Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Kosovo representatives to be unified in foreign policy (media)
• Thaci: Kosovo enters second decade with faith, hope and belief for better future
• Serwer says Kurti will not change Kosovo’s position on Serbia (media)
• Osmani: Kosovo’s independence is irreversible (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• Djuric: 12 years ago, international law was trampled, but Serbia was not defeated (Serbian media)
• ''Everything that Albanians believed in have failed'' (KIM Radio)
• Almost two decades after, still no punishment for the crime in Livadice (Radio kontakt plus)
• Borrell: We are working on appointing envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (N1, SRNA, RFE, RTS)
• EU hosts informal dinner with Western Balkans leaders (Tanjug, B92, RTS)
• Vucic said debate with Kurti was fierce (N1, RTS, Kosovo-online)
• Vucic on talks with Pristina, Carpenter’s statements (B92)
• Rada Trajkovic: Murder of Oliver Ivanovic will be clarified (KIM Radio, Free Serbian)

Opinion: 

• Reviving Enlargement in Balkans Means Changing More than Methodology (Balkan Insight)

International:

• EU Says Accession For Balkan Countries Still Possible (RFE)
• Twelve Years In Dependence Leave Kosovo Facing Foggy Future (Balkan Insight)

   

Albanian Language Media

  Kurti: Kosovo representatives to be unified in foreign policy (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo said today in his remarks before the Kosovo Security Force members on the anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence that Kosovo needs unity of its representatives.

“The power is with the people, the people are the source of sovereignty who can determine with their vote who should speak on their behalf. We weaken our country, whenever we put ourselves before the interest of the people,” Kurti said.

“As state representatives, we need to be unified in the foreign policy. I will seek this unity despite the differences we have. Internal differences ought to remain inside. We will work relentlessly to strengthen the country from inside and outside.”     

Kurti said that without an army, Kosovo is ‘weak’ and ‘defenceless’.  “We are proud of your service. The sacrifice you make and the training you complete are tough. But the goal you have is noble,” Kurti told KSF members.

“We need to face the world as it is and always by trying to make it the way we want. I say this knowing that peace in the region is fragile. No one even after twenty years has admitted to crime and genocide.”

Kurti said that all democratic countries want peace and security but also invest in defence in order to maintain the peace. “We don’t want the war to come to us but we do want to be able to protect ourselves.” 

Thaci: Kosovo enters second decade with faith, hope and belief for better future

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci congratulated the citizens of Kosovo on the 12th anniversary of the declaration of independence through a post on social media where he said that Kosovo has made great progress in this period.

"During a transitional period, in coordination with international allies, Kosovo declared Independence and within a short time it got recognised by the leading countries in the worlds, the globe's most advanced democracies.

"In these twelve years Kosovo has made great progress in the national field, in consolidation of institutions, economic progress, cultivation of good interethnic relations and the functioning of the rule of law.

"In the external plan, Kosovo has played a peaceful role by being a factor of stability in the region.”

Thaci said Kosovo’s only alternative is its integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions and that it is also ready to contribute to achieving normalisation of relations with Serbia “through EU’s facilitation and the United States’ assistance.”  

Serwer says Kurti will not change Kosovo’s position on Serbia (media)

Speaking to Voice of America in Serbian language on the anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, the U.S. expert on the Balkans Daniel Serwer noted he does not expect the new prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, to change Kosovo’s position on Serbia. Serwer also said that “there are not too many countries that have achieved in a twelve-year period more than Kosovo has.”

“Prime Minister Kurti has made it clear that he will request relations with Serbia be based on reciprocity. I am not sure Belgrade is ready for this although I think Kurti is right in demanding this. I don’t expect significant change in relations between the two parties until the conclusion of parliamentary elections in Serbia in April,” Serwer said.

Asked whether he believed Kosovo would succeed in joining international organisations like UN, Interpol, UNESCO, Serwer said that this is uncertain considering the opposition from Serbia and Russia.

“The question of Interpol and UNESCO can be resolved in an hour – if Serbia agrees. I think it should do so. When it comes to the United Nations, this is a very difficult question as, independently from Belgrade, Moscow will try to get a high price from Washington on this which Washington will not want to do.”

Asked about President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci’s future role in the process of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Serwer said Thaci is doing all he can to stay in the game.

