UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 19, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

President Osmani welcomes the European Parliament resolution for Kosovo (media)
Western Balkans leaders gather to discuss in Davos, Switzerland (Klan)
EU doesn’t consider Serbia has renewed KM licence plates (media)
COMKFOR: Security situation generally calm but extremely fragile (media)
CoE: Not aware that Kosovo membership is conditioned with Association (Klan)
Lajcak: I believe Finland will continue its support for the dialogue (media)
Konjufca condemns threats against Abdixhiku and Krasniqi (Nacionale)
Abdixhiku after reported assassination plots: We don’t feel threatened at all (Telegrafi)
Hoxhaj: Government failed to keep the recognitions we secured (EO)
Slovenian PM on suspected affair with Martin Berishaj: Pure fabrication (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

Stano: Belgrade didn’t violate agreement on licence plates (Radio KIM, RTS)
Petkovic responds to Svecla on licence plates agreement (Kosovo Online, social media)
Petkovic: Kurti provoking crisis again (N1)
Serbian List calls on EU to prevent violation of licence plates agreement by Pristina (Kosovo Online)
Ambulance vehicle with KM plates held at Jarinje (Kosovo Online)
Vucic on Kurti, secessionism, EP resolution (Tanjug)
Dacic: EP resolution another example of enormous hypocrisy (N1)
Hill: Serbia itself should decide what standards it needs (Tanjug, Nedeljnik)
Dacic met Botsan-Kharchenko (media)
Lawyer: Calling someone who was not convicted a war criminal is a criminal act (KoSSev)
Analyst: Who gives right to Sarrazin to make Serbia recognize Kosovo, when EU does not have unified stance (Danas, BETA, Nova.rs, N1)

International:

Kosovo License-Plate Issue Flares Up Again With Ban On Cars With Kosovar City Abbreviation (RFE)
Serbian Police Ex-Commander Wanted in Kosovo for War Crimes (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

President Osmani welcomes the European Parliament resolution for Kosovo (media)

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani has welcomed the resolution of the European Parliament regarding the position on Kosovo, saying that recognition and support for Kosovo's path to the EU is paramount.

“I welcome the European Parliament's position on Kosovo in yesterday's resolution. As representatives of Europeans across the Union, recognition of and support for the EU's path is paramount. Crucially, they have also recognized the growing dangers of Serbia's aggression and destabilising efforts,” President Osmani tweeted.

Western Balkans leaders gather to discuss in Davos, Switzerland (Klan)

The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has announced that the Western Balkans is being discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He has published several photos on the social network Facebook, where Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti can be seen with the leaders of the Balkan states, present in this discussion.

"Davos, Switzerland - Conversation 'Dialogue in the Western Balkans'," Rama wrote.

EU doesn’t consider Serbia has renewed KM licence plates (media)

The European Union has called on Kosovo and Serbia today to refrain from any action that can destabilise the already fragile situation and to address any explanation over interpretations of the licence plates agreement within the process of dialogue.

Stano commented on the agreement reached in November last year. “This means that Kosovo will refrain from any action against those owners that have KM licence plates and effectively maintain the status quo until a more sustainable solution is reached in the dialogue. This also means that Serbia does not issue new KM licence plates,” he said.

“We also take note of Serbia’s decision, on December 6, 2022, that sticker registration papers for KM licence plates will not be renewed. We understand that renewing insurance and technical control pertains to the vehicle and not to licence plates, and as such cannot be considered a renewal of licence plates”.

Asked to comment on the exchange of accusations between Kosovo and Serbia about the failure to respect the agreement on licence plates, EU spokesman Peter Stano said that all parties must refrain from unilateral actions.

“The EU calls on all parties to fully and unconditionally respect the agreements and arrangements reached on November 23 last year, with which both Kosovo and Serbia agreed on specific measures about the licence plates to reduce tensions and to focus entirely on the EU proposal for the normalisation of their relations,” Stano is quoted as saying.

COMKFOR: Security situation generally calm but extremely fragile (media)

Commander of NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, Major General Ristuccia, spoke at the recent meeting of the NATO Chiefs of Defence, thanking the allies and partners for their contributions and support to the KFOR mission and updated them on KFOR activities and the security situation.

“Currently, the overall security situation in Kosovo is generally calm but extremely fragile, volatile and unpredictable due to several unresolved & sometimes converging issues,” Ristuccia said.

Ristuccia also underlined that KFOR continues to daily and impartially implement its UN mandate to maintain security and freedom of movement and stands ready to intervene if necessary. “It also continues to create the conditions for the EU-facilitated to consolidate and move forward,” he said.

