Albanian Language Media:

• Germany defies Macron over Kosovo visa liberalisation threat (media)
• Administrative instruction for removal of mayors in north finalised (Telegrafi)
• Rama: Thaci trial raises question of level of respect for democratic principle (media) 
• Interior Minister comments on weapons seized in Zvecan (media)
• AmCham calls for lifting of measures on imports from Serbia (RFE)
• Haziri: Second package of measures against Kosovo is ready, govt knows this (TeVe1)
• Rukiqi criticises govt: Failed to initiate a single important economic project (Nacionale)
• Hoxhaj criticises Kurti government for “awfully wrong foreign policy” (media)
• Tahiri: U.S. will no longer allow Kurti to hide content of talks (Koha)

Serbian Language Media:

• FM Dacic with Philippines FM Manalo in Jakarta (Tanjug)
• Minister Marsudi: Indonesia will not change its position regarding the non-recognition of Kosovo's independence (Politika, Beta)
• Former KP police officers received a summons for questioning as suspects in the "murder of Prime Minister of R. Kosova" (KoSSev)
• Weapons recovered in house raid in northern Kosovo; Svecla: We raided a weapons base in the North (N1, KoSSev)
• Rakic with Barbano on the withdrawal of special units from the north, and bigger presence of EULEX and KFOR (Tanjug)
• Opposition demands immediate parliamentary and Belgrade elections (N1)
• Popov: Kurti does not want to form the ZSO, imposes extreme topics and sways the West (Kosovo Online, Blic)

Opinion:

• Issue of missing persons shouldn’t have become part of Brussels dialogue (Koha)

International:

• Hashim Thaçi’s Interview From The Hague – by Petrit Selimi (medium.com)
• Kosovo’s Thaci Gives First Interview from Detention in The Hague (BIRN)
• Lynching and Public Propaganda Remain a Challenge for Women in Kosovo (BIRN)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Germany defies Macron over Kosovo visa liberalisation threat (media)

Several local news websites cover an article by Euractiv titled “Germany defies Macron over visa liberalisation threat”. French President Emmanuel Macron made headlines last week with a statement implying that Paris and Berlin could review visa liberalisation for Kosovo if the latter does not act responsibly in terms of de-escalating the situation in the north.

A source close to the German Ministry of Interior Affairs however made it clear to Euractiv that the citizens of Kosovo will travel without visas from the start of next year. “Germany abides to the regulations signed by the European Union in April 2023. According to them, the citizens of Kosovo, will not need visas for short-term stay in the Schengen zone. This will enter into force on January 1, 2024,” the source said. According to the source, “it is understood that when he mentioned Germany in his statement, Macron did so without an agreement with Berlin”.

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/4np7myb5 Administrative instruction for removal of mayors in north finalised (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Minister for Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, said in a Facebook post today that the administrative instruction for the civic initiative for the removal of mayors has been finalised. 

He said the instruction is aimed at setting the procedure for initiating, organising and submitting the civic initiative for removing the mayors from office, in line with the law on local self-government. “Local and international institutions were part of professional discussions, work and consultations and also in the working group. Given that this is the first time that this issue is being treated … there have been many comments and suggestions. They were all reviewed and the most substantial part has been addressed,” he said.

Krasniqi further argued that the instruction allows for the practical implementation of a right that is guaranteed by the law on local self-government, “a right which secures the exercise of civic will in relation with the Mayor of the Municipality, who is directly elected by the citizens”.

Rama: Thaci trial raises question of level of respect for democratic principle (media) 

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama shared today the video of the interview that former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci gave to Nacionale news website and said that the longer the trial continues the more it raises questions about the level of respect for the basic democratic principle of a fair process. “Good morning, and with this interview of the President of the Republic of Kosovo and the commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, our friend and my brother Hashim Thaci, who spoke for the first time since he was sent to the prison in Hague, where a trial is ongoing and which the longer it lasts the more it raises questions about the level of respect for the basic democratic principle of a ‘fair process’, I wish you all a good day, in Albania and in Kosovo,” Rama wrote in his post.

