UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, June 6, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: I don’t believe they can repeat Banjska; they’ll try something else (media)
Osmani: We protect and keep Kosovo safe together with our allies (media)
Konjufca: EU wants to forcefully take competencies from Kosovo on Association (Koha)
QUINT, EU and OSCE react to government for expropriations in the north (media)
Rohde: Soon there will be decisions to unblock the situation (media)
Korenica denies group of VV MPs planning to form a new party (media)
Police report on findings at houses of two arrested for espionage (media)
Konjufca on espionage arrests: I’m sure there are more similar cases (media)
“The two arrested, part of agenda to deny the Recak massacre and fabricate a Yellow House” (Gazeta Express)
Gjini: Serbia doesn’t want Association, but a border on Iber (media)
Catalonian party calls on Spain to recognize Kosovo (RFE)
Guillou resigns as judge at Kosovo Specialist Chambers (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Quint, EU and OSCE: We regret the decision of the Government of Kosovo to finalize the expropriation in the north (Kosovo Online, KiM radio)
Under the pretext of preventing smuggling, the KP destroy the property of Serbs in the village of Banje (KiM radio)
Caslav Jolic's defense attorney an optimist, if tried based on the evidence (KiM radio)
Petkovic: Kurti is only ready to terrorize the Serbian people (RTV, Tanjug, Kosovo Online)
UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is a key document for Serbia in maintaining its territorial integrity (Kosovo Online)
Gerxhaliu: If I didn't know that the IMF report was about Kosovo, I would have thought that it was about Japan or Switzerland (Kosovo Online)

International:

Kosovo’s judiciary to treat organized crime and corruption cases more vigorously, OSCE Mission report says (osce.org)
OSCE questions efficiency, quality of Balkan organised crime, graft trials (BIRN)
“We were here and we will always be here” (Kosovo 2.0)
Seminar on Advancing the Rights of the Roma and Ashkali Communities in Kosovo held in Pristina (eeas.europa.eu)
As Palestine recognitions grow, Balkan states’ stances shaped by geopolitics (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: I don’t believe they can repeat Banjska; they’ll try something else (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview with A2CNN that Serbia continuously makes threats against Kosovo “and we don’t know when they will try to materialize them”. “I don’t believe they will try to repeat in Banjska in the near future. They will try to do something else with the same objective but in a different way. They learned the lesson on September 24. The majority of criminals fled from the north of Kosovo. They are multimillionaires in Serbia because they are members of organized crime. The war criminals from the 1990s became criminals of peace in this century and now they want another war that can serve as a safe haven for them, because criminals want war,” Kurti is quoted as saying.

Kurti said that Kosovo needs to stay vigilant and prepared and that the armed forces of Kosovo are getting stronger. “In the last three years, we have added 1,852 soldiers in the Kosovo Security Force and 600 new soldiers this year. We are buying anti-tank Javelin missiles from the United States, and we are buying Bayraktar drones from Turkey. In addition to this, we have quadrupled the number of training for soldiers and officers abroad. We have tripled our spending on weapons and ammunition and we have doubled the budget for defense, because there is a real threat from Serbia and oftentimes accompanied by Russia too,” he said.

Osmani: We protect and keep Kosovo safe together with our allies (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met on Wednesday with the commander of NATO’s peacekeeping mission, KFOR, Ozkan Ulutas. “We protect and keep Kosovo safe together with our allies,” Osmani wrote in a Facebook post, without disclosing any details from the meeting.

Konjufca: EU wants to forcefully take competencies from Kosovo on Association (Koha)

The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, has supported today the idea of Prime Minister Albin Kurti that the facilitator of the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, should send the draft statute of the Association to the Venice Commission.

"It is an idea that even I, as chairman, support. The draft has an irregularity because it is not a competence of the EU. If he does not modify this position, then this shows that the EU is trying to forcefully take over the competences from Kosovo for its drafting", said the Speaker of the Parliament.

