UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 16, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

Minister Gervalla to visit Presevo Valley today (media)
EU: Kosovo should have allowed Petkovic's visit as Serbia did with Gervalla (Klan)
EULEX Chief: We do not interfere directly in court proceedings, we only give recommendations (Klan)
Mehaj receives tomorrow Croatian Minister of Defense (Klan)
The CEC announces the results for mayor of Dragash (RTK)
Minister Haxhiu provides details for landing 300 cells to Denmark (RTK)
Kosovo Historians Slate Serbian Minister for Denying ‘Proven’ Massacre (Prishtina Insight)
EP requests opening of archives of former Yugoslavia due to political crimes (RFE)
“Energy price in Kosovo risks going up”, says expert warning on power shortages (euronews.al)
Serbia blocks Kosovo goods at the border (RTK)
COVID-19: 8 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Petkovic: Kurti's arbitrariness not to allow voting is a violation of basic human rights (RTS)
Office for Kosovo and Metohija refutes reports Gervala was prevented from visiting southern Serbia (KoSSev, media)
Stano: Visit of Petkovic should have been allowed, EU calls on Kosovo to reconsider its decision (Kosovo-online)
Konjufca: The decision on the land of Visoki Decani should not be implemented, the judges did not protect the Kosovo Constitution (KoSSev, Klan Kosova)
Serbian power company CEO dismisses managers over power outages (N1)
Serbian, Russian general staff officers discuss cooperation in Moscow (N1)
Witness in case of Dusko Arsic interviewed (Radio KIM)
USAID marks 20 years of partnership with Serbia, invested 882 million dollars (N1, RTS)

Opinion:

Serbia: A Testament to People Power (carnegieeurope.eu)

International:

Denmark to ship prisoners off to Kosovo (Deutsche Welle)
China’s Economic Diplomacy: Where do Taiwan and Kosovo fit in? (moderndiplomacy.eu)

Albanian Language Media

Minister Gervalla to visit Presevo Valley today (media)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika Gervalla-Schwartz has announced that she will go for the first time in the Presevo Valley today.

Gervalla wrote on Facebook that she has left for Bujanovac, where she will meet with the head of the municipality Nagip Arifi.

"A day late, I will soon start my first visit to the Presevo Valley. I feel very privileged to on behalf of the government of the Republic of Kosovo visit the institutional representatives and citizens of the municipalities in the Valley and to speak and see closely how we can deepen our cooperation. Together with professor Rexhep Gjergji, we left for Bujanovac, where we will initially meet with the mayor of this municipality, Mr. Nagip Arifi. We will hold meetings with other institutional representatives in this municipality," Gervalla wrote.

She announced that she will also go to Presevo during the day, to meet with the Mayor Ardita Sinani.

"We will hold meetings with MPs, representatives of Albanian political parties and students," she wrote. `

EU: Kosovo should have allowed Petkovic's visit as Serbia did with Gervalla (Klan)

The European Union has called on Kosovo to allow visits of Serbian officials, which are in line with previously signed agreements.

EU Foreign Policy and Security Spokesman Peter Stano told Klankosova.tv that they have taken into account the latest developments in official visits to Kosovo and Serbia, as the Kosovo chief diplomat was also barred from going to Presevo on Wednesday.

"Let us emphasize again that we expect both parties to fully implement all past agreements, including the agreement on official visits. According to the agreement, all visits should be conducted in such a way as to advance the normalization process or to contribute to the overall work in the context of the EU-facilitated dialogue. We expect the parties to abide by these instructions."

Stano said that the visit of the Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government Petar Petkovic, had been duly notified in accordance with the agreement and that for this reason “he should have been allowed to pay the visit - as was the case with Minister Gervalla's visit to southern Serbia.

As this topic was raised by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell last week within the Stabilization and Association Council, we call on Kosovo to allow official visits that meet the above guidelines, including those of Director Petkovic and we call on Kosovo to reconsider its decision in this regard ".

