UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, August 1, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Osmani: Date of regular elections will be announced after some analysis (RTK)
Kurti called for removal of EU measures against Kosovo (media)
Osmani: Responsibility must be demanded for not filing indictment against Radoicic (Koha)
Osmani talks with De Rio about security issues and removal of EU measures (RTK)
Svecla meets with North Macedonian counterpart, talk about illegal migration (RTK)
Kusari-Lila disagrees with opposition about January 26, mentions other dates (RTK)
Ahmetxhekaj: Kurti invited me to his office, wanted change in management of RTK (Klan)

Serbian Language Media:

Djuric met Latvian FM in Riga (Tanjug)
Petkovic receives farewell visit from OSCE ambassador in Kosovo (Tanjug, RTS)
Odalovic: Kurti does not care about the missing, Albanians or Serbs (Kosovo Online)
North Mitrovica Municipality: Allegations of Misconduct and Non-Compliance (KoSSev)
YIHR and Kosovan Police Remove Offensive Graffiti in Gojbulja (KoSSev, N1)
Radio Borzani reporter denied access to meeting in Strpce amid dispute over credentials (KoSSev)
Census results and economy: Causes and consequences of labor force outflow from Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
Serbian parliament passes declaration on rights and joint future of Serbs (Tanjug, media)

International Media:

Serbia, Djuric to Nova: "Top priority for EU membership, but with equal rights" (agenzianova.com)
Advocates sound alarm over Kosovo’s new media law (VoA)
The Dua Lipa festival aiming to change Kosovo’s image (BBC)
Political Parties In Kosovo Seek Date For 2025 Election (RFE)
Two More Podiums: Paris 2024 Olympics Bring More Joy to Kosovo Athletes (Prishtina Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani: Date of regular elections will be announced after some analysis (RTK)

Kosovo President, Vjosa Osmani, after the meeting with the leaders of the political parties, said in a press conference that the date of the elections is not yet known and that it should be set after the analysis of all the dates.

She said that the parties had different preferences between January 26 and February 16. As for the absence of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in the capacity of the head of the Vetevendosje Movement, she said that she does not know the reasons, but suggested to the journalists that they should ask Kurti himself about this matter.

"As you know, all parties have been invited at the level of the leaders. The deputy leader of the LVV, Glauk Konjufca, has expressed his full readiness to come to the meeting, but since the invitations to the parties were only at the level of the leaders, we have kept the principle for everyone and Konjufca has implemented this with understanding", Osmani said.

As for the possibility of extraordinary elections, Osmani has said that, legally, such a possibility still exists. "So setting the date of regular elections legally does not exclude the possibility of early elections. However, the dissolution of the Assembly requires 2/3 of the votes and whether the political parties are willing to make such a majority or not is their matter. There was no such mood today, but if something changes in the meantime, we will all understand", added Osmani.

She further said that in the event of the dissolution of the Assembly, the deadline is much shorter, between 30 and 45 days, but according to her, such a possibility is not on the horizon at the moment.

"I cannot rule out such a possibility, because it is at the will of the political parties, not the president. At the moment we are making preparations for regular elections. Deadlines are clear and sufficient time is given. The earlier that the citizens know when the elections will be held, the easier the planning is", Osmani underlined.

The leaders of the three opposition parties Lumir Abdixhiku (LDK), Memli Krasniqi (PDK) and Ramush Haradinaj (AAK) in their statements after the meeting with President Osmani said that they would prefer 26 January as the date for the parliamentary elections.

Kurti called for removal of EU measures against Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, participated as a guest of honour in the lunch invited by the EU ambassador in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, with accredited ambassadors of the European Union countries and candidate countries for the European Union in Kosovo.

Prime Minister Kurti thanked all ambassadors for cooperation and regular communication. In particular, he thanked Ambassador Szunyog, who is at the end of his mandate as the Head of the EU Office in Kosovo, for his contribution, in addition to the good cooperation.

"At this lunch, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and for Kosovo, in particular, and the preparations that the Government is making for this plan. He called for the removal of EU measures against Kosovo, as he reiterated the clear support and orientation that Kosovo has for membership in the European Union", the statement of the government of Kosovo reads.

Osmani: Responsibility must be demanded for not filing indictment against Radoicic (Koha)

President Vjosa Osmani has criticised the justice institutions for not indicting Milan Radoicic, who took responsibility for organising the attack in Banjska. In a press conference, Osmani also spoke about the case of Faton Hajrizi, about the RTK article with the accusations about two portals, as well as about the concerns raised after the changes in the Law on the IMC

President Vjosa Osmani said on Wednesday that she finds it difficult to understand why the justice institutions have not yet indicted those responsible for the attack by the paramilitary group in Banjska, carried out last September.

