UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 24, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Osmani: Serbia will try to destabilize Kosovo again, such plans are constantly being made (VoA)
Most of EU countries are in favor of lifting measures against Kosovo (RFE)
European Parliament approves plan of 6 billion euros for Western Balkans (Koha)
Von Cramon: Passivization of Albanians’ addresses in the Valley must be stopped immediately (Koha)
Freedom House: Kurti government faced a corruption scandal in 2023 (ekonomia)
Knaus: number of Kosovo Serbs decreasing rapidly, but there is no "terror" towards them (ekonomia)
Deliu-Kodra: Kurti government was labeled as 'government of corruption' in Department of State Report (Klan)
Belgrade court sentences Toplica Miladinovic to 20 years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Important that we have more votes against and abstentions, which would be a heroic political success (RTS)
The Judicial Council of Kosovo calls Serbian judges and prosecutors from the North to return (KiM radio, KoSSev, Kontakt plus radio)
UNS submits two draft resolutions to EFJ, on murders of journalists in Kosovo and independent public channel in Serbian (KoSSev, Radio KIM, UNS)
Belgrade-Pristina talks on use of dinar to continue tomorrow in Brussels (Tanjug)
Belgrade war crimes court sentences former army officer for war crimes in Pec area (N1, FoNet, media)
Pavlos: Bakoyannis in Council of Europe hasn't only harmed Serbian people, Greece could also suffer consequences (Kosovo Online)
Drecun: Pristina, Sarajevo campaigning to portray Serbs as criminals (Tanjug, RTS)
State Dept to VOA: US sponsoring Srebrenica resolution (N1, VoA)
Former Kosovo FM calls Belgrade, Pristina officials to show respect (N1, social media)
Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy: EPS invested 40 million euros in a subsidiary company for supplying electricity to the north of Kosovo (Kosovo Online, Danas)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani: Serbia will try to destabilize Kosovo again, such plans are constantly being made (VoA)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has said that Serbia will try to destabilize Kosovo again. According to her, Serbia's efforts to destabilize the security situation in Kosovo are continuous. "But I am convinced with all the preparations that the Kosovo police are making, in partnership with the international presence, in particular with EULEX and NATO, as the second and third responsible for security in Kosovo, that we will prevent any attack", Osmani told Voice of America.

Among other things, she also mentioned the boycott of the voting process in the north, saying that it was done under direct pressure from Belgrade. "Of course it worries us, because Kosovo has always shown full readiness to offer its citizens not only constitutional protection, but also new instruments if they want to change the mayors of the municipalities".

However, according to Osmani, the main concern is the continuous pressure exerted on the citizens through illegal and criminal structures, which are financed, encouraged and politically appointed by Vucic. "This shows on the one hand illegal interference in the elections of another country by Serbia and the second that Serbia remains the same and its primary goal is to prevent the integration of Serbs in the institutions of Kosovo, despite the dialogue that has lasted for 12 years and despite their international obligation with the agreement of 2013, which they are requesting, where it is required that the Serbs be integrated into the institutions of Kosovo and that all illegal structures be abolished. So, it is a worrying situation created by Serbia and that can only be changed with serious international pressure on Serbia", said Osmani.

Most of EU countries are in favor of lifting measures against Kosovo (RFE)

The European Union has come close to lifting the restrictive measures against Kosovo, imposed a year ago by the European Commission, as a result of the escalation of the security situation in the north of Kosovo.

Radio Free Europe has learned from some diplomatic sources in the EU that the vast majority of member states are in favor of removing all measures, while a smaller number of states want their removal to be done gradually. According to these sources, no EU member country was expressed against the lifting of the sanctions.

This impression was observed in the last discussion that took place in the EU on Tuesday night about the current situation in Kosovo. The discussion was held in the Committee for Politics and Security of the EU (PSC) where the ambassadors of the 27 member countries participate.

"Most of the member countries want to remove all measures against Kosovo, but there are some countries, among them three the QUINT countries (Germany, France and Italy) who want the gradual lifting of the measures against Kosovo", an EU diplomatic source told Radio Free Europe.

The same sources said that the External Action Service of The EU (EEAS) is in favor of lifting the measures against Kosovo, but until now there has been more hesitation from the European Commission, where the commissioner for neighborhood and enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, has a great influence. During the last discussions, there was talk about the steps that Kosovo has undertaken to fulfill the conditions for lifting the measures, but also for the steps that, according to the reporters who have spoken, have not yet been fully fulfilled.

