Albanian Language Media:

• EU: New proposal on Association is balanced (RTK)
• Kryeziu: Kosovo did not accept or agree to any autonomy (RTK)
• Escobar firm on Kosovo-Serbia agreements; “Legally binding” (Sinjali)
• Svecla: Our citizens positively responded to decision to register vehicles (media)
• Kurti: We will surely win the new elections too (Kallxo)
• Osmani attends the U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Ball (media) 
• Isufaj also enters race for Chief Prosecutor of Special Prosecution (Albanian Post)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: The Brussels meeting was supposed to take place in a couple of days, but the other side did not accept it (Tanjug, RTS)
• Security Information Agency (BIA) chief Aleksandar Vulin resigns (Tanjug, media)
• “Since the SNS has been in power, the goal has been to turn the BIA into a party police” (N1)
• Petkovic: By announcing the increase of KSF and KP members, Kurti threatens the Serbs in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)
• Serbian List: And the world is silently watching it (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)
• Petkovic: A contingent with medicine enters Kosovo, to be delivered to hospitals (KoSSev)
• Serbian List representatives meet with CoE rapporteur (Tanjug)
• Politicians are allowed to lie; it is up to the media to not transmit those lies (KoSSev)

Albanian Language Media

EU: New proposal on Association is balanced (RTK)

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in an interview with RTK on Sunday that at the October 26 meeting in Brussels, Kosovo and Serbia accepted the proposal of the European leaders. “They [EU leaders] presented a new and balanced European proposal for the formation of the Association of [Serb-majority] municipalities and insisted that the parties start implementing it. This would move forward the process of normalization and would lower the risk of escalation and repeated violence. At the meeting, the parties signaled in principle their readiness to accept the European proposal, but both parties had conditions that were unacceptable to the other parties. We expect their readiness to lead to implementation without further delay. The conditions are unacceptable,” he said.

While some media in Kosovo have published documents claiming that they contain parts of the proposed draft statute of the Association, EU officials say that the proposal has not been made public. “The EU proposal has not been made public because diplomatic efforts are ongoing and we never publish official documents that are under discussion, but this is normal practice in international mediation. It has also been our policy not to comment on supposed leaks or media reports that claim to have seen or published the document,” Stano said.

Stano also said that both parties will be assessed on their individual performance in the implementation of the proposal. 

Kryeziu: Kosovo did not accept or agree to any autonomy (RTK)

Spokesperson for the Kosovo Government, Perparim Kryeziu, told RTK on Sunday that Kosovo has not accepted or agreed to any kind of autonomy. “We expressed our readiness for the highest respect of the rights of every member of the communities, in line with the standards of the Council of Europe,” he said.

Former Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti shared on Sunday an article by Fox News which noted among other things that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during her recent visit to Kosovo and Serbia, called for the de facto recognition of Kosovo by Serbia and autonomy for Serbs in the northern of Kosovo. Hoti called on President Osmani and Prime Minister Kurti to react.

Kryeziu meanwhile told RTK that it is unclear if the Fox News article referred to a direct quote by the EC President or if it interpreted her remarks. “What we want to reiterate is that Kosovo has not accepted or agreed to any kind of autonomy. We expressed our readiness for the highest respect of the rights of all members of communities, in line with the standards of Council of Europe, where our Republic will become a member; but never autonomy, defunctionalization, fragmentation or anything else that is not allowed by the Constitution of the Republic,” Kryeziu said.

Escobar firm on Kosovo-Serbia agreements; “Legally binding” (Sinjali)

U.S. Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said that the agreements reached in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, are legally binding for both parties and signing the agreements or the lack thereof does not affect the obligations they have to implement them.

Escobar said that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have taken over obligations before the European Union and the United States and that both parties have specific tasks on the path to normalization: Kosovo to form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and Serbia to recognize Kosovo customs documents, licence plates, ID cards and others.

Escobar also said that the United States fully support the dialogue and that the only thing that remains is related to the timing and manner in which the parties will implement their obligations.

