UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, July 18, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti on killing of Serbian policeman: Case should not be politicized (media)
Osmani before EPC summit: Kosovo, success story, model of democracy (media)
Kurti: Iber Bridge opening would help people, economy, and trade (media)
Palokaj: Opening of Iber Bridge would quickly return EU penalty measures (Koha)
Gervalla: Opposition will suffer fatal defeat in elections (EO)
Kurti on ex-KLA soldier arrest: In contact with North Macedonia govt (media)
Safe Journalists: Stop malicious campaign against independent media in Serbia

Serbian Language Media:

Serbian border police officer killed in Loznica, another seriously wounded, search for suspected attacker from Kosovo underway (RTS)
Dacic on killing of Serbian police officer, possibility of it being terrorist attack (N1)
Petkovic: Svecla with his statements confirmed who the only threat to peace and stability in Kosovo is (Tanjug)
Vucic meets with Starmer (Tanjug)
26^th anniversary of murders and kidnappings of Serbs and Roma in Orahovac municipality marked (RTS, Kosovo Online)
Dacic: We expect that North Macedonia will extradite Blerim Ramadani to Serbia (Kosovo Online, RTS)
Serbian Democracy establishes boards in Zubin Potok and Zvecan (Radio KIM)
Haziri: Claims Serbia is readying for war unrealistic, serve to Kurti for internal political consumption (Kosovo Online)

Opinion:

Yugo-nostalgia overlooks Albanians (Kosovo 2.0)

International:

Serbian police officer shot dead near Bosnian border (RFE)
Inaction on air pollution means Serbians, Macedonians ‘pay with their health’ (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti on killing of Serbian policeman: Case should not be politicised (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that Kosovo’s security mechanisms are gathering information about the killing of a Serbian policeman in Serbia and for which a person from Kosovo is suspected. He said that people should follow the press releases issued by the Kosovo Police institutions about the case. “The information that you mentioned, I received the same information this morning. I don’t have any additional information to share, but the security mechanisms are gathering information and I would ask you to closely follow press releases issued by the Police, the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry. I expect them to make professional statements, because we believe this issue should not be politicised, but treated from the security, legal and professional aspect,” Kurti told reporters in Pristina.

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the following statement today: “dear citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora through the Liaison Office in Belgrade is closely following developments regarding the claims of Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic about an incident on the highway near Loznica in Serbia, claiming that a Serbian policeman was killed and that a citizen of the Republic of Kosovo was involved in the case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora will keep the public informed about the case and appeal to people from the diaspora and citizens of Kosovo to be increasingly careful while traveling through Serbia and according to the assessment of the situation to avoid traveling through Serbian territory”.

Klan Kosova quotes an unnamed source from Kosovo’s judicial institutions as saying that Faton Hajrizi, who fled from Smrekonica prison in Kosovo on July 6, is believed to have been in the car from which a Serbian police officer was killed and another was wounded on the night between Wednesday and Thursday in Serbia.

Citing Serbian media, news websites in Pristina report that Serbian Police found at the site of the incident a passport belonging to Artan Hajrizi. The father of the two brothers told Nacionale news website today that Faton had taken his brother’s passport but that he has no more information about it. Artan meanwhile told Dukagjini today that he is in Germany and denied any involvement in the killing of the police officer in Serbia. He said that his brother had stolen his identification documents. “I am in the German police in Hanover. I have reported that my documents were stolen,” he said. “He took my documents. I left my wallet on a table in the hallway along with my keys and everything, and my brother was staying with me”. He made the same claims in another interview with Insajderi.

Osmani before EPC summit: Kosovo, success story, model of democracy (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said today that she is delighted to represent Kosovo at the fourth summit of the European Political Community, “and even a greater pleasure to be in the United Kingdom, a country with which we’re celebrating 25 years of an excellent relationship since the British forces entered our capital city to liberate Kosovo from a genocidal regime”.

