UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, September 2, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

EU considers new round of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue a priority (media)
Police: Protests in Mitrovica north took place peacefully, without incidents (media)
Shea: Opening of Bridge has caused concern about possibility of violence (Albanian Post)
Kupchan: Maneuvers in the north serve Kurti, not Kosovo (Klan)
Tahiri: Any reckless action from wherever it comes from cannot endanger Kosovo (Klan)
Kurti: The Kosovo Telecom has been returned to the people (media)
Orav: Looking forward to work closely with local and intl partners (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Stano: The main goal of the EU an urgent meeting of the main negotiators, many unresolved issues (Kosovo Online, Tanjug, Radio Mitrovica sever, media)
The Association of the Kosovo-Mitrovica district announced the blockade of all crossings from September 6 (KoSSev, KiM radio)
Simic: The usurpers snatched the property of the Serbian state, the right to work and life of the Serbs in Kosovo was denied (Kosovo Online)
Veljkovic: The closure of the Provisional Authorities is a direct violation of human rights (KiM radio)
Kosovo Serbs protest closure of municipality building (N1, KoSSev, Kosovo Online)
Vucic on the visit of Biserko and Canak to Kurti: ''I have never seen a circus like this before'' (Danas)
Head of the School Administration: About 1,100 first-year students and the same number of high school students are enrolled (KiM radio, Kosovo Online, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)
Rada Trajkovic: Kurti destroying the sovereignty of the international community (KiM radio, N1)
Citaku: Criminal gangs encouraged, the government is reduced to propaganda (Kosovo Online)

Opinion:

Palokaj: Societies are fed up with dialogue (Koha)

International:

Kosovo parents struggle for textbooks as new school year begins (BIRN)
Bulgarian military contingent departs for NATO mission in Kosovo (novinite.com)
Vučić denies close links to Putin and says Serbia is on the path to the EU (euronews.com)

Albanian Language Media

EU considers new round of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue a priority (media)

The European Union still does not have a date for the next meeting, announced by the European emissary for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, between the chief negotiators from Kosovo and Serbia. The EU spokesman, Peter Stano, has described that a meeting at the level of chief negotiators is a priority for Brussels.

"As usual, we announce the meetings when it is convenient. We usually do not announce meetings at the level of chief negotiators, but, without a doubt, our goal is to have a meeting at the level of chief negotiators as soon as possible, because there are a number of issues to be discussed", Stano stated at the press conference.

Police: Protests in Mitrovica north took place peacefully, without incidents (media)

The Kosovo Police has announced that the protests held today in two locations north of Mitrovica have ended peacefully and without incident. According to the police announcement, the protests were unannounced, but despite this, the police had taken the necessary measures to ensure public order and peace.

"According to the law on public gatherings, the Kosovo Police respects the right of citizens to express their opinion through peaceful gatherings and protests. Through a continuous commitment, the Police took care of the safety of the citizens and the progress of the protests", the announcement states.

Shea: Opening of Bridge has caused concern about possibility of violence (Albanian Post)

The former spokesperson of NATO, Jamie Shea, now professor of Strategy and Security in Brussels, in an interview with Albanian Post has said that he saw as positive the visit of the head of CIA, William Burns, the Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Foreign Policy and Security, Boris Ruge and the Commander of the Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples, American Admiral Stuart B. Munch.

"Getting a first-hand perspective of KFOR and EULEX on the ground regarding the security situation and their readiness to respond was undoubtedly useful for the high-level visits as well. No one wants more violence and certainly not a repeat of the Banja incident of September last year," said Shea.

In his view, a lesson of the past in the Western Balkans is that stability requires continuous international engagement, and that prevention is always better than "cure", as he added that the international community was concerned about the escalation of the situation after continuous insistence of the Kosovar executive to open the bridge in Mitrovica.

"Certainly, the possible opening of the bridge in Mitrovica has caused concern about possible trouble or even an outbreak of violence in the North. Although the Western ambassadors in Pristina have given their messages, in my opinion it was useful that these messages were given by other high officials who came to Pristina and that had an impact", added Shea.

