UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, March 5, 2025

Albanian Language Media:

UK Embassy: Respect for rule of law, key feature of Kosovo democracy (Express)
AmCham’s on importance of rule of law and accountability in governance (media)
Kosovo’s request for special guest status at CoE removed from agenda (Telegrafi)
Barduani delivers lecture at Kosovo Leadership Academy in Mitrovica (media)
Mortal remains found in Podujeva, suspected to be of persons missing in war (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic, Dacic call for accountability over incident in parliament (N1)
FM Djuric: Long-standing friendship between Serbia, Burundi (N1)
Pristina’s request for special guest status at PACE taken off agenda (Kosovo Online, media)
Invitation to attend ''lining up of quadrat and quadrant'' in Pristina, what does it mean?! (KiM radio)
Kosovo celebrates Jashari, formal session in Mitrovica North held (KoSSev)
"Fulfill the students' demands and preserve the University of Pristina in the Serbian system,'' says Proactive of the Pristina University relocated in N. Mitrovica (KoSSev)
"15 minutes of silence" tomorrow for the 7th time in N. Mitrovica (KoSSev)

Opinion:

Serbian students stand firm on their demands as Vucic’s regime falters (Sbunker)

International Media:

Report:Turkey and Serbia among Europe’s worst media freedom violators (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

UK Embassy: Respect for rule of law, key feature of Kosovo democracy (Express)

The news website contacted the UK Embassy in Pristina to comment on Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s refusal to appear before the prosecution as a witness in the so-called state reserves case. The embassy said that respect for the rule of law is a key feature of democracy in Kosovo and that the Constitution and legal procedures must be respected. “Respect for the rule of law is a key feature of Kosovo’s democracy. We call on all those involved in the case to act in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo and with respect for legal proceedings and to do what is in Kosovo’s best interest,” the embassy said.

AmCham’s on importance of rule of law and accountability in governance (media)

Most news websites cover a statement issued by the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo which “underscores that the rule of law is the bedrock of democratic governance, economic stability, and investor confidence. A strong and independent judicial system, free from political interference, is essential to ensuring institutional integrity and public trust. The consistent and impartial enforcement of legal norms not only safeguards democracy but also fosters a predictable business environment necessary for sustainable economic growth”.

“Adherence to the legal framework is not only a constitutional obligation but a fundamental prerequisite for good governance and economic development. The Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kosovo explicitly mandates that criminal investigations and prosecutions be conducted lawfully and fairly before competent judicial bodies. The law establishes the duty of public institutions and officials to fully cooperate in criminal proceedings. Any obstruction of justice, including interference in investigations or non-compliance with legal obligations, constitutes a serious violation of the law and weakens the integrity of Kosovo’s institutions”.

“Furthermore, the refusal of any individual—regardless of position—to comply with court orders and legal procedures undermines public confidence in governance and erodes Kosovo’s democratic foundations. The Criminal Code, reinforces the legal consequences of obstructing justice and abusing official authority. Any act that impedes or disrupts judicial processes must be unequivocally condemned, as it threatens the very principles of accountability and transparency”.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/ESba7

Kosovo’s request for special guest status at CoE removed from agenda (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s request for a special guest status has been removed from the agenda of the Policy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The request was supposed to be discussed in today’s meeting. “At the start of its meeting in Paris today, the Policy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to remove from the daily agenda point 5: ‘the request of the Kosovo Assembly for a special guest status,” they told the news website.

The news website also notes that Kosovo failed to become a member of the Council of Europe in early 2024, because it was conditioned to form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Barduani delivers lecture at Kosovo Leadership Academy in Mitrovica (media)

NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that COMKFOR Major General Enrico Barduani, delivered a lecture at the Kosovo Leadership Academy in Mitrovica, with a special focus on the topic of leadership. “During his speech, Major General Barduani underlined the importance of leadership in every aspect of life and highlighted the core values needed for being a good leader. The COM KFOR emphasized that being a leader is not a matter of rank or position, but of mindset and actions. ‘Dear students, the future of this land is in your hands, only you have the power to change things and mindsets, to demonstrate that it is possible to live together, regardless of ethnicity or religion. The International Community is at your side, KFOR is at your side, shoulder to shoulder, as usual. And remember: leadership isn’t just for presidents, generals, or kings. It’s for anyone who chooses to make a difference’ he said.

Mortal remains found in Podujeva, suspected to be of persons missing in war (Koha)

The Governmental Commission for the Missing Persons has announced mortal remains have been found in the village Obranqe, Podujeva municipality, that are suspected to be of persons from the list of the disappeared by force during the war. According to the Commission, the found remains are being examined by experts from the Institute of Forensic Medicine with the aim of accurate identification. “Today, during excavations in the village of Obranqe, the Municipality of Podujeva, the Governmental Commission for Missing Persons in cooperation with the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) and the Kosovo Police, have encountered bones that are suspected to be of persons from the list of persons who disappeared by force during the war in Kosovo. Currently, the found remains are being examined by IFM experts, with the aim of accurate identification. These excavations were carried out based on information that citizens had shared at the end of January, for which we are grateful," the Commission's announcement on Facebook reads.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic, Dacic call for accountability over incident in parliament (N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said on Tuesday that the people behind the incidents in parliament would be held accountable, N1 reported.