In a press conference, Osmani said that it is necessary to act faster in this direction, for the sake of protecting national security. "Not to file an indictment for someone who has committed the most serious act against the Republic of Kosovo in these 25 years is a very big surprise and I think that all of us should demand responsibility every day why no indictment is being filed", Osmani said.

She also spoke about the fugitive from the Smrekonica prison, Faton Hajrizi, whom the Serbian authorities said they killed about two days after he shot a Serbian policeman to death. Osmani said that Serbia is creating obstacles for the return of his body to Kosovo.

"I assure you that all efforts are being made. We are simply dealing with a fascist state that even in such cases try to do their best to cause obstacles", said Osmani.

The president was also asked about the lack of reaction, after public television broadcast a report by a Bosnian medium, which, without providing facts, accused two Kosovo portals of being connected to Serbia.

"I reacted every time RTK has an audience, let's say articles, when they silently declared me an election collaborator of Putin... It doesn't seem to me that there was a reaction from others. As a principle, as the president of the Republic, I reject any kind of language or accusation which, in the name of freedom of expression, puts the life of another at risk", she said.

President Osmani also explained the lack of reaction to the Law on the Independent Media Commission. She said that she did not receive a request for a meeting from the interest groups affected by this law, including AGK.

Osmani talks with De Rio about security issues and removal of EU measures (RTK)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met with the Italian ambassador to Kosovo, Antonello De Riu. The presidency has announced that Osmani and De Riu spoke about the latest developments, with a focus on security issues and the importance of regular coordination with international partners in order to address developments in this field as successfully as possible.

"Regarding the developments in the Dialogue, President Osmani reiterated that keeping EU measures in force is one of the great injustices which, above all, directly harms the well-being of all citizens in the country", the announcement states.

According to the announcement, President Osmani and Ambassador De Riu also discussed the good bilateral relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to their continued advancement.

Svecla meets with North Macedonian counterpart, talk about illegal migration (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, has announced that he met with his counterpart in North Macedonia, Panche Toskovski, with whom he discussed the security situation, border security, illegal migration and the fight against organised crime.

"I gladly accepted the invitation from my counterpart Pance Toskovski and today I paid an official visit to the Republic of North Macedonia. At the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Skopje, accompanied by the Police Directors of our two countries and Deputy Minister Astrit Iseni, we talked about the security situation, border security, illegal migration and the fight against organised crime," Svecla said.

He said that "the negative phenomena that have characterised the border zone with the Republic of North Macedonia are in a downward trend thanks to close police cooperation, while visible results have also been recorded in the joint fight against organised crime."

Svecla also met with The Speaker of the Assembly of North Macedonia, Afrim Gashi.

Kusari-Lila disagrees with opposition about January 26, mentions other dates (RTK)

The head of the Vetevendosje Parliamentary group, who is also leader of Alternativa, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, wrote on Facebook about the meeting held on Wednesday with the President, Vjosa Osmani, where the date of the regular parliamentary elections in Kosovo was discussed. Kusari-Lila has said that she does not agree with the opposition that the elections be held on January 26. She has proposed two other dates, February 9 and 16.

Ahmetxhekaj: Kurti invited me to his office, wanted change in management of RTK (Klan)

Media widely reported about the interview of the former General Director of RTK, Shkumbin Ahmetxhekaj, with TV Klan. Ahmetxhekaj said that there was great political pressure for his dismissal, adding that the pressure was initiated by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.

"My assistant informed me that we had a request for a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the office, on December 3, 2023. It was a Sunday. It is not that we have met with Prime Minister Kurti personally, we have met in interviews with foreign media, but since the election we have never had contact and I think that for the first time a General Director has not had direct contact with the prime ministers", said Ahmetxhekaj.

He said that he responded positively to the invitation for a meeting with the Prime Minister, believing that the possibility of increasing the budget of RTK would be discussed, but in fact Kurti had asked for a change in the management of the public television, and by this he meant leaving of Ahmetxhekaj from the position of General Director of RTK.

"My belief was that I was invited to this meeting to further elaborate the plan on why RTK should have an additional budget. Kurti accepted that there is a change in RTK, but he thought that there should be a much deeper change, he elaborated the changes, he was aware of the reform that I had presented to the board and at a certain moment, Kurti said that the time has come for a new change in management, because according to him, the time had come for a new development of RTK and in some way he told me that I would probably be good for representing Kosovo wherever, he mentioned it as an option", said Ahmetxhekaj.

Furthermore, the former General Director of RTK said that one day after the meeting with the Prime Minister Kurti, he was invited to a meeting by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Hajrulla Ceku, who wanted to make sure that Ahmetxhekaj had understood the message of the head of the executive.

