UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, July 1, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Borrell: Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue needs courage, vision and political will (RTK)
Lajcak: We are wasting time on something that is not relevant (Ekonomia)
Posters with photo of Vucic seen in north of Kosovo (RFE)
Kurti in Greece: The world is facing challenges of an unprecedented level (RTK)
Gervalla: Kosovo’s membership in CoE must be finalised ASAP (media)
Kurti: eKosova platform now provides 175+ services (media)
Latifi claims “Serbia waiting for suitable geopolitical situation to reinvade” (media)
Lajcak at Dubrovnik Forum meets “partners from Western Balkans and beyond” (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucevic: An extremely high level of envy and hatred dominates Kurti's politics (Kosovo Online, media)
Dacic: Pristina's threats to Vucic are a message to all Serbs in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)
Petkovic: Svecla can only brag on social networks (Radio Mitrovica sever)
The North of Kosovo with posters of the Vucic’s image: “Supreme Commander, we are waiting for you” written (RTS, Tanjug, media)
Stojanovic: Peace and stability in the region are priorities of the Serbian Government (Kosovo Online)
KP opened a case of "attack" after the incident at Gazimestan, PIK informed about Arsenijevic's complaint against KP officers (KoSSev)
Gazimestan: Were Serbs singled out by Kosovo Police on Vidovdan? (KoSSev)
Lazovic remanded in custody for one month; Lawyer: Decision to initiate investigation was made on Friday (Kosovo Online)

International Media:

Kosovo bans TikTok in state institutions for cyber security reasons (BIRN)
Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic: Convictions in murder trial, but justice not done (BIRN)
Manufactured Outrage: Targeting Serbia-Kosovo Festival, Belgrade Eyes Political Gain (Balkan Insight)
Serbia To Stay On Red Alert After Crossbow Attack At Israeli Embassy (RFE)
No breakthrough in Serbia-Kosovo talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says (euronews.com)
Environmental activists, citizens to intensify protests against lithium mining in Serbia (balkangreenenergynews.com)

Albanian Language Media

Borrell: Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue needs courage, vision and political will (RTK)

The head of the EU's Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrerll, has said that the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is the essence of the EU's engagement in the Western Balkans. He said that to get this far, courage, vision and political will are needed and that the EU will continue to help in this process.

Borrell, writing in the EEAS, said the EU remains committed to helping, but ultimately, it needs the courage, vision and political will of leaders on both sides. "It is imperative to unlock a European future for both, and to strengthen security and stability in the region," he said.

Borrell further spoke about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process, after the appointment of MIralsav Lajcak as EU emissary. "Initially, we advanced in different chapters of a comprehensive agreement during the summer of 2020. However, different political dynamics in the region and an increasingly complex geopolitical context coincide with multiple crises, tensions and escalations", highlighted Borrell.

He also spoke about the challenges that led the dialogue during 2023. "The most dangerous moments happened in May 2023, when the protests in the north of Kosovo turned violent, leaving more than 90 KFOR peacekeepers injured," said Borrell, while also highlighting the terrorist attack in Banjska, on September 24, 2023, when a Kosovo Police officer was suddenly killed, and a shocking arsenal of military-grade weaponry was discovered.

"However, despite these challenges and difficulties, our many meetings, visits and calls have also contributed to important steps forward, which should not be forgotten. The dialogue has brought tangible improvements in the lives of citizens in Kosovo and Serbia," said Borrell.

He also spoke about the achievements of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process."But most importantly, we managed to reach the so-called Ohrid Agreement on the Road to Normalisation and its Implementation Annex in February and March 2023. Reaching such an agreement at a time of unprecedented large-scale war on our continent, was an important achievement", he said.

As part of this Agreement, Borrell emphasised, there was also the issue of establishing the Association/Community of municipalities with a Serb majority in Kosovo, one of the most sensitive issues in the Dialogue.

He further spoke about the meeting between Kurti and Vucic last week, which according to him did not bring any progress in implementation. "Currently, the positions of the two parties remain very far from each other. However, the work will continue: the 'Chief Negotiators of the Parties' agreed to come to Brussels next week to work out concrete steps to unlock the implementation of the Agreement", he said.