Opposition MPs threw smoke bombs and blasted fire extinguishers into the air during Tuesday’s session of parliament. Three women MPs, one of them pregnant, were injured when a number of objects were thrown by MPs on both sides of the hall. According to media reports, a ruling party MP threw an activated smoke bomb back at the opposition, hitting one of the ruling party women MPs.

The first to speak was Dacic who said everyone involved in the incident would be accountable under the law, adding immunity granted MPs would not protect them. “Everyone involved in the incident at the first regular spring session of parliament will answer for their actions in line with the law. We will not tolerate violence ever and every individual must realize the weight of their actions and the consequences they carry”, Dacic said. Under Serbian law, MPs immunity can be lifted by a parliamentary committee.

Speaking live on TV Pink, Vucic said the incident in parliament was “behaviour of bullies and hooligans” and called for criminal accountability of the perpetrators.

“We want accountability, criminal and legal and I’m waiting to see what the prosecution will do and how it will react … if things had been the other way around everyone (in the ruling coalition) we would have been hanged”, he said.

FM Djuric: Long-standing friendship between Serbia, Burundi (N1)

Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric met Tuesday with Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism of Burundi Marie Chantal Nijimbere to discuss the development of bilateral cooperation, N1 reported.

A Ministry press release quoted Djuric as saying that Serbia attaches great importance to the traditionally friendly countries of the African continent, with which it works on strengthening cooperation in areas of common interest.

“The Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his gratitude to Burundi for supporting Serbia’s priority national interests and accordingly informed his interlocutor about the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija, with an emphasis on the difficult position of Serbs and the pressures they face daily”, the statement added.

The two officials also agreed that Serbia’s economic advancement presents considerable opportunities for cooperation between the two countries across various economic sectors.

Pristina’s request for special guest status at PACE taken off agenda (Kosovo Online, media)

Pristina’s request to obtain a special guest status at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was taken off agenda today, as voted by a large majority of the present Committee members. 21 members voted for the request to be taken off agenda, 10 were in favour, Head of the Serbian Delegation at PACE, Biljana Pilja told Kosovo Online.

Some of the members of the Committee, consisting of 80 members, abstained, while some were not in the hall when voting on agenda took place. Pilja said the request was taken off the agenda with the great support of Spanish members, in first place, Pablo Espana. Members from Cyprus voted for the request to be taken off, but also some members from states that recognized Kosovo, such as Germany and Hungary.

Pristina can file a new request at the next PACE session. Current outcome means that Kosovo remains in a status “of another delegation” at PACE.

Invitation to attend ''lining up of quadrat and quadrant'' in Pristina, what does it mean?! (KiM radio)

KIM radio reports that late last night, media reporting in the Serbian language in Kosovo received invitations to attend the "KSF Quadrat Alignment Ceremony" at the "Adem Jashari" Barracks in Pristina, that is, the "KSF Quadrant Alignment Ceremony" today, March 5. What is it really about?

Almost used to the fact that the Law on the Use of Languages is chronically disrespected, journalists from newsrooms reporting in the Serbian language sometimes receive, to put it mildly, very strange invitations from Kosovo institutions.

Thus, from the Prime Minister's office arrived a notification that "the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is participating in the ceremony of lining up the KSF quadrats".

"The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, will participate in the ceremony of lining up the KSF Quadrant at 12:00 p.m.," announced the Kosovo presidency.

Only those who at some point in their lives had a longer close encounter with the army can, based on these calls, conclude what it is actually about and what Kurti and Osmani will witness.

Knowledge of mathematics is of no use here, nor is the aforementioned law.

Namely, today the leaders of Kosovo institutions will attend the ceremonial review of the Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) in Pristina on the occasion of "commemorating the 27th anniversary of the Epopea of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)".

Kosovo celebrates Jashari, formal session in Mitrovica North held (KoSSev)

The three-day commemoration of Adem Jashari, considered by many Albanians as a “legendary commander“ and “father of the nation“, has begun in Kosovo. The Kosovo Government and Assembly convened today, alongside a ceremonial session of Mitrovica North Municipal Assembly, marking the start of a series of official events, KoSSev portal reported.

“Glory to Adem Jashari and the fighters for freedom“ was the central message echoed by the highest municipal officials during the session, which was held without a formal agenda. The Kosovo Ministry of Local Government Administration had sent an email to all municipalities a day earlier, instructing them to hold ceremonial sessions in honour of the occasion.

Conflicting historical narratives

While Adem Jashari is regarded by Albanians as a “legendary commander“ and the “father of the nation,“ Serbian state sources “continue to classify him as a terrorist”. After a three-day siege on March 5, 6, and 7, 1998, during which he refused to surrender, Serbian police forces killed him in his home in Prekaz, along with his entire family, who had barricaded themselves inside.

