Albanian Language Media:

• Government: Impossible to comment on authenticity of every document (Klan)
• Hoxhaj: Meaningless, anti-democratic that Association draft is kept secret (EO)
• Bajrami: LDK doesn’t have the draft statute of the Association (RTV21)
• Kurti to community youths: Make Academy of Safety part of your dreams (Klan)
• Kurti to meet Special Intervention Unit today (Koha)
• CEC chief: Participation of women in election bodies is low (EO)
• Hoti: €113 million paid for electricity in the north in 2021 and 2022 (Nacionale)
• Malaj: Albania will increase its military presence in KFOR (Gazeta Express)
• Abazovic on Banjska attack: It damaged Serbia; Kurti had some warnings (media)
• Fried: Kosovo is a state now, not an issue or aspiration (Albanian Post)
• Suspected of terrorism: Identity of person wanted by Interpol revealed (Paparaci)

Serbian Language Media:

• Giaufret: Kosovo not alpha and omega of Serbia's European integration, but part of package (euronews.rs, Kontakt plus radio)
• RSF calls Serbian government to implement EC recommendations (N1)
• Marinkovic: “Act of ambassadors consequence of Albanian urge to erase historic ties of Serbs with Kosovo” (N1, KoSSev)
• Mijacic: More than 2,000 people so far have signed petition for return of monument to fallen Serbian soldiers in First World War (Kosovo Online)
• Stefanovic reacts to memorial plaque relocation, terms decision as tragic (N1, Radio KIM)
• Russian Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko reacts to memorial plaque relocation (Euronews Serbia, Kosovo Online)
• Kosovo police refuses to respond who beat up Serb G.M. from Caglavica (Radio KIM, Media Center)

International:

• No More ‘Brotherhood and Unity’: Pre-War Kosovo Captured on Camera (Balkan Insight)
• EU ‘lacked momentum’ on Balkan enlargement, says Serbia’s Europe minister (Politico)

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Government: Impossible to comment on authenticity of every document (Klan)

A spokesperson for the Kosovo Government, Perparim Kryeziu, told Klan Kosova today that several drafts [of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities] have circulated in public lately  and that it is impossible for the government to comment on the accuracy of every document that is published. “In the last days and weeks, different texts have circulated in public and were reported as drafts of the European-American proposal. It is impossible for the government to comment on the authenticity of every document. As far as we are concerned, the draft proposed by Germany, France, Italy, the EU and the U.S., should have been public by now, but we will respect its confidentiality according to the request of the sponsored states,” Kryeziu said.

Hoxhaj: Meaningless, anti-democratic that Association draft is kept secret (EO)

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, said in an interview with the news website that it is meaningless and anti-democratic that the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, which Prime Minister Albin Kurti received, is being kept secret and not shown to the public.

Hoxhaj, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, said he saw a draft of the Association but that he doesn’t want to comment on it without seeing an official draft from the Kosovo Government. “I have read the draft. But without seeing an official draft from the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and when Prime Minister Kurti says ‘this is the draft I have received’, I don’t think I should be commenting at this point,” he argued. “Beyond what is in the content, what is important for me is the government pledge. And it is meaningless and anti-democratic that this draft is still being kept secret and not shown to the public, because this concerns a very important topic”.

Bajrami: LDK doesn’t have the draft statute of the Association (RTV21)

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Hykmete Bajrami, said today that the LDK does not have the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. She said that the LDK does not agree with the document that was presented to LDK senior member Lutfi Haziri by EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak. “Our representative, Haziri, has seen it, but there was limited time, and one cannot analyze such a document in a couple of minutes,” she added.

Kurti to community youths: Make Academy of Safety part of your dreams (Klan)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti attended today an informative meeting for communities organized by Kosovo’s Academy for Public Safety, saying that the academy plays an important role for the citizens of Kosovo to feel safe and that the professionalism of the academy and its staff is important to safeguard Kosovo’s borders. “Together we are engaged to build a safe society and state, and to strengthen our capacities to protect our country and our people,” he said. 

