Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: No normalization of relations without security (Kosovapress)
• EU wants Serbia’s integration conditioned with agreements’ implementation (RFE)
• Tajani: Banjska attack, a very serious act; dialogue must continue (media)
• Opposition parties confirm they received Association draft statute (Telegrafi)
• Svecla meets Bozinovic in Zagreb, discuss security in Kosovo (media)
• Tahiri: Govt must reflect on demands of police officers, firefighters, veterans (EO)
• SIU to protest again, will be joined by other police units (Dukagjini)
• U.S. State Department country reports on terrorism: Kosovo (media)
• Journalists’ Association reacts to threats against KIKS Kosova reporters (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic meets world leaders in Dubai: Time for concrete action (N1, FoNet)
• Visoki Decani: Disinformation that monastery buys property of Serbs from neighboring villages (KiM radio)
• Trendafilova: Over 140 of 157 persons designated as victims are connected to Thaci’s case (KoSSev)
• Vucic: They want us to recognize Kosovo so Serbs can vote in elections there (Kosovo Online, B92)
• Another 15 days for re-registration, but without solution for driver’s license (Radio KIM)
• Podujevo Municipality: None of our representatives officially participated in ceremony in church (KiM radio)
• Hill: Serbia knows what it needs to do (FoNet, KiM radio)
• Media expert: ‘No limits’ to aggressiveness, vulgarity of Serbian pro-government media

International:

• Same Words, Different Language: A New Dictionary Highlights Just How Much Serbs And Albanians Have In Common (RFE)
• Kosovo Claims Victory Over Yugoslav-era Disputed Enterprise in Montenegro (BIRN)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Kurti: No normalization of relations without security (Kosovapress)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said during a visit to Gjilan today that he is not aware of any plans for a high-level meeting in Brussels in December. He said that Kosovo wants the normalization of relations with Serbia but that there can be no normalization without security.

“I am not aware of any plans for a meeting, but it is clear to you that as the Prime Minister and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, we have always been committed, constructive, and creative, but ever since the terrorist and criminal attack in Banjska of Zvecan, we must stress that security is Kosovo’s priority. The security of borders. We want to have normalization of relations with Serbia, but we cannot have normalization without security, and security means that criminals and terrorists should not roam freely as is happening unfortunately in Serbia. Kosovo’s border with Serbia, which is 881 kilometers, must be safe, and our security institutions together with our international partners are engaged in its defense,” Kurti said.

Asked to comment on EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak’s statement about the agreement on the energy, Kurti argued that the delays for over two years now are coming from Serbia. “It was supposed to be concluded in 2021, then it was supposed to be concluded in 2022, and now there is one month left in 2023. As far as we are concerned, we are very interested to conclude it, but all the delays and sabotage have been coming from the other party for over two years now,” he said.

EU wants Serbia’s integration conditioned with agreement’s implementation (RFE)

EU member states will propose to urgently include in the negotiating framework for membership for Serbia the implementation of the agreement on normalization of relations with Kosovo and all obligations from previous agreements reached in the dialogue. The proposal is expected to be made on December 12 in Brussels at the meeting of the General Affairs Council. The Council is expected to call on the European Commission and the European External Action Service to urgently propose the inclusion of the implementation of obligations from the dialogue for the normalization of relations in chapter 35 of the negotiating framework with Serbia.

Radio Free Europe claims to have seen the draft of conclusions prepared for the meeting, which call on Serbia to implement without conditions all obligations from the agreement with Kosovo which was facilitated by the EU and supported by the United States.

“The Council calls on the European Commission and the High Representative [Josep Borrell] to urgently propose before the Council, before the end of January 2024, changing the criteria in chapter 35 for Serbia’s membership in the EU,” the document notes.

The draft of conclusions for Serbia will again call on Belgrade to cooperate fully in bringing to justice the perpetrators of attacks against civilians, NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo, during the violent protest by local Serbs on May 29 in Zvecan, in the north of Kosovo. Serbia will also be asked to bring to justice the assailants against Kosovo Police on September 24 in Banjska. “The Council reiterates that there is no justification for violence and strongly condemns acts of violence by Serb protesters against citizens, KFOR troops, law enforcement members and the media on May 29, 2023, and the violent attacks against Kosovo Police on September 24, 2023, in the north of Kosovo,” the document says. It also notes that the Council regrets that Serbia has not taken sufficient steps in this regard.

