UNMIK Headlines 8 September
- Thaci-Vucic meeting in Brussels fails (dailies)
- Mogherini highlights difficulties of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (media)
- Government changes position, allows Vucic to visit Ujman/Gazivoda (Koha)
- Thaci: Vucic has been allowed to visit Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
- Pacolli: Vucic given permission to visit Gazivoda on allies’ suggestion (Koha)
- “Serb intelligence service plans to destabilize Kosovo” (Kosovapress)
- Vucic: I'm going to Kosovo; Gazivode to be my first stop (B92/Serbian media)
- KFOR: All measures taken for safe visit of President Vucic (Tanjug/B92/Danas)
- Serbian officials on Vucic’s visit in Kosovo (Serbian media)
- Everything ready for Vucic’s visit, citizens must attend rally (Danas)
- “No one must dare to betray Kosovo” (Radio Svetigora/Radio KIM)
Kosovo Media Highlights
Thaci-Vucic meeting in Brussels fails (dailies)
On the front page Zeri reports about the failed meeting between President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic that was set to take place in Brussels yesterday. The paper says the meeting did not take place as Vucic protested against decision of Kosovo authorities not to allow him to visit Ujman/Gazivoda Lake, which was subsequently granted. As a result, the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini ended up having only bilateral meetings with the two presidents. Thaci said after the meeting that disagreements with Serbia are “deepening” and that the prospects of reaching a final agreement are only in theory.
Mogherini highlights difficulties of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (media)
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, issued a statement following her meetings yesterday with President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. “I held several rounds of talks with both in bilateral format on all issues on the table. Difficulties remain. I trust the full commitment of both Presidents to continue the process and reach in the coming months a legally binding agreement on comprehensive normalisation of relations, in line with international law. I will convene in Brussels the next high level session of the dialogue before the Ministerial week of the UN General Assembly to bring the two sides together to advance the work on the content of the agreement,” Mogherini said.
Government changes position, allows Vucic to visit Ujman/Gazivoda (Koha)
The paper reports on the front page that the government has ‘humiliated’ Kosovo by retracting its position against allowing President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to visit the Ujman/Gazivoda Lake in the north of Kosovo. The paper also writes that Vucic is planning to visit all the ‘sensitive’ locations during his visit to Kosovo, including the “Sunny Valley” settlement in the north.
Thaci: Vucic has been allowed to visit Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, told reporters after meeting with the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini that Kosovo authorities have issued permission for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to visit the north but said that Kosovo’s statehood cannot be undermined during the visit. “Kosovo has its own institutions, we are an independent country and the approved itinerary of the Serbian President’s visit to Kosovo needs to be fully respected,” Thaci said.
Pacolli: Vucic given permission to visit Gazivoda on allies’ suggestion (Koha)
Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Behgjet Pacolli, said President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has been granted permission to visit Gazivoda only after allies suggested so. In a press briefing, Pacolli confirmed Vucic’s visit to Kosovo will take place. “Upon review of circumstances that arose today in Brussels and the suggestion of the EU facilitator and Kosovo allies who are committed to the reaching of an agreement between our two countries, the request of the Serb president to visit the Ujman dam was approved,” Pacolli stated yesterday.
“Serb intelligence service plans to destabilize Kosovo” (Kosovapress)
Kosovapress news website reports quoting sources that Serbia’s intelligence service has prepared a plan to destabilize the security situation in Kosovo using the visit of the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic. Sources said the plan will be implemented in two fronts: the first involves Serbian officials making war-inciting statements which is already underway and the second includes organizing attacks on members of the Serb community, alike the Panda case in 1998. Such incidents would then prompt Russia to come to Serbia’s aid at the Security Council resulting in a situation similar to that in Cyprus. A source told Kosovapress that there is talk in majority-Serb areas in Kosovo of a possible incident, organized by Serbs in the north, during Vucic’s visit. “We have been told that the incident is so well prepared that a large number of Serb journalists close to Vucic have been invited to follow his visit and at the same time report about the incident as planned,” the source added. A Kosovo Police senior official did not wish to comment on the reports but said that all measures are being put in place to ensure the visit of the Serb president runs smoothly.
Vucic: I'm going to Kosovo; Gazivode to be my first stop (B92/Serbian media)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said late on Friday that he will go to Kosovo and Metohija on Saturday, and that the visit will begin with a tour of Gazivode. Addressing reporters late on Friday, Vucic said the past few days had been extremely difficult, and that pressure had been piling on over last 72 hours. “Everything started with the difficult, until now unseen, pressure on the members of the (Kosovo) Assembly from the Serb List, and then pressure continued on the leadership of Serbia to support (Fatmir) Limaj as the (new) head of the Kosovo negotiating team. The Serb List did not want to support Limaj. I am not going to go into any other reasons, but here I have Limaj's dossier, who is charged with the most severe crimes against our people (as a former member of the so-called KLA")," Vucic said in his address to the public.
KFOR: All measures taken for safe visit of President Vucic (Tanjug/B92/Danas)
KFOR Spokesperson, Vincenzo Grasov said that KFOR would undertake all necessary measures to enable a safe visit of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Kosovo. Grasov told Danas daily, that the security situation in Kosovo is calm and stable and there are no any signs of potential tensions. Asked to comment on the decision of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that Belgrade interrupts all official communication with Kosovo police, KFOR, EULEX and other international organizations in Kosovo, Grasov said he does not comment on political matters, but “that KFOR in any case had always have excellent cooperation and a partnership with the Serbian armed forces, in order to guarantee stability in this region, and in particular, along administrative line,” Serbian media reported.
Serbian officials on Vucic’s visit in Kosovo (Serbian media)
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, Zorana Mihajlovic told Serbian media it is of utmost importance that the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Kosovo goes in peace and without any conflicts. According to her, this is important in order to preserve security of all living in Kosovo and Metohija, both Serbs and Albanians. Meanwhile, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin termed Vucic’s visit in Kosovo as “a great diplomatic victory of Serbia,” RTS reported. Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric told RTS that Serbian people in Kosovo eagerly await the visit of their president and his words of support.
Everything ready for Vucic’s visit, citizens must attend rally (Danas)
Belgrade-based daily Danas reports that everything is ready for the arrival of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Kosovo. Paving of the roads is completed; Mitrovica North is decorated as never before with the Serbian flags and welcoming posters. Danas interlocutors who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation and dismissal told the daily citizens were instructed to attend the announced rally, in order to show how much Serbs trust their president, while people from Zvecan were ordered to come to the rally in Mitrovica North on foot. In a separate article, Danas daily also said that refusal of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to meet with Hashim Thaci in Brussels yesterday is a move intended for Serbia’s internal consumption, but also a reaction to the harsh rhetoric by some of the Pristina representatives, including Kosovo Assembly Speaker, Kadri Veseli.
“No one must dare to betray Kosovo” (Radio Svetigora/Radio KIM)
Abbess of the Serbian Orthodox Church Monastery Sokolica, Makarija in an interview to Radio Svetigora, said “there must be no division of Kosovo, since we are on our own land. No one must dare betray Kosovo, and I hope that the Serbian President will not have the courage to do so, because he is a Serb as well,” Radio KIM reported.