Minister Gervalla this Thursday was allowed to pay an official visit to the Presevo Valley, one day late.

EULEX Chief: We do not interfere directly in court proceedings, we only give recommendations (Klan)

EULEX has presented the second public Report on Systematic and Thematic Monitoring in Justice with findings and recommendations for improving the rule of law in Kosovo.

Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the EULEX Mission, said that as a mission they do not interfere directly in court proceedings, but only give recommendations.

"Since the beginning of 2019, EULEX has prepared five reports, the first three with the KJC, KPP and MoJ. In October 2020, EULEX presented the first public report on the monitoring of the police, prosecution and judiciary. EULEX cannot intervene directly in court proceedings, but what we can do is provide recommendations."

Wigemark further stated that monitoring can only work if there is collaboration.

"Because of this cooperation so far, this feature of strong functioning is going well. Monitoring covers the entire chain of the judiciary," he said.

Mehaj receives tomorrow Croatian Minister of Defense (Klan)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense Armend Mehaj will receive tomorrow on an official visit the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Croatia Mario Banozic with his delegation.

According to the announcement, the meeting starts at 09:00 hours, when the two defense ministers will hold a head-to-head meeting, and then a meeting will be held between the delegations of both countries.

After these meetings, they will sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Kosovo and Croatia after which they will address the media.

The CEC announces the results for mayor of Dragash (RTK)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced the final results of the second round of elections for mayor of Dragash, according to which the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate Bexhet Xheladini will lead this municipality for the next four years.

According to these results, the LDK candidate, Bexhet Xheladini with 6,192 votes or 51.16% won with 280 votes more than the PDK candidate, Shaban Shabani with 5,912 votes or 48.84%.

The decision of the CEC comes after the repetition of voting outside Kosovo for voters registered by this municipality and the counting of ballots.

The parties have the right to appeal to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) until tomorrow at 11:00.

Minister Haxhiu provides details for landing 300 cells to Denmark (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu spoke about agreement between Kosovo and Denmark on landing 300 prison cells to the Danish state.

Haxhiu said that on Monday, her Danish counterpart Nick Haekkerup will visit Kosovo, when other details regarding the agreement will be known.

“The cells that are expected to be given for use, will be in Gjilan prison. This is an international agreement which will require ratification by 2/3 of the votes,” she said.

She noted further that she highly appreciated the selection by the Danish state.

“I appreciate that this selection by Denmark is a high assessment of Kosovo and institutions as a credible country,” she said. Haxhiu added that she does not believe that there will be prisoners for terrorism. And added that the Ministry will issue a statement on the matter.

Denmark’s Minister of Justice Nick Haekkerup has stated that this is being done in order to expand the capacities of Denmark prisons.

"We have a shortage of over a thousand places in the Danish Prison and Detention Service by 2025. I am happy to say that with the agreement reached together we are addressing this issue.

Among other things, we agreed that the work should be completed for the loan of cells in Kosovo to deport prisoners from third countries. We are expanding Danish prisons for the short and long term," Haekkerup reportedly said.

Kosovo Historians Slate Serbian Minister for Denying ‘Proven’ Massacre (Prishtina Insight)

Serbian Interior Minister’s insistence that the 1999 Reçak massacre is ‘a big lie’ is part of a deliberate policy pursued by Belgrade to change history, historians say.

Kosovo historians have reacted angrily after Serbia’s Interior Minister, Aleksandar Vulin, last week denied the January 1999 Reçak massacre in central Kosovo, calling it a “big lie and an extraordinary fabrication”.

Historian Frashër Demaj called Vulin’s statements reckless and unbelievable and said Serbia is trying to evade responsibility for the Reçak massacre for political reasons. Demaj, a member of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences, says there is no doubt the massacre took place.

“The first thing we have to say is that there was a massacre in Reçak because there were organised police and military forces, even specialized units, commanded by Serbian officers,” he said.

