UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, April 3, 2025

Albanian Language Media:

Rutte: NATO focused on peaceful and stable Western Balkans (Klan)
Fajon: I will signal NATO allies about situation in Western Balkans (Reporteri)
Konjufca to meet leaders of political parties on 8 April (Klan)
Duda Balje does not confirm support for Kurti’s third term (media)
Kurti meets Damka, seeks support from Minister who was indicted a week ago (media)
Berisha meets Kurti: We have no red lines, we want to be part of decision-making policies (Reporteri)
Conference on progress of case against former KLA leaders’, on 23 April (media)
AmCham asks Kosovo to remove tariff on goods from the U.S. (RFE)

Serbian Language Media:

Parents from Bosniak, Serb and Roma communities in the north without Kosovo child allowance (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever, KoSSev)
Foundation stone for autism center laid in Gracanica, municipality disputes land allocation (KoSSev, media)
Protest in front of the Health Center in Donja Gusterica; people unsatisfied over the employment process in this facility (KiM radio, KoSSev)
Registration of newborn and deceased persons still halted in Mitrovica North, municipality without replay on reasons and duration (KoSSev, N1, media)
Petkovic met Botsan-Kharchenko: Pristina calls into question the continuation of the dialogue by refusing to form the CSM (Kosovo Online)
Interpol rejected warrants against Dodik, Stevandic (N1)

International Media:

Electricity price rise, market liberalisation to hit Kosovo consumers (Balkan Insight)
Balkan countries weigh potential damage inflicted by Trump’s tariffs (Balkan Insight)
Hate speech marred Kosovo’s 2025 election, BIRN report finds (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Rutte: NATO focused on peaceful and stable Western Balkans (Klan)

The foreign ministers of NATO member states have gathered at the two-day Summit being held in Brussels to discuss urgent security issues. They will also continue the work on organizing the next Summit in The Hague. Before the start of this activity, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the media that NATO is very focused on the Western Balkans.

“It is one of the issues that we are all focused on. As you know, I have been in Sarajevo and Pristina, and recently I also discussed with the President of Serbia here in Brussels. So, we as NATO are quite involved and we want to make sure that the Western Balkans is stable and secure together with our five allies: Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia and Albania,” he said. "So together we are navigating the situation that the situation is calm and stable," Rutte emphasized to the media.

Fajon: I will signal NATO allies about situation in Western Balkans (Reporteri)

Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said today in Brussels that she will warn allies about the situation in the Western Balkans at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. She said she is closely following the events in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Kosovo. Upon arriving at the two-day ministerial meeting at NATO headquarters, Fajon told reporters that the alliance should not neglect the Western Balkans but should continue to engage in that politically unstable region. “I will also focus on the Western Balkans, which is Slovenia’s immediate neighbor. We are following developments in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo after the elections,” Fajon said.

She stated that Slovenia is following the situation in Bosnia very carefully and added that she wants this country to remain on the European path and be a country free of tensions.

Konjufca to meet leaders of political parties on 8 April (Klan)

The constitutive session of the Assembly of Kosovo will be held On April 15, a date selected by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani. The news website has learned that the Speaker of the Assembly Glauk Konjufca, will hold a meeting with the leaders of the political parties on April 8 at 12:00 hours, to discuss the organizing of the constitutive session.

Duda Balje does not confirm support for Kurti’s third term (media)

Duda Balje from the Social Democratic Union (SDU) has said that she has not confirmed to Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti her support for a third term. She said that the conditions she has set for the government, which are the Bosniak municipality, education reforms and equal treatment of every MP, have not changed.

"Today we had the first meeting. In fact, I went to the Prime Minister, we have not received any confirmation on the request that we have as Bosniaks, and we have not given any confirmation, that is, it is the first meeting, we are in the phase of negotiations and nothing more concrete. The requests are for the Bosniak municipality, education reforms, and equal treatment of female MPs who have one vote in the Assembly", she said.

Kurti meets Damka, seeks support from Minister who was indicted a week ago (media)

Kosovo’s Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti received in a meeting the Minister of Regional Development, Fikrim Damka, also the leader of the Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP). They discussed the formation of the new government, after the February 9 elections.

