Albanian Language Media:

• Stoltenberg: NATO concerned with secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia (media)
• Bislimi: EU should lift measures against Kosovo as soon as possible (Koha)
• Rohde: Kosovo to more make efforts to implement agreements with Serbia (Koha)
• Tahiri to Kurti: Tell us why you allowed Radoicic to escape on Sept 24 (Telegrafi)
• Gashi on Kurti’s remarks about Radoicic: Wish it's not meant to scare people (EO)
• AAK wants Assembly to take a stance on EU measures against Kosovo (media)
• Maqedonci: Banjska case revealed Serbia’s aggressive objectives (Albanian Post)
• Maqedonci meets Kearns, thanks her “for presenting truth about Kosovo” (media)
• Calls for internationals to react to Serbia’s mobilization at border (Telegrafi)
• Kurti says NGOs and businesses can register as social enterprises (EO)
• Tahiri: Government takes part in dialogue, without sanctions for Serbia (media)
• Trial in absentia begins for Cedomir Aksic accused of war crimes (Dukagjini)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic and Brnabic tomorrow with Stoltenberg (RTS)
• Weber on relocation of monument to Serbs: "Clumsy gaffe" by French and German Embassies in Kosovo (KiM radio)
• Serbian Embassy in Germany: Serbia determined never to give up on its heritage in Kosovo (Radio KIM, media, social media)
• Mijacic: Statement of German ambassador about Visoki Decani Monastery is official stance of Germany (Tanjug)
• To UNESCO, Visoki Decani and Gracanica are in Serbia – ambassador (Tanjug)
• The office for KiM assistant director banned from entering Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Two sides of the same story: KP on obstructing officers, Jaksic speaks of physical abuse and announces lawsuit against special forces (KoSSev)
• Jeremic on upcoming Serbian elections, Kosovo, Franco-German plan (N1)
• Serbian Government to open consulate in Pale (media)

Opinion:

• Palokaj: Association draft is not so secret – it could hardly be better (Koha)

International:

• NATO chief commits to Bosnia’s territorial integrity and condemns ‘malign’ Russian influence (AP)

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Stoltenberg: NATO concerned with secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia (media)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today in Sarajevo that the alliance is concerned by the secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia, as well as by Russian influence in the country. “The allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he told reporters. "We are concerned by secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as .. foreign interference including Russia," Stoltenberg told reporters in Sarajevo, his first stop during a tour of the Western Balkans region. "This undermines stability and hampers reform," Stoltenberg said, adding that all political leaders must work to preserve unity, build national institutions and achieve reconciliation.

Bislimi: EU should lift measures against Kosovo as soon as possible (Koha)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, said today that the European Union should lift the measures against Kosovo as soon as possible. During a meeting of the Kosovo Assembly’s Committee for European Integration, Bislimi said that Kosovo has not started negotiations for EU membership, it does not have the candidate status and did not get the EU questionnaire. 

Bislimi said Kosovo has made progress in approximating the domestic market. “We have increased budget revenues, a successful formalization of the economy and jobs. We have a decrease in public debt, new businesses are growing, the financial sector is successfully confronting the crisis we are faced with, there is progress in the free movement of goods, services, and capital. But there are also areas where the assessment in the Progress Report is not in line with the position of the government. This relates to reforms in the public administration,” he argued.

Rohde: Kosovo to more make efforts to implement agreements with Serbia (Koha)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, called on Kosovo today to make more efforts to implement the agreements with Serbia, and that it has been committed to the EU-facilitated dialogue. He said it is important “to reach a momentum in the talks with Serbia”.

“Germany offered great assistance to the state of Kosovo to implement reforms. Kosovo remains committed to the EU-facilitated dialogue, but more efforts are needed to implement the agreements that have been reached,” Rohde said during the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly’s Committee for European Integration. 

