Albanian Language Media:

• Macron warns of measures against Kosovo and Serbia if they do not "behave responsibly" (media)
• Kurti: It is important to implement the Berlin agreements (RTK)
• Gervalla leaves for Slovenia to participate in Bled Forum (media)
• Hovenier welcomes to Kosovo Adviser for Public Affairs Jennifer Lawson (Klan)
• Two additional months detention for Serb arrested for violent protests in the north (Kallxo)
• Tahiri: The state organization has weakened (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic met Botsan-Kharchenko (Tanjug, Kosovo Online) 
• Dacic: Serbia is a constructive side in the dialogue, it respects the Brussels Agreement (Kosovo Online, TV Happy)
• NATO waiting for "full de-escalation" in the north of Kosovo (FoNet, N1, RFE)
• Petkovic met the ambassador of Italy: Political and security situation in Kosovo discussed (Tanjug)
• Qerkini to Belgrade and Pristina: They cannot play chess games with the issue of the missing (KiM radio)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Over €1.5 million for Centers sheltering victims of domestic violence (RTK)

 

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Macron warns of measures against Kosovo and Serbia if they do not "behave responsibly" (media)

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has warned of measures against Kosovo and Serbia if they "do not behave responsibly".

Macron, in his anniversary speech before the ambassadors, said that he thinks that the Brussels agreement, known as the "French-German" proposal, is the right way and that the parties must be committed.

He called for the parties to re-engage for the organization of new elections in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, for the Serbs to return to the institutions of Kosovo, and he also mentioned the formation of the Association. He said that they expect from the Kosovo authorities that "peace will return" to this part.

"France and Germany have made commitments regarding visa policies and other economic issues, if the parties fail to behave responsibly. We must be especially vigilant in this aspect, especially when it comes to stability in the Western Balkans," Macron said.

Kurti: It is important to implement the Berlin agreements (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, invited by the prime minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob, participated in the working dinner in Bled, Slovenia, organized for the leaders of the region and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel.

A press release, issued by the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo noted that on the topic of "Solidarity for Global Security" within which the forum is taking place this year, regional cooperation, the membership of the Western Balkans in the European Union and security were discussed during the dinner.

The announcement states that Kurti emphasized the importance of implementing the agreements reached last year in the Berlin Process, where he singled out the freedom of movement.

"On January 1, 2024, all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo will travel visa-free to European Union countries, while visas will be required for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In these 50 days remaining before the Summit in Tirana, it is important to start the full implementation of the three agreements we signed in Berlin", Kurti said.

The Prime Minister welcomed the calls of the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to focus on the expansion of the European Union as well as the opportunities for the countries of the Western Balkans and underlined the respect of minorities and mutual recognition as a prerequisite.

The European Union must expand. The Western Balkans should support the enlargement and the aspirant countries should carry out the reforms that accelerate the membership,” the press release reads.

Gervalla leaves for Slovenia to participate in Bled Forum (media)

Kosovo’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Donika Gervalla has announced that she will be participating in the Bled Forum in Slovenia.

“On my way to the Bled Forum, looking forward to attending at the invitation of my Slovenian counterpart, Tanja Fajon. Kosovo remains committed to the advancement of regional and global strategies for peace, solidarity and security,” Gervalla wrote on X platform. 

Hovenier welcomes to Kosovo Adviser for Public Affairs Jennifer Lawson (Klan)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier has welcomed to Kosovo the Counselor for Public Affairs Jennifer Lawson.

“Please join me in welcoming Counselor for Public Affairs Jennifer Lawson to Kosovo! I look forward to Jennifer’s leadership of our public diplomacy initiatives. I am sure you will see her out and about as our team continues to deepen our strong partnership with Kosovar people,” Hovenier wrote on X platform.

Two additional months detention for Serb arrested in violent protests in the north (Kallxo)

Dusan Obrenovic is one of the Serbs arrested in May of this year in relation with the violent protests in Zvecan. During these protests, violence was used against the KFOR forces, the Kosovo Police, but also the journalists covering the developments there. At least 30 KFOR soldiers were injured by those violent protests, three of them by firearms.

