• U.S. imposes sanctions on controversial Kosovo Serb businessman (BIRN)
• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement on sanctions (media)
• Kosovo’s leaders welcome sanctions against Veselinovic and his group (media)
• Vucic: We’ll look into any serious allegations (media)
• Collaku: Kurti should change strategy to win ground with Serbia (euronews.al)
• Hasani: Constitutional Court has cemented obligation to form Association (media)
• Gastronomes to protest against government measures on December 15 (media)
• COVID-19: Ten new cases, no deaths (media)

U.S. imposes sanctions on controversial Kosovo Serb businessman (BIRN)

The US Treasury Office’s of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, said on Wednesday that it has imposed sanctions on a controversial Serbian businessmen from Kosovo, Zvonko Veselinovic, for being “one of Kosovo’s most notorious corrupt figures”.

The OFAC marked Veselinovic as an “organized crime group leader”.

“The Veselinovic OCG is engaged in a large-scale bribery scheme with Kosovar and Serbian security officials who facilitate the group’s illicit trafficking of goods, money, narcotics, and weapons between Kosovo and Serbia”, OFAC said in a press release.

“The group has also conspired with various politicians in several quid pro quo agreements, including the early 2019 bribery of Kosovar security officials to allow their smuggling operations between Serbia and Kosovo and the late 2017 bribery of Kosovar border security officials to allow safe passage for smugglers,” it added.

Sanctions were imposed also against Veselinovic’s brother, Zarko, and another controversial businessman, Milan Radojicic.

The OFAC claims that Veselinovic and his brother Zarko “as of late 2017… had agreements with politicians to help their party win elections, secure political victories for their candidates, and contribute large sums of money to candidates”.

“In return, these politicians would grant the brothers control of certain areas for their businesses and where they could conduct their illicit business activities without interference by Serbian authorities, and would also provide proprietary business information to support the brothers’ business investments”, the press release said.

“The politicians would also reward the Veselinovic brothers by working to grant the brothers the best infrastructure contracts,” it added.

Milan Radojicic is vice-president of the main Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party, Srpska Lista.

Among the other people sanctions were imposed against are Marko Rosic, one of the defendants in the case of the murdered Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic in 2018.

The indictment for the murder of Ivanovic, filed in December 2019, said that Radoicic and Zvonko Veselinovic were leaders of a criminal group responsible for the killing, and accused several policemen of aiding the crime.

They denied involvement, and Rosic pleaded not guilty. Also on the US sanctions list is Zeljko Bojic, former Chief of Operations of the Kosovo Police for the North Region, Bojic was accused over Ivanovic’s murder, but not indicted.

OFAC imposed sanctions also against eight more people, and against 24 companies in Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria, which the OFAC claims are connected to Veselinovic, Radojicic and others.

“Transnational organized crime and corruption often go hand in hand with massively destabilizing effects on rule of law and democratic governance,” the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea Gacki said.

Read full press release of the U.S. Treasury’s Office here:

https://bit.ly/3oCGtbp

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement on sanctions (media)

Most media covered United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s statement.

Designation of Corruption Networks Linked to Transnational Organized Crime

In concert with the goals of this week’s Summit for Democracy, the United States is imposing sanctions today on 16 individuals and 24 entities from several countries in Europe and the Western Hemisphere. These sanctions target perpetrators of corruption pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, released December 6, highlights the importance of addressing the nexus between corruption, criminal, and other illicit activity as a national security priority. Transnational organized crime is destabilizing, with these groups often colluding with public officials to shield themselves from prosecution and accountability. Transnational criminal organizations also operate across borders, undermining the international financial system and complicating law enforcement efforts to disrupt and dismantle transnational crime globally. We also know that organized crime backed by corrupt actors can destabilize rule of law, erode confidence in public institutions, and weaken democratic governance.

We will continue to use all available tools to break the links between criminal activity and corruption. Today’s actions, with the Department of the Treasury’s designations of corrupt actors linked to transnational criminal organizations in El Salvador, Kosovo and Serbia, are part of our whole-of-government efforts to break these links and promote accountability for corrupt actors.

