UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, October 11, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kosovo MP addresses Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for first time (media)
Kurti condemns Russian strikes in civilian areas in Ukraine (media)
Austrian Foreign Minister: Visa liberalisation for Kosovo is close (RTK)
Greece: European integration of Western Balkans, including Kosovo (media)
Haxhiu: Agreement with Denmark to be sent to Assembly within a month (Telegrafi)
Special court confirms trial against Thaci et al will start early next year (Nacionale)
Hoxhaj: Kosovo lost chance to get closer to NATO because of Kurti govt (Koha)
Serbia decorates general convicted of war crimes in Kosovo (Albanian Post)
Around 100 buildings in Brezovica temporarily seized by prosecution (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

EC: Unfavourable report on Serbia (RFE, FoNet, KiM radio, N1)
Jovanovic (NS): Pristina doesn’t fulfil basic conditions for CoE membership (Radio KIM)
Vucic: $1 billion loan from UAE will ensure Serbia’s liquidity (N1)
How “waking up next to Albanians“ turned into “seizure“ of Kosovo (KoSSev)
Visoki Decani Monastery: We hope Kurti will bring us cadastral paper on return of land (Kosovo Online)
Vucic met Botsan-Kharchenko, discussed Kosovo and geopolitical situation (Tanjug, N1)
Vucic: We are looking after our interests in terms of oil supplies (Tanjug)
Serbian analysts say Russia using Kosovo precedent (N1)
Serbia votes against Russian proposal in the UN (serbianmonitor.com, nova.rs)

International:

Romania Faces Dilemma Over Euro 2024 Matches with Kosovo (BIRN)
As EU Refloats Visa-Free Entry, Ethnic Serbs Say They Could Embrace Kosovo Passports (RFE)
Kosovo Police Seize Holiday Villas in National Park Raid (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Kosovo MP addresses Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly for first time (media)

All media report that Saranda Bogujevci, Vice President of the Kosovo Assembly addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today, in what is the first address by a Kosovo representative at this institution. Bogujevci said in her address that Kosovo is the most vibrant democracy in the Western Balkans. “We have our difficulties too, including with some of our neighbours, and a past that is not so distant. Kosovo is Europe and we have no other future but to be part of the European family,” she said.

Bogujevci also said that Kosovo stands with Ukraine and its people against Russian aggression. “Being that this is the first time that I am addressing the plenary session, I want to tell my Ukrainian colleagues and also to the people of Ukraine that our thoughts, hearts and prayers are with you. We know what you are going through. I am a survivor of a massacre during the last war in Kosovo. We are all with you and we hope that this horrible war will end as soon as possible and that justice will triumph,” she said.

Kurti condemns Russian strikes in civilian areas in Ukraine (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said in a Twitter post today that he “joins the U.S., EU and our other allies in condemning Russia’s brutal strikes on civilian areas across Ukraine. Today, the democratic world must speak with one voice: Any state that seeks cooperation with Russia in the midst of this horrific war is complicit in its consequences”.

Austrian Foreign Minister: Visa liberalisation for Kosovo is close (RTK)

Foreign Minister of Austria, Alexander Schallenberg, said today after meeting his Kosovo counterpart, Donika Gervalla, that he is optimistic that Kosovo will get visa liberalisation soon. “We need your cooperation too and I believe we are on the right path. Our world has changed since February 24, after the start of the war in Ukraine, and its effects are felt in the Balkans too. We are pleased that Kosovo has taken a stance on this very quickly. We all know that we need to be careful,” he said.

Schallenberg said now is the time to make important decisions for the Balkans. “Brussels is discussing giving the candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina and giving visa liberalisation to Kosovo. It is meaningless why the process of visa liberalisation for Kosovo has taken so long. All countries of the Balkans belong in the EU. I hope that visa liberalisation for Kosovo will happen very soon,” he said.

Schallenberg also talked about the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia saying, “there is hope that there will be readiness for a compromise”.

Greece: European integration of Western Balkans, including Kosovo (media)

Head of the Liaison Office of Greece in Kosovo, Heleni Vakali, said in a Facebook post on Monday that her country continues to pursue a vision of peace, security and prosperity for the whole Western Balkans, including Kosovo. “This vision is based on the European integration of Western Balkans, including Kosovo,” Vakali wrote.

Haxhiu: Agreement with Denmark to be sent to Assembly within a month (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said today that the agreement with Denmark on renting prison cells in Kosovo is expected to be sent for approval to the Kosovo Assembly within a month. She said that the renovation of the centre in Gjilan could not start before the agreement is ratified by the Assembly. “We had lengthy discussions which have been concluded. We could not start renovations at the centre in Gjilan without the Assembly adopting the agreement first. The agreement will be sent to the Assembly very soon, within a month,” she said.

Special court confirms trial against Thaci et al will start early next year (Nacionale)

The Specialist Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague confirmed to the news website today that the trial against Thaci et al could begin in the first quarter of next year, depending on when the file is given to the Trial Panel.