Interior Minister comments on weapons seized in Zvecan (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, took to Facebook today to comment on the police operation that resulted in the seizure of weapons in the municipality of Zvecan. “For two decades, the north of Kosovo has lived in illegality, in an abnormal order, where criminal organisations and criminals financed by Belgrade found refuge. Smuggling, the illegal entrance of goods and arms into Kosovo, resulted in a concerning situation for our citizens in the north too, who faced with the power of the criminals lived in constant blackmail and pressure. As the government, in the last two years, we have revealed and blocked illegal smuggling routes. Today, Kosovo Police, together with intelligence institutions, after identification, conducted a raid at a weapons base in the north of Kosovo, more specifically in Zvecan. This house was used for collecting and distributing weapons to Serb criminal groups. So far, many weapons have been found, including automatic rifles, bullets, hand grenades and explosives. At the site, alongside the security institutions, were also present representatives of KFOR. The north, step after step, is heading toward normality. Law and order will not be threatened in any corner of the Republic,” Svecla said.

AmCham calls for lifting of measures on imports from Serbia (RFE)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo (AmCham) said in a statement today that the Kosovo government should lift the measures on imports from Serbia, as the decision is also impacting imports from U.S.-owned companies.

The news website recalls that on June 15, after Serbian forces arrested three officers of Kosovo Police, the government in Pristina banned almost all imports from Serbia. The police officers were later released, but the government kept the ban on imports in force.

AmCham notes that the government’s decision has led to a decrease of imports from U.S.-owned companies by over 30 percent, compared to the previous year, and that imports related to U.S. companies are reducing “at an alarming rate”.

Haziri: Second package of measures against Kosovo is ready, govt knows this (TeVe1)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lutfi Haziri, said in an interview with the TV station on Monday that the European Union has prepared a second package of measures against Kosovo and that the government in Pristina is aware of this. “It is important for the government to say what they have abused that Kosovo is being faced with penalty measures, because the second package will be catastrophic to say the least, it will be deadly for the future of Kosovo. The second package is ready, and the Government of Kosovo has been notified about the second package, but they are still talking about the easing of the first package. It is manipulative to talk about the easing of the first package when they have failed to undertake any concrete action in implementing the obligations they have assumed with the Ohrid agreement,” he said.

According to Haziri, measures against Kosovo were introduced because of the failure to implement the Kurti-Vucic agreement, and in his opinion the government “is neck-deep in mud with the Ohrid agreement”.

Rukiqi criticises govt: Failed to initiate a single important economic project (Nacionale)

Senior member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Berat Rukiqi, in a Facebook post commented on an infographic by the Vetevendosje Movement about direct foreign investments, which according to the ruling party, have increased. Rukiqi however said the claim is a manipulation with statistics. “Another manipulation with statistics and infographics by the propaganda office of the Vetevendosje Movement. This time with the figures of Direct Foreign Investments, by comparing the data of the first quarter of 2022 with the data of the first quarter of 2023, namely comparing the months that suit them more,” Rukiqi said. “A government, with the weakest performance in the implementation of capital investments, which has failed to initiate a single important project for the country’s economy, and to make matters worse it has damaged Kosovo’s rating for foreign investments, by producing consequent crisis, the only way it can talk about a ‘success’ is by trying to manipulate with unsustainable statistics and hyperbolized graphics.”

Hoxhaj criticises Kurti government for “awfully wrong foreign policy” (media)

Vice President of the Kosovo Assembly from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, in a Facebook post today criticises the Kurti-led government for “following an awfully wrong foreign policy, where western democracy sanction it and the leading Asian countries, which have recognised Kosovo, exclude it every day, as well as Serbia’s membership in the ASEAN yesterday, an influential organisation in a very developed region of Asia!”

Tahiri: U.S. will no longer allow Kurti to hide content of talks (Koha)

Kosovo’s former chief negotiator in talks with Serbia, Edita Tahiri, said in a Facebook post today that the implementation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will be the central topic of the next meeting between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels. “From the discourse of war to the agreement without recognition, the acceptance of the Association, the autonomy for the Serb minority, the tensions in the north, and now the implementation of the Association, which will be a central topic in the next dialogue. The Americans will tell us what was discussed; they will no longer allow Kurti to hide the content of talks,” Tahiri argued.

