UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, July 25, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

UNDP Kosovo publishes Public Pulse Brief 26 (media)
Bislimi: Serbian PM tells EU there is no Basic Agreement for them (Koha)
Police arrest suspect for violence against KFOR troops in Zvecan last year (RFE)
Rexhaj: Bridge over Iber river will be opened soon (RTV21)
SafeJournalists calls on VV MPs to stop smear campaign against media (media)
Bislimi: Unemployment rate decreased to 10.7% in 4th quarter of 2023 (media)
Guterres appoints Milbert Dongjoon Shin as deputy head of UNMIK (media)
Osmani travels to Paris for opening ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympics (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Petkovic to Bislimi: Pristina to fulfill agreements and form CSM (Kosovo Online)
Edward Ferguson: Britain shares Belgrade's concern for the Serbian community in Kosovo (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, Euronews Srbija, media)
UNDP’s Public Pulse: Serbs in Kosovo express a high level of insecurity (Kontakt plus radio, KiM radio)
Nenezic: Decisions of Kosovo Government step toward ‘formal round-up of police occupation of north’ (KoSSev)
Stosic: Pristina is denying Serbs right to handle documents in their native language (Kosovo Online)
UNS: Worrisome degree of professional standards violation at RTK (Radio KIM)
Weekend houses visited by the inspection at Gazivode, eight people invited to document their ownership within 7 days (KoSSev)
Qelaj: Svecla’s visit to north after EU Council’s decision on visas – meaningless (Kosovo Online)
Mitrovica North residents on Svecla’s visit: Provocations, people do not feel safe (Kosovo Online)

International:

International connections in the fight against femicide (Kosovo 2.0)
Promised Land: Hope and illusion characterise Kosovo’s love affair with Albania (BIRN)

Humanitarian/Development:

Balkan Countries Eye Potential Medals at Paris Olympics (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

UNDP Kosovo publishes Public Pulse Brief 26 (media)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kosovo published the 26th edition of the Public Pulse Brief in a media conference held today.

The Public Pulse opinion poll highlights people’s perceptions on socio-economic, political, and security issues. The data for this Brief was collected from 17 April to 7 May, 2024, reflecting the opinion of over 1,300 respondents covering all thirty-eight municipalities, encompassing both urban and rural areas, and engaging all Kosovo communities.

Some of the main findings of the opinion poll include:

The data shows that on average 50.1% of the people are satisfied with the work of key Kosovo central institutions.

Satisfaction with the work of the Executive Cabinet was recorded at 53.3% while satisfaction with the work of Prime Minister was recorded at 58.3%.

Satisfaction with the work of the Assembly stood at 52.10%, while satisfaction with the Speaker of the Assembly was recorded at 64.4%.

Satisfaction with the President was recorded at 69%.

The satisfaction rate with the Courts stood at 27.1% and with the Prosecutor’s Office at 26.5%.

Poverty (16.6%), unemployment (16.3%) and prices for essential supplies (12.7%), were recorded as the top three major issues. Healthcare services (7.8%) and environment (5.6%) complemented the top five major problems.

For Kosovo Albanians, the top three major issues were unemployment (16.8%), poverty (16.6%) and prices for essential supplies (12.8%). For Kosovo Serbs, poverty (15.2%), urban space problems (13.8%) and interethnic relations (13.3%) were the top three major issues, while for other Kosovo communities, the top issues were poverty (19.5%), electric energy supply (14.2%) and urban space problems (11.1%).

A total of 83.2% percent of respondents reported feeling safe from violence and crime when on the street. Data disaggregated by gender showed that 83.4% of men and 82.9% of women feel safe when out on the street.

Data disaggregated by ethnicity showed that a larger number of Kosovo Albanians (85.3%) and other Kosovo communities (83.2%) compared to Kosovo Serbs (31.9%) felt safe when outside on the street.

60% of respondents believe that employment in the private sector is gained based on merit, compared to gaining employment in the public sector, for which only 32% of respondents claimed the same.

An increase in both the Democratization Index (DI) as well as the Economic Confidence Index (ECI) was recorded in the latest opinion poll with the DI currently standing at 1.62 and ECI at 1.21.

27.3% of respondents declared that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the economic direction, whereas 36.33% of respondents declared that they are very satisfied or satisfied with the political direction Kosovo is presently heading towards.

On average, 19.9% of the respondents perceived that large scale corruption is present. Kosovo Police with 12.40% was perceived as the least corrupt institution, followed by international organizations with 13.70%.

