Albanian Language Media:

• Konjufca: There is a tendency to destabilise the north before the April 23 elections (Koha)
• Haradinaj requests the postponement of the elections in the north (Koha)
• Bislimi and Murati travel to U.S., to meet representatives of IMF and World Bank (media)
• Abazovic in Kosovo tomorrow, to meet senior officials and opposition (media)
• Monastery of Decan not included in list of seven endangered monuments this year (Klan)
• "Everything ready to undo Dick Marty's report" (Reporteri)
• The Supreme Court: Citizens have the right to demand the money they were billed for electricity in the North (media)
• S. Embassy: Interference with freedom of expression,violates principles of democracy (Reporteri)
• WB Regional Platform Safe Journalists condemns attack on journalist (Reporteri)
• Jakup Krasniqi is not in good condition, lawyer requests his withdrawal from session (Reporteri)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic meeting Serbs from Kosovo (RTS)
• Serbs protested shooting of their fellow citizen at Bistrica bridge, demand special forces withdraw from north (KoSSev)
• Signing of petition for withdrawal of Kosovo special police from northern Kosovo continues (Radio kontakt plus)
• Vucic, Dacic met with Spanish Foreign Minister (RTS)
• PM Brnabic thanks Spanish Minister for position on Kosovo (FoNet)
• Petkovic with Botsan-Kharchenko: Peace and security of Serbian people our biggest concern (Kosovo Online)
• Media: Todosijevic’s prison sentence postponed by two months (Kosovo Online, BETA, N1)
• KFOR condemns incident in which Milan Jovanovic was wounded (RTS)
• Serbian ambassador says strategic dialogue with US discussed (BETA)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Konjufca: There is a tendency to destabilise the north before the April 23 elections (Koha)

The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, has stated that there is a clear tendency to destabilise the north of Kosovo before the April 23 elections. He emphasised that the second postponement of these elections is unreasonable. According to him, the institutions must perform their legal and constitutional duties and obligations.

"Now we need calm and I appeal to all the citizens who live in that part not to fall prey to the actions which I think are directed, not within Kosovo, but mainly on the other side, that is, from Serbia, from certain segments, the structures which they still intend to maintain and finance, and which they strive for, and whose main goal is the destabilisation of Kosovo, the displacement outside the orbit of Kosovo's security, but especially in that part of the territory. Since the elections are approaching now, so in ten days is the date of the elections, all this that is happening is not accidental, since there is a clear tendency to destabilise that part of the country, before the elections on April 23, in order to delegitimize the whole process, so that the false impression is created on the other side, but with violent means, that without the Serbian List and without these structures, there is no calm and peace in the northern part of Kosovo," Konjufca said. 

"I think that Kosovo has all its capacities and all the necessary mechanisms to guarantee a situation in which citizens, regardless of ethnicity, who live in that part of the territory can exercise their basic right, which is the right to vote. This right must also be guaranteed by the constitutional, institutional and state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. I am fully convinced and believe that Kosovo has this capacity, without causing any irritation, dissatisfaction, resistance by other means, because there is no need. So the date has been set once and then postponed. I think a second postponement would be unreasonable. First, what we need to do is to make sure that each institution is performing its duty according to the constitutional obligations. And then when we receive the election results, then it will be seen and we will enter another stage. But we cannot prejudge this stage before April 23," he added.

Haradinaj requests the postponement of the elections in the north (Koha)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, in the statements outside the agenda, in the session of the Assembly that is being held on Thursday, has requested that the elections in the four northern municipalities, which are scheduled to be held on April 23, to be postponed. According to him, this topic should be treated seriously by the institutions.

"We must have the political courage to deal with the issues in their truth, at least not to hide from the issues that the country is facing. I don't think that the state will win if we remain silent about the situation in the north of Kosovo. The process of holding elections in the north is not sustainable. Why are we in this state, we know the agenda of Serbia and the Serbian List. But do we and the government know the way to success? As far as I can see with the information I have, today's situation does not lead us to success, the election process does not lead us to success," Haradinaj emphasised.

According to him, not treating this situation seriously can cause great consequences for Kosovo. He emphasised that the best decision in this situation is to postpone the elections.

"We have to analyse the situation, is it in our interest to reach this point, what will we gain. I do not believe that we should be silent about this situation, it is better to accept a quarter loss today than a complete loss tomorrow. I call on the government and the president to take seriously the situation in the north and make a bold decision. What would this decision be, I strongly believe in postponing the elections," Haradinaj said.

