UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, July 31, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: During the war in Kosovo, Serbia's strategy was to hide the crime (RTK)
Election date to be known today? Osmani to meet leaders of political parties in afternoon (Telegrafi)
Bislimi: Cooperation with Sinani will be inseparable (RTK)
KIJ: Kurti and Bislimi did not have proactive approach to report to Assembly about dialogue (Klan)
UK ambassador congratulates "Sunny Hill" team for dealing with global issue of violence against women (Klan)
Haradinaj: In my time, Radoicic fled from Kosovo, in Kurti's time, he became a factor (ekonomia)
IRI: Kosovars mostly watch television to get information (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

Petkovic: UNESCO's objective assessment about the danger of Serbian monasteries in Kosovo (NMagazin, Beta, Kosovo Online, Kurir)
Milivojevic: From words to move to deeds, A/CSM should be the first and previous issue (RTS)
Transfer of Command at KFOR RC-WEST (N1)
A Serbian citizen arrested at Jarinje on suspicion of possessing forged Kosovo documents (N1, KoSSev, NMagazin)
SNS official says early elections possible (N1, Beta, TV Pink)

Opinion:

Under Rama, Albania is failing on almost every score (Balkan Insight)

International:

Serbia: Fresh protests threaten EU-backed lithium mining plan (euronews.com)
Balkan Countries Turn Blind Eye to Growing Loneliness (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: During the war in Kosovo, Serbia's strategy was to hide the crime (RTK)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, the strategy of the Serbian state was to hide the crime by hiding the corpses.

"This strategy is still active. Milosevic's heirs in Belgrade, once collaborators and today politicians at the head of the Serbian state, refuse to open the archives to reveal the locations of the mass graves," Kurti wrote on Facebook.

According to him, based on the agreement reached on May 2 last year in Brussels, Kosovo has repeated the request for the opening of the archives in Serbia.

Election date to be known today? Osmani to meet leaders of political parties in afternoon (Telegrafi)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani today will host the representatives of the political parties. The meeting is expected to take place at 14:00 hours, and the topic of the discussion will be the date of the parliamentary election.

In the letter she wrote to Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the president stated that regular elections should be held in the period from January 26 to February 16, 2025.

Political parties have already confirmed their participation.

From the Vetevendosje Movement, the deputy leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, Glauk Konjufca, is expected to be present at the meeting with Osmani.

Participation in the meeting has been confirmed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

Meanwhile, a few days ago, the expert on the electoral process, Eugen Cakolli, said that the regular parliamentary elections can be held in the period from the end of January to the middle of February 2025.

"The only dates of the regular elections that the President can discuss with the political parties at Wednesday's meeting are January 26, February 2, 9 or 16. The president has until mid-November at the latest to set one of these dates", he asserted.

He added that "the elections, earlier than in January, may be premature - after the dissolution of the Assembly (with 2/3 of the votes) or the fall of the government (through motions or the resignation of the Prime Minister)".

Bislimi: Cooperation with Sinani will be inseparable (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has congratulated Ardita Sinani for being elected mayor of Presheva. On the social network "Facebook" Bislimi wrote that with Sinani the cooperation will be inseparable, and Albanians will now have the opportunity to recognize positive and tangible changes for Presheva.

"In the last elections, Presheva elected Ardita Sinan as the head of the municipality, whom I congratulate for starting to take office. The citizens there showed a clear political will and the model by which they want to see their municipality being governed", he wrote.

He added that ‘it is essential to guarantee the protection of human rights and to improve the socio-economic and political conditions for all Albanians in the region. Only through joint efforts will we be able to overcome the challenges and build a better future for all.’

KIJ: Kurti and Bislimi did not have proactive approach to report to Assembly about dialogue (Klan)

The Kosovo Institute for Justice (KIJ) has published the report for the Assembly of Kosovo for the spring session.

The report issued to the media, stresses lack of the proactive approach of Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi to report on the developments in the dialogue

"The lack of reporting by a prime minister to the parliament about the dialogue between his state and another state represents a deep lack of transparency, accountability and democratic control of institutions. In the situation when a prime minister does not present to the parliament details on the negotiations, a gap is created in the communication and accountability of the government", the report states.

The report also mentions that during this session, two important laws were submitted to the Constitutional Court to evaluate their constitutionality: the Law on the Prosecutorial Council of Kosovo and the Law on the Independent Media Commission.

"The Assembly of Kosovo ignored the remarks and comments of civil society regarding the adoption of the Law on the Independent Media Commission. With regards to this draft law the KIJ report shows that the constitutionally guaranteed independence of the Media Protection Council (MPC) has been threatened by its dependence on the ruling party. The new law on the MPC was approved without support of the opposition, with criticism from international partners, the media, and civil society, ignoring the standards of public consultation and politicizing this institution, which was supposed to protect democracy and media freedom in Kosovo", says the report.

UK ambassador congratulates "Sunny Hill" team for dealing with global issue of violence against women (Klan)

The Ambassador of Great Britain in Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, has said that he welcomes the fact that the "Sunny Hill" festival has highlighted the global issue of violence against women and girls. He said that this issue and the work on it interests him a lot.

"We must continue to work together to raise awareness, fight stigma and support survivors of gender-based violence," said Hargreaves.

Haradinaj: In my time, Radoicic fled from Kosovo, in Kurti's time, he became a factor (ekonomia)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has said that during his government, the Serbian terrorist, Milan Radoicic, had fled from Kosovo, while the opposite is happening with the current government.