He added that they are ready to discuss with the EU when the draft of the Association should be ready, but that its drafting should be done by the Kosovo authorities.

As for the relations between the Prime Minister and President Vjosa Osmani, Konjufca said that there is nothing dramatic. "We may have some differences in positions, but when we appear before the international community, we are of one mind and one voice. There is never any political war", he said.

The Speaker expressed his shock and surprise that even after nine months from the attack in Banjska, "there is still no action from justice". "His deed, don't forget, is very serious. He took responsibility for the murder of Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku", said Konjufca.

QUINT, EU and OSCE react to government for expropriations in the north (media)

The Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, together with the EU Office in Kosovo, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission in Kosovo regret the decision taken by the Government of Kosovo on May 30 to finalize the expropriation of over 100 parcels of land in Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo.

Several of our missions had previously shared with the Government assessments from international legal experts, including from the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, indicating that the Government violated its own laws and regulations due to procedural and technical flaws during the expropriation process. We note that the Kosovo judicial system identified similar legal concerns with the preliminary expropriation decision, which the Government has not yet addressed.

Read the complete statement here: https://tinyurl.com/6xne9v5z

Rohde: Soon there will be decisions to unblock the situation (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, met on Wednesday with the Kosovo Assembly Committee for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, and discussed the eventual lifting of EU measures against Kosovo. “We had a good and friendly meeting on current topics, the Council of Europe, the lifting of measures, and I expressed Germany’s position as a closer partner of Kosovo in Europe and we will soon have decisions that will unblock the situation,” Rohde is quoted as saying.

Korenica denies group of VV MPs planning to form a new party (media)

MP from the Vetevendosje Movement (VV), Visar Korenica, said in an interview with TeVe1 on Wednesday that there is no initiative by some VV MPs to form a new movement or political party. “There is no initiative for a group outside the Vetevendosje Movement. As far as my position as an MP, there is nothing in terms of creating a new movement or political party,” he said. Korenica also said that the Kurti-led government has been the best government so far, but also that it could have done more.

Eman Rrahmani, another Vetevendosje MP, said he does not belong to any certain group although he has a different position from the party on certain topics. He also said for the next general election, he will initially look at the government objective and plan and then decide if he will be part of the election list.

Police report on findings at houses of two arrested for espionage (media)

Following an order by the Special Prosecution of Kosovo, the Kosovo Police, together with the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, raided the houses of two suspects arrested on charges of espionage and for cooperating with the Serbian Intelligence Agency. Police said that they found and seized “different documents, computers, telephones, USBs, DVRs, tapes, weapons, ammunition, masks, military gas masks and other evidence”.

Konjufca on espionage arrests: I’m sure there are more similar cases (media)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca commended the Kosovo Intelligence Agency “for their excellent work” in relation to the arrest of two Kosovo Albanians suspected of espionage and cooperating with the Serbian Intelligence Agency. He said he is certain that there are more similar cases.

“Serbia’s objective is the destabilization of Kosovo and creating internal agents in Kosovo among the Albanians with the aim of challenging the state of Kosovo and destroying our institutional structures,” he said.

“The two arrested, part of agenda to deny Recak massacre and fabricate a Yellow House” (Gazeta Express)

Gazeta Express reported on Wednesday about the profiles of two Kosovo Albanians – Bedri Shabani and Muharrem Qerimi - arrested on espionage charges, what they are suspected of, and the way they operated since the 1990s. Citing information from Kosovo’s security mechanisms, the news website noted that the two suspects did not operate as a team but that they had one senior officer, a member of the Serbian Intelligence Agency, born in Ferizaj.

According to the information, “one of the suspects tried to distort the truth about the massacre in Recak and tried to fabricate a ‘Yellow House’ in Kosovo, more specifically in the village of Mollopolc near Recak”. The two suspects are also suspected of having tried to set up an interethnic incident in Kosovo recently.

The news website claims it will publish new evidence in the coming days, including a plan that the two suspects had about William Walker, the U.S. ambassador that told the world about the massacre in Recak.