For 65.3% of the respondents, information through media is what shaped their perception on large scale corruption. 26.8% of the respondents claimed that conversation with relatives is what shaped their perception, whereas 6.3% of the respondents claimed that personal experiences shaped their perception.

Ethnically disaggregated data showed that a total of 81% of other Kosovo communities, 76% of Kosovo Albanians, and 54% of Kosovo Serbs were likely to vote if elections were to be held soon.

A total of 10.9% of respondents fully believed and 40.9% of them believed that the Agreement on the Path to Normalization of Relations between Pristina and Belgrade will positively affect the life of people. Data disaggregated by ethnicity showed that 52.9% of Kosovo Albanians and 51.6% of other Kosovo communities had a positive outlook on the Agreement, as compared to 25.7% of Kosovo Serbs.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/C122q

Bislimi: Serbian PM tells EU there is no Basic Agreement for them (Koha)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and chief negotiator in the EU-facilitated talks in Brussels, Besnik Bislimi, said in a post on X on Wednesday that Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has made it clear to the European Union that for Serbia there is no Basic Agreement. “Serbia’s PM asking EUSR & EEAS: What else is needed to convince you that for Serbia there is no Basic Agrmt? That their participation in the dialogue is faked just to avoid eventual sanctions? How many more drafts of sequencing plans we need before revealing the truth to all member states?” Bislimi wrote. See more at: https://t.ly/Yw77C

Police arrest suspect for violence against KFOR troops in Zvecan last year (RFE)

Kosovo Police said on Wednesday that they arrested a suspect in the region of Mitrovica South in relation to the attack against KFOR troops in Zvecan in May last year. Police later confirmed that the arrested person is Dusan Drobac.

Rexhaj: Bridge over Iber river will be opened soon (RTV21)

MP from the ruling Vetevendosje Movement, Arber Rexhaj, told the TV station that the main bridge over the Iber River in the north will be opened soon but he did not mention a specific date. “The issue of the bridge is resolved, and we cannot have dialogue over dialogue, or an agreement over an agreement. The bridge will be opened very soon. It is a matter of the assessment by the security institutions, it is not a matter of time, but a matter of assessment. I don’t think [the opening of the bridge] will cause tensions because Kosovo’s institutions will be very careful,” he argued.

SafeJournalists calls on VV MPs to stop smear campaign against media (media)

Most news websites cover a statement issued by SafeJournalists which notes that following the airing of an article from a Bosnian media outlet “Slobodna Bosna” (English: Free Bosnia) on Kosovo’s Public Broadcaster main news edition, where they accused Kosovo media (Nacionale and Periskopi) of being “controlled by Serbia and Vucic”, MPs and officials of the ruling party Vetëvendosje Movement have initiated an online smear campaign against Kosovo media. This campaign is not only directed towards media and media owners but has also escalated to online smear campaigns and hate speech targeting journalists. This includes influential individuals and citizens who comment on these posts.

The “Slobodna Bosna” article relies on sources and statements from a controversial figure named Boban Bogdanovic, who identifies as a Serbian political dissident. Salih Zyba, Dimal Basha, Dejona Mihali, and Adnan Rrustemi have publicly criticised the media by referencing the “Slobodna Bosna” unprofessional article without enough valid arguments and facts.

Initially, this campaign targeted specific media outlets but later escalated into threats against all media operating in Kosovo. Furthermore, MP Adnan Rrustemi has called on the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate Kosovo media to find out whether Serbia is funding online media platforms in Kosovo. In addition, in an interview unrelated to the topic, Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu claimed that she has informed the Prosecution about this situation and expressed her belief in RTK as a credible source of information.

Chair of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo – AJK, Xhemajl Rexha claims that the situation is really serious. “We have been facing on and off accusations from the ruling party Vetevendosje Movement for years now, but the situation is getting worse by day. The MPs from the political party of PM Kurti, are using a piece, with no authors, with sources only and which comes from neighboring Bosnia to accuse Kosovan media as working for Serbia and Vucic.” In addition he added that “This series of hateful campaign is that dangerous, that we really fear for the safety of our colleagues from both outlets, Nacionale and Periskopi. We will hold Vetevendosje, Kosovo Government and PM Kurti responsible if anything happens to them”