"We discussed about the meeting the day before, to see what we understood, specifically what would make me resign from the position of General Director, because it is a general will to change the management of RTK, to have new directors and for RTK to progress further with anyone", said Ahmetxhekaj.

Despite the meetings with Kurti and Ceku, Ahmetxhekaj said that the request to leave was actually made by VV's Dejona Mihaili, whom even though he says he has never met, something like this can be confirmed by RTK board members.

Mihali, who is considered by the opposition as "the most powerful person after Kurti", does not hold any state position - but according to Ahmetxhekaj's version, she also has influence on the RTK board - through which he says that he was asked to resign.

"The Great Power of Mihali is not a myth", said the former director of RTK - joining many voices that a person without an official position controls everything in Kosovo - in a state where the system of parliamentary democracy makes the separation of powers clear.

"She did not ask me directly, she asked the members of the board to enable the dismissal or to enable the resignation", he said. "This is strange, I know there may be denials... Because when you have elected an independent board, we end the mandate as such".

Serbian Language Media

Djuric met Latvian FM in Riga (Tanjug)

Serbian FM Marko Djuric met with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braze in Riga on Wednesday, and informed her of the difficult position of the Serb community in Kosovo as well as of the challenges facing Serbia regarding that issue.

Djuric, who is on a one-day working visit to Latvia, noted that Serbia was very committed to finding rational and compromise solutions.

"When it comes to the international arena and our region, I would like to express gratitude to our Latvian friends for their presence and assistance in maintaining peace and stability as part of the KFOR mission. I believe it is crucial to continue to support the EU-facilitated dialogue," Djuric noted.

He stressed that he had the privilege and honour of being the first Serbian FM in years to visit friendly Latvia, with which Serbia maintains relations that will soon turn a hundred years old.

Petkovic receives farewell visit from OSCE ambassador in Kosovo (Tanjug, RTS)

The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic received a farewell visit from the OSCE Ambassador in Kosovo Michael Davenport on Wednesday.

Petkovic took the opportunity to highlight the political and security problems faced by Kosovo Serbs daily, which he said posed a direct threat to their future. He noted that, by refusing to meet an 11-year-old commitment to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities under agreements reached in 2013 and 2015, Pristina's PM Albin Kurti clearly demonstrated that he was, in fact, not interested in dialogue, the Office for KiM said in a statement.

Speaking about the position of Serbs, Petkovic noted that the Pristina regime had created impossible living conditions for the Serbs, including by daily violent pressure, threats to their human and political liberties, arbitrary arrests of Serbs on false accusations of alleged war crimes and various other crimes, bans on cash operations in Serbian dinars and goods from central Serbia and by stifling Serbian institutions.

As a result of all this, Serbs continue to move out of the north of Kosovo and the process is ongoing, as also noted by many international factors, Petkovic said.

Despite unequivocal facts indicating that Pristina is continuously escalating the situation on the ground through unilateral moves and daily incidents that can have dangerous and far-reaching consequences, Belgrade remains committed to peace and dialogue, he said.

Petkovic noted that Belgrade expected stronger engagement by the OSCE towards protecting the rights of Serbs and other non-Albanian communities in Kosovo and towards establishing rule of law and a secure environment for all citizens but pointed out a need for such activities to be much more visible and more intensive on the ground.

Odalovic: Kurti does not care about the missing, Albanians or Serbs (Kosovo Online)

Kurti is asking for the opening of the archives, and at the same time, Pristina has not provided any document, any paper that would be useful in finding the missing persons, so his accusations are meaningless and show that he does not even care about the missing, whether Albanians or Serbs. Veljko Odalovic, president of the Serbian Government's Commission for Missing Persons, told portal Kosovo Online.

Odalovic thus commented on the statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti, who requested that "Serbia declassify the documents of the 37th Motorized Brigade of the Yugoslav Army", referring to the agreement reached in Brussels on May 2 last year.

Odalovic states that such a request does not deserve a comment, but that the public must know that "it was agreed that all available archives will be put into the function of finding missing persons".

"However, Pristina, like everything else, politicised the topic and turned it into something else. Well, it is enough to say that Pristina unfortunately did not submit a single document from their archives, the existence of which it persistently denies, and our delegation submitted 2,417 pages of documents that contributed to the finding of the remains of more than 100 Kosovar Albanians. We have no problem delivering documents, all victims should have the same status and treatment," says Odalovic.

"We expected that Pristina would agree to first admit that it has archives, which it persistently denies, and we have dozens of their documents from the so-called KLA concerning missing persons. At the last two meetings in Geneva of the Working Group for Missing Persons, we just insisted to form a special body from representatives of Pristina, Belgrade and the international community that would deal with specific requests and archives related to missing persons and that is the only meaning of mentioning archives and not this what Kurti is doing. Unfortunately, the representatives of Pristina ignored it at the last two meetings".