Rohde said that limited progress has been made in parliamentary sessions and highlighted the lack of cooperation between the political parties in voting for international agreements. “The Report on Kosovo must remind us of which reforms need to be made so that Kosovo can advance in its objective to become a member of the EU. Reforms should not be made by the government only, but by the assembly too,” he said.

Rrezarta Krasniqi, committee chief and MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said that based on reports, Kosovo is more ready than Bosnia and Herzegovina to join the EU. “While we commend the recommendation to start negotiations with Bosnia, for our citizens it is difficult to understand why Bosnia is ready and Kosovo is not. According to reports, Kosovo is more ready for membership in the EU than Bosnia. We must focus on our homework. In terms of reforms in the public administration, the report says that no progress was made … A lot of work remains to be done by the institutions of Kosovo,” she argued.

Tahiri to Kurti: Tell us why you allowed Radoicic to escape on Sept 24 (Telegrafi)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group chief, Abelard Tahiri, said today that the visit to Kosovo by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is good news and that NATO’s engagement in Kosovo is an act of security for the whole region. “I think the engagement and cooperation of our institutions with NATO must continue in order not to allow under any circumstance new attacks like the one we had on September 24. KFOR, namely NATO, has the mandate to protect Kosovo’s borders and close coordination with NATO is necessary for our security,” he said.

Commenting on a statement by Prime Minister Albin Kurti that Milan Radoicic’s paramilitary group was being reorganized in Raska, Serbia, Tahiri said that Kurti must first explain why he allowed Radoicic to escape on September 24. “Footage from the drone showed that they saw Radoicic at the Banjska Monastery on September 24, so why did they allow a person who constituted a serious threat to our country to escape. He is suspected of several criminal acts and should have been apprehended by the Kosovo Police that day. Before the Prime Minister tells us what Radoicic is doing in Raska, it would be better for him to tell us why he allowed him to escape that day,” Tahiri argued.

Gashi on Kurti’s remarks about Radoicic: Wish it's not meant to scare people (EO)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group chief, Arben Gashi, commented today on Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s statement about the reorganization of Milan Radoicic’s group in Raska, Serbia. Gashi argued that there should be no unnecessary panic and that Kurti has repeatedly tried to create a crisis in the north so that he can take pride in something because he didn’t have any success in his three years in government.

Gashi said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to the region is important and sends the message that NATO guarantees security in the region.

AAK wants Assembly to take a stance on EU measures against Kosovo (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group chief, Besnik Tahiri, said after the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency today, that “Kosovo remains the only country sanctioned by the European Union” and that they have asked for the Assembly to take a stance on these measures, Albanian Post reports. “As we are speaking, we are the only country that the European Union has imposed sanctions on. On this topic, we decided that the Assembly should take a stance and address these measures,” he said.

Tahiri said that the ruling party, the Vetevendosje Movement, was engaged in negotiations [with Serbia] while the people have been left in information darkness. “For two and a half years, Kosovo has remained hostage to the dialogue. For two years, Vetevendosje has been engaged only in negotiations, and unfortunately Kosovo is in information darkness and this damages Kosovo,” he said.

Telegrafi quotes Tahiri as saying that Kosovo’s membership in NATO would be the best response to “Russian threats”. “This would be the best response to all threats coming from Russia, which President Zelensky mentioned recently, and also the warnings coming from our Prime Minister about what is happening in Raska,” he said.

Tahiri also said that the AAK is working closely with some NATO member states to speed up Kosovo’s membership. “Sustainable peace in the Balkans is directly linked to Kosovo’s membership in NATO,” he said.

Maqedonci: Banjska case revealed Serbia’s aggressive objectives (Albanian Post)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Ejup Maqedonci, said in an interview with the news website that his four main objectives are building the military capacities of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF), maintaining the current capacities of military support for civilian authorities, increased civil-democratic oversight, and increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation with partner countries.

