UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, October 15, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti expects new dynamic in dialogue from the new European Commission (RFE)
Svecla: Serbia’s provocations will fail; ready to respond to any challenge (EO)
Rohde hails decision for visa-free entry for Bosnian citizens into Kosovo (media)
Hoxhaj criticizes Kurti for lifting visa regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina (media)
Bislimi hosts UN Assistant Secretary General Ivana Zivkovic (media)
Steinbaum: If government forms the Association, it violates Constitution (media)
Haradinaj: Kurti, a servant of Serbia; don’t support this man (Gazeta Blic)
PDK’s Kabashi calls for resignation of Defense Minister (Koha)
Person indicted for assault against KFOR and Kosovo Police in 2023 (media)
Police arrest person, finds weapon and jacket with Serbian army emblem (media)
Ministry: Sadik Duraku released from detention in Serbia (media)
Nacionale publishes screenshots of messages between Mihali and Krasniqi

Serbian Language Media:

Xhufka and Lejdija pleaded not guilty to breaking into the church near Podujevo (KiM radio, Kosovo Online)
Kilometer-long column of trucks with goods at Merdare crossing (RTS, media)
Another indictment for riots in Zvecan (RTS, Radio Mitrovica sever)
Milicevic: Pristina with the police ethnic composition in the north clearly deviate from the Brussels agreement (Kosovo Online)
Sarrazin: I would like goods to move faster (KiM radio, KoSSev)
Szijjarto: Hungary’s goal is for Serbia to open cluster by year’s end (N1)
Serbia fails to sign letter of support for United Nations chief (Beta, N1)
Northern Kosovo residents: Why so many police stations? We need jobs and roads (Kosovo Online)

International:

Kosovo to abolish visas for Bosnian citizens from 2025 (BIRN)
Kosovo shares results of solar subsidy scheme (PV Magazine)
Reversing youth exodus from Western Balkans will be hard, report warns (BIRN)
Historic Kosovo mill owner says state restoration ‘destroyed it’ (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti expects new dynamic in dialogue from the new European Commission (RFE)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Kosovo expects the new European Commission to initiate a new dynamic in the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. “We expect the new European Commission to start with a new dynamic and this is why we are optimistic. We still insist on the handover of the chief criminal Milan Radoicic who killed police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku, but also his paramilitary group of terrorists that are included in the indictment of the State Prosecution of Kosovo. We ask for the letter of [former Serbian Prime Minister Ana] Brnabic to be withdrawn because with that letter it withdrew from the Agreement [on the path toward the normalization of relations]. At the same time, the Basic Agreement and the implementation annex, which we have agreed upon, must be signed because the signatures are a legal guarantee,” he said.

Svecla: Serbia’s provocations will fail; ready to respond to any challenge (EO)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said today that Serbia has violated the agreement on integrated border management, while referring to the presence of four members of the Serbian gendarmerie at the Serbian police border station in Merdare, the news website reports. “They violate the agreement on integrated border management. This is not the first time that they are violating the agreement, but we hope it will be the last. We are ready to confront any of their violations and at the same time to present them to our partners as additional proof that Serbia is not ready to cooperate regardless of the agreements it has signed,” he said.

Svecla also said that “it is clear that Kosovo is threatened by Serbia’s hegemonistic aspirations. Their entire state apparatus works to accomplish their objectives which are not only unacceptable for us but also criminal in our reality. Kosovo’s institutions are getting stronger by the day and capable of responding to Serbia’s objectives now and in the future. I am confident that these provocations will fail. They do make the lives of our citizens, especially the Serb community, more difficult but we are capable of responding to any challenge both inside and outside”.

Rohde hails decision for visa-free entry for Bosnian citizens into Kosovo (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, in a post on X on Monday, hailed the decision of the Kosovo government to grant visa-free entry for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina into Kosovo. “The visa-free entry for Bosnia and Herzegovina citizens into Kosovo is a milestone for regional integration and a meaningful gesture from Kosovo. Congratulations to the Kosovo government for leading this important step forward and to the Bosnia and Herzegovina people. Great to see such progress at the Berlin Process Summit today!” Rohde said.

Hoxhaj criticizes Kurti for lifting visa regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina (media)

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and former Foreign Minister of Kosovo Assembly, Enver Hoxhaj, criticized Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for deciding to lift the visa regime for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Prime Minister Kurti’s unilateral decision to lift the visa regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina is nothing less than a capitulation,” Hoxhaj said in a Facebook post.

