UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, November 3, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: Draft statute for Association cuts off legacy of Kosovo’s non-recognition (RFE)
Gervalla: We expect Serbia to declare itself about Serbia (Deutsche Welle)
Special Intervention Unit to protest again on November 7 (Kallxo)
EULEX arrests Kilaj; Kastrati: Special Court should stop persecuting liberators (KSP)
Attackers of reporters in the north did not face justice (RFE)
U.S. sanction former procurement director at Ministry of Trade, Nexhat Krasniqi (media)

Serbian Language Media:

The safety of journalists: Reporting during crisis situations a serious risk (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)
Rasic on the strategy for the protection of community interests: A long process, but the most important project (KiM radio)
UNDP analysis: Basic expenditures in Kosovo have been growing for three years in a row (KoSSev)
Vucic denies claims he will recognize Kosovo, silent on signing of Ohrid agreement (Beta, N1)
Trajkovic: Vucic's policy towards Kosovo will be crowned with high betrayal of national interests (KiM radio, Beta, N1, NMagazin)
Stojanovic and Bisevac gifted Gracanica municipality with “the construction tape for suspension of illegal construction” (KiM radio, Medija Centar Caglavica, KoSSev)
Abbot Sava with Bakojani on the challenges of the Serbs and the SPC in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

International:

'Let's Just Be Albanians': A New Movement In Kosovo Calls On Muslims To Abandon Islam (RFE)
Miners at Kosovo’s Trepca Giant End Strike (Balkan Insight)
Teachers, Parents Must Adapt to Address Peer Violence in Balkans (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: Draft statute for Association cuts off legacy of Kosovo’s non-recognition (RFE)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in his address to members of the Kosovo Assembly today that the draft statute on the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, presented by international diplomats, contains certainties in terms of Kosovo’s recognition. “First, in my political assessment, the draft cuts off the legacy of non-recognizing the Republic of Kosovo which was cemented with the agreements from 2013 and 2015. In my political judgement, the draft has a certainty in terms of recognizing the Republic of Kosovo as an independent state where Serbs will live in line with the multiethnic aspirations of the Constitution and without any other damaging objective against the Republic, by recognizing our sovereign state and our territorial integrity,” Kurti said. He added that this certainty does not include the form of the Association which was foreseen in the agreements from 2013 and 2015.

Kurti argued that he has not yet officially accepted the draft statute. “To accept it means to agree and to assume obligations to implement the draft,” he said, adding that he has offered to sign it and “as a result to accept it”.

Kurti said the draft statute provides that the document will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo. He told the MPs that he cannot reveal details about the draft statute.

“Second, the draft, in my political assessment, makes it clear that the mechanism which will be formed will have a coordinating and cooperating character. Namely, it will neither preempt nor interfere with the competencies of the municipalities and central bodies,” he said.

“Third, the draft will close off the area used by Serbia to project for the Kosovo Serbs a future outside Kosovo’s borders or non-recognition of Kosovo’s borders, through which they would live with sentiments imposed by Belgrade for a new war on territory, or territorial exchange or unification. Therefore, the draft makes it clear that the country is the Republic of Kosovo and that the future is co-existence in the institutions and borders of the Republic of Kosovo. This means that Serbia would have to give up on its premises that Serbs in Kosovo live in Serbia or that Serbs in Kosovo can have secessionist territorial tendencies or autonomy outside the Republic of Kosovo, and outside the laws and Constitution of Kosovo,” Kurti said.

According to Kurti, any changes to the statute of the Association would be made after being accepted by the Ministry of Local Government and after a ruling by the Constitutional Court. “This rules out what was built by the agreements in 2013 and 2015, namely the assumption that the participants in that association would be free to advance it toward an unknown direction. This unknown direction no longer exists and now the direction is clear and that is the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo, and that any superseding will not be allowed and will not be able to happen,” he argued.

Kurti said the draft statute was presented to him by representatives of the Big Five on October 21 in Pristina, and that they asked him not to make the draft statute public, “because its publication could be used to the disadvantage of the contribution by the sponsoring governments”. “Despite the fact that it is incomparably better, on October 24 I sent my criticism and remarks to European envoy Lajcak, two days before the meeting in Brussels,” he said.