“While the Pre-Trial Judge has set certain timelines to ensure that all parties are prepared for the trial, so far, he has not set an exact date when the file will be given to the Trial Panel. Only after he does this we will know precisely when the trial can start,” the Specialist Chambers said in their response. “However, the Pre-Trial Judge has said in a public decision that he foresees the file could be ready to be given to the Trial Panel by the end of the year which means that the trial could start in the first quarter of next year.”

Hoxhaj: Kosovo lost chance to get closer to NATO because of Kurti govt (Koha)

Vice President of the Kosovo Assembly, Enver Hoxhaj, said on Monday that Kosovo lost the chance to become part of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme “because of the inability and hypocrisy of those that are governing Kosovo”. “When early this year dangerous geopolitics appeared after the war in Ukraine, there was hope about the possibility of Kosovo benefiting and becoming part of the Partnership for Peace … But this is failing because of the inability and hypocrisy of those that are governing Kosovo!” Hoxhaj wrote on Facebook.

Serbia decorates general convicted of war crimes in Kosovo (Albanian Post)

As part of the celebration of the 690th anniversary of the St. Nicholas monastery in Vranje in Serbia, Bishop Pahomije decorated former Serbian Army General Vladimir Lazarevic, who was convicted of war crimes committed in Kosovo by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). During the ceremony the bishop awarded Lazarevic the order of Surdulica martyrs “for supporting philanthropy and Orthodox values.”

The news website notes that this is not the first time Lazarevic has been awarded in Serbia. On 5 August 2022 the Municipal Council of Pantelej of Nis district awarded him Citizen of Honour. Lazarevic’s sentence was reduced from 15 to 14 years in prison in 2014 at an ICTY appeal that upheld his conviction for crimes against humanity during the Kosovo war in 1999. According to the verdict, Lazarevic aided and abetted the deportation of Albanians from Kosovo and committed other inhumane acts by providing practical assistance to members of the Yugoslav Army. As a result, some 11,000 Kosovo Albanians were killed and some 700,000 expelled to neighbouring Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The court ruled that Lazarevic was aware of the fact that criminal acts were being committed against civilians and civilian property during Yugoslav Army and Serbian interior ministry operations in Kosovo.

Around 100 buildings in Brezovica temporarily seized by prosecution (Koha)

The Basic Prosecution in Ferizaj said today that it has temporarily seized around 100 buildings in the Brezovica zone. The prosecution said the buildings were constructed in opposition with the Law on the Sharri National Par and the Spatial Plan for the national park adopted by the Kosovo Assembly. “Following an order by the State Prosecutor, around 100 buildings have been seized as according to the prosecution they were built while the defendants abused their official position by issuing construction permits in opposition with the laws that regulate the Sharri National Park, by taking bribes, giving bribes, and this resulted in the degradation of the environment in this zone,” the prosecution said.

Serbian Language Media

EC: Unfavourable report on Serbia (RFE, FoNet, KiM radio, N1)

Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported that the draft report of the European Commission stated that Serbia's compliance rate with the European common foreign policy has "significantly decreased", from 64 percent in 2020, to 45 percent. A special paragraph of the report refers to the process of normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, with an estimation that there was no concrete progress in the negotiations on a comprehensive and legally binding agreement, reported Serbian media.

In the draft report, to be published tomorrow, which RFE had access to, Belgrade and Pristina are called upon to engage constructively "without further delay" and advance negotiations on a comprehensive, legally binding agreement on normalisation.

''Achieving such an agreement is urgent and crucial", the report said, for Kosovo and Serbia to make progress on their European path.

The document further underlined that Serbia did not comply with the sanctions against Russia, which the EU imposed on Moscow in response to the aggression in Ukraine.

"A series of actions and statements of Serbia was in contradiction with the foreign policy position of the EU. Serbia is expected to fulfil its obligations as a priority and progressively harmonise with the restrictive measures of the EU in accordance with the negotiation framework of Serbia," the document underlined.

The report assessed that Serbia remained committed to improving bilateral relations, in relation to regional cooperation. However, it mentioned that relations with Croatia were "increasingly strained with occasional political conflicts".

Serbia's relations with Montenegro were assessed in the document as "challenging", but it emphasised that both sides have indicated a ''greater willingness to reset them and make efforts to resolve open issues''.

According to the EC, Serbia made only ''limited progress'' in the fight against corruption. The report mentioned that the number of new investigations and final verdicts increased in 2021 compared to the previous year. However, the number of first-instance indictments decreased.

Serbia should strengthen the prevention and suppression of corruption and increase the final confiscation of assets in high-profile cases, stated the report, reported the media.

Serbia also received a bad rating in the fight against organised crime, where it was said that only "limited progress" was recorded. According to the report, in the past period, the number of new investigations and final judgments increased, but the number of indictments and first-instance judgments decreased.

The number of seizures and final confiscations was limited. It was acknowledged that the level of understanding and approach to confiscation has improved which, the report said, should lead to better results in the future.

No progress has been made in freedom of expression, according to the EC's report on Serbia.

The EC's experts underlined in the report that the cases of threats and violence against journalists are worrisome and emphasised that the unhindered exercise of freedom of expression should be further strengthened in practice.

