UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 17, 2025

Albanian Language Media:

Constitutive session of Kosovo Assembly will be held again on April 19 (media)
War veterans want MPs to sign an oath to address injustices in Hague (Express)
Osmani commemorates massacre where 24 among victims were children (media)
Attorney calls for life imprisonment for accused of Banjska attack (RFE)
Grenell slams RFE article about Kosovo Specialist Chambers in Hague (media)
CDHRF harsh reaction to decision to increase in energy tariffs (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic to new gov't: Get Serbia back to path of success (Tanjug)
EC welcomed formation of new Serbian government: We expect Belgrade to seriously show its strategic direction towards EU (N1)
Main hearing in Banjska case started in Pristina today (Kosovo Online, media)
Simonovic Bratic: We have assurances from Quint that Kosovo cannot be placed on CoE's agenda until CSM is formed (Kosovo Online)
Arlov: Request to visit Kosovo rejected for 17th time (KiM radio)
Serbian public TV blockade by students, people enter third day (N1)
AoPG: Protest in Kraljevo equivalent to 330,000 people in Belgrade (N1, KoSSev)

International Media:

‘Trapped in horror’: Kosovo atrocity survivor escaped, but lost her family (BIRN)
‘The shame is not ours’ (Kosovo 2.0)
Kosovo court convicts Serb former prison guard of war crimes (BIRN)
Public money pouring in non-functional Kosovo municipality sport halls (PI)

Albanian Language Media

Constitutive session of Kosovo Assembly will be held again on April 19 (media)

All media report that due to the lack of consensus today the constitutive session of the Kosovo Assembly will be held again on April 19.

War veterans want MPs to sign an oath to address injustices in Hague (Express)

One of the former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Nasim Haradinaj, on behalf of the war veterans, asked today the new members of the Kosovo Assembly to sign an “oath for justice” which would address what he called injustices by the Specialist Chambers in the Hague. He argued that even the United States of America have changed their position on the court and that Kosovo needs to do the same. “We hope that the MPs will sign this symbolic oath as a moral pledge to address the injustices against the KLA leaders and other soldiers who are unjustly being tried in the Hague,” he said.

Osmani commemorates massacre where 24 among victims were children (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani today commemorated the massacre by Serbian forces in Poklek where 24 among the 54 victims were children. “Among the 54 of the people killed, 24 were children from six months old to 17 years old. They were killed and burned by the forces of a genocidal Serbian regime whose objective was extermination … Today it is not enough to remember the victims. It is our obligation to demand justice … for every child that was killed and for every family that was exterminated,” she said. “We must not stop until justice prevails. Because without justice, and without the truth, without accountability for crimes, there can be no sustainable peace”.

Attorney calls for life imprisonment for accused of Banjska attack (RFE)

In the first court session about the attack in Banjska – which is being held at the Basic Court in Pristina – the attorney of the family of Kosovo police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku who was killed by Serb assailants during the attack, called for life imprisonment for the defendants.

At the start of the session, the defendants – Vladimir Tolic, Blagoje Spasojevic and Dusan Maksimovic – pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism, financing terrorism and other grave criminal offences. The three defendants were arrested after the attack in Banjska in September 2023, when an armed group of Serbs attacked Kosovo Police and killed sergeant Bunjaku. Three Serb attackers were also killed in the ensuing gunfight. Milan Radoicic, former deputy leader of the Serbian List, claimed responsibility for the attack in Banjska. It is believed that Radoicic and the majority of the armed group are free in Serbia. The prosecution has called for a trial in absentia for the other 42 suspects who are at large. The court has issued international arrest warrants for them. Naim Abazi, a special prosecutor working on the case, presented video footage at the session today saying that the attack was planned earlier and that the group was well-organized.