“One of the indicators is his role in the signing of letters of intent for establishing air lines, which was mediated by Ambassador Richard Grenell,” Serwer said adding however that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has ruled that the negotiations with Belgrade are a responsibility of the Kosovo Government. “This is the last year that Thaci will be on the post of president in a cohabitation with his fierce political opponents. He is not in an envious position.”  

Osmani: Kosovo’s independence is irreversible (RTK)

Kosovo’s Assembly Speaker Vjosa Osmani said today at the solemn session of the Assembly on the 12 anniversary of declaration of independence of Kosovo, that Kosovo’s independence is irreversible, and called to safeguard the territorial sovereignty.  

She stressed the importance of inter-institutional cooperation ‘in order to achieve aspirations of the Albanian nation.’

Osmani also remembered the sacrifice of all those who fell for Kosovo’s freedom and independence, while she had a request for the Western countries: “We plead them to stand by us in implementing aspiration of our citizens for European and Euro-Atlantic integrations,” Osmani said.

She also valued the role of sports and artists’ communities in advancing Kosovo.

“Our Kosovo today is a country which breathes freely. Successes of everyone give us proof that this country can shine. These representatives are today our image,” she said. 

   

 Serbian Language Media

  Djuric: 12 years ago, international law was trampled, but Serbia was not defeated (Serbian media)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Marko Djuric told TV Pink that on a day when Pristina unilaterally declared independence, 12 years ago, by no means was Serbia defeated, it rather continued its fight.

 “Serbia has continued its fight; Serbia will continue its fight and Serbia will fight for its own. But 12 years ago, the international law was trampled in Kosovo and Metohija. The UN Charter was trampled. They also tried to overthrow the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia”, Djuric added.

He also recalled that Serbia managed to succeed in revoking 18 recognitions of Kosovo unilateral independence and managed to prevent Pristina’s membership in 12 major international organizations.

Commenting on the US President Donald Trump congratulations to Kosovo on 17 February, Djuric said it was different than those before.

“This year, he did not mention that the issue of Kosovo should be resolved by recognition of Kosovo and Metohija as a separate state”, Djuric said. He added one should have no illusions that the US position would change overnight but added it was impossible not to notice this change.

He emphasized that the project of independence of Kosovo was not exclusively a political project, but, as he said, it was largely economic. “They became multimillionaires, and they were so poor”.

''Everything that Albanians believed in have failed'' (KIM Radio)

Belgrade analyst Dusan Janjic points out that even after 12 years, Kosovo cannot move forward because there is no full normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade. Journalist Zivojin Rakocevic believes that everything Albanians believed in have failed, and Rada Trajkovic that everything Kosovo received was actually in favour of favouring Albanians.

At an extraordinary solemn session of the Kosovo Parliament, on February 17, 2008, the Kosovo Declaration of Independence was adopted, as explained by then Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Journalist Zivojin Rakocevic points out that the fact that everything Albanian believed in had failed. "An empty shell remained, which now, they try to fill in that void with its nationalist, socialist populist rhetoric,'' Rakocevic added.

"Nothing special has happened in recent years. The economy continued to collapse, factories are not working, no kind of steps towards other people and their integration into this area, except for Albanians, have not been realized. Cities have collapsed and a huge number of people want to escape from here. Kosovo looks like a man who wanted to carry 300 kilograms, then they put that 300 kilograms on him, he fell, and he lives under that burden today," Rakocevic said.

He notes that no one wants to "give up independence and move towards interdependence", something that are natural European processes.

"Do not go against what is unnatural, because usually this kind of nationalism ends with the collapse and breakdown of the system," Rakocevic said.

Analyst Dusan Janjic notes that "the goals set by the declaration are the so-called maximum goals of one movement''.

''Many things have been achieved first and foremost in the economy, but many things have not been achieved such as international recognition, full participation in the international community. Due to the deadlock in the negotiations on normalization, we do not have full freedom of movement, guaranteeing the rights of the people, and thus the space for a comprehensive sustainable development of Kosovo,” said Janjic.

The president of the European Serb Movement for Kosovo and Metohija, Rada Trajkovic, believes that everything Kosovo received is in favour of favouring Albanians.

