UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, August 16, 2023

Albanian Language Media:

Osmani on penalty measures: They were not in proportion with EU’s dissatisfaction (Koha)

Torres: Kosovo to be treated as sovereign state in EU-facilitated dialogue (Kosovapress)

Serwer: West’s pressure on Kosovo is unfair (TeVe1)

Vetevendosje excludes Besnik Mujeci, arrested in anti-drug operation in Albania (Kallxo)

Haxhiu: Opposition is ridiculous; Mujeci’s actions, individual responsibility (KTV)

Haradinaj: Kurti-led government returned the north to pre-independence period (RTK)

Charges filed against mayors of Tetovo and Cair for Kurti reception (RFE)

Taravari: Kurti is welcome in all Albanian municipalities and lands (media)

Krasniqi proud of municipalities led by PDK (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Hill on Kurti's visit to Tetovo: I'll leave it up to your imagination or ask someone else (RTS)

Petkovic: Pristina is not capable of understanding that the time has passed when Kurti was allowed to do everything (Radio Mitrovica sever)

Beqa: Telekom Serbia illegally bought operators for more than 20 million euros (RTK2, Kosovo Online)

International Media:

Kosovo Ruling Party Expels Pristina Member Drug Arrest (BIRN)

Newborn Festival in Kosovo unites global cultures through dance (Prishtina Insight)

Telecom, a new Pristina-Belgrade issue, Kosovo government reacts (Euronews Albania)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani on penalty measures: They were not in proportion with EU’s dissatisfaction (Koha)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Tuesday that the EU’s penalty measures against Kosovo damaged the process of dialogue with Serbia. She said the measures were disproportional because they implied as if Kosovo had invaded someone. During a visit to the municipality of Dragash, Osmani said that the measures “were not a response that promotes cooperation, they were a response that mostly damages the process of dialogue, it put it outside the tracks where it should be and where both parties should be treated equally”.

Osmani said the EU should move toward lifting the measures. “We expect our partners will move in this direction because their measures were completely disproportionate with any dissatisfaction they might have had with the decisions of the Kosovo Government, because they implied in a way that Kosovo had invaded someone,” she argued.

Torres: Kosovo to be treated as sovereign state in EU-facilitated dialogue (Kosovapress)

Congressman Ritchie Torres said on Tuesday that he had “a productive conversation with the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, regarding the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. As the Congressman for the Bronx, representing thousands of Albanians from Kosovo, I conveyed to him the need to sustain the special US-Kosovo relationship—which he understands deeply—and the need for the EU-facilitated dialogue to treat Kosovo with the fairness and respect that it deserves as a sovereign nation-state. I left the conversation feeling confident that Mr. Finer knows the critical importance of sustaining and strengthening the US-Kosovo relationship.”

Serwer: West’s pressure on Kosovo is unfair (TeVe1)

Daniel Serwer, analyst on the Balkans and professor at John Hopkins University, said in an interview on Tuesday that Brussels and Washington are not hiding their dissatisfaction with the government of Kosovo but also added that the West’s pressure on Kosovo is unfair.

Several days ago, a dozen of international MPs sent a letter to the EU and U.S., calling for a more balanced approach toward Kosovo and Serbia in the EU-facilitated dialogue. Similar to many international politicians, Serwer too thinks that Serbia is treated softly by the international community. He said that the dialogue process has been completely disbalanced over the last year and that he supports the initiative of U.S. and European parliamentarians calling for changes.

Serwer argued that “pressure is being applied on Pristina while Belgrade’s actions are being tolerated, including attacks on Kosovo Police and KFOR peacekeepers, and the boycott of elections in the north”. “Let us not forget that Serbia mobilised its military troops at the highest level,” he said.

“Neither Brussels nor Washington are hiding their dissatisfaction with the current authorities in Kosovo. It is unexplainable how they can be more concerned about the buildings where the municipal mayors work than about attacks against Kosovo Police and NATO peacekeepers,” Serwer said.

Serwer also predicts that with the help of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian List will continue to control the political life of Serbs in the north and that this should be a concern for Brussels and Washington. “Vucic has indicated that he will act the same way in the north of Kosovo. This is what Brussels and Washington should be worried about. He is playing Russia’s game, not the West,” he added.