Tajani: Banjska attack, a very serious act; dialogue must continue (media)

Several news websites cover an interview that Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani gave to Messaggero Veneto, highlighting his remarks that the September 24 attack in Banjska in the north of Kosovo was a very serious act and that such attacks must never happen again. “Italy has condemned it in the harshest possible terms, and it must never be repeated. The priority now is to resume the political process in order to avoid further tensions or incidents,” he said. “This was the main message we delivered together with the EU, Germany, France, and the United States, in Belgrade and Pristina on October 21. Italy will continue to do its part to make sure that the dialogue continues in constructive terms and that further clashes are prevented thanks to the work of the NATO KFOR mission, in which our country is one of the main contributors”.

Opposition parties confirm they received Association draft statute (Telegrafi)

The European Union has officially sent to opposition parties in Kosovo a copy in English of the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) confirmed to the news website that they received a copy of the document on Thursday. A party representative said they will make their comments after discussing it in party structures. “Yes I can confirm that yesterday we received a copy of the draft statute of the Association, in English. We will present our comments about the document after discussions in our party structures,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) confirmed to the news website that they received a copy of the draft statute of the Association from the office of EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. A spokesperson for the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said they received a copy of the draft statute on Thursday.

The news website also learns that several MPs and members of opposition parties for days now have received the draft statute in English, which is reportedly almost the same as the draft published by former AKI chief inspector Burim Ramadani, and with very few changes.

Svecla meets Bozinovic in Zagreb, discuss security in Kosovo (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, met with his Croatian counterpart, Davor Bozinovic, in Zagreb, and discussed the security situation in Kosovo, especially in the north. “I informed Mr. Bozinovic about our commitment and results in the fight against any kind of crime that threatens the security of our country and citizens, and I thanked him for Croatia’s continuous support and the readiness to further the cooperation between our ministries. We talked about the security situation and possible threats for destabilization in the region, focused on the consequent attack of Serbia’s criminal structures against our institutions and officials in the north and especially the September 24 terrorist attack in Banjska which resulted in the killing of Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku. I informed him about the evidence our institutions have about the links and direct engagement of Serbia with all its mechanisms in carrying out the attack,” Svecla said after the meeting.

Tahiri: Govt must reflect on demands of police officers, firefighters, veterans (EO)

Head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group, Abelard Tahiri, said after the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency today, that the ruling party must reflect on the demands of police officers, firefighters, and veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army.

SIU to protest again, will be joined by other police units (Dukagjini)

Members of Kosovo Police special units, investigations, public order, and other departments will protest on December 9 in Pristina. Dukagjini claims to have seen a document which says that the Special Intervention Unit and other police departments will express their dissatisfaction over allowances and hazard pay categorizations.

U.S. State Department country reports on terrorism: Kosovo (media)

Overview:  Kosovo continued CT and CVE efforts in partnership with the United States and the international community.  It is drafting a National Strategy and Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Terrorism for 2023-28.

Kosovo continued repatriating nationals from detention centers and displaced persons camps in Syria.  In May, two male Kosovan citizens were repatriated from Syria in a joint operation with the Albanian government that was supported by the United States.  These two adults were charged with terrorism offenses. This was the third return operation.  To date Kosovo has repatriated more than 120 nationals.  An estimated 80 nationals remained in displaced persons camps or detention centers, or were unaccounted for on the battlefield in Syria.  Short sentencing for terrorism-related offenses in Kosovo persisted.

Citizens of Kosovo, domestically and abroad, are potential targets for recruitment by Violent Extremist Organizations with ethno-nationalist or religious political orientation.  Separately, security issues and political instability in northern Kosovo continued restricting the Government of Kosovo’s ability to assert its authority in that region.  The NATO-led Kosovo Force and EU Rule of Law Mission collaborate with the Kosovo Police (KP) to promote a secure environment and to strengthen rule of law.  Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Embassy Pristina has noted an uptick in Russian disinformation and assessed that it is an increasingly present driver of violent extremist thinking and interethnic polarization contributing to interethnic tensions in northern Kosovo.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2c6a2nrr Journalists’ Association reacts to threats against KIKS Kosova reporters (media)

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) said in a statement on Thursday that the authors of the investigative show KIKS Kosova, Ardiana Thaçi Mehmeti and Erjona Gjikolli, have received death threats towards them and their family members, after an investigation in relation to the singer Eroll Murati, who according to this investigation is involved in fraud with Slovenian passports, as well as reselling of cars he had rented.