CoE: Not aware that Kosovo membership is conditioned with Association (Klan)

Kosovo submitted a membership bid to the Council of Europe in May last year. While it is still waiting for a response if the bid will have a positive outcome, recently there have been media reports that the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities has been set as a condition for Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, the news website reports.

Klan Kosova contacted the organisation asking if the media reports are true. The Council, in its response, quotes the German Minister of Foreign Affairs who told the 132nd meeting of the Committee of Ministers in Torino last year that “Germany without a doubt supports Kosovo’s request to join the Council of Europe”. The Council also quoted the German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, that “the formation of the Association was agreed upon by the parties within the Dialogue in 2013/2015. Now it needs to be implemented, because the implementation of international agreements pertains to the rule of law and the way forward in the Dialogue”. “We are not aware that the formation of the Association is being set as a condition for Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe,” the response also notes.

Lajcak: I believe Finland will continue its support for the dialogue (media)

The European Union emissary for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the Foreign Minister of Finland, Pekka Haavisto. They talked about the dialogue process.

“Finland has history in the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and takes a keen interest in advancing our EU efforts. As such, it's always a pleasure to discuss the state of play with FM Haavisto. I count on Finland's continued initiatives in support of the Dialogue,” Lajcak tweeted.

Konjufca condemns threats against Abdixhiku and Krasniqi (Nacionale)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca commented today on media reports about threats against LDK and PDK senior members. “We condemn the threats and the language used. We also call on law enforcement and judicial authorities to investigate this and to apprehend those that carried out these actions,” Konjufca said in today’s session of the Kosovo Assembly.

Abdixhiku after reported assassination plots: We don’t feel threatened at all (Telegrafi)

One day after some media reported about an alleged assassination plot against LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku and three MPs from this party, Abdixhiku said that they don’t feel threatened at all. “We don’t feel threatened at all. The Kosovo Police and other law enforcement bodies are handling this … I came to the Assembly today as usual without needing any close protection,” Abdixhiku said.

Hoxhaj: Government failed to keep the recognitions we secured (EO)

Former Kosovo Minister of Foreign Affairs and MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, said getting new recognitions for Kosovo’s independence has not been in the priorities of the Kurti-led government and that the government has failed to keep the recognitions that were secured earlier.

According to Hoxhaj, the current government could secure five to seven new recognitions every year. “Since the day it was voted, the Kurti government showed that it has no plan, no readiness or ambition to work on foreign policy and getting new recognitions was not their priority. I am certain that with the changes in the international context, it wouldn’t have been possible to secure 10-15 new recognitions a year, as I did when I was Foreign Minister and thanks to the work of my colleagues in government, but I am confident that the country could have secured 5-7 new recognitions a year,” he said.

Slovenian PM on suspected affair with Martin Berishaj: Pure fabrication (Koha)

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said today that his involvement in an alleged money laundering affair with Kosovo’s Ambassador to Croatia, Martin Berishaj, is pure fabrication.

The news website notes that in April last year, Berishaj was accused by some media in Ljubljana that he was involved in a money laundering scandal in Slovenia. Based on the media reports, Berishaj’s company “MB Consulting” took €600,000 which it gradually withdrew as cash and was believed to have given it to Golob so that he could then invest in some Italian fund. Berishaj had denied the allegations and filed a lawsuit against the reporters.

Golob meanwhile says that the information was initiated by the SDS before the elections in Slovenia and that later it was revealed that Berishaj was a personal friend of SDS leader Janez Jansha. “At the time they said that they funded my and my campaign. But later we found out that Berishaj … is a personal friend of Janez Jansha. And then the issue disappeared from Slovenia. And now it has been revived, it seems in Kosovo, perhaps by friends, enemies, I don’t have an idea,” Golob said in an interview with a Slovenian TV station.

Asked if he denies the allegations, Golob said: “this is all pure fabrication”.

Serbian Language Media

Stano: Belgrade didn’t violate agreement on licence plates (Radio KIM, RTS)

Belgrade didn’t violate the agreement on licence plates with Pristina, because extension of insurance and technical examinations of vehicles with KM licence plates is not considered as issuance of new licence plates, EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in Brussels, Radio KIM reports citing Serbian national broadcaster, RTS.

He made those remarks answering to the journalist’s question about accusations of Pristina authorities that Belgrade continued to issue new licence plates with KM abbreviations, thus violating the agreement from November 23, of the last year.

“We are aware of the decision of Serbia from December 6, that KM registration plates will not be renewed, but only insurance and technical examination. That is why this can not be considered as issuance of new licence plates”, Stano said.

He recalled Pristina’s obligation to restrain from any imposing measures against the owners of the vehicles with KIM licence plates and maintaining “the status quo” until this issue is resolved within the dialogue in a sustainable manner, while Belgrade obliged it will not issue new KM plates.

