Albanian Language Media:

• Kosovo Assembly discusses EC report on Kosovo (media)
• Osmani’s office expects new process of selecting Chief State Prosecutor (media)
• Investigations launched into police reaction to reporters at PSD protest (AP)
• Investigative committee on state reserves formed after seven failed attempts (EO)
• Calls to extend deadline for registration of vehicles in the north of Kosovo (media)
• Foreign Ministry reacts to Vucic’s claim of “removing 28 recognitions” (Euronews)
• Police officer attacked by a Serb at Jarinje crossing on Wednesday (media)
• Lajcak meets Sarrazin, discuss state of play in the dialogue (media)
• Prosecution: Working to resolve all circumstances of two killings (Telegrafi)
• Citaku reacts to killings in Pristina; “someone must be held accountable” (media)
• Kurti meets new Swiss Ambassador, thanks him for ongoing support (media)
• Vela will no longer be chief of staff for President Osmani (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Sentic: SOC property protected by Constitution, intrusion into church requires immediate reaction from authorities (Kosovo Online)
• Albanian Orthodox Church: Hzufka is laic and self-proclaimed priest (Kosovo Online)
• Protest in Dragas over electricity cuts, similar problems in Donja Gusterica and Laplje Selo (Radio KIM)
• Vucic: Gratitude to Azerbaijan for respecting Serbia’s territorial integrity (RTS)
• Trajkovic meets Peach, discus situation of Serbs in Kosovo (Radio KIM)
• Elshani: We asked deadline for re-registration be extended for 15 days, government to decide (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Additional pressure expected over re-registration, a potential trigger for new crises, says Andric Rakic (Kosovo online)
• Dacic meets with ODIHR director (Tanjug)

International:

• ‘Make Sure It’s Documented’: How Ukrainian Journalists are Defying the Invasion (BIRN)
• Serbia’s Azeri Gas Move a Win-Win, for the EU Too (Balkan Insight)

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Kosovo Assembly discusses EC report on Kosovo (media)

One of the leading stories in today’s media is the Kosovo Assembly’s debate on the European Commission’s Progress Report on Kosovo.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said that Kosovo believes in its European future and wants to have the opportunity to prove it. He said the government has made several steps toward EU membership and that its engagement toward the EU is great. “We support the enlargement package for the Western Balkans in the EU. There should be no funds and benefits without embracing EU values. We believe the [penalty] measures, which are still in effect, have affected the report too. It is important that the EU lifts the measures,” he said.

Bislimi argued that the report commends Kosovo on its foreign policy and for imposing sanctions against Russia. “Kosovo has also been commended for regional cooperation,” he said. “Engagement is required for the long-term effectiveness of the agreement and parties in the process. Kosovo is part of all regional initiatives”.

Bislimi also argued that some of the work of the government “should have been better assessed” in the report. “The report concludes that the government has continued its ambitious agenda for reforms toward the European Union. The report proved important achievements in several areas … According to our analysis, there are several achievements in terms of political criteria, more specifically in the area of governance, justice, and the rule of law, and also the fight against corruption, which should have been more highlighted and more assessed in the report, because these are very important achievements in a democratic society, and were even recommended in last year’s report. Some of them are the law on government, the law on the state prosecution, the functionalization of the Commercial Court, the increased number of judges and prosecutors and the automatic appointment of cases, the law on the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, the law on prevention and protection from domestic and gender-based violence, free legal aid, and many others,” he said.

Head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group, Besnik Tahiri, said that the assessment of the Kosovo government in the latest progress report is the poorest and harshest that any government of Kosovo has received so far. “Kurti had big words about European integration, and appointed Besnik Bislimi [for EU integration] at the time. I told him back then, Prime Minister, you should be careful because you are giving Bislimi a lot of work. You cannot be both a Deputy Prime Minister and in charge of European integration because we all know how much work this requires. The process was wrong from the beginning. Prime Minister, this report gave a diagnosis to your policies; it says that this government is a government of regress in terms of European integration,” Tahiri argued.