In an email addressed to the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, the journalists indicate that they have received death threats towards them and their families, from a newly created profile on Facebook. “The words used are very disturbing since, in addition to insults and degrading language, he also used threats of the type: you have little children, you are all surrounded by children, I will put them on fire…”, it is said in the email sent to AJK, where it is also stated that the case has been reported to the Kosovo Police.

Furthermore, they have reported that after the end of the show where this investigation was aired, the person quoted in it also reacted through a status on the Facebook social network.

Such threats to journalists are very disturbing for the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, therefore we call upon Kosovo Police to treat the case with priority and take the necessary steps so that the person hiding behind this fake profile is held responsible.

     

Serbian Language Media

  Vucic meets world leaders in Dubai: Time for concrete action (N1, FoNet)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic held talks at the COP28 world leaders’ climate action summit in the United Arab Emirates with officials of a number of countries, and with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres.

Vucic posted on his Instagram profile photos of his meetings with United Arab Emirates President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, International Monetary Fund CEO Kristalina Georgieva and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar.

He also met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and with the presidents of Poland, Cypus and Hungary – Andrzej Duda, Nikos Christodoulides and Katalin Novak.

The Serbian President thanked Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for inviting him to participate in the summit.

“It is time for concrete action, because we need to act swiftly and efficiently. Serbia is always ready”, Vucic wrote on Instagram.

Visoki Decani: Disinformation that monastery buys property of Serbs from neighboring villages (KiM radio)

KiM radio reported that Self-Determination Movement MP Fatmire Mulhaxha Kollcaku claimed this week that the Visoki Decani Monastery was allegedly buying land from the Serbs in Gorazdevac village. The Visoki Decani denied the allegations of the representative of Self-Determination that the monastery buys property from Serbs from neighboring villages "with a political agenda".

Commenting on the media reports, Visoki Decani Monastery on the X social network stated yesterday it was disinformation spread by members of Self-Determination, reported KiM radio.

"Recently, misinformation has been spreading in the media by some members of the ruling Self-Determination party, wrongly claiming that the Decani monastery is buying property from Serbs in neighboring villages 'with a political agenda'. We must clarify and inform the public that these claims are completely false and malicious. The monastery has no intention, nor has the means for such activities, especially in the context when the Kosovo authorities, despite court rulings, do not recognize the monastery's own property," the monastery stated. 

They add that the sole engagement of the monastery was to help a Serbian family, who had nowhere to live, to buy a house a few years ago, adding that however, the monastery does not use that property or acquire any property in local villages.

"This fact can be easily verified through cadastral records. We believe that these misleading media statements by some political circles of Kosovo Albanians are aimed at causing ethnic and religious enmity and spread misinformation, which we strongly condemn. Our commitment remains firm towards fostering harmony and understanding among all communities," they added.

They appeal to the media to check all the information regarding the Visoki Decani monastery.

"We believe that this is the foundation of professional journalism," they pointed out in a post on the X social network.

Trendafilova: Over 140 of 157 persons designated as victims are connected to Thaci’s case (KoSSev)

No one, be it from Kosovo, be it from wherever else, has tried to put any pressure on us. This never happens, the president of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Ekaterina Trendafilova, said in an interview for KoSSev.

A high-ranking official of the Hague-based court, where members of the former KLA stand trial for war crimes, stayed in Pristina this week. Although revealing that she follows the mentioned trials with great interest, Trendafilova stressed that she is “an outsider” in the process, adding that the prosecutors and other judges are the ones working on them. She assessed their work as impressive, especially because over 300 witnesses were listed in the case against Thaci and others. Therefore, she believes that the trial will not take too long.

