UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, October 4, 2021

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti warns reduction of Serbian imports, plans to increase trade with Albania (euronews.al)
Lajcak in U.S. after events in the North, Serbian request for Association (RTK)
Kosovo-Serbia agreement on license plates enters into force (euronews.al)
War victims found in Serbian mass grave repatriated to Kosovo (Prishtina Insight)
Tahiri: Brussels license plates agreement threatens state sovereignty (Telegrafi)
Haradinaj: Government made harmful decisions, call for resignation is legitimate (RTK)
Shala: You agreed with Serbia in Brussels about our internal affairs (RTK)
Establishment of reciprocity, Svecla visits Brnjak (media)
COVID-19: One death, seven new cases (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Covid-19: 28 new cases, one death registered in Serbian areas (Radio konakt plus)
Traffic normalized at Jarinje and Brnjak, stickers’ regime started (RTS)
Petkovic: Without dialogue there is no progress, I hope US will explain it to Kurti (Kosovo-online)
“Serbs pleased with withdrawal of special police units from northern Kosovo” (Radio KIM)
Odalovic: KFOR has finally started doing its job (RTS)
Rakic: I expect agreement will be respected and enable free movement of citizens (Radio Mitrovica sever)
EU top diplomat in Serbia: W. Balkans has no alternative to Union (N1)

Opinion:

Kosovo – Serbia Micro “Cuban Missile” Crisis (KoSSev)

International:

Kosovo Charges Ten with Ethnically-Motivated Attack on Serbs (Balkan Insight)
Vehicles, Their State Symbols Hidden, Now Crossing Kosovar-Serbian Border (RFE)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti warns reduction of Serbian imports, plans to increase trade with Albania (euronews.al)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti warned that the government is seeking to cut down imports from Serbia.

During a debate in parliament with the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), the head of the government argued that the objective is to increase and strengthen trade cooperation with Albania.

“Compared to the first two semesters of your governance in 2018, we have a 38% increase in goods coming from Albania, and 80% of exports to Albania. This is our long-term goal”, Kurti said.

Kurti’s statement comes only a week after an official visit of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in Pristina.

At the joint conference held last Monday, Kurti urged to increase cooperation in several fields, including justice, development as well as enhance the welfare of the Albanian people on both sides of the border.

He also announced that a second intergovernmental meeting will be held in November.

Meanwhile, PM Rama stated that the only way for common welfare is through the Open Balkan.

Lajcak in U.S. after events in the North, Serbian request for Association (RTK)

The European Union Envoy for Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia Miroslav Lajcak is paying a visit to the United States.

Lajcak's visit to the U.S. is the first since he held the post of EU special envoy.

"I just arrived in Washington DC for my first visit to the United States in my current capacity as EU Special Representative. I look forward to meeting American friends here and in New York," Lajcak wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo-Serbia agreement on license plates enters into force (euronews.al)

The agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia on implementing a sticker regime for license plates has entered into force.

Starting from Monday, vehicles from Kosovo and Serbia will put a sticker to cover their state symbols, as seen in the second of the agreement brokered in Brussels.

The heavy vehicles barricading the border at Jarinje and Bernjak were removed on Saturday in line with the agreement, along with special police forces that were deployed there.

KFOR, the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, is to patrol the checkpoints for two weeks “to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities living in Kosovo”.

Another point representatives from Pristina and Belgrade agreed to was for the establishment of a working group tasked to find a permanent solution to the dispute. The first meeting is due on October 21 in Brussels. After six months, the working group will have to present its findings at the high-level Dialogue meeting, between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovar Premier Albin Kurti, and EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak.

Tensions rose in the north on September 20, after the government of Kosovo demanded from Serbian vehicles to temporarily switch to Kosovar plates, a practice that was being applied on the side of the Serbian border for more than ten years.

War victims found in Serbian mass grave repatriated to Kosovo (Prishtina Insight)

The remains of seven Kosovo Albanian war victims were handed over on Thursday to the Kosovo authorities at the Merdare border crossing, four months after they were exhumed from a mass grave at an open-cast mine in southern Serbia.

Relatives of the victims, who were killed in a massacre in the Kosovo village of Rezalla in April 1999, watched the handover ceremony in tears as Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti told them that “no one can understand the burden of the absence that time has added to the wounds of your soul”.

