UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, July 25, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

OSCE commends RTK Board for prompt decision to review recent report (media)
German Embassy: No statements that cannot be verified with facts (Nacionale)
Gervalla: Some within the EU are working to divide the Serbs in Kosovo (Koha)
Citaku blames Kurti and Gervalla for EU Council’s decision (media)
Ministry refuses to appoint Serb judge of Constitutional Court as notary (RFE)
AmCham concerned with preferential treatment of POEs (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Serbian FM: Kosovo dialogue has to be priority (N1)
Gasic, Mojsilovic visit army troops in Ground Safety Zone (Tanjug)
Another Serb arrested for the attack in front of the municipality of Zvecan (KoSSev)
Sasa Z. from Belgrade, arrested at the Merdare crossing, detained for 30 days (Tanjug)
Srecko Sofronijevic released, the court in Pristina accepted bail (RTS)
Petkovic, Turkish ambassador discuss situation in Kosovo, position of Serbs (Tanjug)
Journalists' Associations in Kosovo: The IMC Law will affect the control and shutdown of the media (KiM radio, Media Center Caglavica)

International Media:

Kosovo’s ruling party, broadcaster, accused of ‘smearing’ two media (BIRN)
Photographer Ron Haviv reflects on documenting the breakup of Yugoslavia (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media

OSCE commends RTK Board for prompt decision to review recent report (media)

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo said in a post on X on Wednesday that “freedom of media and journalistic integrity are cornerstones of a democratic society. We commend the Board of Radio Television Kosovo for their prompt decision to review a recent report published on 22 July, addressing potential concerns and clarifying editorial responsibility. We urge public officials to support the media in keeping the public informed and holding institutions accountable. Maintaining calm and constructive dialogue is essential”.

German Embassy: No statements that cannot be verified with facts (Nacionale)

The German Embassy told the news website on Wednesday that it follows and monitors the media landscape in Kosovo as part of its overall work and that it has “learned about the statements mentioned in the introduction as reported in the media”. The embassy was asked to comment on the publication of the Slobodna Bosna article by the Radio Television of Kosovo. “Given the sensitivity of the area to which the statements and reported allegations refer to, we believe that statements that cannot be verified with facts should generally not be made. Questioning the integrity of a media outlet in such a manner, even indirectly, can harm the credibility of the media in question and because of the abovementioned sensitivity it can put the journalists working for the media at risk. It should be in the interest of the Kosovo government to protect a free and diverse media landscape,” the embassy said.

Gervalla: Some within the EU are working to divide the Serbs in Kosovo (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Donika Gervalla, told a press conference in Pristina on Wednesday that some actors within the European Union are working to divide the Serb community in Kosovo. She was asked to comment on the EU Council’s decision to lift visa requirements for Kosovo Serbs that have Serbian passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate. She argued that the decision is wrong and that the only right step is the integration of local Serbs. “On passports that are not issued by legitimate institutions we did not hesitate to warn and inform the important actors. They [the EU] made a decision which not only in our opinion leads to a wrong path, and it implies that some actors in the EU are not interested in the integration of the Serb community in Kosovo, but rather work to divide them. The fast integration of citizens in legal structures equipped with legal documents leads to an atmosphere and space for all of them and all of us,” she said. Gervalla also argued that Kosovo should not remain silent “in the light of these wrong steps” and that “they should not be repeated”.

Citaku blames Kurti and Gervalla for EU Council’s decision (media)

Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vlora Citaku, in an interview with TV Dukagjini on Wednesday, criticized the Kosovo government especially Prime Minister Kurti and Foreign Minister Gervalla for the EU Council’s decision to lift visa requirements for Kosovo Serbs equipped with passports issued by the Serbian Coordination Directorate. She argued that this “a major step back backwards for Kosovo’s sovereignty and subjectivity” and that “it is one of the biggest slams Kosovo has suffered since declaring its independence in 2008”. She blamed Kurti and Gervalla for what she called an irresponsible and adventurous approach. “The Prime Minister ignored our key allies,” she said.

According to Citaku, the recent decision implies the legitimization of Serbian parallel structures in Kosovo. “The documents issued by Serbia’s parallel structures in the territory of Kosovo have been given international legitimacy … and this comes at a time when the government of Kosovo, namely Prime Minister Kurti all day talks about wielding the sovereignty of Kosovo. Kurti has unfortunately reduced the idea of sovereignty in several offices within some municipal premises in the north,” she said.

Ministry refuses to appoint Serb judge of Constitutional Court as notary (RFE)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice has refused to appoint Radomir Laban, a Serb judge with the Constitutional Court, as a notary, upon receiving information from the Kosovo Intelligence Agency about his integrity. Laban was previously recommended by the committee for the selection of notaries, which functions within the ministry. This was confirmed by Genc Nimoni, chief of staff for the Minister of Justice.

The total number of notaries, according to the Notary Chamber of Kosovo, is 49. They were appointed in 2012 and since then there have been no new appointments.

After 2012, the process for appointing new notaries started in 2019, but was cancelled by the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, citing suspected abuse in the notary test. Former Minister of Justice, Abelard Tahiri, denied the allegations saying that “the selection process for notaries was in order”. The case then went to court and a decision made in 2022 said that the annulment of the competition was illegal. The process then started from scratch in 2023. On July 15, the Ministry of Justice published the decision on the appointment of 100 new notaries in different municipalities of Kosovo. Among them however is no member of the Serb community, although there were five applicants. According to the Ministry of Justice, in the last selection process, no Serb candidate met the required criteria.

