UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, January 4, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Cameron starts 2024 with a visit to Kosovo: We want to help you (media)
Svecla to visit Presheva Valley today (RTK)
Bislimi criticizes Constitutional Court: Incompetent and unreliable - corrupt environment (media)
Government to decide soon on Serbian license plates (Koha)
Rasic: I am ready to participate in the drafting of the Association's statute (VoA)
AAK breaches coalition with PDK in Prizren (Klan)
Tahiri: The sooner this government leaves, the better for Kosovo (media)
Third day without visas, no significant increase of demand for abroad tickets (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije begins visit in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)
Visoki Decani Monastery: Visit of Patriarch Porfirije holds great symbolic significance for Serbian people in Kosovo (Kosovo Online, social media)
Tanjug reporter denied entry in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)
Serbian journalists’ associations condemn entry ban to Tanjug reporter (KoSSev, Kosovo Online, media)
Citaku on Bislimi’s statements on Constitutional Court (Kosovo Online, social media)
SNS to have 49 seats in Belgrade local assembly, Serbia Against Violence follows with 43 (media)

International Media:

Kosovo in 2024: Kurti in Race Against Time to Deliver on Real Problems (Balkan Insight)
Serbia Publishes Official Election Results – Only Question is Belgrade (Balkan Insight)
Spread of biometric devices spark fears over surveillance in Serbia, Kosovo (Biometric)
Kosovo Passport Makes Historical Jump by 90 Positions Up in VisaGuide Passport Index (visaguide.world)

Albanian Language Media

Cameron starts 2024 with a visit to Kosovo: We want to help you (media)

The Foreign Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, has arrived on Wednesday evening for an official visit to Kosovo. He met with Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, while today, he will meet with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani at 09:10 hours.

As part of his official visit to Kosovo, the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom, Lord David Cameron, at 08:00, will meet the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla- Schwarz. After the meeting, they will hold a press conference with the local and international media.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti welcomed on Wednesday at a working dinner the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, Lord David Cameron, who is visiting Kosovo for the first time.

Accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gervalla-Schwarz, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Xelal Svecla, the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, the Minister of Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic, the Chairperson of the Vetevendosje Parliamentary Group , Mimoza Kusari Lila and Kosovo's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ilir Kapiti, Prime Minister Kurti extended a special welcome to Secretary Cameron in Pristina. He expressed his happiness that the year 2024 is starting with an important bilateral meeting with the friend, partner and close ally of Kosovo, the United Kingdom, as he congratulated Secretary Cameron on his new task and the New Year 2024.

According to the press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office, the value and importance of strong bilateral relations between the two countries was emphasized in the meeting, while the areas and new possibilities of bilateral cooperation in the service of common interests and the strengthening of mutual relations were discussed.

"Prime Minister Kurti informed Secretary Cameron about the progress and achievements of Kosovo, especially in the last three years, both in terms of economics and democracy and the rule of law. He spoke about the successes and challenges of 2023 and his and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo's commitment to economic development in addition to fighting crime and corruption, raising the well-being of citizens through employment and appropriate social policies, and guaranteeing security and peace in the country in the face of the aggressive and threatening behavior of Serbia", the announcement states.

He thanked Secretary Cameron for his contribution while he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the continuous support that this country has given to Kosovo in liberation, independence, democratization, internal development and international integration, and now recently in increasing security along the border with Serbia with the landing of 200 British soldiers in October last year as part of the NATO mission in Kosovo.

Secretary Cameron expressed his gratitude for the hospitality in this visit, which, in addition to being his first in Kosovo, is also his first abroad for 2024. He expressed his pride in the support that the United Kingdom has given to Kosovo and the decision and position to recognize its sovereignty and independence.

"I am here to reinforce the fact that we support you. We want to help you in terms of security, economic development, governance and all the issues you face. We have been long-term supporters of Kosovo and will continue to be so," he said at the beginning of the meeting.

This is the first visit by a UK Foreign Secretary to Kosovo since 2016. In Pristina, Secretary Cameron is being accompanied by the UK's Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Lord Stuart Peach, and the British Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicholas Abbott.

Svecla to visit Presheva Valley today (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, will visit the Presheva Valley today at the invitation of the Albanian National Council.

Svecla will visit the municipalities of Presheva, Bujanovac and Medvegja and will meet with the local Albanian government officials there as well as with the Albanian National Council. Initially at 09:30 he will meet with the chairman of the Albanian National Council, Nevzad Lutfiu in Medvegja, then at 12:00 he will stay in Bujanoc where he will meet with the MP Shaip Kamberi and at 15:30 he will visit the office of the Albanian National Council in Presheva.

Bislimi criticizes Constitutional Court: Incompetent and unreliable - corrupt environment (media)

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has criticized the Constitutional Court. In an interview for "Radio Gorazhdec", Serbian-language radio operating in Peja region, said that this court produces "controversial documents" and that the judges "lack competence and credibility".

Bislimi made this comment when he was asked about the decision of this court regarding the property of the Monastery of Decan.