Svecla: Our citizens positively responded to decision to register vehicles (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that Serb citizens in the north of Kosovo have positively responded to the Kosovo Government’s decision to register vehicles with illegal plates to RKS plates and that 471 were registered in four days. He argued that this is happening “because today in the north there are no strong criminals like Milan Radoicic, Llune, Mami, the Russian and their likes”.

Svecla also said that “it may seem unthinkable compared to last year, but today in the four municipalities of the north are serving police officers that are in the service of law and order and in the fight against smuggling, criminal and terrorist groups”. He also claimed that former police officers in the north were also involved in the Banjska attack on September 24. 

Svecla said that Kosovo will not bow down to bandits and criminal groups even when well-organized groups supported by the Serbian Government aim to terrorize the people, and to threaten the integrity and sovereignty of Kosovo. “This result is thanks to the unstoppable engagement of every person that does not surrender to threats, intimidation and attacks, but instead they choose to believe in justice and equality,” he said.

Kurti: We will surely win the new elections too (Kallxo)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who also leads the Vetevendosje Movement, said in a party meeting on Sunday that they will win another four-year mandate in government. “We won the elections in November 2019, and then we won again with 50.2 percent of votes in February 2021, and we will surely win the new elections by 2025,” Kurti wrote in a Facebook post after the meeting.

Kurti called on all party activists to engage so that Vetevendosje can win another mandate. “But the reason why we are engaged together in our Kosovar and national politics, is not to win the elections. We used to be engaged even when we did not take part in the elections. The reason behind our engagement is our strong desire for democratic change,” he said.

Osmani attends the U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Ball (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani attended on Sunday the U.S. Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Pristina. “A night of tradition, friendship, and respect, celebrating not only the courage and commitment of women & men in uniform, but also, the enduring partnership between Kosovo and the U.S,” Osmani wrote on X. 

Isufaj also enters race for Chief Prosecutor of Special Prosecution (Albanian Post)

The news website reports that Blerim Isufaj has entered the race for the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, while the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) has sent for the second time his proposal for State Chief Prosecutor to President Vjosa Osmani, although the latter refused to decree Isufaj on October 17, claiming that the selection process was corrupt.

A source in the KPC told Albanian Post that in addition to Isufaj, another three prosecutors are aiming for the post of Chief Prosecutor. “The candidates for the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Prosecution are Blerim Isufaj, Valdet Gashi, Florije Shamolli and Atdhe Dema,” the source said.

Serbian Language Media 

Vucic: The Brussels meeting was supposed to take place in a couple of days, but the other side did not accept it (Tanjug, RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said last night that a new round of dialogue was supposed to be held in Brussels on November 6 or 7, but that the other side did not accept it.

He told Tanjug that it was agreed upon, but that he thought the other side did not accept it.

Speaking about the writings of ''the opposition media and the documentary film" that was made about him, Vucic said that he understood everything, and that he was judged in the film without his presence, but that he did not know what the empty glass was for.

Vucic pointed out that in Brussels they are ''afraid of Albin Kurti's bots'', which have a great influence on Brussels politics through social networks.

He thanked the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for behaving much more correctly than some of her European colleagues, because she did not want to react at the first blow when everyone demanded that certain measures be introduced in Belgrade at any cost.

But not about the issue of Kosovo, because she thinks the same as all of them when it comes to that, said Vucic. 

Vucic thanked the EU ''for the huge amount of money for the Belgrade-Nis railway and that she did not want to react at the first blow when everyone demanded that certain measures be introduced at any cost to Belgrade and came and wanted to listen to our side".

Security Information Agency (BIA) chief Aleksandar Vulin resigns (Tanjug, media)

Vulin issued a statement saying the United States and the European Union (EU) want his head as a precondition for not imposing sanctions on Serbia.

“I am not the cause of blackmail and pressure on Serbia and the Serb World, but I will not allow myself to be the reason for blackmail and pressure on Serbia and the Serb World. That is why I am tendering my irrevocable resignation from the post of BIA director,” said Vulin.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/bdz8v8vk

The former director of the BIA, Aleksandar Vulin, said last night that he resigned because he felt that at this moment, he had no right to sacrifice Serbia for the sake of his survival in office, stressing that there is no conflict between him and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, reported Tanjug, citing TV Pink.