"Prime Minister Kurti thanked Mr. Damka for his work as a cabinet minister in this full mandate of the government and for the close cooperation both in the government and in the assembly. Both parties expressed the will and readiness for this fruitful cooperation to continue in the following legislature."

The Minister, who was indicted on March 25, and is suspected of two criminal offenses, showed willingness for the cooperation between them to continue. In addition to Damka, Kurti also met with the Mayor of Mamusha, Abdulhadi Krasnic, who also holds the position of deputy leader of the KDTP.

Berisha meets Kurti: We have no red lines, we want to be part of decision-making policies (Reporteri)

The acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti is looking for votes, to secure another mandate at the head of the executive. He met today with the leader of the Egyptian Liberal Party, Veton Berisha.

"As you know, Prime Minister Kurti has started his commitment to meet with representatives of non-Serb communities. Normally, as a parliamentary party, now returned to the Assembly, after 4 years and after many injustices that have been done to us as the Egyptian Liberal Party, we have returned and have been in the Prime Minister's agenda, to meet. We talked about a possible cooperation between us. Normally, we as the PLE, due to our demands that are in relation to the development of the Egyptian community, in principle, we do not have any red lines, with anyone, in this case neither with Prime Minister Kurti, nor with anyone in Kosovo. We normally had our demands and if we enter the government, we asked that we have the opportunity to influence government policies, to take responsibility. We submitted the party program, and it remains for us to have more meetings in the coming days. We will be in the Assembly on the day when the constituent session is held, while for the government we are waiting for another momentum when we are ready", Berisha told the media.

Conference on progress of case against former KLA leaders’, on 23 April (media)

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC) in The Hague have set April 23, 2025 as the date for holding a conference on the progress of the case against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi. The conference is expected to start at 10:00, reported “Oath for Justice”. This conference is the first after the Prosecution has completed its witnesses in this case.

Otherwise, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, on September 30, 2022, submitted the confirmed amended indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, which consists of ten counts, where the latter are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. On April 29, 2022, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office filed an amended indictment against Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi, alleging that the four defendants also committed war crimes in Gjilan, Budakove, and Semetishte. In their initial appearances, all four of them pleaded not guilty to the charges.

AmCham asks Kosovo to remove tariff on goods from the U.S. (RFE)

The AmCham in Kosovo has requested that the government of Kosovo withdraw the 10 percent customs tariff on goods from the United States of America. This request comes after the decision of the U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a basic tariff on imports from all countries in the world.

“If Kosovo moves forward unilaterally with the implementation of a preferential trade measure, completely withdrawing the customs tariff on American products, we can hope that the same step will be followed and removed by the U.S. administration,” Zeka told RFE.

Serbian Language Media

Parents from Bosniak, Serb and Roma communities in the north without Kosovo child allowance (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever, KoSSev)

For several months, parents from the Bosniak, Serb and Roma communities in the north of Kosovo have not received the Kosovo child allowance, and unclear requests for additional verification have caused confusion and dissatisfaction. Although many duly submitted the requested documents through centers for social work and the Post Office of Kosovo, they did not receive a response, reported Kosovo Online.

Additional concern is created by the fact that some parents were instructed to register at the Agency for Statistics in Pristina, which raises the question of the legal basis of such a decision and possible political influence on the realization of social rights.

The mother of two children, Ines Aljovic Mihajlovic, says that the problem with the payment of child allowances in Kosovo began at the end of August, when families from non-majority communities began to receive emails requesting additional verification of the profiles of mothers and children, noting that extracts, proof of vaccinations and school attendance were needed, which had to be submitted to centers for social work. As she points out, in November emails arrived again, this time asking for the same documentation to be sent through the Kosovo Post.

"I personally submitted the documentation at the time via the Post Office and I have proper confirmation that I did so. However, I never received any return email about whether my documentation was accepted or not, or the reasons why it was not accepted. I must say that there is a certain group of parents who received a follow-up email, where they were asked to confirm their place of residence at the competent Statistics Agency in Pristina, with a note to bring all family members," said Aljovic among other things.