For Dusan Obrenovic, the court decided as a security measure 30 days of detention and that from May 31 of this year. The detention of the suspect was continued for another two months at the end of June of this year. The Special Department of the Court of Pristina on August 25 of this year decided to extend the measure of detention against Obrenovic for additional two months, respectively until October 28 of this year. This was confirmed for KALLXO.com by the office of the judge of the preliminary procedure, Musa Konxheli.

Tahiri: The state organization has weakened (media)

The head of the Parliamentary Group of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Besnik Tahiri has criticized the government for not providing schoolbooks, which according to him, is a total demotivation of teachers, parents and children. He emphasized that this government is not doing anything properly.

"A chaotic start to the new school year. Total demotivation of teachers, parents and children. This government approaches one problem or challenge by generating ten more. Internally uncoordinated, uncoordinated with others, neither administering, nor managing, nor governing, all it does is decision-making, the results of which it is unable to project or know ", Tahiri wrote on Facebook.

According to him, there is very little substance, the state organization has weakened and every institutional link has fallen

"The people (waiting) in line to flee the country, not for themselves, because they don't even have hope anymore, but to give their children the opportunity to dream and hope", Tahiri wrote.

 

 

 

Serbian Language Media

 

Vucic met Botsan-Kharchenko (Tanjug, Kosovo Online) 

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic spoke with the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Belgrade, Aleksandar Botsan-Kharchenko about all current regional and global issues and confirmed Serbia's intention to continue maintaining harmonious relations with Russia.

"A constructive meeting with Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko, with whom I discussed all current regional and global issues. We also discussed a wide range of bilateral topics and confirmed our intention to continue maintaining harmonious relations with the Russian Federation," Vucic announced on Instagram.

Dacic: Serbia is a constructive side in the dialogue, it respects the Brussels Agreement (Kosovo Online, TV Happy)

Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic told TV Happy that Serbia, when it comes to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, has shown that it is a constructive party that adheres to the Brussels Agreement, but that, as he added, Europe is persistently trying to find a model to shift to Serbia part of the responsibility for the situation in the north of Kosovo, reported portal Kosovo Online. 

Dacic opined that Serbia must build relations with other countries following its national interests, to preserve friendly relations with Western countries, but also with Russia and China.

“Take the example of any international organization, we always have to turn to countries that have not recognized Kosovo, countries that are our friends, and that are very often under the attack of European politics, that is, they are mostly on the list of countries that are subjected to certain criticism,” he said. 

As he stated, when European officials talk about ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, the question arises as to who carried out that cleansing.

“European officials always try to say that there was ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. But who ethnically cleansed whom, because when such a situation occurs in the world, the number of the people who are victims should be fewer, and when the line is drawn in Kosovo there are almost no Serbs. Let’s take for example Pristina, where before 1999 there were about 40,000 Serbs, and today barely a few hundred live there, or Prizren, where the number of Serbs is only about twenty,” Dacic said.

According to him, Serbia is the only party that has so far behaved constructively and respected the Brussels Agreement, but that European politics is trying to transfer responsibility for the situation in the north of Kosovo to it.

He opined that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is a problem for Europe because of his behaviour, where, as he said, he is called an “unguided missile”.

“Here you don’t know who is guiding him (Kurti), what is suspected the most is that he is under German influence, because for many years, it was not suitable for Germany that Brussels is deciding on the dialogue,” Dacic said. 

Dacic said that “Serbia is pressured to make daily decisions because of the Kosovo issue, which will cause all kinds of decisions for the entire country”.

When it comes to the expansion of BRICS and the reduced influence of Western countries led by America, Dacic explained that Serbia is not part of that process and did not participate in it.

“We cannot be a candidate for EU membership and a candidate for BRICS membership,” Dacic said.

“Serbia’s only path”, he said, “is to stick to the European path and to derive benefits from membership in certain international organizations”.

He announced that he will visit Russia by the end of the year.

“I will have to go to Russia, President Vucic will go to China. Next month is the general assembly and we will have a number of important bilateral international meetings,” announced Dacic. 

NATO waiting for "full de-escalation" in the north of Kosovo (FoNet, N1, RFE)

The head of the NATO Liaison Office in Belgrade, Giampiero Romano, said that a full de-escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo is still awaited, warning that violence could destabilize the Western Balkans and threaten the region's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, reported N1, citing RFE. 

