UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, November 8, 2021

Kurti to DW: Under Kosovo's Constitution, there can be no association on ethnic basis
Kurti: Serbia threatening third Balkan war (Telegrafi)
Presidency reacts to Kosovo not being invited to Biden's democracy summit (media)
Zulfaj: Kosovo not invited to democracy summit due to last government’s track record (media)
Konjufca: We hope we will be invited to the summit next time (Telegrafi)
Hoti says blaming his government for summit's snub is 'low propaganda' (Klan)
U.S. legislators concerned over developments in Serbia and its influence on the region (VOA)
Bosnia's disintegration would affect entire region, says peace envoy (Reuters)
Kosovo Prosecutorial Council refuses to get involved in the vetting process (media)
Di Bella: Kosovo's GDP expected to increase by 7-8% this year (Koha)
COVID-19: 19 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kurti to DW: Under Kosovo's Constitution, there can be no association on ethnic basis

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that the Constitutional Court ruling of 2015 has concluded that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities cannot be integrated in the Kosovo's legal and constitutional order. He said that while the Constitutional Court has not tackle the agreement of 2013 for the establishment of the Association of Serb-municipality, "it has practically also given a blow to the agreement of 2013."

"Under the Constitution of Kosovo there can be no association on ethnic basis. This was done in Dayton when a construction that today is called Republika Srpska was erected on ethnic basis and which is there for Belgrade and not for Serbs. They want a similar one in Kosovo," he said.

"It is becoming increasingly evident that Serbia is behaving in the Western Balkans like the Russian Federation whereby the Republika Srpska in Bosnia is attempting to turn into a Belarus, while Montenegro into Ukraine. So the point of the matter is that Serbia does not accept as real states countries that are not in the European Union, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and even North Macedonia."

On the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Kurti said the process has stalled for years due to, what he said was Serbia's fault. "First off, they don't want a solution for the Kosovo Serbs but compensation for Serbia," he said, adding: "Undoubtedly, Kosovo and Serbia cannot reach an agreement outside the EU framework. The European Union should be the mediator and facilitator of this agreement and this agreement should focus on mutual recognition. Currently we have mutual non-recognition, Serbia does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, Kosovo as a Republic does not recognise Serbia and this is a relationship that we have now for 13 years, unsustainable, but which has to do with the recent war in Kosovo for which Serbia does not want to take responsibility. So not recognising the crimes in Kosovo and not recognising independence are not two very different things, as one is caused by the other. By not acknowledging the crimes committed in Kosovo, crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's independence because it considers it a result of our liberation war but seems to forget that it is also a result of its crimes that forced NATO to intervene in Europe against a state whose forces did not choose the means to expel the population, to kill and rape it."

Kurti: Serbia threatening third Balkan war (Telegrafi)

In an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti is reported to have accused the Serbs of acting like ‘Germany between the World Wars’ and warned that the latest crises in Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina can deteriorate if the western governments fail to address the situations seriously.

“I think that the situation is undoubtedly more dangerous than before,” Kurti said. “If you look at the military spending in Serbia, you will note they have skyrocketed in recent years. Who are they buying all those for?” he added.

Presidency reacts to Kosovo not being invited to Biden's democracy summit (media)

Kosovo President's Office has reacted to accusations that Kosovo leaders are being shunned in the international front and that the most recent example of this is Kosovo not being invited to the Summit for Democracy that will be hosted by the U.S. President Joe Biden in December.

"The tendency of certain opposition figures to create a narrative of alleged isolation of the President are groundless. Since April, the President has undertaken over 30 meetings with her counterparts. In regards to the U.S., she has had, among others, communication with President Biden and spoken to Vice President Harris," said Blerim Vela, Osmani's chief of staff, on Twitter.

He added that it was due to this partnership that Kosovo received over half a million of COVID-19 vaccines from the U.S. while President Biden delivered a personal address and the temporary sheltering of Afghan refugees was made possible. "All of these were made possible without pushing forward ideas of Kosovo's partition," Vela concluded.