Two EU special envoys, Miroslav Lajçak, as special envoy for dialogue and Tomas Sonyong, who is special envoy for Kosovo and head of the office of the of the EU in Kosovo, said that the situation is still tense and the problems caused in the north have not been overcome even after the opportunity offered to the Serbs in four municipalities in the north to vote for the dismissal of the mayors of these municipalities. Both, according to diplomatic sources, have avoided direct questions about whether Serbia is violating the Agreement on the path to the normalization of relations with Kosovo by opposing Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. They have only found that Serbia has engaged in efforts to prevent Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.

Loudest in the requests for the removal of measures against Kosovo have been Finland, the Baltic countries, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia and several other countries. While France, Italy and Germany wanted to give the impression that the QUINT countries have a common position and preferred the gradual lifting of the measures. Hungary, which until recently was against, has now not expressed its opposition.

The member countries have called for the High Representative of the EU for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, to report to the Council of the EU on the fulfillment of the conditions by Kosovo for the lifting of the measures. This report is necessary in order for the measures to be removed, in whole or in part.

European Parliament approves plan of 6 billion euros for Western Balkans (Koha)

The European Parliament approved on Wednesday the plan for economic growth in the Western Balkans, worth 6 billion euros.

This is one of the European Union’s most ambitious packages to help economic grwth and reforms in the six countries of the Western Balkans, so that they can move forward more quickly towards full integration into the bloc.

After this approval by the European Parliament, the package must also be formalized by the EU Council. After that, the first payments of the beneficiaries can begin.

According to the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, which is included in the text of today's resolution in the Parliament, in order to benefit from this financial assistance, the countries of the region must fulfill a series of not so easy criteria. Besides the criteria related to reforms and the rule of law, there are also criteria of a political nature.

For Kosovo and Serbia, another prerequisite will be the constructive engagement in the normalization of relations between them. The evaluations of whether or not Kosovo or Serbia fulfill this criterion will be given by the European Commission, which assisted by the European External Action Service (EEAS), that also plays the main role in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia - will evaluate in the end if Kosovo and Serbia have fulfilled this prerequisite.

Von Cramon: Passivization of Albanians’ addresses in the Valley must be stopped immediately (Koha)

The member of the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, has called on the Government of Serbia to immediately stop the passivation of the addresses of Albanians in the Valley.

"The important meeting with the political representatives of the Albanian minority from the south of Serbia. Systematic discrimination against them, including the 'passivation' of addresses, by the Government of Serbia is unacceptable and must be stopped immediately!", she wrote in "X".

Freedom House: Kurti government faced a corruption scandal in 2023 (ekonomia)

Freedom House has published its annual report on Kosovo. In the newly published report, Kosovo received 38 points out of total 100, being considered a transitional or hybrid regime. In this report, some of the corrupt affairs are also mentioned, one of which is the affair with the state reserves, which involved Minister of Industry Rozeta Hajdari. “The Kurti government itself faced a corruption scandal in 2023 that involved unaccounted state reserves, which are still under investigation,” Freedom House wrote.

Knaus: number of Kosovo Serbs decreasing rapidly, but there is no "terror" towards them (ekonomia)

Gerald Knaus, from the European Initiative for Stability, has said that the number of Serbs in Kosovo is decreasing rapidly, but not as much as in Serbia. Knaus said this referring to a report by ESI (European Stability Initiative), since the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, in the letter he addressed to the European leaders against Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, said that there is "terror against Kosovo Serbs" in order to expel them from Kosovo.

In fact, a new ESI report found: it's shrinking fast. But, not faster than the figures in many districts in Serbia... So, even these claims are deeply misleading", Knaus writes. In the ESI report, the reasons for the population reduction are said to be the aging of the population and the drop in the birth rate. Knaus also says that no report of the Council of Europe has found that "there is terror against Kosovo Serbs". Knaus also highlighted the terrorist attack in the north of Kosovo in September 2023, which was led by the deputy leader of the allied party of Vucic in Kosovo, Milan Radoicic.

Deliu-Kodra: Kurti government was labeled as 'government of corruption' in Department of State Report (Klan)

The MP of PDK, Blerta Deliu-Kodra, said in a media conference the Kurti Government should take into account the U.S. Department of State Report on Kosovo that was released and the problems that were mentioned in it. She stated that the Kurti Government does not focus on the interests of the citizens.

"This overview does not serve the future of Kosovo and its Euro-Atlantic integration. On the contrary, the government, through its actions, has worsened the well-being of the citizens and the image of the country in the world. For these reasons and not only, Kosovo is already under international sanctions with hundreds of millions of euros blocked. This is not the Kosovo that has been worked for, for years".