All parties must work to prevent any re-escalation. Violence can destabilize the Western Balkans and threaten the region's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Romano said.

He welcomed the steps taken by the institutions in Kosovo, which concern the reduction of the number of members of the Kosovo Police around the municipal facilities in the north of Kosovo and the organization of new local elections.

The only way forward is through dialogue under the auspices of the EU, which NATO strongly supports. We believe that Serbia, as a long-term partner of NATO, will engage in such dialogue in a constructive way, said Romano.

The recent visit of President Aleksandar Vucic to the NATO headquarters was a good opportunity to discuss the challenges in the north of Kosovo, as well as for NATO to reaffirm its long-term commitment to its KFOR mission, he said.

''As I said'', Romano reiterated, ''KFOR will continue to play its role in providing security, in line with its UN mandate''.

''Likewise, my team continues to provide its contribution, through our daily activities in the field of political dialogue and practical cooperation with numerous interlocutors in Belgrade and throughout Serbia,'' concluded Romano.

Petkovic met the ambassador of Italy: Political and security situation in Kosovo discussed (Tanjug)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, met today with the Ambassador of Italy to Serbia, Luca Gori, with whom he discussed the current political and security situation in Kosovo, pointing out that Pristina, through a series of unilateral and violent acts, threatened the stability on the ground and the basic human rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo, reported Tanjug. 

Petkovic said that the open threats of Pristina officials are of concern, like of Ejup Maqedonci, that the KSF will soon operate in the northern part of Kosovo as well, which is, he added ''the grossest violation of all NATO agreements and guarantees, which clearly state that the so-called KSF cannot be present in the north'' it was said in the announcement of the Office for KiM, reported Tanjug. 

"Open threats and provocations also come from fake mayors from the north of Kosovo and Metohija, who act contrary to the clear EU guidelines on de-escalation. Such is the dangerous decision of the fake mayor Erden Atiq to occupy the building in the Bosniak Mahala neighbourhood in Kosovska Mitrovica, where the premises are located of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Service of the Directorate of PiO Fund, Kosovo-Mitrovica Administrative District and Center for Social Work Vucitrn. Petkovic emphasized that Albin Kurti is behind every such violent move by Pristina representatives," it was announced by the Office for KiM. 

Qerkini to Belgrade and Pristina: They cannot play chess games with the issue of the missing (KiM radio)

Representatives of the Resource Center for Missing Persons from Pristina and the Association of Families of "Kosmet Victims" from Belgrade sent, on the eve of the International Day of Missing Persons, an appeal to the representatives of the international community to help them shed light on the fate of the missing. They said that they will stay on this road until the last missing person is found, regardless of his nationality, reported KiM radio.

Bajram Qerkini, director of the Resource Center for Missing Persons from Pristina, invited the representatives of the governments of Kosovo and Serbia to talk with the family members of the missing persons.

"The working group and the government commission are not cooperating with us; we don't know where to go and what to do. More pressure is needed on the governments in Belgrade and Pristina, they can no longer play chess when it comes to missing persons. When they need something, they are always close to their family members. They say that this is the number one issue, but when we look at what has been done... Unfortunately, the Resource Center has in writing everything that has been done so far, the policy is more oriented towards the north and the question of the missing was neglected," he pointed out.

He repeated that family members do not want to be involved in politics.

We are interested in finding out about the fate of the missing persons, because we know that it is known where they are in Kosovo and outside it, in mass graves. Politics has frozen things, we appeal to Belgrade and Pristina and all international representatives to help us", added Qerkini. 

The invitation to today's conference entitled "Why is the process still stagnant?" was sent to the representatives of the Government Commission for Missing Persons from Pristina, but they did not respond.

"We will not close the door to anyone, organize protests or burn their cars. We ask that they only implement what they signed. Rumor has it that they agreed to make the issue of missing persons the number one topic in Brussels. Mass graves in Kosovo are the fault of our commission because they are not doing as much as they have the capacity to do," Qerkini concluded.