Kosovo’s leaders welcome sanctions against Veselinovic and his group (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani took to Twitter on Wednesday to say that she welcomes sanctions by U.S. authorities against Zvonko Veselinovic and his transnational organised group from the north of Kosovo. “I welcome U.S. sanctions on Veselinovic and his transnational organized crime group from north Kosovo. Kosovo institutions are fully committed to rule of law and will cooperate with the United States to ensure that our region doesn’t become a safe haven for such crime groups,” Osmani tweeted.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post that the decision of the United States of America to identify individual names and sanctions against Zvonko Veselinovic and the organized criminal group operating in northern Kosovo, is highly welcome.

“Responsible for trafficking in goods, money, narcotics and weapons between Kosovo and Serbia, this group is the best evidence that crime in northern Kosovo is a daily reality that violates the rule of law and the rights, freedoms and goods of citizens. Today's decision of the United States of America confirms the legitimacy of the actions of the Kosovo Police weeks ago in the northern municipality of Mitrovica against smugglers of illegal goods. We will fight the links of interethnic cooperation of criminal groups and their transnational scope through the cooperation of officials of our institutions regardless of ethnicity and international cooperation with our allies and partners. Organized crime is a threat to national security. The Republic of Kosovo belongs to all its citizens. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has as a priority the fight against organized crime and corruption,” Kurti wrote.

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said the criminal groups in the north are behind the resistance against the efforts of law enforcement authorities to establish the rule of law in that part of Kosovo. “The Republic of Kosovo is clearly determined to fight crime in every part of its territory and U.S. sanctions against these criminal groups reveal the concrete addresses of crime that terrorise the citizens of that part of Kosovo,” Haxhiu said in a Facebook post.

Vucic: We’ll look into any serious allegations (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that state authorities will launch an investigation in case “serious allegations against them” exist, following a public designation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s targeting 11 Kosovo Serbs, including Milan Radoicic and Zvonko Veselinovic.

Vucic said during a press conference that he has received an informal report from the US Embassy over the decision. “Initially they accused them of illegal trade. In the end, they will accuse them of not respecting the border between Kosovo and Serbia, but this is nothing new. If serious allegations exist, competent authorities will then launch an investigation”, said the Serbian president.

Vucic denied that his Serbian Progressive Party ever received any money from Zvonko Veselinovic. “He has not given us a single dime, at least to me, I don’t know about others. The party that I lead has more than enough funds thanks to state means and through its membership. These are our main resources”, he concluded.

The U.S. Department of Treasury blacklisted the deputy leader of the Serbian List, the main party of ethnic Serbs in Kosovo, Milan Radoicic, as well as businessman Zvonko Veselinovic, his brother Zarko, and 10 other people connected to them.

Collaku: Kurti should change strategy to win ground with Serbia (euronews.al)

Kosovo’s former integration minister Bekim Collaku said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Albin Kurti needs to change his strategy in order to win ground at the dialogue table with Serbia.

He recalled that none of the agreements have been implemented so far, suggesting that if the government of Kosovo would actually enforce the obligations it has agreed to, some of the agreements would see the light of day.

The verdict of the Constitutional Court maintained that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities can be established, but by preserving the constitutional spirit of the Republic of Kosovo, the former minister said.

According to him, Kurti’s refusal on implementing the association can be seen as a populist approach toward his electorate, rather than something that harms the national interest of the country.

“The way that the association has been conceptualized is nothing more than a non-government organization which will have the same functions as the existing association of the municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo,” Collaku said.

Hasani: Constitutional Court has cemented obligation to form Association (media)

Enver Hasani, former President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, told Dukagjini TV on Wednesday that Kosovo cannot dodge the obligation to form the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities. “The ruling of the Constitutional Court has cemented Kosovo’s obligation to form the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities,” he said.

“Hypothetically speaking, even if the Assembly were to decide to emerge from the international obligation to annul the agreement on the Association, that obligation would still exist because it has become part of Kosovo’s legal order,” Hasani said.

Gastronomes to protest against government measures on December 15 (media)

Most news websites reported on Wednesday that the Association of Gastronomes of Kosovo together with the Hotel and Tourism Chamber of Kosovo will hold a protest on December 16 against the latest government measures against the spread of COVID-19. The gastronomes are calling on the government to lift the restrictions on the eve of New Year holidays.

COVID-19: Ten new cases, no deaths (media)

Ten new cases with COVID-19 have been confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. Five persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 319 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.