According to him, in order not to repeat the terrorist attacks and to better secure the border between Kosovo and Serbia, NATO must permanently increase the number of soldiers in the North – to prevent the introduction of Serbian paramilitaries and arms smuggling.

"So, the KFOR reinforcements sent to Kosovo since the spring should remain for the moment. NATO and the international community must continue to put pressure on Belgrade to be transparent about the presence of paramilitary groups and to convincingly show that it has dismantled them," emphasized Shea.

Kupchan: Maneuvers in the north serve Kurti, not Kosovo (Klan)

Charles Kupchan, former director of European affairs at the US National Security Council, believes that the actions of the Government of Kosovo in the north are motivated by internal politics, before the February elections, but stressed that they are dangerous for Kosovo.

"For me, these are gestures and maneuvers at the level of domestic politics, which may be good for the political fate of [Prime Minister Albin] Kurti, but they are not good for Kosovo", Kupchan told Radio Free Europe.

According to him, Kosovo must balance the exercise of sovereignty with the aim of normalizing relations with Serbia and becoming a member of the EU and NATO.

Tahiri: Any reckless action from wherever it comes from cannot endanger Kosovo (Klan)

The former chief negotiator of the dialogue, Edita Tahiri, said that the positioning of KFOR and then their departure from the Ibri Bridge, was a message that this force protects Kosovo where there is danger.

"The deployment and removal of KFOR from the Iber Bridge was a message for Kosovo and Serbia, that KFOR with a mandate protects Kosovo where there is a danger for the state of Kosovo - Our big decision at the Rambouillet conference made Kosovo a state of free and independent and under the protectorate of NATO. At that time, we had pressure from diplomats to accept the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Kosovo, but we rejected them categorically, we were adamant that we only accept NATO, and we made it a reality. So, in other words, any reckless action from wherever it comes from cannot endanger our state of Kosovo, which with political wisdom, arms, diplomacy and the sublime sacrifice of the Albanian people, we won the state."

Kurti: The Kosovo Telecom has been returned to the people (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti shared on Facebook a post by Minister for Economy Artane Rizvanolli who said that the region of Podujeva, Prishtina, Mitrovica North and Suhareka are now covered by the 5G network of the Kosovo Telecom. Kurti said in his post that “the Kosovo Telecom has been returned to the citizens. The network is becoming more modernized, and the services are more qualitative. In every corner of the country, public enterprises are blossoming”.

Orav: Looking forward to work closely with local and intl partners (media)

The new head of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Aivo Orav, said in a post on X that he looks forward to working closely with local and international partners to advance our political and economic relations, support reforms, bring Kosovo closer to the EU, and get to know Kosovo and its people. Here's to new beginnings!”

Serbian Language Media

Stano: The main goal of the EU is an urgent meeting of the main negotiators, many unresolved issues (Kosovo Online, Tanjug, Radio Mitrovica sever, media)

The goal of the European Union is for the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia to meet as soon as possible because there are many issues on the table that need to be resolved, said EU spokesperson Peter Stano today, reported Kosovo Online.

However, Stano could not confirm the date when the main negotiators could meet. He added that the EU considers the closure of parallel Serbian municipalities in the north as a useless, uncoordinated, and unilateral step.

"Such actions have the potential to increase tensions and lead to further escalation in the already fragile situation on the ground," Stano emphasized.

He added that the EU has conveyed to the authorities in Pristina its concerns about a series of uncoordinated and unilateral moves.

"The European Union has conveyed its position and concerns to the Kosovo authorities regarding this series of uncoordinated and unilateral steps. I can only remind you that we have the conclusions of the European Council last year when the member countries were very clear that the failure of the parties to reduce tensions will have consequences," said Stano.

The Association of the Kosovo-Mitrovica district announced the blockade of all crossings from September 6 (KoSSev, KiM radio)

President of the Association of residents of the Kosovo-Mitrovica district, Rasa Rojevic, announced today that from Friday, September 6, a blockade of all crossings in Kosovo will be organized, reported KoSSev.

Rojevic told the Beta agency that the blockade will be organized by native associations of residents from Kosovo.

