UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, June 22, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Borrell to host series of meetings with Vucic and Kurti in Brussels today (media)
Hovenier says Kurti should accept EU three-point plan today (RTV21)
Sources: Osmani to call a meeting with leaders of parliamentary parties (Nacionale)
Haradinaj to PDK and LDK: Why don’t you vote on a motion against govt? (Telegrafi)
Osmani calls for unified international reaction for release of Kosovo officers (media)
Stoltenberg, Milatovic call for lowering of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia (RFE)
Citaku compares Gervalla to ministers of totalitarian countries (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

Dacic: Pristina's ultimate goal is the complete emigration of the Serbian people from Kosovo (Tanjug, Blic)
The EU member states leaders to discuss the tensions between Belgrade and Pristina at the Summit in June (Danas, FoNet, RFE)
Office for KiM: The perpetrators of the crimes against the Belacevac miners have not been found a quarter of a century (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)
German embassy denies Minister Gasic claims on Ivanovic murder (N1)
A humanitarian disaster threatens because of Kurti, says doctor Elek (Kosovo Online)
Gracanica: New protest due to the arrest of D.M. (KiM radio)
When Svecla finally remembered the presumption of innocence (KoSSev)

Opinion:

Evil spring in the north of Kosovo: A plain and simple account of a situation that is neither (KoSSev)
Effect of the Brussels meeting today, deterioration of relations or de-escalation? (Danas)

International:

German minister points at Pristina to deescalate Kosovo tensions (Euractive)

Albanian Language Media

Borrell to host series of meetings with Vucic and Kurti in Brussels today (media)

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said today that supported by EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, he will host a series of crisis management meetings with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, in Brussels, today. “The discussions will focus on finding ways to de-escalate the current tensions in order to return to the implementation of Dialogue Agreements, in particular the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation,” the statement notes.

Hovenier says Kurti should accept EU three-point plan today (RTV21)

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said in an interview with RTV21 today that he expects Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to accept in Brussels today the EU three-point plan for de-escalation in the north, as this is the best way to stop the tensions.

“It is difficult to say what we expect. We hope we will find a way forward. The EU was clear and the U.S. have supported the position on the three-point plan for de-escalation in the north, to go to early elections with participation from Serbs, and to continue with full implementation by both parties of the agreements that have been reached. We hope that this is the way we will emerge from this situation,” he said.

Hovenier also said that all western allies have supported the three-point plan and that they expect Kurti to accept it. “He is a prime minister from democratic elections in the country, and he has responsibility for this. The U.S., EU, UK, and our allies in NATO and many others have told Kurti about our expectations on how we will manage the situation in the north. As I said, we are all supporting the EU three-point plan and we hope that he will accept it today and act accordingly,” he said.

Sources: Osmani to call a meeting with leaders of parliamentary parties (Nacionale)

The news website notes that President Vjosa Osmani seems to have decided to give another impetus to political efforts for the latest developments in the north. Nacionale learns that Osmani has decided to invite the leaders of parliamentary parties to a consultative meeting. It also notes that in today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj called on Osmani to summon a meeting concerning developments in Kosovo’s relations with its biggest partners, the European Union and the United States.

Haradinaj to PDK and LDK: Why don’t you vote on a motion against govt? (Telegrafi)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, in his address at the Kosovo Assembly today, criticised the opposition parties – the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo – for lacking the courage to vote on a no-confidence motion for the Kurti-led government.

“ … We have lost the truth, penalties have started and we are weaker in front of everyone … In a situation like this, the least that should happen is a behind-closed-doors meeting of institutional and political leaders,” he said. “Why is there hesitation about the motion … Why do you lack the courage to say we will vote for the motion … What is happening with the opposition … What is your problem, colleagues in the opposition, for still thinking who will benefit from the motion … There is only one benefactor, and that is Kosovo and our interest”.

According to Haradinaj, the MPs cannot act as if nothing has happened. “I don’t understand this parliament anymore … We will look funny if we come here and pretend that nothing has happened. We are ridiculing generations that have done everything to bring us here,” he said.