     

Serbian Language Media

  FM Dacic with Philippines FM Manalo in Jakarta (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy PM and FM Ivica Dacic met with the Philippines' FM Enrique Manalo on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN summit in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The ministers discussed advancement of bilateral relations, to be boosted further by Monday's signing of an instrument on Serbia's accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Bilaterally, the discussion focused on strengthening of political dialogue at high and the highest level through exchanging visits and signing a MoU on bilateral political consultations - which is under preparation - as well as through further development of economic, cultural, educational and scientific and technical cooperation.

The parties discussed mechanisms and modalities ensured by ASEAN through advancement of political, trade and economic ties with member states as well as within broader multilateral frameworks.

Dacic thanked the Philippines for its principled and consistent support to preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, also reflected in its support in international organisations, and expressed the hope it would be continued in the future, the statement said.

Minister Marsudi: Indonesia will not change its position regarding the non-recognition of Kosovo's independence (Politika, Beta)

Indonesia will not change its position regarding the non-recognition of Kosovo's independence, regardless of the constant exposure to pressure to change this decision, said the head of Indonesian diplomacy, Retno Marsudi, at a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, on the sidelines of the 43rd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) in Jakarta. 

Marsudi is also the chair of ASEAN, and Dacic is participating in the summit at her invitation, reported daily Politika, citing the MFA of Serbia announcement. 

The interlocutors discussed the possibilities for further intensification of the political dialogue, with the implementation of visits at the highest and highest level, with the aim of strengthening the cooperation between the two countries in bilateral and multilateral frameworks.

They agreed that there is significant potential for the development of cooperation in a number of areas and expressed interest in further development and encouragement of economic cooperation while strengthening the scope of trade exchange, investment, agriculture, and cooperation in the field of tourism and ICT.

Dacic thanked Indonesia for the support and assistance it provided to Serbia during the decision-making process within ASEAN regarding Serbia's request to join the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, reports Beta.

He also reiterated his gratitude for the support provided by Indonesia in preserving the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, it was said in the MFA statement.

Former KP police officers received a summons for questioning as suspects in the "murder of Prime Minister of R. Kosova" (KoSSev)

Portal KoSSev reported today that several former members of the KP were invited yesterday to be heard this week as suspects in connection to the criminal offense from Article 119 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of Kosovo. 

A total of five former members of the Kosovo Police of the North region, of whom at least two held high positions in this institution, received a summons yesterday from the Investigations Department of the Kosovo Police, the Anti-Terrorism Directorate, KoSSev learns from at least two confirmed sources close to these police officers.

In one of the summons that KoSSev had access to, the suspect is invited to report to the Police Station in South Mitrovica at the investigation department this week (the exact date specified in the document) to be questioned in connection with the criminal offense under Article 119 paragraph 3 and criminal offense 122, also paragraph 3 of the "Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo".

According to this document, the suspect was warned that if he doesn't come without the stated reason, he could be issued a warrant for his arrest and "forced treatment".

Also, he was given the opportunity to hire a lawyer, and to consult with him before and during the interrogation.

"I went to the police station in North Mitrovica following a previous call, which followed by phone, and by a member of the Kosovo Police - to come to the station and take a call as a suspect for the alleged execution of some criminal acts. Arriving at the police station, I took the summons this week," said the interlocutor, one of the five suspects, who agreed to speak with the protection of his identity.

After reviewing the summons, according to his own admission, only then he realized what he was being charged with, at least in one part, considering that for the other criminal offense (122 - Endangering the constitutional order by destroying or damaging public buildings and facilities) paragraph 3 does not exist.’’

When he saw what he was charged with, he says, he was shocked. This former member of the KP spoke visibly upset.to KoSSev portal. 

"When I looked in the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, I saw that Article 119 (Murder of high-ranking representatives of the Republic of Kosovo) paragraph 3 - murder of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, while paragraph 3 from Article 122 - does not exist in the code at all," the interviewee told KoSSev. 

