UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, October 19, 2022

SRSG Ziadeh: Leaders must find positive pathway for benefit of all (media)
U.S. Ambassador to the UN: Mutual recognition is the solution (RTK)
The President’s Office confirms: Osmani to meet Escobar on Wednesday (Zeri)
Lajcak expected to visit Kosovo on Thursday, sources say (TeVe1)
Berlin: Ongoing discussions on French-German proposals (Express)
Svecla doesn’t indicate additional period for replacing license plates (media)
“International offensive, agreement may happen before December” (Klan)
Witness ‘fears for safety’ in trial for Kosovo politician’s murder (BIRN)
Kosovo journalists ‘face threats and attacks’: Council of Europe (BIRN)
Hungary arrests Serb for alleged Kosovo war crimes (BIRN)
LDK leader calls for France’s support for visa liberalisation (RTK)
Kurti expected to appoint new Health Minister soon (EO)

SRSG Ziadeh: Leaders must find positive pathway for benefit of all (media)

Political leaders must choose between issuing threats or good will gestures in Kosovo – and should decide in favour of all members of society. A message to continue on a pathway of positive leadership, including within the framework of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, was delivered by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK Caroline Ziadeh during her biannual UN Security Council briefing on Tuesday.

“Since last spring, we all observed several escalations in political rhetoric…as well as a few moments of acute tension on the ground. These threatened to set back many of the gains previously achieved through the EU-facilitated dialogue,” she told Member States.

Instances of political posturing had characterized much of the past six months, she said, including on aspects such as the energy roadmap, people’s freedom of movement, the validity of identity documents, and the association/community of Serb majority municipalities. Diplomatic interventions and a dialogue meeting in August had resulted in “temporary relief”, courtesy of deadline extensions – while the situation remained tenuous with developments in Kosovo inevitably affected by Europe’s current security environment.

“There are many choices to be made by political leaders in the days ahead about how to manage their ambitions and objectives given the contours of wider economic and security uncertainty at this time. Choices between cooperation or division, between threats or gestures of good will, between compromises or zero-sum calculations,” she said.

SRSG Ziadeh emphasised the importance of reaching full implementation of all high court decisions and ensuring full respect for human rights, including social and economic rights, property and freedom of movement for all communities.

At the same time, she commended positive examples of leadership witnessed amid challenging moments – leadership that had the potential to impact people’s daily lives. “The government of Kosovo remains focused on addressing critical issues in relation to the rule of law; efforts we expect are noted by European member states weighing their positions on the visa and travel regime for the people of Kosovo.” In this regard, the Head of UNMIK said that the international community must also shoulder its share of responsibility to support a better future for Kosovo.

SRSG Ziadeh thanked the Mission’s partners, particularly KFOR whose continuing presence ensures a safe and secure environment “at times when the line between political provocation and overt belligerence blurs”.

UNMIK remained focused upon core areas, building trust and empowering changemakers, SRSG Ziadeh said.

In the past six months, the mission has hosted the fourth UN Youth Assembly, the largest multiethnic youth forum in Kosovo; held the Global Open Day on Women, Peace and Security to raise the profile of women’s participation in political processes; supported language rights initiatives; and convened 37 CSOs from across Kosovo’s communities to launch the third annual human rights report.

SRSG Ziadeh concluded her briefing by endorsing the recent message of the UN Secretary General António Guterres who used his 2022 UN General Assembly opening address to call for action and dialogue:

“I am now more and more convinced that any agreement between Belgrade and Pristina can only be achieved and implemented with a high degree of public involvement and ownership… we look forward to cooperating with the institutions of Kosovo based on good faith and full respect for one another,” she said.

Read the SRSG’s full statement at: https://bit.ly/3CN2OJ4

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Donika Gervalla said at the meeting of the UN Security Council that Kosovo's independence is a done deal, and that Serbia should recognize Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state. According to her, Kosovo is on its way to becoming a member of the Council of Europe. "Kosovo will also apply for membership in the EU, we aspire to be a member of NATO," she said.