Osmani calls for unified international reaction for release of Kosovo officers (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, commenting today on latest developments, said “Kosovo remains committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the country and the region, in coordination and cooperation with the allies”. After meeting with a delegation of ambassadors and senior officials from Finland, Osmani highlighted the need for a unified international reaction “for the immediate release of Kosovo police officers who are unjustly being held in Serbia”.

Osmani also said that Kosovo highly appreciates the partnership with Finland confirmed full readiness to open new chapters of cooperation.

Stoltenberg and Milatovic call for lowering of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia (RFE)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Montenegro President Jakov Milatovic called on Kosovo and Serbia today to lower tensions and to focus on overcoming the situation through dialogue. They made these comments in Brussels during Milatovic’s first visit to NATO headquarters.

Stoltenberg said that following tensions in the north of Kosovo, NATO stepped up its presence and through its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, is engaged to provide a safe and secure environment. “I call on the parties to lower tensions and to return to the EU-facilitated dialogue. This is key for calmness in Kosovo and for the stability of the region,” he said.

“The situation on the ground shows how important the NATO presence is. We will be loyal to our mandate according to the UN resolution and we have stepped up our presence in Kosovo in response to increased security challenges. Our presence is there to secure freedom of movement and a safe environment for all citizens in Kosovo. In this respect, we also welcome the dialogue [between Kosovo and Serbia] and call on parties to refrain from unilateral actions that can escalate the situation.”

Citaku compares Gervalla to ministers of totalitarian countries (Koha)

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, reacted to a statement by Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla who said that the West should change its strategy and send other diplomats to the Balkans. Citaku in her reaction said that such statements are made only by foreign ministers of totalitarian countries. “Scandalous. Only ministers of foreign affairs from totalitarian countries talk this way about European and American diplomats,” Citaku wrote in a Facebook post.

Serbian Language Media

Dacic: Pristina's ultimate goal is the complete emigration of the Serbian people from Kosovo (Tanjug, Blic)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, said in a guest appearance on the RTRS Telering Show that the ultimate goal of Pristina is the complete emigration of the Serbian people from Kosovo, reported Tanjug.

Dacic said that they are conducting unilateral actions and instead of normalization, they choose to escalate the problem with the aim of provoking the Serbs to conflicts, and portraying Serbia as a disruptive factor.

"Every sentence of theirs is directed against Serbia, not only personally against the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic or me, but against Serbia and the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. They say that we have committed crimes and genocides. The last meeting in Brussels of foreign ministers where they invited representatives of the Western Balkans ended when the EU's high representative for foreign policy, Josep Borrell, taken the floor from the so-called Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Donika Gervalla Schwarz, because he could not listen to her anymore," said Dacic, reported Tanjug agency.

The EU member states leaders to discuss the tensions between Belgrade and Pristina at the Summit in June (Danas, FoNet, RFE)

The leaders of the member states of the European Union (EU) will call for an urgent de-escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo at the Summit in June, reported Danas daily, citing RFE.

The leaders of 27 EU countries will discuss the tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, according to RFE.

According to the draft conclusions that RFE had access to, the heads of state and government of the EU countries should condemn the incidents in the north of Kosovo and call for an end to tensions.

The draft states that it is necessary to continue the dialogue with the mediation of the EU and to quickly implement the Agreement on the path to normalization and the Annex for the implementation of that agreement.

"Failure to de-escalate will have negative consequences," states the draft conclusions to be adopted by EU heads of state and government at the June 29-30 summit.

Before the Summit, on June 26, a meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the EU countries will be held in Luxembourg, where the tensions in Kosovo will also be discussed.

