• Kurti indicates meeting with Vucic in Paris (Koha)
• Hovenier: Kosovo should urgently start negotiations on Association (media)
• Leak: Franco-German plan to resolve Kosovo-Serbia dispute (Euractiv)
• Kurti says reprimands issued, US calls situation in north ‘worrying’ (BIRN)
• Kurti meets German and Slovenian envoys for Western Balkans (media)
• Abdixhiku: We need to coordinate with U.S.; not fall on Serbian traps (media)
• Haradinaj: Kosovo must not go to elections, govt must not fall (media)
• EU Boosts Police Presence in North Kosovo After Serbs Quit (BIRN)
• For Kosovo Serbs, It’s Not Just About Licence Plates (BIRN)
• EU Council working group to discuss visa liberalisation today (RTK)
• Svecla: Kosovo has met visa liberalisation requirements (RTK)
• Mehaj denies reports about resignation of 10 Serb members of KSF (media)
• Solidarity Stories #2: Serb Saves Albanian Neighbours in Kosovo (BIRN)
• “Zvonko Veselinovic and Milan Radoicic criminals” – Serbian MPs clash over their dirty work (The Geopost)

Kurti indicates meeting with Vucic in Paris (Koha)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that he will travel to Paris on Thursday to attend the Peace Forum, following an invitation by French President Emmanuel Macron. Kurti indicated that there could be a tripartite meeting with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. “I am ready because I am prepared and always interested in a dialogue for an agreement on full normalisation of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia, centered on mutual recognition,” Kurti said.

Kurti also said that there are two proposals on the table, the proposal about the general framework of the agreement he presented in Brussels on August 18, and the French-German proposal which has the support of the United States of America and the European Union, presented by envoys Jens Plotner and Emmanuel Bonne.

“A principled dialogue with others, rule of law equal for all, and peace and security throughout the territory, go hand in hand,” Kurti said.

Hovenier: Kosovo should urgently start negotiations on Association (media)

United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, called on the Kurti-led government on Wednesday to urgently start negotiations on the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. “A proposal for the Association needs to be put on the table,” he said, adding that it should not be a proposal that is not in line with the Constitution of Kosovo.

In a meeting with reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, Hovenier called on the government to postpone for 10 months the implementation plan for the re-registration of vehicles with illegal Serbian licence plates. He also said that the government must not issue fines to drivers of vehicles with these plates. Asked if the government has responded to his calls, Hovenier said: “I think you know, as well as I do, how the government is responding to these requests for now. But I am a diplomat, and this means that I always look for a positive way forward. I must believe that we can find a common way forward which is in the interest of all and in the interest of peace and security”.

Hovenier also said he has had continuous contacts with the government but added that “I cannot confirm that the government has taken the actions we have requested”. He said from the U.S. standpoint, the government is right to implement its plan but that “there are real concerns about the manner of implementation”.

Leak: Franco-German plan to resolve Kosovo-Serbia dispute (Euractiv)

A recent Franco-German proposal for a new dialogue framework between Kosovo and Serbia, which EURACTIV has obtained from a trusted source, reveals indirectly, based on the text’s interpretations, how little synergy exists between the two sides to solve the issue.

Following the brutal Kosovo war between 1998-1999, and Pristina’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, with US and EU backing, the relationship between the two states has remained strained. Attempts under the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue have yielded little tangible progress since its launch in 2011.

Since September, rumours have swirled that a new framework has been drafted by recently appointed envoys to the region from Paris and Berlin, indicating a new will to tackle one of the crucial issues in the region, whose six countries have set their sights on EU membership.

Officials in Belgrade and Pristina confirmed the existence of a new German-French proposal for a deal on Kosovo’s final status but disagreed about what the document actually says.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3EcUe7x

Kurti says reprimands issued, while US calls situation in north ‘worrying’ (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission on Wednesday accepted the resignations of four municipal election officers in the northern mainly Serb municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviç, the spokesperson of the Central Electoral Commission, Valmir Elezi, told BIRN.

Of the 578 resignations offered by Serbian officials in the North in the last few days, 461 are by law enforcement officers, 107 from the border police and 10 from the investigation unit of police.

They have been joined by judges and prosecutors, administrative staff and also by the 10 members of the Belgrade-backed Serbian List in the Kosovo Assembly.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Albin Kurti told a government meeting that from November 1 until the morning of November 9, 1,012 letters of reprimand had been issued to holders of illegal Serbian vehicle license plates.