“Serbian police denied any wrongdoing in the attack, claiming they were pursuing ‘terrorists’ who had attacked law enforcement. A police spokesperson dismissed reports of torture as ‘lies and fabrications’ spread by some local and foreign media, stating that ‘the police had never used such methods, nor would they ever'“, the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC) noted in one of its reports, the portal added.

Official Serbian police sources offer a different interpretation from the Kosovo Albanian narrative – “Adem Jashari, along with his brother Hamëz Jashari, was a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which official Serbian authorities considered a terrorist group”.

The Jashari brothers and their family members were killed because they refused to surrender in the village of Donji Prekaz, east of Srbica, where they lived. Serbian security forces surrounded the Jashari family home and called for surrender, giving a two-hour deadline. While several dozen civilians surrendered and left the scene, heavy weapons were fired from the Jashari house, resulting in the deaths of two police officers and injuries to three others.

The police then responded with heavy artillery, effectively destroying the Jashari house along with 56 members of the Jashari family, the article further said. Kosovo sources said that a total of 59 members of the Jashari family were killed.

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

"Fulfill the students' demands and preserve the University of Pristina in the Serbian system,'' says Proactive of the Pristina University relocated in N. Mitrovica (KoSSev)

Proactive of the University of Kosovska Mitrovica called on the competent institutions of Serbia to fully meet all the demands of the students in the blockade. At the same time, they also demand their clear determination that the education system in majority Serbian areas remains in the Serbian system, and from the academic and educational community in Serbia to help them in this.

Proactive is an informal association of professors and associates of the University of Pristina (relocated in North Mitrovica), reported KoSSev. This informal association was established due to the multi-year "collapse and neglect" of the education system in Serbia by the competent institutions, and after the reaction of the academic community to the tragedy in Novi Sad as well as bearing in mind the specificity and gravity of the situation in which the Serbian people and educational institutions in Kosovo find themselves.

"It is necessary to restore the dignity of education in Serbia, as well as the place and role that education should have in every modern society," stated Proactive of the University of Pristina in N. Mitrovica.

They support the active fight of educators and students across Serbia for those goals, they say.

"We call on the competent institutions of Serbia to fully fulfill all the demands of the students in the blockade," stated Proactive of the University of Pristina in N. Mitrovica.

Referring to the situation in Kosovo, this group of professors expressed deep concern, but also distrust in the actions of the competent representatives so far, as they say:

"Given the non-transparency of political processes and decisions that resulted in the loss of the institutions of the Republic of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija (except educational and health institutions, which themselves function with difficulty)".

"For the sake of the survival of our people in Kosovo and Metohija, we demand a clear commitment from the authorities that our schools and the University will remain in the education system of Serbia and have accreditations from the Republic of Serbia and the University from Pristina with its temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica will physically remain in these areas with its people and holy places."

They also called on their colleagues throughout Serbia to express solidarity with them.

"Due to the specificity of our situation, we invite the educational and academic community of Serbia to show understanding and appreciate this type of solidarity that we show in conditions of insecurity and lack of freedom, because we also belong to the educational community of Serbia, and we want to remain so. We invite them to assist us in this."

"15 minutes of silence" tomorrow for the 7th time in N. Mitrovica (KoSSev)

A group of students from the University of Pristina (relocated in N. Mitrovica), tomorrow, March 6, is organizing another "15 minutes of silence" vigil for the victims in Novi Sad.

Symbolically, at 11:52 a.m. they will gather again in the town square, near the monument to Knez Lazar, and the public was informed about this at a large meeting on March 1 in Nis.

KoSSev reports that it will be the seventh gathering in North Mitrovica, when they will reunite with their fellow citizens, paying tribute to the victims in Novi Sad, and supporting the students who have been blocking almost all public faculties for the fourth month, and protesting after the death of 15 people at the Novi Sad Railway Station.

Opinion

Serbian students stand firm on their demands as Vucic’s regime falters (Sbunker)

Opinion piece by Lazar Tripinovic

Student-led protests that began on November 22, 2024, continue across Serbia. The protests were triggered after the attack on students of the Faculty of Drama Arts during the 15-minute silence commemorating the 15 people who died from the collapse of the concrete canopy at the newly reconstructed train station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.

The train station, which was reconstructed by the Chinese consortium CRIC & CCCC in a multimillion-euro state-funded project, was reopened without proper documentation guaranteeing it was safe to use.

Students are demanding accountability for the Novi Sad tragedy as well as for the attack on the students. They are calling for the full publication of all documents related to the station's reconstruction, legal prosecution of those who attacked the students, the dismissal of criminal charges against students arrested during the protests and a 20% increase in the state budget for higher education.

In response, the Serbian government tried to discredit the protests blaming foreign interference particularly from Croatia and the West. When that did not work, they tried to spin the story with election offers and fake resignations and Vucic voiced sympathy for “the majority of the students who want to attend classes but are maltreated by a minority.”

The government even addressed the students directly by offering favorable loans for youth. Each time, the discourse softened a bit, in the face of the strong and growing public movement. Despite the consistency of the organized violence, it became evident they are cornered.