Office for KiM: The perpetrators of the crimes against the Belacevac miners have not been found a quarter of a century (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced that today marks twenty-five years since the kidnapping of Serbian miners, who were forcibly taken by ''Albanian terrorists from the factory circle of the "Belacevac" coal mine of the "Obilic" Thermal Power Plant'', in Kosovo, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

"That was the beginning of the campaign of mass crime and terror organized by Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija against the civilian, Serbian population, and this very crime shows the true nature and true goals of what they call the struggle for liberation in Pristina. Today, when the terrorist police in Kosovo, in the style of the KLA, daily arrests and kidnaps innocent Serbs, and beats Serbian children, it is clear that this struggle is nothing more than an attempt to completely ethnically cleanse our southern province by abusing and terrorizing the non-Albanian population,'' read the Office for KiM announcement.

The Office recalls that the perpetrators of the crimes against the Belacevac miners have not been found and brought to justice.

"For a quarter of a century, the perpetrators of the crimes against the miners in Belacevac have not been found and brought to justice, and none of the representatives of international organizations and temporary institutions in Kosovo and Metohija have even tried to offer answers about the fate of the Serbian miners and many of our other martyred compatriots. That best speaks of the scope of so-called international justice in Kosmet," read the statement.

"We remind you that on this day, twenty-five years ago in the early hours of the morning, Dusan Adjancic, Pera Adjancic, Zoran Adjancic, Mirko Buha, Dragan Vukmirovic, Filip Gojkovic, Miroslav Trifunovic, Srboljub Savic and Bozidar Lempic were kidnapped, just because they were Serbs,'' said the Office statement.

German embassy denies Minister Gasic claims on Ivanovic murder (N1)

The German Embassy in Belgrade denied claims by Serbian Internal Affairs Minister Bratislav Gasic that the man who killed Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic was being protected by Germany.

The embassy said in a reply to N1 that the Federal Government of Germany has no knowledge of who killed Ivanovic in January 2018. “We categorically reject the accusation that the perpetrator is under the protection of the German authorities. The Federal Government has not received a request from the Serbian authorities on this case,” the embassy said in its reply to N1.

Speaking during Wednesday’s parliament debate on his dismissal initiated by opposition MPs, Gasic said that he knows who killed Ivanovic and who is protecting him, adding that the man was under the protection of the German authorities and that a request for information had been sent to that country.

A humanitarian disaster threatens because of Kurti, says doctor Elek (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Clinical and Hospital Center in Mitrovica, Dr. Zlatan Elek said that oxygen is necessary for the operating room, for the birth of babies, in a word for the normal functioning of our institution, so in the case of a ban on the delivery of oxygen from central Serbia, we are simply threatened with a humanitarian disaster, reported Kosovo Online.

Elek spoke out after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned in a broadcast on RTS this morning that the hospital is running out of oxygen.

"This means that in the case of a ban on the supply of oxygen from central Serbia, we are simply threatened with a humanitarian disaster," adds the director of the clinical and hospital center.

Elek adds that currently there are medicines in that hospital for the necessary work of the institution, but that the situation with oxygen is alarming, and reminds that the government in Pristina led by Albin Kurti disputes everything that was agreed in Brussels.

He emphasized that Serbs from all over Kosovo rely on this health facility, non-Albanians, very often Albanians also.

Gracanica: New protest due to the arrest of D.M. (KiM radio)

KiM radio reports that in Gracanica today a walk was organized in protest of yesterday's arrest of D.M from Kisnica village. The protest walk, with several hundred residents, ended at the Gracanica monastery. The traffic through the main street of Gracanica was suspended during the protest.

Director of the Pristina Health Center based in Gracanica, Natasa Prentic Miric, and the writer, journalist, and director of the Gracanica Culture Center, Zivojin Rakocevic, addressed the media prior to the beginning of the walk.

"The basic question we asked ourselves and others yesterday was: Who is next? How to live in a society where you wonder who is next to be arrested? We need to live in freedom, we were expelled from the cities, in Prizren four Serbs, in Pristina there are less than 15 of them, we are packed into ghettos, which today are visited like punitive expeditions to arrest people," writer and journalist Zivojin Rakocevic told the gathered at the protest among other things.