Commenting on the September 24 attack in Banjska, Maqedonci said that a large number of the terrorists managed to escape because of the mountainous terrain, because they were very familiar with the terrain and their “control” in that part of Kosovo. “The Kosovo Police confronted this attack in the most professional way possible, regardless of the disproportion in terms of weapons and military tactics. Success in these cases is not measured with the number of persons killed and arrested, but by defeating their readiness to continue the implementation of the plan,” he argued.

Maqedonci said there is no doubt who organized the attack which resulted in the killing of Kosovo police officer Afrim Bunjaku. “The failure of this group revealed to the whole world Serbia’s aggressive objectives toward our country, and it gave reason to the presence of Kosovo’s security structures in the northern part of our country,” he said.

Asked to comment on NATO SG Jens Stoltenberg’s repeated statement that the KSF must not deploy to the north without a previous consent with the commander of KFOR, Maqedonci said that “the institutions of the Republic respect the pledge of 2013 that KSF operations in the north can be held after a preliminary coordination with KFOR as the international military authority in Kosovo tasked with guarding the borders and guaranteeing security. One of the key tasks in the mission of the Kosovo Security Force is to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo and in this regard, we coordinate continuously with KFOR to make sure that KFOR knows the support from KSF for military operations if needed. Otherwise, the KSF continuously analyzes and updates plans to execute its tasks”.

Maqedonci meets Kearns, thanks her “for presenting truth about Kosovo” (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, met with UK Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee chief Alicia Kearns at the International Security Forum in Halifax and thanked her “for presenting the truth about Kosovo and the threats coming from organized terrorist and paramilitary structures supported by the state institutions of Serbia”. He said he also informed Kearns about “the current situation and the threat from Serbia’s militarization along the border and support for terrorist groups”.

Calls for internationals to react to Serbia’s mobilization at border (Telegrafi)

The news website notes that two months after the attack in Banjska in Zvecan, Kosovo’s leaders have raised the alarm that Serbia is deploying military forces at the border with Kosovo, posing a threat to security and waiting for the time for a new attack. Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Sunday that Serbia has deployed anti-air systems near the border with Kosovo and that “the threat from Russia and Serbia to regional stability, peace, and security, is becoming increasingly apparent”.

Drizan Shala, security commentator, said Serbia’s actions are concerning and that Belgrade has not changed its position vis-à-vis Kosovo. “After Zelensky’s warning, we can say that security in the Western Balkans is fragile and now we can already see the fact that Serbia has deployed heavy military equipment along the border with the Republic of Kosovo. This proves that Serbia has not changed its discourse about the war against Kosovo,” he said.

Shala said it is concerning that Serbia did not condemn the September 24 attack in the north of Kosovo. “On this basis it is being concluded that Serbia was behind it and that we could see similar acts in the future. We need to be vigilant and exchange relevant information with the international security factor,” he added.

Commenting on NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kosovo, Shala said the visit proves that the Balkans are a priority issue for NATO, “and it will not allow another conflict in Europe”.

Shala also said that “if Serbia does not back down from the attempt to invade the territory of Kosovo, in coordination with the international factor we must ask for economic sanctions against Serbia and for suspensions from the NATO peace program. This would send a clear message to Serbia that it can stand with one foot in European integration and with the other foot in Moscow”.

Enver Dugolli, member of the Kosovo Assembly’s Committee for Security and Defense, too commented on Serbia’s threats claiming that it was continuing its aggressive plan to destabilize the security situation. “While Serbia is stubbornly refusing to sign and implement the agreements, it is also continuing its aggressive plan to destabilize the security situation which can very easily escalate into a conflict and war between the two countries and possibly destabilize the whole region,” he argued.

According to Dugolli, the international community should take a firm position toward Serbia. “The European Union, the United States and NATO must be harsher toward Serbia and force it to stop the increased military activities along the border with Kosovo. The Serbian List which formally has a new leadership it is still directed by Radoicic who should be behind bars and get a merited sentence for what he did in Banjska on September 24,” he said.

