of obtaining Italian visas for Kosovars until liberalization.

At a press conference at the Italian Embassy in Pristina, Della Vedova stated that the abolition of visas would be important for cultural, economic relations and for students who want to study abroad.

“I cannot answer for the doubts that other countries have. Personally, I am not afraid of the increase in the number of immigrants, but there are some parties in Europe that see it as a problem. Some unexpected issues have occurred with Russia's unjustifiable attack on Ukraine,” Vedova told reporters.

He added that Kosovo's approach to dialogue with Serbia is sincere, adding that Italy supports the involvement of the European Union in finding a solution.

"We do not consider a special emissary necessary, but it is important to achieve the goal," he added.

Della Vedova arrived Tuesday night for a visit to Kosovo. He met with Italian soldiers serving within KFOR, with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kreshnik Ahmeti, representatives of the government and opposition parliamentary groups in the Assembly of Kosovo, as well as representatives of NGOs.

Unpaid bills and a mounting debt (Kosovo 2.0)

Electricity and the north of Kosovo.

Since 1999, Kosovo Serbs living in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo have not paid their electricity bills. The cost of the unpaid electricity has been borne for years by the rest of the country, creating mounting debts and major financial problems for Kosovo’s electricity companies.

“They are using more electricity than the rest of Kosovo,” said Kadri Kadriu, CEO of Kosovo’s electricity transmission and systems operator (KOSTT), which is responsible for covering the cost of the unpaid bills. “They do not care since they are not paying. We are supplying and not getting money.”

But after more than two decades, a solution appears on the horizon. On June 21, Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi met with Petar Petković, director of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija, to sign an agreement on implementing old energy agreements between the two countries from 2013 and 2015. The meeting was facilitated by Miroslav Lajčák, the EU special representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

“Very pleased to announce that Kosovo and Serbia just adopted the Energy Agreements’ Implementation Roadmap in the framework of the EU-facilitated Dialogue. This is a major step forward,” wrote Lajčák on Twitter, after the agreement was signed.

The agreement calls for a Serbian electricity distributor to operate in the four northern Serb-majority municipalities and to start enforcing the payment of electricity bills. Additionally, the agreement calls for KOSTT and the Kosovo electricity distribution company (KEDS) to be allowed access to distribution and transmission infrastructure in the north of Kosovo.