On April 5, 1999, Serbian forces entered Rezalla in the municipality of Skenderaj/Srbica and killed 98 ethnic Albanian civilians.

The day afterwards, the Serbs returned to take the bodies away, transporting many of them to mass graves near Raska in southern Serbia in an attempted cover-up operation.

Kurti alleged that the massacre was “one of the things that prove Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo”.

The mass grave where the victims’ remains were found, at the Kizevak mine, was discovered in November 2020 after aerial images indicated where the bodies might be buried.

The Kizevak mass grave is the fifth such site to be discovered in Serbia since the end of the Kosovo war 22 years ago. It is not far away from the Rudnica mine, where a mass grave was found in 2013 containing the remains of 52 Kosovo Albanians.

In 2014, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague sentenced former senior Serbian police official Vlastimir Djordjevic to 18 years in prison in part for his role in concealing the bodies of ethnic Albanians who were killed in Kosovo.

Over 900 bodies have been found in mass graves in Serbia, but no Serbian court has ever convicted anyone of involvement in the cover-up.

Around 6,000 missing persons from the Kosovo war have already been found and identified, but there are still more than 1,600, mainly ethnic Albanians but also some Serbs, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

In a separate development, the Serbian Missing Persons Commission said earlier this week that the identified remains of Serbs who died during the conflict in Kosovo were handed over at the Merdare border crossing last Friday.

“The remains of the victims were received from the Pristina delegation on behalf of the families by representatives of the Belgrade delegation of the [Red Cross-chaired] Working Group for Missing Persons,” the commission said in a press release.

Tahiri: Brussels license plates agreement threatens state sovereignty (Telegrafi)

The head of the PDK Parliamentary Group Abelard Tahiri has said that the agreement reached in Brussels on the issue of license plates violates state sovereignty.

"This agreement has already introduced Serbia within the territory of Kosovo. We ask this government to stop the damage they are causing to the Republic of Kosovo. As we are seeing, I hope that the democratic means are enough for us as the opposition to stop you, but apparently not," said Tahiri.

He added that the decision on reciprocity was un-consulted with anyone, and that despite this as the opposition they supported it.

"As the opposition, we definitely support any decision of the government that is against Serbia. Two weeks back we are in another situation, a situation that no citizen would want. The agreement in Brussels is extremely harmful because it legalizes the license plates PR, PZ, KM issued by the government of Serbia," Tahiri said.

"This government has accepted that these license plates be issued to Kosovo legally. This is the first step you have started to implement Zajednica. In two decades, there has been no deal more damaging than this. Vucic in Serbia gets 5 euros and Albin with his ministers gets 5 euros with these stickers," Tahiri said.

Tahiri concluded that "this government is detrimental towards Vucic, Vucic has scored a great victory over us".

Haradinaj: Government made harmful decisions, call for resignation is legitimate (RTK)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj, said today during the Assembly session that the Kurti government has made two dangerous decisions for Kosovo, the first being the agreement with Serbia on license plates and the second, the rejection of the gas project.

"We will experience the damage of these two decisions, and we will face them later. Rejecting the gas project, in addition to Prime Minister Kurti’s saying no to the US, he said no to other partners such as the EBRD. MCC has spent three years and over $ 10 million on various gas feasibility studies, and MCC hired a US company. Kurti’s government top experts said no. You were told that the studies are not convincing, you say no to 200 million Americans. Kurti is saying no to a geo-strategic project for the country, Kurti is calling the American project, a Russian project. This rejection of the government is very disturbing, it shook the friendship with the USA. Therefore, the call for resignation of this government is legitimate, and at the same time prior to the decision for resignation it should withdraw the decision for gas," said Haradinaj.

Shala: You agreed with Serbia in Brussels about our internal affairs(RTK)

The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Kujtim Shala, stated that the government reached an agreement with Serbia in Brussels on the issues of the state of Kosovo. He said the government has turned part of the territory into a neutral zone.

"You agreed in Brussels with Serbia on our issues, you also agreed with Serbia on the issue of KFOR, but why? So, you turn parts of your territory in the formal legal sense, into a neutral security zone. They told you that we decide as a sovereign state, we make sovereign decisions, we defend sovereign decisions, and how did they at the same time call on the international community to intervene if we are sovereign, and then we are not sovereign, even in front of them because we reach agreements with Serbia. Why should Kosovo come to an agreement with Serbia, that is, to lead the Police in actions which are required and necessary to guarantee order, security, to guarantee the implementation of the law. Why should Kosovo negotiate and agree with Serbia on the license plates that our citizens carry? I am talking about Kosovo Serbs,” Shala said.