He is a former member of the Kosovo Police, an officer who was in an important position. He resigned at the beginning of November, when his other Serbian colleagues from the North did, and he spent more than a decade in the Kosovo Police. He boasted of an impeccable career, stressing that he had invested years in acquiring knowledge.

However, the situation has now changed.

The first thing that went through his mind, when he received a summons for a hearing this week in his former office, was the question: What is this, which madman produced this, who packaged this, what murder of the prime minister?

"They told me at the station that they don't know anything and that it's up to them to serve the summons, and everything is up to the Directorate for Terrorism," he revealed to KoSSev the details of the conversation from the station.

As a former member of the Kosovo Police, he also noticed, as he described, all the abnormality and severity of the political situation, which is reflected in the fact that a special police unit was called in to arrest an alleged suspect for an attack or assault on a journalist and his property, and that he was charged with "murder of the prime minister" – and the alleged suspect is called on the phone to come to the station and be served with a summons for questioning.

"I don't understand anything. The President of the Assembly is alive, the President is alive, the Prime Minister is alive. In the past, no one has ever been killed from these positions. How then should I understand this, if not as a pressure on all of us here. Not only at me personally," says the interlocutor.

When asked what he plans to do, i.e., whether he will respond to the invitation to the hearing, he replied to KoSSev, visibly upset, "I don't know.”

He claims that he has never participated in any criminal activities, and that he can only praise his police career.

"If I go and make a statement, what if they make up their mind to imprison me," he worried aloud in an interview for KoSSev. 

When asked if he sought advice and protection from Serbian authorities, he said:

"You have no one to turn to. If you know who, I'll be happy to ask them."

The life of this former policeman was not easy even before he picked up a call from the building where he worked until recently. Since the collective abandonment of the Kosovo Police in November, his life, and the life of his colleagues - has changed a lot.

"I'm thinking about moving out. Nevertheless, my life binds me to Kosovo, but even to go to Serbia, with such a summon - I am not a free man. A warrant will be issued for me," he points out.

He realizes how serious the situation is. He doesn't see a way out, but he now feels himself, as he says, the weight of the difficult political situation in which he, as well as all his fellow citizens, found themself.

"I see myself in a very big problem and I don't know how I can get out. If I don't have advice for myself, I don't know what I could tell others. This is not pleasant."

Although the reasons for these accusations are not clear to him, the only hint, as he states, which he said out loud in the conversation - is a possible connection with the case of Dejan Pantic, who was arrested in December last year, and who has been under house arrest for the ninth month for criminal terrorism in connection with the riots in front of the municipal election commission in North Mitrovica.

"I know that I didn't do anything illegal. I know that even Dejan Pantic did not do what he is accused of. Not that I know, but I put my life at stake and claim that he didn't do it. He oversaw administrative affairs. He did not perform any important tasks, outside of administration.

I know him so well as a person, that I know he is not capable of doing what they are accusing him of."

Weapons recovered in house raid in northern Kosovo; Svecla: We raided a weapons base in the North (N1, KoSSev)

A large quantity of weapons was recovered in a police raid on a house in Zvecan, northern Kosovo, KoSSev was told by the Kosovo Police.

The police were acting on information that there were weapons in the house, and, though the police have information on the suspects, no one was arrested in the operation, KoSSev reported.

The Kosovo Police said that, according to preliminary information, the weapons found include explosives, hand grenades, at least three AK rifles and ammunition.

The locals said there were at least seven Kosovo Police vehicles at the scene, reported KoSSev.

Svecla: We raided a weapons base in the North

In the meantime, the Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs confirmed the same, confirming that KFOR was also on the scene during the operation.

"This house was used to collect and distribute weapons to Serbian criminal groups," claims the head of the Kosovo MIA, Xhelal Svecla, reported KoSSev portal.

"So far, a large amount of weapons have been discovered, including automatic weapons, bullets, hand grenades and explosives. In addition to the security institutions, representatives of KFOR were also present at the scene," Svecla specifies.