“There is no doubt about it, even though Serbia is trying to hide this for its own political reasons,” Demaj told BIRN.

Another historian, Jusuf Buxhovi, said such statements by Serbian officials are to be expected.

According to him, although Serbia cannot now change history after NATO intervened in the Kosovo war in 1999, and Kosovo’s later declaration of independence, it has a longer-term plan.

“Obviously, faced with international intervention, Serbia cannot change these realities,” Buxhovi said. “But, over time, it has found out that, in the political plan, it can influence [history], and play down the role of the aggressor or completely ignore it”.

According to Buxhovi, Kosovo should take on the denial of history by Serbia.

“Belgrade’s denial of history [of ethnocide and genocide] is more of our problem, changing the status of the victim with that of the winner. Belgrade is making the most of this deception,” he said.

Historian Frashër Demaj said Serbia wants to present itself as peaceful in order to achieve its goals in several regional initiatives.

“Serbia’s qualification of the Reçak massacre and other massacres is [part of] a tendency to justify [itself],” Demaj said. “These statements, reckless as they are, are also unbelievable, not only for the Kosovar public that experienced them [the crimes] but also for international diplomacy.”

According to him, history recognizes Serbia as the initiator of the wars in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

To deal with this, Buxhovi proposes that Kosovo adopt a more coordinated stance with internationals on the matter. If it fails to do so, he says, it could turn into a serious problem.

“The discourse of blaming [Serbia] as a response to Belgrade’s propaganda, not only does not help but can also turn into a serious problem, because for the last 20 years, Kosovo politics has used most of these historical facts to get favours,” he warned.

The claims of the Serbian Minister have drawn criticism from the European Union and the United States, both of which have called the Reçak massacre “proven”.

On January 15, 1999, Serbian police and military forces in Kosovo killed 45 Albanian civilians, including women and children, in the village.

This massacre marked the key moment in NATO’s decision to launch air military intervention against Serbia due to the war and human rights violations in Kosovo.

Vulin on December 11 responded to US and EU criticism over his statements, saying he was proud to be “part of the fight for the truth”.

“I am ready to pay a price, both political and personal, for this. My head is a small price for the right of Serbs not to be ashamed in front of their children because of the lies of others,” he said.

This is not the first time that Vulin or other high officials in Serbia either denied the massacre or denied Serbia was responsible for it. Others including President Aleksandar Vucic have called the massacre a “fabricated crime”.

The Serbian Interior Ministry and the national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia, RTS, have been recently co-producing a six-episode series called “The Kosovo File”, which, as announced, deals with the chronology of events and the fate of civilians and the police in Kosovo from 1998 to 2001.

EP requests opening of archives of former Yugoslavia due to political crimes (RFE)

Representatives of the European Parliament on December 15th, late in the evening, voted on the report on co-operation in the fight against organized crime in the Western Balkans. This document also requires the states of the region to open the archives of the former Yugoslavia.

In the adopted document, MEPs called on the governments of the countries of the region to step up their efforts towards reforms in the field of rule of law and the fight against corruption and organized crime.

531 MEPs voted for this report, while 48 were against and 117 abstained.

The approved report states that the countries of the Western Balkans are "countries of origin, destination and transit with human beings and serve as transit corridors for migrants and refugees, but also areas for money laundering and firearms trade."

The document states, among other things, that "Members of the European Parliament, aware of the allegations of links between senior political figures and organized crime groups, through this report, stressed the need to eradicate political and administrative links with organized crime through clear measures of protection from corruption and with efficient prosecution of high-profile corruption cases.”

"The links between organized crime and business policy existed even before the break-up of Yugoslavia and continued until the end of the conflicts in the 1990s, when MEPs condemned the apparent lack of will of the responsible authorities in the region to open the archives of the former Yugoslavia and the files should be returned to the governments if they want," the document reads.

The need for the Western Balkan countries to co-operate and exchange intelligence with European Union member states and international partners is also emphasized.