Borrell said that EU facilitation cannot achieve more normalisation than Kosovo and Serbia want. "After a few months, different people will be in charge of this file in Brussels, but the expectations of the European Union and its Member States will not change. The commitments and obligations of Kosovo and Serbia will not go away", he said.

"In the end, it takes courage, vision and political will. The EU will continue to help every step of the way," said Borrell.

Lajcak: We are wasting time on something that is not relevant (Ekonomia)

The EU emissary, Miroslav Lajcak, was asked on Saturday about the letter of the former Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, sent to the European External Action Service (EEAS), who wrote that "the normalisation agreement does not represent a legal treaty under international law". The German journalist Michael Martens asked the emissary saying that "if Serbia has such a position then what is the EU negotiating".

Lajcak, responding to the three demands of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said that the EU constantly repeats in meetings that Radoicic does not have immunity and that he must be held accountable. He also addressed Kurtis requests for formalisation of the agreement and Ana Brnabic's letter in more detail.

"As a representative of the EU I can give the definition of what normalisation means, as it is in the EU document, which means facilitate and help Kosovo and Serbia sign legally binding agreements that will normalise their relations and resolve existing open issues between them. It is up to the parties, Kosovo and Serbia, to define what normalisation means, but when we say legally binding agreement, this means a lot", he said.

“Secondly, the agreement we reached last year in February/March in Brussels and then in Ohrid, is a legally binding agreement in its entirety. The parties were told and they agreed with this during our meeting in Ohrid that it was done in line with the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which states that the agreement can be formalised by signature or another way agreed by the parties, in this case it is formalised through the statement of High Representative Borell", he emphasised.

According to Lajcak, who is expected to facilitate the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue until January, the EU has said many times that the agreement is legally binding in its entirety and above all the provisions of this agreement have become part of chapter 35 for Serbia, part of the formal relations between Serbia and the EU. "So we are wasting a lot of time discussing something that is really not that relevant. What is relevant is that we have made little or no progress in implementing this agreement. This is the key issue," he added.

"I don't think we should dwell into a legal discussion. We have made it clear that it is legal and we have said it many times. When you look at this from a political and logical perspective, Kosovo and Serbia must normalise their relations, otherwise they will not make progress on the European path, and the agreement we reached in Ohrid is the path to normalisation," Lajcak emphasised.

Posters with photo of Vucic seen in north of Kosovo (RFE)

Posters with the photo of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with the message “supreme commander we are waiting for you” have been seen in the north of Kosovo, the news website reported on Sunday. The posters were seen in Mitrovica North, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok.

Kosovo Police Deputy Commander for the north, Veton Elshani, confirmed to the news website that authorities have initiated a case of “inciting hatred”. “In several locations in the four northern municipalities pamphlets with the photo of the Serbian President were distributed. After consultation with the State Prosecutor, a case of inciting hatred has been initiated,” he said. Elshani also said that currently there are no suspects but that “police are working to shed light on the case”.

Radio Free Europe has seen several police officers in Mitrovica North removing the posters.

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, reacted to the posters, and said that if the Serbian President entered Kosovo without permission from the institutions he would be arrested. “If he is coming without a request to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, we too are waiting for him to come and then you can visit him in prison, where some of friends are already,” Svecla said in a Facebook post.

Kurti in Greece: The world is facing challenges of an unprecedented level (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, is participating in the 26th edition of the SYMI International Symposium, held in Greece, where progressive politicians, prominent academics and leaders of international organisations are participating.

In his speech at the opening ceremony and panel of the symposium, he emphasised that the world is facing three global challenges of an unprecedented level: climate change, social inequality and security threats.

"As long as the 1% of the richest own half of the global wealth, I am afraid that there will be no real peace between societies and people, nor with the nature of our planet," said Kurti.

He spoke about the importance of restoring and preserving the meaning but also concretization of the great ideas of freedom, equality, democracy and justice and about the need to win democratic elections in order to have democratic government. He underlined that such a thing has not been more important than today, in the last 80 years, since the end of the Second World War.

