UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, July 17, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Specialist Chambers in Hague sentence ex-KLA member to 18 years in prison (media)
Kurti: Keen to push forward Kosovo’s sustainable development (media)
Svecla: We have info Vucic was involved in training of Banjska attackers (media)
Hargreaves: We ask Serbia to hold Banjska attackers accountable (KTV)
Three gas stations closed in north of Kosovo (media)
Osmani, Kurti congratulate Metsola reelection as EP Parliament President (media)
Thailand lifts visa requirements for Kosovo (media)
Serwer: Dialogue should focus on more practical issues (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Djuric to meet Borrell in Brussels today (media)
Mojsilovic, Russian Defence Envoy discuss opportunities for cooperation (Tanjug)
Ragus meets with Spanish Ambassador (Tanjug, media)
Szunyog in farewell visit to north, says it is necessary that Pristina and Belgrade genuinely engage in dialogue (media, social media)
Preliminary census results in Kosovo: What statistics revealed and concealed (Kosovo Online)
Hasani: Numerous irregularities during census, justified doubts about validity of results (Kosovo Online)
Three NIS gas stations closed in northern Kosovo (RTS, KoSSev)

International Media:

Kosovo’s ‘Commander Wolf’ Convicted of War Crimes by Hague Court (Balkan Insight)
Serbia Campaigns to ‘Rebuild’ Reputation in the West (National Review, media)

Albanian Language Media

Specialist Chambers in Hague sentence ex-KLA member to 18 years in prison (media)

One of the leading news in the media is the sentencing by the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo of a former KLA member – Pjeter Shala – to 18 years in prison for arbitrary detention, torture and murder. The Specialist Chambers said in a statement on Tuesday that “the Trial Panel found Mr. Shala guilty of the war crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and murder and sentenced him to a prison sentence of 18 years. For legal reasons, the Panel acquitted Mr. Shala for the crime of cruel treatment. The Panel found Mr. Shala to be criminally responsible for the crimes through his individual contributions as a participant in a joint criminal enterprise, together with other KLA members”.

“The present case concerns war crimes committed between approximately 17 May 1999 and 5 June 1999, at the Kukës Metal Factory (KMF), a former metal works factory in the town of Kukës, in the north of Albania. Throughout this time, the KMF served as headquarters for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and was used for a variety of purposes, including recruitment, mobilisation and logistics. It was also used by certain KLA members to detain, interrogate and mistreat persons who were perceived to collaborate with, be associated with, or sympathize with the Serbian authorities, or who were considered to be not sufficiently supportive of the KLA effort. The victims were predominantly Kosovar Albanians, having suffered at the hands of other Kosovar Albanians.”

Read full statement at: https://shorturl.at/iALDC

Kurti: Keen to push forward Kosovo’s sustainable development (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a post on X on Tuesday that together with the Joint Steering Committee they reviewed progress on the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. “Key highlights include our successful completion of the census & the alignment of our national priorities — such as digital transformation and fighting inequality — with UN agencies. We are all keen to build on what we have achieved so far and push forward Kosova's sustainable development,” he said.

Svecla: We have info Vucic was involved in training of Banjska attackers (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said in an interview with Euronews Albania on Tuesday that Kosovo’s authorities have secured evidence that proves the direct involvement of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the attack in the north of Kosovo in September last year.

“We have intelligence information, verbal evidence, revealing that Vucic was directly involved in the training of the group. We have all the evidence. It is a different matter if they want to be ignored or minimised. We have held several meetings of the Security Council for this. We have scenarios, preparations and the mobilisation of capacities,” Svecla was quoted as saying.

Hargreaves: We ask Serbia to hold Banjska attackers accountable (KTV)

UK Ambassador to Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, said in an interview with the TV station on Tuesday that his country continuously asks Serbia to hold the attackers in Banjska accountable. He said the attack in Banjska was a serious incident and that as a result Great Britain deployed additional troops to Kosovo to ensure that the situation would not deteriorate further. “I know that the investigation is ongoing in Kosovo and in Serbia. We have yet to see final evidence about what exactly happened in that attack and what was the plan and objective. I think the processes need to run their course in terms of collecting evidence,” he argued.

Hargreaves said he expects Serbia to undertake actions about the attack in Banjska. “We have been very clear with the Serbian authorities in that we expect them to hold the perpetrators of this criminal act accountable. We reiterate this to the Serbian authorities – my colleague in Belgrade and other colleagues there do this regularly, we expect Serbia to undertake actions about this,” he said.

Three gas stations closed in north of Kosovo (media)

All news websites reported on Tuesday on the closing of three gas stations in the north of Kosovo. The Kosovo Police assisted the Kosovo Agency for Privatization in closing the gas stations in Mitrovica North, Zubin Potok and near the Ujman/Gazivoda Lake. Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said in a Facebook post that it was confirmed that the premises were misused by gas stations that did not meet their obligations toward the institutions. “We will do everything for the state and the citizens without any difference, and the perpetrators will face the law. The violators of our laws and rules such as ‘Nis Petrol’ a branch of the Russian Gazprom has no room in Kosovo,” he argued.