“We request from all to unconditionally respect the agreement and focus on normalisation. Any interpretation of what has been agreed should take place within the dialogue and not by unilateral actions on the ground that may additionally destabilise an already sensitive situation”, Stano said.

Petkovic responds to Svecla on licence plates agreement (Kosovo Online, social media)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director, Petar Petkovic took to Twitter to respond to Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla allegations that Belgrade was breaching licence plates agreement from November 2022. Kosovo police as of yesterday were making it difficult for vehicles with KM licence plates to enter or exit at Jarinje crossing point, while two ambulance vehicles were also kept.

“It seems that you @xcvecla haven’t read the last agreement on licence plates. It clearly requires that Belgrade stop issuing new KM plates and that PR will cease any further action related to the re-registration process. Anything else is a direct violation of this agreement ½”, Petkovic wrote in the first post.

“Instead of complying with the agreement, you commit new violations and unilateral moves, which jeopardise the freedom of movement. This is the same as the last time you triggered a crisis that ended up resulting in the Serbs having to walk away from the PISG institutions”, Petkovic added.

Petkovic: Kurti provoking crisis again (N1)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said Wednesday Kosovo police refused to allow vehicles with Serbian licence plates bearing denominations of towns in Kosovo to pass Jarinje and Brnjak crossings and enter Kosovo, adding this is Kosovo Pre Minister Albin Kurti’s new attempt to provoke a crisis.

“This is a brutal violation of the agreement on licence plates that Belgrade and Pristina reached in Brussels on November 23 last year, following a serious crisis that threatened to fully endanger peace in Kosovo and Metohija”, Petkovic said.

Petkovic added the agreement stipulates that the Serbian licence plates with denominations of towns in Kosovo (KM) are to remain in use in Kosovo pending the final agreement on licence plates and that Pristina is to suspend the penal policy and all activities regarding the re-registration of vehicles.

“That is why we expect the European Union, as the guarantor of the agreement, to protect it and enable its implementation and take a clear stance on such Pristina’s moves”, Petkovic said.

He said Kurti’s timing is no coincidence, and that he is implementing his measures while a forum that is to build bridges of peace and cooperation in being held in Davos.

Serbian List calls on EU to prevent violation of licence plates agreement by Pristina (Kosovo Online)

Serbian List called on international representatives, foremost the European Union, to urgently prevent Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti from violating licence plates agreements and thus disable further escalation of the situation on the ground, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Serbian List said that contrary to the agreement from November last year, Kosovo police mistreated people and threatened an entry ban on vehicles with KM registration plates at Jarinje and Brnjak crossing points.

Serbian List said they are calling on the international community to urgently prevent violation of the licence plates agreement, by Pristina.

“Foremost the European Union and their representatives who are responsible for implementation of the agreement and who guaranteed to our people that what has been signed will be respected”, Serbian List said.

It added that Albin Kurti recently made a number of acts that caused additional anxiety among the Serbian people in northern Kosovo, starting from confiscating the properties, digging the local roads, and continuing reconstruction of an improvised Kosovo special police base at Bistrica bridge, near the turning point to Banjska in Zvecan municipality.

Ambulance vehicle with KM plates held at Jarinje (Kosovo Online)

An ambulance vehicle from Mitrovica North as of this midday is being held at Jarinje crossing point prevented by the Kosovo police to cross under the pretext that extended licence plates from November 26 of the last year were not valid, Kosovo Online portal reports.

The portal further writes that a sudden decision of Kosovo police not to let vehicles with KM plates extended last month to operate in traffic created confusion at Jarinje.

Serbs from northern Kosovo with KM licence plates, as per agreement from Brussels from November 23, were able without problems to extend validity of their licence plates, however, the portal argues, Kosovo police has suddenly and unilaterally violated that agreement.

According to the portal the police now do not accept any vehicle with KM licence plates extended after November 23.

The portal recalls the agreement on licence plates stipulates that Belgrade will stop issuing new licence plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Pristina until further notice will cease implementation of the decision on mandatory re-registration to “RKS” plates. Extension of the validity of the old KM plates was not disputable as per that agreement, however, Prstina, as the portal said, decided to give up on this.

Media reported later in the day, that after one and a half hours' wait the ambulance vehicle was allowed to enter Kosovo at Jarinje. It transported a patient back to Mitrovica North with two stents implanted, media said.

Vucic on Kurti, secessionism, EP resolution (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Wednesday a deal with Pristina would be achievable as early as in two days - rather than within the next few months – “if Albin Kurti gave up on secessionist intentions”.

Vucic said this to Serbian reporters in Davos after being asked to comment on Kurti's statement that an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina could be reached within the next few months.