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, criticised Kurti for not revealing details about the draft statute of the Association. He argued that by agreeing to sign the draft, Kurti agreed to Serbia’s meddling in Kosovo’s internal arrangements.

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, claimed that Kurti and Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani have differing positions on the draft statute. “While the Prime Minister claims that the statute of the Association is in line with the Constitutional Court, or at least that’s what he was told, the President expressed her hesitation and said that comments would be sent to the Constitutional Court, as the first sign of constitutional incompliance,” he said.

Gervalla: We expect Serbia to declare itself about Serbia (Deutsche Welle)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle, that “it is important not to forget the main priorities that the European Union and all countries in Europe are faced with at a time when war has returned to Europe. In times when war risks spreading further in our continent, a clear language and strategy is needed from the European Union and primarily from big and powerful countries like Germany”.

Asked what the EU should do to solve the stalemate between Kosovo and Serbia, Schwarz said that “we are still waiting for [EU] to declare about what happened on September 24 [referring to the Banjska attack in the north of Kosovo]. We are still waiting and the answer we still hear is that the investigations are not over yet. I think they should have been concluded by now, because the evidence about what happened on September 24 in Kosovo is very clear. It was an open act that tried to annex and invade one part of Kosovo and we expect a very clear language from the European Union and EU member states because otherwise the trust in negotiations with Serbia has become very weak”.

Asked if Kosovo has officially accepted the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, Gervalla said “I don’t know which Association you’re talking about. There is an Association from 2013, there was an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia which the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in 2015 ruled that it was in violation of over 22 articles. Now we have a new proposal, a new document by the European Union, which has a completely different approach from previous ones. These are all issues that we will discuss during an intensive process with the European Union, and it all depends on if this will be the proposal that will bring final normalisation with Serbia. If any document serves only for Kosovo and does not serve for the normalisation of relations with our neighbour, then we are very sceptical about how suitable it is for discussion”.

Special Intervention Unit to protest again on November 7 (Kallxo)

The Special Intervention Unit of Kosovo Police is scheduled to protest again in front of the Kosovo government building in Pristina, following its first protest on November 1. The unit has submitted their report about the protest to the police. The second protest will again pertain to their dissatisfaction with their wages, hazard pay and other payments.

EULEX arrests Kilaj; Kastrati: Special Court should stop persecuting liberators (KSP)

The municipality of Malisheva said in a statement today that the former mayor of the municipality, Isni Kilaj, was arrested by the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). “The municipality of Malisheva is concerned about the arrest of its former mayor Isni Kilaj. The municipality of Malisheva received with great concern the information that EULEX last night arrested the former mayor, Isni Kilaj. EULEX police raided Kilaj’s house and caused panic and concern among all citizens,” the statement notes. “We call on the Special Court [Specialist Chambers] to stop this way of persecuting the liberators and at the same time we call on this Court and other competent courts … to prosecute, arrest and convict the authors of the murder of nearly 400 civilians in the municipality of Malisheva in 1998-1999 by the army and police of Serbia”.

Attackers of reporters in the north did not face justice (RFE)

No cases of attacks against reporters in the north of Kosovo, which happened in May and June this year, are being tried yet. The Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK) said that 30 such attacks were registered in the Serb-majority region, from a total of 60 attacks recorded throughout Kosovo this year. “We know that some of the masked attackers that assaulted reporters in the north were identified and arrested but were later released by Kosovo’s authorities. We want justice regardless of the complicated political situation in the north of the country,” AJK head Xhemajl Rexha told the news website. “For reporters, it is important that justice is served, and that the attacks against them do not go unpunished”.

The news website recalls that dozens of reporters were attacked in the north of Kosovo as they were reporting from the protests by Serb groups against the Albanian mayors of Serb-majority municipalities. Protesters physically assaulted the reporters, shoved them, and forced them to erase the footage. Vehicles of media teams were also vandalised.

Local and international institutions harshly condemned the attacks and called for “the media to be able to work without fear or intimidation”.