With inequality ever increasing, the likelihood of dictatorship and fascism is also on the rise, he said. In this context, Kurti called for greater solidarity for better organisation, more democratic victories and longer governments of progressives and social democrats, not forgetting that democrats feel threatened by war, while autocrats feel threatened by peace.

"The peace we need is a democratic peace and the democracy we need is social democracy", Prime Minister Kurti concluded his speech, it is said in this announcement.

The SYMI International Symposium was founded by the former Prime Minister of Greece, George Papandreou, and is organised on an annual basis.

Gervalla: Kosovo’s membership in CoE must be finalised ASAP (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, met with her Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic-Radman, in Dubrovnik, and discussed “strengthening cooperation for Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic integration, common regional initiatives, cooperation in security and defence, and trade exchanges”. Gervalla also said that Kosovo is grateful to Croatia for its great support at the Council of Europe and that Kosovo’s membership in the organisation needs to be finalised as soon as possible.

Kurti: eKosova platform now provides 175+ services (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a post on X that “introduced just three years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic to facilitate the vaccination process, the eKosova platform now provides 175+ online services. Over 916k registered users, out of which 50.7% are women, have access to health and family related services, and can use the platform to apply for grants and allowances, and to pay taxes and utilities, with many more services to be introduced soon. e-Kosova is a prime example of the fact that there are opportunities even in difficult situations, and is evidence of our Government's vision to turn such situations into positive change”.

Latifi claims “Serbia waiting for suitable geopolitical situation to reinvade” (media)

Political commentator, Blerim Latifi, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that “Serbia is no longer hiding that it is only waiting for a suitable geopolitical situation to reinvade Kosovo”, several news websites reported. According to Latifi, Serbia “is working openly on three tactical areas for this: investing in new military capacities, promoting chauvinistic nationalism, and creating an identity gap between Kosovo and Albania”.

Lajcak at Dubrovnik Forum meets “partners from Western Balkans and beyond” (media)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in two separate posts on X on Sunday that at the Dubrovnik Forum he met and discussed with partners from the Western Balkans and beyond. He also said that at the panel discussion about unlocking the reform potential of the Western Balkans, he “spoke about the momentum for progress towards the European Union and the need to make full use of it as long as it lasts”.

Serbian Language Media

Vucevic: An extremely high level of envy and hatred dominates Kurti's politics (Kosovo Online)

The Prime Minister of Serbia and President of the SNS, Milos Vucevic, stated yesterday, one in Pristina has even a millionth of the political capacity, intellectual strength, and moral fortitude of the President of Serbia. Vucevic thus reacted after the statement of Kosovo's Minister of Police, Xhelal Svecla, on arresting Aleksandar Vucic if comes to Kosovo, reported Kosovo Online.

"The fact that a self-proclaimed official of a false state comments on the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, is just another indicator of the extremely high level of envy and hatred that dominates Kurti's politics," Vucevic wrote on the social network "X" and added:

"Envy because in Pristina they do not have, nor will they ever have, even a millionth of the political capacity, intellectual strength, and moral fortitude of Aleksandar Vucic. Hatred because they cannot, despite all the support from like-minded individuals in part of the Serbian opposition, diminish the historically high support that the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic enjoys among the Serbian people."

Dacic: Pristina's threats to Vucic are a message to all Serbs in Kosovo (Tanjug, media)

Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic condemned yesterday the statements of representatives of Pristina against the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, stressing that they are a message to all Serbs from Kosovo, the Ministry of the Interior announced

"The statements of the representatives of the regime in Pristina against the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, are a message to all Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija. Their goal is to arrest and expel all of them, to ethnically cleanse Kosovo and Metohija of Serbs," said Dacic.

He stated that the international community calmly watches these outpourings of hatred and anger towards Vucic, Serbia and the Serbian people.

Petkovic: Svecla can only brag on social networks (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, reacted to the statement of Xhelal Svecla, who said that he would arrest the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, if he came to Kosovo without a request from the Kosovo institutions.