"Kosovo did not use its internal independence to work for the recognition of a civic entity, but to work on everything that recognizes itself as Albanian identities, and essentially opened up the possibility of opening up two Albanian states that could in future be a project of Greater Albania," she said. 

A flag was raised today as a start of the commemoration ceremony of the anniversary of Kosovo's independence in Pristina, followed by a solemn session at the Assembly of Kosovo, reports KIM Radio.

Almost two decades after, still no punishment for the crime in Livadice (Radio kontakt plus)

A memorial service was held on Saturday at the Church of Saint Petka in Laplje Selo, dedicated to the Serbs killed in a bomb attack against Nis-express bus, 19 years ago in the village of Livadice, near Podujevo, Radio kontakt plus reports.

12 Serbs lost their lives in the attack, and 43 were injured. Passengers, mostly displaced persons, were travelling from Nis to Gracanica to attend All Souls Day.

The family members said they still hope the perpetrators of this crime will be found and prosecuted. Gracanica mayor, Srdjan Popovic, who 19 years ago was in one of the five busses traveling to Gracanica that day, said this crime must not be forgotten and it is an obligation to remind about it.

The memorial service was organized by Serbian Orthodox Church Raska-Prizren Eparchy and Cultural-Educational Community in Kosovo.

The Cokic family – Njegos, Snezana and two-year old Danilo, Suncica Pejcic, Zivana Tokic, Slobodan Stojanovic, Nenad Stojanovic, Mirjana Dragovic, Vejko Stakic, Milinko Kragovic, Lazar Milkic and Dragan Vukotic were killed in the attack.

Abbot of Visoki Decani Sava Janjic wrote on Twitter  - “16 Feb 2011 - 19ys from the terrorist attack against #Serbs in #Kosovo (11 killed, 46 wounded). The Kosovo #Albanian Florim Ejupi was arrested & sentenced to 40 years http://hlc-rdc.org/?p=12928&lang=de However, soon afterwards he was freed by the Kosovo court despite all evidence. Shame!”

Borrell: We are working on appointing envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue (N1, SRNA, RFE, RTS)

The EU is working on appointing a special representative or envoy to deal with the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue directly, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said on Sunday, adding that an experienced diplomat who is well-aware of the situation in the region and is prepared to get engaged is needed for the job. 

Borrell also said that he would prepare his proposal on the appointment by EU Council’s meeting in March. 

“The proposal is not ready yet. Preparations regarding a mandate and other formalities are required (...),” Borrell said, RTS reports.   

He also noted that "this is a job that requires engagement 24 hours a day, every day. It's not a one-weekend issue.”

He did not mention names but said “maybe” when asked whether that person could be someone from Slovakia.

Borrell stressed that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has no alternative and that it requires engagement from both sides.

"We will not dictate the dialogue. They need to talk to each other in order to reach an agreement. We can help them, create incentives, but we cannot take the place of negotiators," Borrell said.

EU hosts informal dinner with Western Balkans leaders (Tanjug, B92, RTS)

Political leaders of Western Balkans joined President of European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Plenkovic and EU High Representative Josep Borrell for a first informal meeting in Brussels to prepare the EU-Western Balkans Summit to be held in Zagreb in May 2020.

At the beginning of the dinner, President Michel stressed that it was an opportunity to reconfirm the European perspective for the Western Balkans partners.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a statement to TV Pink ahead of the meeting that not only the President of the EU Council, but also the President of the European Commission, the head of European diplomacy, "everyone that matters in Europe" will attend this informal meeting. He stressed that it would not be easy for him or for other Balkan participants.

"Everyone will bring up their own issues. Imagine what it would be like if I were not here. What a wonderful unison discussion would it be if it weren't for me. They will protect the interests of their territories and countries, and I will protect the territory of Serbia and the interests of Serbian people", Vucic said.

Vucic also said after the informal meeting that the Union was open to hear our proposals and ideas, and that launching of an investment package would come.

“The EU has announced the launching of an investment package for the Western Balkans, which is very important,” Vucic said. He added the EU would encourage regional cooperation as well, and pointed in particular to the “mini-Schengen” initiative. 

See at: https://bit.ly/2Sw8Ach Vucic said debate with Kurti was fierce (N1, RTS, Kosovo-online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told public broadcaster RTS on Friday that the debate at the Munich Security Conference attended by himself and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was “fierce”. The round table on the Western Balkans was the first time that Vucic and Kurti met.  