"In the State Department Report, the government of Kosovo is labeled as corrupt. This is problematic at a time when efforts are being made for Kosovo's membership in international mechanisms, we have a blow to the main pillars of the state according to the Department of State", Deliu-Kodra said.

"A government that does not report the Department of State report has no credibility. It mentions corrupt affairs, major attacks and even domestic violence. These speak of a government that does not focus on the interests of the citizens, we must commit ourselves to minimize these and to strengthen the institutions", said Deliu-Kodra.

Belgrade court sentences Toplica Miladinovic to 20 years in prison for war crimes in Kosovo (Klan)

Former member of the Yugoslav Army Toplica Miladinovic was sentenced at the special department of the High Court in Belgrade to 20 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population in 1999 in the vicinity of Peja in Kosovo.

He was convicted that, as the commander of the 177th brigade, had ordered the emigration of Albanian civilians for the purpose of deportation and that he had known about murders and robberies during the deportation.

The indictment describes in detail the occupation of villages, murders, robberies, burning of houses and deportation of civilians to Albania.

Apart from Miladinovic, Predrag Vukovic was sentenced to 13 years, Abdulah Sokic to 12, Sinisa Misic to five, while Llazar Pavlovic, Slavisa Kastratovic and Boban Bogicevic were sentenced to two years each.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Important that we have more votes against and abstentions, which would be a heroic political success (RTS)

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, in an interview with Serbian public broadcaster RTS last night, said big countries were putting pressure on those who made the decision to vote against the resolution on Srebrenica. He said that it would be a heroic political success if there were more votes against and abstentions when it comes to this resolution.

On Kosovo's application in the CoE, he announced last night that BiH did not reach a consensus on the position regarding the application, saying that no consensus was reached even on the resolution on Srebrenica.

"They will vote as they please anyway, they don't really care that it has nothing to do with it. It's the same here. Did Lagumdzija get consent for this? Well, he did not. He didn't even ask, of course," said Vucic.

He said the resolution on Srebrenica opens a Pandora's box from which only problems and additional divisions in the world will emerge.

"The day after that, the Russians will submit a request for a resolution condemning the German genocide against the Russian and Soviet people. And we will, for what the Germans did, and for what the Croats did, and many others. The day after, when I say the day after metaphorically, whether it will be a month or five, it doesn't matter," said Vucic.

He said that ''the CoE is significant, but it is fifty times or a hundred times less significant than the 2008 decision,'' reported RTS.

Vucic on UNSC session and Osmani

When asked if he thought it was clear to those who attended yesterday's UNSC session what the real situation is in Kosovo, Vucic said that there were some who wanted to hear and some who were supporters - "who feed their child with ammunition for attacks on Serbia, and that is the only thing they are interested in."

He said that the address of the representative of the UK, who spoke about the referendum on Kosovo and the elections, was "an insult to a healthy brain".

"I now have to return to Belgrade to meet with Catherine Ashton, among other things, but that is an insult to a healthy brain. What the Slovenians are saying is... Well, what was a special problem here is that they organized the whole game against us," said Vucic.

He stated that no one announced to Serbian delegation that rape victims would attend the session.

"I don't want to say the alleged, I don't want to believe that it's possible for someone to invent something like that and I believe that they are real victims, but I, I didn't accidentally say, I could fill the whole hall with Serb women and Serb men, victims, who lost someone from their closest ones, who were themselves victims of Albanian terror, but no one told us that such a thing was possible," said Vucic.

He added that Vjosa Osmani lied that these were members of her cabinet.

"Djuric published the list of members of her cabinet, and none of these women are members of her cabinet. And they all knew about it. And that's why the start was delayed, because the protocol didn't want to let them go, but then some of the big powers intervened, that's why they let them go," said Vucic.

He stated that it is an impossible situation, on the one hand, from an emotional point of view, and on the other hand, because you have your own country that you have to defend.

"You know how many Serbian women have been raped, you know how many Serbian women will not talk about it because they are ashamed, it is difficult for them to talk about it, you know how many have been killed. You have to respect these victims as well and find yourself in the impossible position that someone literally abuses it in such a way, making political theater out of everything and that everyone pretends to be naive, not talking about the report for even a second," said Vucic.

He thanked the French representative for the correct approach and performance, but he especially thanked "our friends, the Chinese, the Russians, and Algeria, but also Sierra Leone and Mozambique."

The Judicial Council of Kosovo calls Serbian judges and prosecutors from the North to return (KiM radio, KoSSev, Kontakt plus radio)

The Judicial Council of Kosovo invited their Serbian colleagues to return. The functioning of the Basic Court in North Mitrovica was hampered after the resignation of Serbian judges and prosecutors in November 2022, and due to the insufficient number of judges and prosecutors, the number of pending cases is increasing, reported KiM radio.

