UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, July 15, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Hovenier: US concerned with some political choices made by Kurti government (media)
Kurti meets with new director of UNICEF Office in Kosovo (RTK)
LDK in Prishtina reaches coalition agreement with AAK (Koha)
KFOR trains to control riots and remove obstacles (Albanian Post)
Haradinaj accuses the Kurti government of "budget black holes" (Reporteri)
Jasharaj warns with strikes of the education system on September 1 (RTK)
Albanian family returns to apartment in Mitrovica North 24 years later (RTK)
"Genocide in Kosovo - Open Wound" center demands that Alidemaj be punished for genocide (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic to travel to London for European Political Community meeting (Tanjug)
Rapajic: Return process of displaced Serbs no longer exists, different rules apply to Albanians (Kosovo Online)
Lawyer: Alidemaj convicted without evidence, judge only read indictment (KoSSev, media)
Party of Kosovo Serbs condemn provocations against Serbs during liturgy at Krajiste village, slam Svecla for lack of reaction (Radio KIM)
Workers of Strpce Provisional Municipal Authority questioned by police (RTS)
Politika and Jedinstvo journalists attacked on Ibar bridge in Mitrovica (Radio KIM, media)
UNS reacts to attack on Radomirovic and Vlaskovic, calls for perpetrator to be punished (Kosovo Online)
Aleksic visits US: Serbia’s future lies in healthy food, not lithium (N1)

Opinion:

Ivanovic Murder Trial Exposed Glaring Failings in Kosovo’s Justice System (Balkan Insight)

International:

Kosovo faces shrink and ageing of population, census reveals (Prishtina Insight)
Kosovo Court Convicts Ex-Policeman Over Village Massacre (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

LGBT Pride and Euro 2024 Become Focus for Online Hate Speech (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Hovenier: US concerned with some political choices made by Kurti government (media)

The Ambassador of the United States to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, said that the commitment of the USA to the people of Kosovo is strong as always. He emphasised that it is no secret that the U.S. Government has some political concerns with regards to the choices of the Kurti government.

Hovenier spoke today in Gjakova about the laws that were recently approved by the Assembly of Kosovo. He said that the American government advises Kosovo that the laws that are approved by the Assembly of Kosovo are in accordance with European norms. "Kosovo should be a member of international organisations, EU, CIS, NATO, other organisations", he said.

Kurti meets with new director of UNICEF Office in Kosovo (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, has met the new director of the UNICEF Office in Kosovo, Veronika Vashchenko. The government announced Kurti congratulated Vashchenko on her new position and offered close cooperation with him, ministers and agencies in the field of youth and education.

"They discussed the current programs and collaborations in comprehensive education, early childhood education and practical work within the "Kosovo Generation Unlimited" program, but also about the opportunities to do even more, especially in the promotion and development of volunteerism among young people ", it is emphasised in the announcement.

LDK in Prishtina reaches coalition agreement with AAK (Koha)

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has reached an agreement on a coalition with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) in Prishtina.

According to the sources of the news website, AAK will lead two directorates, that of Administration and of Sports.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) left the coalition with the LDK in February of this year, a few minutes after the Municipal Assembly voted to cancel the decision on exchange of properties.

KFOR trains to control riots and remove obstacles (Albanian Post)

The NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has announced that it has conducted an exercise to control riots and remove obstacles. According to a press release, Greek soldiers from the second multinational battalion of the Operational Reserve Force carried out the training in the Novo Selo camp.

"The exercise was supported by soldiers from KFOR's Hungarian Tactical Reserve Battalion, who helped them familiarise themselves with the techniques, tactics and procedures specific to these types of exercises," the announcement said.

It is further emphasised that KFOR "continues to implement its mandate - based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244 of 1999 - to provide a safe and secure environment for all".

