UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 13, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kosovo government adopts draft law setting minimum wage at €250 (media)
Kosovo bans export of certain food products (RFE)
Political parties agree on formation of an Ad-hoc commission on electoral reform (lajmi)
Haxhiu: Failed attempts by opposition to stain two important initiatives (Telegrafi)
PDK calls on ERO to suspend decision for increased electricity tariffs (media)
Association of Journalists expresses concern over report findings (Telegrafi)
Inflation in Kosovo has reached 10 % (euronews.al)
COVID-19: 23 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

State Department on human rights in Kosovo report presented (KoSSev, Radio KIM, Kosovo-online)
Vucic reacts to Kurti, Djukanovic’s statements on armament of Serbia (Tanjug)
Politicians and media key to the (mis) understanding of the two peoples (KiM radio)
Valdete Daka on State Department report relating to her dismissal (Kosovo-online)
Dimitrijevic resigns post of UNS branch in Kosovo president (Radio KIM)
Petkovic met Ambassador Schieb: Not a slightest willingness in Pristina (Kosovo Online)
State Department notes human rights issues in Serbia 2021 report (N1)

International:

The ‘Awakening’: American Right-Wing Extremist Finds Allies in the Balkans (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

NDI hosts a two-day conference against misinformation (Klan Kosova)
Fact-checking is Crucial in Combating Fake News, Panel Says (BIRN)
Kosovo's first medical aid package reaches Ukraine (media)
President of Serbian Chamber of Commerce calls for aid for Ukraine (N1)
‘Food diplomacy’: EU plans to counter Russia in MENA, Balkans (AlJazeera)

Albanian Language Media

Kosovo government adopts draft law setting minimum wage at €250 (media)

The Kosovo Government adopted today a draft law setting the minimum wage at €250. Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, said amendments would have to be made to laws that are related to the minimum wage.

Kosovo bans export of certain food products (RFE)

The Government of Kosovo has approved the decision to temporarily ban the export of certain food products, Radio Free Europe in Albanian reports.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said at the meeting of the Government today that the aim of the decision is to ensure sufficient supply of citizens with wheat, corn, flour, cooking oil, salt, sugar. "The Russian military aggression on Ukraine has affected the supply chain with agricultural and food products in Europe," he said.

RFE writes that Kosovo does not have a high level of export and that according to the Statistical Agency of Kosovo, it reached over €65 million in February of this year, in contrast to the value of import at over €414 million for the same period.

Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, said that "export of goods, no matter how small, can threaten supply of the population in the future."

Political parties agree on formation of an Ad-hoc commission on electoral reform (lajmi)

The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca informed through Facebook that a joint statement has been signed by all parties for the formation of an Ad-hoc Commission for electoral reform.

Today, on April 13, 2022 in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo was held a constitutive meeting for the formation of the Ad-hoc Commission for electoral reform. The joint statement on the establishment of this commission was signed at the meeting and the formula for the composition of the commission was also agreed upon. After intensive work and numerous meetings, the political parties agreed on the joint formula of the commission,"Konjufca noted.

Haxhiu: Failed attempts by opposition to stain two important initiatives (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said today that opposition parties are trying to stain two important initiatives – the initiative for reforms in the prosecutorial system and the initiative for the confiscation of unjustifiable wealth. “These attempts are destined to fail because our country will have justice and equality … It was clear to us that the path toward reforms will not be easy, but we have an iron will to make the necessary changes,” Haxhiu wrote on a Facebook post.

Haxhiu’s remarks came after Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) MP Driton Selmanaj told a press conference today that the Kurti-led government was trying to capture the institutions of justice through these legal initiatives.

PDK calls on ERO to suspend decision for increased electricity tariffs (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group head, Abelard Tahiri, called today on the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) to implement the decision of the Basic Court in Prishtina to suspend the decision for increased electricity tariffs. He said if the decision is not implemented, the PDK will file charges against the ERO board.

“In case the decision is not implemented, I call on the Special Prosecution to look into the matter, and we will also file charges against the ERO board, because the failure to respect this decision is a criminal offence, and these people will be obliged to respect the decisions of the judiciary in our country,” Tahiri said.

The Basic Court in Prishtina recently decided to temporarily suspend the decision for increased tariffs.

Association of Journalists expresses concern over report findings (Telegrafi)

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) said in a statement today that it is concerned over the main findings of a report by the U.S. State Department about the situation in Kosovo. The report noted that although in general the freedom of expression has been respected, there were again attempts by politicians, public persons, businesses, and religious groups to intimidate representatives of the media.