Gjini: Serbia doesn’t want Association, but a border on Iber (media)

Ardian Gjini, mayor of the municipality of Gjakova, said in an interview with RTV21 on Wednesday that Serbia does not want an Association of Serb-majority municipalities but rather “to divide Kosovo” by having a border at the Iber river. “The Association does not allow it to accomplish that objective. Serbia wants to divide Kosovo on the Iber river,” he argued.

Catalonian party calls on Spain to recognize Kosovo (RFE)

The news website reports that “the Catalonian political party Junts led by Carles Puigdemont addressed the Spanish Parliament with a request to recognize Kosovo’s independence”. The letter by Junts mentions the decision of the International Court of Justice in 2010 which said that the declaration of Kosovo’s independence was not in contravention with international law, and also the recognition of Kosovo by over 100 world countries. “The Spanish refusal to recognize a state that used its legitimate right for self-determination is an obstacle for the European policy of integrating the Western Balkans in the European Union. And this refusal is a destabilizing factor in this region, in a context marked by the war in Ukraine and which this part of Europe experiences with anxiety,” the letter notes.

Read the letter at: https://shorturl.at/RwTNn

Guillou resigns as judge at Kosovo Specialist Chambers (media)

Most news websites cover a press release issued by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers noting that “Judge Nicolas Guillou submitted to President Ekaterina Trendafilova his resignation as Judge on the Roster of International Judges of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC). Judge Guillou’s resignation follows his election as Judge of the International Criminal Court and his assumption of duties there. President Trendafilova congratulated Judge Guillou on his election and expressed her sincere appreciation for his tremendous contribution to the mandate of the KSC through, inter alia, his work as a Pre-Trial and a Single Judge”.

Serbian Language Media

Quint, EU and OSCE: We regret the decision of the Government of Kosovo to finalize the expropriation in the north (Kosovo Online, KiM radio)

The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, together with the EU Office in Kosovo and the Mission of the Organization for European Security and Cooperation in Kosovo, express regret for the decision of the Government of Kosovo made on May 30 to finalize the expropriation of over 100 plots of land in municipalities with the Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo, reported Kosovo Online.

In the statement, they state that several of their missions had previously shared with the Government the assessments of international legal experts, including the European Union Mission for the Rule of Law in Kosovo, which indicated that the Government violated its own laws and regulations due to procedural and technical deficiencies during the expropriation process.

"We note that the Kosovo judicial system has identified similar legal concerns regarding the preliminary decision on expropriation, which the Government has not yet resolved," the statement said.

While some of the plaintiffs' properties were removed from the final decision on expropriation, they state that they regret that the Government of Kosovo did not wait for all open court proceedings to be fully resolved before making this decision.

"It is necessary for the Government to make efforts to ensure that the expropriation activities are in accordance with the law, that the legal procedure is respected and that the rights of property owners and interested parties are fully respected," they said.

In addition, they expressed their concern to the Government that the draft law on expropriation is not in line with the commitments made by Kosovo under the Ahtisaari Plan and encourage the Government to modify the law accordingly before adopting it.

"We encourage the Government of Kosovo to adhere to the rule of law and good governance, as the basis of living, democratic societies. Also, we call on the Government to confirm its commitment to the principles of Ahtisaari, including the protection and promotion of the rights of non-majority communities," they said in the statement.

Under the pretext of preventing smuggling, the KP destroy the property of Serbs in the village of Banje (KiM radio)

In the village of Banje near the Brnjak ABL between Kosovo and Serbia, the Kosovo police dug at least three huge holes and destroyed the roads leading to the residents' properties, reports KiM radio this morning, adding that previously, they have cut parts of forests owned by Serbs, all under the pretext of preventing smuggling.

The last activities of the Kosovo Border Police took place three days ago, when excavators dug a hole several meters in diameter and depth in the forest owned by Rajko Radovanovic. In this way, the road leading to other parts of his property was completely destroyed. The soil was taken away from the place where the hole was made.