Kurti says NGOs and businesses can register as social enterprises (EO)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Finance Minister Hekuran Murati met today with representatives of non-governmental organizations and businesses. Kurti said that from now on NGOs and businesses can get the status of social enterprises and this would enable employment and well-being for vulnerable groups. “For the first time in Kosovo, our government enables non-governmental organizations and businesses to register and get the status of social enterprises,” he said. “The facilitations that will be provided for social enterprises will encourage the inclusion in the labor market of persons from vulnerable groups, and at the same time ensure the redistribution of revenues to precisely serve these groups. Both employment and well-being grow”.

Finance Minister Murati said that companies with 30 percent of staff from vulnerable groups can apply for the status of social enterprises, and that the companies or NGOs will be freed from income tax. “Different from traditional businesses whose objective is to maximize profit, social enterprises use their funds to advance the social mission, and in support of this mission, they will get benefits during their operation,” he said.

Tahiri: Government takes part in dialogue, without sanctions for Serbia (media)

Former chief negotiator of Kosovo in the talks with Serbia, Edita Tahiri, said in a Facebook post today that the Kosovo Government “does not lead but only reports (about the attack in Banjska). It has no strategy. The EU in fact removed the facilitators and put the three European leaders. Serbia was not sanctioned, while this week the government takes part in the Dialogue, without Serbia being sanctioned”.

Trial in absentia begins for Cedomir Aksic accused of war crimes (Dukagjini)

The trial in absentia for Cedomir Aksic, who is accused of war crimes, began today at the Basic Court in Pristina. This is the first trial in absentia against a war crime suspect in Kosovo.

A defense attorney was present at the session and the Special Prosecution of Kosovo said all possibilities to secure the defendant’s presence were exhausted.

Chairperson of the trial panel, Violeta Namani, said an international arrest warrant remains active for Aksic.

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo, in May, filed an indictment against Aksic, who is accused of war crimes in the municipality of Shtime, namely in the villages of Recak, Mulapolc and Petrove, in the period January-May 1999.

 

 

Serbian Language Media

 

Vucic and Brnabic tomorrow with Stoltenberg (RTS)

President Aleksandar Vucic will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tomorrow. Prime Minister Ana Brnabic will also talk to Stoltenberg separately.

As announced by the Presidency, the meeting between President Aleksandar Vucic and the Secretary General of the Alliance will be held at 9:30 a.m. in the building of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic. 

After the meeting, Vucic and Stoltenberg will address a press conference.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as part of his visit to the region, is in Sarajevo today, reported RTS.

Weber on relocation of monument to Serbs: "Clumsy gaffe" by French and German Embassies in Kosovo (KiM radio)

"As an advisor to the two embassies (French and German), I would at least advise the formation of a commission that includes both Albanian and Serbian historians, that includes the community and the Serbian Orthodox Church, so there remain a lot of questions. After all, when it's an Orthodox cemetery, why didn't they consult with the Orthodox Church," Senior associate of the Council for Democratization Policy in Berlin, Bodo Weber, said in the Slobodno srpski (Free in Serbian) TV Show, reported KiM radio. 

He believes that this will remain an isolated case and that something similar will not happen again due to media and social media criticism.

"Since we saw that in 24 hours, they (the German and French embassies) made some kind of a turnaround, after receiving criticism from the Serbian community in Kosovo, I have the impression and hope that it will not be a precedent, but a lesson from which something will be learned. We will see if there will be an apology," Weber added.

The Franco-German plan, an initiative with a wrong concept

Speaking about the French-German, i.e. the European plan to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, Weber believes that it is a "misconceived initiative", which is doomed to failure and that this was proven as early as September 14 at the "failed meeting" between Vucic and Kurti in Brussels, but also after the events in Banjska ten days later.

"We see that through the events in Banjska, instead of gathering these Western authors, namely the European Union, but also the USA, they continue on their way even more fiercely," he said.

According to Weber, that path is, among other things, the insistence on the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities, for which the Western countries drafted a statute, and which, according to him, has been the main obstacle to dialogue for eight years. Weber stated that Serbia is aware that the CSM is part of the status issue and that by accepting the Brussels Agreement in 2013, it "de facto" recognized Kosovo.