He called the house where these weapons were found today the "arms base" in the North of Kosovo.

"This house was used to collect and distribute weapons for Serbian criminal groups," this minister claims.

Rakic with Barbano on the withdrawal of special units from the north, and bigger presence of EULEX and KFOR (Tanjug)

President of the Serbian List, Goran Rakic, met today with the new head of the EULEX mission, Giovanni Pietro Barbano, with whom he discussed the withdrawal of special units from the north of Kosovo, reported Tanjug agency. 

Rakic said, in an Instagram post, that they have also discussed the increased presence of EULEX and KFOR patrols in the north.

The meeting was held in the premises of the Serbian List in North Mitrovica.

Opposition demands immediate parliamentary and Belgrade elections (N1)

We demand the immediate calling of parliamentary and Belgrade elections by the end of the year so the opposition could meet the citizens’ demands as its first step following the change of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) regime, said Serbian MPs and representatives of the Serbia Against Violence protest organizers, reported N1.

Democratic Party (DS) leader Zoran Lutovac said the protesters’ demands have not been met.

“We will demand parliamentary elections, along with those in Belgrade. By achieving success in the parliamentary elections, we can fulfill the protest demands. We are asking for the citizens’ backing so we can get support in the parliamentary vote, meet those demands, and stabilize social conditions,“ said Lutovac.

MP Radomir Lazovic said the opposition will block the Parliament session until they get a reply regarding their request for the calling of elections.

“Instead of meeting the demands of the Serbia Against Violence protest, the Progressives’ government chose to convince us that the system has not failed and so only deepened the crisis we are all in,” said Lazovic.

Co-leader of the Together party Aleksandar “Cuta” Jovanovic also announced elections, stressing that “is it our obligation to say ‘no’ to those who have turned this country into Colombia.”

“This is a place where all possible laws are most brutally violated and violence is directed against the MPs who think differently from Aleksandar Vucic’s slaves,” said Jovanovic.

N1 reported in the meantime that the members of the Serbian Parliament have finished their work for today. Part of the opposition, as they announced earlier, "blocked" the session by approaching speakers and whistling. The President of the Assembly, Vladimir Orlic, announced for Wednesday the continuation of the discussion on details, as well as the vote for the Minister of Economy.

Popov: Kurti does not want to form the ZSO, imposes extreme topics and sways the West (Kosovo Online, Blic)

The director of the Center for Regionalism, Aleksandar Popov, assessed that the PM of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, since participating in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, is only seeking mutual recognition and that he is buying time with this story. He says that Kurti does not want to form the Community of Serbian Municipalities and is deliberately imposing extreme topics to continue to sway the West, reported Kosovo Online, citing Blic.

"From the first meeting with Vucic, Kurti claims that the only thing that makes sense is the mutual recognition of Belgrade and Pristina, and that after that we should discuss technical matters. But then how can we discuss technical matters when everything is over. The main responsibility lies with the chief negotiators of the EU and the US - in which they allowed Kurti and Vucic to pull the strings and drag out the story," said Popov.

He pointed out that nothing new can be expected from the talks in Brussels on September 14.

"One cannot expect anything when de-escalation has not yet occurred in the north of Kosovo. The meeting in Brussels would have made sense if the situation in the north of Kosovo had been resolved and the date of the local elections had been agreed upon. Then the topic would be the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement. As it is, it is difficult that something epochal can hardly happen in Brussels," said Popov.

As he added, Kurti buys time with the story of mutual recognition.

"He does not want to form the Community of Serbian Municipalities, even though that association has a more symbolic character. However, for Kurti, that symbolism is very important because he won the elections on the story that he would not establish the CSM. That is why Kurti deliberately imposes extreme topics to continue to sway the West," says Popov.

Popov also states that he is not sure how much Pristina and Belgrade want the dialogue to succeed.

"It seems like they are playing ping-pong with the West's permission. Both sides prefer frozen conflict to agreements that take away their votes. Both saw how many votes they lost only when the Ohrid Agreement was reached," said Popov.