Haradinaj accuses the Kurti government of "budget black holes" (Reporteri)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj has criticised the government of Kosovo. Under the headline "Budget black holes and the "historical achievements" of the Government", Haradinaj wrote on Facebook that “Kosovo is under EU and U.S. sanctions, and this is unprecedented and historic. The damage so far, about 300 million euros, that is, a big hole in the budget and historical baggage.

Albin has implemented the agreement of 2013 for stickers, car plates and today he also said the agreement on energy and this is historic.

He received the status of "War Veteran" without ever wearing the uniform of the KLA and without ever touching a weapon with his hand, as the law provides. This has not been easy, but it is completely historical and quite a bit of a pit.

Over 250 million single-source tenders (glorious budget holes) for friends and family are historic but not for the better and sooner or later the justice bodies will have a lot of work.

No recognition for 4 years of governance, no membership.

According to the governmental KAS during Kurti's government, more than 200 thousand citizens have left Kosovo, although for the government's philosophers, grandmothers are leaving Kosovo!

These are big pits or holes that this prime minister and this government have neither the knowledge, nor the will, nor the time to repair. They are now oriented by the next elections, which are the next fraud", wrote Haradinaj.

Jasharaj warns with strikes of the education system on September 1 (RTK)

Kosovo’s Education Union has warned that the entire education system may go on strike in September. Leaders of this union have announced that this decision can be taken due to the lack of dialogue with the government and the Ministry of Education.

The head of the Education Union, Rrahman Jasharaj, told Radio Kosova that “the demands from the membership are increasing more and more to have union actions in September".

"On May 1, through a protest, we made public our requests to the government. One of them is the increase of the coefficient, since years ago compared to the countries of the region we were proud of our salaries and now we have the lowest salaries", he said.

Albanian family returns to apartment in Mitrovica North 24 years later (RTK)

The news website reports that it took over two decades for the Xhaka family to return to their apartment in Mitrovica North, “which they left as a result of pressure from Serbs after the war”. Since then, the family did not stop their efforts to return to their home. This was made possible only after a decision by the Supreme Court of Kosovo which ruled in favour of the Xhaka family and removed the squatter. “The whole process was difficult. We faced our difficulties after the war. It is known that the residents of the city of Mitrovica, especially those living in the north, were faced with many difficulties, especially in terms of housing,” said Artan Xhaka, a resident of Mitrovica North.

The news website notes that “as a result of frequent and major tensions in the north of Kosovo in 2001” the family was forced to flee to the southern part of Mitrovica and that is when apartments in the north were being squatted. “After that, our property, our apartment, was squatted,” he said.

"Genocide in Kosovo - Open Wound" center demands that Alidemaj be punished for genocide (media)

The "Genocide in Kosovo - Open Wound" center has submitted a public complaint to the Department for War Crimes and the Basic Court in Pristina, about ‘serious violation of the rights of the victims and survivors of the genocide in the village of Izbice.’ This organisation addressed the complaint to the Judicial Council, the State Prosecutor's Office and the Department for Serious Crimes at the Court of Appeal of Kosovo.

The complaint states that the decision of the Basic Court in Pristina with the indictment against Muhamet Alidemaj, who has been declared guilty of war crimes, should be compiled as such and not as crimes against humanity, calling the decision an irresponsible and unprofessional action.

According to the complaint, the Court's decision makes this irresponsibility even more serious, "because it creates a precedent that can be used by the deniers of the genocide in Kosovo as an argument of the jurisprudence of the local courts, that allegedly no genocide took place in Kosovo, not even crimes against humanity, but only crimes of the lowest degree: war crimes".

Serbian Language Media

Vucic to travel to London for European Political Community meeting (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday he would travel to London on Wednesday for an European Political Community meeting and bilateral discussions with the presidents and PMs of the most significant European countries, including the president of France and the Dutch PM.