Establishment of reciprocity, Svecla visits Brnjak (media)

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo Xhelal Svecla, accompanied by the Director of the Kosovo Insurance Bureau, Sami Mazreku and police officers visited the border crossing in Brnjak, where the implementation of the reciprocity agreement with license plates with Serbia has begun.

The agreement for license plates was reached last week in Brussels, while its implementation has started today.

For 10 days the border crossings in Jarinje and Brnjak have been blocked due to the protest of Serbian citizens against the establishment of reciprocity by Kosovo.

COVID-19: One death, seven new cases (media)

One death from COVID-19 and seven new cases with the virus have been confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 199 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 2,044 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 28 new cases, one death registered in Serbian areas (Radio konakt plus)

Out of 88 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, 28 tested positive for Covid-19, while one person passed away, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced on Saturday, Radio kontakt plus reports.

New cases were registered as follows: ten in Leposavic, six each in Mitrovica North and Zubin Potok, and five in Zvecan. Deceased person was from Mitrovica North.

Currently there are 199 active cases in the Serbian areas in Kosovo, while 80 persons have completed two-week isolation period.

A total of 170 persons have died in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Traffic normalized at Jarinje and Brnjak, stickers’ regime started (RTS)

After two weeks of interruption the traffic was normalized at Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossing points, and stickers’ regime for the vehicles has started, RTS reports.

RTS said this morning the queue of vehicles at Jarinje was one kilometer long, adding that a number of people from central Serbia waited to cross an administrative crossing point.

The procedure on stickers regime implies that the driver of the vehicle takes the sticker and covers the license plates while the process is observed by the police.

There are no incidents reported. The same procedure is implemented at Merdare administrative point as well.

Secretary General of the Serbian Assembly Veljko Odalovic told RTS he expects that what has been agreed in Brussels be implemented, and the traffic to run unimpeded for the next six months.

He also assessed it was good KFOR got involved.

Petkovic: Without dialogue there is no progress, I hope US will explain it to Kurti (Kosovo-online)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said today the agreement on stickers’ regime goes without problems, adding he expects no major problems, Kosovo-online portal reports.

He also said Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti may not talk about any “era of reciprocity” as in fact this was about implementation of the agreement.

Petkovic told TV Tanjug it was agreed that the next round of negotiations in Brussels starts with the topic of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities. Asked when the new round could be expected, Petkovic said Belgrade expects the EU call and it would, as always, respond positively to it.

Talking about the stickers’ regime, Petkovic said it goes without problems, there is sufficient number of stickers at all administrative crossing points, adding this system is more simple than the one before and there should be no delays.

He recalled the solution with stickers regime was temporary while a working group consisting of EU, Belgrade and Pristina representatives would work to find a lasting solution in the next six months, that would be presented to the high-level dialogue.

He also said Kurti was mistaken and doesn’t tell the truth when he talks about reciprocity, since this was not about any “era of reciprocity” but rather about respecting the agreement.

“The relations between Belgrade and Prstina can’t be based on symmetric relations, because the dialogue was launched as per a decision of the UN General Assembly and can only be asymmetric, because in the UN it is only Serbia that is internationally recognized state and not so-called Kosovo. Our relations cannot be the same, and all agreements are made on these points”, Petkovic said.

Asked what he expects from increased engagement of the US, Petkovic said the stances of US and Belgrade on Kosovo differ, but that Gabriel Escobar was an experienced diplomat, who spent a long time in the area and understands it well.

“It is clear to everybody there is no progress without dialogue, and I hope the US will use its influence in Pristina and explain it to Kurti”, Petkovic said.

“Serbs pleased with withdrawal of special police units from northern Kosovo” (Radio KIM)

Serbs are pleased with the withdrawal of Kosovo special police units from administrative crossing points Jarinje and Brnjak in northern Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said, Radio KIM reports.

“It was tense, there was mistreatment of our people – remove one truck, then remove it completely. You saw the thrill of our people when their forces left northern Kosovo”, Vucic told Prva TV from Dubai where he is on a visit.