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Blerta Deliu-Kodra, in her address about the Progress Report, criticized the Kurti-led government for lack of engagement in the fight against corruption and organized crime and that despite promises they have made no progress in this regard. She said that this year’s report found Kosovo under sanctions and that as a result of sanctions, projects worth €300 million have been blocked. She also argued that on average a citizen of Kosovo lives on 1.5 euros a day, while an advisor of a minister, referring to an advisor of the Foreign Minister, gets a monthly salary of nearly €8,000.

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Rrezarta Krasniqi, argued that the Assembly has turned into a sealing machinery because issues that require debates and arguments, are passed quickly and without any discussions. According to her, the situation in Kosovo is worse than what was presented in the EC report, and criticized the central institutions for not engaging in actions that would help lift the EU penalty measures against Kosovo.

Osmani’s office expects new process of selecting Chief State Prosecutor (media)

Telegrafi recalls that several weeks ago Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani told a press conference that she did not decree the proposal to appoint Blerim Isufaj as Chief State Prosecutor, citing violations in the selection process. Osmani’s office told the news website today that they expect the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council to address the procedural violations in a new process. “All issues were addressed in the letter/announcement of the President, on October 17. We expect the KPC to address procedural violations mentioned in the letter, in a new process,” Osmani’s office said. Bekim Kupina, media advisor to Osmani, also told RTK today that “we expect the KPC to address the procedural violations … in a new process”.

Investigations launched into police reaction to reporters at PSD protest (AP)

The Kosovo Police Inspectorate said today that it has initiated preliminary investigations into the police reaction during the protest of the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD) on Wednesday. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo issued a statement expressing grave concern that spray and teargas was used against reporters during the protest. The Police Inspectorate said today that “police inspectorate investigators are collecting information and analyzing different footage, including those that have already been published”.

Investigative committee on state reserves formed after seven failed attempts (EO)

After seven failed attempts, a Kosovo Assembly Investigative Committee that will look into procedures for supplying and managing state reserves, and possible abuses, was formed today. The previous times the committee was not formed as MPs from the ruling party boycotted the meetings.

Calls to extend deadline for registration of vehicles in the north of Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Police Deputy Director for the north, Veton Elshani, told RTK today that they have asked the Ministry of Interior Affairs to extend for another 15 days the deadline for converting illegal license plates to RKS plates. He also said that from November 1 to November 29, 3,000 vehicles have been re-registered to RKS plates. Koha reports that the request to extend the deadline came from Serb citizens in the north of Kosovo.

Foreign Ministry reacts to Vucic’s claim of “removing 28 recognitions” (Euronews)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to a statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who said that during his governance 28 countries have withdrawn their recognitions of Kosovo. “The desperate claim by the Serbian President does not stand. During his term, there hasn’t been a single revocation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora is in continuous communication and coordination with all countries that have recognized the independence of the Republic of Kosovo, both through diplomatic channels or through our strategic partners and in no case was discussed the possibility of changing their positions toward the Republic of Kosovo as is being claimed by fake news and the destructive media propaganda in Serbia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora remains committed to step up its activities and push forward our agenda for membership in the EU, NATO, and other international organizations,” the Ministry told Euronews Albania.

Kosovo police officer attacked by a Serb at Jarinje crossing on Wednesday (media)

A Kosovo Police officer was assaulted by a Serb at the Jarinje border crossing on Wednesday. Police said in their report that the suspect resulted as wanted in the BMS system. “The case happened around 17:20 on Wednesday at the Jarinje border crossing. The suspect managed to open the door of the vehicle, push the police officer, and quickly get away by crossing on the Serbian side of the border,” police said.

Lajcak meets Sarrazin, discuss state of play in the dialogue (media)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, met with the German Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin. “We compared notes about the latest developments in the region and I updated him on the state of play in the Dialogue. We will continue to stay in close touch,” Lajcak said in a post on X after the meeting.

Prosecution: Working to resolve all circumstances of two killings (Telegrafi)

The Basic Prosecution in Pristina told the news website today that they are working to resolve all circumstances related to the two killings that happened on Wednesday in Pristina. They said that a suspect in one of the incidents has been identified but remains at large.

