Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Serbia with “Putin-like methods” threat to Kosovo, Serbian citizens (RFE)
• Kearns: A Five Eyes country delivered an investigation into Banjska (Telegrafi)
• 12 days left to collect signatures for dismissal of mayors in the north (RFE)
• Haxhiu: Constitutional Court is obstructing the implementation of reforms (Kallxo)
• Zeka: Prices remain high; the economy has not been priority of any govt (EO)
• Nearly €300,000 for shelters, NGOs that offer social and family services (Kallxo)
• Palokaj: EU and U.S. concerned that Serbia is strongly behind Dodik (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

• Celic: Seizure of Rajska Banja part of strategy to leave CSM without economic power and resources (Kosovo Online)
• Vucic: Serbia-Russia relations very good, Serbia is no one's protectorate (Tanjug, media)
• Lawyers to demand dismissal of indictment against Milenkovic, house arrest measure instead of detention (Kosovo Online)
• Kosovo Online: Kurti said Petrit Dula is in Serbian prison, he was released in April last year
• Vucic: Everyone is arming themselves, we are not lagging behind (Tanjug)

     

Albanian Language Media  

  Kurti: Serbia with “Putin-like methods” threat to Kosovo, Serbian citizens (RFE)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that “by continuing its path toward Putin-like methods” Serbia constitutes a threat not only for Kosovo and the Balkans region, but also for its citizens, following the recent arrest of two Kosovo citizens by Serbian authorities.

“Serbia doesn’t constitute a threat only to our citizens, security, regional stability of the Balkans, but it lately proved that it constitutes a threat even to its own citizens that are willing to apologize for the Serbian genocide in Kosovo … Serbia continues its path toward Putin-like methods, from intimidation to the inhumane torturing of political opponents,” Kurti said at the government meeting today, referring to the case of the leader of the Serbian Republican Party, Nikola Sandulovic, who was detained last week in Nis, Serbia.

In a video posted on social media on January 2, Sandulovic is seen visiting the Adem Jashari memorial complex in Prekaz and laying flowers on the monument remembering the events of 5-8 March 1998, when over 50 members of Adem Jashari’s family were killed by Serbian forces. Jashari was one of the founders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army.

Kurti also commented on the arrest of Hasan Dakaj, a former KLA member, by the authorities in Serbia. “Dakaj is being kept unrightfully and arbitrarily in detention there. This is not the first time and it is not an isolated case. This is an intentional behavior by Serbia that goes against international human rights conventions,” he argued.

Kearns: A Five Eyes country delivered an investigation into Banjska (Telegrafi)

UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee chief Alicia Kearns said that a Five Eyes country has delivered an entire investigation into what happened in Banjska in the north of Kosovo in September last year, but that they’re not willing to publish the results. “I understand that another country – a Five Eyes country – has indeed delivered an entire investigation but they’re not willing to publish those results. So I think for the UK to demonstrate resolve by explaining exactly what happened that day because Vucic still says that what happened that day did not happen. NATO dismissed my concern when I said last year that weapons were being smuggled illegally into Kosovo by militias and stored in churches, and that is pretty much exactly what happened … There is still on the world stage, no government has come forward and said this is what happened, this is who armed, this is where it comes from … the truth matters and we know that in the Balkans there is a lot of effort taken to dismiss the truth and rewrite the truth but I mention why there has been no response from the EU and the U.S. in particular, the EU has put negative measures on Kosovo, there is incredible imbalance in fairness in the way in which Kosovo is being treated,” Kearns said during a meeting of the UK Parliament.

12 days left to collect signatures for dismissal of mayors in the north (RFE)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, said today that the citizens of the Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo – Mitrovica North, Leposavic and Zubin Potok – have 12 days left to collect the required signatures to dismiss the Albanian mayors in those municipalities. He said that the collection of signatures in the other northern municipality, Zvecan, started later.

The news website recalls that Albanian mayors went to their offices in the four Serb-majority municipalities after the elections which were boycotted by local Serbs in April last year, and which triggered tensions in that region.