The author of the document, the European MP Lukas Mandl after the approval of this report stated that organized crime undermines the trust of citizens in their public institutions.

"Therefore, this is a major obstacle for societies in the Western Balkans to develop their states and economies. The European Union cannot use organized crime as an excuse to delay the enlargement process, but must stand by the peoples of the Western Balkans in "Their fight against organized crime," Mandl said.

Members of the European Parliament with this approved report agreed that the fight against organized crime and integration into the European Union are processes that are strengthened among themselves, calling on the European Union to accelerate the integration process.

In this context, as isolation encourages criminal activities, Members of the European Parliament also called on the Council to approve visa liberalization for Kosovo without further delay.

The main factors that make Western Balkan societies sensitive, according to the report, are the lack of employment opportunities, corruption, misinformation, elements of state capture, inequality and the mixing of undemocratic regimes such as Russia and China.

Accordingly, according to MEPs, the European Union should support these efforts through financial assistance and practical cooperation.

“Energy price in Kosovo risks going up”, says expert warning power shortages (euronews.al)

Energy expert Lulzim Syla said this morning that Kosovo is in a difficult situation and it might need to import energy.

Syla emphasized that energy prices might go up and warned of power outages.

“Energy price cannot go up in a day. They need to come to a conclusion on what is an affordable price for citizens,” he said while adding that the reserve fund has been exhausted in order to supply the country with electricity. He noted that there is a bilateral agreement between Kosovo and Albania which should be enforced in times of crisis.

“They should work on energy efficiency by isolating dozens of houses in Kosovo that spend energy the most. The government must come up with the necessary legislation to foster new ways of generating power, such as solar or wind,” he said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti referred to the current situation on Wednesday as “grave”.

He accused previous governments of mismanagement and called on citizens to save energy.

Serbia blocks Kosovo goods at the border (RTK)

Kosovo goods are blocked by Serbia at the border crossings in Merdare and Dheu i Bardhë.

Sources say that Kosovar exporters who were sending their goods to Germany and Switzerland were not allowed to pass as transit.

COVID-19: 8 new cases, no deaths (media)

Eight new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. Eight persons recovered during this time. There are 314 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Petkovic: Kurti's arbitrariness not to allow voting is a violation of basic human rights (RTS)

Radio Television of Serbia reported that with the end of the year, still no progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, adding that with the stagnation of talks between the two sides, tensions are further exacerbated by Pristina's decision not to allow a referendum on changing the Serbian constitution, but also the sixth ban on the entry to the KiM Office director Petra Petkovic.

In the past two decades, all election cycles organized by Belgrade have been conducted in Kosovo with the assistance of the OSCE. Belgrade has now been informed by Pristina that a referendum on amending the Constitution will not be possible, reported RTS.

"By deciding to ban the referendum, Albin Kurti is trying to deepen the crisis, even though Resolution 1244 guarantees the right to vote, which is also in the mandate of the OSCE mission in Kosovo and Metohija. Therefore, we turned to Brussels and Quint countries, which are seriously considering the issue and we expect a positive answer, because the arbitrariness of Albin Kurti is a direct violation of basic human rights," said Petar Petkovic, director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, as a guest in RTS morning news.

Petkovic was not allowed to enter Kosovo for the sixth time and was not even informed about that before he came to the administrative crossing.

"There is no explanation, I did not receive any email with a negative answer, as before. Until the moment I came to Jarinje, I did not know that my visit was forbidden," said Petkovic.

The planned visit to the Devic Monastery is primarily to support and help our people, because, as Petkovic says, ''we are now in a situation to allocate more money that we can invest in roads, hospitals and the like''.

He also pointed out that Pristina's claim that Donika Gervalla was not allowed to go to Bujanovac was not true, because all visits were agreed, among other things, by the Brussels Agreement.

The Brussels administration has been practically on winter vacation since Monday, so by the end of the year, there will probably be no more meetings between the delegations of Belgrade and Pristina, neither at the highest nor at the technical level.