Berat Buzhala, journalist and owner of NACIONALE online portal claims that “During these 24 hours, we have witnessed an organized campaign by the government, the ruling party, and the director of RTK who are attacking two online portals based on a speculative article produced in another country, without any evidence.” Additionally he said “The campaign against NACIONALE is funded by Vucic and puts the lives of every worker in our company at risk. Such a direct attack by the government towards the media has never taken place in these 25 years of freedom.” While Ilir Mirena of Periskopi similarly claims that what differs the recent attack on Periskopi and Nacionale from other attacks is that for the first time the government used the public broadcaster, RTK, to attack other media outlets with unverified news. “The serious allegations published in the article and video by the public broadcaster and disseminated by officials of the ruling party represent a call for public denigration, endangering the physical safety of our journalists. Any future attack that jeopardizes the physical safety of our staff will be considered directly instigated by the ruling party, Vetëvendosje Movement, led by PM Albin Kurti”, he added.

The SafeJournalists Network strongly condemns the smear campaign launched by Vetëvendosje Movement, as well as the dissemination of such “news” attacking other media outlets on Kosovo’s Public Broadcaster RTK. We urge PM Kurti to condemn this smear campaign and distance himself from these baseless accusations. Moreover, we encourage the affected media to pursue legal action against those responsible for making such serious accusations, including the primary sources behind them.

The SafeJournalists Network will inform relevant national and international actors about this case.

Every attack on journalists is an attack on the public interest, democracy, and the rights of all citizens.

Bislimi: Unemployment rate decreased to 10.7% in 4th quarter of 2023 (media)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said in a post on X on Wednesday that according to data from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, the unemployment rate has decreased to 10.7% in the 4th quarter of 2023, from 11.8% in the same period of the previous year. “Kosovo is projected on the right path in economic development, through promising results for the future ahead,” he argued.

Guterres appoints Milbert Dongjoon Shin as deputy head of UNMIK (media)

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Wednesday the appointment of Milbert Dongjoon Shin of the United States as his new Deputy Special Representative for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). He succeeds Barrie Lynne Freeman of the United States, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed his gratitude for her dedicated service with UNMIK. Mr. Shin brings to the position 30 years of wide-ranging experience in international peace and security, international law and human rights, including in the field. Since 2022, he has served as Chief of the Rule of Law and Security Institutions Section in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Prior to that, he was Chief of Legal and Analysis Strategy and Chief of Investigations in the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD) in Iraq. Previously, he was Chief of the Justice and Corrections Section in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). He has also served as Chief of the Political Affairs Section in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), and earlier in his career, in UNMIK as Legal Adviser. In addition to his assignments with the United Nations, Mr. Shin worked with the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C., and was consultant to several multilateral and non-governmental organizations.

Osmani travels to Paris for opening ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympics (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Wednesday that upon the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, she is traveling to Paris for the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympics. “I’m excited to support Team Kosova and our incredible athletes as they proudly compete on the world stage. Alongside fellow leaders, I will also participate in other official activities in honor of the Olympics,” Osmani wrote in a post on X.

Serbian Language Media

Petkovic to Bislimi: Pristina to fulfill the agreements and form the CSM (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic told the first vice-president of the Kosovo government, Besnik Bislimi, who accused Serbia of not implementing the Basic Agreement, that Pristina should fulfill the signed agreements and form the ZSO instead of spinning and deceiving the public, reported Kosovo Online.

Petkovic stated via the "X" social network that Belgrade is fully committed to fulfilling its obligations.

"Instead of Besnik Bislimi spinning and deceiving the public, Pristina should fulfill the signed agreements and form the CSM (ZSO). Belgrade is fully committed to fulfilling its obligations from the Ohrid Agreement in accordance with the clearly stated red lines, and that is not in question," Petkovic wrote.

Edward Ferguson: Britain shares Belgrade's concern for the Serbian community in Kosovo (Tanjug, Kosovo Online, Euronews Srbija, media)

The positions of Serbia and Great Britain are not the same when it comes to Kosovo, but there are things on which the two countries have the same opinion, including the necessity of normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina and concern for the Serbian community in Kosovo, said British Ambassador to Serbia Edward Ferguson.

"We agree, for example, that we need to see progress in the normalization of relations between Belgrade (and Pristina) and the solution of some problems that can lead to escalations and tensions and that can damage the stability, political reputation, and economic trajectory of Serbia," said the ambassador for Euronews Serbia.

Ferguson says that Great Britain also shares great concern for the Serbian community living in Kosovo and states that during a visit to northern Mitrovica and Gracanica in November, he met people who are under pressure.