She recalls that the right to child allowance is "for every person who is born in Kosovo, and therefore has Kosovo citizenship, is guaranteed by law" - and a violation of this law would be a violation of children's rights. Due to the new situation, the parents formed an informal association to exchange information and documentation, which would help them to solve the problem.

Aljovic further states that in an informal conversation with the competent institutions, she was told that this additional verification for the non-majority community is necessary, because the children of the non-majority community are treated as children of the diaspora, in order to refer them again to the Statistics Agency.

"I, as a mother of two children, see the solution to this problem in the fact that competent authorities, competent institutions, or simply decision-makers, in a very official and transparent way, give ordinary citizens insight into the decision on the basis of which such a decision or regulation was made, which affects a large number of families," said the interviewee.

The mother of three children, Marija Miskovic, says that her child allowance was stopped in August, when she also received an email asking her to submit documentation to the Center for Social Work, which she did.

Miskovic confirmed to Kosovo Online that the ministry in Pristina told her that children's vaccination certificates and schooling certificates are invalid, because they were issued by "parallel institutions".

In a conversation with other parents who had the same problem, Miskovic found out that those who went to the Statistics Agency to register continued to receive child allowance, but that they were not refunded the money for the previous period, nor were they officially explained why they had to register.

As a mother, she expects that the international community will get involved in solving this problem and that they will understand that it is a serious violation of children's rights, because such decisions must not be influenced by politics or other factors.

Foundation stone for autism center laid in Gracanica, municipality disputes land allocation (KoSSev, media)

Foundation stone for the Rehabilitation and Education Centre dedicated to the children and adults with autism, Down syndrome and disabilities was laid at Gracanica yesterday.

The complex will expand to the area of 13.5 hectares in Gracanica settlement Padaliste, despite opposition of Gracanica municipality related to the land allocation for this purpose done by the Kosovo Government although the land is owned by the municipality.

The foundation stone for the Rehabilitation and Education Centre, a project of humanitarian organization “Balkan Orphans” was laid symbolically on International Autism Day, April 2. The works were announced by president of this association, Halil Kastrati on Facebook.

Those present included Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca, Kosovo Islamic Community Head, Mufti Naim Trnava and former Kosovo president, Behgjet Paccolli, who is also referred to as a partial donor of the project, as Konufca said in a statement.

KoSSev portal reported that, interestingly, immediately after the foundation stone was laid, billboards announcing the work and metal poles were removed, while only a small portion of concrete remained on the ground.

Silence and statements

Radio KIM attempted to contact Gracanica Municipality and Kosovo Government over the beginning of these works. None of them responded to the query.

Gracanica Municipality later directed this media outlet to their press statement. On its portal and social media, published yesterday afternoon Gracanica Municipality said that “despite attempts of Gracanica Municipality to dispute the decision of Kosovo Government to reconstruct “Kosovo Residential Centre for Children and Adults with Autism, Down Syndrome and Disabilities” the works have started today. Gracanica Municipality once again appeals to legal structures and the international community to halt this process”.

The statement also said that “despite all undertaken legal acts, including the complaint filed to the Constitutional Court in relation to the Kosovo Government decision 05/2018, made without previous consultations and without the consent of the Municipality, various meetings with international representatives in Gracanica, the center will, as it stands now, be reconstructed”.

Gracanica Municipality called on the Constitutional Court “to start considering their complaint as soon as possible and make a decision that would not run contrary to the normative legal acts and interests of the population and their local self-governance”.

Kosovo Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic said at the end of October last year, that Gracanica Municipality has the right to appeal to Constitutional Court against decision of Kosovo Government to appropriate 13,5 hectares of municipal land for the purpose of reconstructing Rehabilitation and Education Centre, adding that he has offered his support to the municipal representatives. According to him, the Kosovo Government, based on the law, has the right not to consult the municipality while making a decision to appropriate the land if it is about “project of strategic, respective national importance”.

At the time of publishing this article, Nenad Rasic was not available for comment either.