"There is no conflict between me and President Vucic, on the contrary, I am grateful that I was able to lead the BIA. For a year I did not appear in public, because the director of the BIA cannot and should not do that, but now I can appear. From the first day of my appointment the pressures started on me as the head of the BIA. I decided to resign, not President Vucic," Vulin told Pink.

He revealed how the conversation between him and Vucic went before his resignation.

"He told me that I know what I am facing, and he leaves it to me and my conscience to decide what I will do. The pressure has been going on for a year, but now the great powers of the West wanted to overthrow Aleksandar Vucic, reduce the number of votes, and damage him in one way or another. They want (before the elections) to reduce it to 20 percent. To be part of the government, but not a decisive factor. They want to see him weak, to see his policy weak," Vulin said.

He pointed out that he submitted his resignation because he felt that at this moment, he had no right to sacrifice Serbia for the sake of his survival in office, which, as he says, was threatened with sanctions otherwise.

The former director of the BIA said that Banjska was a "cry of the desperate", people who were expelled from their villages and wanted to go home, commenting on the event of September 24.

"If you think that our country cannot complete the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, as Israel is doing, for example, you are mistaken. But we will not do that, it is not our policy. We will negotiate for thousands of years, but we will not wage a single war day," Vulin told Pink.

He added that he regrets all the lives lost but adds that "we have to ask whose responsibility is for everything" and why KFOR did not control that area.

Vulin said that the state of Serbia does not have effective control over Kosovo, and that if it had, "this would not have happened", just as it would not have happened "even if Kurti's terrorism had not existed".

“Since the SNS has been in power, the goal has been to turn the BIA into a party police” (N1)

Predrag Petrovic from the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, commenting on the resignation of BIA director Aleksandar Vulin and his explanation that it will not be a reason for blackmail and pressure on Serbia and the “Serbian world”, said that Vulin "wants to present himself as a victim of the West, which damages Serbia and Serbian interests, as if he had been a barrier against Western attacks until now". Journalist Vuk Cvijic argues that, since the SNS has been in power, the goal is to turn the BIA into a party police, and "Vulin performed it very zealously and I believe that he will be thanked for it with him getting some other position".

Petrovic reminds that Vulin did not resign after the mass murders in May at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School and near Mladenovac, as well as after the debacle in Banjska.

“This is some kind of attempt by (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic to show the West how he is moving away from friendship with Russia,” Petrovic told N1.

Cvijic believes that what made Vulin suitable for BIA director was his loyalty to Vucic and the unsolved affair.

“There is no ideology here, it is purely about remaining in power,” he says.

When asked who could succeed Vulin and when, he says that he expects it will again be someone from the political environment who is personally loyal to Vucic, “and if there is someone from BIA, then it will be someone with some affairs”.

Read more at:https://t.ly/osTaU

Petkovic: By announcing the increase of KSF and KP members, Kurti threatens the Serbs in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, emphasized that Kosovo's PM Albin Kurti once again revealed the "face of a war chief" and had made the most explicit threat to the Serbs in Kosovo.

Regarding Kurti's statement that he would deploy an additional 500 police officers and 600 KSF members in the next year and that no one would stop them in the south or the north, Petkovic stated that the additional police and “paramilitary forces” that Kurti intended to engage were not meant to deter any external threat because no such threat existed.

As Petkovic noted in his statement, "This is about strengthening formations for intimidating and terrorizing the Serbian population in Kosovo to continue the ethnic cleansing of the Serbs by Kurti".

"By stating that he and his punitive expedition 'cannot be stopped either in the south or in the north', Kurti clearly defines the Serbs as enemies to be confronted with force and weapons", Petkovic said among other things. 

He added  that the first step towards normalization was to restrain Kurti.

"For those who may not have realized it until now, today it should be quite obvious that the first and most important step towards a peaceful and stable region is to decisively restrain Albin Kurti and his warlike politics," Petkovic concluded in the statement.

Serbian List: And the world is silently watching it (Radio Mitrovica sever, Kosovo Online)

Serbian List also reacted on the PM Kurti’s statement, who said that "no one will stop him in the north or the south", and assessed it as an obvious threat to the Serbs in both northern and southern Kosovo.