Bislimi and Murati travel to U.S., to meet with representatives of IMF and World Bank (media)

The First Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Development and Dialogue of the Republic of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, together with the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati, have travelled to the United States of America.

During this visit, they will hold meetings with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Abazovic in Kosovo tomorrow, to meet senior officials and opposition (media)

The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic, will visit Kosovo tomorrow. During his stay, Prime Minister Abazovic will hold meetings with leaders of Kosovo institutions, the Prime Minister Abin Kurti, the President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu and other Kosovo officials.

Abazovic and Kurti are expected to sign the bilateral agreement on the open sky corridor, which provides for the permission to use the airspace of Montenegro by planes flying from Pristina Airport.

The Prime Minister of Montenegro will also meet with the mayor of the municipality of Pristina, Mr. PerparimRama, from whom he will receive the Key of Pristina.

While in the Kosovar Business Alliance, Prime Minister Abazovic will sign a memorandum of cooperation with the head of this organisation, Agim Shahini. At the meeting, the Prime Minister will be given a certificate of appreciation for encouraging Kosovar investments in Montenegro.

During his stay in Kosovo, Prime Minister Abazovic will also visit "Universum" college, where his book "Criticism of Global Ethics" will be promoted. In a separate ceremony, college leaders will award Abazovic an honorary doctorate.

Within the framework of the first day of the visit to Kosovo, Abazovic will hold meetings with leaders of parliamentary political parties. He will meet with the leader of the PDK, Memli Krasniqi and with the leader of the LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku.

The Prime Minister of Montenegro will also meet the two former presidents of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga and Behgjet Pacolli.

During the second day of his visit to Kosovo, Prime Minister Abazovic will meet the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Emilija Rexhepi, the multi-ethnic group in the Assembly of Kosovo, and ministers from non-majority communities.

Prime Minister Abazovic will meet with KFOR General Michelle Rastuccia and will visit the National Gallery of Kosovo accompanied by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Mr. Hajrulla Ceku, and the director of the National Gallery, Alisa Gojani.

Prime Minister Abazovic wants to emphasise the role of Maestro Gjelosh Gjokaj and composer Regjo Mulliqi in the intercultural relations between the two countries.

During his working visit to Kosovo, Abazovic will visit Peja, where he will meet with the mayor of the municipality, Gazmend Muhaxheri, and will closely see the implementation of the IPA project, which is being implemented between Montenegro and Kosovo.

Abazovic will visit the Historical Residence of dr. Ibrahim Rugova and will pay homage at his grave in Pristina, as well as at the grave of university professor and poet from Ulqin Basri Capriqi.

During his stay, Abazovic will visit religious and cultural buildings, including the Mosque of Carshi, the Cathedral of Mother Teresa and the Patriarchate of Peja, accompanied by the mayor of the municipality of Peja, Gazmend Muhaxhiri.

Part of Abazovic's agenda are meetings with the honorary consul of Montenegro in Kosovo, Gazmend Abrashi, owner of "Exclusive Group", and with the honorary consul of Kosovo in Montenegro, Shklqim Devolli, owner of the factory “Prince Caffe".

Monastery of Decan not included in list of seven endangered monuments this year (Klan)

This year, Decan Monastery was not included in the list of the seven most endangered cultural heritage monuments in Europe.

This year's list includes the partisan memorial cemetery in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the cultural landscape of Sveti Stefan in Montenegro, the water mills of Bistrica in Petrovac i Mlava in Serbia, but not the Monastery of Decan, which is located in Kosovo.

The "7 Most Endangered" program is a civil society campaign to save Europe's endangered heritage. Through this program, awareness is raised, independent technical assessments are made, recommendations for action are proposed, and support is sought to save endangered monuments.

Being on the "7 most vulnerable" list often serves as a catalyst for action and as an incentive to mobilise the necessary public or private support.

"Everything ready to undo Dick Marty's report" (Reporteri)

The head of the Parliamentary Group of Albania’s Socialist Party, Taulant Balla, while responding to the MP Tritan Shehut who spoke about Kosovo and the support that should be given by Albania, said that everything is ready to undo Dick Marty's report.

In his speech, he emphasised that signatures of more than 5 countries and from 20 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe were collected, in opposition to this report.