The land where Rehabilitation and Education Centre for children and adults with Autism, Down Syndrome and disabilities is planned to be built is located near the wasteland of Kisnica mine.

What is disputable?

Following the decision of the Kosovo Government to appropriate the 13.5 hectares of municipal land, Gracanica Municipal Assembly (MA) held a session. Chairman of the MA, Milan Dimitrijevic said back then no one from the municipality had information that the government made such a decision, arguing that Kosovo Government by doing so has violated the Law on Local Self-Governance.

One of additional problems councillors highlighted during the session is a fact that the Center will be constructed near the Kisnica mine wasteland, where the waste from Trepca-Kisnica mine is disposed of, one of the most polluted areas in this municipality.

The councillors argued back then it was not normal to build such a center for health impaired children and adults near an ecologically polluted area.

Aleksandar Corac, Professor at Medical Faculty in Mitrovica North and ecology expert said that waste from the mine contains numerous toxic substances, detrimental to the health of the population.

"It's not just about lead and zinc, there are also various types of xanthates, sulfates, cadmium, arsenic, even cyanides. It's not only a place where a facility for the sick or children should be built, it's really not a place where one should live at all", Corac said.

Protest in front of the Health Center in Donja Gusterica; people unsatisfied over the employment process in this facility (KiM radio, KoSSev)

In front of the Health Center in Donja Gusterica, there was a protest of dissatisfied people due to the employment process in this health facility.

The competition for admission to employment in health centers Gracanica, Kosovo Polje in Ugljare, Donja Gusterica, Pharmacy institution Pristina, was announced at the end of January, during the election campaign for the parliamentary elections in Kosovo. It was a fixed-term competition.

A large number of people in central Kosovo applied for dozens of jobs. Those who were not accepted gathered today in front of the Lipljan Health Center in Donja Gusterica, reported KiM radio.

Dozens of people gathered who said that they were dissatisfied with the method of employment and the selection of candidates for employment in this health institution, which functions according to the system of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia.

One of the organizers of the meeting, Milan Popovic, said that the people unofficially found out that "suitable candidates were secretly invited to the job interviews".

He asked why the candidates were invited secretly, and why the list of new employees was not publicly displayed.

He stated a series of demands to the representatives of institutions headed by members of the Serbian List., reported KiM radio among other things.

Registration of newborn and deceased persons still halted in Mitrovica North, municipality without replay on reasons and duration (KoSSev, N1, media)

For two weeks already, ordinary people but also journalists do not have access to information in Mitrovica North municipality about registration of newborn and deceased persons. The registration has been halted based on the ministry's instruction from February this year. Since then, it is almost impossible to find out why it happened and what further steps will be taken to mitigate the issue, KoSSev portal reported.

Tijana Grujic, from CASA civil society organization pointed out lack of information regarding this issue and also emphasized that lack of registration causes various consequences. She added it is necessary to establish if the halt results from “justified reason” as otherwise it represents a violation of people’s rights.

On March 18, Mitrovica North municipality confirmed to KoSSev portal that registration of newborn and deceased persons had been halted, as per instruction of Kosovo Interior Ministry and advised the portal to contact relevant ministry for additional information.

It turned out, the portal further wrote, that it was not easy at all to get the information about this local service provision. Since then, it has only been confirmed that this administrative service is not available in Mitrovica North municipality.

KoSSev portal said it sent the questions to several instances, including the municipality, if the registration process has resumed, and if not, when it will start and why it has been halted.

No response arrived to several media inquiries on the issue, either from the municipality or Kosovo Interior Ministry. Available phone numbers have become unavailable, out of function or no one responds to them.

The portal team went yesterday again to Mitrovica North municipality to seek response to part of the questions they asked. And as ordinary residents, they were told that – registration of newborn and deceased persons in this municipality is not possible.

Asked about the reasons and how long it will last, the Mitrovica North municipal civil registry again told the portal to address two Kosovo ministries – Interior Ministry and Ministry of Local Governance Administration.

The portal tried to contact the secretary of the Interior Ministry, but no one responded to their calls. The press office of this ministry was also not available, and the municipality did not respond to their questions either.