       

Opinion 

  Issue of missing persons shouldn’t have become part of Brussels dialogue (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in an opinion piece that the issue of forcibly disappeared persons should have been addressed only as a humanitarian and criminal issue and not have become politicised. “By including it in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which is entirely political, the issue has become politicised. It has become ‘only one of the topics of dialogue’ and has become equalized, or even become less important, compared to tipics such as the issue of licence plates or the fate of municipal buildings. In the minds of international officials, this issue is not a priority, and is mentioned only when there is an anniversary or international day dedicated to the missing,” he writes.

Palokaj argues that EU officials for many years say that “one must look toward the future and not the past” and that they say this even when the issue of missing persons is mentioned as an obstacle for the normalisation of relations. “Oftentimes European officials mention comparisons on how France and Germany reconciled, how they were united by shared interests, the creation of what is today the European Union, and that the peoples of the Western Balkans should follow the same example. They ignore however the fact that the French-German reconciliation was not based on forgetting, but in admitting the responsibility for crimes and a clear willingness to punish them,” he argues.

In terms of reconciliation, the Western Balkans has had a serious problem from the last wars. It is an attempt for reconciliation based on forgetting or based on ‘agreeing that we cannot agree about the past’. There cannot be an agreement about the future without an agreement over the past. At least over undisputed facts from the past. And the facts are that in the three conflicts … The biggest atrocities were committed by forces under Belgrade’s control, and proof of this are the verdicts of the Court for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. Although there is evidence that crimes were also committed by those that fought a liberation war, the primary responsibility of Belgrade cannot be denied. Many mass graves were found in Serbia with the bones of many people that were killed hundreds of kilometers away. Where they were found, as in the case of the training base in Batajnica near Belgrade, there is no memorial that speaks how willing Serbia is to face its past”.

“Around 10,000 missing remain as a grave consequence of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. Their families are seeking the truth. Some of them have not lost the last hope that someone could still be alive. But many others do not share these hopes. Their modest wishes are to find a piece of bone to bury it and to have a grave where they can lay flowers on. There are nearly 10,000 still missing. The biggest number, over 6,000 from the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nearly 1,900 from Croatia and over 1,600 from Kosovo”.

“It is known who took the civilians or war prisoners from the hospital in Vukovar. It is known where most of them were sent to in Serbia. It is exactly known who was responsible during the military campaigns in Kosovo, who ordered and executed the killing, abduction, and expulsion of people, but also who hid the corpses and sent them to mass graves in Serbia. A lot of information can be found in the testimonies of Serbs during proceedings at the Court for war crimes in the Hague. The killing, kidnapping, exhumation and transportation of corpses to Serbia to conceal evidence of crimes were not individual acts as even some international officials like to believe. They were systematic, planned, ordered, and executed by the chain of command of Serbia’s police and military forces. Only ‘some individuals’ could not have carried out such a sophisticated organisation that requires perfect logistics. So there are many people who probably know, or know who knows, or should have known who knows the details about the transportation of corpses and their reburials in Serbia. If they would speak, or are encouraged to speak, or are judged for not wanting to speak, the chances for resolving the fate of missing persons would have been much higher.”

“The silence of those that know is the biggest obstacle to resolving the fate of the missing. And silence is not only encouraged by the government in Serbia, but open threats were made against those that spoke out or that want to speak. The most scandalous case was the threat made by Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, who was also an active person in the Milosevic regime. During a TV show, he threatened by saying ‘what should we do with those Serbs that tell Albanians and Croats where the graves of Albanians in Serbia are!”. You don’t have to be very familiar with the Serbian language to understand that this was a clear threat. And except for some soft reactions in the region, there were no reactions in Serbia and reactions in the EU were generalized the style ‘we call on leaders from the whole region to refrain from statements that go against reconciliation’.”

“One cannot say that international representatives are not interested in the fate of the missing. But political processes are more important to them. This is why there has been no major political pressure to secure information from those that have them, to resolve the fate of the missing”.