The AJK said in the statement that it “believes the findings of the report should be an alarm for local institutions to engage in creating a better and safer environment for journalism. The AJK also calls on all media owners to allow reporters to report without being censored or afraid that they could lose their jobs.”

Inflation in Kosovo has reached 10 % (euronews.al)

Authorities report that inflation in Kosovo is now at 10%.

According to a report by ASK (Kosovo’s Statistics Agency), the rise in inflation can be explained by the rise in consumer prices for goods and services.

According to the agency, the biggest rise in prices can be seen in the electricity bill which has seen a rise of 13%, followed by gas at 11.4%.

The price of oil has also seen an 11.3% increase, along with alcoholic beverages at 5.9%, and clothing items at 4.9% according to the report.

During the month of February, inflation was at 7.5%, whereas in January at 7.1%.

Since its start on February 24, the Russian military invasion in Ukraine has contributed to the rise of essential food products in the Kosovo market, especially oil by-products, flour, bread, and cooking oil.

COVID-19: 23 new cases, no deaths (media)

23 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said. 18 persons recovered during this time. There are 509 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

State Department on human rights in Kosovo report presented (KoSSev, Radio KIM, Kosovo-online)

Restrictions to freedom of expression and media, corruption in the government and impunity, criminal acts involving discrimination, violence or threats with violence against members of minority communites and return of displaced persons marred with security incidents were some of the problems, US State Department noted it its 2021 report on human rights in Kosovo, Serbian media report.

War crimes trials – mainly to Serbs

The report notes that Special Prosecution in Kosovo conducted a formal investigation of 12 war crimes cases in 2021, and issued one more ruling to initiate an investigation.

It recalled that the “case of high profile” for war crimes dubbed “Drenica I” (involving former KLA members) was sent to retrial in 2017, and the process has been postponed on several occasions, while until December 2021 no new hearing took place.

The report noted that Basic Court in Pristina in July 2021, sentenced former Serb police officer Z.V. to three and a half years in prison under charges of rape and expulsion of the Albanian civilians. Z.V since 2019 was already serving sentence of six and a half years for the war crimes involving illegal detention and torture of Albanian population.

In March 2021, two other members of the Serbian police, Z.K. and D.S. were given prison sentences for the war crimes committed against the Albanian civilian population.

It also pointed out the case of Serb, Z.Dj. who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the war crimes against Albanians, and his verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Authorities still refuse to implement Constitutional Court decision on Visoki Decani Monastery land

The State Department report in its section relating to the fair trial noted that judicial authorities were subjected to political interference, disputable appointments and unclear mandates. It also said that despite shortcomings representing a significant problem, the efficiency of the judiciary to resolve unresolved cases continues to improve.

On the other hand, the State Department noted that Kosovo authorities have not always implemented court decisions and that representatives of Kosovo Serbs claim that government institutions have not implemented court verdicts ruled in their favour, in particular when it comes to property disputes.

It also said that central and local authorities in Decani still refuse to implement the Constitutional Court decision from 2016 confirming the ownership of Visoki Decani Monastery over 24 hectares of land.

“In September, the Constitutional Court took note of the continued refusal of the government to implement the court decision and sent the issue to the state prosecutor. Until December, the prosecutor initiated no criminal proceeding. None of the servants refusing to implement the court decision was punished”, the report notes.

Usurpation of property still problem

The report also tackles the issue of repossession of property following the conflict and points out that 95 percent of property related claims were submitted by the Serbs.

“Citizens and religious communities were mainly unsuccessful in filing claims for repossession of the property confiscated or taken away during the times of Yugoslavia”, it says.

The report notes that the Property Comparison and Verification Agency failed to remove illegal objects reconstructed on the properties, for which legal owners got their ownership status confirmed, adding that most of those submitting such claims were the Serbs.

Return of displaced persons marred with incidents

The State Department notes that the return of members of minority communities displaced during the conflict remains a challenge, adding there are still 15.699 internally displaced persons within Kosovo.

It pointed out the obstacles voiced by the Ministry of Communities and Returns that hamper the process, including “widely spread discrimination of minority communities members, fear from violence or intimidation, non-execution of court decisions (particluary those relating to property), usurpation of properties, lack of access to education and employment opportunities, limited representation of minority communities in public institutions and enteprises as well as limited coopeation and coordination between government bodies in resolving the matters of significance”.