"I visited them in November, I was in northern Mitrovica, in Gracanica and I met a community that is under pressure, they feel stress and we want to find ways to reduce tensions, to improve dialogue," he says.

As he added, Great Britain always makes it clear that it does not want any unilateral moves by any side, either Belgrade or Pristina, which could lead to escalation. However, the situation on the ground is different, he added.

"We clearly say that we are not happy and satisfied because of some things that the authorities in Pristina have undertaken, such as expropriation, as well as some other things that we have clearly said that we are not satisfied with and that they do not even fit into the Kosovo legal system. We have also seen incidents like the attack in Banjska, when in September a group of people with illegal weapons killed a policeman, started shooting... Therefore, both sides should constantly make efforts to find a way to reduce tensions, so that everyone can return to dialogue," he said among other things.

UNDP’s Public Pulse: Serbs in Kosovo express a high level of insecurity (Kontakt plus radio, KiM radio)

The latest "Public Pulse" research presented by UNDP shows that only 31.9% of the members of the Serbian community in Kosovo feel safe when they are on the street.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Kosovo today presented the results of the 26th edition of the public opinion survey called "Public Pulse" at a press conference. The survey, conducted from April 17 to May 7, 2024, included the views of over 1,300 respondents from all thirty-eight municipalities, including urban and rural areas and all communities in Kosovo, reported Kontakt plus radio.

One of the key findings of the research relates to the sense of security within the Serbian community in Kosovo. According to the results of the survey, only 31.9% of Kosovo Serbs feel safe from violence and crime when they are on the street. This is a significantly lower percentage compared to 85.3% of Kosovo Albanians and 83.2% of members of other communities who express a sense of security.

In addition to security issues, the survey showed that poverty (15.2%) is the most important problem for the Serbian community, while the problems of urban space (13.8%) and inter-ethnic relations (13.3%) are also highly ranked among the challenges they are facing.

"For Kosovo Albanians, the top three issues were unemployment (16.8%), poverty (16.6%) and prices of basic supplies (12.8%). For other Kosovo communities, the main issues were poverty (19.5%), electricity supply (14.2%) and problems of urban space (11.1%)," the UNDP announced.

Health services and the environment also ranked highly among the challenges.

When it comes to corruption, 19.9% of respondents believe that large-scale corruption is present, with the Kosovo police enjoying the highest trust as the least corrupt institution with 12.4%.

According to research data, an average of 50.1% of citizens are satisfied with the work of key central institutions. The highest satisfaction was expressed towards the president - 69%, while satisfaction with the work of the courts (27.1%) and the prosecutor's office (26.5%) was significantly lower.

"For 65.3% of respondents, information through the media shaped their perception of large-scale corruption. 26.8% of respondents claim that talking with relatives is what shaped their perception, while 6.3% of respondents claim that personal experiences shaped their perception," the announcement states.

Ethnically disaggregated data show that a total of 81% of other Kosovo communities, 76% of Kosovo Albanians and 54% of Kosovo Serbs are likely to vote if elections are held soon, it added.

A total of 10.9% of respondents fully believe, and 40.9% believe that the Agreement on the path to the normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade will have a positive impact on people's lives.

"Data broken down by ethnicity showed that 52.9% of Kosovo Albanians and 51.6% of other Kosovo communities have a positive attitude towards the Agreement, compared to 25.7% of Kosovo Serbs", it states, among other things.

Nenezic: Decisions of Kosovo Government step toward ‘formal round-up of police occupation of north’ (KoSSev)

“First you seize something and give it for use, and then afterwards, after almost a year, you make a regulation that regulates it”, this is how legal expert Dragutin Nenezic commented on the latest decisions of Kosovo Government, KoSSev portal reported.

“All in all, the north today is under some sort of police occupation”, he added.

On Wednesday, at the 214th session, Kosovo Government unanimously adopted a proposal to amend the Administrative Instruction on the methods and procedures for leasing real estate and movable property that has been seized and confiscated. The proposal regulates the right of the Agency for Administration of Sequestered or Confiscated Assets to lease confiscated property – free of charge, if requested by a public institution. This is exactly what happened with Milan Radoicic’s villa on Lake Gazivode, which was confiscated after the conflict in the village of Banjska last September. At the same session, a request was also adopted to transfer the plots of land in the cadastral zones of Jasenovik and Cecevo, administered by the Forestry Agency to Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Yet another step towards police occupation of the north

Nenezic told KoSSev it is clear that this is about continuation of the process, which started by expropriation, and that is legalization of police bases in the north of Kosovo.