He said that due to the wrong actions of the West, a situation has arisen where the CSM all the time serves for manipulation, both for Belgrade and Pristina, which involved the Constitutional Court in that process and thus closed the way for the implementation of that agreement.

Weber believes that after the events in Banjska on September 24, the West looks at Belgrade "a little differently", but that in general it has not corrected its planned path. He believes that even in the case of Banjska, the European plan proved unsuccessful.

"We have one year of German-French initiative, negotiations, and we see one thing that we have never seen in dialogue. Whenever there were negotiations on a compromise, it always led to de-escalation, never to escalation," he added.

He believes that the West should not have allowed that, as he said, Vucic order the Serbs in the north to leave the institutions, especially the judiciary and the police, which in his opinion is "the greatest achievement of the April Agreement (Brussels Agreement of April 19, 2013) and political dialogue in general.

"We were returned to the state before the political dialogue and we saw that it was a difficult point of return, so the whole dynamics of escalation that occurred afterwards led us to Banjska. In my opinion, that is the basic mistake of the West, that it was allowed to be done. In addition, obviously, those Serbs who left the institutions were promised some things by Belgrade and the Serbian List, which led to the secession of the north and who were badly deceived. So, it really led to a level of escalation, which we have not had in the entire history of the dialogue," said Weber.

Elections kill agreements

The upcoming parliamentary elections in Serbia, as well as the electoral process in Europe and the USA next year, according to Weber, will not only slow down the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and the implementation of the agreements reached, but will also "kill" the most important agreements.

"We still have four weeks until the elections in Serbia, nothing can happen during that period. Then we saw the tried-and-true recipe, he (Vucic) will delay the formation of the government as much as he can, four to five months, and then we are close to the European parliamentary elections, then the summer break and Mr. Borrell and Mr. Lajcak leave for the summer, and then we are close to Mr. Vucic's eternal dream of Mr. Trump coming back. Therefore, in my opinion, that process is already dead, despite acceleration after Banjska. We are very close to achieving the goal of Belgrade and Pristina, but especially Belgrade, that in practice the implementation process is being dragged out until the agreement is dead," he pointed out.

However, Weber believes that dialogue has no alternative and that, in his opinion, the solution to get out of this situation is "returning the dialogue to its right path", which is planned.

"With these initiatives, the dialogue should return to where we were, and we did not work realistically. It is a serious strategic fundamental reset of the dialogue as a negotiation about something we had, but it was not essential. These are negotiations on a final and comprehensive legally binding agreement, in which there would be no talk of any "de facto" recognition, but in the end, formal recognition of Kosovo, in which everything in the package would be resolved, in which there would be no intermediate steps that again offer the parties a path, while again undermining what they formally agreed to," he stated.

Reports on the progress of Kosovo and Serbia identical

Commenting on the reports of the European Commission on the progress of Kosovo and Serbia, Weber considers it interesting that the part in the reports that refers to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is completely identical.

"Nowhere does the EC dare to say who is to blame and how much and I conclude from this that throughout the year the EU marked Pristina as the culprit, not Belgrade, that it even introduced sanctions. What is mentioned in the report really seems irresponsible, because if you have a report that concludes that there was a significant escalation from November of last year through May to Banjska, and then you don't say who is responsible, how much, which side, you just write that one side received sanctions... You can see all the misery of that relationship where Pristina is blamed, our side (the West) is not blamed, Belgrade is not blamed, only Pristina is blamed and nothing has been resolved," he added.

Speaking about the EC's report on Serbia's progress and the growing sentiment of citizens against joining the EU, Weber stated that the EU bears the greatest responsibility for the state of democracy in Serbia.

