• Kurti: With the Association, Kosovo falls for Serbia’s game (Koha)
• President Osmani to deliver annual address in parliament today (media)
• Kosovo seeks equality in CEFTA, Serbia toughens barriers (Klan Kosova)
• Denmark to rent 300 prison cells in Kosovo for deportees (Prishtina Insight)
• Croatian Defense Minister to visit Kosovo today (RTK)
• President Osmani thanks Macron and French people for vaccine donation (media)
• COVID-19: 8 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Kajtazi reports threats to police; AJK wants protection for Kajtazi (Telegrafi)
• Kosovo murder trial witness refuses to name Serb crime gangs (BIRN)
• EU to finance new wastewater plant in Kosovo (webalkans.eu)
• EP adopts Resolution on fight against organised crime in Western Balkans (EWB)
• Online Intimidation: Controlling the Narrative in the Balkans (Balkan Insight)
• Vucic to visit Tirana on December 20; Berisha announces protest (Indeksonline)

Kurti: With the Association, Kosovo falls for Serbia’s game (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a debate in KTV on Thursday evening that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities is in the interest of Serbia “and therefore there is no reason for me to deal with it”.

“The Association, one of the 33 agreements reached, did not pass the test of the Constitutional Court. Serbia mentions precisely this. But there is no hierarchy in place that tells us that this is the most important agreement. For Serbia it is. But what is most important for Serbia, is not the most important for me. For me the most important agreements are about the diplomas and the Integrated Border Management,” he said.

Kurti said that he receives more pressure from locals than from internationals about the Association. “The future dialogue must be principled; the people must be the beneficiaries and we cannot go beyond the verdicts of the Constitutional Court which has practically dismantled that idea … None of the agreements could be implemented because the verdict of the Constitutional Court does not allow room for an Association on ethnic basis,” he added. “I don’t have any reasons to deal with it a lot. It is in Serbia’s interest. That is in Serbia’s interest and I don’t forget about this. Why should I deal day and night with something that is in Serbia’s interest? I deal with Kosovo’s interests. I explain our position to internationals and I also tell them that this [the Association] is not even in the interest of Kosovo Serbs. No one came to tell me implement it. As far as the position of the United States is concerned, with the new administration and the letters of President Joe Biden, the key word is mutual recognition. I believe it is an obligation and duty for every citizen at the starting point of relations with Serbia to have the demand for recognition and not the Association. Serbia tells us we will never recognise you and let’s talk about the Association. This is wrong. I believe the key word is mutual recognition. I have used a different approach in our meetings in Brussels.”

Kurti argued that “Kosovo is a thorn in the eye for the Russian Federation” as he commented on the possible destabilization of the situation in the region in light of recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “I don’t believe that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro are more threatened than Kosovo by the Russian Federation in terms of its aspirations. Kosovo is a target, because this year we had two signs: the MiG 29 plane above Jarinje as Russian Ambassador Alexander Botsan -Kharchenko came to inspect the gathering of Serbian troops at the border together with the Serbian Minister of Defense during the period of tensions. The other sign was in late November when the Serbian and Russian presidents put the map of Kosovo on the table,” Kurti said.

According to Kurti, the United States of America love Kosovo more than people think, “especially if you are not corrupt”. He said that the U.S. don’t want to make decisions on Kosovo’s behalf and that strengthening Kosovo strengthens its alliance with the U.S. “We are allies and partners with the U.S. and they have played an outstanding role for Kosovo. The U.S. don’t want to make decisions on our behalf and for our country. They want us to become stronger. Strengthening the state of Kosovo, in my opinion, strengthens our alliance with the U.S. In every meeting with U.S. official, including Blinken, we talked about the fight against crime and corruption. Whenever I talked about this, I was never interrupted. It is my duty to represent Kosovo. We have carried out 500 police operations. They know Kosovo, they know our achievements too, but it is very important to tell you that I was never interrupted, and this topic was never changed. The U.S. love us more than people think. It could be that you are less respected when you are corrupt, but they respect me a lot,” Kurti said.

President Osmani to deliver annual address in parliament today (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani will deliver her annual address before members of the Kosovo Assembly today. The assembly session starts at 10:00. The assembly will hold another session starting from 11:00 for a second reading of the draft law on the budget for 2022.