She specifically addressed the importance of witness protection: “The main concern is to protect the life and wellbeing of the victims and witnesses, to protect the integrity of the proceedings… people have to feel safe and secure when they appear before us.” Trendafilova admitted that some witnesses refused to testify because of a feeling of insecurity, noting that such cases are rare.

Below we publish the full interview with Trendafilova, conducted on the eve of a violent protest by political activists over her stay in Pristina.

Madam Trendafilova, thank you for talking to KoSSev. Let’s start the interview with the general overview of the processes that have been conducted in Specialist Chambers. How many trials are now in progress and what stage are they in?

Actually, when I respond to a question that you kindly address to me now, I always clarify that the Specialist Chambers have issued first indictments only in late autumn of 2020, so what we have achieved so far is just related to these 3 years period, when we have one final case against administration of justice of Mr. Gucati and Mr. Haradinaj.

We also have the first war crime case. On Monday, the Appeals Panel issued a scheduling order that they are going to render in public in the courtroom – the final decision against Mr. Mustafa for war crimes. Then we have the other two cases against Mr. Shala, again a war crime case, and against Mr. Thaci, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi, in trial proceedings that are advancing with quite good pace.

Mr. Shala’s case will be finished with the sentence rendered by the Trial Panel next year, latest by the middle of the year. And we have also the first reparation order for victims that have been granted the participatory status in the proceedings against Mr. Mustafa.

And there are recently some arrests that were conducted here in Kosovo against Mr. Januzi, Mr. Bahtjari and there are charges that are pressed against them, so after the initial appearance, the pretrial proceedings are ongoing before the pretrial judge. And we also have Mr. Kilaj, who has been arrested. The arrest was based on the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office.

If there will be charges pressed, than pretrial judge is going to find and decide whether to treat Mr. Kilaj as an accused person or not. So that is where we stand so far.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/htpd2z48 Vucic: They want us to recognize Kosovo so Serbs can vote in elections there (Kosovo Online, B92)

“There will be no elections in Serbian areas in Kosovo and Metohija. Kurti does not want to allow Serbs the right which is natural, for them to exercise, and the West will always say they do not have the possibility to exert pressure on him”, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“We should recognize Kosovo so that Serbs would be able to take part in elections, nothing more or nothing else. Everyone in Europe knows that, it is good that they will react, but we won’t have much from that (the reaction). There will be no elections in the Serbian areas in Kosovo and Metohija, Kurti does not wish to allow Serbs the right which is natural, for them to exercise, and the West will always say they do not have possibility to exert pressure on Kurti”, Vucic said in Dubai, where he is attending the Leaders Summit on Climate Changes COP28.

Another 15 days for re-registration, but without a solution for driver’s license (Radio KIM)

In an article published today Radio KIM writes that drivers in northern Kosovo will be able to re-register vehicles with Serbian-issued plates to “RKS” ones over the next fifteen days, given that Kosovo Government has extended the deadline for re-registration.

Crowds have increased in the registration centers over the recent days, the Radio KIM writes further. Most of them were not in mood to speak in front of the cameras, but one young man demanded that the crew film him as he brought his license plate marked KM as a souvenir, adding – “Vucic has hung us out to dry”.

Dusan Gvozdic from Zvecan encountered an additional problem during re-registration.

“My registration has expired, I can’t enter Serbia, I had to register to “RKS”, plus a problem since I have a Mercedes old-timer, I’m using gas, so I had to register the vehicle and therefore I had to go to Glogovac, as there is an official agency for the entire Kosovo (for gas powered vehicles). Now, the problem was when I went to Glogovac. I took off the plates, I drove without plates. I was caught by the Kosovo police somewhere near Klina, they stopped me and threatened me that they would call the towing service to take the car and return it to Mitrovica. I show the documents that I am going to register it for gas in Glogovac, but he ignores it. He gives me a fine of 150 euros, what’s worse is that he took my Serbian driver’s license and I, what am I going to do, go to Glogovac and finish it all, the technical inspection and come back here and in the southern part and pay half the fine of 75 euros with the aim of getting my driver’s license back”, Gvozdic said.

Gvozdic looks at the re-registration emotionally. He says that he has been driving cars with KM plates for more than thirty years. “It’s tough. Believe me, I haven’t slept for two days and two nights, I’m sick. Believe me, I’m sick. I’m sick”, he repeated.

