UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, March 11, 2025
Albanian Language Media:
- Osmani to meet NATO Secretary General Rutte today (media)
- Abdixhiku: We do not want cooperation with VV (media)
- By losing a parliamentary seat, Serbian List could be excluded from govt (RFE)
- Kosovo part of the conference on strengthening integrity towards the EU (RTK)
- Italian KFOR soldiers patrol ABL (RTK)
- Kosovo establishes a safe room for victims of wartime sexual violence (media)
Serbian Language Media:
- Vucic: There will be no transitional government, I ask young people not to take part in violence (RTS, media)
- Serbian public broadcaster RTS blocked last night (media)
- Students marching to Belgrade (N1)
- Petkovic reacts to Konjufca’s remarks that new Kosovo government would be formed with non-Serbian minorities (media, social media)
- Radojevic: Serbian List to file complaint over manipulation of election results (Kosovo Online)
- Furlas: EU to exert pressure on Pristina to allow SOC Patriarch visit churches in Kosovo (TV Most, media)
- Radomir Vanic from Donja Brnjica: "They want to throw us out of our home, they violently removed our windows and doors" (Kosovo Online)
Albanian Language Media
Osmani to meet NATO Secretary General Rutte today (media)
The office of President announced that Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani will meet today NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. The meeting will start at 1:45 p.m., and the media will be able to take footage of the reception at the beginning of the meeting. After the meeting, President Osmani and Secretary General Rutte will hold a press conference.
According to Ivan Vejvoda, a researcher at the Institute for Humanities in Vienna, the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, is expected to use his visit to Pristina to provide guarantees that the European contingent within the alliance’s mission in Kosovo, KFOR, will remain there, regardless of any movement of U.S. military forces. According to him, Rutte's visit to Kosovo is now very important, considering the geopolitical situation, the new U.S. administration, Russia's continued war in Ukraine, and "rumors - whether grounded or not - that the United States is reconsidering its position in NATO.
Abdixhiku: We do not want cooperation with VV (media)
Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said on Monday after the leadership meeting which lasted over five hours, that they do not want to cooperate with LVV and that his party's pre-electoral positions have not changed. "We have not had any meetings with any political party in Kosovo, not even with the ruling party. With the ruling party, we do not want, do not have and are not working for a cooperation with them. LDK does not know how to be a part without the position of prime minister, LDK does not work with a short-term government.,” he said.
"Also, our electoral and pre-electoral stance has been that LDK will not be part of any government without the position of prime minister. LDK does not aim and will not work for a short-term government. So, without resolving the basic issue of the president, we do not believe that there will be government stability," he added.
By losing a parliamentary seat, Serbian List could be excluded from govt (RFE)
Eugen Cakolli from the Kosovo Democratic Institute said in an interview with Radio Free Europe that the new government of Kosovo could be formed without the Serbian List if the Central Election Commission (CEC) confirms the current results of the February 9 parliamentary elections. The current results show that one of the ten parliamentary seats reserved for the Serb community goes to Nenad Rasic’s Party for Freedom, Justice, and Survival. The news website notes that this would be the first time since its establishment in 2013 that the Serbian List would not be part of the government since it had consistently won all 10 parliamentary seats reserved for the Serb community. It also notes that the Constitution of Kosovo guarantees one ministerial position in the government for the Serb community and another for other non-Serb minority communities. If the government consists of more than twelve ministries, an additional minister from non-majority communities is appointed. The selection of these ministers must be done in consultation with parliamentary parties. If a minister is appointed from a party that did not enter the Assembly, official approval from the majority of MPs from the respective community is required.
Kosovo part of the conference on strengthening integrity towards the EU (RTK)
Kosovo’s Acting Chief State Prosecutor, Besim Kelmendi, together with institutional leaders are participating in the international conference “Towards the EU - Strengthening the Integrity and Independence of Criminal Justice in the Western Balkans”, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. In addition to Kelmendi, the President of the Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice, the Director of the Police and the Director of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption are also part of the Kosovo delegation at this conference. They are at the invitation of the Ministry of Justice of Slovenia and the Global Initiative against International Organized Crime, while the leaders of other institutions of the Western Balkans are also invited.