"For ten years, we traded the issue of democracy in Serbia for dialogue, and since we did not do it strategically, we were left empty-handed on both sides. In a way, we have become accomplices in that authoritarian-autocratic transformation under Vucic's rule, which is unprecedented even in relation to the Milosevic regime, and we have the proof, which is also reflected in those reports, that practically Mr. Vucic is taking us, the European Union, already five to seven years with words about wanting to join the European Union. On the other side, we have a situation where we know that Serbia will never be ready with this kind of government, with this kind of abolition of democracy and the rule of law. More and more, it is moving away from the European Union as much as possible, and thus it will never enter," said Bodo Weber in the show ‘Slobodno srpski’, reported KiM radio.

Serbian Embassy in Germany: Serbia determined never to give up on its heritage in Kosovo (Radio KIM, media, social media)

German Ambassador in Pristina, Jorn Rohde following the visit of the German diplomats to Serbian Orthodox Church Visoki Decani Monastery wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that regional German ambassadors' conference concluded “with a memorable visit to Kosovo's UNESCO-listed @DecaniMonastery”, Radio KIM reports.

The Embassy of Serbia in Germany reacting to the post said the more attempts there are to alienate the Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo from Serbia, the stronger its determination is never to give up on it.

“Visoki Decani is Serbia's medieval monastery in the UNESCO List of world heritage in danger https://whc.unesco.org/en/danger. The more attempts to alienate Serbia's cultural & historical heritage in Kosovo & Metohija from 🇷🇸, the stronger its determination not to ever give it up”, Embassy wrote in a post on X.

It also included the link to the webpage of UNESCO world heritage in danger list on which the Visoki Decani Monastery had been inscribed as a world cultural heritage in Serbia, same as Pec Patriarchate and the Church of Holy Mother of Ljevis in Prizren.

Mijacic: Statement of German ambassador about Visoki Decani Monastery is official stance of Germany (Tanjug)

Coordinator of the National Convent of the EU Working Group for Chapter 35, Dragisa Mijacic said today the statement of German Ambassador in Pristina Jorn Rohde that Visoki Decani Monastery is cultural heritage of Kosovo is official stance of Germany, adding that he only presented one statement that is in line with official policy of that country, Tanjug news agency reports.

“That statement caused great disturbance in the Serbian community. This is not for the first time that representatives of the countries that recognized Kosovo declare about Kosovo cultural heritage, recently something similar was told for Novo Brdo as well, and other cultural monuments of Serbia and Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, however, having in mind that these countries recognized Kosovo, such statement form ambassador does not come as a surprise”, Mijacic said.

He added that prior to this statement, a relocation of the memorial plaque to the fallen Serbian soldiers occurred, because of, as it was said, in a joint statement of French and German embassies in Pristina, controversy the location of a monument caused in Kosovo media during ceremony of marking Armistice Day.  

To UNESCO, Visoki Decani and Gracanica are in Serbia – ambassador (Tanjug)

Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO Tamara Rastovac Siamasvili said on Monday Serbia's re-election to the UNESCO Executive Board was a clear signal of its international position and the diplomatic room available to it to halt initiatives contrary to its national and state interests, such as Pristina's UNESCO membership bid.

"Our re-election is a huge success, especially because we are the only country in the eastern European group to have achieved re-election. We received absolutely the highest number of votes, and there were more candidates than there were places to be filled," Rastovac Siamasvili told the Vecernje Novosti daily.

"The fact the necessity of Serbia staying on the board was recognised shows the level of appreciation for our engagement and the level of our reputation at UNESCO," she said.

Membership in the board is extremely important because of the issue of Kosovo, she said.

Any request by Pristina would have to be cleared by the board, which puts us in a very good position, Rastovac Siamasvili explained.

"On the other hand, any request (by Pristina) runs against the predominant sentiment at UNESCO - a strong opposition to politicisation. In brief, Pristina has no support whatsoever for a potential membership request," she said.

She added that a UNESCO General Conference was underway and that there had been no indication Pristina would apply for membership again because it realised the move would end in failure.