According to civil society data, in the north of Kosovo there were about 8,000 vehicles registered with Serbian-issued plates with denominations of cities in Kosovo. In the last process, only half of the vehicles were re-registered.

“Four thousand have already been registered. At first, we saw, there was interest. Most likely, you have also heard the question of whether they should register or not, so it was clear that it was serious on our part and people came to register at the registration points”, Veton Elshani, Kosovo police deputy commander for the region North said.

Government's decision is logical

Miodrag Marinković from the Centre for Affirmative Social Actions (NGO CASA) said the decision of Kosovo Government to extend the deadline is logical considering that not all owners of cars with “KM” plates were able to do so in the last re-registration process.

“There are two reasons, one is a political reason because in that period in the last month we actually reached this situation because there was no political agreement. Belgrade withdrew completely, it did not give any instructions to the people, so people needed time to adapt to the circumstances and start that re-registration. The result of that, we come to the practical reason, is that about three thousand vehicles have not yet been registered. Practically, the request of the police to extend it is of a practical nature, because it is about three thousand vehicles and a fine cannot be written for such a number of vehicles”, Marinkovic pointed out.

What about driver’s licenses?

Finally, when the re-registration to “RKS” plates is done, the drivers in the north of Kosovo will also have to wait for the process of obtaining a Kosovo driver’s license.

“For now, we have not dealt with it. So, it was important for us to work according to the decision of the Kosovo Government on license plates, and most likely when this process is finished, we will also see about driver’s licenses”, Elshani said.

For now, Kosovo Interior Ministry has not decided how they will be issued, so the police will tolerate the documents issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia until further notice, Radio KIM reported.

Podujevo Municipality: None of our representatives officially participated in ceremony in church (KiM radio)

We want to inform the public that Podujevo Municipality and none of its representatives officially participated in that ceremony. Anyone who can hold other functions at the same time may represent himself and nothing more, the Municipality said after this week's raid on the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael, which is located in their area, reported KiM radio.

They said that they "looked carefully" at the reaction of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren, and especially the part which said that a municipal official participated in the ritual that was organized by the Albanian Nikola Xhufra on Thursday in this Orthodox church in the village of Rakinica, and who presents himself as an Orthodox priest.

Apart from the fact that the Municipality immediately said that none of their representatives officially represented this local self-government, they also pointed out that:

"Every official activity of the Municipality and its delegated representatives is announced publicly and with an official announcement. In other circumstances, no one can represent the municipality and its official position".

In the statement, they added that their municipality is "an example of interfaith life". At the same time, it is "unthinkable" for them to Albanianize or Serbianized churches, mosques and other religious buildings.

"They belong to the communities of their believers in Kosovo. We do not associate religious beliefs with ethnic or national affiliation," emphasized the Municipality.

In the end, they said there have been no interfaith problems in Podujevo so far, so this shows them, as they said, "the artificiality of that reaction and the attempt to involve the institution of our municipality in that activity."

They called on the citizens to remain calm, to continue being "an example of interreligious and interethnic coexistence" and not to take "actions that do not help the Republic of Kosovo."

Although the Municipality's announcement was exclusively about the reaction, as they said, of the Orthodox Diocese, in which the Diocese stated that it would ask the authorities to clarify the participation of the representatives of the Municipality of Podujevo, they omitted that Nikola Xhufra first reported about the alleged participation of the representatives of the Municipality, reported KiM radio. 

"This historic event in the church, which is about 500 years old, was attended by representatives of the Municipality, the Conservative Party, as well as representatives of various beliefs," he said on Facebook at the time.

This Albanian, who presents himself as an Orthodox priest, together with a group of people entered the church of St. Archangel Michael on Tuesday and announced that he founded the "Albanian national church", changed the name of this religious building of the Serbian Orthodox Church and put a new lock on the door.

His action was met with vigorous reactions from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, official Belgrade, and individuals. The official Pristina did not react. 

Hill: Serbia knows what it needs to do (FoNet, KiM radio)

US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, speaking about the normalization of relations with Pristina, said that this is a question primarily for EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak, but added that Serbia must be defined by its place in Europe.

