UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 12, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

Borrell meets Kurti on margins of the Paris Peace Forum (media)
Bislimi: EC report recognises Government's work on license plates agreement (media)
Assembly committee discusses dialogue, visa liberalisation with German ambassador (media)
COVID-19: 16 new cases, one death (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Serbian PM Brnabic on Kosovo at the 41st UNESCO General Conference (RTS)
Brnabic: Serbian heritage in Kosovo proof of UNESCO’s importance (RTS)
Serbian Ambassador to US sends letters to all Congress members (B92)
Serbian FM lays wreath at WWI Allied cemetery in Greece (N1, Danas)
Jeton Neziraj: Ghosts of war ready to jump into a new war (Beta, Danas)
The last day of the campaign for the second round of local elections (KiM radio, KoSSev)
Bancroft: If Grenell were really getting paid by Serbia would he refer to Merdare ‘as border’ (Kosovo-online)
UNESCO: We continue to preserve Serbian medieval art in Decani, Sopocani and Studenica (Kosovo Online)
Trajkovic to Osmani’s reference of Kosovo as ‘source of hope’ (Kosovo-online)

International:

Kosovo Ruling Party Braces for Test in Mayoral Runoffs (Balkan Insight)
Trump ‘Shadow Diplomacy’? Deploys ‘Ambassador’ To Address Serbia-Kosovo Tensions (Forbes)

Humanitarian/Development:

Free legal aid for residents in northern Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)

Albanian Language Media

Borrell meets Kurti on margins of the Paris Peace Forum (media)

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy met Kosovo Prime Minister Abin Kurti in Paris on the margins of the Peace Forum.

Borrell said on Twitter that regional cooperation, fight against corruption were discussed and that 'urgent' progress is needed in the dialogue process. "We raised European integration, upcoming FAC discussion on Western Balkans &important bilateral engagement," Borrell added.

Telegrafi reports that in Paris, Kurti also has a meeting with President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic and the French President Emmanuel Macron, the host of the summit.

Bislimi: EC report recognises Government's work on license plates agreement (media)

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi reported before the Assembly's committee on European integration where he said that the most recent European Commission report on Kosovo did acknowledge the Government's work on the achievement of the license plates agreement.

Bislimi said the Government of Kosovo is tackling the European integration process with great priority, adding that they have pushed forward many processes which had been 'stalling'. "We have analysed the 43-page report carefully and analysed all the findings. A problematic we have noted is that the methodology reflects only the circumstances on the ground. The report speaks about the absence of a parliamentary majority and refers to the pre-March period," Bislimi is quoted by the Ekonomia Online website.

Bislimi also confirmed that the next round of the EU-facilitated dialogue between chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia will be taking place on the 16th.

Member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in the committee, Blerta Deliu-Kodra, accused the Kosovo Government led by Albin Kurti for, as she said, politicisation of the employment process and walked out of the meeting in protest.

Assembly committee discusses dialogue, visa liberalisation with German ambassador (media)

Kosovo Assembly's committee on foreign affairs and diaspora is holding a meeting with the German Ambassador to Kosovo Jorn Rohde. The meeting took place behind closed doors.

Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of the meeting, chairman of the committee Haki Abazi from the Vetevendosje Movement the German ambassador asked the committee to ensure that the dialogue with Serbia is as constructive as possible. At the same time, he added that Germany is interested in seeing the visa liberalisation issue completed as soon as possible.

"Visa liberalisation is one of the topics we discussed together. Germany's interest is for this to end as soon as possible, most countries are in favour. But it was also the ambassador's recommendation to engage more with countries that are skeptical. Another topic we covered concerns other investments by German companies. The investment environment needs to continue to improve, especially with the fight against corruption," Abazi is quoted in Kosovapress.

On the issue of dialogue with Serbia, Abazi said that Rohde said the process needs to be approached with constructiveness. "We insisted on the dialogue not being used to keep hostage Kosovo's integration, which was the case in the past. Our interest is for dialogue not to affect other aspects, as Serbia has used it to prolong Kosovo's integration process."

COVID-19: 16 new cases, one death (media)

16 new cases with COVID-19 and one death were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 17 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 427 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Serbian PM Brnabic on Kosovo at the 41st UNESCO General Conference (RTS)

In the continuation of her visit to Paris, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic will speak at the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO, as well as at the ceremony on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of that organization. She said that Serbia has full support and understanding regarding Pristina's aspiration to join UNESCO, because ''the provisional institutions in Pristina, as such, cannot be a member of that institution'', reported Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).

The Serbian PM Brnabic participated in the Paris Peace Forum, where she pointed out that all countries, in addition to the pandemic, are facing an energy, migrant, technological-economic crisis, but also a crisis related to personal freedoms.