U.S. sanction former procurement director at Ministry of Trade, Nexhat Krasniqi (media)

The U.S. Department of State has included in the list of sanctions Nexhat Krasniqi, former head of the Procurement Department at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, because of his involvement in corruption. The statement notes that he will not be allowed to enter the U.S. “As a public official responsible for overseeing procurement contracts, Krasniqi has abused with his public post by accepting bribes in exchange for granting a contract for the construction of an industrial park in the municipality of Drenas,” the statement notes.

Serbian Language Media

The safety of journalists: Reporting during crisis situations a serious risk (Radio Mitrovica sever, KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)

The data presented at the forum yesterday organized by the Association of Journalists of Serbia in Kosovo showed that in the past 14 months 31 cases were recorded of preventing journalists from working on the field, physical attacks, threats, or pressure on the media. The forum was organized on the International Day of Combating Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.

The president of the UNS in Kosovo, Ivana Vanovac, pointed out that out of the total number, as many as 18 refer to the obstruction of journalists in the performance of their work, which also includes the impossibility of reporting due to the lack of translation into the Serbian language. Eight cases involved physical attacks on journalists, and three cases of pressure and two cases of threats against journalists were recorded.

"It is important to mention on this day that we are still looking for our colleagues who disappeared in Kosovo and Metohija in the period from 1998 to 2005. The fate of 17 of them is still unclear. The investigations were suspended in 2013, when EULEX determined that there was insufficient evidence to investigate the cases further. Before EULEX, the investigation was led by UNMIK. Both proved to be impotent in a situation where it was necessary to find those responsible for the disappearance of so many media workers," said Vanovac.

She added that it is the duty of media workers to use all the power at their disposal to force the competent judicial authorities - either those constituted by the international community through their missions, or those that function within the Kosovo system, to restart the investigation, find the missing media workers and determine who is responsible for their disappearance.

"There are seventeen of them. We must never forget that any of us can be the eighteenth. The moment we scratch at some truth that can disturb some structures, there is a real danger that something similar will happen to us. To prevent this, we must insist on starting investigations, and shedding light on their fates. Every time we remain silent on pardoning a crime, we send the message that it is perfectly fine and perfectly legitimate to attack a media worker, because there is no reason to be afraid that anyone will ever call you to account, prosecute, let alone sanction you for that crime," Vanovac said.

The editor-in-chief of Radio Kosovska Mitrovica, Maja Ficovic, who is also a doctoral student at the Department of Media and Communication at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, presented the results of her research on the topic of journalists' safety at the forum, which show that in just five days after the riots in Zvecan on 29 in May 2023, as many as 20 attacks on journalist teams were recorded.

"During the research on how safe journalists were in the period from May 26, when the first protests were held in Zvecan, to the end of June, ten female journalists participated. It was established that the conditions were not ideal for reporting, even that they worsened after several arrests that took place in the north of Kosovo. At that time, the citizens reacted negatively and violently towards the media representatives, considering that their recordings and photographs they publish contribute to the identification of the suspects," said Ficovic.

Daniela Tomasevic, the editor in chief of Radio Kontakt Plus, who was also on the field during all those crisis days, confirmed this.

"During the period we are talking about, journalists were threatened multiple times. I would especially single out May 26, May 29, and June 13. In the first place, they were physically threatened. Journalists on the ground did not have adequate equipment required by a crisis situation, they did not have gas masks, bulletproof vests, helmets... We were alone, left to ourselves," Tomasevic points out and notes that on May 29 in Zvecan, the journalists asked for help from the security structures, as international, as well as Kosovo ones, but that they were not able to provide it.

According to Tomasevic, another aspect of vulnerability is the antagonism of the citizens.

"In those days, journalists were labeled as enemies of citizens. We had to be careful and defend on multiple levels, and really, we were just on the field. I would also like to single out June 13 (the day of the arrest of Milun Milenkovic, ed.), when journalists were prohibited from filming. Journalists may not have recorded those events, they didn't have cameras, but they certainly reported from the field. Even then, they were among the citizens," notes Tomasevic.

Ficovic emphasizes that in those days intolerance towards the media spilled over from the field to social networks, where journalists were called derogatory names while their work was commented negatively.

Journalists were exposed to verbal violence, but despite the high risk, they remained on the ground.

It is important to point out, Ficovic notes, relying on the results of her research, that journalists in a large number of cases did not report attacks on their professional and physical integrity because, as they note, they do not trust Kosovo's security institutions.