Kosovo seeks equality in CEFTA, Serbia toughens barriers (Klan Kosova)

CEFTA’s Joint Committee held the last meeting for 2021 but did not manage to resolve the issue of Kosovo’s representation without UNMIK, the news website reported on Thursday. Kosovo’s Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade said that the first item in the meeting’s agenda was the review of the letter of Minister Rozeta Hajdari who argued for Kosovo representing itself in the mechanism and not through UNMIK.

“UNMIK, as a UN interim mission, signed the CEFTA agreement in 2006 on behalf of Kosovo. At the time UNMIK submitted a statement according to which, the validity of the CEFTA agreement will depend on Kosovo’s future authorities. Now that UNMIK holds no executive powers in Kosovo, minister Hajdari requested Kosovo authorities represent themselves as an equal party. Principle of equality, non discrimination and transparency are guarantees for moving forward towards quicker economic development and EU integration,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Minister Hajdari added that the letter calling for Kosovo’s representation without UNMIK should not be viewed as a political issue but as a necessity to facilitate CEFTA’s functioning.

The Ministry also said that the review of the letter was opposed by representatives of Serbia and Montenegro who claimed that they did not give their consent to the letter being included in the agenda. “The Joint Committee did not approve minister Hajdari’s letter due to lack of consensus.”

At the same time, Kosovo opposed to the approval of ministerial conclusions and three draft decisions, including that put forth by Serbia for recognition of economic operators programmes and the budget for CEFTA secretariat. The Ministry said Kosovo would oppose any new act of the Steering Committee “for as long as the legitimate request of Kosovo for equality is not accepted.”

The Ministry also accused Serbia’s authorities of not permitting transit of goods from Kosovo saying that this represents a serious violation of the CEFTA agreement.

Denmark to rent 300 prison cells in Kosovo for deportees (Prishtina Insight)

Rented cells are to house criminals from third countries earmarked for deportation, amid reports of overcrowding in Danish prison system.

Denmark plans to rent 300 prison cells in Kosovo for inmates from third countries coming to the end of their sentences.

Danish Minister of Justice Nick Haekkerup announced the plan on Wednesday, after negotiating an agreement with the Danish’s People’s Party and the Conservatives.

In the announcement, the minister said that, among other things, they had agreed to rent prison places in Kosovo to deport convicts from third countries.

“The deported criminals can now serve their sentences abroad and it is no secret that there are space problems in Danish prisons,” the Danish People’s Party’s legal policy spokesman, Peter Skaarup, said.

The Ministry of Justice in Kosovo announced during the day that it has pledged to release a correctional facility for 300 prisoners from Denmark.

According to them, the criminals will not be of high risk.

“The Ministry of Justice is committed to the release of a correctional facility with a capacity for three hundred convicts, who will be brought from the Kingdom of Denmark. The convicts who will be transferred to this institution will not be of high risk”, the statement said.

As compensation for this, Kosovo will benefit 210 million euros.

“As compensation for this, the Republic of Kosovo benefits 210 million euros, which will be dedicated to capital investments, in particular for renewable energy”, said further the Ministry of Justice.

This project seeks to ease prison overcrowding and expand Denmark’s prison estate by 326 places between 2022 and 2025, the Justice Ministry explained.

“We will be short of up to 1,000 places in the prison estate by 2025,” minister Hækkerup said in the statement.

“Under the agreement, it is agreed to rent 300 prison places in Kosovo and expand the prison capacity in Denmark by several hundred places,” his statement added.

The signing of the letter of intent, the expression of will, between the two parties, will be achieved on Monday, respectively, on December 20 of this year after the visit of the Danish ministers in the Republic of Kosovo. The agreement is expected to be fully implemented over a ten-year period.

Some Danish parties have expressed strong opposition to the agreement.

The Radical Left said it would not support the agreement on the terms given and withdrew from the negotiations.

It said Denmark had an abusive past with renting prison cells abroad, and Kosovo’s prison system was seen as corrupt and lacking in trained staff.

“Norway previously had a very abusive agreement to rent prisons in the Netherlands. We are very concerned that we in Denmark do not want to take responsibility for our own prisoners. Kosovo’s prison system has been criticized for corruption, violence between prisoners and poorly trained staff,” Samira Nawa of the party said.