“This time their job is certainly easier, because this is most probably about forests administered by the Forestry Agency, but I do not exclude the possibility that due to lack of harmonization between cadastral records, perhaps by this decision they could indirectly expropriate properties owned by private owners. In any case, yet another step towards formal round-up of police occupation of the north”, he said.

Commenting on the decision related to confiscated assets, in this case, villa of Milan Radocicic, Nenezic emphasized the particular attitude Pristina demonstrates when it comes to the north.

"Here, I am primarily interested in how the apologists of the rule of law act when it comes to the north. First, something is taken away and given for use, and then later, after almost a year, a regulation is passed that regulates it. Certainly, everything that was confiscated after Banjska, including this property but also Rajska Banja Spa Complex, was actually handed over to the police forces, as the bearers of force in the north, so this is just a formality. The bottom line is that the north is passing into the hands of the police, first de facto, now formally, first with expropriation, now with confiscation of property", Nenezic pointed out.

Resistance in the north broken

Nenzic further explained that the north is under “some sort of police administration” now, and sees both those decisions as models to legally formulate and implement that police administration. At the same time, he opined that the situation would not change in recent times.

"Like everything that current (Pristina) authorities do, there are a lot of legal glitches and flaws, which open up the space for it to be challenged in court, to say the truth within the narrow and often unfair framework of Kosovo judicial system. Unfortunately, the mood among Serbs now is such (none) that there is almost no one to raise voice and legally fight against this, and I think this is the biggest tragedy - that the resistance for which the north was known - has been broken, and that, both by the violence of Pristina and inaction of Belgrade", he told KoSSev.

Stosic: Pristina is denying Serbs right to handle documents in their native language (Kosovo Online)

By not selecting Serbian notaries, the message to Serbs in Kosovo is that there is no place for them in these institutions or their rights, Slobodan Stosic, Program Manager of Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC), told Kosovo Online. He explained that notaries will authenticate documents for Serbs in the Albanian language, which many of them do not understand.

"This is problematic not because all the notaries are Albanians, but because, by law, a notary can work in the language they speak, which means that in practice, all these notaries will authenticate documents in Albanian, a language that the minority community, namely the Serbian community, mostly does not understand", Stosic said.

He explained that Serbs in the north previously had to seek services from notaries in South Mitrovica and that only one of them worked with the Serbian community and accepted documents in the Serbian language.

"When he retired, that practice was abolished, which means that I don't expect anything different in the north. It is very likely that documents will be required in Albanian, and documents that are authenticated or notarized will also be in Albanian. This is just the beginning of many difficulties for the Serbian community in the north as well as in other municipalities", Stosic said.

He added, besides the problems Serbs will face, this move by the Pristina authorities will further deepen the gap between institutions and non-majority communities as well as increase mistrust.

UNS: Worrisome degree of professional standards violation at RTK (Radio KIM)

Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and its branch in Kosovo (DNKiM) warned of worrisome reporting of Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) which during the recent period on two occasions extended an apology and expressed regret over content published on this public broadcaster, Radio KIM reported.

UNS recalled that on July 22, RTK in the news published the information from the article of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlet “Slobodna Bosna” in which some Kosovo media are accused of “being controlled by Serbia and Vucic”.

UNS recalled that after the Steering Board of RTK made decision to establish commission which would clarify editorial responsibility over publication of this article, the RTK director Rilind Gervala also spoke out saying he considers “Slobodna Bosna” to be a serious media outlet, welcomed commission that would clarify the editorial responsibility but also said that “RTK can not become an anxious media, walking on the tips of its toes in order not to bother someone”.

UNS recalled RTK reporting on March riots anniversary this year when RTK published the same fake news from 20 years ago, that three Albanian boys drowned in the Ibar River “while running away from the group of Serbian young men”.

This information was a trigger for March pogrom in 2004, during which 19 people were killed, 4.000 Serbs expelled, 39 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries destroyed and desecrated.

Upon reaction from UNS and decision of 50 RTK 2, program in Serbian, employees to distance themselves from this disputable article, RTK amended it, adding it was “unintentional technical journalist error, for which they apologize”. However, the amended news did not include the fact that March 2004 violence was directed against the Serbs. UNS once again underlined it is necessary that the Serbian community in line with international acts and Kosovo Constitution has the right and should establish an independent public service channel in Serbian language.