Talking about the Belgrade-Pristina agreement in Brussels, that helped end the crisis in northern Kosovo caused by introduction of temporary licence plates for the vehicles from central Serbia, Vucic said there are no easy agreements and “nothing easy for Serbia”.

He said Serbia has had no presence in Kosovo since 1999, after which March pogrom in 2004 occurred and then declaration of independence in 2008.

“Since then we have been fighting to keep our nose, if not the mouth, above the water. To preserve the security of our people there. You are fighting under conditions in which an entire Western hemisphere exercises the pressure on you to hand over what was left”, Vucic said.

He added Serbs in Kosovo “do not love” KFOR because of NATO aggression against the-then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SRJ), however, NATO and KFOR are “the only real protection there” and “there were Russians but they have left to our regret, and NATO remained”.

He also said he doesn’t believe the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, something that Pristina is obliged to do as per Brussels agreement, will be established, “because Serbia knows who it is dealing with”.

Odalovic: KFOR has finally started doing its job (RTS)

Veljko Odalovic told RTS that he expected that the agreement in Brussels would be implemented, and that in the next six months, vehicle traffic would function smoothly.

"First, in the agreement reached and in Brussels, it was definitely made known that no violence will be tolerated," Odalovic said, adding that by the saying that ROSU units should withdraw, Pristina was made known that something like that would not be treated as ''ad acta''.

He hopes that such things will not happen again and emphasizes the great importance of the fact that ''KFOR reacted in Kosovo''.

"Finally, KFOR started doing its job. I think the essence is that at this moment, in a situation that was difficult, dangerous - the only ones who could take full responsibility, without an incident occurring, is the KFOR, which is at the crossings. I believe that they will now behave much more responsibly and be much more present when it comes to security challenges," Odalovic said.

According to him, many competencies have been left to the Pristina institutions, which, as he says, are abused.

"This was the most brutal abuse, because sending so many armed special forces to do what we have this morning - two or three administrative workers or police officers working on the plates, has exposed what they wanted,'' said Odalovic adding that the action was supposed to show that they can ''occupy the north of Kosovo and to manage the way they think to manage it... this must have sobered them up," Odalovic said.

He also says that Albin Kurti experienced a fiasco, but that the most important thing is that everything ended peacefully and without incidents.

Negotiations are about life issues

He also emphasized that the most important thing now is to prepare a good strategy for the working group that will work on the final solution, which will also not be easy because there will be a lot of obstructions.

"This is good, we have advocated for this, we have advocated for peace and it is good that the international community has returned at such a delicate time and taken responsibility for it to mediate and persuade Pristina to act more responsibly and not to provoke," Odalovic said.

He also emphasized that it must be returned to the dialogue, and that there were many topics in Brussels that Pristina did not even want to discuss. He points out that the agreement in Brussels is not a question of recognizing the unilaterally declared independence, but a question of normalization of relations.

"Thus, conceived to solve the problems that arose in the period from '99 and after the self-proclamation of their quasi-state. When the Brussels Agreement is carefully read, and one looks at everything that the implementation plan brings with it, it speaks about the life problems of Serbs and Albanians," he said.

He also stated that the issue of the missing was resolved during the crisis at the administrative crossings, that the bodies of three Serbs killed in Kosovo were taken over, and that Belgrade handed over seven bodies of Kosovo Albanians.

"Life did not stop, we took care that the families had to take over the bodies and bury them," said Odalovic, adding that an attempt was made to marginalize the issue of the missing.

He says that the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities is again a topic, and that the international community is increasingly turning to the return of the fulfillment of the obligations that have been agreed.

"We have to do what we have taken over. It is not easy, it hurts, but the essence is that what was done was done for the sake of peace," Odalovic said.

According to him, this "adventure" of Pristina with the vehicle plates turned on the light to many, because Albin Kurti has repeatedly shown that he is not ready for more serious compromises.

Speaking about the involvement of the US in reaching an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, Odalovic said that the Americans would not get out of this process, that nothing crucial would happen without them, but also that it was important to work on involving Russia and China.

Rakic: I expect agreement will be respected and enable free movement of citizens (Radio Mitrovica sever)

President of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic in an interview with Belgrade-based Kurir thanked the citizens who, as he said, after two weeks, peacefully and democratically managed to fight for one of the basic human rights, and that is freedom of movement.