Osmani said that “the EPC has always been an excellent platform that gives everyone an equal voice and each and every one of the countries that you will see here is a founding member of this platform”. “So even though we [Kosovo] are not a member of the European Union, we will have an equal opportunity to express not just concerns but also ideas on how we can overcome some of the greatest challenges that our continent is facing. As you know these are not easy times, not the least because of the war in Ukraine, because of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which is endangering the security architecture of the entire European continent. But at the same time, it is an excellent opportunity to remind ourselves that there are success stories like the Republic of Kosovo which showed that back in 1999 the west had the high ground and Kosovo is the proof. And now the west once again has the high ground and Ukraine tomorrow will be the proof. It is very important that we stand united and defend the values of democracies from the malign forces such as Russia, but it is as important to fight against Russian proxies, because they are as dangerous as Russia and Putin himself,” she argued.

Osmani said that a lot of people that she will be meeting today “gave a contribution to make sure that today Kosovo is not only free, sovereign, and independent, but also it is an embodiment and an excellent example of democracy. And it really shows what democracies can achieve when they stand together, unified, and they make sure that they are in the frontline against tyrannies and genocidal regimes. And I believe that despite of the pessimism that we sometimes hear in these kind of summits, today is going to be a today when we will hear a lot of optimistic stories, and Kosovo and this relationship that we have with the United Kingdom is truly an embodiment of such a great example, and such a success story which we need to tell over and over again, especially in the sight of Russia’s constant propaganda that NATO does not deliver, that the west does not deliver, that democracies do not deliver. Kosovo is an example that it does. When we stand united on the values that are the very foundation of our countries, we of course are once again inspired by such examples, and I think it’s going to be important to make sure that we stand together that we defend these success stories but also take them as an example on the challenges that we are facing today”.

Osmani said that who will be the next President of the United States does affect relations with the rest of the world however that is a decision for the people of the United States to make. “Kosovo has been blessed to always have the bipartisan support of the United States of America. We became free during a democratic president, but we became independent during a republican president. And in every administration, we had the outstanding support of the United States of America. Let’s not forget that U.S. soldiers, alongside UK soldiers, are helping us defend our country. They are putting their lives on the line, together with our own soldiers. And we will always have this great gratitude for these contributing countries, and the United States of course has led the world into making sure that we defend freedom, liberty, and democracy. And we will continue to stand together with the United States and the United Kingdom of course and the European Union in making sure that Kosovo remains a success story,” she said.

Kurti: Iber Bridge opening would help people, economy, and trade (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that the opening of the Iber Bridge would help people regardless of their ethnicity, and also the development of the economy and trade. He said it is meaningless why only the Iber Bridge is closed for vehicle traffic. “This [the opening] would not be against anyone, but rather to help the citizens, goods, and capital. It would help people on both sides of the Iber regardless of their ethnicity, and it would also help trade, economy, and cooperation. There are three bridges and only this one remains closed, this is meaningless. This bridge too should be left open. In the past Brussels called the full opening of the bridge as a symbol of normalization,” he said.

Palokaj: Opening of Iber Bridge would quickly return EU penalty measures (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, in an interview with KTV on Wednesday, said that according to diplomatic sources, even if a decision was made to fully remove the EU penalty measures against Kosovo, the eventual opening of the Iber Bridge would bring back the measures. He argued that there is growing mistrust of Kosovo's authorities. “According to diplomatic sources, the skepticism toward Kosovo’s authorities has grown because the opening of the Iber Bridge was mentioned and the moment that the EU and U.S. would decide to lift the measures, they would quickly reimpose them. Formally they are not related to the dialogue, but in the EU there is never one reason for an action, but there are several other reasons that are not mentioned in public,” he argued.

Asked to comment on a statement by Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla about Kosovo not noticing the EU penalty measures, Palokaj said if the statement is accurate then it is irresponsible. “If he said it that way, then it is a very irresponsible statement by a member of the government. The Ministry of Interior Affairs perhaps doesn’t see the consequences. It is more generalized. Kosovo does not have access to IPSA funds and the consequences are very grave for Kosovo. Therefore, if he said it that way then it is an irresponsible statement because Kosovo has grave consequences from the measures, but if he meant that Kosovo does not understand what is happening with the removal of the measures, then he is right to say that because it is really meaningless for the measures to be in place even after more than a year,” he said.

According to Palokaj, the EU has an equal approach toward Kosovo and Serbia and that “there are many things that the EU does not speak on clearly. Therefore, in circumstances where the measures against Kosovo are kept in force and there are no measures against Serbia, there is disbalance in the EU’s approach and this makes more difficult the role of the EU in the process of dialogue as an unbiased facilitator”.