"The blockade will begin on Friday and will last until the Kosovo police forces are withdrawn from the North of Kosovo and Metohija and the usurped institutions are returned to the Serbs. We also demand that KFOR, in accordance with the mandate of Resolution 1244, take control of the North of Kosovo," said Rojevic.

According to him, the blockades will last until all the residents' demands are met.

"We do not expect help from the state, nor do we need it. Serbs living in Kosovo and Metohija will not participate in the blockades so that the Kosovo police would not harass them, but only citizens from the territory of central Serbia, Montenegro and Republika Srpska," said Rojevic.

He added that transportation will be provided for all interested participants from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Smederevo, Kragujevac, Nis, Krusevac, Vranje, Raska, and that hospital vehicles will be allowed to pass during the crossing blockades.

As announced, the Brnjak, Jarinje, Merdare, Konculj and Kula crossings will be blocked.

Simic: The usurpers snatched the property of the Serbian state, the right to work and life of the Serbs in Kosovo was denied (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO Fund) Directorate for Kosovo, Igor Simic, said that "usurpers who snatched property of the state of Serbia prevented more than 40 families from earning their salaries, while more than 30,000 from receiving services from the institutions located in the building of PA Kosovska Mitrovica''. Simic called on KFOR and other international representatives in Kosovo to come and with the right reaction enable the right to work and life for Serbs in Kosovo.

"The usurpers came, stole the property of the state of Serbia, made it impossible for these people to work and not only work, here more than 40 families earn their bread, and more than 30,000 people receive services from the work of these institutions. These are not parallel institutions, because the services which are provided by these institutions and the Office for KiM and Mitrovica District and the Center for Social Work and the Pension Fund, is not provided by anyone else," Simic told reporters in front of the building that the Kosovo Police raided on Friday.

When it comes to the Pension Fund (PIO), given that he is the director of that institution, Simic said that they pay out 30,000 pensions to all citizens, regardless of nationality.

"Serbs, Bosniaks, Albanians, more than 4,000 Albanians will not be able to receive their pension because someone decided to break into this building, 4,000 Albanian families, 26,000 Serbs and Bosniaks, do not know what will happen tomorrow," said Simic, who is also a member of the Presidency of the Serbian List.

Stating that KFOR constantly calls for freedom of movement, Simic invited them to come and not to stand on the sidelines, but to allow the employees of those institutions the right to work.

"I invite them to enable that freedom of movement in action, to protect the Serbian people. I invite Quint, the EU, UNMIK, all those who condemned these moves they made, to come and support these people and the right to work and the right to life of the Serbs on KiM. It's the only way, not the anemic announcements we've been hearing for two years," he said.

Simic stated that the question remains as to how many announcements are left in the drawer until the Serbs are gone from Kosovo. He told reporters that they pointed that out at the meeting on Saturday.

"If they didn't know what was happening, we told them on Saturday. Now that they know, we want concrete reactions. These people should go to their homes, remove their equipment, and enable these people to work and provide services to all citizens. They were checking for two days, they couldn't find anything illegal inside, absolutely nothing, cases of citizens who want help, want pensions, social benefits, and that's it," concluded Simic.

Veljkovic: The closure of the Provisional Authorities is a direct violation of human rights (KiM radio)

The closure of the Provisional Authorities in the north of Kosovo is a direct violation of human rights, and citizens are protesting because of institutional and police violence, Stefan Veljkovic, vice president of Serbian Democracy, told KiM radio.

Veljkovic added that together with his party colleagues, he came in front of the Kosovska Mitrovica PA because the citizens invited them.

"They informed us early this morning that there will be a gathering in front of the Provisional Authority of Kosovska Mitrovica and we have come to provide support. We distributed 300 whistles, it could be heard that citizens used them as a sign of rebellion and protest against institutional and police violence against us," he said.