Zulfaj: Kosovo not invited to democracy summit due to last government’s track record (media)

Jeton Zulfaj, advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, reacted to Kosovo not being invited to the Summit for Democracy saying that it came as a result of the previous government's performance.

"Kosovo is the only country in the Western Balkans that ranks the lowest on the Freedom House's 'Nations in Transit' with 3.4 out of 7 points or 36% out of 100%. The Freedom House concluded that this year the democracy declined in Kosovo due to the unconstitutional installment of the Hoti government in June of 2020. So, like the Progress Report, the Freedom House one and others that were published are mainly based on last year," he wrote on Facebook.

Konjufca: We hope we will be invited to the summit next time (Telegrafi)

Glauk Konjufca, Kosovo Assembly Speaker, commented on the U.S.-hosted Summit for Democracy saying that an invitation to Kosovo would have been welcomed and that he hoped next year Kosovo would be invited to the event.

"They are important conferences where the United States of America assess who is important to take part or not. For Kosovo it would have been welcomed to have been part of this conference. This is taking place for the first time but I heard that there will be another one next year," Konjufca is quoted to have said in Prizren. "Since we have not been invited to the first, we hope will be at the second one a year from now."

At the same time, the U.S. Embassy told Telegrafi that "not all partners could have been accommodated to this initiative." "The President's Summit for Democracy is one of the many U.S. initiatives focused on advancing democracy, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights across the globe."

Hoti says blaming his government for summit's snub is 'low propaganda' (Klan)

Former Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said that Kosovo not being invited by the U.S. to take part in the Summit for Democracy "reflects the level of Kosovo's relations with the United States."

"When I came to office in June of 2020, great effort was needed to win back the trust of the White House. Three weeks after taking on the post of prime minister, I received invitation for a visit to the White House. It is intolerable to allow the situation deteriorating once again. Unfortunately, all actions of this government lead that way. The approach towards dialogue has degraded from high level meetings in Brussels and Washington on final agreement for mutual recognition into technical matters concerning removal of roadblocks," Hoti said, adding that "shifting the blame elsewhere for the lack of invitation is low propaganda."

U.S. legislators concerned over developments in Serbia and its influence on the region (VOA)

Seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to consider imposing sanctions on those who they say destabilise the Western Balkans, Voice of America in Albanian reported.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ritchie Torres, David N. Cicilline, Jan Schakowsky, James P. McGovern, Mike Quigley and Jim Costa remind President Biden of his position expressed during a 2016 visit to Serbia where he said that "it is overwhelmingly in the self-interest of the United States of America for the people of Serbia to be able to grow and prosper."

Therefore, the letter adds, "we encourage your administration to engage with President Aleksandar Vucic to combat corruption and attacks on freedom of the press, both of which are critical to a prosperous and democratic Serbia and to its European Union aspirations."

The legislators further urge Biden to consider invoking an executive order for the blocking of property and suspending entry into the U.S. to persons contributing to the destabilising situation in the Western Balkans.

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic has reacted to the letter. "Write resolutions, statements, write whatever you wish. At the end, we will come out before the citizens of Serbia and they will take the final decisions." Vucic added that despite what the letter says, Serbia has "maintained peace and stability" in the region and has "contributed to it."

Bosnia's disintegration would affect entire region, says peace envoy (Reuters)

If a multi-ethnic Bosnia is pushed towards disintegration, that will inevitably have an impact on other unresolved conflicts in the Western Balkans such as that between Serbia and Kosovo, Bosnia's peace envoy told Reuters on Saturday.

German politician Christian Schmidt, who is international High Representative in Bosnia, said this week that the peace deal that ended the country's war in the 1990s was at risk of unravelling unless the international community took measures to stop Serb separatists.

He was referring to moves by the Bosnian Serb leadership aimed at undoing key state institutions such as the joint armed forces, the indirect taxation authority and the top judicial body, as well as other institutions.

"The unrest in this region will also affect the question of the difficult relationship between Serbia and Kosovo in the same or similar way," Schmidt said in an interview.