Citaku reacts to killings in Pristina; “someone must be held accountable” (media)

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, reacted in a Facebook post today about two killings that happened in Pristina on Wednesday. “Two killings on the same night in the capital. Beyond the pain and solidarity with the families of the victims, someone must be held accountable for this level of insecurity. Killings, robberies and beatings everywhere. This is terrible,” she argued.

Kurti meets new Swiss Ambassador, thanks him for ongoing support (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with the newly-appointed Swiss Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Sprecher. “We discussed the strong ties between our countries, emphasizing Kosovo’s influential diaspora in Switzerland. I thanked him for the ongoing support & investments, & spoke about future security & economic cooperation,” Kurti wrote in a post on X after the meeting.

Vela will no longer be chief of staff for President Osmani (media)

Several news websites report that Blerim Vela will no longer serve as Chief of Staff for Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani. Citing unnamed sources, Telegrafi reports that the decision was signed today and that it will enter into force on December 1. It also learns that Vela has asked to be relieved from duty citing personal and family reasons. Some news websites note that Vela was recently criticized over a post on X in which he mentioned reporter Fahri Musliu and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, while others recall Vela’s frequent attacks against the media.

 

 

Serbian Language Media

 

Sentic: SOC property protected by Constitution, intrusion into church requires immediate reaction from authorities (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo deputy Ombudsperson, Srdjan Sentic said yesterday that intrusion of a group of people and fake priest from Albania, Nikolla Hxufka into Saint Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church in the village of Rakinica, in Podujevo, requires immediate and adequate reaction from responsible authorities, who, he recalled, are obliged to ensure legal protection to all citizens and religious organizations, including the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), Kosovo Online portal reports.

Sentic made those remarks in a post on Facebook in relation to the Raska=Prizren Eparchy statement saying that municipal officials from Podujevo together with a fake priest broke into the Church in Rakinica, adding that the news was concerning and required urgent and adequate reaction from responsible authorities.

“Property owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church is protected by the Constitution, relevant laws and international conventions. Any unauthorized intrusion should be qualified as a criminal act, given that it directly endangers rule of law and human rights”, Sentic said. 

Albanian Orthodox Church: Hzufka is laic and self-proclaimed priest (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Online portal reports today it was not the first time that Nikolla Hzufka attempted to appropriate or intrude Serbian Orthodox Church shrines in Kosovo. Not that long ago, in front of the Serbian Orthodox Church Saint Nikola in Prizren center, where the seat of Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop is, Hzufka asked Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that “state takes over authority from Serbian Orthodox Church over its shrines in Kosovo”. He also requested that all SOC institutions in Kosovo be placed under authority of the Albanian Orthodox Church.

The official Albanian Orthodox Church has distanced itself from his statement on numerous occasions. They said Hzufka does not belong to any religious community and repeated the same stance also today.

In a statement sent to a number of media in Kosovo they protested because Hzufka was presented as an “Orthodox church priest”.

“We wish to inform you that he is simply a laic, self-proclaimed, without any religious rights and authority of the Orthodox priest. He appears, uses, abuses and illegally wears Orthodox symbols. We emphasize that nobody recognizes N. Hzufka as a priest, neither Orthodox Church nor the state nor any other religious community. It is unusual that he is “recognized” as a priest only by some journalists who invite him to their broadcasts in order to insult Orthodox faith”, reads the statement.

They added that the Church cooperates with the state and law enforcement agency given that this precedent is very serious, dangerous and violates religious harmony. 

Protest in Dragas over electricity cuts, similar problems in Donja Gusterica and Laplje Selo (Radio KIM)

Residents of seven villages in Dragas municipality, Mlike, Vraniste, Orcusa, Globocica, Zli Potok, Krusevo and Restelica, will stage a protest in Dragas today because they do not have electricity for four days, Radio KIM reports.

The gathering will take place at midday today near the bus station in Dragas town, from where protesters will move towards KEDS premises. Their aim is to discuss their problem with KEDS director and Dragas mayor.

“These villages are connected in one line, and we all have electricity outages. The bills are sent to us every month, we regularly pay them, but we do not have electricity”, reads the letter to Kosovo police, by which a protest was announced.