Kosovo authorities then drafted an administrative instruction which enabled the citizens of the four municipalities to request the dismissal of the mayors through a petition.

“Yesterday we had a meeting with Quint diplomats and the EU on this issue. Citizens in the north of the country initiated their first request in December last year and they are in the process of collecting signatures. There are four groups of citizens in the north that are authorized to collect signatures,” Krasniqi told a press conference in Pristina.

Haxhiu: Constitutional Court is obstructing the implementation of reforms (Kallxo)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, argued today that the Constitutional Court is obstructing the implementation of reforms by the government. She told a press conference after the government meeting today that the Court should be treating requests within two months but that it is delaying decisions up to a year. 

Haxhiu said that the Constitutional Court has yet to deliver a final verdict on the Law on Vetting and the Law on the Bureau of Confiscation of Wealth. “I have expressed my opinions on how the court is acting. Institutions have responsibility, and our main duty is to serve the people,” she said. 

Zeka: Prices remain high; the economy has not been priority of any govt (EO)

Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, Arian Zeka, said in an interview with the news website today that Kosovo closed last year with a low inflation rate of around 4 percent but prices according to him remain high because of deregulations in the global supply chain. 

He also argued that economic development has not been the priority of any government in the postwar and suggested to the current government to make it a priority for this year. “With the greatest honesty I say that in reality economy doesn’t seem to have been a priority for any of the governments we had since 1999, especially 2008 and onwards since Kosovo has become an independent state,” he said.

Zeka said Kosovo needs an all-national strategy for economic development that would include all stakeholders. “We also expect to have an economic growth of 4.2 percent this year as long as all the main pillars that provide for economic growth are activated. According to all reports by international organizations and also local reports, these economic pillars include capital investments and safeguarding consumption, although this may not be a pillar that guarantees sustainable development, but nonetheless these are two of the aspects on which the economic development of the country has been based the last couple of years,” he said.

Nearly €300,000 for shelters, NGOs that offer social and family services (Kallxo)

The Kosovo Government adopted today a request to allocate nearly €300,000 for shelters and non-governmental organizations licensed to offer social and family services. Finance Minister Hekuran Murati said the additional funds are expected to cover the expenditures of these organizations until April.

Palokaj: EU and U.S. concerned that Serbia is strongly behind Dodik (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argued in an interview with KTV on Tuesday that the European Union and the United States of America are concerned over Serbia’s approximation with Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik. “What is causing concern in the European Union and the United States is the fact that Serbia is standing strongly behind Dodik,” he said.

Palokaj said that this is the last year of the mandate of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the President of the EU Council, and the representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. “I don’t believe that the member states will be satisfied if as results are presented the removal of stickers from license plates or that citizens in the north of Kosovo are paying electricity, because this is very far from the expectations when Lajcak assumed his mandate, and back then it was said that in a matter of months, not years, the comprehensive agreement would have to be reached to resolve all outstanding problems between Kosovo and Serbia,” he said.

   

Serbian Language Media

  Celic: Seizure of Rajska Banja part of strategy to leave CSM without economic power and resources (Kosovo Online)

Dusko Celic, Professor at Law Faculty of Pristina University with a seat in Mitrovica North told Kosovo Online that recent actions of Pristina authorities, during which Rajska Banja complex in Banjska was taken over by Kosovo Privatization Agency and leased to Kosovo police, were a way to render the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) meaningless and reduce it to a shell without any authority, economic power, or resources.

Celic noted seizure of Rajska Banja complex has shown that Pristina is clearly acting with a long-term strategy that has a property and legal component.

"When we talk about this long-term strategy, it is evident that someone had in mind to further render the CSM, which was supposed to be established according to the Brussels Agreement of 2013, meaningless by taking away its economic resources, aiming to make its existence pointless, and making it a mere shell without any authority, economic power, or resources", he said.