Kurti said that since the start of the government’s mandate “there have been over 1,000 operations against organized crime and smuggling. 100 criminal groups and 16 drug laboratories were destroyed and over 3,800 persons have been arrested. By being serious and trusted partners of our allies, we are contributing to sustainable peace and long-term stability in the region”.

Kurti said it was necessary for all communities living in Kosovo to have representation and contribute to Kosovo’s institutions. “By putting in function the talents, skills, and professionalism of all citizens without any difference, in our security institutions, we will manage to do what is best for protecting security and peace. For this reason, I am happy to be here with youths from communities from Ferizaj, Fushe Kosova, Gracanica, Lipjan, Gjakova, Mitrovica, Obiliq, Shtime and Pristina, who have expressed interest in the opportunities provided by the Academy for Public Safety,” he said.

Kurti also told the youths of communities to use the opportunity and learn from the possibilities offered in the application process and to make the Academy for Public Safety part of their plans and dreams. “In doing so, I believe you will benefit greatly, and Kosovo will benefit greatly from your service,” he said.

Kurti to meet Special Intervention Unit today (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will meet today at 16:00 with the Special Intervention Unit of the Kosovo Police to discuss their demands after the protest they held in front of the government building on November 1, the news website learns from unspecified sources. The Special Intervention Unit, the most elite unit of the Kosovo Police, demanded changes in the categorization of jobs and greater hazard pay. After their protest on November 1, they announced another protest for November 7, but that was later suspended after Kurti promised to meet them.

CEC chief: Participation of women in election bodies is low (EO)

A roundtable held today by Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) and the OSCE Mission in Kosovo focused on gender participation in election management bodies (municipal election commissions and polling councils) and legal changes on the law on general elections, the news website reports. Attending the roundtable were CEC officials, OSCE Head of Mission Michael Davenport, representatives of political parties, women MPs, the Agency for Gender Equality, the Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel, international organizations, civil society organizations and media representatives.

The CEC spokesperson said in his opening remarks that with the law on general elections entering into force, “the election system in our country went through several changes in terms of voting in Kosovo and from abroad”. “The CEC is in the process of preparing legal acts which will help regulate certain specific issues foreseen by the law,” he said.

CEC chief Kreshnik Radoniqi said that in the process of election reform, the CEC presented around 50 recommendations that include different aspects of the election process. Speaking about gender representation in election management bodies, Radoniqi said: “In terms of gender representation … for the Central Election Commission, this is not something that ends with the creation of Municipal Election Commissions or the Voting Councils. I believe that equal gender representation would have a direct impact on increased participation and inclusion of all in the election process”.

Radoniqi also said that for this gender representation “the CEC cannot impose on political parties”. “It is not in the authority of the CEC to determine the composition of the Municipal Election Commissions and the Voting Councils. There is also no article in the law that obliges the political parties to be careful about general equality when they nominate their representatives,” he said.

Commenting on a document presented at the roundtable titled “Equal gender representation in election management bodies in 2021”, Radoniqi said data show the real situation of gender representation. “What we can say is that the representation of women in Voting Councils is better compared to that in the Municipal Election Commissions. In the composition of Voting Councils, in parliamentary elections in February 2021, only 30.51 percent of the members were women, while in the local elections in October 2021 there was a slight improvement in terms of women representation in these councils, namely 30.96 percent. Regardless of this … the overall data show that we are far from reaching equal gender representation in these election bodies. Therefore, stronger engagement is needed to reach satisfactory data,” he said.

OSCE Ambassador in Kosovo, Michael Davenport, said that the CEC needs to be commended for its efforts for gender equality. He said the fundamental principle of the OSCE is equal participation to achieve gender representation, and that the unemployment rate in Kosovo is higher among women compared to men. He also said that political parties must be encouraged because some of them never showed commitment to attend the workshops that discuss these issues. “Only 15 percent of members of Municipal Election Commissions were women in two elections, and this is not enough. This situation needs to be improved in the next local elections. Let us promote gender equality as a key principle,” he said.