Gervalla: Opposition will suffer fatal defeat in elections (EO)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, said today that there will be no early general elections in Kosovo this year. She argued that the opposition is aware that they will suffer an even greater defeat compared to the previous elections. “This is why there will be no elections in September. Elections will be held in the regular timeline, namely in February next year. Autumn is going to be politically hotter than summer, because we will show more than what we have shown so far, our achievements, our vision, and third preparations for elections,” Gervalla said.

Kurti on ex-KLA soldier arrest: In contact with North Macedonia govt (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that Kosovo’s institutions are in continuous contact with the government of North Macedonia over the arrest of a former KLA member, Blerim Ramadani, on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia. Kurti said that Ramadani is now in detention in North Macedonia. “Our Ministry of Justice and other authorities are communicating with the government of North Macedonia, in order to find out more about the Kosovo national who is being held in detention there,” he said.

Safe Journalists: Stop malicious campaign against independent media in Serbia

The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) shared on Wednesday a statement by the Safe Journalists, which it co-signed, calling for the stop to the malicious campaign against independent media in Serbia. The statement notes that “yesterday, three TV stations with national coverage broadcasted a manipulative video by an unknown author in which the independent critical media, above all the N1 television station, are accused of dehumanizing the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, ‘in order to create an excuse tomorrow for some mentally unstable person, who would tried to do what Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to do to Donald Trump’. The video begins with clips from the documentary film “The Ruler” that was broadcast on N1 television, in which the participants state the qualities they see in the President of the Republic, and continues with the presentation of various content from the Internet: anonymous threatening statuses on social networks and videos from protests; and certain contents that were published in critical media were taken out of context and presented as threats to President Vucic. The same video was shared by pro-government tabloids on their internet platforms, which during 2023 published at least 628 offensive texts against critical media, according to the Slavko Curuvija Foundation. Although the authors of the disputed video are unknown, it is clear that it is a synchronized and well-organized campaign against independent media, which was also accepted by the ruling structures through frequent commenting and quoting of the disputed video. As a result, N1 already received serious threats yesterday. Similar campaigns have been launched before. Television N1 was also targeted, and earlier this year, as an example of heavy targeting, an unscrupulous campaign was conducted against journalists Ana Lalic Hegedis and Dinko Gruhonjic, who received hundreds of threats and insults and whose safety is still at risk”.

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

Serbian Language Media

Serbian border police officer killed in Loznica, another seriously wounded, search for suspected attacker from Kosovo underway (RTS)

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said last night that in Loznica one police officer was killed, while the other one was seriously wounded. Strong police forces are looking for the suspected attacker. As RTS reported, police found on the spot a passport of the suspect, issued by Pristina authorities, under the name Hajziri Artan (1991). His photo is also published by the Serbian media as per request of the police.

RTS further reported the injured police officer was admitted to the hospital with perforating wounds in the back and shoulder and is currently in stable condition.

The incident happened in Loznica town, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, last night one hour after midnight, when police officers stopped the vehicle with Tutin (Serbian) registration plates with two persons being inside, Serbian Ministry of Affairs said in a statement.

While exiting the vehicle one person shot from a pistol and hit police officer Nikola Krsmanovic (1990) in the chest, and the other one Vjekoslav Ilic (1974) in the shoulder and then fled. Both police officers had been sent to the hospital in Loznica, where Krsmanovic succumbed to his injuries. Krsmanovic was born on March 6, 1990. He was a police officer in a station of Trbusnica, and employed in the Serbian Interior Ministry since 2009. He completed secondary police school in Sremska Kamenica, and in the period from 2012 to 2023 was a member of the Gendarmerie Unit in Belgrade. He was unmarried, without children, survived by his father, mother and sister with a family. Dacic extended condolences to the family of the murdered police officer. Meanwhile, President Aleksandar Vucic and Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic also extended their condolences to the family of the murdered police officer.

Dacic on killing of Serbian police officer, possibility of it being terrorist attack (N1, RTS)

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said today in relation to the killing of one Serbian police officer and wounding of another one that there is suspicion “it is about a terrorist attack and organized attempt coming from Kosovo and Metohija from Albanian structures”, N1 reported. “This cannot be coincidence and organized crime prosecution will deal with it, because police officers were attacked while on duty”.