Dragas Municipal Assembly councilor, Nedzmidin Sejdilar in a post on Facebook called upon all citizens, civil society representatives and politicians to join the protest and fight for basic human rights and normal life. He in particular called upon NGOs Democratic Youth of Gora, Emkac bend, Together for Brod, SENSA and Dzerdan to join the protest so they can all “demonstrate that interests of citizens are above any other interest” and RTK crew Svetlo Gore to cover, as he said, the real situation objectively.

Residents of one part of Donja Gusterica also face problems with electricity for more than a month, which the Media Centre already reported about. Miroslav Stolic from Donja Gusterica told the media that households in this village often do not have one or two phases of electricity and that they addressed KEDS on several occasions, but that the problem remains unresolved.

Also, over the last couple of months, the electricity has been cut off for several hours a day without any prior notice or information from KEDS in one part of Laplje Selo, Radio KIM recalled. 

Vucic: Gratitude to Azerbaijan for respecting Serbia’s territorial integrity (RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received Azerbaijani Minister of Labor and Social Protection Sahil Babayev and discussed with him further advancement of cooperation in all fields of mutual interest, RTS reports.

The two officials during the talks assessed that bilateral relations between two states are at a very high level, based on traditional friendly ties, mutual trust and joint commitments to the basic principles of international law.

During the talks Vucic in particular emphasized gratitude to Azerbaijan over its stance to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, while the latter’s stance when it comes to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan also remains unchanged. 

Trajkovic meets Peach, discus situation of Serbs in Kosovo (Radio KIM)

Momcilo Trajkovic on behalf of the Serbian National Forum (SNF) in a meeting with UK Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Sir Stuart Peach last night informed him of, as the statement said, disastrous situation Serbian people in Kosovo are and pointed out dramatic process of Serbs’ migration from Kosovo, Radio KIM reports.

Trajkovic accused the international community, Pristina and Belgrade authorities of lacking interest in the destiny of Serbs in Kosovo.

“Instead of resolving the problems, those factors have become generators of the crisis and disappearance of the Serbs”, Trajkovic said in a statement, adding it is true that Albanians leave Kosovo as well, but they have possibility to return, while Serbs by selling their properties dig out their roots and never come back.

He pointed out that Serbs are also taking mortal remains of their family members from cemeteries in Kosovo and relocating them to central Serbia which tells about “defeat and hypocrisy of politics which allegedly attempts to resolve a heated crisis”.

“It is not natural and normal to have Kosovo without Serbs. Disappearance of Serbs, who are balance of the peace, opens dangerous processes in the Western Balkans”, Trajkovic said, adding that Albanians also should think of the situation their neighbors are in “because it is not good, it is unnatural and abnormal that only Albanians live in Kosovo, as it was also abnormal the tendency to have Kosovo without Albanians”.

He also emphasized the lack of interest on the side of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the situation in which Serbs in Kosovo, “his citizens”, are.

“For the situation of the Serbs in Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic can not be responsible, but Kurti who has real power. Does Kurti know what is happening to the Serbs in the Novo Brdo area or other parts of Kosovo, why people are selling their properties for almost nothing and leaving? Unfortunately he is not interested in it”, Trajkovic said. 

Elshani: We asked deadline for re-registration be extended for 15 days, government to decide (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The directorate of the Kosovo police for the North region has asked the Kosovo MIA to extend the deadline for the re-registration of vehicles from Serbian to Kosovo license plates by another 15 days. The deadline for re-registration of vehicles expires tomorrow, and the Kosovo Government has emphasized that this was the last deadline for re-registration, and that there will be no extension.

Kosovo police deputy director for the North region, Veton Elshani told Radio Mitrovica sever that over 3,000 vehicles have been re-registered to “RKS” plates to date. If one would add to that number the vehicles that have switched to “RKS” plates in previous years, the number of vehicles with “RKS” plates in the north of Kosovo is 3,800.

"What is new is that we asked the MIA to extend the deadline by fifteen days. That does not mean they will say yes. Because of these crowds, because people didn't know what to do in the beginning, because some technical problem appeared in connection to technical inspections or insurance, people can't manage to do everything and we asked if they could give us another fifteen or more days," said Elshani and noted that they sent the request, but that the government has the final word.