Gordana Djikanovic from the Association of Families of "Kosmet Victims" said that they were united by their dissatisfaction with the fact that the governments of Belgrade and Pristina, neither today nor 15 years ago, did anything, or did very little in the process of finding the missing.

"Behind the number of 1,618 missing persons, there are people, family members, these people have their own names, and their dignity was not restored because they were not buried, found and buried as they deserve," she said. 

She noted that only two missing people were identified last year.

"It is devastating that after a quarter of a century, that number is slowly decreasing, and the reason for this is the stagnation, from year to year fewer and fewer exhumations and identifications, until there was a complete blockage of the process of finding the missing."

Djikanovic emphasized that even after 25 years, there is no true political will for the two sides to find a way to reduce the number on the integrated list of the missing more quickly.

"We do not have that power, unfortunately, even though the family members are numerous, we cannot influence politicians to find ways to unblock the work of the Working Group. That is why we are asking the international community and the embassies, those that we know have an influence on Belgrade and Pristina, the top of the government, which appointed the negotiators to sit down at the table, to finally focus on people, not vehicle plates, we are not interested in that," she said. 

Mariko Djuric, the Association of Families "Kosmet Victims'' rated the signed agreements between Belgrade and Pristina on the issue of missing persons as a dead letter.

He also pointed out that they need the help of the international community.

"We are aware that we are small and powerless without the help of the international community in uncovering tombs and identifying missing persons," Djuric added. 

Luigj Ndou of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) called on both governments to depoliticize this process and intensify the search for missing persons.

"During this year alone, we submitted 56 DNA reports, of which we have nine new persons. We have several dozen samples that we received from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in September; the process continues. Two years ago, a working group was established for the identification of human remains, which are unidentified and are located in the morgue in Pristina. It is being done, there are identifications, but the number is very small, but when you look at the statistics, that number does not differ from other years, because since 2011 there has been a drastic decrease in the number of identifications," he said.

He noted that the process of finding the missing has been stagnant for years, and that the reluctance of people in authority to speed up this process is disturbing.

"We have two main problems, the lack of accurate and verified information, and the human remains that are in the morgue in Pristina. We will continue to support you, so that the focus is on the missing persons in the hope that the Governments will eventually understand that this is a matter of the rule of law. The government should take responsibility, you don't ask for alms from them, this is their obligation, their task, they are not doing you a favor. You must not hesitate to be even louder and demand responsibility from governments".

Ndou said that he hopes that new identifications will be made by the end of the year, but he emphasized that the lack of political will of the two governments is reflecting the entire process of finding the missing.

Family members of kidnapped and missing persons laid flowers on the monument dedicated to missing persons in Pristina.

Let us recall, on the International Day of the Missing, a media conference of representatives of the Resource Center and the Association of Families of "Kosmet Victims" was held on August 25 in Belgrade, when representatives of the international community were also invited to "raise their voices" and do something together until the last case of the missing is closed. 

The Resource Center for Missing Persons together with the "Kosmet Victims" Association submitted a request for the construction of a monument dedicated to missing persons in Belgrade.

 

 

Humanitarian/Development

 

Over €1.5 million for Centers sheltering victims of domestic violence (RTK)

"Around €1.5 million have been allocated this year by the Ministry of Justice, for organizations that shelter victims of domestic violence. From this, around €70 thousand have been allocated for the shelter in Mitrovica", says a press relase from the Ministry of Justice.

According to the announcement, Minister Haxhiu and Deputy Minister Qorrolli visited the Center for the Protection of Women and Children "Raba Voca" in Mitrovica on Monday.

The announcement states that the Center for the Protection of Women and Children has sheltered 80 survivors of domestic violence during these 8 months.

Minister Haxhiu and Deputy Minister Qorrolli were informed there by the director, Fidane Hyseni, that there are mainly no problems in this center and that the cooperation with the Kosovo police is extremely good and effective. In this meeting, the Minister and the deputy were informed that the municipalities of Mitrovica, Skenderaj and Vushtrri have not yet signed the agreement with the shelter for financial support. 

"The minister informed them about the actions she has taken in relation to this issue and promised that she will be in communication with the persons responsible for solving this issue", the announcement states.

Haxhiu and Qorolli also visited the site where works for the construction of the new shelter have started with the support of UNOPS.