"There is no rest for us, and we are fighting for our people. Belgrade is ready and committed to participate in the dialogue and we are always ready to go to Brussels. The Pristina side refuses talks and does not want to discuss all key issues. Speaking of the past year, we had two serious crises with the incursion of ROSU in northern Kosovo and the wounding of Srecko Sofronijevic. We are fighting frantically to preserve peace and stability. It is not an option to surrender but to insist and fight for agreements and what has already been signed," said Petkovic to RTS.

Office for Kosovo and Metohija refutes reports Gervala was prevented from visiting southern Serbia (KoSSev, media)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija refuted Pristina media reports and allegations of Pristina officials that Belgrade did not approve the visit of Foreign Minister Donika Gervala to Bujanovac and Presevo, KoSSev portal reports.

“According to the agreement on official visits, any visit between Belgrade and Pristina officials is considered approved unless explicitly prohibited by a memo, and Donika Gervala Schwartz’s request was treated positively“, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said.

They added that the liaison officer representing Belgrade told his colleague – Pristina liaison officer in Belgrade, that Gervala Schwartz’s visit was approved and that she was allowed to visit the mentioned municipalities as per the valid agreement and without status-related insignia.

As evidence, they shared a screenshot of an email showing Pristina liaison officer thanking his Belgrade counterpart for the approval of the notification on Gervala’s visit.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija also called on the media and Pristina officials to stop deceiving public and sharing incorrect information.

“Belgrade consistently respects the agreements and is committed to the normalization of relations, and no inaccurate allegations from Pristina can invalidate that“, it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, KoSSev portal reported that Gervala confirmed on Facebook she will visit Presevo today and meet students and politicians there.

Earlier, Serbian media reported that Belgrade authorities had approved the entry of a member of the Kosovo prime minister’s cabinet into Presevo and Bujanovac and that the Serbian state leadership was behaving responsibly and respecting agreements on freedom of movement and official visits.

They also recalled that Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic was banned from entering Kosovo yesterday for the sixth time since the beginning of the year, and he was notified of the ban upon reaching Jarinje crossing point.

Stano: Visit of Petkovic should have been allowed, EU calls on Kosovo to reconsider its decision (Kosovo-online)

European Union Spokesperson, Peter Stano called upon Pristina to reconsider its decision to ban Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic from visiting Kosovo, since the visit, as he said, was announced in line with the agreement on official visits, adding it should have been approved, Kosovo-online portal reports.

“We have taken into consideration recent events related to official visits. Once again, we wish to emphasize that we expect both sides to fully implement all previous agreements, including the agreement on official visits. According to that agreement, all visits should be implemented in a manner advancing the process of normalization or contributing to the general efforts in the context of the dialogue, supported by the EU. We expect the sides to respect those guidelines”, Stano told Kosovo-online portal after being asked to comment on Pristina's recent ban on Petkovic.

The portal added Serbian authorities permitted Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gervala to visit Bujanovic and Presevo today.

Stano also said that “the visit of Director Petkovic was announced in an appropriate manner in line with the agreement, and it should have been approved, as it was the case with the visit of Minister Gervala to southern Serbia”, the portal reported.

He added, as the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell said last week within the context of Stabilization and Association Council, the EU calls upon Kosovo to allow official visits fulfilling mentioned guidelines, including those of the Director Petkovic.

“In this regard, we call on Kosovo to reconsider its decision”, Stano said.

Konjufca: “The decision on the land of Visoki Decani should not be implemented, the judges did not protect the Kosovo Constitution” (KoSSev, Klan Kosova)

The decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court on the land of the Visoki Decani monastery should not be implemented, opined Glauk Konjufca, the president of the Kosovo Assembly, which is the highest representative body and the holder of the constitutional and legislative power, reported portal KoSSev. He opined that the judges who decided in this case did not defend the Kosovo Constitution.