"Interestingly, everything is taking place simultaneously with the election of top officials of the EU, above all, the European Commission, but this is also an opportunity for us to speak with those who are in the EU. I already have scheduled bilateral meetings with the presidents and the PMs of the most significant European countries", Vucic told reporters at the Presidency of Serbia.

He said he would meet with the new Dutch PM, the president of France and many other officials. "I expect other important meetings, important encounters this week that I cannot confirm yet because not all details have been worked out. As I have already said several times, we will be trying and fighting until the end of the summer, until the beginning of autumn, to set up things that will mean accelerated development, further progress of Serbia", Vucic said.

Rapajic: Return process of displaced Serbs no longer exists, different rules apply to Albanians (Kosovo Online)

Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC) Program Director Aleksandar Rapajic told Kosovo Online that the return process of displaced Serbs from Kosovo practically no longer exists.

“Unfortunately, the return process in Kosovo practically does not exist for a longer period. People who were driven out from Kosovo, and mainly living in central Serbia or somewhere else, started their new lives there and their children are there, attending schools, working ...I think that lapse of time took its toll so return is no longer important”, Rapajic said. He also said the crucial problem at the beginning was the complicated procedure that was “killing desire” of people to return to their homes.

“We had a problem in Kosovo that the return process was so complicated that it killed any desire of those people wishing to return. Those procedures were lengthy, lots of documents were required, it was requested that the receiving community accept those people who are coming back and that was the process that lasted long and made people not return”, Rapajic said.

He added the biggest absurdity is that the situation in Kosovo today, in particular in the north, is completely different.

“We have a different situation in the north of Kosovo, where now houses are being rebuilt for Albanian returnees who are returning to the north of Kosovo. It is interesting that now standards that were applied when it comes to the return of Serbs are no longer applied. And while return of Serbs went through Ministry for Communities and Returns, the return of Albanians now goes through the Ministry of Local Government Administration which is much faster and more efficient system, where they complete within short time frame everything, for which it took Serbs years to complete”, Rapajic underlined.

Lawyer: Alidemaj convicted without evidence, judge only read indictment (KoSSev, media)

“The first-instance court had literally just read the indictment today and used it as the only ‘evidence’”, layer Milos Delevic told KoSSev portal on Friday, reacting to the verdict sentencing his client, Muhamet Alidemaj, an ethnic Albanian, to 15 years in prison for war crimes. Muhamet Alidemaj from the village of Krnjine, near Istok, was living in Belgrade for a long period of time, respectively until 2021, when he was arrested upon arriving in Kosovo and sent to detention.

Kosovo prosecution accused him, and the first-instance court sentenced to 15 years in prison, for allegedly committing war crimes in Izbica village, in 1999. In a brief elaboration of the verdict, the judge said that “following numerous court’s hearings and evidence presentation”, respectively hearing the testimonies of the witnesses, it had been proved that Alidemaj was part of the Serbian forces and took part in a massacre in Izbica village.

What does the lawyer say?

“The Basic Court in Pristina has sentenced Muhamet Alidemaj, not for the alleged crime, but for the non-existent crime. The first instance court today had just literally read the indictment and used the same as the only ‘evidence’ against Muhamet Alidemaj”, Delevic told KoSSev.

He also said that brief elaboration was not based on the statements of witnesses.

“The defence proved that witnesses gave five different descriptions of the defendant on a critical day. All witnesses made statements after Muhamet was arrested, 22 years after the war”, the lawyer added.

He termed the verdict as “yet another evidence” of unfair trial by the Basic Court in Pristina for those criminal acts and evidence of “flattering the media and the public by this decision”. “The defence is embittered by such a court's decision, as it is absolutely convinced in the innocence of Muhamed Alidemaj”. He announced filing an appeal to this decision.

Alidemaj was not in Kosovo in March 1999

Delevic also told the portal earlier that Alidemaj lived in Belgrade from 1998 to March 2021, adding that defence poses numerous evidence supporting the claims that Alidemaj was not in Kosovo and Izbica in March 1999. He said his client was arrested when his neighbour reported him to Kosovo police in 2021, after he came to visit his family in Krnjine village near Istok.