"First, Kurti did not dare to the negotiating table with Aleksandar Vucic, and now Svecla is afraid of even a poster with the image of Aleksandar Vucic that someone has plasted, so he is threatening to arrest him. The only thing he can do is brag on social networks," wrote Petkovic.

The North of Kosovo with posters of the Vucic’s image: “Supreme Commander, we are waiting for you” written (RTS, Tanjug, media)

RTS reported that the north of Kosovo on Sunday morning was plastered with posters with the image of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, with the message "Supreme Commander, we are waiting for you" written in Cyrillic. The Kosovo police are looking for the people who did it because of "spreading hatred". The authorities in Pristina threatened that if Vucic comes to Kosovo without a prior request, he will be arrested.

Serbs from Kosovo from Leposavic, North Mitrovica, Zvecan and Zubina Potok say that they have sent a message to the President of Serbia that they can no longer endure the terror of Albin Kurti, which is getting worse and worse every day, and that they expect help, as well as a visit from President Vucic.

The Minister of Police in Pristina, Xhelal Svecla, "threatened that if Vucic comes to Kosovo without prior request, he will be arrested," recalled RTS.

Stojanovic: Peace and stability in the region are priorities of the Serbian Government (Kosovo Online)

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Stojanovic, stated at the Dubrovnik Forum that preserving peace and stability in the region is a priority for the Serbian government, due to its highly ambitious economic plans.

"In the past decade, we have achieved significant economic progress, doubling GDP and wages in the region. During the same period, we have implemented a record number of infrastructure projects, including highways, which would not have been possible without peace and stability in the region," said Stojanovic.

He emphasized that Serbia has a strong interest in maintaining this policy in the future.

"Currently, we have a very ambitious agenda, so we rely on the EU Growth Plan for us to stimulate economic growth in the region and connect as leaders," he said.

He emphasized that Serbia has condemned all actions that have occurred in northern Kosovo, including the events in Banjska.

"Of course, at the same time, we have highlighted that the human rights of the Serbian community in the north have been consistently violated for a long period before Banjska. On several previous occasions, we have asked why people who commit these crimes and violations have not been prosecuted. But at the end of the day, the way forward is only through dialogue and the implementation of what has been previously agreed, especially here referring to the Community of Serb Municipalities, as well as joint efforts on how to extract all economic benefits from European integration," the State Secretary said.

Stojanovic reiterated that the Government of Serbia has very ambitious plans for the future.

"In 2027, we will host the Expo exhibition, bringing together important figures from around the world. We aim to increase GDP to 100 billion euros by 2027. We want to invest 18 billion euros in infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and mechanisms to achieve progress. We are a government looking forward, investing in peace and stability, and avoiding any escalations. Therefore, you can count on Serbia to always be there investing in this agenda," Stojanovic concluded.

KP opened a case of "attack" after the incident at Gazimestan, PIK informed about Arsenijevic's complaint against KP officers (KoSSev)

The Central Directorate of the Kosovo Police announced that in connection with the attack that took place in Gazimestan on June 28, they questioned two people - the suspect and the person who reported the case to them. The attack on Gazimestan during the celebration of Vidovdan was reported to the police by the leader of the Serbian Democracy, and to the PIK - that the KP officers who were securing the event did not react, it was confirmed for KoSSev from the KP North region.

In the terse police report that the central police directorate submitted to the media, it is stated that two people "clashed with each other" on June 28 near Gazimestan, and that a video of the incident was published on social networks.

"On the occasion of a video published on social networks, in which it is seen that two people clashed with each other, the investigative unit on 29.06.2024. questioned a suspected citizen of Kosovo and a complainant from Kosovo".

The prosecutor was informed about the case, and the case is proceeding to the regular procedure, according to the police report. The KP of the North region confirmed on Sunday to KoSSev that Arsenijevic filed a complaint against the man he accused of assaulting, as well as against members of the KP. The KP of the North region ex officio informed the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo about Arsenijevic's accusations regarding the lack of reaction of police officers.

KoSSev addressed the PIK on Sunday with a question about whether they have launched an investigation against the policemen, that is, whether they will, and what measures will be taken.

KoSSev reported that a response had not been received by the time the news was published.