"The reasons for that are bad experiences from the past, unprofessional work of those responsible for processing the attack. Journalists are convinced that the investigation would not lead to any major results," says Ficovic.

The political climate largely determines the attitude towards journalists. According to her, the tightening of political speech at higher levels increases the pressure on journalists from citizens as well as editors in the newsrooms they work for.

Tomasevic adds that the lack of a clear position of the international community, influential political subjects, as well as public figures whose opinion means something, worsened the situation at that moment, and that an unequivocal condemnation of violence against journalists in those moments would be of great benefit.

Subsequently, convictions came individually from those instances, but it seems that it was too late. According to the participants of the panel, only the journalistic associations reacted immediately, while all the others, including even civil society organizations, announced their condemnations, one would say, after several days of deliberation and consideration.

According to Tomasevic, the solution to improving the position of journalists and their safety in general starts at the local level.

"It has to start from influential figures, politicians and so on to the central level. This entire atmosphere of antagonism towards journalists is created by politicians. Then comes the international community. First, it can financially support journalists, but certainly any condemnation is welcome. In the first place, there is the OSCE, but also all other international actors who are present in Kosovo," Tomasevic said.

Rasic on the strategy for the protection of community interests: A long process, but the most important project (KiM radio)

In Kosovo Polje, the Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rasic, presented the Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Communities and their Members to the representatives of the embassies of Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and the Deputy Director of UNDP, and he "expects full support" from them, because it is, as he said, "a long process, but the most important strategic project", reported KiM radio.

During the presentation of this document, Rasic emphasized the priorities and plans for solving the needs and challenges faced by members of different communities in Kosovo. He spoke of four "strategically important goals that can protect the interests of (communities) in the long term."

"The first goal is return, which should be sustainable. Also, it should enable returnees that, in addition to 'return in physical form', there is also an economic component that should represent the sustainability of the return," he said.

He apostrophized ''the increase in the number of returnees, which, as he pointed out, is significantly higher since he was minister, because 19 or 20 people returned last year, and 245 this year."

"In these 11 months, I had the opportunity to see a lot of families and people who turned to us, who do not have the conditions to live. We will help as much as we can," he added.

He emphasized that the second task, as a prerequisite for economic development, is "stabilization".

"I want us to completely reduce the part of building houses over time, in order to increase economic development. Let's create the conditions for people to use their labor to build a house themselves," said the minister.

Equal representation of communities in public administration is also part of his plan.

"There are a lot of steps. This strategy envisages the formation of a government body that will create an action plan for the next ten years. It will mean that the number of Serbs and other non-Albanians is proportional to the number of inhabitants living in Kosovo," said Rasic.

The last part of the plan presented is aimed at, as he said, "the chronic problem of language use".

"This problem is happening at the local and central level. It can only be removed if we hire more capacity in that sector and find people who will come to translate everything we need. I know we had a problem from the start. When I was appointed here, we didn't have a single translator," he said.

Rasic reminded that according to systematization, the institution should have three translators.

"These are real problems that we have to deal with and that we need to solve. We have to be very practical and concrete. Let's deal with institutions, not politics, because they bring betterment to citizens," he said.

The document has not yet been adopted, according to the Minister Rasic, but it has been presented to the Government of Kosovo. As he added, he was given full support and a promise that it would be adopted in the foreseeable future.

UNDP analysis: Basic expenditures in Kosovo have been growing for three years in a row (KoSSev)

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presented yesterday an analysis of the pulse of the public under the title "Investigation of the dynamics of household poverty under conditions of inflation". The research aimed to assess the extent to which inflation has affected the economic well-being of people in Kosovo, reported portal KoSSev.

The survey was conducted on 1,500 households, as well as an office survey, UNDP announced.

The findings show, they emphasize, that spending on basic needs, including groceries, transportation, utility bills, health, rent and education, has increased for the past three consecutive years.

The report points out that in 2023, 59.5 percent of households spent 200 and more euros, which, according to this analysis, is a higher number than last year - 47.8 percent, and in 2021 - 38.8 percent.

Based on income data and a poverty line of €1.85 per person per day (EBRD report: Challenges and opportunities for private investment 2022), the poverty rate in 2023 is predicted to be 16 percent. Between 2021 and 2023, about 10% of households were significantly poor, it added.