The paragraph related to basic rights, a large part was devoted to the organisation of "Euro Pride" in Serbia, on September 17, which recalled that the holding of the event was uncertain until the last moment. In this regard, it was estimated that ''the authorities' communication regarding this manifestation was contradictory", cited Serbian media.

"While the authorities have maintained contacts with the organisers in order to find a solution, they remained non-committed in regard to the holding of the parade with an official permit," it was said in the report on Serbia, reported Serbian media, citing RFE.

According to the RFE, the enlargement package together with separate reports for each country should be adopted by the collegium of the European Commission.

Jovanovic (NS): Pristina doesn’t fulfil basic conditions for CoE membership (Radio KIM)

Serbian opposition Peoples’ Party (NS) MP, Stefan Jovanovic called upon Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg to reject Pristina’s attempts to become a member of this organisation, adding it was “crystal clear” that Pritsina does not meet basic conditions for membership, Radio KIM reports.

In his address, Jovanovic assessed that “those who infringe the territorial integrity of sovereign states, breach international law and basic human rights must not be admitted to the organisation devoted to preservation of those very same principles”.

He also said that Serbs in Kosovo have become the most endangered ethnic group in Europe “under the watchful eye of the secessionist authorities in Pristina”.

“The fact that only this year 102 incidents against the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija were recorded adds to decades long dark image of mistreatment and maltreatment of Serbs there”, he said.

According to him, the eventual decision to consider the request of Pristina for admission to the Council of Europe “represents a clear deviation from a long-term policy, as it would put division and discord above all basic principles of this organisation”.

He emphasised that in a year in which the Council of Europe took several times a principled stance on the need to respect territorial integrity of its members “it was of crucial importance to maintain that stance consistently and without exceptions”.

“Pristina authorities in 2008 by unilateral act of secession grossly violated the Constitution of Serbia and UN SC Resolution 1244. Also, their ill practise of disrespecting basic human rights and rule of law goes in a sharp contradiction with their desire to become a member of the Council of Europe”, Jovanovic said.

Vucic: $1 billion loan from UAE will ensure Serbia’s liquidity (N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is Serbia’s great and true friend, and that the $1bn loan approved to Serbia by the UAE will ensure Serbia’s full liquidity, N1 reports.

Following his meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed, who is paying a visit to Belgrade, Vucic said that the loan will be at Serbia’s disposal a day after the loan agreement is ratified, because Serbia still has to take care of some technical issues. “Sheikh Mohamed is such a great friend of this country that he was angry with his own people thinking that they were slowing things down, but they are not, we are”, Vucic said, Serbian public broadcaster RTS reported on its portal.

He said Serbia currently has two billion and two hundred million Euro in its account. “So, full liquidity without a problem. And when this billion is in the account of the Republic of Serbia, then it is clear to you that we have great liquidity”.

Asked if any agreement has been reached with the UAE regarding oil, Vucic said that he cannot talk about oil supply but only about long-term plans. The President said he hopes he will be able to also interest Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in some other investments.

How “waking up next to Albanians“ turned into “seizure“ of Kosovo (KoSSev)

“When Serbs wake up, they’ll see that Albanians have seized Kosovo for themselves“ – several Belgrade-based media outlets quoted the US Ambassador to Belgrade, Christopher Hill, as saying – referring to Hill’s recent interview for Happy TV. The ambassador’s statement, however, was not accurately reported, KoSSev portal reports.

In his interview for Happy TV, the US Ambassador spoke about the war in Ukraine, energy security, the relationship between the US and Serbia, Serbia’s path to the EU, as well as the Kosovo issue.

Part of this interview was published on the Youtube channel “Jutarnji Program TV Happy“, while the full interview was broadcast in the morning.

International

Romania Faces Dilemma Over Euro 2024 Matches with Kosovo (BIRN)

Amid concerns raised in Romania after the country was scheduled by European football’s governing body UEFA to play matches against Kosovo, whose sovereignty it does not recognise, football officials in Pristina promised to welcome the Romanians like any other visiting team.

The Kosovo Football Federation, FFK, told BIRN that it has always cultivated “the spirit of cooperation with all UEFA member federations including those from countries which have not recognised the independence of our country”.

“We will welcome Romania at the Fadil Vokrri stadium [in Pristina] like any other rival and we expect the Romanian side to do the same [in the return match in Romania]. Football unites people and countries and this is UEFA’s motto itself,” the FFK added.

The Euro 2024 qualification draw which was held in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday put Kosovo in Group I with Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Belarus and Andorra. Kosovo and Romania’s national teams are due to meet in Pristina on June 16 next year and then in Romania on September 12, 2023.

But the day after the draw, Romanian sport news site GSP quoted the Romanian Football Federation, FRF as saying that it will discuss the issue with the government in Bucharest.

“Taking into consideration the fact that Romania and Kosovo have been drawn in the same group for Euro 2024 qualifications and taking into consideration the geopolitical situation, the FRF will have a dialogue with Romania’s government to find out the conditions for the matches at which our national team will meet Kosovo,” Romania’s Football Federation said in a statement.