“I fought for Serbia’s interests. People from across the world were there and it was up to me to tell the truth in response to demeaning claims and I think I protected Serbia and the Serb people in the best way,” Vucic said, adding that it was important for him to see the relationships among the Albanians, between Pristina and Tirana and within Pristina.

“I think I absolutely know them better now, even Kurti who was an unknown to me,” the Serbian President said.

Vucic also said that associates of Hashim Thaci and Albin Kurti recorded their speeches at a panel at the Munich Security Conference, which was held behind closed doors, and later released it to the public, but without his comments and replies to Kurti and Thaci, Kosovo-online portal reports. 

“I personally saw the person specifically tasked to record Thaci’s speech, as well as Kurti’s. They released it all to the public ... You encounter a wall of silence when you see what kind of scammers in the region you are dealing with”, Vucic said. According to him, he honoured the Chatham House Rule at the Munich Conference.

“I am not a fraudster, who has learned to cheat Europeans and everyone else, no one has recorded me because I acted in accordance with the Chatham House Rule. However, in their recordings which they released to the public, I am nowhere-not a single word or reply. There is no recording on how Albin Kurti was silenced or what I told all of them at the place”, Vucic said.

He added that one cannot just talk to people who cannot be trusted, or those who do not respect the elementary rules of decency. “Later it is said that all this information from the discussion were not leaked out by Albin Kurti. I merely pointed out to you that even through technical details, irresponsible people are able to destroy any possibility of compromise and dialogue”, Vucic underlined.

Vucic on talks with Pristina, Carpenter’s statements (B92)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in Munich that Belgrade would not discuss the status issue with Pristina until tariffs on goods from central Serbia were abolished, B92 reports.

"We can discuss things that pertain to economic progress, we have no problem with that, but we will not discuss the status until the tariffs are abolished. That is on hold, and we are waiting for the tariffs to be abolished", Vucic said when asked by Al Jazeera journalists in Munich, where he participates in the Munich Security Conference.

Vucic said it was ridiculous for him to talk about tariffs in the 21st century at all, because there must be free trade, stating that he expects the problem to be solved.

Asked if he would meet with representatives of the Pristina administration, Vucic recalled that Hashim Thaci had attended the signing of the railway document on Friday and had seen some representatives of their delegation, but did not know if Albin Kurti would come to Munich that afternoon.

"I don't know, you have to ask them. I'll be at the meeting at five o'clock," Vucic said. Asked what he expected from the meetings on Friday, Vucic said that we should not expect too much.

"If we can lower the tension a bit, that is always good, and I think these are concrete steps. We will work on it quickly," Vucic said.

He said that a letter of intent was signed about the railways and that it was important to open the rail line connecting Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the highway, after the fast-moving airline, as it was discussed six years ago with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Vucic also said that our side has done everything and that the first works on the road section through central Serbia will start in the autumn.

Commenting on the statements of a former Pentagon official Michael Carpenter that Russia, through the Serbian Orthodox Church, is protecting its interests in Montenegro, Vucic says he wishes he had heard from Carpenter what rights Serbs in that country had.

"I would like to send my best regards to Mr. Carpenter. I wish I had heard from him whether Serbs, who have nearly 30 percent in Montenegro, have the same rights as Albanians in Macedonia", Vucic said.

Asked to comment on the fact that Ramush Haradinaj threatened Albin Kurti, if the latter abolished 100 percent tariffs on from Serbia, Vucic briefly replied that “he does not care.”

See at: https://bit.ly/2SPTZaB Rada Trajkovic: Murder of Oliver Ivanovic will be clarified (KIM Radio, Free Serbian)

Radio KIM quotes the president of the European Movement of Serbs from Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic, who said in the Slobodno Srpski Show (Free Serbian) that the footage of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic offered to her for money about six months ago, allegedly was bought by Aleksandar Vulin, Serbian Defense Minister.

"I was offered that footage and the photos. The man who brought it to me also said that there were more of these shots. According to him, the first footage was purchased by the Minister of Defense, Mr. Aleksandar Vulin, and that it was handed to him outside Kosovo and Metohija. Now, how true this is...?"

Asked if she saw the video she was offered and whether she saw the very act of killing Oliver Ivanovic, Trajkovic said that she did not see the video, but that, as she said, she thinks that much can be seen on it.