"I have fifteen hectares of land that I live from, my forest is all up there, I have no firewood, my fruits are all up there, my gardens are all up there. They say smuggling happened, they came and dug the road and now I can't pass. They say, "we got the order, we have to". They say, "bandits pass". What kind of bandits? There are no bandits here," Radovanovic told KiM radio.

To our question about who does it, Rajko answers - the police.

"There were 30 of them up there, I can't fight alone. I told them, no one passes there, there is nothing, it is only me who goes to my property. Now the grass needs to be cut, and I can't. I have half a hectare of plums".

Radovanovic fears how he is going to spend the coming winter in this hilly region.

"Now I don't even have wood; I don't have anything to feed the cattle in the winter. I have 30 sheep, a cow, I can't have food for winter. I have to sell. I am afraid, I do not have. Cattle can't pass up there''.

Digging in the village of Banje began in the fall through the forest and privately owned properties. Banja residents, mostly elderly, wrote a petition and forwarded it to the Police in Zubin Potok, demanding that the dug holes be filled so that they could move around their plots, but this did not happen.

"The road was dug in the fall. We complained, we went down and to the police. They came, filmed and nothing, but for this (the last one) I didn't; To complain about what, to whom?" adds Rajko.

"Armed to the teeth, they come in front of the houses"

Nada Lazovic faced a similar problem, who explained that the meadows and plum trees were damaged. However, she says, the worst is the behavior of the police.

“A disaster, really. They won't communicate at all. The man tells them that we have property up there, nothing... This is ugly".

When asked how it affects their lives, she says: "Sadness, they came before the house armed to the teeth. We got together, and you can't say anything. They dig relentlessly, demolish there. What does it look like? There is no life here, it is left to say only - 'go away from here''', says Nada Lazovic through tears.

Elshani: Prevention of smuggling and counter-gangs

The Deputy Commander of the Kosovo Police for the Northern Region, Veton Elshani, briefly confirmed that members of the Border Police dug the roads and holes, and that these activities are related to the prevention of smuggling from Serbia and the activities of "contra gangs". He added that residents whose property was damaged can contact the police "in order to find a solution", recalls KiM radio.

Locals: We are powerless, and they demonstrate force

Goran Pantelic from the village of Banje claims that no one passes through these roads, except for the residents of the village.

"Smuggling does not work there. Nobody crosses there illegally. People live here, there are about 15 people, old people in the village. First, that road doesn't connect to Serbia, it's meadows and you can't go any further there, it's a forest", which, he adds, they significantly damaged by logging.

The increased presence of the police, their driving in quads and the constant flying of drones, says Pantelic, disturbs the local population.

"We are powerless, a stronger force, at least that someone can hear, that you can see what is happening here. They want us to give up, and leave from here, that's what they're doing to us. Drone every night, you can't sleep. Armed around the village, they go with rifles, demonstrating force".

Locals explain that all the roads, which the police suspect could lead to Serbia, have been cut off or trees have been thrown on them.

In the village of Banje in the municipality of Zubin Potok, there are close to 30 Serbian houses, however, no one lives in some of them. The village is isolated, so few people have been informed about the problems of the locals and even less dealt with these villagers' problems which have been going on since autumn.

Caslav Jolic's defense attorney an optimist, if tried based on the evidence (KiM radio)

After the closing arguments of the prosecutors and the defense before the Basic Court in Pristina, the lawyer of Caslav Jolic, accused of war crimes against the civilian population, Miodrag Brkljac, said that his expectations regarding the verdict are optimistic if tried based on the evidence, reported KiM radio.

"If we only look at the evidence and if we assess its credibility, if we assess the credibility of the witnesses who were heard, especially the injured parties, then the court should not have many dilemmas about what the conclusion is," said Brkljac.

Brkljac pointed out that the conclusion of the trial would have to come down to the "lack of evidence".