"They applied in 2015 and lost the vote, and they did not submit a formal application at the next session in 2017 because they were discouraged and they made no further attempts after that," Rastovac Siamasvili said.

She said the four Serbian holy sites inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list - the Patriarchate of Pec, the Church of Our Lady of Ljevis and the Visoki Decani and Gracanica monasteries - remained in the list after receiving enormous support at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Saudi Arabia in September and added that this showed they were still in danger.

"Whether they belong to Serbia was not an issue at any point," Rastovac Siamasvili noted.

The office for KiM assistant director banned from entering Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Online portal reported that assistant director of Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Jelena Stojkovic was stopped today at the Merdare crossing, and not allowed to enter Kosovo.

She was supposed to visit the Adjancic family from Babin Most, who will receive a new 124-square-meter house thanks to the help of the Office for KiM and Obilic Interim Municipal Authority. 

The President of the Obilic Interim Municipal Authority Goran Dancetovic confirmed this and added that she was also planning to visit the family of Radojica Milic in Plemetina, which was robbed ten days ago. He said that the institutions will continue to help people in Kosovo regardless of the repression.

Two sides of the same story: KP on obstructing officers, Jaksic speaks of physical abuse and announces lawsuit against special forces (KoSSev)

After being detained by special units and interrogated for several hours at the Kosovo police station in Zubin Potok, an activist of the civic initiative “Za Zubin Potok”, Milentije Jaksic, was released last night. The police charge Jaksic with the criminal offense of obstructing an official while on duty, in turn, the activist accuses the police of mistreatment, and physical abuse, adding that they belittled and humiliated him. Furthermore, he announced a complaint to the Kosovo Police Inspectorate and a lawsuit against special units.

Members of the border police detained Jaksic yesterday morning near the Brnjak crossing, alleging that, upon entering Kosovo territory, he pulled over near the base of the border unit, where he displayed “aggressive” behavior and “yelled” at the officers.

Shortly after his detainment, the police told KoSSev that Jaksic allegedly resisted arrest, while the officers “only used the necessary physical force to bring him under control”.

On the other hand, the leader of the civic initiative “Za Zubin Potok“ (For Zubin Potok) Milija Bisevac, told KoSSev yesterday, before the release of Jaksic, that he was allegedly beaten and had visible injuries.

In the meantime, Jaksic confirmed the same allegations for KoSSev and shared contradictory claims of the events surrounding his detainment in comparison to the Kosovo police.

The “Za Zubin Potok” activist submitted to KoSSev the police record of his interrogation.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3wwyfetm

Jeremic on upcoming Serbian elections, Kosovo, Franco-German plan (N1)

Leader of Serbian opposition Peoples’ Party (NS) Vuk Jeremic told Behind the News broadcast on N1 he is convinced that Peoples’ Party will be one of the biggest surprises in the upcoming elections, adding that they are the only opposition party that runs on elections independently.

He also said the Peoples’ Party did all it could to unite parliamentary state-building opposition. “It was not up to us, some others did not want it. I think that unfortunately, the parties’ interests overcame the national interests. National interest is to reject Franco-German proposal, that is a direct danger we are facing (….)”, Jeremic said, adding that his party will pursue clear policy and will not change stances following elections.

“Vote for Peoples’ Party is a vote against Franco-German plan, vote for ban on lithium excavation and thirdly, the vote for change of a system we live in. Those three topics we are offering will be the three main principles guiding our political course following elections as well”, he said.

According to Jeremic rejection of the Franco-German proposal also means the necessity of redefining Serbia’s relations with the EU as set in the Stabilization and Association Agreement from 2008.

Serbian Government to open consulate in Pale (media)

The Serbian Government has decided to open a consulate in Pale, Serbian media reported. According to the Official Gazette, the government is “opening a consulate of the Republic of Serbia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by a honorary consul, based in Pale covering the consular area which includes the territory of the municipality of Pale”. It said that Dejan Ljevnaic has been named honorary consul.