When asked what the Provisional authorities and all the institutions that were closed on Friday mean for the population in the northern part of Mitrovica, but also in Leposavic and Zubin Potok, Veljkovic answered:

"They provide essential administrative work services. A mother who gave birth to a child in the Clinical Hospital Center of Kosovska Mitrovica in order to realize her right to maternity allowance and so on, she must go to the PA to submit the documentation. In this way, the human rights of those mothers and hundreds of other mothers are directly violated. Now they will have to travel several hours to Novi Pazar or Raska. Two hours in one direction, that's a long period of time for a woman after labor, it's harassment," he pointed out.

Besides mothers, notes Veljkovic, there are also numerous social categories of the population.

"Pensioners, socially neglected, parents with someone else's care who provide for children with developmental disabilities. Probably 30 to 40 percent of the population is affected by this decision," he said.

Kosovo institutions cannot provide these services to citizens, the vice-president of Serbian Democracy points out.

"You have hundreds of citizens who do not have Kosovo documents at all, because the Kosovo authorities refuse to issue them. The vast majority cannot exercise that right," he concluded.

Kosovo Serbs protest closure of municipality building (N1, KoSSev, Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Serbs gathered on Monday in front of what was the Mitrovica north municipal headquarters to protest the closure of Serbian bodies by the authorities in Pristina.

Kosovo Police special forces forced the Serbian municipal authorities out of their offices in May and they moved to the building where the protest was staged. Last Friday, Kosovo security forces launched a coordinated operation to close down all the buildings where the remaining Republic of Serbia institutions were located. A strong presence by regular and special police was deployed on Monday, an N1 reporter said, adding that a plaque with the Kosovo coat of arms on it was placed on the building.

The Serbian municipal administration staff at the protest asked the police who would provide the services they provided to Serbs, Albanians, and others. Police officers said they were ordered to investigate reports of forged documents in the building.

And while the KP claims that the investigation is ongoing, a new institution has moved into the former Provisional Authority, judging by the sign on the wall next to the entrance - the Kosovo one.

It is a trilingual board written in the now standard irregular Serbian language.

Gathering also in front of the Office for KiM

This morning, the employees also gathered in front of the Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the PIO Fund and the Mitrovica District in Bosnjacka Mahala - institutions that were also closed last Friday.

And there, the day before, on the wall next to the entrance of this building, signs of Kosovo institutions were placed - the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Local Self-Government Administration and the Ministry of Finance, Labor, and Transfers.

In Leposavic, KP forbids the workers of the Temporary Authority from entering the building

In the building that the Kosovo Police entered on Friday, and where the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Leposavic is located, workers of the Academy of Vocational Studies of Kosovo, the Urosevac Leposavic Department and the Institute of Serbian Culture in Pristina Leposavic and other organizations and associations could enter this morning with identification, but the workers of the temporary authority of the municipality of Leposavic are still unable to return to work, reported Kosovo Online adding that their team was also not allowed to enter the building.

Vucic on the visit of Biserko and Canak to Kurti: ''I have never seen a circus like this before'' (Danas)

''When I was little, I watched the Medrano Circus and the Moscow Circus, but I never saw this kind of circus where Albin Kurti and his flies, from the lower back, like Canak and Sonja Biserko. Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija will remain there despite the wishes of Kurti, Sonja Biserko and Canak,'' said Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia, after visiting the new "Srbija" health center in Stanari in the Republic of Srpska, reported Danas.

Vucic said that it would never occur to him to come up with something like that, commenting on the meeting between the PM of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Sonja Biserko, the former leader of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Nenad Canak, as well as the professor and director of the Center for humanitarian dialogue - Marko Baskin.

Commenting on the results of the elections in two German provinces where the right-wing parties won a seriously good result, Vucic said that he had no right to comment. He says that this is a question for Germany and that he will not behave like Viola von Cramon, the former rapporteur of the European Parliament for Kosovo.

Head of the School Administration: About 1,100 first-year students and the same number of high school students are enrolled (KiM radio, Kosovo Online, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)

New school year 2024/2025 started today, and the bell rang in all schools in Kosovo that work in the Serbian system. The head of the School Administration for Kosovo, Blazo Dragovic, told Kontakt Plus that all schools in Serbian areas in Kosovo started working today without any problems.

