Albanian Language Media:

• Hovenier: We continue to advocate for implementation of all commitments (media)
• “It went very well” source says about meeting at U.S. Embassy (Albanian Post)
• EU comments on Kurti’s recent statement on Association (Reporteri)
• Vetevendosje MPs comment on Association of Serb-majority municipalities (media) 
• Analysts: Association should be postponed; should be part of final agreement (RTK)
• Haxhiu: Our government is uncompromised in fight against corruption (Indeksonline)
• Hoxhaj in Vecernji List slams Milanovic’s statement about Kosovo (Express)

Serbian Language Media:

• American Embassy in Pristina: A critical element for the future of Kosovo is the formation of the ASM (ZSO) (Kosovo Online) 
• The Serbian community was unanimous at the meeting on the ZSO at the US Embassy in Pristina (N1)
• Serbian Government submits proposal to Parliament for special session on Kosovo (N1, FoNet)
• Vucic: Why is only Serbia's territorial integrity not respected? (Tanjug)
• Zeman: We have not derecognised Kosovo, but we never sent ambassador to Pristina (Tanjug)
• Dacic welcomes Croatian President’s “principled” statement on Kosovo (Hina, Tanjug, N1)
• Hill: Formation of ZSO is a legal obligation of Pristina (NMagazin, AP, Beta, TV Pink)
• Drecun: Political maneuvers to adapt the CSM (ZSO) to Pristina's view (FoNet, Danas, RTS)
• Dacic to begin three-day visit to Washington (Tanjug)
• The editor of the show “Pravo na sutra” still prohibited from entering Kosovo (uns.org, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio) 

International:

• Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary Corruption Worsening, Transparency Says (BIRN)

 

 

Albanian Language Media  

 

Hovenier: We continue to advocate for implementation of all commitments (media)

United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, commented on today’s discussion organised by the U.S. Embassy on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. “Today we held a listening session at the U.S. Embassy Pristina, Kosovo on the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities. Grateful to the diverse stakeholders present for sharing their views and expertise. We continue to advocate for implementation of all Dialogue commitments,” Hovenier said.

“It went very well” source says about meeting at U.S. Embassy (Albanian Post)

“The meeting went very well,” a source from the meeting organised by the U.S. Embassy today to discuss the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities told the news website. The organiser was satisfied with the level of representation, the participation of all political parties, and non-governmental organisations, invited to the discussion.

The Kosovo government was represented by six ministers, including the Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu, Minister of Education Arberie Nagavci, Minister for Communities and Returns Nenad Rasic and Deputy Prime Minister Emilia Rexhepi.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was represented by deputy leader Lutfi Haziri and former Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) were represented by their deputy leaders.

The Office of President was represented by Bekim Sejdiu, a legal expert. The Assembly of Kosovo was also represented at the same level.

The source told Albanian Post that the Kosovo government feared that the opposition would not respond to the government’s call to discuss the Association, therefore, the invitation by U.S. Ambassador Jeff Hovenier and the acceptance by the political parties was seen as a very good step forward.

EU comments on Kurti’s recent statement on Association (Reporteri)

The EU commented today on a recent statement by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti who said that it is unfair to use the Association of Serb-majority municipalities as a precondition for talks between Kosovo and Serbia on the EU proposal. EU spokesman Peter Stano told the news website: “The position of the EU on this matter is known: all Dialogue agreements must be implemented without further delay and without condition. This includes the formation of the Association, which is a legal obligation for Kosovo”.

Vetevendosje MPs comment on Association of Serb-majority municipalities (media) 

Several MPs from the ruling Vetevendosje Movement (VV) commented today on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. 

Armend Muja, took to Facebook today to argue that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities is “not for the Kosovo Serbs” and that “it is against Kosovo”. “The Association, in every format, means the territorialization of rights and the instrumentalization of Serbs in Kosovo. It is a request and an objective of Serbia. It is not for the Kosovo Serbs. It is against Kosovo. It does not advance the rights of Serbs. It advances Serbia’s influence in Kosovo. It does not integrate Serbs. It divides and isolates them. Coexistence, not isolation, is a Western value. This is what we have been told the last two decades. This is what we continue to believe to this day,” Muja wrote.