Hoti: €113 million were paid for electricity in the north in 2021 and 2022 (Nacionale)

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Avdullah Hoti, said that €113 million were paid for electricity in the north of Kosovo in 2021 and 2022, and that for this year until September the debt for unpaid electricity in the north is €25 million. “The people who are in government did everything against previous governments when they had to pay for the electricity in the north. Now they pay several times more and there is no end in sight to this issue,” Hoti argued in a Facebook post.

Malaj: Albania will increase its military presence in KFOR (Gazeta Express)

Albanian Ambassador to Kosovo, Petrit Malaj, said today that dialogue is the only way toward the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. After meeting COMKFOR, Major General Ozkan Ulutas, Malaj said that Albania will continue to support KFOR because Kosovo is among the top priorities for Albania. “Our support will continue and in 2024 Albania will increase its presence [in KFOR],” he said.

Abazovic on Banjska attack: It damaged Serbia; Kurti had some warnings (media)

Former Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, said that the September 24 attack in Banjska against Kosovo Police, caused great damage to Serbia. “I think it greatly damaged the credibility of Serbia’s position. Negotiations were very tense, and most people said that the other party was to blame,” he said in an interview with Nova.

Abazovic mentioned the warnings that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti made about criminal groups in the north of Kosovo. “He was criticized by the international community for not being cooperative. He expressed his opinions all the time that several criminal groups are gathered there [the north of Kosovo], about criminal activities there and that they have problems with people who were laundering money. He did not mention specific names, but said there was something, and then the situation happened,” he said. “After everything that happened it is difficult to say that he was wrong. I am not saying that he was directly referring to those groups, but he kept getting the warnings”.

Abazovic also said that Serbs and Albanians must make efforts for reconciliation and according to him they have tried everything except reconciliation.

Fried: Kosovo is a state now, not an issue or aspiration (Albanian Post)

The news website notes that on February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, and 19 days later, on March 7, then U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, Daniel Fried, arrived in Pristina to show Serbia and the world that the United States of America strongly support the decision of Kosovo’s institutions and that they stand unwavering in defense of Kosovo’s territorial integrity.

In an interview with the news website, Fried says that 15 years after the declaration of independence, the Kosovo Government must understand that its primary task is development and not investing in other topics “because Kosovo is now a state and not an issue or an aspiration”. “I have never met Albin Kurti,” he says, “but Kosovo is a state and no longer an issue or an aspiration. Therefore, the primary task of every Government of Kosovo should be the well-being of all citizens of Kosovo, especially securing a place for Kosovo in Europe”.

Fried argued that “the risk of escalation in the Western Balkans, through misunderstandings or malign objectives, is very high. This risk – in terms of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia – suits the Kremlin's idea to create problems in and around Europe so that it can shift the West’s attention from the aggression in Ukraine”.

Fried said he is pleased by the fact that the U.S. and the European Union are cooperating also in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue in Brussels. “The United States of America and the European Union are natural partners in the Western Balkans; both need each other and both parties must work with all those that want a better future for people in the region,” he said.

Fried said that the “September 24 attack against Kosovo Police by Serbian paramilitaries was a despicable and dangerous act, and so was the high state of alert of the Serbian army along the border with Kosovo. The U.S. warned the Serbian Government to withdraw the troops. The measures taken earlier against Kosovo (by Serbia) responded to the concerns of the Kosovo Government about the escalation of the situation”.

Suspected of terrorism: Identity of person wanted by Interpol revealed (Paparaci)

Citing sources in Kosovo Police, the news website reports that 23-year-old Tariq Shehdada, with a double nationality Jordanian and German, is the person arrested early this morning by a specialized police unit. Shehdada was arrested based on an international warrant. The same sources told the news website that Shehdada is suspected of terrorism and based on this a warrant was issued by the German authorities. He also reportedly told police investigators that he was planning to join Hamas.