"I think that during this process, the public of Serbia may be in some ways appalled by what they might see, through something that is a presentation of the recording," Trajkovic said, not wanting to reveal the person's nationality, adding that she had already been to the prosecutor for that matter.

Rada Trajkovic believes that the authorities in Serbia are obstructing the trial of suspects involved in the murder of Oliver Ivanovic by refusing to extradite suspects who are in central Serbia to the Kosovo judiciary.

However, Trajkovic expects that the killing of Oliver Ivanovic will be clarified, because, as she said, this trial is important to Kosovo.

Trajkovic believes that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in a way, has already given up his pre-election principles on crime, because he let the Serbian List in the government, which as she said, was a partner of the war coalition, characterized by crime and nepotism.

Trajkovic believes that the future of Albin Kurti and the Self-Determination Movement, is completely uncertain.

"Will Kurti have a fate like Syriza in Greece? The international community appointing him to finish some jobs, where he had been a major nuisance, meaning he take that leadership position and then the Self-Determination Movement to be demilitarized in one way and be something that will no longer be a major problem in all that they thought to further shape and reshape, in terms of organizing the region."

Commenting on the re-election of Dalibor Jevtic as Minister of Return and Communities in the Government of Kosovo, Trajkovic said it was a bad move by Belgrade.

"Well, I think he is doing a great job in terms of Serbs leaving Kosovo. I think that there was no minister who sent more Serbs out of Kosovo than returned them. 

Speaking about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Serbia, Trajkovic believes that they should be boycotted.

"I think that the Serbian elections should be boycotted and so do the complete delegitimization of Vucic as president of Serbia, who is, as they say, a man of the highest authority, and thus actually give a chance for a truly democratic Serbia to address the Kosovo issue with the democratic power in the future Kosovo and Metohija. Now we have an imbalance, that we have a democratic government here, and in Belgrade we have a totalitarian government that rules through mechanisms that are truly oblivious and defeated in any European country," said Rada Trajkovic on the Slobodno Srpski Show.

   

Opinion 

  Reviving Enlargement in Balkans Means Changing More than Methodology (Balkan Insight)

While EU hopefuls have broadly welcomed the EU’s new accession strategy, they need to recognise that the core problem is not the methodology but the EU’s inconsistency and lack of principle, Akri Cipa writes for Balkan Insight.

The EU Enlargement Commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, presented the Commission’s new enlargement methodology in February. Greeted with mixed responses, it takes into account some of the concerns and suggestions of the Member States, most specifically those of France, which effectively blocked the start of negotiations of Albania and North Macedonia last October.

See at: https://bit.ly/2SUXTPo    

International

  EU Says Accession For Balkan Countries Still Possible (RFE)

The respective presidents of the European Council and European Union Commission voiced the desire on February 16 to maintain close relations with countries in the Balkans as the EU seeks to preserve credibility with them after membership hopes for Albania and North Macedonia were recently dashed.

"I think it is in our common geostrategic interest to have the Western Balkans as close as possible to the European Union," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels as an informal EU-Western Balkans meeting takes place on February 16-17.

European Council President Charles Michel said he looks "forward to a frank, intense, and open discussion" with the leaders of the six Western Balkan nations ahead of a key summit in Zagreb in May.

The EU commonly uses the Western Balkans to refer to Albania and the successor states of Yugoslavia that haven’t joined the 27-nation bloc.

See at: https://bit.ly/2wpLTht Twelve Years In Dependence Leave Kosovo Facing Foggy Future (Balkan Insight)

A sustainable solution to the Kosovo-Serbia dispute must involve both recognition and a durable peace – but in the current circumstances, accepting one without the other may be the only way out of the impasse.

On 17 February, Kosovo marks the twelfth anniversary of its declaration of independence. For many, Kosovo remains a success story of Western liberal interventionism, in creating a state from scratch following Serbia’s grave human rights violations and whose wide diplomatic recognition was granted to promote democracy, multi-ethnicity and regional peace.

Between 1999 and 2008, Kosovo was placed under UN administration and allowed to exercise only limited self-rule. It could neither hold a referendum to measure the popular will for independence nor govern its own external relations.

See at: http://bit.ly/2P0KvIl