The report adds that the Kosovo government promoted safe and voluntary return of internally displaced persons through the Ministry for Communities and Returns and cooperated in order to ensure that those persons have access to property and tools for sustainable returns.

The report also said that “illegal parallel structures” of the Serbian Government continue functioning in Serb-majority municipalities and that Belgrade used those structures to influence Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Gorani as well as their political representatives.

Read the report at: https://bit.ly/3EabucP

Vucic reacts to Kurti, Djukanovic’s statements on armament of Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reacting to the statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Montengrian President Milo Djukanovic regarding armament of Serbia, said that both of them “have much stronger reasons for concern, including crime, corruption and economy, and they should leave Serbia alone”, Tanjug news agency reports.

“Over the last six months there has been an accelerated campaign of libelling Serbia, coming from certain centres of powers, and of course from a part of the region that sees its success in a failure and ruin of Serbia. And not since yesterday, a more expressive role in bare hatred towards Serbia comes from Albin Kurti and Milo Djukanovic”, Vucic said in a video statement.

He pointed out that they “use untruths, bare and open lies, aiming at portraying themselves as victims and Serbia as a vicious aggressor that endangers them in any possible ways”.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic echoed Vucic’s message.

“Clear message by President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic. Leave Serbia alone! Stop lying, deceiving the public, and Serbia will find her path, the one her citizens want. We are proud of the fact that we only wish to safeguard our country”, she wrote on Twitter.

Politicians and media key to the (mis) understanding of the two peoples (KiM radio)

What is the role of the media in the reconciliation process? Should they play a more significant role in that process? The editors of the Serbian and Albanian-language media in Kosovo answered the key questions at the Forum Future, as part of a two-day conference in North Mitrovica, organised by the NGO AKTIV and members of the Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation, on the topic "State of Reconciliation in Kosovo".

Lack of content concerning ordinary citizens, obstacles due to not knowing the language of another community, economic sustainability of the media, responsibility, and cooperation of journalists - are just some of the challenges listed in the panel with participants Tatjana Lazarevic (KoSSev portal editor), Xhemail Rexha (President of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo), Besa Luci (Kosovo 2.0 editor) and Goran Avramovic (RTV KiM editor).

The war in Ukraine exposed the degeneration of the media

"The job of the media is not to reconcile, but to inform. In ideal conditions, the media should focus exclusively on their work, and that is to inform or research, depending on the media in question, or in the end to bring stories about people,” said Lazarevic.

She believed that the work in the media, as a public work, was reflected exclusively through the professional component. She said that “the war in Ukraine brought a new perspective”, reported KiM radio.

"It has exposed, in the most direct way, not the values of media but degeneration of the media, the occupation of the truth and the ubiquitous abuse of the media," she said, noting that all other media "minor" anomalies are in the background.

"I no longer see the role of the media through exclusively professional components, but now for me it is a question of humanity, what kind of crime we are committing by killing the truth; how the war from the front, conditionally speaking, equally is conducted in the media. This is what the big media do, as far as I am concerned, on both sides,'' adding that this practice was present and in small so-called social media. It reminded her of a war-propaganda-media conglomerate, which when translated into the domestic scene, did not help media space.

She saw independent Serbian-language media in Kosovo as guerrillas, those not funded from any system budget.

She warned that there were opposite narratives present i.e., "the absence of another part of the medal" and "another part of the truth" in the Kosovo Serbian and Albanian public, the media as well. Lazarevic cited as an example how Serbian and Albanian media do not report on war victims on the other side.

The main obstacle, language

"I do not believe that the media are the main obstacle to reconciliation in Kosovo, but it is clear that they do not play a role that would help reconciliation," said the president of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, Xhemail Rexha.

He pointed out that he was in North Mitrovica for the first time at an event like yesterday.

"One of the biggest obstacles is the absence and non-cooperation of journalists to report on events between Serbs and Albanians," he said.

He saw language as one of the main obstacles to co-operation between Serbian and Albanian journalists.

"Most Albanian journalists do not speak Serbian because they did not have the opportunity to learn that language, as I believe most Serbian journalists do not speak Albanian, so English is a golden means for our cooperation".

He also estimated that Kosovo’s journalists put their nationality ahead of their profession and saw the 1999 war as the reason for that.

"One specific case that I often mention, which is why I criticized my Albanian colleagues many times, whenever special forces have an operation in the north of Kosovo where the majority of Serbs live, there are Albanian journalists who put pictures from special forces vehicles as a sign of pride... I think this goes beyond our profession, because, as my colleague said, our job is to report," stated Rexha.