The portal said they also attempted to contact the current Albanian mayor of Mitrovica North municipality, Erden Atiq about this issue, but to no avail.

Petkovic met Botsan-Kharchenko: Pristina calls into question the continuation of the dialogue by refusing to form the CSM (Kosovo Online)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, assessed during the meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Botsan-Kharchenko that the shutdown of Serbian institutions throughout Kosovo, which Pristina implemented, and which are the necessary base of the CSM (ZSO), "clearly shows that the regime of Albin Kurti does not intend to form the ZSO", reported Kosovo Online.

Petkovic informed the interlocutor about the political and security situation in Kosovo and about the increasingly difficult problems that the Serbian people are facing on the ground, announced the Office for KiM.

Petkovic informed the Russian ambassador about the problems that have stopped the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina, noting that by refusing to fulfill the obligation to form the A/CSM, undertaken 12 years ago with all the agreed responsibilities, Pristina is questioning the continuation of the dialogue and progress in the process of normalizing relations.

According to Petkovic, the shutdown of Serbian institutions throughout Kosovo, which Pristina implemented, and which are the necessary base of the CSM (ZSO), "clearly shows that the regime of Albin Kurti does not intend to form the CSM".

He pointed out that the repression of Serbs in Kosovo is intensifying day by day and that the basic civil, political and democratic rights of the Serbian people are being threatened in the most brutal way possible, and, as he points out, the temples of the Serbian Orthodox Church are also being targeted.

"Taking away one parliamentary mandate from Serbs and giving a parliamentary seat to Nenad Rasic, who received Albanian votes, in Albanian communities, is just one of the indicators of the gross irregularities which abounded the recently held parliamentary elections in the province. The desecration of Orthodox shrines, almost daily physical attacks on Serbs and their property, show that terror and mistreatment of the Serbian population of Kosovo and Metohija are at work, with the aim of definitively expelling them from our southern province," said Petkovic.

Petkovic added that Belgrade remains consistently determined despite everything to resolve all open issues through dialogue.

At the end, Petkovic thanked for the consistent support that the Russian Federation provides to Serbia's policy regarding Kosovo.

Interpol rejected warrants against Dodik, Stevandic (N1)

“President Aleksandar Vucic just called me to inform me that he has received a notification from Interpol's Directorate stating that Serbia's appeal has been accepted, and that Interpol has rejected the request of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to issue a red notice for Nenad Stevandic and me”, the President of BiH’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity Milorad Dodik posted on Wednesday evening on X.

He thanked Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for, as he said, his support and clear and principled communication with Interpol. “Thanks also to President Viktor Orban, as well as to the presidents of all other countries that submitted appeals, understanding the political background of the judicial persecution I am exposed to”, Dodik wrote. He returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Moscow on Wednesday.

A central warrant has been issued for him in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the issuance of an Interpol red notice.

International

Electricity price rise, market liberalisation to hit Kosovo consumers (Balkan Insight)

Activists have called for protests and businesses have demanded a delay after Kosovo’s energy regulator said electricity prices would likely rise by 15 per cent and businesses with more than 50 employees would have to select their supplier on the open market.

On a Thursday in late March, Ymer Fejzullahu, the director of Kosovo’s energy regulator ERO, was hit with a cake decorated with the number ‘15’, just as he was stepping into his car.

“This is from the citizens - 15 per cent for you,” said the cake-thrower, an activist of the Asnje Cent me Shume [Not Another Cent] movement.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4b2zxvtx

Balkan countries weigh potential damage inflicted by Trump’s tariffs (Balkan Insight)

Serbia, Bosnia and North Macedonia were the Balkan countries worst hit by the new tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump as he sought to boost the American economy at the expense of its trading partners.

Leaders of Balkan countries on Thursday were contemplating how – and whether – to react after US President Donald Trump announced universal 10-per-cent tariffs on all imports into the US, with steeper tariffs imposed on some 60 other countries.

Trump declared he was taking action to “make America wealthy again” by slapping tariffs on countries he claimed had imposed unfair trade barriers on the US.