“After surrendering at CEFTA, he is now submitting to the blockade of Republika Srpska, without ensuring mutual free movement for Kosovo. But today how can Kurti justify that the regime for passports issued by the Coordination Office of Serbia allows Serbs to freely travel in the EU – while effectively legitimizing Serbia’s claim over Kosovo’s cities? This decision by Brussels is a clear attack against Kosovo’s sovereignty, and Kurti has kept silent and has not opposed this in his conversations in leftist tables that have reservations toward Kosovo’s statehood”.

Hoxhaj further notes that “all this happened by giving Belgrade a tool for the political self-management of the Serb population in Kosovo, last year in Tito’s villa in Ohrid. Kurti is paving the way for Belgrade’s agenda, while undermining the independence won with sacrifice and by threatening Kosovo’s future with the policy of submission to leftist European agendas”.

In closing, Hoxhaj said “I feel very proud that I was the one that proposed a visa regime with Bosnia and Herzegovina because Republika Srpska had conditioned the entire Bosnian state to make such a decision! Seeing Prime Minister Kurti today announcing such a decision without any kind of reciprocity, is a major political mistake, because our citizens will wait in front of Bosnia’s embassies and why should not wait in front of Kosovo’s embassies too!”

Bislimi hosts UN Assistant Secretary General Ivana Zivkovic (media)

Kosovo’s First Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi met on Monday in Pristina with the UN Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director of UNDP for Europe, Ivana Zivkovic. They discussed the Kosovo government’s cooperation with the UNDP, highlighting concrete initiatives to improve key sectors and to strengthen institutional capacities.

The meeting also focused on Kosovo’s European integration process, with Bislimi describing the work of the government on the Growth Plan that was adopted last week, and economic advance and development in the last three and a half years. Bislimi also talked about the importance of key reforms for further progress toward full European integration.

Steinbaum: If government forms the Association, it violates Constitution (media)

Jason Steinbaum from the Washington-based Group on Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), said in an interview with the Voice of America that if the Kosovo government were to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities that would be in contravention with the Constitution of Kosovo. The group published a report on the issue which can be found here: https://shorturl.at/gYS9K

Steinbaum said that the process of the establishment of the Association, which has caused the biggest rifts between the United States of America and Kosovo, has been politicized and that the constitutional path through which the municipalities can establish the Association, is the way out of the stalemate. “Our report describes the process foreseen by the Constitution of Kosovo … according to which only the municipalities have the authority to establish associations. So if they want an association, according to our analysis of the Constitution of Kosovo, they should establish it. They can establish an association anytime they want regardless of what is said by the international community, Kosovo’s state authorities or the government of Serbia, or regardless of the dialogue. They have the authority to do that now according to the Constitution of Kosovo,” he argued.

Steinbaum also said that “but for the municipalities to undertake this action, they need to have elected officials, and this means that the local Serb community must take part in elections with its candidates. They boycotted the elections, mainly inciting by Belgrade in the last couple of years. But I hope that in the future they will decide to take part in the elections for these local government positions. And if they want to establish the association then through the elected officials in democratic elections, then they will have the competencies and the officials to do this. It would be a double victory for the community, Kosovo, for the international community”.

According to Steinbaum, the Kosovo government does not have the competencies to establish the Association.

Haradinaj: Kurti, a servant of Serbia; don’t support this man (Gazeta Blic)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj, in an interview with Gazeta Blic, blamed the Kurti-led government for the situation with food supplies for the Kosovo Security Force. “It is not a good message for this situation to happen. The soldiers of Kosovo will not give up because they don’t have food because they swore an oath to serve, but it is not a good message, it is good news for Kosovo’s enemies, for those that want to humiliate and submit us,” he said. “The responsibility falls on the leader of the government. The situation concerning the security, and the army, is not a minor issue. If this would have happened in my time [when he was Prime Minister] I would hold a meeting with the minister and the others, and if the situation would not be resolved in 24 hours, I would call the National Security Council and before the meeting I would have dismissed 4-5 people. 4-5 people would have to go home for this shame and insult against Kosovo”.

Haradinaj also claimed that “Kurti is a spy of Serbia, he is their servant. This is good news for Serbia and our enemies that we are discussing in Parliament whether we have food supplies for the soldiers and not if we are joining NATO. Look at the situation that Kurti has created. I call on those that support him, you need to understand that this is not our man, do not follow a man that leaves soldiers without food”.