Tinka Kurti argued that “to ask for the Association is the same as asking to reward the barricaders. This means rewarding the barricaders with the Association. Literally in unsafe hands. No weapon has been handed over. Demilitarisation is needed. And then the return of Albanians to the north. This should be the order of things so far.”

Arber Rexhaj argues in a Facebook post that “how can one ask for the Association without the dissolution of criminal structures in the north, without demilitarisation, without the surrender of arms, and without the return of thousands of Albanians to their homes”.

Analysts: Association should be postponed; should be part of final agreement (RTK)

While the United States of America and the European Union are adamant that Kosovo must form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities as soon as possible, political commentators argue that the agreement on the Association should be postponed and that it should be part of a final settlement with Serbia.

The formation of the Association has become a challenge for Kosovo’s institutions, while international pressure on Kosovo is mounting. 

The United States Embassy in Kosovo has organised for today a discussion on the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Gezim Visoka, professor peace and conflict studies at the University of Dublin, said in an interview with Radio Kosova that the agreement on the Association must be postponed and that it should be implemented only when Serbia agrees to recognise Kosovo’s statehood. “When the issue of statehood is not contested, then there can be debates on internal issues in terms of the arrangements of Serb municipalities or a level of a non-territorial autonomy or the review of the current legal and institutional framework for minorities,” he said.

Visoka argues that the Kosovo government can also form an international committee that would review the legal and institutional framework. “Only after an independent committee of experts would come out with a report proving that Kosovo’s current framework is not sufficient, only then can there be discussions about the association. However, in the current circumstances, when Kosovo claims to have the most advanced framework for minority protection in Europe, I don’t think it is productive to look into the possibility of adding a new mechanism such as the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, which has created paranoia, fear, and would further ethnically divide Kosovo,” he said.

Besfort Rrecaj, university professor, said that the formation of the Association could be Kosovo’s compromise, but that everything depends on the competencies it will have. “I think the Association could even be one of the compromises that Kosovo makes in order to reach a final agreement, but then it will also depend on how the competencies of the Association will be defined,” he said.

Arber Fetahu from the Group for Political and Legal Studies, said Kosovo has made enough compromises with the Ahtisaari Plan, and that the agreement on the Association should not be treated separately but as part of a general agreement with Serbia. “Nonetheless, I don’t believe it is good to have conditions for an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo should push for postponing the agreement on the Association and including it in the general agreement. This should be part of the final agreement and not have an agreement on the issue now and then move to negotiations, because Serbia can misuse this and damage the process,” he argued.

Haxhiu: Our government is uncompromised in fight against corruption (Indeksonline)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, welcomed the latest report by Transparency International which ranks Kosovo on the 81 place out of 180 countries in terms of public corruption perception.

“For the second year in a row, Transparency International ranks Kosovo as a state with progress in the fight against corruption. The corruption perception index published today for over 180 world countries places our Republic as 84th with 41 points, the best result we have ever achieved. Our governance with clean hands, without previously fixed tenders, without nepotism, without interferences in the judicial system, is reflected in this global index but also in other international reports. We rejoice in global index reports that place Kosovo in a high position. This is an additional motive for everyone’s engagement in the uncompromised path in the fight against corruption,” Haxhiu wrote on Facebook.

Hoxhaj in Vecernji List slams Milanovic’s statement about Kosovo (Express)

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and former Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said that the statement by Croatian President Zoran Milanovic that “internationals annexed Kosovo from Serbia” should be rejected because it distorts many historical and political truths. “The statement resembles a conclusion of the Serbian Academy or the Serb Orthodox Church rather than a statement by a president of a friendly country of Kosovo such as Croatia,” Hoxhaj said.

“The statement is also against the historical reality in the Balkans that our countries, Croatia and Kosovo, represent. We share the same fate and path from Yugoslavia and the bloody confrontation with Milosevic’s Serbia. Kosovo is an independent state and an irreversible reality, recognised by all democratic countries of the world,” Hoxhaj added.

 

 

 

Serbian Language Media 

 

American Embassy in Pristina: A critical element for the future of Kosovo is the formation of the ASM (ZSO) (Kosovo Online) 

The American Embassy in Pristina expressed its belief, as it states, as the closest friend and ally of Pristina, that Kosovo, working on the formation of the ASM (ZSO), will understand the critical element needed to build the future. 