He argued that this strategy involves the permanent destabilization and change of the ethnic structure of the population that has been living compactly in this territory for a long historical period.

Vucic: Serbia-Russia relations very good, Serbia is no one's protectorate (Tanjug, media)

The relations between Serbia and Russia are very good, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said during a visit to the Russian House - the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Belgrade - on Wednesday. Vucic noted that Serbia was an independent and sovereign country - not a protectorate of Russia, the UK, the US, Germany or any other country, Tanjug news agency reports.

"Serbia takes pride in its independence and that is why I am disappointed with a statement by British Foreign Secretary Cameron that Serbia is a protectorate of Russia, as well as with the narrative that we will be the ones to destabilize the region", he said.

He noted that, in fact, many others seemed to be working on that "with assistance from the very same factors that lecture us every day".

"Evidently, many will see you as being in the way if you want to have a policy of your own and when that policy is not about obeying orders from others. We will continue to have an independent policy of our own, including when it comes to the Russian Federation and many others", Vucic said.

Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko said Russia did not want partner countries to turn into pro-Russian states but to respect their own national interests as that provided the best opportunities for development of relations.

Lawyers to demand dismissal of indictment against Milenkovic, house arrest measure instead of detention (Kosovo Online)

Lawyers of Dragisa Milenkovic, Jovana Filipovic and Dejan Vasic said the defense will file an appeal to dismiss indictment and object the evidence, given that indictment is based only on the statements of witnesses and without any evidence, adding they will also request house arrest measure for their client, instead of detention, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Speaking of the indictment, Filipovic said that “there is not a single evidence proving the injuries that involved parties suffered or any other evidence” apart from their statements. Vasic spoke of the poor health condition of his client, adding that there are firm guarantees that he will not leave Gracanica if a house arrest measure is assigned to him.

“Dragisa is in very difficult conditions in detention in Podujevo, he is almost blind. He is closed for 22 hours (on a daily basis), and I think conditions have been created, to allow him a measure of house arrest, as he lives two kilometers away from here (the court)”, adding he is ready to respond to court summons and face those who accused him to clarify the issue. 

Dragisa Milenkovic was arrested on 21 June 2023, in Gracanica and remains in detention since then. 

Kosovo Online: Kurti said Petrit Dula is in Serbian prison, he was released in April last year

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke today in a fist session of the Kosovo Government in this year about arrest of Hasan Dakaj, at Merdare crossing point last Friday, adding that two more Albanians from Kosovo are staying in Serbian prisons – Nezir Mehmetaj and Petrit Dula, Kosovo Online portal reports, citing Pristina-based Reporteri.

The portal added that Petrit Dula was released from prison in April last year. Dula, who was in Serbian prison as of June 2022, told Radio Dukagjini in an interview one month ago that he was released on April 7, 2023.

Kosovo Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu explained the omission by saying that “in a speech that was prepared for him (Albin Kurti) Petrit Dula and Nezir Mehmetaj were included in the same paragraph” and that “the idea was to speak about cruel treatment and injustice that Serbia is doing to our citizens”.  

Vucic: Everyone is arming themselves, we are not lagging behind (Tanjug)

The entire world, including our region, is arming itself at an accelerated rate, but Serbia is not lagging behind, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday.

"Everyone in the region, too, is arming themselves, and it is our duty not to lag behind. All I can tell you is that we are not lagging behind. You will be able to see that soon, we will just notify you of the exact date", Vucic told reporters during a visit to the Russian House in Belgrade, in a comment on a statement by the new French PM that arming France was his priority.

Vucic said the statement was logical and added that Kosovo Albanian journalists had asked the Americans what they thought about an announced reinstatement of compulsory military service in Serbia and that the Americans had responded they were watching the situation closely.

"I, too, am watching closely all that is happening around the world - including in America, England, France, Germany and Sweden. We are watching everything everywhere closely. But what you do not have to watch closely and what you can see even if you do not see anything and pretend not to hear anything, is that everyone is arming themselves to the teeth", Vucic concluded.