Vetevendosje excludes Besnik Mujeci, arrested in anti-drug operation in Albania (Kallxo)

The Vetevendosje Movement decided to exclude Besnik Mujeci from party structures after he was arrested in Albania for drug trafficking. The information was announced by a spokesperson for the Vetevendosje Movement, Arlind Manxhuka. “As a result, the Disciplinary Committee of Vetevendosje decided to exclude Besnik Mujeci from the membership and all structures of the Vetevendosje Movement. The Vetevendosje Movement remains committed that such punishable and illegal phenomenon are absolutely intolerable and will be fought and punished,” he said.

Haxhiu: Opposition is ridiculous; Mujeci’s actions, individual responsibility (KTV)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said statements by opposition parties about Besnik Mujeci who was caught in Tirana, Albania, with 11,000 ecstasy pills are ridiculous and that neither the PDK nor LDK have facts about their claims. “As far as the accusations by the opposition are concerned, I find them ridiculous because when you don’t believe what you’re saying it is very difficult for others to believe you. We think that such accusations are made without facts and are aimed at deceiving the citizens,” she said.

LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that Mujeci’s arrest was linked to his appointment as shareholder in the main bus station in Pristina, and that his appointment there was linked to the buses that transported the drugs. The PDK expressed the same concern.

Haxhiu on the other hand said that Mujeci was appointed at the enterprise but denied that it had any connection to him transporting the drugs. She also said that Mujeci’s actions were his individual responsibility. “The prosecution will have to investigate how the drugs got there. But there is no connection between his appointment there and the action he is suspected to have committed. This is why the accusations are ridiculous. I saw the press conference of the PDK. They are ridiculous, they want to connect everything to [Prime Minister] Kurti because they are worried about the great support that Kurti has among the people. [Mujeci] responsibility is individual and he will get the punishment he deserves according to the Criminal Code,” she added.

Haradinaj: Kurti-led government returned the north to pre-independence period (RTK)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, said on Tuesday that the Kurti-led government has returned the north of Kosovo “to the pre-independence period”. “The situation in the north is unfortunately in the time before independence, many authorisations have been returned to KFOR and EULEX. Now our police are a party that has to be checked how much we withdrew, what we are doing, why are we going there and so on, and these are the situations created by Kurti, Bislimi and this government,” he said.

Commenting on the leaked conversation between Vetevendosje’s Mimoza Kusari-Lila and Serbian List’s Slavko Simic, Haradinaj said that Kusari-Lila violated the law “and betrayed the Americans and the war categories”.

Charges filed against mayors of Tetovo and Cair for Kurti reception (RFE)

The Ministry of Interior Affairs of North Macedonia has filed charges against the mayors of Tetovo and Cair on Tuesday for “violating the law on the use of state symbols” during the visit of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on August 11. The mayor of Tetovo, Bilall Kasami, and the mayor of Cair, Visar Ganiu, were interviewed by police on Tuesday.

“During the official visit of Kosovo’s delegation to North Macedonia, led by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, at the reception organised on August 11 on Ferid Murati Street in Skopje and the city square in Tetovo, it was acted in opposition with the Law on the use of the flag and anthem of the Republic of North Macedonia. During the event organised for that case the state anthem was not sung, and the state flag of the Republic of North Macedonia was not displayed, and this is a violation of Article 30 of the same law,” the Ministry of Interior Affairs said in a statement. It also noted that “police are still searching for a person who during one of the events waved the flag of so-called ‘Greater Albania’.”

Taravari: Kurti is welcome in all Albanian municipalities and lands (media)

Leader of the Alliance for Albanians and mayor of Gostivar, Arben Taravari, said on Tuesday that the charges against the mayors of Tetovo and Cair, Bilall Kasami and Visar Ganiu, for the reception of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, were unnecessary and only factorise the two politicians. “I don’t think they were necessary at all. I don’t know if this is intentional to further factorise them. This only increases their political influence. I don’t think there was any act to invite them to police stations and I think this was exaggerated,” he said.

Commenting on Kurti’s visit to Skopje and Tetovo, Taravari said that the Kosovo Prime Minister is welcome in all Albanian municipalities in North Macedonia and beyond. “He is welcome everywhere. I think that Kurti and [Albanian Prime Minister] Rama are welcome in all Albanian lands. I have said this several days ago, it is normal for him to choose his agenda. He is the Prime Minister of Kosovo and wherever he goes he will be welcomed the same way,” he said.