PDK’s Kabashi calls for resignation of Defense Minister (Koha)

Besa Kabashi-Ramaj, member of the presidency of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has called on Kosovo’s Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, to resign as a moral act after the situation concerning the food supplies for the Kosovo Security Force. “I think that Maqedonci has failed to address a key challenge. It is his responsibility because he is the leader and manager of the sector, therefore, the most honest thing he could do is resign,” she said during an interview with KTV on Monday.

Kabashi-Ramaj also argued that the situation has proved that the Kurti-led lacks the vision, competencies and capacities “to competently address problems in the system of national security”.

“For years now we have been informed that there are problems within the KSF and the Ministry of Defense. It is true that we had a bad feeling, but we were careful with regards to national security and defense. We did not open many topics about the KSF in order to be united on this issue. But the situation with the food supplies is the last drop. The water started boiling a long time ago. There are many problems, and a minister that cannot manage a food supply contract, how can he manage other logistical contracts,” she said.

Person indicted for assault against KFOR and Kosovo Police in 2023 (media)

Most news websites report that the Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed an indictment against a defendant for the criminal offenses “assault against official persons” and “participating in a mob that carries out criminal acts and hooliganism”. According to the indictment, on May 29, 2023, near the building of the municipality of Zvecan, the defendant in coordination with other suspects of Serb nationality from Kosovo and Serbia, used violence and assaulted and seriously jeopardized members of KFORs and several members of the Kosovo Police. The state prosecutor has asked the court to find the defendant guilty and extend the detention measure until the case is closed.

Police arrest person, finds weapon and jacket with Serbian army emblem (media)

Kosovo Police said in a report that it arrested a person in Banjska near Zvecan on Monday after finding a weapon and a jacket with a Serbian army emblem at his house. After the interview and upon the order of the prosecutor the suspect was released in regular procedure.

Ministry: Sadik Duraku released from detention in Serbia (media)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement today that “Sadik Duraku, a national of Kosovo and the United Kingdom, has been released, after he was arrested on April 17, 2024, at the border crossing of Batrovci between Croatia and Serbia, on allegations of war crimes committed during the war in Kosovo in 1999. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora will continue to closely follow such cases and inform the international community about Serbia’s arbitrary and destructive actions that go against international conventions for human rights”.

Nacionale publishes screenshots of messages between Mihali and Krasniqi

Nacionale news website published on Monday afternoon what it claims to be screenshots of conversations between Vetevendosje’s Coordinator of Committees Dejona Mihali and former CEO of the Kosovo Power Corporation (KEK) Nagip Krasniqi who has been indicted by the Special Prosecution for damaging the Kosovo budget by over €3 million. Mihali and Krasniqi reportedly used the messaging application Signal. The news website notes that because of Mihali’s involvement she was questioned by the Special Prosecution and after the meeting she told reporters she was invited “to shed light on the truth”.

Paparaci publishes conversation between Kusari-Lila and Simic in 2014

Paparaci news website has published today an alleged conversation on WhatsApp between Vetevendosje parliamentary group chief Mimoza Kusari-Lila and her former counterpart from the Serbian List, Igor Simic, in April 2022. According to the published screenshots, the two leaders talk about the electricity in the north of Kosovo, the Kosovo Assembly session and the vote on the minimum wage, and a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The news website notes that the conversations are in the hands of the Kosovo Police.

Serbian Language Media

Xhufka and Lejdija pleaded not guilty to breaking into the church near Podujevo (KiM radio, Kosovo Online)

Two citizens of Albania, Nikolla Xhufka and Lejdi Zagalli, who present themselves as priests and who are accused of inciting discord and intolerance, ''pleaded not guilty before the court in Pristina to the charges that they entered the Orthodox church St. Arhangel Mihail without authorization and by force'' in the village of Rakitnica near Podujevo on November 27. last year, reported KiM radio.

The Diocese of Raska-Prizren filed a complaint against Xhufka and Zigalli after they forcibly entered the church of St. Arhangel Mihael in the village of Rakitnica near Podujevo. Then Xhufka announced via social networks that he ''founded the Albanian National Church'' and that he changed the name of the church to "Fan Noli".

As stated in the indictment, the accused are charged of having committed the criminal offense of causing discord and intolerance in co-perpetration with other persons. Nikolla Xhufka on FB November 30, 2023, published a video clip in which he "publicly incites hatred, division and intolerance between religious, national and ethnic groups" with the message: "Do not dare to approach the church in Rakitnica, because hellfire awaits you."