   

International 

  Hashim Thaçi’s Interview From The Hague – by Petrit Selimi (medium.com)

“We won that war. But now we must strengthen the peace… We cannot win the future with history alone, history must be respected, institutionalized. It is the embodiment of the citizens, but it does not guarantee success for today and the future.” — Thaçi in an interview from his holding cell in The Hague

(My note: The following is the English translation of an unprecedented interview given in writing by the former President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi to one of Kosovo’s foremost journalists Berat Buzhala, the founder of nacionale.com news portal. The interview was authorized by the Special Court, with no redacted parts, to the best of my knowledge.

President Thaçi found out he’s indicted by the very Court he helped establish after sustained pressure from the Western allies, in a controversial manner, while being in a flight to Washington DC, planning to sign a normalization agreement with Serbian counterpart and President Trump.

He spent over two years in detention without a trial. An increasing number of court observers and critical voices are questioning the very premise of the former prosecutor Jack Smith to indict the most senior KLA leaders on the so-called “command responsibility”. KLA was not an organized military but more of a “ragamuffin guerilla”, to quote then NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson.

My translation contains minor language edits. The link of the interview in original Albanian: https://nacionale.com/politike/interviste-ekskluzive-hashim-thaci-nga-haga-flet-per-veten-familjen-edi-ramen-dhe-te-ardhmen-e-kosoves )

NACIONALE: Mr. President, let me start with a question on something you said few years before you were arrested. At that time you repeated several times that you would retire after the end of the President’s term? Do you still think the same?

I don’t miss the office of the President or the Prime Minister, nor the official agenda or the daily political, party or parliamentary debates. After the end of the political commitment and the process that I am currently going through, I want to open chapters of other life commitments.

Today I am in physical isolation, but I’m not in a mental prison. I feel that I have the physical and creative energy, experience and mental freshness to do good, useful and creative things for society and my country.

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/bdhfvy24 Kosovo’s Thaci Gives First Interview from Detention in The Hague (BIRN)

In an unexpectedly personal interview conducted in writing from the detention centre at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers war crimes court in The Hague, Hashim Thaci told Kosovo media outlet Nacionale that he is missing “people, not politics” – particularly his family.

“We miss each other every day, but that’s the price of freedom,” the former Kosovo president and wartime Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla leader said in the interview that was published on Monday evening.

“I know that longing is somewhat of a weakness, but it is also a very basic human emotion: we are human beings,” he added.

Thaci did not discuss the charges against him during the interview, or the ongoing trial process that started in April this year, focusing instead on his views about Kosovo’s future.

“United, we succeeded in the process of freedom and independence, and we must continue in the same way in the phase of Euro-Atlantic integration,” he said.

“Permanent peace with Serbia must be achieved, with mutual recognition, a legally binding agreement. The more this agreement is delayed, the more delayed Kosovo will be in NATO and the EU, and the weaker the support of the USA will be,” he also argued.

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/4y38cw6u Lynching and Public Propaganda Remain a Challenge for Women in Kosovo (BIRN)

Women in Kosovo often face lynching and propaganda campaigns in the hours following important public appearances or after taking leadership positions. In Kosovo, there is no specific criminal offense that punishes lynching or propaganda. However, such cases that occur in the country are manifested through other criminal acts.

Women in Kosovo often face lynching and propaganda campaigns in the hours following important public appearances or after taking leadership positions. Such was the example of Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu who was elected President of Kosovo on the evening of April 4, 2021. On that night, Adrian Kastrati, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, quoted the Albanian writer Faik Konica on Facebook. Kastrati cited, “…a peasant woman with a belly like a tub and legs like a witch, with a pair of thick, ripe hands and a face swollen like the red pepper of Ohrid,” mentioning that this satirical article published in the “Dielli” newspaper in Istanbul had evoked laughter with tears.

The political and activist sphere reacted strongly to this statement. In another case, on April 12, 2021, during a sports show, football coach Tahir Batatina used sexist, insulting, and prejudicial language towards Qendresa Krelani, a sports journalist on the Public Television of Kosovo, RTK. He told Krelani, “In journalism, you can sell newspapers or clean something, but you can’t analyze football in this way… your level is not that of a journalist, starting from your appearance…”

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/3nuv7mnb