"Serbia knows what to do and the decision is up to it,'' Hill told FoNet.

Speaking about the expectations for the next year, he expressed the hope that the candidate countries for EU membership, primarily Serbia, will seriously consider the Economic Plan for Growth presented by the European Commission.

"It is a serious challenge for the EU as well," he said.

When asked about the fact that he became the topic of certain parties in the campaign, Hill emphasized that he is staying out of the campaign and that, as far as he is concerned, he is voting in Florida.

"Any effort to recruit me in the campaign will be unsuccessful and it is one hundred percent up to the citizens of Serbia to decide," said Hill.

Media expert: ‘No limits’ to aggressiveness, vulgarity of Serbian pro-government media (N1)

There are unprecedented levels of obscenity in Serbia’s media landscape, driven by the powerful network of state-backed media, amid the election campaign ahead of the December 17 snap general election called by the country’s increasingly autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic earlier this autumn to reassert his grip on the country, reported IntelliNews.com.

The blatant use of vulgarities and aggressiveness in the Serbian media environment would not have been possible without the near complete subjugation of the media environment to the will of the government. A persistent feature of the Serbian media, this has intensified as December 17 approaches, reported IntelliNews.com.

Marko Milosavljevic, a member of the Committee of Experts on Media Sustainability (MSI-RES) at the Council of Europe and head of the Communication Department at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, told the IntelliNews in an interview that the media situation in Serbia is “very bleak” with the “media landscape almost completely controlled by the government”.

“Tabloids in Serbia are tabloids without any restrictions and not susceptible to any punitive action by any regulatory body either for print, electronic media or ethical regulators,” Milosavljevic says.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/dsvfkz83

     

International 

  Same Words, Different Language: A New Dictionary Highlights Just How Much Serbs And Albanians Have In Common (RFE)

At least since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, common ground has been all too rare in the Balkans, and, where it exists, it has tended to be a source of bitter dispute or even conflict.

But a group of young people from Belgrade and Pristina, two of the most stubbornly antagonistic capitals in the region, are helping to reshape the "muhabet."

That's "conversation" or "small talk" in the vernacular. It's a word, borrowed from Ottoman Turkish but with etymological roots in Arabic or Classical Persian, that is used by Albanian- and Serbian-speakers alike, in addition to Macedonians and Greeks.

It's also just one of more than 2,000 entries in the latest edition of The Dictionary Of Words That Do Not Need Translation, an online publication that highlights words and cognates spanning ethnic and national divides across a border fraught with misunderstanding.

Backed by NGOs, the dictionary was authored by local linguists with research and contributions by students from the University of Belgrade in Serbia's capital and the University of Pristina in Kosovo's capital.

Some of the other notable entries include the words for neighbors ("komshinj" or "komsija"), equal or together ("barabar"), and rolling pin ("okllai" or "oklagija").

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/z6pd95aw Kosovo Claims Victory Over Yugoslav-era Disputed Enterprise in Montenegro (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Privatisation Agency, PAK, has announced it has won a case in Montenegro and returned the assets of a socially-owned enterprise to its administration.

On Thursday, PAK said it had submitted a complaint to Montenegro’s Ministry for Planning, Urbanisation and Property challenging a decision by Podgorica’s cadastral directorate, which gave ownership of the disputed assets to the persons who claimed to have bought them from a Serbian state agency.

“On November 29, PAK received the verdict from the second administrative instance in Podgorica which approves our complaint, annulling the decision of Podgorica’s Cadastral Directorate, which registered these assets under the name of natural persons in Podgorica after they were illegally sold by Serbia’s Liquidation and Bankruptcy Unit,” the PAK press release said.

“As a result, eight assets have been returned to ‘KBI Kosova-Export Industria e Mishit Fushe Kosove’ enterprise,” it added.

BIRN reported on this case in August this year.

Kosovo authorities are fighting an uphill battle claiming Yugoslav-era properties abroad because of a lack of documents due to a decade of repressive rule over Kosovo by Serbia, which abolished Kosovo’s autonomy and subsequently changed the status of many of Kosovo’s socially-owned enterprises.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/bddd97w6