UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, August 9, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: Justice reform is a necessity, vetting is a solution (media)
Stano confirms receival of the letter of EU and US MPs to Borrell (RTK)
Osmani appoints Ahmet Ismail to the post of governor of the Central Bank (media)
Rasic: Elections should be held after resignation of mayors (media)
LDK: We will request an investigative commission for "misuse of state reserves" (media)

Serbian Language Media:

EFJ concerned over ban to RTS journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to enter Kosovo and report from there (Radio KIM)
Pristina confirms MTS.doo business certificate has been revoked (KoSSev)
What does revocation of MTS.doo licence certificate mean for Serbs in Kosovo? (RFE, Radio KIM)
Sentic: Work of Office for Communities Affairs degraded, allocation of funds concerning (KoSSev)
NGOs and media file complaint to Ombudsperson on Office for Communities Affairs decision to allocate funds (Radio kontakt plus)
Vucic presents ambitious plans worth €12 billion (N1, BETA)
Aleksic presents new MP caucus (N1)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: Justice reform is a necessity, vetting is a solution (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, started the meeting of the government by welcoming the new Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci. He said at the government meeting that justice in Kosovo continues to be inefficient and slow. He said that there are many cases when, due to the inaction of the justice system, people with a criminal record roam freely and take the lives of citizens.

He mentioned the punishment of Dardan Krivaqa, who took the life of Marigona Osmani, saying that it took the entire society to react in order to punish this crime.

Regarding trust in justice institutions, Kurti emphasised that the level of trust of citizens continues to be among the lowest compared to other institutions. He added that for this reason reform is a necessity and Vetting is a solution.

"Also, various credible local and international reports state that our justice system continues to be inefficient and slow and characterised by the phenomenon of numerous cases in retrial and inappropriate punitive decisions. There are also the most extreme cases, already known to the public, when the last instance, the Supreme Court, completely acquitted the defendant of the sentence of life imprisonment imposed in the first instance, in a marathon judicial process, judged and re-judged. According to the Report of UNDP and USAID - Public Pulse, published this year, while the level of satisfaction for the government has increased to over 50%, for judicial and prosecutorial bodies such a trend continues to be low. According to the same report, citizens' satisfaction with the performance of the justice system - the courts and the prosecutor's office is only 29%,” Kurti said among other things.

Stano confirms receival of the letter of EU and US MPs to Borrell (RTK)

The High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, has received a letter from dozens of European and U.S. political representatives, who have asked Brussels and Washington to change their approach in relation to Kosovo and Serbia, confirmed the spokesperson of Brussels, Peter Stano.

"As a general rule, we do not comment on correspondence that the High Representative (Borrell) receives from various interlocutors. If relevant actors write to him, he responds through the appropriate channels. We do not do correspondence through the media," Stano said in a statement to the media.

Fifty-six MPs from Europe and the United States have requested through a letter "balance and proportionality in the interaction with Kosovo and Serbia".

However, Stano recalls that the EU's foreign policy is made by 27 member states unanimously and that there is close cooperation with the USA.

Confirming the neutrality in the dialogue process for the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, the EU spokesperson emphasised that the institutions of Brussels value the engagement of the parties in the dialogue "on the basis of their individual merits and reports before the member states".

"The EU has sent requests to both sides to resolve the current tensions and enable the continuation of the normalisation process. The European Union is carefully monitoring whether Serbia fulfils its demands and is ready to take measures in case of non-compliance of these demands", Stano continued.

Osmani appoints Ahmet Ismail to the post of governor of the Central Bank (media)

After the decision of the Assembly, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, has decreed Ahmet Ismaili as the new governor of the Central Bank.

According to Osmani, the Constitution, laws, integrity and professionalism should be guides throughout the work in state institutions.

Meanwhile, Ismaili has presented his vision for CBK, as well as the promotion of sustainable growth based on commitment to public efficient and transparent service.

Rasic: Elections should be held after resignation of mayors (media)

The Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rasic, has spoken about the new elections that are expected to be held in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo. Rasic said that he prefers the elections to be held through the resignation of the mayors and not through petition.

The Serb politician emphasised that organising the elections through petition gives power to the Serbian List to decide how the epilogue of this process will be.