After the resignations in the Kosovo police, local and central institutions in November 2022, 144 employees, 25 judges and 119 other judicial workers left their jobs in the judiciary at the invitation of the Serbian List. Reasons cited were re-registration of vehicles from KM to Kosovo plates, but also the failure to form the Association/Community of Serbian Municipalities (A/CSM). The association has not been formed yet, but the vehicles were re-registered at the beginning of this year.

Bekim Veliqi, acting president of the Basic Court in North Mitrovica, points out that they had a good and professional relationship with their fellow Serbs, and that they left the judicial institutions due to pressure. He called them to return.

"Our system misses those people, but as far as their resignation is concerned, it has been a big challenge for the courts lately. We expected it to be a short time, but now it is the 18th month that they are not here. Such were the statements, 'political issues', and 'we will return very soon', but I think that each of the judges is ready to return to our system", said Veliqi at the conference organized in Mitrovica by the Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC).

"I think that we as a court and the Judicial Council are open to the possibility of return. We welcome their return, we had good and professional cooperation," Veliqi emphasized again.

A year and a half after leaving these institutions, the Prosecutorial and Judicial Council of Kosovo still have not confirmed the resignations of Serbian workers in the judiciary. The invitation to return is open, confirms Bislim Gashi from the Judicial Council.

"The Judicial Council of Kosovo did not suspend the employment of the workers; we only suspended their salaries. Which means that all employees, all our colleagues who resigned, are still not coming to work today, they are still on the payroll. The Judicial Council cannot currently implement plan B. One of the reasons is that the judiciary is a separate institution, and they should go again for their initial term as judges, because we cannot include them otherwise. However, the Judicial Council of Kosovo has an open competition for judges from the Serbian community and in other regions," said Gashi.

After the resignations of the Serbs, judges and prosecutors from other regions were temporarily transferred to North Mitrovica. Regardless, backlogs continue to pile up.

"The cases were assigned to other judges. Civil cases are the biggest challenge, there were thousands and thousands of them. It was a big load, and it was unbearable for one person, but as far as that case overload is concerned, I can say that the same number of cases was in 2023 and those of the previous year, in 2022. We had somewhere around 6,600 cases in just one year, and the following year there were 6,400," said Veliqi.

Regardless of the resignations, Serbs in the North of Kosovo have no other option, except to seek legal help from the institutions of the Kosovo system, agrees Aleksandar Rapajic.

"Since the Serbs left the Kosovo institutions, the trust in the court and the judicial system has decreased, but the Serbs have no other institutions they can turn to and the only place they can turn to is the Kosovo institutions."

However, Veliqi says that there is no problem with trust in the work of the court.

"As far as trust is concerned, I can emphasize that in no case, as far as I know, we have a party complaint about the absence of Serbian judges. They never said, 'I don't want this judge','' he said.

The director of the NGO ACDC, Dusan Radakovic, says that the period after November 7, when the Serbs left the Kosovo judiciary in the north of Kosovo, was difficult.

"The court is still functioning with problems, but it has got back on its feet and is functioning in the capacity it can."

However, he emphasized the good cooperation of his organization with the Basic Court in Mitrovica, regardless of the resignations of Serbian judicial workers.

The State Department also points to the problem in the judiciary in the North of Kosovo in its latest report, stating that access to justice for citizens in four municipalities with a majority Serb population remained limited.

UNS submits two draft resolutions to EFJ, on murders of journalists in Kosovo and independent public channel in Serbian (KoSSev, Radio KIM, UNS)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) submitted two draft resolutions to the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) – one on investigations into the murders of journalists in Kosovo and the second on the independent public channel in the Serbian language in Kosovo, the adoption of which will be decided by the Federation's Annual Assembly in Pristina scheduled to take place on May 23 and 24, 2024. UNS and its branch in Kosovo (DNKiM) informed EFJ two weeks ago that they do not accept participation in the mentioned Annual Assembly due to discrimination, i.e. exclusion from the preparation and organization of the Assembly in Pristina, KoSSev portal reported.

Draft resolution on investigations into the murders of journalists in Kosovo

Draft resolution on investigations into the murders of journalists in Kosovo, which the UNS sent to the EFJ, says the Assembly of this federation should request the EFJ Steering Committee to demand from UNMIK, EULEX and Kosovo authorities to form an international expert commission which would help in the investigation of murders, kidnappings and disappearances of 19 journalists and media workers in Kosovo in the period from 1998 to 2005. This number includes Serbian and Albanian journalists as well as German media outlet three-member team, all of whom perished during the mentioned time-period.