Dacic also said the driver of the vehicle was identified as Mithat Hadzic from Tutin and he was providing transport to the people. He picked up the person who shot at police officers in Presevo. “There is no information about entry of this person to Serbia, at any border crossing points or across an administrative line”, Dacic said.

“We are determining the facts and verifying if it is the person whose documents we found or was it his brother. It could be about false identity. German police are contacted. His brother escaped from prison in July. He killed a Russian soldier. I think this can not be by chance, and that act was organized”, Dacic said.

He added that all those assisting the attacker in any way will be arrested, and that the Serbian Interior Ministry contacted police in Republika Srpska in case the attacker crossed the Drina river and fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Petkovic: Svecla with his statements confirmed who the only threat to peace and stability in Kosovo is (Tanjug)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said today Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla’s latest threatening messages directed against Serbian people in Kosovo and Belgrade, once again confirmed who the only threat to the peace and stability in Kosovo is, Tanjug news agency reported. As Petkovic said while initiatives for dialogue and peaceful resolution of all problems are coming from Belgrade, Pristina day after day more openly rattles weapons and invokes the war, the statement added.

“So-called Kosovo security forces have nothing to do in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, same as Pristina police which do not belong there, carrying out terror in four Serb-majority municipalities, day after day. Let Svecla stop threatening and provoking the conflict, because any sane person realises that peace has no alternative and that our region can not afford yet another cycle of hatred and destruction”, Petkovic said.

He added Svecla said no word about a Serbian police officer being killed while on duty in Loznica by suspected attacker an Albanian from Kosovo, but he is “the first one calling for conflict and spreading propaganda about some sort of inexistent Serbian threat. The only threat to peace and stability in Kosovo and Metohija are separatists and extremists in Pristina, and Svecla proved himself as being the most extreme among them”.

Vucic meets with Starmer (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with UK PM Keir Starmer before Thursday's European Political Community (EPC) summit, thanking him for hosting the important conference, Tanjug news agency reported.

"I thanked our host Keir Starmer for hosting this important summit. In a time of great turbulence and uncertainty, it is important that Europe be united in a sincere wish for peace, progress and preservation of shared values", Vucic wrote in a post on his official Instagram account.

"It is only in that way that a better future can be ensured to all peoples", he added. Vucic is attending the fourth EPC summit at Blenheim Palace near London.

26^th anniversary of murders and kidnappings of Serbs and Roma in Orahovac municipality marked (RTS, Kosovo Online)

With memorial service held in Velika Hoca 26^th anniversary of kidnappings and murders of Serbs and Roma in Orahovac and nearby villages committed in July 1998 was marked. During the commemoration it was said that crimes committed 26 years ago must not be forgotten, and perpetrators must be held responsible and face justice, RTS reported.

The crimes of KLA started with terrorist actions one year prior to armed conflict and NATO bombing of the-then Federal Yugoslav Republic (SRJ) and the first victim in this area was Jugoslav Kostic from Retimlje village, kidnapped on July 11, 1998 from his working place and taken to unknown direction.

Until July 22 of that year, in the armed attacks of KLA on Orahovac and surrounding villages, seven Serbs were killed and more than one hundred Roma and Serbs were taken to KLA prison camps.

The biggest attack took place on July 18, when five men were killed, and 35 kidnapped and went missing. Entire Serbian population from the villages of Retimlje, Opterusa and Zociste was expelled and today is marked as Remembrance Day for the victims of Albanian crimes in the area of Orahovac municipality.

Mortal remains of a total 40 victims were found in Volujak cave in April 2005, and 12 more in a mass grave in Malisevo, near Orahovac in May 2005.

Coordinator of the Missing Persons Resource Center Negovan Mavric asked to shed light on the destiny of missing persons and those responsible to be brought to justice. “In 95 percent of those cases the perpetrators are known, we are asking to shed light on the destiny of missing persons and perpetrators to face justice”, Mavric said.

Dragica Mavric lost 16 members of her family, kidnapped by KLA members, and her uncle killed on the doorstep. “My pain is harrowing, for my brother, my entire family, I have no one any more, they took away all the men from my family, dragged my ill father on the road. These people were guilty of nothing. Is that fair?”, she asked.

Dacic: We expect that North Macedonia will extradite Blerim Ramadani to Serbia (Kosovo Online, RTS)

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said today he expects that North Macedonia will extradite to Serbia, former KLA member Blerim Ramadani, arrested in the region of Tetovo, as per Serbia’s warrant.