Gazimestan: Were Serbs singled out by Kosovo Police on Vidovdan? (KoSSev)

An ethnic Serb was arrested in Gazimestan during the Vidovdan festivities for allegedly carrying a banner in the colors of the Serbian flag showing the map of Kosovo, with the inscription “No surrender”.

On the other hand, the provocative messages of an individual who, clad in a T-shirt with the inscription “Albania”, exclaimed: “This is Albania, the territory of all – Albania”; “Fu*k Serbia, this is Kosovo”, were met with no reaction from police officers. Moreover, the physical attack initiated by another person went unnoticed by the representatives of law and order authorities present at the site. During the Vidovday festivities at Gazimestan, the Kosovo police detained an ethnic Serb from Babin Most, N.M., for carrying a banner with the territory of Kosovo in the colors of the Serbian flag and the inscription “No surrender”. This young man was then taken to a police station, interrogated, and then released.

The Kosovo police announced that apart from this detainment, there were no other cases that affected the period of the manifestation, noting that they had prepared well for yesterday’s gathering.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/atwnsjc8

Lazovic remanded in custody for one month; Lawyer: Decision to initiate investigation was made on Friday (Kosovo Online)

Srdjan Lazovic (48) from Leposavic, who was arrested on suspicion of committing the war crime against civilian population, the Basic Court in Pristina has ordered custody for a period of 30 days, confirmed his lawyer Predrag Miljkovic, reported Kosovo Online in English on Saturday.

Miljkovic, speaking outside the Basic Court in Pristina after the custody hearing, stated that Lazovic is suspected of alleged war crimes in the vicinity of Malisevo and some places near Klina.

"We objected today to this request by the prosecution for detention. We believe it is unfounded. The decision to initiate the investigation was made yesterday, which means the investigation was officially initiated yesterday, and Srdjan was arrested the day before yesterday. Witnesses were interviewed in March and April. We objected to this because we do not know which investigation these witnesses were interviewed for. It is impossible for witnesses and evidence from one investigation to be used in this manner in another investigation. There are many uncertainties," said Miljkovic.

Read more at:https://tinyurl.com/3mjm24tc

International Media

Kosovo bans TikTok in state institutions for cyber security reasons (BIRN)

The Kosovo government on June 28 banned use of the social media network TikTok in state institutions amid growing global concerns over its potential vulnerability to cyber threats.

Bardhyl Dobra, Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs, said that the decision “aims to protect the state institutions of Kosovo against cyber threats, and actions which could be exploited for cyber attacks against the information and communication technology infrastructure of Kosovo’s institutions”.

Under the decision, all public institutions that own and manage state communication networks must “implement necessary technical restrictions to prohibit the operation of TikTok services in official work environments”.

Public officials are required to remove the Tik Tok application and its installation files from their official devices.

The government said the ban on the use of TikTok in state institutions follows the example set by allied countries. Currently, this app has also been banned by European Union institutions and by those in Australia, Estonia, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, the US, Canada, Taiwan, India, and Afghanistan.

However, Kosovo is the first country in the region to ban the use of TikTok in public institutions.

In mid-April 2024, the Ministry of Interior sent an email with inaccurate information to 7,000 public officials as a test. The results, showing that some officials believed the email, showed how easily they could fall prey to simple cyber fraud.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/2avtjmk8

Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic: Convictions in murder trial, but justice not done (BIRN)

After three years of disturbing testimony, frightened witnesses and the glaring absence of the main suspects in the courtroom, came the verdict.

It was justice, of a sort, for Oliver Ivanovic, who had once been a Kosovo Serb hardliner but had come to argue for ethnic coexistence; a politician who had dared to oppose the growing dominance of the Serbian government-backed Srpska Lista party in northern Kosovo - and the powerful businessmen connected to it.

Pristina Basic Court on Friday found four Serbs - Nedeljko Spasojevic, Marko Rosic, Zarko Jovanovic and Dragisa Markovic - guilty of involvement in the murder of Ivanovic, more than six years he was gunned down in front of his party offices in North Mitrovica on January 16, 2018.