Brnabic also attended a dinner last night organized by French President Emanuel Macron in the Elysee Palace, who is also the founder of the Paris Peace Forum.

During today's day, PM Brnabic will speak at the debate of the 41st General Conference of UNESCO, and then she will have a meeting with the director of that organization, Audrey Azoulay.

She will talk about the protection of cultural and religious assets of Serbia in KiM. Brnabic said that Serbia is determined to completely depoliticize that organization.

"At this moment, we have full support and understanding that the provisional institutions in Pristina cannot, as such, be a member of UNESCO, so regardless of the lobbying of one or the other side, I believe that we will be able to maintain our status and defend ourselves from those attacks. I think that it would be catastrophic, that it would be a huge precedent and would withdraw many other issues of global exchanges that UNESCO does not need", PM Brnabic emphasized in a statement for RTS.

Brnabic: Serbian heritage in Kosovo proof of UNESCO’s importance (RTS)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today that difficult examples of endangerment of the Serbian cultural, historical and spiritual heritage in Kosovo and Metohija are proof of how important the role of UNESCO is in the protection and preservation of heritage, RTS reports.

Speaking at the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference in Paris, Ana Brnabic underlined that four gems of the Serbian medieval cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija - Visoki Decani, Patriarchate of Pec, Gracanica and Bogorodica Ljeviska (Church of the Virgin Mary of Ljeviska), have been preserved thanks to the fact that they are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger List, adding in addition to this there are hundreds of sites and monuments that are endangered.

She also said the Serbian heritage in Kosovo and Metohija is of immeasurable importance, not only for the national identity of Serbia, but also as a part of the precious European and world heritage.

She stressed Serbia’s commitment to the basic principles of UNESCO - dialogue and consensus, and not to unilateralism, based on the UN Charter and the UNESCO Constitution.

Brnabic pointed out the key topic and policy of Serbia is depoliticization of UNESCO, which, as she said, means that “the so-called self-proclaimed state of Kosovo has no business being part of that organization”.

After the panel at the plenary debate of the 41st session of UNESCO General Assembly in Paris, answering journalists’ questions, Brnabic said UNESCO is an organization that deals with issues that have nothing to do with politics, but with education, culture, science and other similar issues.

“When we say depoliticization, we stand by the fact that the so-called state of Kosovo has no business being in UNESCO. UNESCO is not a place where there is room to talk about whether Kosovo, which does not have a seat in the UN and is not recognized by more than half of the countries, should be a member of that organization”, she underlined. Brnabic added that Kosovo membership in this organization is not a topic and must not be a topic.

Asked whether she thinks that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti used their presence at the Peace Forum in Paris to additionally lobby for Kosovo potential membership in UNESCO, Brnabic said they probably did and that she primarily refers to Kurti.

“I think Rama did not do it, I think they are doing it publicly because of domestic politics and popularity, which is not at all correct. In any case, if you ask me, I think nothing will come of it”, she said.

Brnabić added that it might become harder when the United States would return to UNESCO membership and pointed out that it is up to Serbia to work proactively on that and to insist on depoliticization.

“If something like that happened, it would open Pandora’s box and it would mean that UNESCO is dealing with some other issues and the people who are in UNESCO today know that”, Brnabic said, adding that there are other issues that need to be dealt with and not Kosovo.

Serbian Ambassador to US sends letters to all Congress members (B92)

In honor of the Armistice Day in World War I, Serbian Ambassador to US, Marko Djuric sent letters to all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US Congress, B92 reports. He also gave them 535 brooches with the sign of Ramonda Nathalie flower.

In a special letter sent to 435 congressmen and 100 senators, on the occasion of one of the most important dates in Serbian history, Djuric emphasized the allied, victorious and liberating role of his country in the Great War, the Serbian Embassy in Washington announced.

Djuric underlined that in the fight for freedom, Serbia lost almost two thirds of the able-bodied male population, i.e. even one third of the then total population, which, according to the number of victims in relation to the number of inhabitants, is historically marked as the country with the greatest losses.

Recalling this year's jubilee in diplomatic relations and the historical alliance between Serbia and the United States, Djuric also referred in the letter to the great recognition that the then US President Woodrow Wilson showed Serbia by ordering that he Serbian flag, as the first foreign flag in history, flies over the White House and on the buildings of all public institutions in Washington on July 28, 1918, in honor of the heroic sacrifice and struggle of Serbian people for the freedom of the whole world.

Ambassador Djuric also pointed out to the members of the Congress the ambiguity of the official symbol of Armistice holiday, which, in addition to the motif of decorating the Albanian commemorative medal in memory of the Albanian Golgotha (Serbian Army of that time retreated through Albania to Greece), also contains a purple flower, Ramonda Nathaliae.

Apart from being geographically characteristic of our region, the biological uniqueness of this flower, when it is also called the "phoenix flower", is complete regeneration, which symbolizes the rebirth and recovery of the Serbian country after war losses and suffering.

