UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, February 23, 2022

Tahiri: If Kurti travels to Brussels on Monday, he’ll sign agreement (Dukagjini)
Another name for the Association? (Radio Free Europe)
SPO searches apartment of Thaci’s former advisor (media)
Rohde: We will support, advise and criticize you (media)
Fajon: Kosovo and Serbia should use this momentum (Dukagjini)
Will Kurti and Vucic reach an agreement? Hoxhaj answers (euronews.al)
Opposition sends three laws approved by govt to court (Prishtina Insight)
Kurti, Osmani welcome ambassadors of Japan and Pakistan (media)
Vokrri: We do not believe there will be an answer from Brnabic (Klan)
Ristuccia updates contributing nations on operational situation in Kosovo (Klan)
Kosovo upholds Serb’s conviction of wartime mistreatment of couple (BIRN)
Kosovo’s ‘Commander Wolf’ claims prosecution fabricated war charges (BIRN)

Tahiri: If Kurti travels to Brussels on Monday, he’ll sign agreement (Dukagjini)

Head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group, Abelard Tahiri, said in a debate in TV Dukagjini on Wednesday that if Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti travels to Brussels on Monday, he will sign the agreement on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.

“The Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Serbian President, based on what we have heard and discussed with different actors, will most probably sign the agreement on Monday. Then there will be elections in the north and the four legitimate bodies of the municipalities in the north of Kosovo will be elected. I believe that from June, the Government of the Republic of Kosovo will be engaged in drafting the statute of the Association, which will determine the structures, and the implementation of the agreement will begin, but it will not be part of a final agreement,” Tahiri was quoted as saying.

Another name for the Association? (Radio Free Europe)

The condition of the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, that the Association of municipalities with a Serb majority should not be mono-ethnic and change its name, in order to consider its eventual formation, represents an idea for changing the Brussels Agreement, experts of the political processes Agon Maliqi and Miodrag Milicevic asses.

At the insistence of the international community, Kurti, at the beginning of February, came up with six conditions for the formation of the Association - among others: not to be of the same ethnicity, change the name and not have executive powers.

Analysts do not rule out the possibility that Kurti's request for the name change will be put on the negotiating table in Brussels on February 27, when Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are scheduled to meet.

Radio Free Europe contacted Kurti’s office for more clarification about the request to change the Association's name but did not receive a response.

Representatives of opposition political parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), say that they have not received any clarification from Kurti about this idea.

Agon Maliqi, expert on political processes in Kosovo, says that the international partners, in particular the United States of America, have offered Kosovo the opportunity to shape the Association as it wants, in harmony with the Constitution and laws of Kosovo. However, he said, it remains to be seen if Kurti's conditions will be transformed into a concrete document in the talks in Brussels, or if they will remain in the form of "abstract principles".

Miodrag Milicevic, executive director of the non-governmental organization, Aktiv, from Mitrovica North, says that Kurti is trying, through his idea for the name, to convince the public that he will not allow a mono-ethnic association.

SPO searches apartment of Thaci’s former advisor (media)

All media reported on Wednesday that the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office of the Specialist Chambers searched the apartment of Adil Behramaj, former advisor to ex-Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Behramaj’s attorney told the media after the search was over, that there is an alleged criminal offence which falls under the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers. “The defense saw the decision and made a preliminary assessment. We think that several points of this decision are in violation with the Constitution, but we will address these issues in due procedural time,” the attorney said.

Rohde: We will support, advise and criticize you (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, wrote on Wednesday about the dinner he had on Tuesday night with Prime Minister Kurti and several government ministers, on the occasion of the 15^th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Germany and Kosovo. "Germany will continue to offer support, advice and constructive criticism. Our common objective: to make Kosovo a success story" Rohde tweeted.

Fajon: Kosovo and Serbia should use this momentum (Dukagjini)

Slovenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and former rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Tanja Fajon, said on Wednesday that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic must find a way "to seize this moment", with the EU's proposal, since, according to her, it is not known when the next opportunity might come. She said everything must be done to continue the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Fajon argued that Kosovo should make an effort to create the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, as, according to her, this ensures the integration and well-being of the people of this community.

Meanwhile, in an interview for the Austrian newspaper, Der Standard, she said that when it comes to the European plan, it is clear that "it is also about extremely difficult political decisions and with many possible consequences."

"I think that in the last few days we have seen some positive statements from the Serbian leadership. Now I expect maturity and wisdom in the leadership of both countries. I understand that it is a very delicate and difficult situation, but this year a big step forward can be made," she said.

Asked if Slovenia supports Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, Fajon said "we do not oppose this. But I don't think that debate is on the table right now. I am not sure if it has been postponed, but it does not bother us," she said.

Will Kurti and Vucic reach an agreement? Hoxhaj answers (euronews.al)

Kosovo’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enver Hoxhaj, expresses his skepticism about reaching an agreement at the meeting that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandër Vucic, will hold on February 27 in Brussels.

In an interview for Euronews Albania, Hoxhaj said that it is difficult to reach an agreement at the first meeting. According to him, the February 27 meeting will start a new phase of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.

“It is an important meeting, the beginning of a new phase of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia. It was prepared during the last year and during these last two months. I expect that in this meeting the European plan will be discussed, which envisages starting the process of normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Will there be an agreement that can be signed? I hardly believe it. According to practice, in such meetings when we participated 10 years ago or during the negotiations in Vienna in 2006-2007, it does not mean that there can be a turning point in the first meeting,” Hoxhaj said.

Opposition sends three laws approved by govt to court (Prishtina Insight)

Opposition parties have sent three laws to the Constitutional Court for interpretation, which have been approved by the government and the Assembly.

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo is expected to give rulings on three laws which have been approved by the government and the Assembly of Kosovo for several months.

The laws have been contested by the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, which have sent them to the Court for interpretation.

The PDK sent the Law on the State Bureau for Confiscation of Unjustifiable Assets and the Law on Public Officials for constitutional evaluation.

Meanwhile, the PDK and LDK separately sent the Law on the Prosecutorial Council to the Court.

The action of the opposition parties has been criticised by Prime Minister Albin Kurti as “desperate”.

Kurti said that in 15 years, no one remembered so many laws being contested in such a short time.

“Their protest is a desperate attempt to paralyze reforms, it is an opposition to the civic need and the will of February 14, 2021. Our march will not stop,” Kurti told the government meeting on Wednesday.

On February 9, the Assembly of Kosovo approved the Law on the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets.

With approval of this law, a mechanism for the confiscation of unjustifiable assets was created without the need for a criminal file that has ended with a sentence from a court.

All public officials in Kosovo will now be subject to asset verification, if there are suspicions that assets were acquired illegally.

On Tuesday, the PDK announced that it had sent the law to the Constitutional Court for constitutional evaluation.