"The best way is for the mayors to resign, how to resign? With a conversation as I'm sure that they can also see that maybe it's not logical that with a small percentage of the votes, when you have a percentage of the population of an ethnic structure that is different from the ones they represent and I am sure they will understand. If they resign in this form, it would have been much more efficient for us as government and ultimately also for them as citizens, because we have an initiative that can organise the elections quickly because we have a pluralism", Rasic said.

"Otherwise, what I consider to be Anti-Serb List, will not do anything that goes in favour of the Serbs but will act for everything that goes in favour of the regime in Belgrade, I have the sole mandate to protect the interests of the local Serbs, not the interests of a radical party which happens to be in power in Belgrade at the moment," he emphasised.

LDK: We will request an investigative commission for "misuse of state reserves" (media)

The head of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Arben Gashi, in a press conference today, said that in the first fall session of the Assembly of Kosovo, they will demand a parliamentary investigation into the state reserves. Gashi said that this will be done in order to know how the state reserves are managed and by whom.

"We are living in a time when the crisis is covering the crisis, the failure is covering the failure and the constitutional violation is covering the previous one, and when the violation of the law is covering the previous violation and everything is followed by affairs. Citizens need to know the truth. The truth is the right solution and the starting point for everything", said Gashi.

Gashi said that there should also be serious criminal investigations by the State Prosecutor's Office on the matter.

"In addition to the criminal investigations that must be done by the State Prosecutor's Office, we think that there should also be a parliamentary investigation to see closely how the laws and procedures for state reserves have been respected," he said, among other things.

Serbian Language Media

EFJ concerned over ban to RTS journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to enter Kosovo and report from there (Radio KIM)

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed concerns yesterday over the case of Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic, who has been banned from entering Kosovo and carrying out her journalists assignments unobstructed since 2021, Radio KIM reports.

“EFJ joins its branches in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, and civil society organisations (ECPMF, CPJ, FPU, OBCT) in addressing Kosovo authorities to express concerns over the case of journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic, who has been banned several times from entering Kosovo since 2018 and prevented from carrying out her duties”, EFJ said in a statement.

They recalled that the latest ban took place on May 1, when Vukmirovic, who is an RTS journalist, was again banned from entering Kosovo under the pretext that she is considered a “threat for public order, internal security, public health and international relations”.

“In three letters addressed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ombudsman, we are calling upon them to explain why the journalist has been banned from entering Kosovo and demand that those responsible make sure that signed agreements between Serbia and Kosovo, which also stipulate freedom of movement, are honoured, without exception”, the statement adds, and included the links to the letters addressed to the above mentioned institutions.

Letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs can be read at: rb.gy/ifbmy

Letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be read at: https://tinyurl.com/y6sj5mu9

Letter to Ombudsperson Institution can be read at: https://t.ly/Q15Z2

Pristina confirms MTS.doo business certificate has been revoked (KoSSev)

Kosovo Business Registry Agency has revoked a total of 15 business certificates on registration of business subjects because of, as they said, documentations that had “anti-constitutional content”. MTS.doo, daughter company of Telekom Serbia, established in line with Brussels agreement, is among those subjects, KoSSev portal reports.

Telekom Serbia said previously they will file an appeal to this decision. Telekom Serbia argued that the decision was not made in line with legal procedures, adding it violates agreements made within Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in Brussels. It also said the decision of the Agency was based on the explanation that one of the company’s management members had a passport issued by the Republic of Serbia, but that all management members in official documentation use Pristina-issued documents.

What does revocation of MTS.doo licence certificate mean for Serbs in Kosovo? (RFE, Radio KIM)

Serious deterioration of the situation going beyond economic and commercial frameworks, along with violation of the Brussels Agreement, questions relating to the economic existence of more than 250 Serb families in Kosovo and interruption of communication and information for about 80.000 users of MTS.doo company, these are some of the consequences of Pristina authorities decision to revoke the licence of this company, Telekom Serbia said in its written reply to Radio Free Europe, Radio KIM reports.

MTS.doo is a company established based on the Brussels Agreement on Telecommunications between Belgrade and Pristina from 2015. The company obtained the licence to operate at the end of 2016 in line with Kosovo laws, and a founder and 100 percent shareholder is Telecom Serbia.

However, the Kosovo government claims that this, along with dozens of other companies, violated the constitutional order of Kosovo as their documentation for registration referred to towns in Kosovo as being in Serbia.

Radio Free Europe said it received no response from Kosovo government by the time of publishing the article as to what alternative is offered to Serbs in Kosovo, if MTS.doo is closed down.