"This man Caslav Jolic, who has been in custody for two years for an alleged war crime, finally had the chance today to say his closing speech and to hear what the special prosecutor has to say against him, and what his defense attorney,'' said Brkljac.

Brkljac pointed out that his client was an ordinary man who has visited Kosovo countless times in the past years.

"He still has a land and a house here today. He came with the intention of selling one plot for which he has a buyer. When he showed up to take out his ID card, he was registered, when he came the next day to pick up his ID card, he was arrested, it's been two years since then. Since then, this painstaking activity and the activity of the defense to prove his innocence has been going on."

He pointed out that the trial was very difficult because it was conducted in the Albanian language, even though his client is a Serb.

"I am a Serb who knows Albanian well, but because of my client and the public, translators had to participate. When working with translators, it is quite frustrating, both because of the poor quality of the translation, and because of the general situation one is going through," he explained.

The verdict to Jolic will be read on June 10.

Petkovic: Kurti is only ready to terrorize the Serbian people (RTV, Tanjug, Kosovo Online)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, said that the only thing PM Albin Kurti is ready for is to terrorize the Serbian people, especially in the north of Kosovo, and that he demonstrates this every day with his violent and unilateral acts.

Petkovic reacted to Kurti’s statement that he was ready to submit the draft Statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities to the Constitutional Court only if Belgrade fulfilled its part of the obligations it had assumed.

As Petković said that “while Kurti has been accusing Belgrade of allegedly wanting unrest in the region for more than two years, it turned out that the only bully and arsonist in the Balkans is Albin Kurti, who, in addition to undisguised violence, prohibits dinar for Serbs, but also the possibility of receiving salaries and pensions in KiM,” stated the Office’s press release.

“With the same obsession with which he has been persecuting the Serbian people for the last three years, he could have devoted himself to fulfilling the obligations from the dialogue and the signed agreements, and the Serbs would have already had the established Community of Serb Municipalities and guaranteed security-which they do not have today, precisely because of Kurti and the rampage of his parapolice phalanxes, shooting and beating of Serbian children,” said Petkovic.

He added that the entire international community saw through Albin Kurti’s intentions to avoid the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities and pointed out that it is impossible for him to lie to all people all the time and to believe that his demagoguery will deceive anyone.

“Belgrade has implemented all its obligations from the dialogue, and the reaction of the Serbian people to years of terror is no alibi for Kurti to avoid his obligations. Equally, as he continued with the illegal expropriation in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, although the cessation of those illegal actions was an obligation in which he swore while hoping for the admission to the Council of Europe, he deceives the public and international representatives that he has the good will to send the draft Statute of CSM to the so-called Constitutional Court,” he said.

He reminded that the formation of A/CSM was in the first six points of the agreement in Brussels and accompanying documents and General Principles from 2015, and that none of Kurti’s preconditions were nor would ever be the basis for its formation, but exclusively serve for avoidance of his obligations.

UN Security Council Resolution 1244 is a key document for Serbia in maintaining its territorial integrity (Kosovo Online)

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 is a key document for Serbia in maintaining its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and preserving Kosovo within its composition. However, the issue is its non-implementation, concluded participants of a roundtable organized on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of this resolution at the Law Faculty in Belgrade.

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and President of Beoforum, Zivadin Jovanovic, noted that the adoption of Resolution 1244 by the UN Security Council in 1999 not only stopped the war and killings but also shifted the Kosovo issue from the battlefield to the realm of political negotiations. For Serbia, it represents a document of the highest importance.

"This document has survived various phases and today it remains the most significant argument for preserving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija. No one can ignore or change that. It shows that there is no higher authority than the decision of the UN Security Council," stated Jovanovic.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/yasntexa

Gerxhaliu: If I didn't know that the IMF report was about Kosovo, I would have thought that it was about Japan or Switzerland (Kosovo Online)

Economist Safet Gerxhaliu said that the latest report of the International Monetary Fund talks about financial stability and that the economic growth presented in this report is not very relevant, reported Kosovo Online, citing Ekonomia online.