"Regarding what was repeatedly requested by MP Shehu, I believe that the Assembly has addressed the issue. Regarding the claims and slanders that allegedly during the war there were crimes against humanity, these are unjust. We support the leaders of the KLA. Yesterday, Kosovo approved that April 14 will always be associated with the survivors of sexual violence during the war in Kosovo, and I think that this should have been raised as a discussion today by the opposition. Do not do politics with Kosovo. The signatures have already been collected from more than 5 countries and the minimum number of members of the KiE Parliamentary Assembly is 20. We are moving forward with the resolution, when we move from Kosovo to the campaign money, it is grotesque. I advise you to plant trees, like us,” Balla said.

The Supreme Court: Citizens have the right to demand the money they were billed for electricity in the North (media)

The Supreme Court has rejected as unfounded the request of the Energy Regulatory Office against the ruling of the Court of Appeal, regarding the billing of the citizens of Kosovo, for the electricity spent but not paid for in the four northern municipalities.

According to the decision of the Supreme Court, consumers who have paid for the energy spent in the north, have the right to demand return of these funds.

The Supreme Court has found that the Basic Court and the Court of Appeal have rightly confirmed the factual situation and have rightly applied the material law with the manner of decision, namely the approval as based on the claim of the plaintiff, the People's Advocate, and the annulment of the decision of the ERO.

U.S. Embassy: By interfering with freedom of expression, principles of democracy are being violated (Reporteri)

The Embassy of the United States of America in Kosovo has reacted after the attack on the journalist Valon Syla.

On the official Facebook account, the Embassy has said that attacks on journalists or interference with their independence and freedom of expression violate fundamental democratic principles.

"Attacks on journalists or interference with their independence and freedom of expression violate fundamental democratic principles. The media plays an essential role in fighting corruption, ensuring accountability and transparency, and protecting the rights of all citizens in a democracy," the Embassy posted.

WB Regional Platform Safe Journalists condemns attack on journalist (Reporteri)

The Safe Journalists network, which represents more than 8,200 media professionals in the Western Balkans, joined in condemning the attack on journalist Valon Syla.

“We call on the Kosovo authorities to condemn such attacks and demonstrate that they care about press freedom.

The SafeJournalists Network will inform relevant national and international stakeholders about this case.

Every attack on journalists is an attack on the public interest, democracy and the rights of all citizens," their reaction states. 

Jakup Krasniqi is not in good condition, lawyer requests his withdrawal from session (Reporteri)

The former spokesman of the KLA, Jakup Krasniqi, was seen in a bad state of health in today's session at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

"Mr. Krasniqi is not feeling very well at the moment. He can stay a little longer, but he will tell us if he can stay. But if he wants to leave, I hope we will be allowed," said Jakup Krasniqi's lawyer Alexewandri Alagendra.

   

Serbian Language Media 

  Vucic meeting Serbs from Kosovo (RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and members of the cabinet, met with the Serb political representatives from Kosovo in Raska today, RTS reports.

Vucic said that Pristina Prime Minister Albin Kurti insists on holding elections in northern Kosovo, so the mayors, from, as he said, Kurti’s and Hashim Thaci’s party (PDK) elected at those elections would say that the municipalities in the north do not want to be part of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO). According to Vucic, Kurti, who does not want to establish a Community of the Serb Municipalities this way, wishes to “buy some time”.

Vucic further said that the highest number of incidents targeting the Serbs occurred during the time of Albin Kurti’s rule, adding Kurti wishes to generate conflicts at any costs.

“Their intention is never to form ZSO and he is saying that clearly to you. They would like ZSO to be nothing, to be a shell with inexistent content. That they would accept”, Vucic said. He noted the essence of ZSO is economic development, education, health, and everything else that is of crucial importance.

Provocations are Pristina’s only aim to drag Serbia into conflict with NATO

Vucic further said that the only aim of Pristina is to provoke Serbs to portray themselves as victims and drag Serbia into conflict with NATO.

He said Serbia can only rely on itself. “On our Serbia, and no one else, there is no one who can help us even if they wanted, and I do not see many of them lining up to help us, all together, same as in 1999 and in many other years”.

President of the Sports Association in Kosovo, Goran Kovac from Mitrovica North said that strong pressure is exerted on sports people in Kosovo, adding the situation is very difficult and that they need help.

“I suggest that all associations and the ministry stand behind a joint statement and that statement be conveyed to the International Olympic Committee and other international sports associations, and that all associations send the same message to their umbrella organisations so everybody would become aware of the repression carried against sportsmen in Kosovo (…)”, Kovac said.