“As Kosovo's closest friend & ally, we believe that by working to establish the ASM, Kosovo will realize a critical element needed to build its rightful future as a sovereign, multiethnic, and independent country, integrated into Euro-Atlantic structures,'' says the post of the American Embassy on Twitter.

The Serbian community was unanimous at the meeting on the ZSO at the US Embassy in Pristina (N1)

"In the Serbian community, a common message could be heard that the Community of Serbian Municipalities (ZSO) must be formed if they want the integration of Serbian institutions into the Kosovo system, it was emphasized how important they are for the life of the Serbs, that their shutdown could lead to massive emigration. That was more or less everyone's message," Milica Andric Rakic from the New Social Initiative told N1, after a meeting at the US Embassy in Pristina on the subject of the ZSO.

Andric Rakic said that some at the meeting mentioned specific problems with the import of books or medicines, as well as that for the representatives of the Serbian community there was a kind of consensus that it was necessary to form it.

"The majority believes that this is an international obligation of Kosovo and that it means that the Constitution must be harmonized according to the ZSO. They don't think it's a bogeyman because Serbia will also have to change the Constitution, because until now all has been implemented the muscles of one party, but it has not been formalized yet. If Serbia changes the Constitution, then Kosovo must do the same. That is the impression as far as the Serbs are concerned," she explained.

As for the Albanians, according to Andric Rakic, there were diverse opinions, reported N1.

"I would say that the key question of the representatives of the Government of Kosovo was: 'Why is Ahtisaari's plan not enough for you and what more will you get with the Community', with comments that they feel that this is Serbia's request and a way to control the Serbian community in Kosovo. But among civil society and representatives of some other independent institutions, there were some constructive opinions. There were those who started their presentation with the statement, 'The decision of the Constitutional Court means that the ZSO is an international obligation that must be implemented'," said Rakic Andric.

During the meeting at the US Embassy, several dozen citizens gathered in front of the Government of Kosovo in Pristina, protesting the demands of the international community for the formation of the ZSO, recalled N1.

Serbian Government submits proposal to Parliament for special session on Kosovo (N1, FoNet)

The Serbian Government submitted a proposal to the Parliament to convene a special session that would be addressed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who would inform the MPs about the negotiating process with Pristina. At the same time, the Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija report on negotiations of 1 September 2022 and 15 January 2023 has been put in the parliamentary procedure.

The proposal, signed by Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, was submitted to the Serbian Parliament on January 30.

“Although the crisis in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has systematically developed and deepened since 2018, during this reporting period it undeniably reached its ultimate escalation point. The incumbent Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Pristina, without a doubt, bear the sole responsibility for such developments, and since (Kosovo Prime Minister) Albin Kurti’s coming to power, they have been intensifying the systemic discrimination of Serbs, with persistent refusal to implement almost all agreements and their violation,” reads the Office for Kosovo report.

According to the announcements, the Serbian Parliament session will be held on Thursday, February 2. The documents forwarded to the Parliament by the Serbian Government make no mention of the Franco-German, that is, European proposal for resolving the Kosovo crisis.

Serbian Parliament speaker Vladimir Orlic confirmed on Tuesday that a Parliament session at which President Vucic will inform the MPs about the dialogue with Pristina will be held on Thursday, February 2.

US, Italian, French and German envoys, led by European Union (EU) Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, brought to Belgrade and Pristina on January 20 the European proposal for resolving the Kosovo issue. The proposal has not been made public and will probably be the topic of debate in the Serbian Parliament.

Vucic: Why is only Serbia's territorial integrity not respected? (Tanjug)

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Czech counterpart Milos Zeman, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that, to a great extent, they were in agreement on the Ukraine war, and noted that Serbia respected the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but that Serbia's own territorial integrity should be respected, too.

"We are not an EU member state yet, even though we are on the European path, but we are not a member of the North Atlantic alliance either, and 19 NATO countries bombed our country 24 years ago. Those memories are very vivid here - around 2,500 people, including 82 children, were killed then," Vucic said at a press conference with Zeman in response to a query by Czech reporters whether they agreed on the issue of Russia sanctions and on a solution to the Ukraine war.

Vucic noted that Western media had run articles alleging that Serbia was set to attack someone in the region.

A year after the start of the Ukraine war, Serbia has not attacked anyone, Vucic noted.