 

 

Serbian Language Media

 

Giaufret: Kosovo not alpha and omega of Serbia's European integration, but part of  package (euronews.rs, Kontakt plus radio)

The head of the EU delegation in Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, told Euronews Serbia that Kosovo was not the "alpha and omega" of Serbia's European integration, but it is part of the package, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

He said that the first pillar of European integration is the rule of law, the fight against corruption and organized crime, as well as media pluralism.

He also said that the second pillar is inevitably the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, reported euronews.rs, cited by Kontakt plus radio. 

According to him, both are important.

"We have not left aside the rule of law. On the contrary, it is an important issue in our work, but also the normalization of relations because we want to find a way out of this situation to make people's lives easier," he said.

He said that we (the EU) "pushed" quite a bit towards normalization because, as he pointed out, "this is an indication of how serious the EU is about enlargement and its desire to embrace Serbia in its family."

"And for that we need a normalization process - so it is part of the package," said Giaufret.

Asked if this means that Serbia, which recognizes Kosovo's independence, is also part of that package, Giaufret repeated the words of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that is, that it is about "implementing the agreement on the road to the normalization of relations".

"We are talking about the implementation of the agreements reached, and that is where we need to move forward. Not only on the Serbian side, but also Kosovo must implement its part of obligations," he said.

But, as he stated, we must be able to overcome the existing blockades because we have seen what the situation is when there is a crisis in Kosovo, and that is not productive for anyone and causes a lot of damage.

"So, we have to move on to implementing the normalization agreement, which will help a lot (on the way to the EU), along with other reforms," Giaufret was clear.

He pointed out that one of the key issues at the upcoming dialogue in Brussels in two days will be the establishment of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM), which he calls Pristina's "obligation undertaken a long time ago".

"We have to push forward the implementation of obligations that have not been implemented so far, and the CSM is one of those issues," he said.

According to him, there is support from all EU member states and the US government "is fully supportive in that process".

"We will continue to insist on the implementation of everything agreed, including the CSM, which I think is one of the key elements of the process that needs to be resolved," he said.

RSF calls Serbian government to implement EC recommendations (N1)

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the Serbian government to implement European Commission recommendations aimed at improving media regulations and combating Russian disinformation, reported N1.

A press release said that Serbia must revise media reforms to respond to disinformation challenges in line with EU calls.

“The Serbian parliament recently passed two media laws but, in the European Union’s view, progress in this area is still limited. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the Serbian government to adopt the European Commission’s recommendations in order to improve media regulation and combat Russian disinformation more effectively,” the RSF press release said.

It recalled that the European Commission’s latest progress report noted that Serbia made limited progress on media freedom because of frequent and virulent verbal attacks against journalists by public officials, the lack of independence of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM), the lack of transparency on media ownership, and the dissemination of Russian disinformation by many media outlets. It added that newly adopted media laws allow the state to buy media outlets via the Telekom Serbia company.

“We welcome the adoption of these two media laws in Serbia, which contain real solutions for improving press freedom. However, these reforms are not up to the challenges. The possibility of a return to state ownership of the media and the lack of a real overhaul of the REM are prompting concerns about renewed pressure from the Serbian authorities and a prominent place for Russian propaganda. As a candidate for accession to the European Union, Serbia must be more ambitious in its reforms. We call on the government to review these laws in light of the recommendations in the European Commission’s report,” the press release quoted RSF EU-Balkans desk chief Pavol Szalai as saying.

“RSF calls on the Serbian government to follow the European Commission’s recommendations to: take measures to combat the dissemination of Russian disinformation, ensure the independence of the REM and protect journalists against all forms of violence and intimidation.

RSF also recalled that the two new media laws were put forward by the government at the last minute and were adopted late at night with by-laws still to come. “The government could still improve or, on the contrary, toughen some of the laws,” it said.

Marinkovic: “Act of ambassadors consequence of Albanian urge to erase historic ties of Serbs with Kosovo” (N1, KoSSev)

“This is about a bizarre act”, Centre for Affirmative Social Action (CASA) Director Miodrag Marinkovic assessed the relocation of a memorial plaque dedicated to the fallen Serb soldiers from 1912 to 1918, adding that the ambassadors of France and Germany yielded to pressure from the Kosovo public. Marinkovic told N1 live programe solution is to return the memorial plaque to its original place, KoSSev portal reported.