Krasniqi proud of municipalities led by PDK (media)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, shared on Tuesday the 2022 Municipal Budget Transparency Index by Pristina-based GAP research institute, in which the municipalities led by the PDK have scored high results. Six out of eight municipalities led by this party were ranked at the top of the table in terms of transparency for 2022. Krasniqi said this is an important achievement and that “transparency and accountability are the only way forward”.

https://t.ly/dDjAb

Serbian Language Media

Hill on Kurti's visit to Tetovo: I'll leave it up to your imagination or ask someone else (RTS)

Christopher Hill, in front of the Palace of Serbia, after handing over the donation to the Serbian police, was asked to comment on the visit of Albin Kurti to North Macedonia, as well as whether it threatens the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

''I'll leave it to your imagination what people can think about that event in Tetovo or ask someone else," said Hill about the event in Tetovo, which was condemned by both Skopje and Belgrade.

Answering the question of what the next steps of the US administration will be to calm the situation in the north of Kosovo and form the Community of Serbian Municipalities, Hill said that the position of the US remains unchanged.

"All these issues should be resolved through the Brussels dialogue, because it is a means to resolve all the problems that have arisen. Of course, everyone would like to resolve it as soon as possible, and not to delay it, but it remains that it should be done through the ongoing dialogue, and we will see what will happen in the coming weeks," said the US ambassador in Belgrade.

Petkovic: Pristina is not capable of understanding that the time has passed when Kurti was allowed to do everything (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, assessed Vjosa Osmani's latest statements as "laments" that confirm that ''the extremist elite in Pristina'' is not capable of understanding that the time when Kurti and his associates were allowed to do everything has irretrievably passed and that the EU does not look kindly on their attempts to destabilize the region.

"The indignation of Vjosa Osmani due to the resolute demands that were put before Pristina is partially understandable, because the sponsors of the self-proclaimed "Kosovo" were in the past ready to tolerate any irresponsibility of the extremist political elite in Pristina, but the world is changing, and with it the stakes and rules of politics on the Western Balkans,'' said Petkovic among other things, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

Beqa: Telekom Serbia illegally bought operators for more than 20 million euros (RTK2, Kosovo Online, RTK)

The Acting Director of the Kosovo Authority for the Protection of Competition, Selajdin Beqa, stated that this institution determined that the branch of Telekom Serbia in Kosovo - MTS acted contrary to the law, i.e., that MTS bought small operators without informing the competent administration about the sale and purchase.

"The administration has had several complaints from citizens and different operators since 2008. However, in the late fall of last year, we started analyzing the relevant market, as well as the sector within Telekom, especially internet and television services," Beqa told RTK.

According to the analysis, it was established that MTS committed illegal acts.

"Company A bought company B without submitting it to the Antimonopoly Authority, so that the administration can determine on the basis of the law whether or not it allows this concentration of capital. MTS did not submit the necessary documentation to the Antimonopoly Authority and on that basis, acting illegally, bought at least four small operators, whose total value is over 20 million euros," said Beqa.

He stated that this case is in the last stage of the investigative procedure.

"The suspicions are based on the failure of MTS to present the concentration of capital or acquisitions for smaller regional companies in Kosovo. Similar actions were committed by other companies such as Artmoushn and Kujtesa, for which we initiated proceedings," said Beqa, reported Kosovo Online.

International Media

Kosovo Ruling Party Expels Pristina Member Drug Arrest (BIRN)

Kosovo’s ruling Vetevendosje party expelled one of its members, Pristina assembly member Besnik Mujeci, on Tuesday after he was arrested in neighbouring Albania on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Mujeci was among five people – two of them from Kosovo – arrested in the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday. Albanian police said they were found in possession of 1,300 MDMA tablets, commonly known as ecstasy, with a market value of some 400,000 euros.

“After receiving the information about the arrest of the assemblyman of the Municipality of Pristina from the ranks of our party, the Disciplinary Commission of the LVV immediately dealt with this case,” Arlind Manxhuka, spokesman for the Vetevendosje Movement, LVV, announced on Facebook on Tuesday.

“As a result, the Disciplinary Commission of the Vetevendosje Movement at its meeting, decided to exclude member Besnik Mujeci from membership and all structures of the Vetevendosje Movement!” he said.