"No one has said 'sorry' to us, because the pattern of untruths about Serbia is ongoing, and someone must justify their unlawful moves from 1999," he said.

He noted that Serbia respected the territorial integrity of Ukraine, UN resolutions and the UN order.

"Why do others not respect UN SC Resolution 1244?" he asked.

"My question to representatives - the 'fives' , the 'fours', the 'threes' and all those coming to Belgrade: How come you have respect for all UN resolutions, except for the one concerning Serbia's territorial integrity? Then what do you expect from the Serbs?" Vucic added.

Zeman: We have not derecognised Kosovo, but we never sent ambassador to Pristina (Tanjug)

Czech President Milos Zeman said on Monday in Belgrade he had tried to get his country to derecognise Kosovo and that the attempt had been unsuccessful, but that neither he nor his predecessor had consented to Prague sending an ambassador to Pristina.

"I tried to get the Czech Republic to derecognise Kosovo. I would like to remind you that the Czech parliament had called on the Czech government not to recognise Kosovo," Zeman told reporters at a joint press conference with Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic.

Unfortunately, the political situation changed, he said.

"That is democracy, the forces that recognised Kosovo won, and I am not a dictator, but a democratically elected president," he said.

Zeman recalled that neither he nor his predecessor Vaclav Havel had consented to sending an ambassador to Pristina.

Read more at:https://bit.ly/409N26d

Dacic welcomes Croatian President’s “principled” statement on Kosovo (Hina, Tanjug, N1)

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic welcomed Monday Croatian President Zoran Milanovic’s statement that Kosovo was snatched from Serbia, assessing that he showed principled respect for international law.

What Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said that Kosovo was snatched from Serbia, by force and illegally, is true, said Minister Dacic.

In the case of Serbia, international law, which everyone swears by, was most gravely violated, said Dacic, adding that international order, in which the sovereignty of states is untouchable and borders immutable, was destroyed in Kosovo.

Minister Dacic added that he is not getting into whether Milanovic has some internal political reasons for speaking this way about Serbia and Kosovo, but that what he said is the position of the president of a member state of the European Union and NATO, which he welcomes.

Hill: Formation of ZSO is a legal obligation of Pristina (NMagazin, AP, Beta, TV Pink)

The US ambassador in Belgrade, Christopher Hill, said last night that he was very "very satisfied with how Serbia is dealing" with the Franco-German plan for Kosovo, and that the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities was a legal obligation of Pristina and that it "must be done", reported portal NMagazin. 

Hill told Pink TV that the US sees the plan as "the basis of an agreement that is based on a lot of give and take" and assessed that it "will not be easy for anyone".

Asked what the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina means, Hill replied, "it is precisely to achieve a normal situation" and assessed that "for now it is more of a step-by-step process".

"We want to return people to institutions, Serbs to return to institutions, to achieve some level of normality," he said.

He also said that he did not understand why Belgrade did not impose sanctions on Moscow but added that it was up to Serbia to decide whether it would do so.

Drecun: Political manoeuvres to adapt the CSM ( ZSO) to Pristina's view (FoNet, Danas, RTS)

The President of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija, Milovan Drecun, said today that all subsequent proposals for the look of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM), which is clearly defined by the Brussels Agreement, are a political manoeuvre attempt to adjust the appearance of the CSM to Pristina's view, reported portal NMagazin, citing RTS.

There is no continuation of the dialogue and the return of Serbs to the institutions of Pristina until the CSM is formed, and then there is a discussion about the European proposal, Drecun told RTS.

Everything about the Union of Serbian Municipalities is clearly defined by the Brussels agreement and there is no room for any other proposals, especially some non-governmental organizations to which no one has given a mandate, said Drecun.

Drecun said that he considers the statute proposal made by the German non-governmental organization Friedrich Ebert to be an attempt by German politicy to play the Brussels Agreement when it comes to the ZSO.

According to him, the author's text of American diplomats, Derek Scholle and Gabriel Escobar is correct, and it is an interesting opinion that the ZSO is in accordance with the Constitution and that they see no reason why it should not be formed, reported RTS

The community would be an institutional mechanism, which Pristina would recognize, with the aim of protecting the Serbian people, ensuring their safe life and economic development, Drecun said.