Italian KFOR soldiers patrol ABL (RTK)
The Italian soldiers of the Operational Reserve Force Battalion of the NATO-led KFOR mission conducted patrols along Administrative Boundary Lines. Patrolling activities both motorized and on foot, have the purpose to ensure security and maintain a constant presence in the area, reads KFOR’s Facebook post.
Kosovo establishes a safe room for victims of wartime sexual violence (media)
Several news websites reported on Monday that a safe room for victims of wartime sexual violence was inaugurated on Monday in Pristina. From this space, the victims will testify in court about the horrors they suffered during the war in Kosovo. Feride Rushiti, head of the Kosovo Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, said this as a historic day for those seeking justice. “This is a historic day for survivors of sexual violence, especially for those who have sought justice. Previously, victims—whether women or girls—had to go through the same entrance as the accused, sometimes even in the presence of the media, which caused distress and further stigmatization. The opening of the Safe Room, supported by the British Embassy and in close cooperation with the Basic Court of Pristina is an essential step towards a more sensitive approach to cases of sexual violence—an approach that both our organization and the victims have long advocated for,” she said.
Serbian Language Media
Vucic: There will be no transitional government, I ask young people not to take part in violence (RTS, media)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told RTS public broadcaster last night there will be no transitional government, which according to him would be an end to modern, successful and prosperous Serbia. He warned that most serious criminal offences would be committed on Saturday, March 15, and asked young people not to take part in violence, because the violence, as he said, can’t be avoided.
Speaking for RTS prime time news edition Vucic said there will be discussion on a new prime minister designate, only after the resignation of the current caretaker Prime Minister Milos Vucevic is acknowledged. He said in line with the Constitution he is the one to propose a prime minister designate, but that “as long as he is alive he will not allow establishment of the transitional government in a constitutional and legal manner”.
Referring to the protests across Serbia, Vucic said mistreatment of citizens has been ongoing for the past four months, and no one dares call it by that name. “I am the president, and I dare. I am elected by a large number of people”, he said.
As far as the gathering announced in a session of his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) is concerned he said that would be the largest gathering in the history of Serbia. As he announced, this gathering should take place on March 28.
As a president I ask young people not to take part in violence
Vucic also said his job as a president was to ask, in particular young people, not to take part in violence and not be misused by opposition political figures he mentioned by their names.
As he said on Saturday, March 15, the most serious criminal offences against the Republic of Serbia will be committed. On this day a large protest gathering was announced by students in Belgrade expecting participation of people from different parts of Serbia.
“That is an attack on the constitutional order of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the Articles 308 and 309 of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia. For (violation) of the Article 308 a prison sentence from 3 to 15 years is envisaged, while for the Article 309, there have been different stances, but the basic one, inciting and encouraging to carry out attack on constitutional order of Serbia envisages from 6 months to 5 years in prison”, he said.
It won’t be possible to avoid violence
“It is good they saw their numbers are dropping, it is good, what they won’t see on RTS, that they have much smaller numbers of people everywhere, than they used to have before. Twice, three times, even four times less people. And now they gather from the entire region to have (the number of people present) in a single municipality, while they used to have this number before in that municipality alone. But that is why they are becoming radicalized, they are becoming homogenized, and they have to attempt to carry out violence”, Vucic said.
As he added, it will not be possible to avoid the violence, because the plans have already been made, however, the state will protect institutions and preserve the peace. Vucic also claimed that gathering on March 15 is illegal because it was not reported to the respective bodies, but that he expects those responsible to do everything in line with the law, although they are not obliged.
“We will try to apprehend persons planning (to committ) the violence before the gathering. I assess there would be between 60.000 to 80.000 people, perhaps less, from the entire Serbia. This is a large number, and in a pack all dogs are brave. These are not only students, who do not wish violence”, Vucic said.
Serbian public broadcaster RTS blocked last night (media)
Last night around 22.30 students gathered in front of the Serbian public broadcaster RTS entrances at two streets in Belgrade’s downtown. As they said in a post on Instagram their intention was to block the entries to RTS premises, but that those employed would be allowed to leave the building. The post also said the blockade would last 22 hours, adding they have no intention of entering the building. Radio-Television of Vojvodina in Novi Sad was also blocked, and there were people gathering in front of the RTS studio in Kosutnjak. Number of citizens also joined protesting students, Serbian media reported.