Grenell slams RFE article about Kosovo Specialist Chambers in Hague (media)

U.S. presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, reacted on Wednesday to an article by Radio Free Europe about the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in the Hague. Grenell wrote in a post on X: “Shame on Radio Free Europe (US taxpayer funded). Shame on The Hague Court (US taxpayer funded). Who is editing these RFE stories? The very first line says “For two years” prosecutors have been going after Hashim Thaci. Two years? Nope. The alleged crimes are from 1998. The Court started in 2016. Thaci was arrested in 2020. This reporter should be fired immediately. U.S. taxpayers are funding The Hague Court and Radio Free Europe. We are paying for a sham trial and sham reporting of the trial”.

Read the RFE article at: https://shorturl.at/8uQEq

CDHRF harsh reaction to decision to increase in energy tariffs (media)

The Pristina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) issued a reaction to the decision of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) to increase energy tariffs by 16.1 percent. “Despite two protests in Pristina, other oppositions, sending comments, the criminal enterprise ERO yesterday adopted the decision to increase energy tariffs by 16.1 percent which will largely affect the lives of the majority of citizens of Kosovo, numerous businesses and especially the more vulnerable groups which include pensioners, beneficiaries of social schemes, war veterans and others,” the Council said.

The Council also criticized the government “for failing to take any action to protect the impoverished citizen of Kosovo and the improvisations of the respective minister who accepted the increase”.

According to the Council, the ERO never represented the interests of the people, “but in extreme and immoral fashion protected the interest of energy operators and certain government structures, since the end of the war. For 15 years it stole the funds of the people of Kosovo on ethnic basis by exempting Serbs from every obligation to pay their electricity bills”.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic to new gov't: Get Serbia back to path of success (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has congratulated Serbians on the election of the new government and wished success to new PM Djuro Macut, Tanjug news agency reported.

"Do everything you can to get the country back to the path of success and to, with support from every one of us, free it from terror and injustice and ensure that the legal order rules in Serbia, and to enable the citizens to be proud of their Serbia in every sense", Vucic wrote in a message to the new government, posted on his official Instagram account on Wednesday evening.

EC welcomed formation of new Serbian Government: We expect Belgrade to seriously show its strategic direction towards EU (N1)

The European Commission welcomed formation of the new Serbian Government, with the hope that it will quickly take necessary steps to maintain Serbia's path to the EU, European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told N1.

"As we have consistently stressed, we need to see credible and tangible progress on key reforms to unlock the next stages of the accession process, especially when it comes to the rule of law, media freedom, the fight against corruption, electoral reform and democratic institutions. As stated in our last Enlargement Package, we also expect Serbia to seriously demonstrate its strategic direction towards the EU. This includes strengthening efforts towards progressive alignment with the EU's common foreign and security policy positions, as a matter of utmost importance", said the EC spokesperson.

He added the accession process requires an intensive effort by the entire society.

"It needs to be an inclusive national project for everyone. Our goal remains to support Serbia in advancing on its path to the EU", said Mercier.

The new government of Serbia was voted in the Parliament yesterday, and the new Prime Minister Djuro Macut took office today.

Main hearing in Banjska case started in Pristina today (Kosovo Online)

The main hearing in the case against three Serbs arrested in Banjska, following the armed incident there, Blagoje Spasojevic, Vladimir Tolic and Dusan Maksimovic accused of “attacking Kosovo constitutional order and security as well as terrorism” started today at the Basic Court in Pristina, Kosovo Online portal reported. The three Serbs were arrested following the armed incident in Banjska in September 2023, and remain in detention ever since. Defendants did not wish the indictment to be read to them again and pleaded not guilty. The prosecutor, Naim Abazi in his introductory remarks said this is not a simple trial, adding that “one of the most gravest criminal acts had been committed”. He also said “the consequences of it were the murder of a police officer and wounding of others” as well as that prosecution will prove the guilt of defendants.

Lawyers of the affected parties requested “life imprisonment for the three Serbs”, and those at large be criminally prosecuted.