By quoting the words of Nikola Tesla: "Let the future tell the truth and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishment", Djuric concluded the letter to congressmen and senators with an invitation to joint deepening and strengthening of relations in the future, B92 reported.

Serbian FM lays wreath at WWI Allied cemetery in Greece (N1, Danas)

Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic laid a wreath at the Serbian military cemetery in northern Greece and presented an award to the man who has been guarding the graveyard for more than 60 years, N1 reports.

A Foreign Ministry press release said that Selakovic presented the Mother Serbia award to 93-year old Djordje Mihailovic who has been guarding the graves of 8,000 Serbian Royal Army troops killed on the Salonika front during World War I at the Zeitenlik allied forces cemetery in Thessaloniki since 1961.

The minister told the ceremony that Serbia paid a huge price in that war, to become sovereign and free. “Serbia is still fighting for its honor and freedom in every place and is winning in the economy, in education, sports, it is winning on all fields and today’s victory was enabled by the victory of our glorious ancestors 103 years ago”, he said.

Djordje Mihailovic was born on May 1, 1928 in Thessaloniki. The first guardian of the cemetery was his grandfather, Savo Mihailovic, a Serb volunteer from the area of Boka Kotorska, who fought at Salonika front. Savo gathered his dead comrades and comrades-in-arms, and then kept them until his death in 1928, Danas daily wrote earlier.

After his death, he joined his comrades-in-arms, and was buried in Zeitenlik. He was succeeded by Djordje’s father, Djuro Mihailovic, who saved the cemetery and its relics from Nazi looting during World War II. When Djuro died in 1961, he was buried along with his father in Zeitenlik, and the duty of guardian of the cemetery belonged to Djordje, the last male descendant of the Mihailovic family.

Jeton Neziraj: Ghosts of war ready to jump into a new war (Beta, Danas)

Kosovo playwright Jeton Neziraj said today that "the spirits of war are all around us, ready to jump into another war", reported daily Danas.

"What we had in the 1990s, that Agamemnon who was thirsty for war and blood, he is still present in one way or another. The spirits of the war are still around us, and they are ready to jump into another war," Neziraj said for the Autonomija (Autonomy) portal.

This week, the play "Balkan Bordello" by Jeton Neziraj, directed by his wife Blerta Neziraj, premiered in Belgrade's theater Atelje 212.

The play premiered in early November in Pristina and refers to the wars of the 1990s in the Balkans.

The play was co-produced by the Qendra Theater from Pristina, Atelje 212 Theater from Belgrade and the La MaMa Theater from New York.

The cast consisted of ten actors, seven of whom were from New York, two from Serbia and one actress from Kosovo.

After Kosovo and Serbia, the next premier is in New York, at the beginning of April next year.

The last day of the campaign for the second round of local elections (KiM radio, KoSSev)

Today is the last day of the election campaign for the second round of voting for mayors. Polling stations will open on Sunday in 21 municipalities, of which only one with the majority Serb population, Klokot, reported KiM radio.

The campaign for the second round of local elections lasted for five days, and will end today, two days before the elections on Sunday.

The second round of elections will be held in 21 municipalities, in which none of the elected candidates managed to get more than 50 percent of the votes.

On November 14, there will be only two candidates on the ballots, i.e. the names of those who ran as the candidate with the most support, that is the second largest support during the first round of local elections.

All polling stations will be open on Sunday from 07:00 until 19:00.

CEC reminded that an ID card, passport, driver's license and travel document are the only valid documents.

In addition to Klokot, the only municipalities with a majority Serb population, Gjakovica, Glogovac, Gnjilane, Dragas, Istok, Kacanik, Klina, Kosovo Polje, Kamenica, Obilic, Orahovac, Podujevo, Pristina, Prizren, Stimlje, Vitina, Vucitrn, Malisevo, Junik and Mamusa will go to the second round.

Bancroft: If Grenell were really getting paid by Serbia would he refer to Merdare ‘as border’ (Kosovo-online)

Ian Bancroft, author, analyst and former international community official working in Kosovo took to Twitter to comment on the visit of a former US envoy for Belgrade-Pristina talks Richard Grenell in Kosovo and allegations he is being paid by Serbia USD 100.000 a month, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Grenell harshly refuted the statement made by Belgrade-based analyst Dusan Janjic to the Albanian media on the payment.

“If Grenell were getting paid 100k a month to lobby for Serbia, you’d think he’d avoid referring to it as a border”, Bancroft wrote.

UNESCO: We continue to preserve Serbian medieval art in Decani, Sopocani and Studenica (Kosovo Online)

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that the Serbian medieval and Byzantine art located in the monasteries of Visoki Decani, Studenica and Sopocani is an invaluable cultural heritage, reported Kosovo Online.