According to TV media outlet nyheder.tv2.dk Denmark’s prison population has grown by 19 per cent since 2015, reaching more than 4,000 inmates at the start of 2021 and exceeding capacity.

Renting prison cells in other countries is nothing new, however. Other Scandinavian countries, such as Norway, have previously rented prison cells abroad, in the Netherlands, after the latter reported empty prison cells.

Croatian Defense Minister to visit Kosovo today (RTK)

Croatian Defense Minister Mario Bonazic will visit Kosovo today and meet his counterpart Armend Mehaj. The meeting is scheduled to start at 09:00. The Ministers will first hold a tete-a-tete meeting, followed by a meeting of the two delegations. The Ministers will also sign an agreement of understanding between Kosovo and Croatia.

President Osmani thanks Macron and French people for vaccine donation (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani thanked French President Emmanuel Macron and the people of France for donating 117,000 Pfizer vaccine doses to Kosovo. “Delighted to announce that we have received 117,000 Pfizer vaccine doses from France. We remain grateful to President @EmmanuelMacron & the people of France for their continued support during this challenging time,” Osmani said in a Twitter post.

COVID-19: 8 new cases, no deaths (media)

Eight new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours. Eight persons recovered during this time. There are 314 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Kajtazi reports threats to police; AJK wants protection for Kajtazi (Telegrafi)

Vehbi Kajtazi, a renowned investigative journalist, informed through a letter the Association of the Journalists of Kosovo, that he has received over 100 threats after his statements in RTV Dukagjini about the Kumanovo Group. “Since that day I have received hundred death threats from different persons. These threats were also triggered by the reactions of the convicted group who write and are freely quoted in TV stations. Today I have opened a case with the police against 100 persons whose threats are very serious. The case is now being handled by the serious crimes department of Kosovo Police who are verifying and investigating the cases,” Kajtazi wrote in the letter.

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo said in a statement that it strongly condemns the death threats against Kajtazi and it called on Kosovo Police to provide security for Kajtazi and people close to him, and to address the case with high priority.

Kosovo murder trial witness refuses to name Serb crime gangs (BIRN)

A witness at the trial for the killing of Kosovo Serb political party leader Oliver Ivanovic told Pristina Basic Court on Thursday that he does not want to name the members of organised criminal groups that operate in the Serb-dominated north of Kosovo, which Ivanovic warned about before he was shot dead in 2018.

During his testimony, when asked to provide names of the organised criminal groups or their leaders, the witness constantly repeated: “For my personal safety I cannot answer this question.”

The witness, who the judges asked media not to name for security reasons and to avoid witness-tampering, said that “the [US] State Department has clearly stated what is happening with organised crime in the north [of Kosovo]”.

He was referring to the US imposition of sanctions on various Serbs from Kosovo in early December, including businessman Zvonko Veselinovic, who Washington described as an “organised crime group leader” dealing in illicit goods, money, drugs and weapons.

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

Radojicic and Zvonko Veselinovic have been accused of being the leaders of the organised criminal group that killed Ivanovic.

Radojicic, who is also the vice-president of Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb political party Srpska Lista, is widely seen as the real power-holder in Serb-majority northern Kosovo. He has denied involvement in Ivanovic’s murder.

The witness told the court that he had also been the victim of an attack, and claimed no investigation had been launched even though he reported the incident several years ago.

“The Kosovo Police do not have authority in the north,” the witness said.

The first two witnesses in the murder trial also expressed concern for their safety during their testimonies and did not want to testify about Serb organised crime groups.

Four of the defendants in the trial – Marko Rosic, Silvana Arsovic, Rade Basara and Nedeljko Spasojevic – are accused of being members of a joint criminal enterprise that murdered Ivanovic.

Two police officers, Dragisa Markovic and Zarko Jovanovic, are also on trial, accused of evidence-tampering in the case. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Thursday’s witness also repeated what previous witnesses in the trial had stated – that Ivanovic had said publicly that he was being threatened, particularly during the 2017 municipal elections in Kosovo, when he was a candidate for mayor of the Serb-dominated North Mitrovica municipality.

Mahmut Halimi, the lawyer for defendant Marko Rosic, claimed after the hearing that the prosecution has not made any real progress to prove the involvement of his client in the murder.