Defence lawyer of Blagoje Spasojevic, Ljubomir Pantovic said events in Banjska were “met with the highest attention from public and entire society in those areas and entire region”. He also said everybody must respect the presumption of innocence of the defendants and one should not be speaking about possible punishment at the beginning of the process.

“(…) Before the decision of this court, many have declared defendants as guilty, today we hear some saying that only one punishment is possible, and this is what burdens the main hearing at the beginning of the process. If we are democratic society, we all must, without exception, respect the presumption of innocence, regardless of who the defendants are, what the indictment is about, and what criminal act is about. This applies to all, not only the court, but also prosecution and all others taking part in this process”, Pantovic said.

He added that a special prosecution conducted an investigation into this case for almost a year. He also argued it was time to point out that indictment has many flows, essential shortcomings and unclarities, both in terms of factual description of the criminal acts and also in terms of legal qualification of those acts.

Blagoje Spasojevic, one of the defendants said that “he did not hurt anyone, nor killed anyone”. “I did not intend to annex north of Kosovo and attach it to Serbia”, he said, adding he agrees with the statement of his lawyer.

Lawyer of Vladimir Tolic, Milos Delevic in his introductory remarks said prosecution had six more months to carry out investigation, but that it was concluded very swiftly. “As a consequence of that the indictment lacks concrete details”, he said. He also argued that special prosecution was not able to determine what roles defendants had in this case. “There is no concrete part in terms of actions of each defendant, apart from saying that the leader of this group was Milan Radoicic”, Delevic said. He also said during the process it will be shown that Tolic did not have a significant role in those events, as claimed by the prosecutor and lawyers of the affected parties.

“He spent that day wounded, struggling not to bleed out”, Delevic said, extending gratitude on behalf of the Tolic’s family to the police officers who offered him first aid and doctors performing surgery afterwards.

Family members of the defendants and a large number of media teams, both from Serbian and Albanian media outlets attended the hearing today, the portal added.

Simonovic Bratic: We have assurances from Quint that Kosovo cannot be placed on CoE's agenda until CSM is formed (Kosovo Online)

A member of Serbian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Dunja Simonovic Bratic, told Kosovo Online that Serbian parliamentarians, in discussions with representatives of Quint countries in PACE, received assurances that until the Community of Serb Municipalities is formed as stipulated, the issue of Pristina membership in the Council of Europe cannot be brought to the agenda.

“We hope they will stand by what they told us and that, just like last year, Kosovo request will be rejected”, Simonovic Bratic said.

Ahead of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers session scheduled for May 13 and 14, where Kosovo membership request is currently not on the agenda, Simonovic Bratic said that political representatives from Pristina have been very active on this matter and have intensified pressure, viewing this period as a final opportunity before the Committee meets.

Considering that some countries, such as Germany, believe it would be sufficient for the Kosovo government to merely send the European draft statute of the CSM to the Constitutional Court for a positive decision on Kosovo admission, Simonovic Bratic emphasized that even if this were to happen before the May 13 session, it would not mean that the CSM would actually be implemented in practice.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/00hpP

Arlov: Request to visit Kosovo rejected for 17th time (KiM radio)

Milorad Arlov, President of the Committee for Aid to KiM from Republika Srpska, announces that the security structures of Kosovo have refused his request to visit Kosovo for the 17th time, reported KiM radio.

According to Arlov, he sent a request for a religious visit to Kosovo from April 18 to 21 during the Easter holidays.

He planned, as he said, to be with his friends in North Mitrovica on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Wednesday, but also to visit the Gracanica, Visoki Decani and Saint Archangel monasteries near Prizren.

"According to the plan and desire, on Holy Saturday at the "Support me-January 9" day center in Kosovska Mitrovica, we will gather nine children from all over Kosmet, whom we have been giving scholarships for many years, to make them happy with donations and congratulations on Easter. We will again, like many times before, hand over help and four-month scholarships in the total amount of 4,000 euros to them at the Jarinje crossing, on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 11 o'clock", he said in a statement.