According to Gervalla, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is preparing military and ideological aggression. She added that Vucic warned of instability at the end of the month when the transitional period for replacing of illegal license plates with legal ones ends. Gervalla said that Vucic is recycling the ideology of 'Greater Serbia'", that is, the union of "all Serbs” within a single political sphere.

Gervalla called on Serbia to respect the agreements reached so far. "Kosovo has not provoked or threatened anyone, Serbia should adhere to the agreement it signed itself."

Speaking about the conversion of license plates from Serbian citizens to RKS ones, she asserted that "extremist Serbs are following and intimidating their fellow citizens who have changed illegal license plates". "It is a huge mistake for UNMIK to avoid these facts by not helping the citizens against the extremists," she assessed.

Gervalla also said that Serbia has intensified cooperation and military exercises with Russia adding that "Serbia must stop this dangerous journey".

She thanked KFOR, NATO and the United States Department of Foreign Affairs for maintaining stability and peace in Kosovo and the region.

The U.S. diplomat at the UN Robert Wood said that the U.S. supports Kosovo's European path. According to him, there should be a commitment to mutual recognition. "I want to emphasize our commitment to stability in the Western Balkans. The U.S. supports Kosovo's journey. I want there to be engagement in the EU-led dialogue focused on mutual recognition between the two countries," he said. Wood said that UNMIK has exceeded its role. "Kosovo has developed and strengthened its own institutions. These meetings do not need to be held every six months, but the meetings should be held once a year," he said.

The representative of the United Kingdom said that Kosovo should be congratulated for its work in the rule of law. "We congratulate Kosovo for its work in the rule of law. The normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia remains vital. Now is the moment for both parties to engage in dialogue and avoid rhetoric that does not lead to agreements. The progress of the Report, for example the agreement on energy is welcome and the decision on the agreement and license plates and IDs should not be used as a reason for violence and blockade. UNMIK has played a good role in the implementation of resolution 1244 and the conditions on the ground are those that have not been known since 1999 and a complete review of the UN mission should be done," he said.

The representative of France at the UN, Nathalie Estival-Broadhurst, has congratulated the two countries Kosovo and Serbia for the agreements and dialogue. She requested to respect and implement all the agreements signed by Kosovo and Serbia.

The representative of Russia in the UN Security Council, Vasily Alekseyevich Nebenzya, started with a response to the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Donika Gervalla, right at the beginning of his speech. "We advise Mrs. Gervalla not to try to philosophize and to try to make a geopolitical analysis of the situation. It was not a successful attempt, it would be better to concentrate on the situation in Kosovo, instead of wasting the Council's time with your opinions or the general situation, or Serbia's foreign policy, since it seems that everything is being done with help of Moscow, as it is being said, thank you for giving us so much right," he said.

According to Nebenzya, Kosovo is threatening stability in the region. He said that in the south of Mitrovica, the number of Serbs who were the majority before the war has decreased.

Albania's ambassador to the United Nations, Ferit Hoxha, said that Kosovo is part of the democratic world, condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine and that Kosovo has helped Ukraine in this regard. According to him, United Nations resolution 1244 does not match the reality that is now in Kosovo. "That resolution no longer makes sense. UNMIK does not have the mission it had at that time, we invite the UN to change it. There are a lot of entanglements between UNMIK and the OSCE," he said. Hoxha also mentioned the attacks that were made this year against the Kosovo Police.

Ambassador Hoxha also spoke about the problem of properties and addresses of Albanians in Presevo Valley and invited Serbia to respect human rights.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN: Mutual recognition is the solution (RTK)

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, met on Tuesday with the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Donika Gervalla-Schwarz. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and Foreign Minister Gervalla-Schwarz discussed the latest developments in Kosovo and reaffirmed the deep bonds of friendship between the U.S. and Kosovo.

"Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield emphasized that the Dialogue mediated by the EU remains the best mechanism for solving issues between Serbia and Kosovo and achieving mutual recognition. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield also pointed out that the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo had long outlived its original purpose and underlined the importance of finding a more important role for the UN in Kosovo," the statement of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations reads.

The President’s Office confirms: Osmani to meet Escobar on Wednesday (Zeri)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani will meet on Wednesday with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, at the same time the U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar.

The Presidency has announced that the meeting between Osmani and Escobar will start at 08:45. After the meeting, Osmani and Escobar will address the media.

After meeting Osmani, Escobar will meet Prime Minister Albin Kurti, several media report.

Lajcak expected to visit Kosovo on Thursday, sources say (TeVe1)

Citing an unnamed source, the TV station reported that the EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected to visit Kosovo on Thursday. Lajcak is scheduled to meet heads of institutions and the leaders of the opposition.

Berlin: Ongoing discussions on French-German proposals (Express)

The German Federal Government told the news website on Tuesday that political issues that lead to the full normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia must be addressed decisively and swiftly in order not to create any room for escalation on the ground. “This was highlighted in the recent high-level meetings and proposals for this objective are being discussed confidentially. These discussions are ongoing,” they said.

Svecla doesn’t indicate additional period for replacing license plates (media)

There are less than two weeks left until the deadline for replacing illegal vehicle license plates with the RKS ones, expires. However, Minister of Interior Xhelal Svecla has not answered on Tuesday whether Kosovo institutions will give an additional deadline to Kosovo Serbs for the replacement of license plates.

As of September 1, according to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, only 12 citizens have responded to this call. Due to the small number of license plate changes, the U.S. ambassador in Kosovo Jeff Hovenier, and the head of the EU office in Pristina Tomas Szunyog, have asked the Kosovo institutions to postpone the deadline, so that the Serbs have more time for the implementation of this decision. The Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Svecla refused to speak about this request.

Serbs have had enough time for the conversion of license plates for years, analysts estimate. "It is high time that this agreement be implemented and removed from the discussion table because it is a technical issue that Kosovo and Serbia agreed on in Brussels many years ago, and for which there were also several deadlines that were given to Serbs as an opportunity to register the license plates in the license plates of the Republic of Kosovo," analyst Gazmir Raci told RTK.

Analyst Artan Muhaxheri on the other hand told RTK that the main thing is for the government to succeed in this process. "So if it can force the Kosovo Serbs to convert, then everything will be fine, but knowing from the past, that is, the negative experiences, this thing will take a lot of time, a lot of pressure, and it's good that the short-term postponement of this process is also taken into consideration," Muhaxheri said.

“International offensive, agreement may happen before December” (Klan)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, said on Tuesday that an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia can be reached before December. According to him, there is a broad international commitment towards this goal.

He said that he believes that Prime Minister Albin Kurti will have to face this situation. However, he added that he will not leave the head of government alone. He said that the time is right for the final agreement between the two countries.

"This is a matter of national interest. There is an international offensive to end this issue. We are in the final stages, days, or weeks before a final agreement. It is possible (before December). I believe that the interest of internationals is serious. There is a time frame," he said.

Witness ‘fears for safety’ in trial for Kosovo politician’s murder (BIRN)

Another witness has refused to testify in the trial for the 2018 assassination of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, saying that he had to put his own safety first.

A protected witness told Pristina Basic Court on Tuesday that he did not want to testify in the trial for the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic – the latest in a series of witnesses who have expressed concerns that their safety might be threatened if they give evidence.

“I am not in position to come forward with the statement because of my personal safety,” the witness said.

The head of the judging panel, Valon Kurtaj, pressed him on the reasons for his refusal, which the judge said the witness never raised before.

The witness responded: “There are details which I could only speak about in a face-to-face meeting with the judge.

“I know the importance of giving my statement, but protecting my life comes first,” he added.