“He’s charged with allegedly following [Ivanovic’s] every move before the murder and then being in contact with the executioners. But the allegations deviate greatly from the actual content of the evidence and what the witnesses have testified about so far,” Halimi told media.

Once seen as a hardline nationalist, Ivanovic had evolved into a political moderate who advocated coexistence between Kosovo’s Serb minority and Albanian majority. He had also become increasingly vocal in his criticism of the Belgrade government.

At the time of his death, he was being retried for ordering the murder of Kosovo Albanians during the war in Kosovo in 1999. He pleaded not guilty.

EU to finance new wastewater plant in Kosovo (webalkans.eu)

The European Union, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) – the lending arm of the EU – are financing a new wastewater treatment plant in northern Kosovo to improve sanitation standards and reduce wastewater pollution in South Mitrovica, Vushtrri/ Vučitrn and the surrounding areas.

The EU will provide a €5 million grant through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), The European Investment Bank will co-finance the project with a €13.5 million loan and the EBRD will extend another €13.5 million loan to Regional Water Company Mitrovica, a state-owned water utility company, to finance the construction of the new treatment plant, as well as the repair and extension of the wastewater network in South Mitrovica and Vushtrri/ Vučitrn. The plant will benefit more than 123,000 people living in the company’s service area.

The new treatment plant will significantly reduce pollution from wastewater flowing into four of the region’s rivers and will provide residents with access to cleaner water. It will also benefit neighbouring municipalities in Serbia.

The water quality of Kosovan rivers has deteriorated in recent decades due to a lack of proper treatment for wastewater and solid waste. The EU, EIB and EBRD are helping Kosovo to address these challenges and invest in modern environmental infrastructure with well-structured finance through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. This will be the second wastewater treatment plant that the EU and the EBRD have supported in Kosovo.

EP adopts Resolution on fight against organised crime in Western Balkans (EWB)

European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Cooperation on the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans yesterday. The resolution was supported by 531 MEPs, 48 were against, while 117 abstained. The Rapporteur for the resolution, which was adopted by the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) in October, was MEP Lukas Mandl (EPP).

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic participated in the debate, which was held on Tuesday, reminding that in the latest 2021 enlargement package, the Commission reported in detail how organised crime continues to be a threat in the region.

“The Commission also notes that this is an area where results have been achieved, in particular in the fight against drug production and trafficking, smuggling of migrants, trafficking in human beings, organised property crime, smuggling of excise goods, notably cigarettes and firearms”, Lenarcic said.

He added, however, that a lot more still needs to be done.

“That’s why the Commission fully supports the need to step up cooperation with the region in the fight against organised crime, and this was most recently reaffirmed as one of our core priorities in the engagement with the Western Balkans in the EU Western Balkans Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial earlier this month”, the Commissioner said.

Tonino Picula (S&D) said during the debate that organized crime paired with corruption poses a huge threat in an already troubled region.

“It threatens security, social cohesion, forces young people to leave those countries. It is good that the new IPA III Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, for which I was co-rapporteur of the European Parliament, contains guidelines for strengthening the judiciary and developing more effective tools in the fight against organised crime. I emphasise that we in the European Parliament must constantly send strong messages of support to civil society organizations, investigative journalism, all hard-working and courageous people who work hard and risk making their countries better”, Picula said.

Vladimír Bilcik (EPP) said that cooperation with Eurojust, Europol, Frontex and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office are fine moves, but the EU also must work on the transformation of the domestic institutions of the candidate countries.

“Societies in the Western Balkans must become more resilient from within in order to tackle corruption, organised crime and trafficking more effectively. This is a long—term goal tied to the European perspective, and the frontrunners in this process, namely Montenegro and Serbia, could lead by example”, Bilcik said.

In the document, it is underlined that depriving countries of the Western Balkans of a European perspective is worsening the situation as regards organised crime, and that it can be improved by fostering the EU integration process and cooperation with the Member States.

The Parliament also expressed its view that linking visa liberalisation for Kosovo with the fight against organised crime is counterproductive as isolation encourages criminal activities. It underlined again that Kosovo has fulfilled all criteria for visa liberalisation.