During this year and compared to 2021, an additional 10 percent of surveyed families lived below the poverty threshold of 1.85 euros per day when adjusted for price increases.

The report points out that inflation has also affected mental and social well-being.

"Causing disruptions in routine activities and increased stress, leading to a lower quality of life. 45 percent of the respondents said that their stress and anxiety increase due to the price increase," the announcement states.

69.2 percent of respondents resorted to adjusting their spending habits and budget in response to higher prices last year.

The vast majority of Kosovo citizens, it is reported, stated that they are worried about price changes.

"The share is the highest among the communities of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians - 94.1 percent, followed by Serbs - 92.2 percent and Albanians - 91.7 percent," the announcement states.

Regarding ethnicity, Albanians are mainly employed in activities related to production (16.4%), followed by construction (13.3%). On the other hand, Serbs are mostly employed in production activities (22%), followed by transport and communications (13.9%). As for the communities of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, they are mostly employed in industry - construction (16.2%), followed by activities related to textiles and clothing (14.5%).

According to gender, men were more often employed in the manufacturing industry (19.1%), and women in retail trade (21.4%).

The overall employment rate improved slightly, with 34.2% employed between May and June 2023, compared to 33.7% the previous year. Self-employment also increased slightly, which indicates the growth of entrepreneurial activities, they specify.

The number of unemployed people who are actively looking for work has decreased, which indicates a very slight improvement in the labor market, while the number of those who are unemployed and not actively looking for employment has decreased, according to the UNDP announcement.

Vucic denies claims he will recognize Kosovo, silent on signing of Ohrid agreement (Beta, N1)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said claims that he is ready to "sign Kosovo’s independence" are lies and that he will always adhere to the Constitution and oath he took on the Miroslav Gospel. However, he did not deny the information that he would sign the Ohrid agreement, reported N1.

“Dear citizens, in every election campaign you will hear all kinds of things. Just like they claimed in the previous election campaign that they were against sanctions on Russia and that I would introduce them on April 3, and I did not do that after the elections, they have been advocating sanctions against the Russian Federation all along,” said Vucic in an Instagram post.

“Now they have fabricated that I am ready to sign the independence of Kosovo, as soon as the elections are over,” Vucic said.

“People of Serbia, I want you to know that this is a flagrant lie. As an honorable man, but not just that, also as a man who honors the Constitution of his country, the laws of his country and who loves his people in Kosovo and Metohija more than anything and will always adhere to the law and the oath taken on the Miroslav Gospel – I tell you that this is a flagrant lie,” said the Serbian President.

“They cannot destroy Serbia with lies, and that is why I am certain that work and results will always win,” he added.

N1 wrote, noting that Nova never reported that Vucic would “sign Kosovo’s independence,” but cited its source saying that Vucic accepted the draft and the dynamic of the implementation of the Ohrid agreement, and that he requested that it be signed only after December 17, which is election day in Serbia.

Trajkovic: Vucic's policy towards Kosovo will be crowned with high betrayal of national interests (KiM radio, Beta, N1, NMagazin)

The president of the Serbian National Forum (SNF), Momcilo Trajkovic, said that Aleksandar Vucic's ten-year policy towards Kosovo will be, as he said, crowned with a betrayal of national interests, reported KiM radio, citing Belgrade based agency Beta.

In an interview with the Beta agency, Trajkovic said that with the announced recognition of Kosovo's documents, Belgrade will both de facto and de jure recognize the independence of Kosovo.

"Aleksandar Vucic, unconstitutionally and without consulting any state or national institution, in the past ten years handed over to Pristina all the elements of Serbian statehood in Kosovo. Now, when he recognizes the documents of the so-called Republic of Kosovo, he will both de facto and de jure recognize the independence of Kosovo and that will be the final act of high treason of Serbian national interests," said Trajkovic.

Commenting on the fact that President Vucic points out that he will never sign independence and support Kosovo's membership in the United Nations (UN), Trajkovic said that China and Russia decide on Kosovo in the UN, not Serbia.

"Vucic is manipulating the people by saying that he will not support Kosovo's membership in the UN because he knows that China and Russia do not allow it," he explained.