Minister of Trade and Industry, Rozeta Hajdare, said on Tuesday that the gas stations were temporarily closed as they were operating without licence.

Osmani, Kurti congratulate Metsola reelection as EP President (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, in a post on X, congratulated Roberta Metsola on her re-election as President of the European Parliament. “As you continue to lead Europe’s House of Democracy in these challenging times, I look forward to continuing our excellent cooperation and to advancing Kosovo’s EU path,” Osmani said.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti congratulated Metsola on the reelection. “Wishing you continued success and looking forward to further strengthening the ties between the EU and Kosovo,” he said.

Thailand lifts visa requirements for Kosovo (media)

Most news websites reported on Tuesday that Thailand has lifted visa requirements for people from Kosovo. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post that Kosovo’s passport is growing stronger as “Thailand joins the long list of countries where our citizens can travel without visas starting from this year”.

Serwer: Dialogue should focus on more practical issues (media)

Daniel Serwer, professor at John Hopkins University and political commentator on the Western Balkans, said in an interview with RTK on Tuesday that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia should focus on more practical issues. “There are many practical issues that need to be resolved between Kosovo and Serbia.

I believe that the technical dialogue, before 2013, was clearly more successful than the political dialogue. I don’t believe it should be limited to technical or economic issues, but there are many practical issues that can be resolved,” he said.

Serwer argued that it is very clear that neither Serbia nor Kosovo are interested in the normalisation of relations. “The purpose of the dialogue should be a permanent legal solution between Kosovo and Serbia. But it is clear that we are not ready for this yet,” he said.

Serbian Language Media

Djuric to meet Borrell in Brussels today (media)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric will meet in Brussels today with the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, Serbian media reported citing a statement of the Foreign Ministry.

Djuric met Borrell at the end of last month, in Austria, during a ministerial meeting of an informal group of Western Balkans friends. During that meeting, Djuric reiterated Belgrade’s commitment to remain fully committed to the dialogue with Pristina under the EU’s mediation, but that it was necessary to ensure security of the Serbian population in Kosovo and implement all obligations deriving from reached agreements.

Djuric said back then that Serbs in Kosovo suffered unbearable pressure as a consequence of the culmination of long-term and systematic unilateral acts by Pristina authorities.

Mojsilovic, Russian Defence Envoy discuss opportunities for cooperation (Tanjug)

Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff General Milan Mojsilovic received the Russian Defence Envoy to Belgrade Major General Gennady Mozhaev on Tuesday to exchange views and opinions on the current security situation in the region and worldwide as well as opportunities for defence cooperation, Tanjug news agency reported.

Mojsilovic noted that the Serbian Armed Forces were open to any cooperation aimed at preserving peace and stability, the Serbian MoD said in a statement. He said respect of international law and valid agreements was the best path to preventing and stopping conflicts on the European continent and globally.

Ragus meets with Spanish Ambassador (Tanjug, media)

Serbian Deputy Parliament Speaker Marina Ragus, who also heads the Committee on Foreign Affairs, met with the Spanish Ambassador to Belgrade Juan Jose Sanz Aparicio on Tuesday. Ragus said Belgrade considered Spain a friendly country that persevered in respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, especially in the present political circumstances, which she noted was a fact Serbia highly respected. She said advancement of parliamentary cooperation was extremely important given the friendly relations between the two states.

She informed the Ambassador that a Serbia-Spain friendship group had been established in the Serbian Parliament and expressed full readiness of the Committee on Foreign Affairs to cooperate with its Spanish equivalent as the current Serbian Parliament focused on parliamentary diplomacy.

The Ambassador said this was the ideal time to step up inter-parliamentary cooperation as Spain supported Serbia's aspirations to full EU membership and had no doubts about Serbia's position on defence of its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Szunyog in farewell visit to north, says it is necessary that Pristina and Belgrade genuinely engage in dialogue (media, social media)

Head of the EU Office in Pristina, Tomas Szunyog said during the meeting with representatives of political parties and civil society organisations in the north of Kosovo it is necessary that Pristina and Belgrade genuinely engage in the dialogue.

In a post on X social network, Szunyog said he concluded his farewell visit in the north with the meetings with political parties and civil society.

“Just concluded my last visit to the north of #Kosovo where I had the chance to talk to representatives of political parties and civil society organisations. Thanking them for their cooperation, I expressed the need for Kosovo and Serbia to genuinely engage in the Dialogue”, he wrote in a post on X.

Preliminary census results in Kosovo: What statistics revealed and concealed (Kosovo Online)

The preliminary census results have been published in Kosovo. Although authorities in Pristina claim that the data is still incomplete, interlocutors told Kosovo Online this process has been accompanied by numerous controversies and irregularities from the beginning, and results might conceal the fact that an increasing number of people are finding their future abroad.

According to the preliminary results of the population census conducted from April 5 to May 24, Kosovo has either 200,000 more residents or 153,000 fewer compared to 2011.

Avni Kastrati, Director of the Statistical Agency, stated at a press conference that Kosovo has 1,586,659 residents, which is 200,000 more than in 2011. However, in 2011, Kosovo had 1,739,825 citizens, so simple maths suggests there are now 153,166 fewer.