Weekend houses visited by the inspection at Gazivode, eight people invited to document their ownership within 7 days (KoSSev)

Eight owners of weekend houses on Lake Gazivode received a summons yesterday to report to the police station and bring proof of ownership of the property and the land they use. They received the calls because of the suspicion that they had built the houses on public land, it was confirmed to KoSSev.

In fact, inspectors from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure visited a total of nine weekend houses on the right side of Lake Gazivode yesterday.

In one of them they found a person whom they interviewed and asked for documents, and in the remaining eight there were no people.

"Inspectors went to the field and visited nine weekend houses along the right side of Lake Gazivode, which are suspected to have been built on public land. In one they found one person, and in eight there was no one. We don't know if this person had the necessary documentation on the ownership of the land, but only for the other eight, mentioned persons, invitations were sent to document the ownership," said the deputy commander of the KP for the North, Veton Elshani.

"They don't have to take the documents to Pristina, they can bring them to the Police Station in Zubin Potok, and then we will pass it on to the inspectors who will deal with them. The mentioned persons should deliver them within seven days," specified Elshani.

Qelaj: Svecla’s visit to north after EU Council’s decision on visas – meaningless (Kosovo Online)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) MP and former director general of Kosovo police Rashit Qelaj said the visit of Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla to Mitrovica North was meaningless, following decision of the EU Council to lift visas for Serbian Coordination Directorate passport holders in Kosovo, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“Visit to Mitrovica North with long-barreled weapons and an attempt to convince people there is law there”, Qelaj said.

“To me the visit of the internal affairs minister to the north is meaningless, given that Kosovo suffered a strong blow related to the decision of the EU Council to lift the visa regime for Serbs in Kosovo, holders of Serbian passports. For people in the Government this makes no sense and I do not know how they can go out with populism, to go there and try to divert attention from the blow we received from the EU”, Qelaj said.

On July 24, Svecla accompanied with Kosovo Administration Minister Elbert Krasniqi, escorted by the special police members armed with long-barreled weapons, visited one of the cafes, near the main Ibar River bridge in Mitrovica North. Asked by a journalist what was the reason for his visit, Svecla responded that he came to have coffee, as his entire life is “official”.

Mitrovica North residents on Svecla’s visit: Provocations, people do not feel safe (Kosovo Online)

Informal visits of Kosovo ministers to the north of Kosovo have become frequent. Yesterday, ministers Xhelal Svecla and Elbert Krasniqi visited a café near the main Ibar River bridge in Mitrovica North, escorted by heavily armed members of Kosovo special police. Mitrovica North residents Kosovo Online portal spoke with said they perceive such visits as provocations.

Suvi Do resident compared their visits with his everyday occurrences in this village. “You see it is a mere provocation. There are lots of provocations in Suvi Do village as well. They come with vehicles and motorbikes and force their engines all the time”, he said. His co-resident said she feels both sorry and upset because of the Kosovo ministers’ visits.

Another Mitrovica North resident told Kosovo Online that because of these visits Serbs do not feel free in their own town.

“I also think this is a sort of provocation. I do not understand why they need so much escort when they come here to sit, there are lots of uniformed personnel and those in plain clothing. People in the north do not feel free {…}”, he told the portal.

International

International connections in the fight against femicide (Kosovo 2.0)

The call of “not one more” echoes from Kosovo to Mexico.

In April 2024, after two femicides in the preceding week, President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani declared a day of mourning “in remembrance of all the women and girls murdered in Kosovo as a result of gender-based violence.” Protesters and human rights groups in Prishtina and other cities called for justice for the two women, all those who have been killed and those who could be.

Members of Kosovo-based human rights groups, including Leonida Molliqaj, Executive Director of the Center for Information, Critique and Action (QIKA) advocacy group, have repeatedly voiced concerns about the number of underreported cases of gender-based violence and femicide. Women in Kosovo who experience forms of gender-based violence have little confidence in the authorities, given the constant lack of accountability for offenders.

A 2023 Amnesty International report concluded that women in Kosovo who turn to the police in cases of economic, psychological and physical abuse are often not taken seriously and, in some instances, even encouraged not to report them. The report featured several interviews with survivors of domestic abuse and examined their interactions with the local police. One woman from North Mitrovica recalled that the police “told me there is no such thing [as economic abuse]. They also said that my husband had the right to deny me financial support because he was the one working and making money in the family.”