"Our Constitutional Court is known for producing controversial documents in decisions and we see this on a daily basis, because we believe that they lack competence and credibility, and this is not the only decision of the Court that could not be implemented in the past, for example, the Court has produced another document, another decision, which more or less recognizes the request of the workers of a privatized company in Ferizaj in the amount of 22 million euros, while at the same time the law says that workers cannot be compensated more than 80% percent of the company's sold value, which was 5 million", said the deputy prime minister.

Furthermore, Bislimi called the Constitutional Court a "corrupt environment".

"If my job, if my promise to the citizens is to bring justice, and when it is well known that the decision of the Constitutional Court is the product of a corrupt environment, the least I can do is to publicly declare that this decision, in my opinion , it is not a product of a credible institution", emphasized Besnik Bislimi, the first deputy of the Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Government to decide soon on Serbian license plates (Koha)

The government of Kosovo has announced that it will soon decide on allowing the movement of vehicles with Serbian license plates on the territory of Kosovo without placing paper stickers. The spokesperson of the government, Perparim Kryeziu has stated that the Police is carefully monitoring the implementation of Serbia's decision on the movement of vehicles with RKS license plates.

"Our border police are carefully monitoring the implementation of Serbia's decision on the movement of cars with RKS license plates. As we said last week, our behavior and decision will be based on the principle of reciprocity and based on the analyzes and conclusions of the border police on the level of applicability on the part of Serbia. A decision is expected to be made soon", Kryeziu told Koha.

Rasic: I am ready to participate in the drafting of the Association's statute (VoA)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Return Nenad Rasic is ready to participate in the drafting of the statute of the Association of Serb Municipalities, but only if necessary.

"If someone asked me, I would probably say - I wish I wasn't there, but as a minister, as a responsible person, maybe you have to take responsibility and if it happens in a practical sense and that you really have to work on it, I would first of all need to have a certain number of experts, not to mention experts who would be from different fields, legal, economic, administrative, so that we could harmonize our possible draft statute with the legislation and the Constitution of Kosovo. It would take time for this, but of course if I had to, I would take on such a responsibility", said Rasic to the Serbian editorial office of the Voice of America.

He further said that he expects that during this year the Association of Serb Municipalities will be formed in accordance with the laws and the Constitution of Kosovo.

"I honestly believe that it will be approved this year, but when one of the parties tries to lose momentums to buy time (Belgrade, v.j.), it probably opens space for the other party (Pristina v.j.) to find excuses that something does not happen now, but it must happen later. In short, here in the Balkans there are always several choices, so the facilitators from the European Union are often, I will call it, too rigid to understand the concept of the urgency of adoption, but they rather deal with some longer processes which, in their opinion, are ultimately inevitable. In any case, I fully agree, but we are the ones who must ultimately implement the decisions that are made," he said.

AAK breaches coalition with PDK in Prizren (Klan)

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) in Prizren has announced that it has breached the ruling coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). According to the announcement, the separation of the coalition came after the mayor of Prizren, Shaqir Totaj, started taking actions without the consultation and agreement of AAK.

"The Alliance these two years, with the three directorates we have had, has done an excellent job and an extremely good cooperation with citizens, but recently, Mayor Totaj has started to take actions without the consultation and agreement of the Alliance, actions that are contrary to the spirit of inter-party cooperation and co-governance", the announcement states.

This party further said that although they will not be in the governance of Prizren, they will work for the general good of the citizens of this municipality. AAK and PDK signed a coalition on November 3, 2021, where AAK supported Totaj in the runoff.

Tahiri: The sooner this government leaves, the better for Kosovo (media)

The head of the Parliamentary Group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Besnik Tahiri has announced that since this year is an election year, then the political parties in Kosovo will work on compiling electoral lists.

"The year 2024 is an election year, because even the regular elections must be announced six months earlier, and four months at the latest, before the elections", he said in a post on the social platform, Facebook.

"The problem is that this government is causing great damage to Kosovo and is damaging the internal plan. In particular, in the impoverishment and in the economy of Kosovo, which is at the lowest level in its history".

Therefore, according to him, the faster this government goes, the better it will be for Kosovo and its citizens.

On the other hand, the Albanian Post reported a few days ago that the new plan of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti is to send Kosovo to early elections in August 2024, a month when Kosovo is visited by diaspora in large numbers.

Third day without visas, no significant increase of demand for abroad tickets (media)

Two days ago, Kosovars started their journey without visas. Several travel agencies have confirmed to RTK that there were requests for tickets but not with any major changes.

"There is no flow. It seems that there is, but in fact it is the emigrants, because over 250 thousand citizens from Diaspora have come to Kosovo for the end of the year holidays. In the first ten days, everyone returns to the countries they came from," said Ruzhdi Kurtishaj, from one of the agencies that operates trips abroad.

He expects ticket requests to increase from March onwards.

"We have managed to understand from the citizens that their demands will increase from March, when the weather improves, when other opportunities to work open up. But, this is still sufficient to establish contacts, because they have to return to Kosovo and prepare the regular documentation", he added.

Serbian Language Media

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije begins visit in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)

Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Wednesday began a visit to Kosovo and Metohija, where he will celebrate Christmas with Serbs living there, Serbian media report.