When asked about his take on a new European Parliament resolution calling for alignment of Serbia's foreign policy with the EU, Vucic responded he was less interested in that issue than in a section of the document that said Kosovo was independent and that it was an irreversible process, or a section condemning any secessionist rhetoric and calling for condemnation of all instigators of secessionism.

Those who have instigated secession are the ones talking about secession in the EP paper, he said.

"They are the ones who are secessionists, they have carried out a violent secession of a part of our territory. How far can that brazenness go? ...They want us to condemn those supporting secession, I guess, of parts of Kosovo and Metohija and Bosnia and Herzegovina. They have trampled the UN Charter, they bombed a country and carried out a violent secession", Vucic said.

Dacic: EP resolution another example of enormous hypocrisy (N1)

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said Wednesday that the European Parliament (EP) resolution objecting to Serbia’s nonalignment with the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy is just another example of enormous hypocrisy, N1 reports.

At the same time, Dacic says, the EP failed to mention the fact that Kosovo is refusing to implement the Brussels Agreement, signed under the auspices of the EU.

Are not the Brussels Agreement and the Community of Serb Municipalities a fundamental element of the European foreign policy, asked Dacic, adding that there is talk about the territorial integrity of Ukraine, while calls are being made to violate Serbia’s territorial integrity.

Before “lecturing” Serbia on “failure” to align with the EU foreign policy, the EP should align with the fundamental principles of international law regarding the protection of the territorial integrity of world states, “unless it thinks Serbia has no right to international law“, Dacic said.

“Hypocritical to the very extreme,“ Dacic told Tanjug, referring to resolution.

The European Parliament adopted Wednesday a resolution on the implementation of the EU foreign and security policy that, in the part relating to Serbia, reads that Belgrade needs to align with the EU's foreign policy. It also said further negotiation chapters should open only in case of full alignment and strengthened committment to reforms in areas of democracy and rule of law.

EP resolutions are not legally binding for EU members states or institutions.

Hill: Serbia itself should decide what standards it needs (Tanjug, Nedeljnik)

Serbs should resolve the problems of Serbia, because Serbia itself should decide what standards it needs, Tanjug news agency quoted US Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill as saying in an interview for a weekly magazine Nedeljnik.

We all have to be more careful not to set Serbia with certain standards and then threaten it if it fails to conform to them, Hill added.

He also said the US and Serbia have a long enough common past to call it long-term relations, that in the future they have to do much more than they did in the past, adding they will have to overcome some elements from the past and find out what it is they want to do in the future.

Dacic met Botsan-Kharchenko (media)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic received Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko on Wednesday to discuss current bilateral affairs.

The parties exchanged views on the most significant topics of mutual interest, economic cooperation and further cooperation in the international arena, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

They also discussed cooperation in culture, science and education, as well as potential activities and events that would mark 185 years since the establishment of Serbia-Russia diplomatic relations, the statement said.

Lawyer: Calling someone who was not convicted a war criminal is a criminal act (KoSSev)

The fact that Pristina officials, the opposition, analysts, and even Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti earlier, referred to Oliver Ivanovic as a war criminal is a criminal act, lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic told KoSSev portal. He also stressed that all of them are referring to a person who was never convicted.

On January 21st, 2016, Oliver Ivanovic was sentenced to nine years in prison for “war crimes“ committed in 1999. He was tried according to a joint indictment which included retired colonel of the Serbian MIA, Dragoljub Delibasic, Ilija and Nebojsa Vujacic, as well as Aleksandar Lazovic, all of whom were acquitted.

In February 2017, the Kosovo Appellate Court returned the proceedings to a retrial, and the verdict was never finalised because Ivanovic was killed on January 16th, 2018. Ivanovic was also charged with crimes from 2000 but was acquitted of those charges.

Vlajic argued that “Oliver was sentenced to nine years in prison for one offence, and for the other, he was acquitted and the Appellate Court confirmed it, and sent him back for a new trial only for this one offence. The judgement by which he was convicted was revoked, he was not convicted in any proceedings and he must be viewed as innocent.“

International

Kosovo License-Plate Issue Flares Up Again With Ban On Cars With Kosovar City Abbreviation (RFE)

Kosovo has turned away cars with what it says are illegal Serbian license plates issued after December 2022, Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said on January 18, accusing Serbia of violating an agreement reached in November on the contentious issue.

Svecla confirmed that some cars with the KM abbreviation, which stands for the city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, on their license plates were denied entry into Kosovo on January 18 because they were re-registered in December.

The November agreement said Serbia was to stop producing these license plates, and, according to Kosovo officials, re-registering existing ones.

"Serbia has breached the November 2022 accord on car plates. [Kosovo's] Police Border Directorate has recently discovered cases of cars with illegal plates renewed by Serbian authorities as late as December 2022. As a result, entry into Kosovo was denied," Svecla wrote on Twitter.