According to him, the IMF is more interested in banking stability than in economic development.

"I read the international report on Kosovo and if I didn't see that Kosovo was mentioned, I would have thought this was a report on Singapore, Japan or even Switzerland. It should be understood that the primary mission of the International Monetary Fund is to monitor banking and financial stability or the budgetary aspect and in there are definitely no objections in that direction, but economic growth of 3.9 percent is very relevant and must be taken into account how we manage public money, how many projects there are, whether in the public or private sector, and in this regard, the very fact that we have this inflationary period, we have a wage freeze in the public administration and in the private sector, I believe that such optimism is definitely too much," said Gerxhaliu.

He adds that one should not be too optimistic about such reports.

"The International Monetary Fund presents a report in this way, then the question arises why young people leave Kosovo, why businesses leave Kosovo and why citizens of other countries do not come to live in Kosovo since it is so good, as it was illustrated by the International Monetary Fund," he said.

He points out that in the case of Kosovo, the IMF makes comparisons with weak countries, such as Bangladesh, so it turns out that it is really good.

"We have no reason for optimism, we need partnership, especially political stability. We should not fall for such statements, because Kosovo has many more challenges, and the economy of Kosovo faces greater challenges than the International Monetary Fund and other institutions think, because those who live in Kosovo know Kosovo better than those who write to offices in various European countries," he said.

International

Kosovo’s judiciary to treat organized crime and corruption cases more vigorously, OSCE Mission report says (osce.org)

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 5 June 2024 – The OSCE Mission launched the report “From Paper to Practice- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Judicial Response to serious Organized Crime and Corruption in the Western Balkans” - an analysis of the justice system in Kosovo, as part of a wider regional OSCE project carried out with EU financial support.

Based on the monitoring of 52 organized crime and corruption cases involving 670 hearings held between July 2021 and March 2024, the analysis aims to support Kosovo institutions in addressing the identified shortcomings and adjudicating such cases in line with international and human rights standards.

The report notes positive developments, such as the adoption of the 2021–2026 Strategy on Rule of Law, the approval of the 2022–2024 Strategic Plan for the Effective Solution of Cases of Corruption and Organized Crime, and the signing of a “Joint Statement of Commitment” by key stakeholders in March 2023.

It also notes key concerns, including high acquittal rates, case delays, and poor case management, mainly due to difficulties in the implementation of the Criminal Procedural Code, inconsistent judicial practices, delays in witness examination, and problems with language translation.

The analysis provides a list of practical recommendations to actors in the judiciary based on a review of their performance in four main areas: fairness, efficiency, capacity and judicial tools. Key recommendations include to strengthen transparency, allocate more human and material resources, and improve performance evaluation criteria for judges and prosecutors.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/5n99am8x

OSCE questions efficiency, quality of Balkan organised crime, graft trials (BIRN)

An exhaustive analysis of organised crime and corruption trials in five Western Balkan countries identified a lack of efficiency, staffing, fairness and quality.

Judicial proceedings in cases of organised crime and corruption in the Western Balkans are often inefficient, lack quality and underutilise the possibility of asset seizure, according to a new report by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, based on three years’ of monitoring.

The report presents the findings from the monitoring of 264 cases in five countries – Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina between July 2021 and March this year.

It found that “proceedings are somewhat inefficient, including due to case management and a lack of procedural discipline. Indictments and verdicts can lack quality, and asset forfeiture remains underutilised”.

“Moreover, plea agreements are often not used strategically and rarely secure the forfeiture of illegal gains,” the report said, noting that “effectiveness seems to be hampered by insufficient commitment by relevant justice sector stakeholders”.

“Judicial institutions face material and human resources challenges, especially in terms of specialised experts for financial investigations,” the authors wrote. “Even in jurisdictions with a seemingly sufficient number of judges and prosecutors, resource allocation may be ineffective or inefficient.”