"Everything started normally, everything is going in its own way. We didn't have any problems in preparing activities for the beginning of the new school year, so everything is fine," said Dragovic. He stated that this year, 1,090 primary school students were enrolled in Serbian communities in Kosovo, emphasizing that the situation is similar with the enrollment of high school students.

"We had 1,294 eighth graders that took their final exam, and about 1,090-1,100 students entered high school here. That's how it is every year, somewhere around 200 high school students don't enroll in our school," he explained.

He adds that the security situation is still a challenge, and that duty in schools will be increased.

"As far as the schools are concerned, we have done everything to ensure that the children are safe," Dragovic emphasized.

Rada Trajkovic: Kurti destroying the sovereignty of the international community (KiM radio, N1)

The President of the European Movement of Serbs from Kosovo and Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic, assessed that since coming to power, Kosovo's PM Albin Kurti has worked on the sovereignty of Kosovo to the detriment of the Serbs and the Serbian state, and now he has started working on destroying the sovereignty of the international community, reported KiM radio, citing N1.

Rada Trajkovic said that security in Kosovo is a "par excellence NATO issue", and that, as she added, "America is the most important".

"He (Kurti) started to ignore and realize his sovereignty in relation to America, in the sense of - 'why should I have to listen to your proposals or consult with you about further steps','' stated Trajkovic.

"Kurti, when he became prime minister and his party organization, they accepted his statement that he would work for the sovereignty of Kosovo, and he started to do that, by slowly, through incidents, but also in agreement with Belgrade, the license plates went away , the electricity meters went out, Lake Gazivode fell, Valac left, the Serbs themselves left the institutions and that somehow enabled him to realize that sovereignty to the detriment of the Serbs and the Serbian state," said Trajkovic in the N1's "Novi dan" TV show.

She pointed out that Kosovo is in a specific position, and that Kurti, working on sovereignty, which meant getting rid of Serbian institutions and making life difficult for Serbs, "he actually worked on the demolition of Ahtisaari's plan, he entered into the project of demolishing the constitutional arrangement of Kosovo".

"Well, he has now gone far in the phase of demolishing Ahtisaari's plan, and now he is aggressively moving towards demolishing the security, par excellence, issue owned by NATO."

Severe problem

Trajkovic believes that the international community has the perception that this is a very serious problem, "the first CIA man would not have come at this time."

"Kurti directly entered into a conflict with NATO, leading Kosovo into isolation, America introduced the level of sanctions, and Europe, America did not introduce sanctions only in communication with the Kosovo security forces, there it still has good communication," says Trajkovic.

She adds that perhaps sanctions are being prepared for the extreme part of the Kosovo government, gathered around Kurti and the Minister of Police.

"They will do something to restrain the police, because the Government of Kosovo is using the police to destroy the constitutional order of Kosovo," she points out.

Risk of wider conflict

When asked if, after raiding the temporary municipal bodies of the Serbs, the Kosovo police will also raid educational and health institutions, she estimates that this would be a great dehumanization.

She reminds that currently in Kosovo there are threefold increased border controls of KFOR towards central Serbia.

"We have a serious security situation, with the risk of turning into a regional conflict, therefore, she believes, the international organization will not allow Kurti to escalate the situation."

Citaku: Criminal gangs encouraged, the government is reduced to propaganda (Kosovo Online)

After last night's shooting in Pristina, where one person was killed and five wounded, DPK Vice-President Vlora Citaku said that criminal gangs had become encouraged, and that the government had been reduced to propaganda, reported Kosovo Online.

Citaku asked via FB post where the ministers of the interior and justice were.

"Criminal gangs have become encouraged. Terror, murders, robberies, prison break. Where is the hand of the state? Where is the interior minister? Where is the Minister of Justice? This is Delivery. The government has been reduced to propaganda," Citaku said.

Opinion

Palokaj: Societies are fed up with dialogue (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in an opinion piece that “in an attempt to find guilty parties for the chronic lack of progress in the dialogue, the EU special envoy, Miroslav Lajcak, also mentioned the societies in Kosovo and in Serbia, which according to him are not ready for the normalization of relations. It is not easy to define what the term ‘society’ implies but if it means the citizens, they are fed up with dialogue and they would prefer if it had concluded long ago with a solution and normality”.