The President of Serbia, added Trajkovic, committed himself with the Brussels and Ohrid Agreements not to hinder Kosovo's admission to international organizations.

Due to Vucic's decisions, he believes, the attitudes of the five EU countries that currently do not recognize Kosovo's independence will change.

"He will not sign Kosovo's independence, but he will recognize it. For now, China and Russia oppose Kosovo's admission to the UN, however Vucic does not mention Kosovo's membership in UNESCO. If Kosovo is admitted to UNESCO, which Vucic is clearly not opposed to, all monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church will receive the status of cultural heritage of the so-called Republic of Kosovo, and Serbia will no longer have an influence on the protection and preservation of the most important Serbian cultural and historical temples," he said.

When asked what consequences Vucic's policy will have on the Serbian people living in Kosovo, Trajkovic said that emigration has been going on for years and that Serbian List is carrying out the Albanianization of Serbian municipalities south of the Ibar.

"Most of the money allocated for Kosovo from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, which is about 900 million euros annually, ends up with members of the Serbian List who receive several salaries each and use that money to buy property in central Serbia. To the majority of Serbs who do not support Vucic politics, their existence is threatened, and they are under pressure both from the Serbian List and from the Pristina authorities led by the militant Prime Minister Albin Kurti," Trajkovic said.

He said that in the last ten years, about 40,000 Serbs left Kosovo, and that the return was almost never recorded.

"Serbian list is carrying out the Albanianization of Serbian municipalities in central Kosovo. Serbian list allowed that Serbian municipalities, which even Marti Ahtisaari protected from Albanian influence with constitutional decisions, are increasingly inhabited by Albanians and thus become less and less Serbian. In Klokot, Strpce, Gracanica and Novo Brdo the number of Albanian residents is rapidly increasing," said Trajkovic.

Asked how important the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM) will be for the Serbian people, Trajkovic said that, if formed, this Community will be under ''the control of the so-called independent Kosovo''.

"When the CSM is formed within the Kosovo system, it will be the definitive end of the Serbian state in Kosovo and Metohija. Serbia will be allowed to finance only health and education in Serbian areas, and due to the process of Albanianization, it will happen that the CSM will only consist of municipalities in the north of Kosovo," he believes.

When asked how the change of government in Serbia in the elections on December 17 would affect the resolution of the Kosovo issue, Trajkovic said that even the opposition does not have a strategy for Kosovo.

"Unfortunately, even the opposition does not have a strategy for Kosovo either, but with a normal government in Belgrade, we would certainly have a better chance of achieving national interests in Kosovo. This team led by Vucic has been blackmailed, because it was brought to power at one time to hand over Kosovo. This is also the reason why democratic Europe supports the authoritarian government in Belgrade," said Trajkovic.

Asked to assess the attitude of the Pristina authorities towards the Serbian community, Trajkovic said that "Belgrade left the Serbs to the militant Kurti government".

"Kurti's government neither wants nor has the democratic capacity to solve the problems in Kosovo. In the north of Kosovo, Kurti is establishing a militant government without Serbs, which was made possible by the wrong policy of Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian List," he emphasized.

Commenting on Belgrade's attitude towards Kosovo in the last few decades, Trajkovic said that the "effect" of each government can be assessed as betrayal.

"I am just finishing a book called 'Kosovo twilight of Serbian politics - who betrayed'. Communist policy after the Second World War could not, nor did it want to solve the Serbian national question. Milosevic's policy was wrong and ended in betrayal. And Aleksandar Vucic's policy is a classic example of high betrayal of national and state interests," concluded Trajkovic.

Stojanovic and Bisevac gifted Gracanica municipality with “the construction tape for suspension of illegal construction” (KiM radio, Medija Centar Caglavica, KoSSev)

According to founders of the Serbian People’s Movement, Branimir Stojanovic and Milija Bisevac there are at least a dozen locations on the territory of the municipality of Gracanica, where illegal construction is carried out. Therefore, they presented a gift to this municipality , that is a “construction tape for the suspension of works”, reported KiM radio.

Stojanovic and Bisevac are looking for an answer to the following questions: in which locations there is construction, why can’t the authorities from this local self-government stop the construction and what administrative procedures they are hiding behind.