He also opined that the ambassadors relocated the memorial plaque “so as not to have the same camera frame” as previous years. “And this time they are not exposed to criticism on social media, this is how I understand that”, he added. 

“And it is exactly because of that fear that mistakes we saw on Saturday were made”, he opined. Explanation of the embassies of the act he considered “equally bizarre”.

“Is it possible that for them it was more difficult to change the (camera) frame, (angle of) cameras recording it or to have that ceremony at some other place, instead of doing such an act that had shaken the Serbian community”, he said.

He said the decision to place a memorial plaque to the French soldiers who died in Kosovo recently, above the bodies of other soldiers is “a very odd situation” and “a thoughtless” act.

He also said they had no right to make such changes without permission of those managing the graveyard and these are Pristina municipality and Serbian Orthodox Church.

According to him this act represents a strong expression of disrespect towards the Serbian community in Kosovo and its historic heritage existing in the Kosovo society.

“It is a consequence of that strong urge in the Albanian society to deny and erase historic ties of Serbs with Kosovo”, he said, adding there is handful of cases in which those ties and rights are denied in Kosovo, including the case of Nazi collaborator Xhafer Deva’s house reconstruction controversy, refusal to implement Constitutional Court decision on Visoki Decani Monastery land, and recent desecration of an old Orthodox cemetery in Mitrovica North where a road was constructed over it.

Solution to return memorial plaque and apologize

Marinkovic also opined that embassies at this point need not prolonged discussion about what they wanted to achieve and whether they did it intentionally. Instead, the solution is to return the memorial plaque to its original place and let it be “above the soldiers buried there”. 

 “To do this act with the Serbian Orthodox Church and after that with some sort of apology to forget all that”, he concluded. 

Mijacic: More than 2,000 people so far have signed petition for return of monument to fallen Serbian soldiers in First World War (Kosovo Online)

The Coordinator of the Working Group of the National Convention on the European Union for Chapter 35, Dragisa Mijacic, announced that more than 2,000 people signed a petition in 24 hours for the return of the monument to the fallen Serbian soldiers of 1912-1918 at the cemetery in Pristina and called on those who had not done so to do so, reported Kosovo Online. 

"More than 2,000 people supported the petition demanding the return of the monument to the Serbian soldiers in Pristina to its previous place, and for the two ambassadors to publicly apologize for their thoughtless act," Mijacic said on the "X" social network.

He also posted a link where those who haven't done so yet, but want to do so, can sign.

A petition for the return of the monument was launched yesterday, and Mijacic called on citizens to support this initiative, saying that the removal of the memorial plaque to fallen Serbian soldiers in the First World War at the Pristina cemetery is ''one of the most shameful events in modern French history''.

Stefanovic reacts to memorial plaque relocation, terms decision as tragic (N1, Radio KIM)

Deputy president of the Serbian opposition Freedom and Justice Party (SSP) Borko Stefanovic said today that relocation of a memorial plaque to Serbian soldiers in Pristina, who built their lives into the foundations of Europe and free Serbia and the Balkans was a disgraceful attempt to revise history and an insult to all the descendants of the victims of the First World War, N1 reports.

“The fact that the monument was moved in Pristina without notification and dialogue is a continuation of (Albin) Kurti’s policy, which denies the existence of Serbs and aims to expel them from Kosovo and Metohija”, Stefanovic said in a written statement. He added that France once proudly remembered the great alliance between the two countries in the First World War.

“It is especially tragic that the French ambassador himself made the decision to move the monument to fallen Serbian heroes in the wars from 1912 to 1918 in a disgraceful act of self-censorship and fear of a possible unfavorable reaction from Pristina”, Stefanovic said.