Belgrade neighbours claim Alidemaj is innocent

In addition to the lawyer, his neighbours from a settlement near Belgrade also claim that Alidemaj was innocent. In a letter sent to KoSSev portal one year ago, they said Alidemaj was not guilty, was not part of the Serbian security forces, and that he lived and worked in Jakovo, near Belgrade, during the conflict in Kosovo.

“When crime in Izbica happened, he was not in Kosovo. He was here with his uncle, in Jakovo village. They had several buses and provided public transportation. He was a ticket collector in public transport. That is how the entire Jakovo knows him, that entire bus line, everybody got to know him, because of his job”, Milan Opacic, a neighbour of Alidemaj, from Jakovo told the portal last year. They also expressed readiness to testify as they could not stay idle “while someone was getting accused and is neither guilty nor responsible for it”.

Party of Kosovo Serbs condemn provocations against Serbs during liturgy at Krajiste village, slam Svecla for lack of reaction (Radio KIM)

“Verbal assaults and provocations of Albanians on the Orthodox holiday, targeting the Serbs expelled from Krajiste village portray the real image of Kosovo”, Party of Kosovo Serbs (PKS) said in a statement in relation to obstruction of the liturgy in this village, Radio KIM reported.

PKS added that Kosovo institutions silently and with tacit approval look at “those extremists attacks, which suffocate even minimum religious freedoms”.

“While Minister Svecla strongly condemns the attack on a shop window of a pastry café in Kosovska Mitrovica which certainly deserves condemnation, he beforehand by violating the laws and interfering in the investigative proceeding makes statements without single evidence who is behind this attack! Still, he utters not a single word when it comes to religious violence against Christians, Serbs in the heart of Europe”, the PKS said in a statement.

They added there is no comment from Interior Minister Svecla on obstruction of liturgy and destruction of Orthodox shrine and cemetery in the village of Krajiste.

“We call upon Mr. Svecla to inform us when will he introduce the order in the south of Kosovo, prevent attacks on Christians, pilgrims, and using his prophetic abilities tell us at least who is setting churches on fire and destroys tombstones, because he knows everything beforehand, or it is only that attacks against Serbs are not condemned and not mentioned in the reports and statements of Kosovo police”, the statement added.

Workers of Strpce Provisional Municipal Authority questioned by police (RTS)

A group of 14 workers of the Strpce Provisional Municipal Authority are being questioned at a police station in Urosevac, two years after Kosovo police closed premises in which leadership and administration of this body were, RTS reported.

The workers were summoned by the police department for serious criminal acts, with the date July 15, 2022. The lawyer of one of the affected Serbs, B.A. Milos Delevic told Tanjug his client is suspected of an alleged criminal act of espionage. “He was not asked a single question regarding the alleged act. After his statement, I believe that Basic Prosecution in Urosevac will dismiss criminal proceedings against my client”, Delevic said.

More than 30 members of Kosovo special police under full combat gear stormed the premises where Strpce Provisional Municipal Authority was located on July 7, 2022, took documentation away and forcefully closed the building.

Reacting to the questioning, Office for Kosovo and Metohija said “the questioning which Pristina carries out as instructed by Albin Kurti against workers of local self-governance, public enterprises and institutions within the Serbian system in Strpce municipality has only one goal – to break the spirit of Serbian people in Sirincka Zupa and with additional pressure and intimidation force them to leave their homes”, Office for KiM said.

It added this is a disturbing act of Pristina authorities and an attempt to abolish Serbian institutions and erase traces of Serbian existence in Kosovo. The Office for KiM also said it informed EU meditator in Belgrade-Pristina talks Miroslav Lajcak and other relevant international missions about this latest act, and asked them to engage and stop the latest persecution of Strpce municipality representatives.