Unlawful construction in the municipality of Gracanica is a burning issue that affects people in this local self-government. As Stojanovis said, “it must be resolved urgently”.

“We had a situation where many people reported illegal construction, construction that takes place on usurped property, but from the municipal administration we now received more essays, some announcements that look more like written papers for high school, and we didn’t receive concrete information about why this illegal construction was not stopped. Playing administrative games, procedures, hiding behind them is not an argument,” he added.

Stojanovic noted that the municipality has the obligation and authority to stop illegal construction on its territory, showing photos of buildings that were constructed without a construction permit.

“We brought these photos today that have no tape. The municipal inspectorate is obliged, when it stops the works, to place a tape, the removal of which is a criminal offence. Here it is clearly seen that there is no tape anywhere that warns the worker that, if he takes off the tape and continues working, he can be held criminally liable.” he said.

Stojanovic expects that they will receive from the municipality “a meaningful and precise answer as to why the illegal construction is not stopped”.

“Are these people aware that what they are doing now actually means that perhaps they are filling in the files of some public prosecutor, that after Brezovica one, two, three and four, in the future there will be the cases of Gracanica one, two, three that will also show up... Are they aware of their responsibility? It will not mean anything to us, as residents, that they will be held accountable later, when enormous damage is done, as was done in Brezovica. Then no one will get anything from having to bear the consequences. We are for the rule of law and those people should be held accountable,” he said.

Stojanovic pointed out that the last step of the Serbian People’s Movement is to file a criminal complaint.

Bisevac: In several locations in the north, construction has been stopped and a tape has been placed

On the other hand, in the north of Kosovo, the newly elected mayors (Albanians) in four municipalities made decisions to stop illegal construction in several locations.

“The newly elected mayors made a decision to stop the construction work of the University in North Mitrovica, to stop the construction of the student centre and buildings that serve socially vulnerable people in order to end their housing issue. Gentlemen from the inspection from North Mitrovica, where it is often stated that there is no law, but they have stopped construction, while here, where the municipality functions, where Serbs are present in the institutions, they are not doing their job,” Milija Bisevac said.

He called the authorities in the municipality of Gracanica to account.

“They are looking for various excuses for that, but here, we brought them a tape to tell them that they can install that tape and that it means halting the works,” Bisevac added.

Serbian People’s Movement announced that in the coming weeks, they will talk about other topics that “burden the municipality of Gracanica”, from the pollution of the river, the lack of a hospital, to the other problems.

Abbot Sava with Bakorannis on the challenges of the Serbs and the SPC in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

Father Sava Janjic, abbot of Visoki Decani monastery, informed the rapporteur for Kosovo in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Dora Bakoyannis, about the challenges faced by Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, reported Kosovo Online.

"The Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery, Fr. Sava had a meeting yesterday with Her Excellency Mrs. Dora Bakoyannis, the Rapporteur for Kosovo in the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The discussion with the former Foreign Minister of the Hellenic Republic, a figure of profound political experience and understanding of Balkan affairs, provided an invaluable opportunity to convey, on behalf of Bishop Teodosije and our Diocese, the perspective on the current challenges facing the Kosovo Serb community and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. The meeting also served as a chance to explore ways to enhance inter-ethnic confidence, human, and religious rights in Kosovo,'' Decani Monastery announced on Twitter.

International

'Let's Just Be Albanians': A New Movement In Kosovo Calls On Muslims To Abandon Islam (RFE)

PRISTINA -- Vesel Lekaj insists that he and his provocatively named Movement for the Abandonment of the Islamic Faith don't oppose the religion's adherents. After all, he says, he and many of its other initiators are from Muslim families.

The real target, he told RFE/RL's Balkan Service, is the religious extremism in any form that "has been operating in Kosovo for more than two decades."

"We, as a sign of dissatisfaction with this phenomenon -- that is, extreme and political Islam, but also with Serbian Orthodox extremism -- have taken a measure...[with the aim] of stopping it," Lekaj told a meeting last month of the movement's founding council in the town of Decan, in Kosovo's mountainous west.

While there has been indignation from the local Islamic community council, and an otherwise muted public response in this overwhelmingly Muslim country, it is hard to know if Lekaj should be taken at his word.