Palokaj says that since the start of the dialogue, society has been excluded from the process and had no accurate information about what was happening in the process. “There were efforts by the EU to include civil society in the process too, but not for the purpose of listening to the opinions of civil society, but rather to benefit from them and in support of the positions of the European Union … For over 12 years, representatives of Kosovo and Serbia gave diametrically statements after their meetings in the process of dialogue. And the EU did not explain what had happened exactly. In this way, the EU did not play the role of ‘facilitator’ for society to understand what the truth is. The EU intentionally left room for different interpretations that created an absurd and oftentimes dangerous situation. For example, in Serbia, all levels insisted for years that in the process of dialogue Kosovo pledged not to send special police forces in the north of Kosovo. This then turned into a campaign of incitement and attacks against Kosovo Police by Serbian politicians, who used and continue to use terms such as ‘the terror of Kosovo police’ or ‘the occupying Albanian boot’. And until now, except for some unofficial statements that ‘it has become common practice for special police not to go to the north’, we haven’t seen from anyone in the EU any evidence that in the dialogue Kosovo really agreed not to send certain police units. The only thing that was confirmed is that through an exchange of letters between former Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and NATO, Kosovo promised that it would not send KSF units without the prior consent of the commander of KFOR”.

Palokaj further argues that “the same confusion and a contrary understanding was created surrounding Serbia’s parallel structures in the north of Kosovo. Earlier the international community denied their existence, then it was said that although ‘they don’t exist’ they were dissolved or integrated in Kosovo’s structures. Now it is said that they must be allowed to operate, and that Kosovo is inciting tensions by unilaterally closing them down. There wouldn’t have been misunderstandings if the EU had a clear position. And the ‘constructive ambiguity’ which the EU still has as a principle in its approach toward the dialogue is not a clear position”.

“The society, neither in Kosovo nor in Serbia, is guilty of why what the EU calls ‘agreement on the path to normalization of relations’ is not being implemented. Is society guilty that Serbia, both in words, letters and actions, has said that it does not intend to implement the main part of the Agreement? Society is even less to blame why the EU did not react to this”.

“Society is not to blame for why the dialogue process was not built on healthy foundations that would not depend on election processes in the region and the world. Society is not to blame why in the dialogue there were always only apparently unsuccessful improvisations. Another improvisation is the insistence of the EU that ‘the agreement is legally binding although it has not been signed’. Lajcak has even assumed the role of spokesperson for Serbia by saying in an interview with Radio Free Europe that ‘Serbia has not withdrawn from the agreement’. But leaders in Serbia are saying the opposite. Societies in Kosovo and Serbia could be manipulated. They could be uninformed too. But they cannot be criticized for not being ready for the normalization of relations. No one, neither Brussels, Berlin and Paris, or Washington and London, needs the normalization of relations more. But it seems that the political structures, which are keeping the dialogue process as a good opportunity to manipulate, don’t want the normalization of relations. The guilty party should be sought in politics and not in society”.

International

Kosovo parents struggle for textbooks as new school year begins (BIRN)

Kosovo parents have been touring one bookstore after another recently – just as they did last year – to get textbooks for their children ahead of the new school year, which starts on Monday.

Two weeks ago, the government said it had allocated 13.8 million euros to be distributed to parents’ accounts for school books after they apply individually through an online platform.

Kosovo’s teachers’ union says the government was wrong to go for this option. Until 2022, the government supplied pupils with textbooks directly in schools. Last year, the government decided not to tie any deals with publishing houses, claiming that it would cost the budget more.

“We expected the Ministry of Education to not repeat last year’s mistake and to reach an agreement with publishing houses in order to distribute textbooks to schools, but that did not happen,” Rrahman Jasharaj, Head of the Education, Science and Culture Unions, told BIRN.

“Let’s wait till Monday and see how it goes but I am afraid that situations like last year will be repeated, when pupils were not properly supplied with textbooks,” he added.