Speaking about the measures, Vucic stated that the temporary compensation for residents of Kosovo will be increased from 11,000 to 20,000 dinars (approximately 170 EUR). The second measure is economic empowerment of unemployed persons, i.e. persons without income living in Kosovo, adding that this is an important measure for all local governments.

The third point is the improvement of the work of health institutions through the employment of new personnel - the employment, as he stated, of 50 new doctors and 50 new nurses. Then he added, as point four - an incentive to young married couples through an increase in the amount of one-time assistance, paid by the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, in the name of the first-born child from 12,000 to 50,000 dinars (approximately 470 EUR), in order to encourage the birth of children, “because it is an issue of the greatest importance for the survival of our population”.

Then, as he added, investing in the development of economic activity and female entrepreneurship and family business through the purchase of machines and the like, noting the minimum subsidy is 100,000 (approximately 855 EUR) and the maximum is 600,000 dinars (approximately 5130 EUR). Also - the next measure is investment in agriculture - through the purchase of equipment, seedlings, machines, livestock, bees and beekeeping equipment - and, as he said, 1.7 million euros will be invested in this.

Two million will be set aside for eliminating the consequences of floods, and for rehabilitation, construction of roads and infrastructure - 6.8 million euros. 

“In total - what we foresaw - it is 28 million euros, in addition to what we have so far allocated and reserved for Kosovo and Metohija and these financial resources are available to you immediately, all the people of Kosovo and Metohija should know that”, he said.

Serbs protested shooting of their fellow citizen at Bistrica bridge, demand special forces withdraw from north (KoSSev)

Over a thousand protesters took part in a protest yesterday near the Bistrica bridge on the Mitrovica – Leposavic road, demanding the withdrawal of all special police units from the north. A petition with the same demand was also launched, to be distributed for signatures throughout northern municipalities in the coming days, KoSSev portal reports.

Kosovo special police units have maintained a checkpoint on the Bistrica bridge since December last year, where M.J., a Serb from Zerovnica, was wounded on Monday evening. It has now been confirmed that he was shot by a member of this unit, although the police initially denied their involvement in the incident.

Local residents headed towards this bridge as part of a march, led by the family of the wounded Serb, along with the leaders of Serbian List. Two police cordons were installed to stop them, but the protesters bypassed the first one, almost without incident. While the first cordon was composed of regular police units, the next, placed directly next to the bridge, was manned by members of the special forces, the portal adds.

In a conversation with police officers, the spouse of M.J. injured in the shooting demanded that the policemen allow her to go to the spot where her husband was shot on Monday evening. She repeatedly emphasised that her husband is innocent, and a man devoted to his family. She used similar words while previously invited for the rally via her FB Page.

This whole event unfolded peacefully. During the protest, traffic was halted, while several KFOR and EULEX patrols monitored the situation, which included helicopter surveillance.

In the meantime, international and Serbian reactions and condemnations of the shooting of M.J are pouring in. On the Kosovo side, for now, the condemnation came only from the minister of justice, and only after a KIM radio journalist directly posed her a question at a press conference after yesterday’s government session in Pristina.

On the other hand, at the government meeting itself, the same media outlet reported that there was not a single mention of the incident on the Bistrica bridge.

The full report and video from the protest are available at: https://bit.ly/43FtbO2 Signing of petition for withdrawal of Kosovo special police from northern Kosovo continues (Radio kontakt plus)

A stand was placed in the centre of Mitrovica North at which citizens can sign a petition calling for withdrawal of the Kosovo special police from northern Kosovo, Radio kontakt plus reports. Several hundred citizens signed the petitions so far and the signing will go on in upcoming days as well.

The petition was initiated yesterday near Kosovo special police checkpoint at Bistrica bridge, Zvecan municipality, in a protest following the wounding of a local Serb M.J. there by a member of Kosovo special police.

As announced yesterday the petition will tour northern municipalities and be available for signature. 

Vucic, Dacic met with Spanish Foreign Minister (RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and thanked him for the principled stance of Spain not to recognize unilaterally declared Kosovo independence, RTS reports. He also thanked the Spanish Minister for the active support his country extends to Serbia in international forums.

“I also expressed concerns over more frequent attacks against Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and voiced expectations that establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, as an absolute priority, will finally enable security of the Serbian community”, Vucic said in a post on his official Instagram account. He also said they discussed situations and developments in the world.

Earlier in the day Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met with his Spanish counterpart.

“Serbia-Spain relations are excellent, friendly and on an upward trajectory, and Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez's visit to Belgrade and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's trip to Madrid last year have lent a new impetus to them”, Dacic said after meeting FM Albares.