“Their problem [of the citizens in the North] are not our decisions nor the deadlines foreseen; 1,012 warnings have been issued as of this morning, no incidents and no complaints recorded. Their problem is bomb attacks, the burning of cars and houses, and pressure and endless threats from those who have a problem with the law. Those who are ordering the abandonment of Kosovo’s institutions are those who are hindered by legality and constitutionality, the fight against criminality and corruption in our country,” Kurti said on Wednesday.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3DNa08M

Kurti meets German and Slovenian envoys for Western Balkans (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met on Wednesday evening with the German Envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, accompanied by German Ambassador to Kosovo Jorn Rohde, and the Slovenian Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Anzej Franges, accompanied by the Slovenian Ambassador to Kosovo, Minca Benedejcic. The meeting focused on the situation in the country, relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the Berlin Process and other current issues, a government press release notes.

Kurti said the Kosovo government’s decisions and actions are in the service of the rule of law and take into account the concerns of international partners for security and peace.

On the Serbian List’s boycott of the institutions, Kurti said the act was instigated and orchestrated by Belgrade, “which has continued the destructive approach in relations with Kosovo, and that it is an attempt to cover up the unwillingness to discuss the elements of the framework agreement that leads to full normalization of reports. On the other hand, the Republic of Kosovo has proven its readiness and constructiveness in this process.”

Kurti also said that the Kosovo government is a democratic and responsible government, “committed to legality and constitutionality, respect for human and minority rights and freedoms, equality, service to citizens, peace and security.”

Abdixhiku: We need to coordinate with U.S.; not fall on Serbian traps (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku said on Wednesday that Kosovo needs to coordinate closely with the United States of America in order not to fall on the traps of Serbian destabilising forces. “Serbia’s provocations and tendencies for instability are nothing new. Their aim is to ruin the main pillars of our Republic – sovereignty in the north with special focus,” he wrote on Facebook.

Abdixhiku said that in the face of such provocations from Serbia, Kosovo needs to show maturity, engage in lawfulness, internal political unity, and coordinate with its allies. “Any other approach will bring about grave consequences for the country,” he argued.

Haradinaj: Kosovo must not go to elections, govt must not fall (media)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview with teve1 on Wednesday that Prime Minister Albin Kurti must focus on an agreement with Serbia and Kosovo’s membership in NATO. “I don’t believe Kosovo should go to elections or for this government to fall. We have a very important project before us, and the current government must find the courage and the responsibility to reach an agreement with Serbia which includes recognition and to move Kosovo toward NATO membership. This is what the people are expecting from Kurti,” Haradinaj said.

EU Boosts Police Presence in North Kosovo After Serbs Quit (BIRN)

The EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, on Wednesday announced the deployment of gendarmes from its Reserve Formed Police Unit, RFPU, to ensure security in the Serb-majority North of Kosovo after the mass resignation of Kosovo Serbs from state institutions.

“The RFPU is deployed to Kosovo in response to the Mission’s need to have additional forces on the ground and better support our Kosovo counterparts, if requested and if necessary,” EULEX notified on Wednesday.

The RRPU, temporarily deployed in Kosovo on Tuesday night, consists of 23 gendarmes from the Italian Carabinieri and members of the European Gendarmerie Force, EUROGENDFOR.

The EU High Representative Joseph Borrell tweeted on Tuesday that, “at these tense times in Kosovo, EU’s Rule of Law Mission EULEX fulfils its duty to ensure stability… EULEX will continue supporting a safe and secure environment”.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3tiKUK7

For Kosovo Serbs, It’s Not Just About Licence Plates (BIRN)

Opinion piece by Milica Rakic Andric, a civil society activist in North Mitrovica, Kosovo. Rakic is currently working as a project manager at the New Social Initiative in North Mitrovica.

On November 3, 2013, Serbs in north Kosovo turned out in underwhelming numbers for the first time in Kosovo local elections.

Most voted under duress to give legitimacy to the establishment of Kosovo institutions in the north and what was the beginning of a nine-year-long process of disintegration of the Serbian system and its integration into Kosovo’s.

They struggled to accept the new reality; most boycotted the elections; all were afraid of the uncertainties ahead. As if in a bad dream, they screamed, but no-one could hear them; everyone who mattered, and whose reports verified the constructed political truth, hailed the day a festival of democracy.