RTS appealed to students to give up on violent blockade. RTS said that this blockade runs fully contrary with recent statements of students that they advocate for three work of institutions.
As the media further reported, members of the Gendarmerie made their way to the RTS premise after the blockade started. In a statement Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs said the police, as it was the case until now, will not intervene against those carrying blockades, unless they attempt to violently storm the RTS building or public institutions. One police officer was injured in an attempt to obstruct the police officers entering the RTS building, the statement from the Ministry also said.
Students marching to Belgrade (N1)
Students from across Serbia are marching to Belgrade with plans to attend next Saturday’s mass protest in the Serbian capital, N1 reported. Students from the western Serbian cities of Cacak, Kraljevo and Uzice set off for Belgrade on Monday, marching down the Ibarska road for the next five days. Students from the central city of Kragujevac will start their march on Tuesday.
Other students from southern and northern Serbia started their marches earlier. The students are marching from the southern city of Nis where one of the mass protests was held recently and from the northern city of Subotica on the border with Hungary.
Students marched to Novi Sad, Kragujevac and to Nis for the mass protests in those cities over the past few weeks. Other students rode bicycles along those routes, N1 recalled.
Petkovic reacts to Konjufca’s remarks that new Kosovo government would be formed with non-Serbian minorities (media, social media)
Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said yesterday Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti knew exactly what he was doing when he used Albanian votes “to deceitfully place Nenad Rasic into parliament”, Kosovo Online portal reported.
"Glauk Konjufca says that the second Kurti government was formed with 'non-Serb minorities' and that this is Kurti’s goal now as well. For the first time, Konjufca is right, since he categorized Rasic as a non-Serb representative. Kurti knew what he was doing when he used Albanian votes to deceitfully place Rasic into parliament!", Petkovic wrote in a post on X social platform.
Radojevic: Serbian List to file complaint over manipulation of election results (Kosovo Online)
The Serbian List will file a complaint due to the attempts to alter the election results, Milan Radojevic, a member of the party said last evening.
Radojevic told Euronews in Serbian it has been more than a month since the elections took place, and unlike previous election processes, where the preliminary results were known overnight and the final ones announced just a few days later, the official voting results are still unavailable. "This is truly unbelievable. The only reason for this could be the pressure that Self-Determination is exerting on the Central Election Commission in order to change the results", he explained. Radojevic said the reason for all of this is that Self-Determination and Albin Kurti did not achieve the result they wanted.
Speaking about yesterday's remarks of Albin Kurti and Minister for Communities and Returns Nenad Rasic against the Serbian List and state of Serbia, he said this was nothing new. He added that “{…} Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija clearly showed trust in the Serbian List and the state of Serbia. That is what hurts Kurti".
Asked if anyone has contacted the Serbian List regarding the formation of a new government, Radojevic said that there have been no contacts with other parties so far. "The Presidency of the Serbian List will convene, and a decision will be made about the complaint. The Serbian List will file a complaint about electoral manipulations”, he said.
Furlas: EU to exert pressure on Pristina to allow SOC Patriarch visit churches in Kosovo (TV Most, media)
Chairman of the European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Serbia, Lukas Furlas sent a letter to EU institutional leaders, calling them to urgently react and exert necessary pressure on Pristina authorities in order to enable Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije to freely visit churches in Kosovo and carry out his religious duties unimpeded, TV Most reported.
In a letter sent to European Council President Antonio Kosta, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Furlas expressed strong protest over the last year’s decision of Pristina to ban Patriarch Porfirije from visiting Pec Patriarchate and churches in Kosovo.
He condemned this Pristina’s act, terming it provocative, adding it represents clear violation of the religious freedoms and fundamental rights, as defined by European values and international law. He has also criticized Pristina’s authorities for, as he said, acting arbitrarily and interpreting international agreements, such as the Brussels Agreement from 2013, as they please.
“The EU can not remain silent to this obvious injustice. Protection of the religious rights and guaranteeing religious freedoms are the principles on which one can not negotiate and require an urgent action”, Furlas underlined.
Radomir Vanic from Donja Brnjica: "They want to throw us out of our home, they violently removed our windows and doors" (Kosovo Online)