UNESCO posted on Twitter a video greeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selakovic sent to the organization on the occasion of its 75th anniversary.

"Thank you, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, for the good wishes on the 75th anniversary of UNESCO! The protection of Byzantine and Serbian medieval art located in the monasteries of Sopocani, Visoki Decani and Studenica is priceless for cultural heritage. We will continue to safeguard them!" UNESCO said.

Trajkovic to Osmani’s reference of Kosovo as ‘source of hope’ (Kosovo-online)

President of the Serb European Movement from Kosovo and politician Rada Trajkovic termed the statement of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani in the US that Kosovo was “a source of hope in the region” as “illogical”, Kosovo-online portal reports.

“Osmani’s statement that Kosovo was ‘a source of hope’ in the region is illogical given that since the moment she was elected president I do not recall her mentioning even once in a positive context the citizens of the Serbian ethnicity and Serbian Orthodox Church or recognized that Kosovo in addition to the Albanian also has Serbian DNA”, Trajkovic wrote.

International

Kosovo Ruling Party Braces for Test in Mayoral Runoffs (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo voters in 21 out of 38 municipalities on Sunday will be electing new mayors in a runoff vote that is considered a serious test for the governing Vetevendosje party.

Political parties were on the final day of a shortened election campaign this Friday as Kosovo voters in more than half the country’s municipalities prepared to vote on Sunday in the second round of mayoral elections.

Twenty-one of 38 municipalities in Kosovo which did not give the majority to any of candidates in the first round in October 17 will elect mayors this Sunday in what is considered a key test for Kosovo’s governing Vetevendosje party.

The party came to the local elections with great expectations after its landslide win in the legislative elections earlier this year, becoming the first party since Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 1999 to win more than half of all the votes cast.

Only 10 months later it experienced a blow, becoming the only mainstream party in the country to not win a single municipality in the first round.

Humanitarian/Development

Free legal aid for residents in northern Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)

Radio kontakt plus published today an article about Kosovo Free Legal Aid Agency (FLAA) which provides legal professional services to citizens who meet the criteria that are prescribed by law. This Agency represents citizens in criminal, misdemeanor, civil and administrative proceedings.

Radio further said criteria a person must meet in order to be a beneficiary of the Agency were primarily administrative, financial and legal. All persons who have a permanent or temporary residence in Kosovo have the right to free legal aid, i.e. social assistance beneficiaries or retirees. Also, the services of this Agency can be used by all citizens whose average minimum wage does not exceed the average set by the Kosovo government at the beginning of the year.

In an interview to the Radio, employee of the FLAA branch in Mitrovica North Marija Radivojevic explained that free legal aid existed before under the European Commission and later UNMIK, but this Kosovo Agency was established in 2012. She added that the seat of FLAA is in Pristina, adding there are mobile offices located throughout Kosovo, including Mitrovica North.

Radivojevic explained that the Agency represents people in criminal, misdemeanor, civil and administrative procedures. It also writes all types of legal documents and works on technical assistance in completing and managing cases.

“If you have a court procedure and you need a lawyer, and you meet the conditions, the Agency hires a lawyer, up to a certain amount, who will represent you at the hearing. These are licensed lawyers from Mitrovica North. It is important to say that the party chooses a lawyer on its own. When a person chooses a lawyer, the Agency concludes a contract with the lawyer, and these procedures usually cost up to EUR 500, because these are not complicated cases”, Radivojevic said.

Speaking about the number of cases in four northern municipalities she said that in the past year, there were about 120 cases, adding that out of that number between 35 and 40 cases are currently active.

She also underlined that the Agency doesn’t have a permanent office in the north and residents can consult with them on certain days: on Wednesdays and Fridays people can contact them in Mitrovica North municipality, on Mondays in Zvecan municipality, on Tuesdays in Zubin Potok, and on Thursdays in Leposavic. She said that during the working days, from 8 am to 4 pm, citizens can contact FLAA at the following telephone numbers: 045 270 443 and / or 066/900 54 82.

Radivojevic explained the majority of cases they have are administrative ones, adding the biggest problem when it comes to the north of Kosovo is the cadastre and social services. “Then, we have a large number of divorce lawsuits and cases of domestic violence. Victims of domestic violence automatically become our clients, they do not have to meet any conditions, nor have Kosovo documents. It is enough for them to have a penalty order or a verdict stating that there was domestic violence. We immediately have the opportunity to hire a lawyer and the party does not experience that secondary victimization, if it has already passed the primary one”, she underlined.

She also said out of 35 cases currently active, 10 are cases of domestic violence. “I think that’s really a lot. Victims of domestic violence are automatically entitled to free legal aid. No matter how much work is done simply to raise the awareness of women and the entire population when it comes to this problem, such cases are not uncommon, and they happen often”.