"I say it should not be implemented. I entered and studied the legal framework, not the Constitutional Court, but the legal framework of property and political decisions when it was made and based on which the Constitutional Court decided. The first dimension for me is scandalous, it is the decision of Slobodan Milosevic from 1997. I think that the judges of the Constitutional Court are there to defend the constitutionality of Kosovo. I think, in this case, they did not protect it. I think that the judges treated the case completely naked from its political-historical dimension," Konjufca said in last night's visit to the Klan Kosova Rubicon show, reported KoSSev.

He also compares the decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court to the situation in which an innocent person was convicted.

"I think this case is - like when someone innocent is convicted in a court. And that happens in every country in the world, it happens that someone who is innocent is convicted," said Konjufca.

He reminds that Kurti's government is the third in a row that did not implement the decision of the Constitutional Court on the monastery land.

Although he states that he personally does not want the decision to ever be implemented, he reminds that the international community does not share his position.

"The problem is that there is great disagreement on this issue with the international community, important international actors, institutions and the highest representatives," Konjufca said.

Serbian power company CEO dismisses managers over power outages (N1)

The Serbian ruling party (SNS) official in charge of the public power company (EPS) decided to dismiss the staff members deemed to be responsible for the collapse of the power system during the recent snow storms, N1 reports.

A press release said that Milorad Grcic, acting CEO of the EPS and an official of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) decided to dismiss the people responsible in the production chain from coal mining to electricity generation. The list includes two EPS managers in charge of coal production and two power production managers.

The press release said that an investigation determined that there was a number of problems, including the fact that bad quality coal was sent to the power plant and that it got wet and froze during transport. “That coal should not have been used in the thermal power plant”, it said and added that the police and other security services would be called in to investigate.

Grcic is also quoted as saying that he bears responsibility for the entire system but that lower level managers also have to bear responsibility.

Opinion

Serbia: A Testament to People Power (carnegieeurope.eu)

The fate of Serbia’s democracy is in the hands of its citizens. If the country is to move toward democratic accountability, it will be through bottom-up action, not the EU’s membership conditionality.

President Aleksandar Vučić used to have it all.

In last year’s parliamentary election, his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) secured over 60 percent of the vote. Assorted allies and clients took the rest, after the opposition boycotted the polls.

Throughout 2021, Vučić made political mileage, both domestically and in the region, with the speedy rollout of COVID-19 vaccines procured from the West as well as from Russia and China. That is a testament to the fact that the Serbian president gets the red carpet rolled out for him in Brussels, Moscow, and Beijing—a latter-day Josip Broz Tito of sorts.

Back in September 2021, former German chancellor Angela Merkel chose Belgrade as the first stop in her farewell tour of the Balkans. A chorus of loyal media in Belgrade sang the praises of Vučić, dismissing his critics as fifth columnists beholden to hostile foreign powers.

Yet these days Vučić is coming to terms with the fact that absolute power carries risks. As much as he controls the media, he cannot avoid blame for unpopular decisions. For a third weekend in a row, tens of thousands of citizens are out in the streets protesting, blocking roads, highways, and bridges across the country. This is a response to controversial amendments to the Expropriation Act and the Referendums Act passed by Serbia’s rubber-stamp parliament.

See more at:https://bit.ly/3E0qxnK

International

Denmark to ship prisoners off to Kosovo (Deutsche Welle)

The Danish government will rent prison cells in Kosovo to house 300 inmates in a bid to reduce overcrowding. The measure will be limited to prisoners who were already set to be deported out of Denmark. Denmark is reforming its prison system with a 4-billion-Danish-krone ($607 million, €538 million) funding boost for "new initiatives," the country's government announced on Wednesday.

One of the initiatives will see the Scandinavian country pay Kosovo to house 300 prison inmates. The Danish government said the measure targets "foreigners sentenced to deportation" who were due to be expelled out of Denmark once they complete their sentences. The agreement was backed by several parties across the political spectrum before being announced by the Danish Justice Ministry on Twitter.