The article further continues that there are other operators in Kosovo offering similar services as that of MTS.doo however Serbs barely use their services, apart from some using mobile services of Vala and IPKO operators that are present in the Serb areas south of the Ibar River.

In a response to Radio Free Europe, Telekom Serbia said that Kosovo Business Registration Agency on Friday informed them about revocation of the licence, without giving them an opportunity to supplement documentation of registration.

“We are already working on legal measures that we will submit, primarily a complaint, and if that is not accepted we will request a provisional measure from the court”, Telekom Serbia said.

They added they have informed foreign ambassadors in Pristina and Belgrade and the European Union that mediates the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. They also said it was difficult to explain to the international community why one company is shut down because there was an administrative error.

Radio Free Europe recalled that based on the agreement on telecommunication from 2015, MTS.doo was registered to operate in Kosovo in line with the Kosovo legislative framework, and Kosovo received prefix code +383, based on the same agreement.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Entrepreneurship did not reply to the Radio Free Europe by the time of publishing the article to their request to provide a more detailed explanation as to why MTS.doo licence certificate has been revoked, respectively why they were not allowed to supplement or harmonise the documentation.

The Ministry also provided no response as to what will happen with MTS.doo users, who mainly come from Serb community in Kosovo.

Radio Free Europe also sent a question to the European Union regarding revocation of the licence of MTS.doo, which mediates in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, but received no reply on this occasion either.

No response arrived from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija to Radio Free Europe inquiry as well.

Sentic: Work of Office for Communities Affairs degraded, allocation of funds concerning (KoSSev)

Office for Communities Affairs within the Kosovo Prime Minister Cabinet is no longer able to achieve its mission and vision, it applies concerning practice in allocating the funds to the organisations and members of the majority community exclusively, and disregards interests and needs of non-majority communities in Kosovo, newly appointed deputy Ombudsman Srdjan Sentic said, KoSSev portal reports.

Sentic’s remarks came after a number of Serbian non-governmental organisations and media condemned the decision of the Office for Communities to allocate the funds dedicated to the organisations from non-majority communities that promote their interests, mainly to the organisations coming from the Albanian majority community.

Sentic said that the work of this office has become seriously degraded. In a post on Facebook he said that 15 years ago, he was one of the founders and first director of this office.

He underlined that during his mandate significant and fruitful cooperation was made, both with domestic and international stakeholders, aiming at efficient resolving of the issues affecting non-majority communities across Kosovo and ensuring an even allocation of funds and their effective use.

He said that last year the Office allocated funds to organisations that do not belong to non-majority communities in 80 percent of cases, while this year that percentage has increased to 90 percent of such cases.

“Such disproportionate and concerning allocation of funds left non-majority communities deprived of the funds that are dedicated to them. Unfortunately, in the last two years the Office also suffered a significant loss of 2 million euros because of inefficient management and planning of its resources”, Sentic said. He claimed that this year the annual budget of the office has decreased officially from previous 1.7 million to half a million only.

Previously Elisabeth Gowing resigned her post in the Office for Communities Affairs due to disagreement on a decision to allocate funds for this year's public call mainly to organisations that belong to Albanian, majority community.

NGOs and media file complaint to Ombudsperson on Office for Communities Affairs decision to allocate funds (Radio kontakt plus)

Civil society organisations and the media filed a complaint to the Ombudsperson against the decision on the allocation of funds to non-governmental organisations and the media by the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo for Community Affairs.

They warn that this office violated procedural and administrative prerequisites, implemented institutional discrimination, showed non-transparency and ignored the institutions’ obligations to respect the rights of non-majority communities. They also emphasise that the Kosovo government constantly applies an exclusionary attitude towards citizens, civil society organisations and media from the Serbian community.

Signatories of the complaint include Aktiv, Centre for Social Initiatives (CSI), Human Centre Mitrovica, Communication for the Development of Society (CSD), Media Center Čaglavica, New Social Initiative (NSI), Produkcija New Press, Women’s Business Association “Avenija”.

Vucic presents ambitious plans worth €12 billion (N1, BETA)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic held a media conference in Belgrade on the state’s plans for up to 2027, when Specialized EXPO 2027 is to be held in Serbia.

Vucic and Brnabic presented grand plans worth, according to the President, 12 billion euros, which are to be completed by the end of 2026.