"Despite clear calls from the international community to stop further escalation and for Pristina to start de-escalation and the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, Albin Kurti today made a statement that no one would stop him in the north or the south and that he would engage an additional 500 police officers and 600 KSF members for this purpose next year, which is an obvious threat to the Serbs in both northern and southern Kosovo and Metohija", the Serbian List said in the statement. 

As stated, the formation of additional mono-ethnic armed formations at this moment reflects an evident desire to resolve issues through the militarization of this area and armed formations, instead of through dialogue.

It is added that the weight of this threat is even greater, as Kurti has previously stated that half of the Serbs should be expelled, half should be arrested, and the Serbs would pay and suffer.

"Then the Serbs were beaten, arrested, oppressed, and the world silently watched. That is why we call on international actors to speak up and prevent Kurti's plans, which, if realized, would mean the expulsion of the Serbs from their centuries-old homes and the creation of a police state in the making," read the Serbian List statement. 

Petkovic: A contingent with medicine enters Kosovo, to be delivered to hospitals (KoSSev)

“As a result of Belgrade’s intense and long diplomatic struggle, a contingent of medicines will soon be delivered to Serbian hospitals in Kosovo,” announced the head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic. Petkovic’s confirmation arrived after the US and EU ambassadors praised the Kosovo Ministry of Health for “timely approving the request” for the delivery of medical products, but also following numerous allegations made by the Serbian side in the last couple of weeks about a possible humanitarian crisis, with accusations against Pristina.

“Two tow trucks and a truck with the necessary medicines and infusion solutions entered Kosovo last night and will, after the procedures are completed, be distributed among our health institutions,” said Petkovic on Saturday.

This official also mentioned the humanitarian disaster, warning that “we were on the threshold” of one due to the “almost two-year blockade and obstruction of Pristina, which invented various administrative obstacles”.

Petkovic also added that official Belgrade regularly warned the EU officials about this during the dialogue, as well as other international actors.

“We will never give up on our people in Kosovo,” Petkovic said in a post on the „X“ social network.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhty989

Serbian List representatives meet with CoE rapporteur (Tanjug)

Serbian List leader Zlatan Elek and the deputy leader Dragisa Milovic met with Council of Europe Rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis in North Mitrovica on Friday, noting that the position of Serbs in Kosovo was the worst since 1999, which they said was a direct consequence of anti-Serb actions by Albin Kurti's regime.

They presented dozens of cases of blatant violations of the rights of Serbs by Kurti's regime that have been met with silence on the part of the international community, which is unacceptable as it is a threat to the survival of Serbs in Kosovo, Serbian List said in a statement.

"Human rights of the Serbs are under threat as a result of institutional repression our citizens have been subjected to for more than two years," Elek and Milovic told Bakoyannis.

They said daily attacks on Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church, usurpation of property and beatings and harassment of Serbs as well as a ban on supplies of goods and medicines jeopardised the vital interests of the Serbs, the SL said.

Politicians are allowed to lie; it is up to the media to not transmit those lies (KoSSev)

Joint research by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and Internews Kosovo (IKS) – “ Media Reporting on Serbia and Kosovo relations: Conflict or Cooperation“ was presented in the Media Center in Caglavica on Friday. As part of the event organized by KoSSev, after the presentation, a debate took place in which journalists and media workers discussed challenges in reporting from Kosovo.

The reported outlined a lack of media freedom and functional and independent media systems. It also testified to the deep system polarization in both Belgrade and Pristina.

When it comes to Kosovo, this polarization is reflected along ethnic lines, and in Serbia, it finds itself between pro-governmental media and media that are under government control.

“This polarization is further deepened through media reporting of mainstream media on mutual relations, which are mainly loaded with propaganda or stereotypical reporting,” the report states.

The research also reveals that high-ranking politicians on both sides, together with members of the international community – dictate the agenda, simply because they are the most commonly quoted sources.

This research was presented by its authors – Tanja Maksic from BIRN, and Kreshnik Gashi from Internews Kosovo. The event was attended by 40 journalists from Novi Sad, Belgrade, Pristina, Gracanica, Caglavica and Gorazdevac.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4n23uky4