"We have had enough of listening to their promises and guarantees, their sweet words with which for two decades they have been trying to cover up this misery that is served to us every day. We are brought to a situation where we have to fight for our life and survival, I think that is clear to everyone here. We no longer have rights, if we ever had them, they are just letters on paper. This must stop immediately, and our compatriots must be released, everything else is a farce and a game with our lives, and we don't have a hundred lives, but only one that we want to live with dignity and in freedom," Prentic said at the protest.

Banners, "We are all Dragisa Milenkovic", "Justice for the Serbian people", "Free our innocent people", "Stop the criminalization of Serbs" could be seen at the protest.

Gracanica Mayor, Ljiljana Subaric, the president of the PA of the Municipality of Pristina Novak Zivic, the PA of the Municipality of Lipljan Milan Joksimovic, the director of Clinical Hospital Center Pristina based in Gracanica Bratislav Lazic, as well as principals of primary and secondary schools, and employees of local self-government were among those gathered.

KiM radio reports that the increased presence of members of the Kosovo Police and KFOR, as well as two ambulances, was visible on the ground and that the protest was followed by a large number of Serbian and Albanian media teams.

The main road through Gracanica is now open to traffic.

According to Kosovo Online portal, in Ranilug today gathered a large number of Serbs protesting the arrest of D.M., despite the attempt of the Kosovo police to block the approaches to the village.

When Svecla finally remembered the presumption of innocence (KoSSev)

With the latest arrest of Kosovo Serbs come new developments in the terminology used by the Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, who often reacts on Facebook. Svecla is also the first to report and comment on the arrest of Serbs since the outbreak of the new crisis in the north of Kosovo. Regularly describing the apprehended Serbs as “criminals”, he thus “passes sentences” on social networks although at that moment proceedings against these persons had not even been initiated. This minister also reacted after yesterday’s arrest of ethnic Serb D. M. near Gracanica. Unlike previous announcements, he employed a new term – “suspect”, reported portal KoSSev.

The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that dictates that any person accused of any crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This principle is applied in legislation around the world. Even in Kosovo.

“Any person suspected or charged with a criminal offence shall be deemed innocent until his or her guilt has been established by a final judgement of the court. Doubts regarding the existence of facts relevant to the case or doubts regarding the implementation of a certain criminal law provision shall be interpreted in favour of the defendant and his or her rights under the present Code and the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo” – state the second and third paragraphs of Article 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Although it is an integral part of Kosovo legislation, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, has repeatedly refused to adhere to this principle.

A new crisis broke out in the north of Kosovo on May 26th, after special units of the Kosovo Police forcibly entered municipal buildings in Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok.

In the days that followed, several incidents were recorded in which journalists were attacked, while on May 29th, local Serbs and members of KFOR clashed in Zvecan, resulting in dozens of injuries on both sides, while two Serbs were arrested.

Since the start of this crisis, many Pristina officials, including the Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs, have been active on social networks, placing the blame on Serbs and official Belgrade for the escalation of the situation in the North.

“Criminal groups”, “criminals”, “fascist militia”, “gangs”, “criminal mobs” – are some of the catchphrases used by Pristina officials on a daily basis, which are then picked up by many media outlets reporting in Albanian.

One of the latest such examples is the recent interview of Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar for the Atlantic Council, when journalist Ilva Tara used the term “fascist militia” on two occasions, as a phenomenon that worries the Kosovo prime minister.

The envoys, however, objected to the use of the term. Soon, new arrests took place. Ethnic Serb M.M. was arrested last Tuesday in North Mitrovica.

He was immediately identified by Svecla as „one of the leaders of the criminal group ‘Civil Protection'“.

Svecla also shared the arrested Serb’s full name in his announcement.

He also alleged that this person „is the main organizer of the attack on KFOR forces and the Kosovo Police in Zvecan“.

In the following days, three more people were arrested in the north of Kosovo for allegedly attacking journalists.

One of the most famous such examples was recorded when Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti read out 33 names of Serbs who he described as the primary organizers behind the events and criminals, four days after Serbs clashed with KFOR.