Arlov recalled he had been banned from coming to Kosovo for almost five years. “In the almost five-year period of the ban on entering Kosovo, I was turned back from the Jarinje crossing 9 times and my request was rejected 17 times. In all these years, I never received an explanation why my entry to Kosovo and Metohija was prohibited. Since 2008, I have been and visited Kosmet (Kosovo) about 140 times and I have never caused a single problem, not even a traffic violation", he added in the announcement.

At the end of his address, Arlov congratulated the Orthodox believers, Metropolitan Teodosije of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren, and Bishop Ilarion of Novo Brdo and especially children and young people with developmental disabilities on Easter holiday.

Serbian public TV blockade by students, people enter third day (N1)

Students and people have continued blocking the Serbian public TV (RTS) headquarters in downtown Belgrade, as well as its offices and studio in the Kosutnjak neighbourhood. Students are demanding a new public call for the appointment of members to the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) Council or the shutdown of public service broadcasters, N1 reported. On Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, there was no police presence in front of the building. Protesters used whistles and chanted “pump it!,” which is one of the protest movement’s slogans.

On Thursday morning, some RTS employees attempted to enter the building, but according to reports shared on social media, “gave up after being persuaded and met with applause”.

Belgrade student protesters sent a letter on Wednesday to the Serbian Parliament Culture and Information Committee, stating that the protest and blockade in front of the RTS would continue until the committee issues a public call for the selection of new REM Council members. As citizens and students “occupied” all access points to the RTS building, the broadcaster was unable to begin its regular morning programming on Thursday.

In a post on its X account, RTS said it was adjusting its programming schedule.

“The illegal blockade of RTS facilities, which has prevented employees from accessing their workplaces, has been ongoing since 10 pm Monday. RTS is adjusting its programming schedule due to the difficult working conditions”, the RTS wrote on X.

AoPG: Protest in Kraljevo equivalent to 330,000 people in Belgrade (N1, KoSSev)

At the large student protest held Wednesday in Kraljevo, there were 15,000 people gathered between 7 and 8 pm on the central city square - an attendance which, relative to the city’s population, would be the equivalent of 330,000 people in Belgrade, said the Archive of Public Gatherings (AoPG).

The Archive explained that the estimate does not include foot traffic throughout the day or the situation in the surrounding streets.

The large student protest in this central Serbian city lasted 16 hours, as previously announced, in memory of the 16 victims of the tragedy in Novi Sad. On November 1, 2024, a concrete canopy at the newly renovated main train station in Novi Sad collapsed, claiming 16 lives.

International

‘Trapped in horror’: Kosovo atrocity survivor escaped, but lost her family (BIRN)

Elhame Muqolli describes living in a “cloudy space” for the past 26 years – cloudy from the smoke she recalls when the grenades exploded on April 17, 1999, killing her mother and her five siblings.

“When the first bomb exploded, all I saw was smoke and tiny fragments flying through the air,” said Muqolli. “I couldn’t hear anything; I don’t know if it was actual smoke that filled the room, or if it just seemed that way to me. But I still live in that cloudy space. I can’t escape it. It’s always with me.”

Muqolli was 13 years old when Serbian forces surrounded her village, Poklek, in central Kosovo, then a southern province of Serbia.

Three weeks earlier, NATO had launched air strikes to halt a brutal counter-insurgency war by forces under then Serbian strongman leader Slobodan Milosevic; in response, Milosevic’s forces intensified their campaign of ethnic cleansing and mass killings.

Muqolli’s family had spent two months moving from village to village to escape the Serbian shelling; in mid-April, her father hiding in the forests, the rest of the family returned to Poklek and gathered at a house belonging to her uncle Fadil, a member of the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army. Early on the morning of April 17, Muqolli heard her mother, Shemsije, then 41 years old, telling them to grab their things because Serbian forces were advancing.