There is no membership of Kosovo in the UN, nor do we accept to recognize ''the fake state of Kosovo'', Drecun said about the upcoming parliamentary session on the Franco-German plan and "Serbia's red lines".

Dacic to begin three-day visit to Washington (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic on Tuesday begins a three-day visit to Washington during which he will attend the National Prayer Breakfast event and meet with high-ranking US officials tasked with Western Balkan affairs, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The 3,500 attendees at the National Prayer Breakfast, held annually on the first Thursday in February, include the US president, US Congress members, politicians, military leaders and guests from around a hundred countries.

Dacic will also meet with several US officials including the State Department's special Western Balkans envoy Gabriel Escobar and the US state secretary's senior political counsellor Derek Chollet, the statement said.

The editor of the show “Pravo na sutra” still prohibited from entering Kosovo (uns.org, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio) 

RTS journalist and editor of the show “Pravo na sutra” (Right to Tomorrow) Svetlana Vukmirovic told the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (UNS) that she learned from unofficial sources that her name is on the list of people who are banned from entering Kosovo until further notice, reported KiM radio.

Vukmirovic turned to liaison officer Dejan Pavicevic and former director of the Office for KiM and Serbian ambassador to the US Marko Djuric for help, but she is still waiting for the epilogue.

“I hope that I will be allowed to enter until March, so that I can record a new episode of the show,” she said, adding that the ban on entry prevented her from working.

She said that after she was not allowed to enter KiM twice in December to film a regular episode of the show “Pravo na sutra”, she was forced to change the topic and film the episode in the territory of Kursumlija and Merdare.

“I had to shift to another municipality and work on another topic - about Serbs who fled from Podujevo who are fighting for survival,” she said.

Journalists’ Association of Serbia reminded that Svetlana Vukmirovic has been continuously recording her stories in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija since 1997. From the very beginning, the show “Pravo na sutra” presents the stories of Serbs who remained in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija. Vukmirovic pointed out that no one explained to her why she was not allowed to enter Kosovo and Metohija, but that she believes that the essential reason is because she is showing the life of Serbs in KiM to a wider audience.

“Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija have a ’window to the world’ through the show “Pravo na sutra”. I’m not important here and I’m just someone who does her job responsibly and professionally. However, the background to everything is that I am also the connection that enables Serbs from KiM to make their problems known to the domestic and international public,” Vukmirovic said.

In December, UNS opined the ban on entry of RTS journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to Kosovo as a serious violation of media freedom and emphasized that the international community is obliged to ensure the unhindered movement of journalists, which was not done in this case.

 

International 

 

Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary Corruption Worsening, Transparency Says (BIRN)

Latest Transparency International report on perceived levels of public corruption gives Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia and Albania the thumbs down – but notes progress in Kosovo, North Macedonia and Moldova.

Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia got their worst corruption scores in ten years in the latest Global Perceptions Corruption Index, CPI, which the watchdog organisation Transparency International published on Tuesday.

Lidija Prokic, TI Regional Coordinator for Eastern and South East Europe, said the average CPI score for the Western Balkans was 38, which is less than the global average of 43 and far less than the EU average of 66.

“We see that mechanisms to control corruption in Western Balkan and Turkey still have a long way to go in terms of improvement,” Prokic told BIRN.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, ranked in 110th place (scoring 34 points) out of 180 countries, was the worst-ranked Western Balkan country. Prokic said that there are “a number of alarming issues” in Bosnia, including a lack of judicial independence besides a number of problems noted during the 2022 elections.

“We saw that, for example, business entities that are donating to parties competing in elections are also the business entities getting tenders and jobs and opportunities from those very institutions that these parties are then elected to,” she said.

Next worst in the region are Serbia and Albania, ranked in 101st place with 36 points, together with Turkey. Serbia’s historic low score was attributed mainly “to continued weakening of the rule of law and growing autocracy”. Last year, Serbia was ranked 96th with 38 points. Its highest-ever score, of 42, was in 2013, and it never scored less than 38 until this report.

“One thing that is also very characteristic of Serbia is that we see an enormous number of CEOs in state-owned enterprises who are kept in their acting mandates for extended periods of time,” Prokic said.

“Considering the amount of public funds that these state-owned enterprises have, and the decisive role of CEOs in how these funds are used, that really raises serious concerns and is a serious risk of corruption,” she added.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3wO9SCF