 

 

Opinion 

 

Palokaj: Association draft is not so secret – it could hardly be better (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in an opinion piece that “the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities officially remains confidential, but it is no longer unknown to the Kosovo public. With a very high probability, one can say that the version which has been made public by Burim Ramadani, is more or less the version that aims to form the Association. Anyone that has experience with reading such documents that are drafted by EU and U.S. structures, can see their hand in the document. And such a version could hardly have come from someone who is not deeply involved in the process. The fact that no one has firmly denied, the EU, U.S., Kosovo, or Serbia, that this is the accurate version makes the assertion that this is the draft even more reliable.

The proposal of the draft and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s readiness to accept it under the condition that it is signed as part of the package together with the Agreement and the implementation annex marks a new moment in the dialogue, Palokaj writes. It marks a great evolution of this government, which until now did not even want to talk about the topic and now it is ready to accept it but needs to make sure that Kosovo too will benefit from this. It marks a new moment also because there is now a serious and real proposal that has strong international backing, upon which the obligation can be implemented. Kosovo has this obligation, and it cannot avoid it, at least not without serious consequences.

Palokaj says that the whole dialogue in Brussels “was started with the idea that Serbia and Serbs need to be given ‘something more than Ahtisaari’ in order to be satisfied and not feel like ‘they have lost everything’, and that meanwhile Albanians ‘have won everything’. This is the narrative that was pushed by Serbia, and it was accepted by a large part of the international community, including diplomats of countries that have recognized Kosovo’s independence, and including the United States of America. So after the idea for Kosovo’s division was rejected, and according to which ‘Serbia would get a part and would be satisfied’, the idea was born for a ‘special treatment’ or ‘a special status’ for the north of Kosovo. And this, through dialogue, but also outside of it, was started being implemented as ‘reality on the ground’.”

“Two obligations that have accompanied Kosovo until now are that Kosovo needs to form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and that it must not send KSF units in the north. Ever since these obligations were assumed, Kosovo has been and remains hostage to them. There is a question whether or not Kosovo could not have assumed these obligations. But there is no doubt that both obligations were proof that one part of Kosovo is treated differently from the other”.

“Despite major support from the political spectrum, except for Vetevendosje which at the time was in the opposition, no step was made in Kosovo toward forming the Association. The Constitutional Court found many discrepancies in the Agreement on the Association vis-à-vis the Constitution of Kosovo. But it did not say that it should not be formed. It gave directives that need to be considered when it is formed.”

Palokaj writes that “if Serbia is allowed to use the Association to obstruct Kosovo’s statehood, it will do so. When it was said that another ‘Republika Srpska’ would not be allowed in Kosovo, Serbia reacted saying ‘what is wrong with Republika Srpska’. It is good that the text of the draft in several cases clearly says that everything needs to be in line with the Constitution, and that changes need to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. There are some surprising, and even dangerous elements that need to be explained. For example, the resolution of disagreements in interpretation through the Arbitrage and not through courts, and the functioning of the educational and health system in the capacity of a ‘private system’ that would be financed by Serbia. But from this process where so many errors were made, there could not have been a better proposal than this one. Therefore, aware that Kosovo does not have more operating space in terms of the Association, an internal unity in Kosovo would increase the likelihood of Kosovo benefiting from the implementation of this obligation by unblocking the process of EU integration and membership in international organizations”.

 

 

International 

 

NATO chief commits to Bosnia’s territorial integrity and condemns ‘malign’ Russian influence (AP)

NATO supports Bosnia’s territorial integrity and is concerned by “malign foreign interference,” including by Russia, in the volatile Balkans region that went through a devastating war in the 1990s, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

Sarajevo is the first stop on Stoltenberg’s tour of Western Balkan countries that will also include Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia.

“The Allies strongly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “We are concerned by the secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as malign foreign interference, including Russia.”

There are widespread fears that Russia is trying to destabilize Bosnia and the rest of the region and thus shift at least some world attention from its aggression on Ukraine.