Odalovic points out that Kurti is once again politicising the whole matter.

North Mitrovica Municipality: Allegations of Misconduct and Non-Compliance (KoSSev)

The municipal assembly of North Mitrovica convened today for its regular session, where the spotlight quickly shifted to allegations of misconduct and non-compliance by key officials. Nedžad Ugljanin, a prominent local figure, launched a series of scathing criticisms against Fatir Berzati, Director of multiple departments within the municipality, and Erden Atić, the city’s mayor, reported KoSSev last night.

Allegations Against Fatir Berzati

Ugljanin described Berzati as a „bully“ protected by the central authorities in Pristina, who appointed him to his position. According to Ugljanin, Berzati’s actions display a disregard for both the municipality and its citizens. „He behaves like a thug towards everyone, regardless of nationality,“ Ugljanin stated. He accused Berzati of overstepping his role, interfering in matters outside his jurisdiction, and failing to appear for the third time to present his report to the assembly.

Ugljanin further criticized Berzati for not submitting reports as required by law, an obligation Ugljanin claims Berzati has repeatedly ignored. „It is his legal duty to provide regular updates about his department’s activities,“ Ugljanin emphasized. The ongoing non-compliance led Ugljanin to declare his intention to formally request Berzati’s removal from the Ministry of Local Administration, though he expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of this action given Berzati’s protection by central authorities.

Criticism of Mayor Erden Atiq

Ugljanin also targeted Mayor Erden Atiq, who, like Berzati, failed to attend the session and submit his report. Ugljanin pointed out that Atiq’s absence and lack of reporting contravened his obligations. He criticized Atiq for publicly condemning the Serbian List while failing to address his own shortcomings.

International Media

Serbia, Djuric to Nova: "Top priority for EU membership, but with equal rights" (agenzianova.com)

Pursue the set strategic objectives, while respecting fundamental national interests, and dismantle the "inherited prejudices" from the conflicts of the 1990s to show Serbia "as it really is today". The programmatic manifesto of the new Foreign Minister of Serbia can be summarized thus: Marko Djuric, appointed last May after an experience as ambassador to the United States. Among the first visits on the agenda, the one to Italy has been set for 24 July. In an interview with "Agenzia Nova", Djuric illustrates the line that his ministry will follow within the new executive. “The new government, whose cornerstone is the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), continues with its agenda and the priority in foreign policy is the consolidation of existing relations and the construction of new ones, in all meridians – observes Djuric -. We wish to represent Serbia as the country of the future, of prospects, of new technologies, with a stable economy that continues to grow. A country capable of being a solid partner in all sectors, and which is committed to peace, stability and respect for international law."

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4948cy9t

Advocates sound alarm over Kosovo’s new media law (VoA)

Journalists and media advocates are concerned that a new law in Kosovo could give the government greater control.

The new law seeks to license online media, give the Independent Media Commission, or IMC, power to monitor news websites, and increase the number of politically appointed members of the body, which is responsible for the regulation, management and oversight of the broadcasting frequency spectrum in the Republic of Kosovo.

The law includes hefty fines for the media that violate the law, ranging from $215 to $43,000. However, the legislation does not provide details of how the fines will be applied, according to the Media Freedom Rapid Response, which monitors conditions for the media.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2ttnd764

The Dua Lipa festival aiming to change Kosovo’s image (BBC)

Across the summer in the UK there’s a music festival pretty much every week somewhere in the country.

Highlights include the summer kick off with Radio 1’s Big Weekend in May, Glastonbury’s dominance in June, Latitude in July and a Reading and Leeds Bank Holiday bonanza in August.

Some could argue British music lovers are spoilt for choice.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/495ampw4

Political Parties In Kosovo Seek Date For 2025 Election (RFE)

Consultations began in Kosovo on July 31 on selecting a date for parliamentary elections next year, but representatives of the of the ruling party and the leading Serbian political grouping did not take part.

President Vjosa Osmani initiated the talks between the country's political parties and said after the meeting that the parties that attended expressed interest in all the possible dates.

According to the deadlines set by law, Kosovo can hold regular elections on January 26 or on February 2, 9, or 16.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3s3nretv

Two More Podiums: Paris 2024 Olympics Bring More Joy to Kosovo Athletes (Prishtina Insight)

In less than a week since the start of the Paris Olympic Games, Kosovo has already secured two Olympic medals in judo, out of the nine athletes it has sent to the event.

As judoka Laura Fazliu was leaving the court on Tuesday evening after winning the third place in her category, she rushed to the touchline to give a hug to her coaches Majlinda Kelmendi and Driton Kuka, who were cheering for her in the stands.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/3ebtam9d