Accompanied by a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch will first visit the Pec Patriarchate and then also Visoki Decani, Gracanica and other monasteries.

On January 7, Orthodox Christmas Day, he will serve a holy liturgy at the Pec Patriarchate, the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The Patriarch last visited the Pec Patriarchate on St Vitus' Day (28 June) last year.

Visoki Decani Monastery: Visit of Patriarch Porfirije holds great symbolic significance for Serbian people in Kosovo (Kosovo Online, social media)

Visit of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) Patriarch Porfirije in Kosovo and to Pec Patriarchate holds great symbolic significance for SOC and Serbian people in Kosovo, as Patriarch Porfirije will extend his paternal support to the faithful of our Church in Kosovo, during the feast of the Nativity of the Christ, Visoki Decani Monastery wrote in a post on X network (formerly Twitter), Kosovo Online portal reports.

The Monastery also said that Patriarch arrived yesterday in the afternoon, January 3, at the Pec Patriarchate Monastery, the ancient spiritual and historical seat of Serbian archbishops and patriarchs since the 13th century.

Read the full Visoki Decani Monastery’s post on Patriarch’s visit at: https://shorturl.at/hHKU6

Tanjug reporter denied entry in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)

Tanjug reporter Andjelko Utjesanovic was denied entry by Kosovo police at the Merdare crossing point on Wednesday afternoon, Tanjug news agency reports. Utjesanovic was to report on Serbian Patriarch Porfirije's visit to Serbian holy sites in Kosovo.

Even though his trip as a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church delegation accompanying the Patriarch Porfirije was announced beforehand, Utjesanovic was denied entry to Kosovo without any explanation provided, the news agency added.

Kosovo police told Utjesanovic to get out of the car and said to him he was not allowed to continue the trip as the Pristina government had banned him from entering the territory. When asked by Utjesanovic to provide an explanation, police officers said they had none and that they were just carrying out a decision of Pristina authorities. Utjesanovic refused to sign a document on denial of entry to Kosovo, the news agency said.

Serbian journalists’ associations condemn entry ban to Tanjug reporter (KoSSev, Kosovo Online, media)

The Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) and its branch in Kosovo (DNKiM) protested in the strongest terms the entry ban to Tanjug reporter Andjelko Utjesanovic, Serbian media reported. Utjesanovic was on his way with the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije delegation visiting Kosovo and was supposed to report on the visit. He was banned from entering by Kosovo police at Merdare crossing point.

UNS said in a statement it was impermissible to limit the freedom of movement to the journalists, adding they demand that all journalists in Kosovo are able to carry out their duties unobstructed.

“UNS and DNKiM recall that 13 months had passed since Kosovo authorities without explanation and despite reactions from UNS, European Federation of Journalists and numerous international organizations advocating for the freedom of information, do not allow RTS journalist Svetlana Vukmirovic to carry out her journalistic work in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija”.

KoSSev portal said it sent an inquiry to the Kosovo police and Kosovo Ministry of Internal Affairs if the Tanjug reporter was banned from entry and if yes what were concrete reasons for the ban, but received a brief replay from the police only claiming that this person was allegedly allowed to enter Kosovo, without providing further details.

Tanjug editor-in-chief Jovana Joksimovic in a statement to KoSSev denied Kosovo police allegations that the reporter was allowed to enter Kosovo. She said those allegations were untrue and that Pristina authorities only allowed the cameraman to enter, but not the reporter. The notification of entry ban was also published.

Citaku on Bislimi’s statements on Constitutional Court (Kosovo Online, social media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vice President Vlora Citaku termed the statement of Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi in which he expressed concern over the quality of Constitutional Court’s decisions as “alarming and dangerous”, Kosovo Online portal reports. Bislimi spoke about the Constitutional Court in his interview with Radio Gorazdevac.

In a post on Facebook Citaku said that such statements by a representative of the government indicate that democracy and constitutional order are at danger from, as she said, “destructive and totalitarian tendencies of the ruling class”.

Citaku also said such a statement could be termed as scandalous if it were about an ordinary citizen, however, given that it is about a government official, then, as she said, it was alarming and dangerous.

SNS to have 49 seats in Belgrade local assembly, Serbia Against Violence follows with 43 (media)

The Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Serbia Must Not Stop electoral list will have 49 seats in the new city assembly of Belgrade and the opposition Serbia Against Violence coalition follows with 43, according to a consolidated report on the results of recent elections for the assembly, adopted by the City of Belgrade electoral commission on Wednesday.

The Hope for Belgrade (NADA) electoral list won seven seats and the We, A Voice From The People list will have six seats, while the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) won five seats, Beoinfo reported.

International Media

Kosovo in 2024: Kurti in Race Against Time to Deliver on Real Problems (Balkan Insight)

As Albin Kurti’s mandate as Prime Minister enters its final year, his cabinet is under pressure to start delivering on concrete problems, as dissatisfaction from several quarters mounts.

In 2024, Albin Kurti will enter the final year of his mandate as Prime Minister, a term which has so far been marked by continuous tensions with Serbia, measures from the European Union as well as ever growing dissatisfaction at home on the delivery of the reforms he promised when he took power.