This commission should include the judges and prosecutors from Belgrade and Pristina, as well as representatives of international missions that had executive powers in Kosovo during this time. It also called for cooperation between Belgrade and Pristina prosecutors’ offices to resolve those crimes.

UNS pointed out that if the draft resolution on the murder of journalists they proposed is adopted at the meeting in Pristina, the EFJ Assembly will also demand the Special Court for War Crimes in Kosovo to open investigations into murdered and missing journalists and media workers there, in the period from 1998 to 2005. It also said if approved the resolution would demand from the UN to implement conclusions of the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel and compensate the families of the victims. It will also call on EULEX and EU Council of Ministers to publicly declare as to why investigations of murders and kidnappings of journalists have not been efficient during the period of this Mission having executive mandate.

Draft resolution on independent public channel in Serbian language

This draft resolution notes that based on the UNS initiative during Belgrade-Pristina talks, led by Special Envoy Marti Ahtisaari, his comprehensive proposal to resolve the status of Kosovo, so-called Ahtisaari’s Plan, guaranteed a public service channel in Serbian language that would have its own frequency.

"If this resolution is adopted, the EFJ Assembly will request that the Assembly of Kosovo pass a law by which, in accordance with the plan of Marti Ahtisaari and Kosovo Constitution, the Serbian community will receive a founding, management and editorial independent channel in their mother tongue, with a special frequency that will cover the entire territory of Kosovo", UNS said.

The resolution referred to 60-year old positive practise of public broadcasting services in Belgium, recalling that there are three separate public services there, one for Flemish, one for French and one for German-speaking part of the country.

“Their model and positive experience are an unequivocal recommendation to implement such a concept in Kosovo”, reads the draft resolution.

It also recalled March 17, 2004 violence and RTK reporting at that time. “March pogrom started after the Kosovo Public Broadcaster (RTK) published fake news that three Albanian boys drowned at the Ibar River “while running away from Serbian young men”. After publication of this fake news, 19 people were killed, 39 churches and monasteries damaged or destroyed, urban and rural areas set on fire, more than 900 persons beaten up and maltreated, and around 4.000 Serbs expelled. 20 years after the RTK again published this same fake news (on the anniversary of the March riots in 2024)”, UNS said in a draft resolution.

Belgrade-Pristina talks on use of dinar to continue tomorrow in Brussels (Tanjug)

The Belgrade-Pristina talks on the decision of Kosovo Central Bank to ban use of dinar in payment transactions will continue tomorrow in Brussels, Tanjug news agency reported.

The Belgrade delegation, including numerous experts, will be headed by Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic, while Pristina chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi is also expected to attend.

Tanjug news agency recalled this is the sixth round of talks to discuss the unilateral decision of Pristina to abolish dinar in payment transactions in Kosovo.

Belgrade war crimes court sentences former army officer for war crimes in Pec area (N1, FoNet, media)

A former army officer was sentenced to a prison term by a Belgrade court for crimes against civilians committed during the Kosovo war, reported N1.

Toplica Miladinovic, a former Yugoslav Army (VJ) officer and commander of a territorial unit which included a paramilitary formation, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Special Section of the Higher Court in Belgrade after being found guilty of war crimes against the civilian population in the Pec area in 1999. Miladinovic was charged with ordering soldiers under his command to forcibly evict Kosovo Albanian civilians and of doing nothing to prevent or sanction killings and robberies.

Miladinovic was tried and sentenced with 6 others while 2 defendants were found not guilty. The nine former soldiers were tried for war crimes, including 118 Kosovo Albanians, committed in four villages in the area around the city of Pec in April and May 1999.

The trial started in 2010 with the initial sentence handed down in 2014 but being overturned by the Appeals Court in 2015.

Pavlos: Bakoyannis in Council of Europe hasn't only harmed Serbian people, Greece could also suffer consequences (Kosovo Online)

“By recommending Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe, rapporteur Dora Bakoyannis has actually paved the way for new recognitions of Kosovo because you cannot have a unique case where a non-state, as Kosovo is, participates in international institutions without ultimately being recognized. Therefore, Bakoyannis' proposal opens the doors for Kosovo to enter the European Union and soon be recognized as an independent country", Panagiotis Pavlos, a research associate at the University of Oslo, told Kosovo Online.

As he added, according to his sources, there are even efforts for Kosovo to join NATO before the elections in the United States, or before a potential change in the American presidency.

"It is very naive to think that Bakoyannis is speaking the truth and acting for the good of the Serbian people in Kosovo, that is totally impossible", he said.