As reported by the Kallxo portal, Judge Kushtrim Shiti informed the parties that within 30 days they have the right to appeal and request the dismissal of the indictment.

Kilometer-long column of trucks with goods at Merdare crossing (RTS, media)

The decision of the authorities in Pristina to lift the ban on goods from central Serbia and to open only the Merdare point for their passage created a column of trucks several kilometers long, reported Radio Television of Serbia.

From the direction of Kursumlija, there are several hundred trucks in the column, whose drivers have been waiting for more than ten hours to reach the checkpoint of Pristina customs officers.

According to RTS, control is carried out in the customs terminal, by manual checking of the entire truck load, which takes between one and two hours, so daily its possible up to 20 trucks loaded with goods from central Serbia per day to pass.

In the column there are also trucks in transit, loaded with goods from the countries of the region, intended for markets of Kosovo and Albania, which additionally affects the length of the column and the waiting time.

The authorities in Pristina decided at the beginning of last week to lift the ban on goods from central Serbia. They announced that the passage of goods at other checkpoints with central Serbia will be possible when they install control scanners.

Another indictment for riots in Zvecan (RTS, Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against the suspect L. D. for the alleged crimes of "attack on an official" and "participation in a crowd that commits criminal acts and hooliganism", during the Serb protest in Zvecan at the end of May last year, reported Radio Mitrovica sever, citing RTS.

According to the indictment, the suspect on "29 May 2023, in the vicinity of the building of the municipality of Zvecan, in cooperation with other defendants of Serb nationality from Kosovo and Central Serbia, with the use of violence, attacked and seriously threatened the soldiers of the peacekeeping mission of KFOR, as well as some members of the police."

The statement from prosecution states that the prosecutor asked the court to declare the defendant guilty and to continue his detention until the completion of this criminal act.

Serb L. D. was arrested on June 19 at the so-called "Bistrica bridge", at the police point on the Mitrovica-Leposavic road, and has been in prison in Podujevo ever since.

Lawyer Ljubomir Pantovic explained that it was an indictment after a plea agreement.

"It is the indictment brought after the plea agreement, as well as for all the defendants who were charged for what happened in Zvecan last year on May 29. Tomorrow I will see the indictment, and until I see it, I would not comment further. So, it is an indictment based on a plea agreement that must be filed and goes to court for verification," Pantovic said.

Milicevic: Pristina with the police ethnic composition in the north clearly deviate from the Brussels agreement (Kosovo Online)

The executive director of NGO "Aktiv" Miodrag Milicevic assessed that the authorities in Pristina in the north of Kosovo are trying to clearly deviate from the Brussels Agreement and that this is most obvious in the mono-ethnic composition of the police and the obvious mistrust of the local population, reported Kosovo Online.

Commenting on the tender worth 1.1 million euros for the construction of a new police station in Zubin Potok, Milicevic says that the procedures and mandate of the police should not be questioned, but that the key issue is the change in the ethnic composition of the police in the north and the trust that the local population has in it.

"This is not about just one police station, if we are only talking about this latest tender for the construction of a police station in Zubin Potok, nor about the mandate that the police should implement. It is unquestionable and defined by law. There are more questions, actually trust in the police by the local population. And it arises as a question of all questions, the changes in the ethnic composition of the same police in the north of Kosovo, to which we as an organization have been pointing out for the last year and a half to two years. Quite simply, that ethnic picture has been completely changed and is in contradiction with what was agreed in Brussels and what is now being persistently attempted, at least on the Kosovo side, to make some kind of departure from the Brussels agreement and from what was signed and agreed upon," Milicevic told Kosovo Online, adding that in this way, Pristina is trying to portray the situation on the field as different compared to the previous period.

Therefore, he points out, one should not think too much about what the Serbs in the north of Kosovo think and hope for on this topic.

"Reality actually reminds all of us how the security situation is bad. Today, unlike two years ago, we have seven permanent police bases, i.e., special police bases. We have a numerically large presence of the same police to which numerous incidents are linked," emphasizes Milicevic, adding that there is a general concern, and not only because of constant apprehensions or arrests.

"There is a general concern, especially lately from the younger female population of our society, who complain en masse about harassment either by well-known civilians or the outside; for example, by members of the Kosovo police," says Milicevic.

He adds to his and the increasing number of arrests of political activists.