He also criticized some Albanian media, which when talking about war crimes state that it was done by Serbs, and not by a certain state apparatus, while at the same time he praised the Serbian media in Kosovo, in which, he didn't notice hate speech against Albanians, unlike some Serbian media in central Serbia.

At the same time, he emphasized the importance of reporting on stories from both sides and without prejudice.

"We are often unaware of the sensitivity of the other side, of the simplest things, such as the way we address each other," Rexha said, and cited the RAE acronym for the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, which was offensive to these communities.

"The same can be said for Albanian and Serbian journalists, and all I want to say and emphasize is that we have to understand each other, and we have to cooperate with each other in our profession," he added.

Rexha cited as an example of good cooperation the Commission for Missing Persons and added that journalists should follow such a model and achieve that kind of cooperation.

When speaking about the significantly lower presence of the Serbian community in the Albanian media in Kosovo, and the paradox that the Albanian community has a much larger presence in the Serbian media in Kosovo, he said that the reason was language, or lack of media resources to provide an interpreter.

The editor of Kosovo 2.0, Besa Luci, estimated that the media play an important role in the reconciliation process.

"I think the media play an important role, whether intentional or not," she said, adding that the role of the media influences differences and divisions in society.

In this context, it draws attention to the status quo:

"That status quo can be that Albanians and Serbs see themselves only as an ethnicity… That ethnicity serves as a division, without seeing each other as citizens."

Journalists should deal with the issues that citizens face, these issues are the common ones, regardless of ethnicity.

Luci saw three reasons why there are no human stories from other communities in the media.

The first one was in political elites, which in her opinion, have controlled in some way the public discourse of the past and present two decades, thus achieving a monopoly over history. She said it was the political machinery that controlled both the media and political parties and everything else, and in a way, they did not allow those other stories mentioned by the participants.

Another reason was economic sustainability. Media in Kosovo and beyond know that profitability depends on more audiences, i.e. clicks, that was easiest to achieve by tabloidization.

As the third reason, Luci cited the journalists themselves, i.e. the fact that certain narratives were learned through school, then exposed to imposed narratives in the public, the media, and later they participate in "production of the same cycle".

Due to high politics, the care of citizens in the background

Editor of RTV KiM, Goran Avramovic was of the opinion that the job of the media was not to reconcile, but to report.

"Unfortunately, the media, not only in Kosovo, mostly report on high politics, on political disputes that exist or on things that are extremely tabloid in nature. All this hides from the audience the everyday life we live. There are no stories about economic development, protection of the human environment, topics that should concern ordinary people. This trend is also imposed by political elites in all parts of the Balkans, because in this way the need to regulate the life and quality of life of communities on the ground practically became obsolete. We are not talking about caring for the citizens, there is no true commitment to solving their problems, all that falls into the background due to high politics," said Avramovic.

He added that media reporting turned into "dealing with virtual news", while our life was passing by in something called status quo, according to Avramovic.

Valdete Daka on State Department report relating to her dismissal (Kosovo-online)

Former President of the Kosovo Election Commission (CEC) Valdete Daka said any comment would be redundant, after the case of her replacement by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani was described in the State Department 2021 human rights in Kosovo report as “politically motivated decision”, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Albanian post.

My comment would be redundant following what the State Department said. I know that the wheels of justice turn slowly but the justice is reachable and will confirm one day what I have been saying for a year”, Daka is quoted as saying

She added many in Kosovo remained silent following Osmani’s decision, although they knew it was not based on law.

Daka also said the State Department report is not the only international report which says her replacement was unjust.

Dimitrijevic resigns post of UNS branch in Kosovo president (Radio KIM)

Gorazdevac-based journalist Darko Dimitrijevic resigned from a post of a President of the Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) branch in Kosovo (DNKiM), Radio KIM reports. Dimitrijevic was elected in December last year, at the DNKiM assembly held in Gracanica, Radio KIM reports.

“Since my election as a president, I have tried to promote all what we have jointly defined as goals at the electoral assembly of the Society of Journalists of Kosovo and Metohija (DNKiM), held on December 11, 2021. From today’s perspective it has become obvious that this (the post) is not compatible with the post of Editor-in-Chief of Radio Gorazdevac that I currently perform. That is why in certain situation there were misunderstandings between me, the UNS President, and some members of the management board from Kosovo and Metohija regarding my participation at different forums, where I took part as Radio Gorazdevac editor and not as DNKiM President”, Dimitrijevic said. He also wished lots of success to UNS members in their further work.