"Radoicic fled from Kosovo during my government, the police went to arrest him and did not find him there and never returned. During the time of that government, Serbian List and Radoicic have been very careful in their actions. At that time, the army of Kosovo, the statute of Trepca, was created. With the arrival of Kurti in government, Radoicic turned into a powerful threatening factor for Kosovo, so you can see the difference", Haradinaj said.

IRI: Kosovars mostly watch television to get information (Klan)

Kosovars massively follow television to get information from the political and other fields, reports the International Republican Institute (IRI).

According to IRI, 61% of Kosovars have admitted that they follow television for political information, while about 33% answered that they get information from social networks.

Serbian Language Media

Petkovic: UNESCO's objective assessment about the danger of Serbian monasteries in Kosovo (NMagazin, Beta, Kosovo Online, Kurir)

The Director of the Office of the Government of Serbia for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, assessed that the decision of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to keep four Serbian monasteries in Kosovo on the list of world heritage in danger was made on the basis of objective assessments of the political and security situation in the field.

Petkovic stated for today's Kurir that, if the monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) are high on the UNESCO agenda, it provides "additional protection against destruction, damage or usurpation".

"The Patriarchate of Pec, Visoki Decani, Gracanica and Bogorodica Ljeviska are the four most beautiful Serbian Orthodox monuments and living places of faith in Kosovo and Metohija, but despite the fact that UNESCO is zealously concerned about their fate, almost daily attacks on other Serbian holy places and property of the SPC in Kosovo and Metohija pass under the radar of the world public," he claims.

According to him, the fact that UNESCO sees the political situation on the ground as a reason for continuing to provide protection to those monuments "speaks enough in favor of where the source of the problem is".

"The existence of firm guarantees for the safety of Serbian cultural heritage and the smooth functioning of Serbian places of worship will continue to be one of our key demands in the process of normalizing relations with Pristina," added Petkovic.

Milivojevic: From words to move to deeds, A/CSM should be the first and previous issue (RTS)

Former diplomat Zoran Milivojevic, a guest on RTS's Morning Program, said that the assessment has matured that the Association/Community of Serbian municipalities is still a prior issue and that without solving that issue, the dialogue cannot continue in a positive sense.

"It is necessary only to move from words to deeds. Therefore, this attitude should also produce action by those power centers that have influence on the Pristina side, that the Community of Serbian municipalities should be the first and foremost issue," said Milivojevic.

Solving the A/CSM issue, he reminds, is a prerequisite for Belgrade to continue any kind of serious dialogue in the future. It is important to recall this because of personnel changes in European institutions.

"It is very important that the new team starts with it so that we can return to dialogue, because there is no alternative to dialogue and a political solution," said Milivojevic.

Transfer of Command at KFOR RC-WEST (N1)

KFOR said that a new commander took over its Regional Command West at a ceremony in Camp Villaggio Italia outside the town of Pec.

“A ceremony marking the transfer of command at the Regional Command West of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) was held at Camp Villaggio Italia, between the outgoing 1st Bersaglieri Regiment of the Garibaldi Brigade and the incoming 62nd Infantry Regiment of the Aosta Brigade,” a press release said adding that KFOR commander Major General Özkan Ulutaş and the Italian Deputy Ambassador to Kosovo, Ugo Ferrero were present as well as KFOR Deputy Commander, Brigadier General Federico Bernacca.

Ulutas said the 1st Bersaglieri Regiment was committed in support of KFOR’s daily efforts towards a safe and secure environment for all communities while outgoing Regional Command West chief Colonel Francesco Ferrara said his troops were tirelessly engaged in their duties over their 6-month deployment.

A Serbian citizen arrested at Jarinje on suspicion of possessing forged Kosovo documents (N1, KoSSev, NMagazin)

A citizen of Serbia was arrested last night at the Jarinje crossing, after he displayed, as suspected, false documents of the Kosovo ministry during the control - at the checkpoint on the Kosovo side, the police confirmed for KoSSev. The incident happened last night at 9 pm.

As reported by KoSSev, the man allegedly showed, as suspected, a forged document of the Kosovo Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning at this crossing - during the cargo transport control.

The police did not provide any further details, except that this man was subsequently detained.

At the same time, the vehicle was taken to the customs terminal in southern Mitrovica and a case of "document forgery" was opened due to, as they explain, "security and weight".

SNS official says early elections possible (N1, Beta, TV Pink)

A senior ruling party official said on Wednesday that the Serbian government is planning on a four-year term in office but that early elections could happen.

Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Executive Board chief Darko Glisic said the party does not want to hang onto the government’s mandate if that runs counter to the will of the people.

He said that a change of circumstances and change of public opinion can’t be excluded. “We are thinking about a full term, but we’ll see. If the circumstances are that we have to win again, we will win convincingly,” he told the pro-regime TV Pink.

Opinion

Under Rama, Albania is failing on almost every score (Balkan Insight)

In per capita terms, Albania has received more international assistance to fight corruption, develop independent civil society and media and strengthen good governance than any other country in Central and Eastern Europe. Yet the results in all three sectors are shockingly weak.

At first glance, Albania looks like it is developing fast, with major investment in construction, infrastructure and tourism. Scratch the surface, however, and one finds many characteristics of an authoritarian state.

Albania suffers from state capture, weak civil society, politicised media, a fragile judiciary and a broken opposition more committed to shielding its leaders – Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta – from prosecution than offering a serious alternative to the ruling Socialists.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, known for his love of the spotlight and a dress sense that mixes Matrix and Muammar Gaddafi, wields absolute power.