Politika and Jedinstvo journalists attacked on Ibar bridge in Mitrovica (Radio KIM, KoSSev, media)

On the main Ibar River Bridge, dividing northern and southern parts of Mitrovica, a visibly intoxicated Albanian physically assaulted and threw a beer bottle at Politika daily journalist Biljana Radomirovic and Jedinstvo journalist Zoran Vlaskovic who were on journalist assignment, Radio KIM reported.

Radomirovic sustained slight bodily injuries, a cut on the leg, and by swift intervention of Italian Carabinieri present on the bridge, the injury was treated, Politika daily said. Radomirovic and Vlaskovic did not want to report the case to Kosovo police, although patrol arrived on the spot after being called by Carabinieri. The ambulance vehicle of Clinical Hospital Center in Mitrovica North also arrived at the spot, and treated Radomirovic again. She refused to go to the hospital.

The person who caused the incident upon throwing the beer bottle at journalists went in the direction of Mitrovica south. The main bridge is under surveillance cameras, with the permanent presence of Italian Carabinieri.

According to Kosovo police the person in question has psychological issues. Radomirovic told KoSSev portal that she feels angry and upset. “I did not want to open the case and give statements (to the police). It did not end as badly as it could, but I am angry and upset. I do not think this was against me directly, the worst thing is that he would throw things at anyone who would come at that moment. If he, as police say, has psychological issues, then he should be treated, he should be in a health facility and not on the street. That bottle could hit someone in the head, he could have a knife instead”, Radomirovic said.

UNS reacts to attack on Radomirovic and Vlaskovic, calls for perpetrator to be punished (Kosovo Online)

Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and its branch in Kosovo, DNKiM condemned last night’s physical attack on Politika journalist Biljana Radomirovic and her colleague Jedinstvo journalist Zoran Vlaskovic, at the main Ibar River bridge and asked perpetrator to be punished, Kosovo Online portal reported.

The incident took place last night, while Radomirovic and Vlaskovic were on journalist assignemtn.

Aleksic visits US: Serbia’s future lies in healthy food, not lithium (N1)

The president of the opposition National Movement of Serbia, Miroslav Aleksic, said the future that will provide Serbia with stability and development, and its citizens a better life without health risks, is in the production of healthy food and investment in modern technologies, and not in the exploitation of lithium, N1 reported.

The party stated that Aleksic is visiting the United States of America, where he will have the opportunity to talk with officials interested in the field of agrarian policy, as well as successful entrepreneurs and farmers. “At a meeting with US Congressman Glenn Thompson, who heads the Committee on Agriculture in the US Congress, as well as several officials in the State Department, I discussed their experiences, new technologies in agricultural production and food production that will be a trend in the world as well as state incentives and subsidies to help farmers and food producers“, Aleksic said.

He said that, since in Europe and the USA, as well as Asian countries, large amounts are invested in agriculture and serious strategies are being created for the development of agriculture, then Serbia should not allow itself to not take advantage of the opportunity on the global market for raspberries, apples, and corn, tomatoes and meat.

Opinion

Ivanovic Murder Trial Exposed Glaring Failings in Kosovo’s Justice System (Balkan Insight)

By Vullnet Bugaqku

From the failure to charge the main suspects in the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic to delays, escapes and procedural mishaps, the trial cast a harsh light on a justice system in urgent need of reform.

The murder of Oliver Ivanovic, a prominent Kosovo Serb politician, killed in front of his party offices in North Mitrovica in January 2018, has cast a harsh spotlight on the failings within Kosovo’s justice system. The trial, marred by procedural violations and administrative inefficiencies, underscored the system’s inability to administer justice effectively, from the investigation stage through to the verdict.

From the outset in 2021, the trial was plagued by procedural irregularities. Court hearings were frequently delayed due to issues such as the improper delivery of court summonses and incomplete documentation for the defence, leading to a chaotic and protracted process.