Serbian local assemblies were replaced by Kosovo local assemblies, presidents of municipalities became Kosovo mayors; the police, the civil protection judiciary, and the prosecution all began implementing Kosovo law. Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence had arrived in the north, with a five year delay.

It took persuasion, pressure, threats and bribery to convince Serbs that they would find their place in Kosovo’s system and society, all delivered by Belgrade, which negotiated in their name.

Read full piece at: https://bit.ly/3thTx7H

EU Council working group to discuss visa liberalisation today (RTK)

The EU Council working group on visas is expected to discuss visa liberalisation for Kosovo today, the news website reports. Citizens of Kosovo cannot travel without visas in the EU Schengen area because there are EU Member States which are sceptical of granting Kosovo visa free regime. The European Commission and the European Parliament have confirmed that Kosovo has fulfilled all visa liberalisation requirements and called on visa liberalisation. The European Commission has reconfirmed recently that Kosovo has fulfilled all the criteria from the visa liberalisation roadmap and recommended the EU Member States to liberalise visas for Kosovo citizens.

Svecla: Kosovo has met visa liberalisation requirements (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said in a meeting with a delegation from France on Wednesday that Kosovo has met all requirements for visa liberalisation. A press release issued by Svecla’s office notes that “the delegation from France was composed of senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Europe and the Ministry of the Interior, in which case technical working meetings were held with our respective ministries in the field of police cooperation, the fight against organized crime and terrorism, migration management, asylum, visa liberalization, francophone, and bilateral relations”.

Mehaj denies reports about resignation of 10 Serb members of KSF (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, denied on Wednesday reports in some media according to which 10 Serb members of the Kosovo Security Force have resigned. Mehaj said: “there are three requests for demobilisation that we received a while ago and all regular procedures are being followed for this. Such public statements are rather a tendency of Belgrade to promote the resignations of Serb members from Kosovo institutions.”

Solidarity Stories #2: Serb Saves Albanian Neighbours in Kosovo (BIRN)

The second in BIRN’s Solidarity Stories series focuses on Momcilo Bojkic, a Kosovo Serb who intervened to prevent Serbian policemen from killing his ethnic Albanian neighbours in the village of Serbica e Poshtme/Donja Srbica in 1999.

Zeke Cikaqi was being beaten up in a dark corner of a police station when he heard someone outside yelling in Serbian.

It was the afternoon of May 12, 1999 in the southern town of Prizren, at the height of Serbian forces’ war against the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian guerrilla force.

A few hours earlier, Serb officers had brought Cikaqi and his brother to the police station, along with 12 other ethnic Albanians from the village of Serbica e Poshtme/Donja Srbica.

He was not aware how long he had been there because he had lost consciousness as a result of the beating, but while trying to clear his head, he heard the voice shouting and realised that he recognised it.

“I remember that there were a lot of people in the police station and they were beating us in shifts. There were also paramilitaries,” he told BIRN at his house in Serbica e Poshtme/Donja Srbica.

“I don’t know how long I fainted for but I heard the voice of Momcilo, our Serb neighbour, from outside.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3UKPM6w

“Zvonko Veselinovic and Milan Radoicic criminals” – Serbian MPs clash over their dirty work (The Geopost)

In the debate on the draft budget rebalance, People’s Party MEP Borislav Novakovic asked Finance Minister Sinisa Mali how it was possible for the companies of “criminals” Zvonko Veselinovic and Milan Radoicic, people who are under international sanctions, to receive funds from the budget.

This caused strong reactions from members of the government, and the newly appointed Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinovic, also reacted, saying that the people there are not criminals, but “those who, from 2000 to 2012, destroyed everything they could destroy, and if Aleksandar Vucic had not won in 2012, they would have destroyed the country of Serbia”.

Novakovic stated that Zvonko Veselinovic is not in Kosovo.

“He lives in Novi Sad and orchestrates the criminal scene of Novi Sad and the whole country.” You know that he is a mafioso and a criminal, but you are silent and you are not allowed to say his name. As a Member of Parliament for Novi Sad, I have the right to say that. I have the right to say that my city will no longer be an occupied city and that it will not experience the torture of Andrej Vucic and Zvonko Veselinovic. “Andrej Vucic running the political processes and Zvonko Veselinovic running the criminal activities,” said Novakovic.

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