European Parliament “regretted the lack of genuine political will among parts of the local political elites to fight organised crime and corruption and eliminate any elements of state capture”.

It stressed that fighting organised crime and advancing EU integration are mutually reinforcing processes, hence the need to accelerate the EU integration process.

“(European Parliament) reiterates the need to eradicate political and administrative links to organised crime through clear anti-corruption safeguards and the effective prosecution of high-profile corruption cases;…is highly alerted by reports and accusations of links between high-level political figures and organised crime groups, while the judicial system is ineffective at addressing these claims; underlines that the construction sector in the Western Balkans is among the most vulnerable to organised crime and corruption”, the Resolution reads.

It underlined the crucial role of CSOs, academics and journalists in monitoring the work of governments and judicial and law enforcement agencies and assessing track records in fighting organised crime.

“(European Parliament) notes that legal and institutional frameworks for CSO participation are largely in place in the Western Balkan countries but regrets that their potential is not being used to the full extent and that CSOs focusing on corruption and organised crime are in some cases facing hostility from their governments”, the Resolution reads.

It urged CSOs to be more included in the legislative process and for them to be able to make a meaningful contribution to key pieces of legislation and called on Western Balkan authorities, in this context, to urgently develop, adopt and implement better laws on free access to information through inclusive processes.

The Resolution also commended the work of investigative journalists reporting on high-profile cases and disclosing links between organised criminal groups, politicians and businesses. It strongly condemned acts of aggression, including targeted killings, intimidation, hate speech and slander campaigns against investigative journalists and civil society.

“(European Parliament) notes with particular concern cases of hate speech and slander campaigns by state officials, MPs and the representatives of governments, ruling parties and media owned or partially financed by the state”, the document reads, reiterating its call on the Commission and the European External Action Service to strengthen their cooperation with and support for civil society, NGOs, reform-oriented policymakers, academia and independent media on the ground.

European Parliament also deeply regretted the increasing number of cases of strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs), which, it added, are often used to threaten journalists and individuals in order to prevent them from exposing the wrongdoings of those in power.

Online Intimidation: Controlling the Narrative in the Balkans (Balkan Insight)

Nearly 800 cases of digital rights violations in eight countries of south-eastern Europe were recorded by BIRN and SHARE Foundation. Hate speech continues to thrive, journalists and vulnerable groups are systematically targeted in the online realm, and the presence of fake news does not decline.

We stayed at home for most of this and last year and, despite the fast development of vaccines, we’re still living with the COVID-19 pandemic.

This also meant we spent a lot of screen hours on smart phones. As a result, most social media platforms saw a rise in the number of users and overall engagement, with the biggest jump seen on TikTok. The video-sharing app engaged more than 100 million users globally during the pandemic and has become increasingly popular in South-eastern Europe.

But TikTok was used not only to find cake recipes or make-up tutorials but also to spread hate, threats, anti-LGBT messages and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.

Some LGBT+ activists reported cases to both the relevant authorities and TikTok, but in most cases no one was held accountable for abuses, our annual digital rights monitoring shows.

From August 2020 until August 2021, we recorded almost 800 cases of digital rights violations in eight countries of Central and South-eastern Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.

Violations took place not just on TikTok, but also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and were also spread via Viber and WhatsApp.

Our report, “Online intimidation: Controlling the narrative in the Balkans”, shows that vulnerable groups, including women, minority groups, LGBT +, Roma and Jewish communities, and minors and migrants, are particularly exposed to online attacks.

Similarly, political and religious tensions, which still continue to mark the cultural and political life of our societies, also surged, further polarising society.

All of this suggests that what happens in the virtual space is not that different from the “physical” world. Ongoing tensions and cultural controversies simply migrate from one place to another, and prevention or protection mechanisms are far from successful.

Read full article here: https://bit.ly/3EaIi48

Vucic to visit Tirana on December 20; Berisha announces protest (Indeksonline)

Former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said on Thursday that a protest would be organised in opposition to the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to Tirana on December 20. Berisha said in an interview with Klan TV that he will not allow what he called the anti-Albanian scenario of the Open Balkans to continue. “I am warning the new Milosevic [in reference to Vucic] not to come to Tirana about the Open Balkans because the people will protest against him. We cannot allow destabilising anti-Albanian scenarios,” Berisha said.