He asked to what extent the big countries will humiliate themselves by defending themselves against the political and media poisons of Albin Kurti’s government and “what is the price of defusing and promoting unilateral actions and dreams of false national greatness in Europe”.

Russian Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko reacts to memorial plaque relocation (Euronews Serbia, Kosovo Online)

Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said relocation of a memorial plaque to the Serbian soldiers fallen in the wars from 1912- 1918 fully fits into Western politics aimed at changing historic justice, Euronews Serbia reported.

“The contempt of Berlin and Paris for the memory of the military glory of the Serbian army, the great sacrifice that Serbian soldiers made on the altar of the victory of the Entente countries during the First World War, unequivocally confirms the eternal Serbophobic attitude of the West", he said in a post on Telegram.

Botsan-Kharchenko recalled that in just four years of the First World War, the Serbian people lost more than 1.2 million people, which was one third of its population at that time.

He said the situation has also deteriorated as instead of official apology and returning the memorial plaque to its original place, diplomats insist that “they were right”.  

Kosovo police refuses to respond who beat up Serb G.M. from Caglavica (Radio KIM, Media Center)

Over the last three days Media Centre from Caglavica attempted to receive details from Kosovo police in relation to the case of G.M. from Caglavica who was beaten up by a young Albanian in this village on November 10, Radio KIM reports.

Day after the case occurred, Gracanica police station commander Bratislav Trajkovic said he was not authorized to talk to the media and that the query should be sent to the press office of Kosovo police in Pristina.

However, a query that Media Center sent to the press office of Kosovo police and deputy director general of the Kosovo police Dejan Jankovic today, yesterday and the day before remained unanswered to date, the Radio KIM added.

According to the Media Center findings G.M. was physically assaulted while cultivating his land in the village by a young Albanian with a flock of more than 100 sheep, after being told not to damage the crops. G.M. sustained physical injuries as result of the attack.

 

 

International 

 

No More ‘Brotherhood and Unity’: Pre-War Kosovo Captured on Camera (Balkan Insight)

Renowned Serbian photographer Imre Szabo recorded Kosovo’s gradual descent into turmoil in the 1980s and 1990s, documenting crucial events that led to the outbreak of war and how they affected ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

It’s May 1981 in the village of Kosovo Polje/Fushe Kosova. An elderly woman called Milusa is sitting on a chair under a tree, concentrating on peeling a potato. Attached to a branch above her, a sign announces: “House for Sale.”

This was the first picture in an exhibition of the same name last week in Belgrade by renowned photographer Imre Szabo, which covers some of the most important events in Kosovo in the 1980s and 1990s when tensions between ethnic Albanians and Serbs were gradually increasing.

The exhibition includes images depicting Kosovo Albanians’ resistance to Serbian rule, the rise of Yugoslav strongman leader Slobodan Milosevic, inter-ethnic violence and systematic repression by the Serbian state, concluding with the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, which ended the 1998-99 war and forced Serbia to withdraw from Kosovo.

“That picture [‘House for Sale’] was on the front page of Ilustrovana Politika (Politika Illustrated), the paper I worked for at the time,” Szabo, who was 25 at the time, told BIRN in an interview. “After [it was published], my photos were leading the newspaper headlines for a month.”

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/46vs4657

EU ‘lacked momentum’ on Balkan enlargement, says Serbia’s Europe minister (Politico)

Belgrade’s EU minister argues that ‘enlargement fatigue’ tarnished the bloc’s reputation in the region.

BRUSSELS — The EU waited too long to bring countries from the Western Balkans into its orbit, according to Serbia’s Europe minister.

Belgrade’s point person on EU integration, Tanja Miščević, said Monday that although the bloc reacted quickly on Ukraine’s prospective membership, the EU’s “lack of momentum” on the Western Balkans tarnished the bloc’s reputation in the region.  

“The EU did not react as fast as it reacted with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia two years ago, or now. They missed the same type of reaction at the beginning of this century when it comes to the Western Balkans,” Miščević told POLITICO in Brussels, where she attended a meeting of EU foreign ministers and their Balkan counterparts.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4jrup4un