And while some citizens in the north of Kosovo, including the official Belgrade, rejected the accusations of the Pristina authorities, Svecla immediately sentenced them – all while sharing their full names.

“In the last three days, three people were arrested for brutal and criminal attacks on journalists reporting from the north of the country. These criminals, who receive orders from Belgrade for these attacks, will now face justice. We will not stop, everyone who is responsible for violence and criminal acts against journalists will be arrested,” said Svecla.

In none of these posts, starting from June 13, until the last arrest of Serbs in the north, on June 19, Svecla did not apply the principle of presumption of innocence, that is, he failed to use the term “suspect”.

The minister, however, changed his tune yesterday, when a Serb (D.M.) was arrested in the vicinity of Gracanica, whom the Pristina authorities accuse of war crimes.

“Participants in terrible crimes during the war in Kosovo must be held accountable,” Svecla announced yesterday afternoon, but in the very next sentence, he claimed that this person was arrested because of “suspicion” that he committed crimes during the war.

“In his capacity as the warden of the prison in Pristina and in parallel separated from Pristina specifically in the prison in Lipljan, it is suspected that during that period, in a systematic manner, he carried out torture and inhumane violence against Albanian prisoners, in cooperation with other persons,” once again Svecla used the word “suspicion”.

He even identified the arrested Serb as a “suspect”.

“During checks and searches today, illegal weapons were found and seized in the suspect’s apartment.”

At the end of his post, he congratulated the police for “the extraordinary work done during the investigations, as well as the arrest.”

“No matter how many years have passed, the abuse and torture committed during those years cannot go unpunished. Those responsible must be brought to justice,” said Svecla.

Apart from the incidents and arrests, the new crisis in the north of Kosovo continues with increased inflammatory rhetoric.

The international community, on the other hand, has been calling on the parties to refrain from making unilateral moves and statements, urging them to de-escalate the situation and turn to dialogue and normalization of relations.

Opinion

Evil spring in the north of Kosovo: A plain and simple account of a situation that is neither (KoSSev)

By Dragutin Nenezic

Without much introduction – on what it would say in another time and in another place – I begin this text with a conclusion.

Despite all the goings-on, the European agreement is alive and well, it is widely implemented even though it has not been signed, and in fact, everything that is happening in and around the north these days is another phase in its implementation. Although very different, the regimes in Belgrade and Pristina are doing the same thing – bringing the north down to the level of the south, all over the backs of the people who will continue to live in the north at least for some time. Instead of a culmination, as the great poet said (This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper), the north is susceptible to implosion, and all great expectations have, I’m afraid, been missed.

The situation until the last escalation

Until the escalation (I use this term for everything that happened from May 26th onwards), the European agreement with the annex was applied as intended, at least in the part that foresees obligations for Belgrade and Pristina:

In April, a committee was formed to monitor the implementation of the agreement (item 6 of the annex);
in April, Pristina started the process of accession to the Council of Europe, referring to the agreement (Article 4 of the agreement);
In May, a declaration on the missing, with all the qualms brought by the terminology, agreed upon (item 4 of the annex);
In May, after the presentation of the draft of the ASM statute, the Pristina government disbanded the management team (item 5 of the annex);

As I wrote earlier, aside from the debate surrounding (non)-signing (rendered meaningless for anyone who knows the law at all, and now for anyone who has a grain of honor) – the European agreement will be applied, that is, it was applied, even without a signature. It was to be expected that after the above, the implementation of the part concerning „self-governance“ (Article 7 of the agreement) would follow, but for that the problem of the withdrawal from the institutions need to be solved, which I also wrote about.

International

German minister points at Pristina to deescalate Kosovo tensions (Euractive)

After tensions between Kosovo and Serbia flared up again, raising eyebrows in Brussels, Germany and France called on both sides to de-escalate as they are currently “really jeopardising” their EU path.

But in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV, German Minister of State for Europe Anna Lührmann pointed the finger at Kosovo, saying the de-escalation push “also applies to Pristina”.