“It happens often that states arrest someone and then do not extradite that person. If one truly wants to fight against war crimes, if there are documented charges and indictments, then we of course expect that they are extradited to be held responsible for their crimes”, Dacic told RTS.

Ramadani was former KLA member for Nerodimlje zone, that is known for expulsion of several hundreds of Serbs from urban parts of Urosevac, and villages of Nerodimlje, Krajiste, Veliki and Mali Alas, Slatina, Goles, Pomazatin, by setting Serbian houses on fire, destruction of churches, kidnappings and murders of several dozen of Serbs and persecution of the Serbian population from municipalities this zone entailed.

Serbian Democracy establishes boards in Zubin Potok and Zvecan (Radio KIM)

On July 15 and 17, Serbian Democracy established two municipal boards, one in Zubin Potok and the other one in Zvecan, and opened the offices there, Radio KIM reported.

Serbian Democracy said in a statement both offices will be available and in service of people following the summer break. Danilo Maslak was elected chair of the board in Zubin Potok, while Zoran Obrenovic was elected chair of the board in Zvecan.

“As of September we plan to establish municipal boards in other municipalities with Serb majority in Kosovo, due to a large number of requests from people, in particular from Strpce and Gracanica”, the statement of Serbian Democracy said.

They added this way they wanted to instil hope among the people that it is worth living and remaining in Kosovo.

Haziri: Claims Serbia is readying for war unrealistic, serve to Kurti for internal political consumption (Kosovo Online)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Vice President Lutfi Haziri said that everyday claims of current authorities in Kosovo that Serbia in Novi Pazar and surroundings centres is getting ready for a war and to enter the north of Kosovo serve more for internal-political consumption rather than representing a realistic threat to Kosovo security, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“Every time we go out and disturb people with such information, and at the same time publish video recordings of people swimming at Gazivode lake is in contradiction with what happens in reality. Because if there are security threats, then there are measures and limitations those responsible know how to assess and make. But this kind of attitude in the public with a source of information that Serbia is reading in Novi Pazar, in part of Sandzak, or in 42 or 72 different centres around Kosovo, is more for internal consumption, than a real threat to security in Kosovo”, Haziri told RTV Dukagjini.

Opinion

Yugo-nostalgia overlooks Albanians (Kosovo 2.0)

Opinion piece by Arber Gashi, founder of the digital platform Balkanism and co-founder of the Balkan London Collective.

Anti-Albanian sentiment persists, even in diaspora communities.

I was confused and extremely uneasy the first time I heard a non-Albanian using the term “Šiptari.” I was a child in the early 2000s, just after the Kosovo war, and was shocked to hear it used with the intention to offend on some Serbian reality TV show. That use differed considerably from how “Shqiptar” existed in my cultural context. The term is an endonym we ethnic Albanians use in our language to refer to ourselves simply as Albanian.

Hearing “Šiptari” used this way exposed me to much more than just a derogatory term. I came to learn that this term existed in a broader Yugoslav historical context where anti-Albanian sentiment was commonplace, embedded in stereotypes, racializations, orientalisms and forms of cultural appropriation.

As a researcher on Albanian identity and the former Yugoslavia, I have found anti-Albanian sentiment to be a consistent plague before and during in all eras of Yugoslavia, from the interwar period to Josip Broz Tito’s Yugoslavia and of course, the 1990s, when the Kosovo Albanian population’s entire existence was threatened. This anti-Albanian sentiment, however, continues to persist today, affecting Albanian communities both in the Balkan region and in their diasporas.

A history of dehumanization

Dehumanization of Albanians predates the Yugoslav state, as demonstrated in part by the works of Karl May, a German author who wrote wild tales about supposed Albanian savages in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many officials in the early Serbian state echoed such perspectives, referring to Albanians as a “wild tribe” with “cruel instincts.”

Jovan Cvijić, a Serbian geographer and ethnologist, stated in the late 19th century that “there is a general consensus that the Albanians are the most barbarous tribes of Europe.” Vladan Ðorđević, prime minister of Serbia from 1897 to 1900, claimed that Albanians were “modern troglodytes” who were “bloodthirsty, stunted, animal-like” and reminded him of “pre-humans who slept in trees.”