Even today, there is a big crowd in front of the Registration Center in Kosovska Mitrovica, and Elshani states that the working hours of the centers in all municipalities are until 6 p.m.

When asked what will happen tomorrow if the deadline is not extended, Elshani says that vehicles with Serbian signs in Kosovo cities will be treated as unregistered vehicles. He notes that drivers will first be warned, and then their license plates and documents will be confiscated and a fine of 150 euros will be imposed. If the vehicle is registered as a traffic participant even after that, the final measure is the confiscation of the vehicle.

Additional pressure expected over re-registration, a potential trigger for new crises, says Andric Rakic (Kosovo online)

The program manager of the non-governmental organization New Social Initiative from Kosovo, Milica Andric Rakic, told Kosovo Online that she expects additional pressure on people who have not re-registered their cars with "RKS" plates, which, she says, is a potential trigger for new crises.

She said that it is very difficult to assess the situation at this moment, because since September 2021, when the license plate crisis began, it was not clear what exactly was the intention of the Kosovo Government.

"It remained completely unclear whether the idea was to confiscate only license plates or cars as well. My guess is that they won't be able to be seized as property but may be excluded from traffic. It will be really difficult to predict what the reaction of the Kosovo Government will be. In addition to potentially remaining KM cars, we can also expect problems with other Serbian license plates, as slightly more than 2,000 cars will be re-registered. This means that still the majority, about 5,000 cars, have not been re-registered and have signs of cities in Serbia. We can expect some measures against those cars, or requests to pay additional insurance, or that they cannot be in the territory of Kosovo for longer than three months," she says.

She stated that similar pressures should be expected on those car owners.

"In general, every person who has Kosovo documents should drive with Kosovo license plates, that's how it is in Serbia, but also in most of the world. It is possible that based on that additional pressure is expected on people who have not re-registered, but, again, I say it is still more than two-thirds of the cars in circulation. It will really be another potential trigger for new crises," said Andric Rakic.

Dacic meets with ODIHR director (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met with OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Director Matteo Mecacci on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Meeting in Skopje on Thursday.

Dacic noted that Serbia would continue to work on advancement of its electoral process in line with ODIHR recommendations and that it expected its cooperation with the organization to be continued on other matters as well.

Dacic said Serbia saw ODIHR as one of the pillars of OSCE and an indispensable partner in the field of OSCE's human dimension and in building a democratic society, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The parties agreed Serbia-ODIHR cooperation to date had been friendly and one between partners that trusted each other, with a view to advancing the electoral process, strengthening democratic institutions and carrying out reforms in priority areas for Serbia.

 

 

International 

 

‘Make Sure It’s Documented’: How Ukrainian Journalists are Defying the Invasion (BIRN)

In Kyiv and Odesa, BIRN Kosovo’s Jeta Xharra met journalists committed to documenting possible war crimes while also trying to counter Russian propaganda – and getting used to working in air-raid shelters during missile alerts.

An hour and a half after the start of this year’s Donbass Media Forum in Kyiv on November 10, the alarm was raised about a missile attack from Russia.

On hearing the alarm, some 600 participants at the forum headed to a shelter that had once been an underground parking lot. Earlier, an Iskander missile was reported to have been shot down by air defenses as it passed over the outskirts of the city.

I witnessed five workshops unfolding in different corners of the shelter, and despite the constant threat of Russian missiles overhead, the Ukrainians at the forum maintained a remarkable focus, having become used to the enforced normality of working in shelters.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3ba3ta6d

Serbia’s Azeri Gas Move a Win-Win, for the EU Too (Balkan Insight)

Serbia is poised to begin importing Azeri gas, playing its part in a European Union strategy to end Russia’s energy dominance. The deal boosts Azerbaijan’s standing too.

Serbia is expected to complete work on its leg of a natural gas interconnector with Bulgaria in the coming days, opening up gas supplies from Azerbaijan and eventually from LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey and trimming Belgrade’s energy dependence on Russia.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/zcw66t32