"We are grateful to Spain for the firm position that is greatly helpful to us in terms of the principles of maintaining sovereignty and integrity because, when we speak about Kosovo and Metohija, we do not only speak from the perspective of our own interest, but also from the perspective of respect of the universal principles of international law", Dacic said.

He noted that Spain's stance was extremely important to Serbia and added that Serbia, too, supported the integrity and sovereignty of Spain with regards to various separatist concepts and movements that were also attempting to achieve their objectives through unilateral acts.

"To us, it is also important to work on the advancement of economic relations and our trade volume has reached almost 1.5 bln euros - we need to continue to develop and advance that cooperation further," Dacic said.

PM Brnabic thanks Spanish Minister for position on Kosovo (FoNet)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic met on Wednesday Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares Bueno. She thanked Spain for its principled position on respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, and informed him of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue as well as the fact that Pristina is not implementing its obligations under the Brussels Agreement.

Brnabic drew attention to the provocations on the ground, attacks and harassment of the Serb population and desecration of cultural heritage in Kosovo, Serbian Government said in a press release.

In light of Spain’s presidency of the European Union (EU) Council in the second half of 2023, the Prime Minister thanked Spain for its support for Serbia’s European integration process.

Brnabic and Albares agreed that the political relations of the two countries are excellent, that they are based on solid foundations, and that they are a strong support for further strengthening of cooperation in other areas, with special reference to the economy and trade. 

Minister Albares Bueno underlined that the friendship between the two countries is strong, that the political relations between Serbia and Spain are excellent, and that Spain will play an important role in the enlargement policy during its presidency of the EU Council, press release adds.

Spain is one of the five EU member states that do not recognize Kosovo.

Petkovic with Botsan-Kharchenko: Peace and security of Serbian people our biggest concern (Kosovo Online)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic met yesterday with Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and discussed with him the latest round of Belgrade-Pristina technical dialogue in Brussels, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Petkovic said that Serbia there again demonstrated constructiveness and respect of all agreed obligations, with clearly presented ‘red lines’. He also mentioned arrests and persecution of the Serbs in Kosovo, occurring almost on a daily basis, adding that “it demonstrates there is not even a minimum good will on the side of Pristina politicians to build mutual trust, peace and coexistence in Kosovo and Metohija”.

“Recent assault on Milan Jovanovic confirms this, he was shot at by a Kosovo police member and Pristina in all possible ways attempted to conceal it”, Petkovic said.

According to him, Belgrade still remains on the stance that all open issues should be resolved peacefully only and within the dialogue, and will continue insisting on that, adding that preserving peace and security of the Serbian people is Serbia’s biggest concern. 

Media: Todosijevic’s prison sentence postponed by two months (Kosovo Online, BETA, N1)

Serving of prison sentence to Ivan Todosijevic, Serbian List official and former Kosovo minister of local self-administration has been postponed by two months, Kosovo Online portal reported.

Todosijevic was sentenced to one year in prison for his remarks on the Racak case by the Basic Court in Pristina, and the verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeals. The spokeswoman of the Basic Court in Pristina Mirlinda Gashi confirmed the postponement, adding that a decision was made based on the request of Todosijevic’s lawyer, who submitted medical documentation supporting the request for postponement.

According to an earlier decision of the court, Todosijevic was supposed to start serving the sentence on April 3. 

KFOR condemns incident in which Milan Jovanovic was wounded (RTS)

NATO-led KFOR Mission condemns shooting incident from Monday evening in which a Kosovo Serb was wounded in Zvecan municipality, RTS reports. KFOR expects Kosovo institutions to conduct a thorough investigation of this incident.

The statement further said that KFOR continues monitoring the situation and is fully focused on daily implementation of its mandate – deriving from UN SC Resolution 1244 – to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo. 

Serbian ambassador says strategic dialogue with US discussed (BETA)

Serbian Ambassador to Washington Marko Djuric told Kurir daily that he spoke to State Department Counselor Derek Chollet about the starting of a strategic dialogue with the United States.

Djuric also said the dialogue would be “a significant step forward in our relations and a new stage in institutional cooperation”. According to the ambassador, a concrete mechanism would be set up for regular cooperation and links between institutions with the goal of a liberalisation of the visa regime with the US and a double-taxation agreement.

He said that the fact that a visa liberalisation was being discussed is a very positive signal but added that he can’t speak about deadlines. “I am convinced that our police and border police can very quickly meet the required standards”, he is quoted as saying.