UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, March 3, 2023

EU insists on signing of agreement and implementation plan (RFE)
Hill: Association must be solved urgently (media)
Govt considers formalizing of status of Serb Orthodox Church complete (Koha)
Poll: Over 60% of citizens uninformed about European plan and dialogue (Koha)
Szunyog: Situation in the north of Kosovo is complex (media)
Uneasy neighbours: Serbia and Kosovo need to mend fences, but remain wary after accepting EU deal (Euronews)
Bosnian Serb leader blocks regional Kosovo ID travel (BIRN)
After report, prosecution indicts doctor who participated in niece job intw (BIRN)

EU insists on signing of agreement and implementation plan (RFE)

Kosovo and Serbia must sign as inseparable documents the European proposal-agreement toward normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia and the implementation annex or plan, an EU official told reporters in Brussels on Thursday.

The official also explained dilemmas surrounding the signing of the agreement and the interpretation of the parties. “We had two parts of a single document. The proposal and the implementation annex [plan]. There were no discussions about the proposal, because the parties agreed that there is no more need for this. The focus was on the implementation. It would be ideal if there was an agreement on both documents, but this was not realistic. The worst-case scenario would be if they did not agree on any of them,” the official said.

The official said that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti proposed to sign the document, but EU High Representative Josep Borrell made it clear that the EU did not envisage the meeting this way, because according to him the agreement must also include the annex with timelines for its implementation. “The document, without the implementation part, will be only a political declaration. The discussion on the implementation was difficult and we did not go far. It is no secret to say that the issue of the Association [of Serb-majority municipalities] was the most difficult,” the official said, adding that once it is signed the agreement will become legally binding.

Hill: Association must be solved urgently (media)

United States Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, said in an interview with Beta that Pristina and Belgrade have shown in their last meeting that “they are very serious to move forward” and added that the issue that needs to be solved urgently is the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. “I think the most urgent issue to be resolved is the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and there are several reasons for this, one of which is that it has been there for ten years, and second, I think that if we start with this, people, Serbs in Kosovo, will return to the institutions. What we are trying to do is to calm the situation, because this is what is necessary,” Hill said.

Govt considers formalizing of status of Serb Orthodox Church complete (Koha)

Although it is part of the European proposal, for the Kosovo government the legal status of the Serb Orthodox Church is already recognised with the Law on religious communities. The government however did not want to comment on the position of the President according to which Article 7 of the agreement includes regulating the issue of the Serb Orthodox Church. Legal experts meanwhile argue that the term “formalisation” implies that the Serb Orthodox Church is considered to be operating in the territory of Serbia.

The news website notes that the government and the President’s Office referred with different terminologies to the article of the European proposal that talks about the Serb Orthodox Church. After the February 27 meeting in Brussels, the President’s Office said uneasy proposals were accepted, referring to the self-management of the Serb minority and the legal status of the Church. While to Article 7 of the agreement which refers to the issue with the term “formalisation”, the President’s Office referred to as “regulation”.

The Kosovo government refused to comment on differences with the President with regards to the terminology and said that the legal status of the Serb Orthodox Church is a closed matter. “The Government and the President’s Office, including the Office of the Assembly President, are in permanent communication and coordination. They have regular meetings. As we’ve said before, Article 7 foresees formalizing the status of the Serb Orthodox Church, which we already have through the recognition of the existence of the Church in the Law on religious communities in the country,” a government spokesperson said.

The news website also notes that the law on religious communities is being reviewed in the Assembly and it was adopted by the respective parliamentary committee on Wednesday. MPs however expressed concerns that the draft law could be blocked because of the Serbs. Head of the Human Rights Committee, Duda Balje, said: “I would like to collegially invite the member of the Serb List to cooperate with us because this Law is in the interest of the Orthodox and Catholic Church and the Muslim community”.

Poll: Over 60% of citizens uninformed about European plan and dialogue (Koha)

A poll conducted by the Prishtina Institute for Political Studies (PIPS) showed that 64 percent of 1,065 respondents interviewed during November last year said that they were not informed about the EU plan while 61.7 percent said they have little information about the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The respondents included 865 Albanians and 200 Serbs from all municipalities of Kosovo.

Asked if the future of Kosovo is jeopardies if a final agreement is not reached with Serbia, 63 percent of respondents said “no”. 41.8 percent of respondents said they don’t believe that a final agreement would improve their lives, while 34.7 percent said the opposite.

48 percent of respondents said they were optimistic that a Kosovo-Serbia final agreement will be reached this year, whereas 24 percent said the dialogue will end without an agreement.

Szunyog: Situation in the north of Kosovo is complex (media)

EU Head of Office, Tomas Szunyog, said during his visit to Mitrovica North on Thursday that the situation in the north is complex. During his visit, Szunyog met with Kosovo Serbs, representatives of Kosovo Albanians, as well as with Serb officials who resigned from Kosovo institutions. “While the situation in the north is complex, it is clear to everyone that current arrangements are not sustainable and that the fragile peace has to be replaced with security and stability for all communities residing there,” he said.

Szunyog said he expects the engagement of Kosovo institutions for all communities living in the north. “Though many issues still need to be settled through the EU-facilitated Dialogue, these can only be addressed by the institutions and from within the institutions. I look forward to further engagement with all communities living in the north and continued EU investments in the area,” he said.

Uneasy neighbours: Serbia and Kosovo need to mend fences, but remain wary after accepting EU deal (Euronews)

For once, Kosovo’s Serb and Albanian communities -- historically found on disparate ends of any political issue -- seem to agree on something.

The mood in their respective countries after Monday’s meeting in Brussels between Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was notedly sour.

“There were protests both in Pristina and Mitrovica ahead of the agreement. Everyone seems to be confused and let down by the process,” explains Donika Emini, a political analyst who has followed the developments between the two countries for years.

“The actual impact this document but also the negotiating process is going to have, the ways it could improve their lives, is unclear to the wider population so people are not sure how they should react to it at the moment,” Emini tells Euronews.

Bulldozer diplomacy returns to the Balkans

Monday’s meeting in Brussels was the culmination of months of negotiations, paired with not-so-subtle arm twisting from the United States and NATO, meant to produce an agreement that would bring the two closer to establishing diplomatic and formal bilateral relations than ever before.