Petkovic met Ambassador Schieb: Not a slightest willingness in Pristina (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic met yesterday German Ambassador to Serbia Thomas Schieb, reported Kosovo Online.

Petkovic expressed concern over the efforts of political actors in Pristina to relativize the agreements reached in the dialogue with Belgrade, and especially referred to Albin Kurti’s latest attacks on the Brussels Agreement and the Community of Serbian Municipalities, saying it was a clear confirmation that there was no minimum of good will in Pristina to take on the commitments, reported the portal.

Petkovic reminded that Pristina refused to implement the provisions related to justice, energy, respect for freedom of movement and visits of officials to the province.

“In the area of resolving the issue of missing persons, Pristina does not allow the search of nine locations in Kosovo and Metohija, which, according to the information that Belgrade has, contain the remains of Serbs missing in the war, while Belgrade has acted, without hesitation, on any such request from Pristina. Given the fact that the implementation of the Brussels Agreement, guaranteed by the EU, is a precondition for creation of a normal social climate and conditions for coexistence in Kosovo and Metohija, and that Belgrade has fulfilled all obligations under the Brussels dialogue, we will continue to insist on the implementation of everything agreed thus far, especially on the establishment of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, which is nine years late,” Petkovic said.

The recent elections in Serbia were one of the topics of the meeting, and in this regard, Petkovic warned that the Pristina decision to ban the elections of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo drastically endangered the fundamental civil, political, and democratic rights of Serbs in Kosovo.

“In the interest of preserving peace in the region, Belgrade will continue to advocate that all open issues are to be resolved through dialogue and peaceful means, but also that constructiveness and credibility must be demanded from Pristina, because this is a process that ought to be based on mutual trust and readiness for cooperation," Petkovic concluded.

State Department notes human rights issues in Serbia 2021 report (N1)

The US State Department said in its 2021 report on human rights in Serbia that there were significant human rights issues in the country with some members of the security forces committing abuses, N1 reports.

“Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: serious restrictions on free expression and the press, including violence, threats of violence, and unjustified arrests and prosecutions against journalists; numerous acts of serious government corruption; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting persons with disabilities; and crimes, including violence, targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex individuals”, the report said.

It said that observers believed numerous cases of corruption, social and domestic violence, attacks on civil society, and other abuses went unreported and unpunished.

International

The ‘Awakening’: American Right-Wing Extremist Finds Allies in the Balkans (BIRN)

Though officially expelled from Serbia in February 2021, US right-wing extremist Robert Rundo has managed to forge ties with a host of like-minded individuals and organisations active in Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was a week after Orthodox New Year in January 2021 and a group of Serb children in Kosovo was opening presents.

In a photo posted on Facebook, the faces of those who brought the presents were blurred, but the flags of the organisations they represented were not. One of them featured the brand name Will2Rise, part of an organisation led by a notorious US right-wing extremist called Robert Rundo.

A few weeks later, media reports in Serbia said Rundo had been deported to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Yet for a year before, and a year since, Rundo has collaborated with a number of far-right groups who undertake ‘humanitarian’ activities such as delivering presents to Serb children in Serbia’s majority-Albanian former province while targeting migrants and refugees for intimidation and abuse and expressing anti-Roma and anti-Semitic sentiment.

Humanitarian/Development

NDI hosts a two-day conference against misinformation (Klan Kosova)

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) opened a two-day conference, "DISICON", titled "Information integrity’s role in defending democracy".

Adea Beqaj from the NDI said that as the rest of the world, Kosovo is also facing misinformation and that discussion on the damage from it needs to be intensified. She said this year's event will focus on the youth, how susceptible it is to disinformation and the impact of misinformation on election results.

"Information disruptions including misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, sexist language are threatening democracies around the world. Kosovo is no exception," she said.

Fact-checking is Crucial in Combating Fake News, Panel Says (BIRN)

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, in partnership with Internews Kosova and FindBug, held a conference in Pristina on Monday to mark the International Day for the Verification of Facts.

The increase in the level of misinformation through false news influenced by foreign narratives led to the organisation of a conference in Kosovo which brought together media experts from around the world.

In hybrid form, online and physically, with three panels lasting more than four hours, different ideas and experiences were unveiled and the dangers of external influences especially from China and Russia.