"So, these are all some of the situations that are really in a gray zone and that require an urgent reaction, but there is actually no such reaction. If you ask me the reactions from whom, it should come first from the international community, which, according to my personal belief, is now obliged to publicly announce whether the Brussels and Ohrid agreements are still in force and, if so, what are the next steps that will lead to de-escalation. There was a lot of talk about this last year, but little or nothing was done," concludes Milicevic.

Sarrazin: I would like goods to move faster (KiM radio, KoSSev)

The German special envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, said at a press briefing with journalists from the region that "we would like trucks with goods to move faster through the Merdare crossing", reported KiM radio.

Among other things, he praised the progress made by Serbia's agreement to Kosovo representing itself independently in CEFTA, and not through UNMIK as before, and positively evaluated the lifting of the ban on the import of goods of Serbian origin to Kosovo.

When asked by Radio KiM's journalist whether it can be considered progress if trucks with goods from Serbia wait for several days to enter Kosovo in long queues, while food products from Kosovo are subject to phytosanitary checks for several weeks in Serbia, Sarrazin said he certainly would like if trucks with goods moved faster.

"Manual control of goods for security reasons when entering Kosovo is not illegal, neither is phytosanitary control illegal in Serbia. However, the images coming from Merdare are problematic, and we would like to see the goods trucks moving as quickly as possible," replied the high German representative.

He added that Germany understands the Kosovo government's concern for security, especially after the attack in Banjska.

A dozen journalists from the countries of the Western Balkans participated in the press briefing with Manuel Sarrazin held via video link.

Szijjarto: Hungary’s goal is for Serbia to open cluster by year’s end (N1)

Hungary hopes to see progress in Serbia-European Union (EU) negotiations by the end of its EU presidency.

“We have a very clear goal when it comes to Serbia,” said Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Szijjarto at a media conference announcing the opening of the first cluster with Albania in the country’s EU integration negotiation process.

He said Serbia is ready to open the negotiation cluster on inclusive growth and development, and Hungary aims to make this happen before the end of the year.

If you have traveled to Belgrade two weeks apart, you have seen what progress looks like, said Szijjarto, suggesting that the bureaucrats who are worried about whether Serbia is ready to open a chapter go to Belgrade twice in two weeks and see for themselves.

He said that, while the EU member states publicly support Serbia’s integration, the situation behind closed doors is different, and that some of them raise topics that represent skepticism instead of supporting the process.

Szijjarto also mentioned that Montenegro has currently made the most progress in the integration process and is ready to close several chapters.

Serbia fails to sign letter of support for United Nations chief (Beta, N1)

Over 100 UN member states signed a letter of support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Israel declared him persona non grata.

Serbia was not among the 105 countries that signed the letter in which they expressed “deep concern with and condemnation of the recent statement from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel declaring the Secretary-General persona non grata.”

“Such actions undermine the United Nations’ ability to carry out its mandate, which includes mediating conflicts and providing humanitarian support. In the Middle East, this could further delay an end to all hostilities and the establishment of a credible path towards the two-State solution, with the state of Palestine and Israel living side by side in peace and security, in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions,” reads the letter.

Countries that did not sign the letter include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and India. Italy, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine also weren’t on the list.

From the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia signed the letter in support of Guterres, while Serbia, Croatia, and Albania did not.

In their letter, the 105 UN member states call for respect for the UN leadership and its mission, constructive engagement with the UN, avoidance of actions that could weaken the critical role of the UN in conflict resolution and for support for initiatives that contribute to a peaceful and lasting solution of the crisis in the Middle East. The initiative to sign the letter of support for Guterres was led by Chile’s UN mission, representing a group of countries including Brazil, Colombia, South Africa, Uganda, Indonesia, Spain, Guyana, and Mexico.

Northern Kosovo residents: Why so many police stations? We need jobs and roads (Kosovo Online)

The Kosovo Police have signed a contract worth 1.1 million euros for the construction of a police station and a facility for the Civil Registration Agency in Zubin Potok. However, citizens from four municipalities in the north told Kosovo Online that another police station is unnecessary, and that the money could have been used in much smarter ways.

"It would be better to use it to create small businesses and employ young people who are unemployed. There are already plenty of buildings and facilities. Why do we need a police station? We already have them. We don’t need more police. We maintain order ourselves, even though we are not the police, we are responsible citizens," a retiree from North Mitrovica said.

Younger residents share similar views.

One resident mentioned that it would have been more beneficial for Zubin Potok to finally build roads instead of a new police station, as some villages are still only accessible by dirt roads.