“People welcomed reaching the agreement, because it was demanded from the very beginning - all open problems to be solved through the dialogue in Brussels, and not by unilateral action of Pristina, especially not by using armed special forces. That is why an agreement which means peace, calming of tensions and respect for the rights of our people is absolutely acceptable”, Rakic told Kurir.

Rakic added the agreement has no restrictions, and the only time limit was that within six months they would work on finding a solution through an appropriate working group. According to him it was one of the important things for Serbian people, a clear message was sent, unilateral moves cannot solve problems, and the dialogue was the only way.

As for agreement on licence plates, Rakic said he expects the agreement will be respected, citizens will be able to move freely in their vehicles and that the situation will not be repeated.

“I hope this will be the beginning of more responsible behavior of Pristina, but also of the European Union, which is the guarantor of the agreement in Brussels. It is absolutely impermissible to send armed people against ordinary people, to disturb peace, but it is also impermissible for the European Union to be passive. That is why it is necessary to intensify the talks, implement the reached agreements and thus prevent possible problems”, Rakic underlined.

Speaking about Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Rakic said that “(…) without Community of Serbian Municipalities, there is no stabilization, and the European Union, as the guarantor of the agreement, with the agreement (on licence plates) has once again confirmed Priština’s obligation to form Community”.

EU top diplomat in Serbia: W. Balkans has no alternative to Union (N1)

Emanuele Giaufret, the head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, said Monday the bloc’s policy of enlargement on Western Balkans had no alternative, N1 reports.

“Europe and the Western Balkans share a common past and have a common future, “ he told the ‘Encomassed Europe’ conference organised by the European Policy Centre (CEP).

Giaufret said the EU was the most significant Western Balkans trade partner, adding the bloc had strong economic, cultural and personal relations with the peoples in the region.

The CEP president Srdjan Majstorovic warned that the enlargement process did not produce the desired results.

“The new methodology was supposed to speed up the process of accession negotiations, but it did not yield results. We suggest that the benefits of the accession process be improved, that the citizens understand the benefits of EU membership much earlier”, Majstorovic said.

He added that with the progress in fulfilling the conditions for joining the EU, the candidate countries would gradually move from one phase to another and make concrete progress.

“It is a process based on awards for more successful and strict control of those who lag behind it,” Majstorovic said.

Opinion

Kosovo – Serbia Micro “Cuban Missile” Crisis (KoSSev)

By Lulzim Peci

The First Agreement on Normalization of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia of April 2013 has been hailed by many international officials and national political leaders in both countries as an historic achievement. A number of analysts have branded it as the end of a Cold War and the beginning of the period of détente between the two countries.

Nevertheless, the paralyses of the dialogue on the comprehensive agreement was obvious already in the beginning of 2017. At that time, both Belgrade and Prishtina did put aside the implementation of the Agreement on the Association of Serbian Majority Municipalities in Kosovo, and moved towards the land swap option between the two countries, which Thaçi labelled as a “correction of borders,” and Vučić and Dačić as “delineation between Serbs and Albanians.”

The potential for agreement that provided this option at that time, was seen with sympathies by a number of Western capitals, as well as by Russia, but, on the other hand, it was strongly opposed by Germany and Great Britain, and especially by the countries of the region, like North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. However, by the end of 2019, it was already clear that this option had failed.

After around 20 months of effective stagnation, the EU facilitated dialogue resumed by mid-2020 and it was superseded with the Washington Agreement of September 4th, 2020 that provided a framework for the normalization of economic relations between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as a “cease fire” of their diplomatic war in the international arena regarding the (de)recognitions of Kosovo and its quest for membership in international organizations.

International

Kosovo Charges Ten with Ethnically-Motivated Attack on Serbs (Balkan Insight)

The Kosovo prosecution charged ten ethnic Albanians with attacking 11 ethnic Serbs amid heightened tensions caused by a dispute with Serbia over vehicle licence plates that sparked protests near the border.

The Basic Prosecution in Mitrovica in northern Kosovo on Friday charged ten Albanians, one of them a minor, with involvement in an ethnically-motivated attack on 11 Serbs.

Valon Preteni, the media information officer at the Basic Prosecution, told BIRN that the court had requested house arrest for nine of the suspects, but “for the juvenile suspect, the case is in a regular procedure”.

Kosovo police said earlier this week that they arrested the ten suspects on September 27.