• EU “seriously concerned” over failure to confirm SL election results (Koha)
• Kosovo takes part at World Governments Summit (Albanian Post)
• Osmani: The Euro-Atlantic alliance is our choice, always (media)
• 26 years since killing of 10 Albanians by ‘Bridge Watchers’ in the north (media)
• Durmishi: Open call for public transport operators in north municipalities (Telegrafi)
• Court sentences Srdjan Lazovic to 12 years in prison for war crimes (Koha)
• Weapons found in the basement of a building in Mitrovica North (Kossev)
• Vukadinovic: Vucic clearly plans to become prime minister, aims to rule for life (N1)
• ‘Shame and Money’ review: A keenly observed, sharp-edged portrait of a Kosovo family divided by class (Variety/media)

EU “seriously concerned” over failure to confirm SL election results (Koha)

The European Union has expressed “serious concern” today over the failure to confirm the results of the Serbian List in the last parliamentary elections and has called for the work of the Central Election Commission to be depoliticised. “The EU expresses serious concern about the Central Election Commission’s failure to approve the final result for the Serbian List in the latest parliamentary elections,” an EU spokesperson said. “The EU reiterates its call for the depoliticisation of the CEC’s work, in line with the Election Observation Mission report, and calls on all parties to work together in accordance with the Constitution.”

The EU spokesperson also reiterated the call for Kosovo’s next legislature to accelerate EU-related reforms and ratify the Growth Plan. “It is important that all elected MPs take their seats in the new Kosovo Assembly. The EU recalls that Kosovo’s next legislature should accelerate EU-related reforms and ratify the pending Growth Plan agreements to benefit Kosovo’s population,” the spokesperson said.

Kosovo takes part at World Governments Summit (Albanian Post)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani is taking part at the World Governments Summit following an invitation from the President of the United Arab Emirates, whom she called one of Kosovo’s strongest friends, the news website reports. “We are here to meet many world leaders that are also taking part in this world governments summit to discuss ways how we can further our bilateral cooperation with these countries,” Osmani said in a video post on social media.

Osmani: The Euro-Atlantic alliance is our choice, always (media)

Most news websites cover a social media post by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani in which she notes that for Kosovo, alignment with the Euro-Atlantic alliance has never been a question of doubt, calculation, or convenience. “It is conviction. It is principle. It is who we are. The Euro-Atlantic alliance is our choice. Always!” Osmani said.

See more at: https://tinyurl.com/fv3zmr4b

26 years since killing of 10 Albanians by ‘Bridge Watchers’ in the north (media)

All news websites report that today marks 26 years since the so-called Bridge Watchers in Mitrovica North killed 10 Albanians, including children, women and elderly, wounded many others, and expelled around 12,000 Albanians from their homes in the north and forced them to flee to the south. The Pristina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHRF) had said that the killings took place in the presence of French KFOR troops and the international police. Eyewitnesses said that the operation was carried out by the Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs, led by former commander Dragan Delibasic, Oliver Ivanovic and others. In 2014, the Basic Court in Mitrovica found Oliver Ivanovic guilty and sentenced him to 9 years in prison for war crimes against Albanians during and after the war.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in a statement today that on February 3, 2000, 10 innocent civilians were killed, 25 others were wounded and 1,564 families numbering 11,364 members were forcibly expelled from their homes. She also said that “the crime will never be forgotten and justice will remain an unstoppable demand. We bow to the victims and we stand by their families, because truth, remembrance and justice are the foundations upon which sustainable peace is built”.

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha said in a Facebook post that “the wounds from February 3, 2000, will never fully heal if there is no full justice for the victims and accountability for the crimes”. “Remembering February 3-4 is not only going back in history, but also a call for justice and a pledge that our state will never again allow its citizens to face violence and expulsion because of their ethnic background,” he said.

Durmishi: Open call for public transport operators in northern municipalities (Telegrafi)

Kosovo caretaker Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Hysen Durmishi, announced today the opening of the call for public transport operators with special emphasis on the northern municipalities. “A pledge that we made during the campaign is becoming reality. We have opened the call for transport operators for lines that are economically not profitable,” he said.

Durmishi said that through the measure the government will directly support public support by guaranteeing better access to services and equal treatment for all citizens. “This is a concrete step to guarantee better access to services, faster movement and equal treatment for all citizens, regardless of the area where they live in,” he said.

Court sentences Srdjan Lazovic to 12 years in prison for war crimes (Koha)

The Basic Court in Pristina has sentenced today Srdjan Lazovic, a member of the Serbian Gendarmerie, to 12 years and six months in prison for war crimes against civilians in 1998/99. Lazovic was charged with committing war crimes together with unidentified members of Serbian forces in 1998/99 in the village of Panorc, the municipality of Malisheva. The prosecution said that Lazovic and other members of Serbian forces took part in the mistreatment of around 500 Albanian men that were not involved in the conflict. After surrounding the village they expelled the civilian population and then set all the houses in the village on fire.

Weapons found in the basement of a building in Mitrovica North (Kossev)

The news website reports police found weapons and ammunition in the basement of one of the buildings in Lola Ribara Street in Mitrovica North. The information was confirmed by Petrit Fejza from the Kosovo Police. “We have received information that there are weapons in this building. This morning we started a search in the basement of the building and found what we were looking for. An automatic rifle and ammunition have been found. More details are yet to be known, the operation is ongoing," Fejza said.

Vukadinovic: Vucic clearly plans to become prime minister, aims to rule for life (N1)

Political analyst Djordje Vukadinovic assessed that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic intends to serve as prime minister in the future, adding that his previous hints at retiring from politics were never sincere. Vukadinovic told the daily Nova that Vucic has ambitions to “rule for life” and has no intention of relinquishing absolute power.

He pointed to the upcoming presentation of the “Serbia 2035” development program as a clear indicator that the President is preparing to transition into a new official role. “The name of his position is totally irrelevant, he could be a doorman at the Government building, but he will still be the one holding the reins,” the analyst said.

Vucic announced that, “once the upcoming anniversaries have passed,” the Serbia 2035 development program will be presented at a political rally in Belgrade which, he said, will be held on March 20, 21, or 22, either in front of the Serbian Parliament or in Belgrade’s Republic Square.

‘Shame and Money’ review: A keenly observed, sharp-edged portrait of a Kosovo family divided by class (Variety/media)

“Are you fine with not sleeping at night?” an employer asks a candidate for a lowly security guard position, late in Kosovan director Visar Morina‘s new film “Shame and Money.” The question refers simply to the job’s antisocial hours, though it’s one that various characters in this stoic, slowly lacerating look at economic desperation and exploitation in contemporary Europe could stand to be asked, for a variety of reasons. Broke and anxiously navigating the urban menial employment market after having to abandon the family farm, middle-aged Shaban (Astrit Kabashi) is lying awake most nights, whether he’s working or not. Meanwhile, those higher up the capitalist food chain probably aren’t tossing and turning nearly as much as they should be.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Sundance’s world cinema competition, Morina’s third feature sees him turning his focus back to his homeland, after his excellent, likewise Sundance-premiered 2020 sophomore effort “Exile” offered a bitingly comic look at the Kosovan immigrant experience in modern Germany. There is markedly less humor in the studied, achingly sober “Shame and Money,” which again examines social outsider status, but this time with wealth and class — whether inherited or suddenly acquired — as the dividing barriers. Though his latest is a slow burn offering little in the way of hope or levity, Morina doesn’t trade in one-note miserablism either: Intricately observed domestic dynamics keep the drama textured and humane, as does Kabashi’s delicately layered performance as a man softly beaten down but screaming on the inside.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/J0VHJ