AmCham concerned with preferential treatment of POEs (media)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo said in a statement on Wednesday that it is deeply concerned regarding the continued preferential treatment of publicly owned enterprises by the Kosovo government in violation of the legal acts.

“Throughout the past years—specifically in 2016, 2019, and 2020—AmCham has repeatedly raised concerns about the discrimination against privately owned enterprises in favor of public enterprises, particularly the erroneous application of provisions for “in-house” purchases, which allow public authorities to procure services from publicly owned enterprises in violation of constitutional provisions and the Law on Public Procurement.”

“The ongoing promotion of services and products of the state-owned mobile operator, contrary to the Law on Publicly Owned Enterprises, remains a significant issue. AmCham reminds state stakeholders that Article 13, paragraph 13.1 of this law clearly stipulates that every publicly owned enterprise and its officers and directors shall be subject, without exception, to the same laws, regulations and sub-normative acts that govern privately owned business organizations.”

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/NyH0T

Serbian Language Media

Serbian FM: Kosovo dialogue has to be priority (N1)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said on Wednesday that the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue needs to be high on the European Agenda.

“We need help with the dialogue and the support of EU member states in implementing what was agreed upon in the agreements,” he said during a meeting with the President of the Italian Parliament Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana in Rome.

A government press release quoted him as saying that Serbia will always be a guarantor of peace and stability in the region.

Gasic, Mojsilovic visit army troops in Ground Safety Zone (Tanjug)

Serbian Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic on Wednesday visited army troops tasked with securing the administrative line between central Serbia and Kosovo and controlling the Ground Safety Zone.

They visited troops stationed at the Debela Glava and Ornica bases, where base commanders briefed them on the way life and work were organised at the facilities. They saw that the troops were trained and motivated to execute tasks in the Ground Safety Zone. Afterwards, they toured the Vrtogos multifunctional shooting range for individual and collective shooting training, the MoD said in a statement.

Gasic thanked the Serbian Armed Forces personnel for its great efforts and self-sacrifice in execution of tasks in the Ground Safety Zone.

"I would like to thank the army personnel for executing all tasks round-the-clock in complex conditions and all types of weather. With its responsible work and efforts and, above all, with its patriotism, Serbian Armed Forces personnel are making a full contribution to the security of all our citizens in this part of our country," Gasic said.

The citizens are proud and have great trust in the Serbian Armed Forces, a factor of peace and stability, Gasic said.

Another Serb arrested for the attack in front of the municipality of Zvecan (KoSSev)

The Kosovo police announced that a Serb D.D. was arrested yesterday in Mitrovica on suspicion of having participated in the riots in front of the Zvecan municipality building on May 29, 2023, reported KoSSev portal.

As stated in the announcement, D.D. was taken into custody by the police yesterday and currently was in the police station in the southern part of Mitrovica.

A criminal complaint has been filed against him for the case of an attack on international security forces, while he is also charged with association for anti-constitutional activities, with the aim of attacking the constitutional order of Kosovo, danger to persons under international protection, participation in a crowd that commits a criminal offense and hooliganism and an attack on an official, read the statement.

Sasa Z. from Belgrade, arrested at the Merdare crossing, detained for 30 days (Tanjug)

Sasa Z. (39) from Belgrade was ordered 30 days detention after he was arrested three days ago at the Merdare administrative crossing, his lawyer Jovana Filipovic told Tanjug.

Filipovic stated that her client was charged with the criminal offenses of unfounded possession of weapons and spreading racial and religious hatred and intolerance, but that he was acquitted of the charge of possession of weapons.

According to her, he was detained because they consider him, as she said, a "foreign citizen" and because of that there is an alleged "danger of escaping".

Srecko Sofronijevic released, the court in Pristina accepted bail (RTS)

Srecko Sofronijevic from Zvecan was released and his detention was terminated, his defense lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic confirmed to RTS, stating that the public prosecutor agreed, and the court in Pristina accepted his proposal to set bail.

He is charged with several crimes - alleged attempted murder, call to resistance, assault on an official, unauthorized possession of a weapon, participation in a mob committing the crime of hooliganism and destruction of property.

Sofronijevic was wounded during the incident for which the police are accusing him and did not participate in the riots, his defense attorneys stated after his arrest, recalled RTS.

Petkovic, Turkish ambassador discuss situation in Kosovo, position of Serbs (Tanjug)

The head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic met with Turkish Ambassador to Belgrade Hami Aksoy on Wednesday to discuss the current situation in Kosovo, pointing out that Serbs in the province faced impossible living conditions and were subjected to daily attacks and terror by Albin Kurti's regime.

Petkovic cited a series of daily, unilateral moves by the Pristina regime in its campaign of ethnically motivated violence against Serbs in Kosovo, the Office for KiM said in a statement.

At the same time, he warned that the Kurti regime was obstructing dialogue doggedly and systematically as it was relying on unilateral, unlawful and violent decisions as well as an expulsion of Serbs, especially from the north of Kosovo, as testified by the fact that more than 15 percent of the Serb population has left the territory.

He especially pointed out that, by all possible ways, Pristina was trying to dodge its commitment to establish a Community of Serb Municipalities as agreed in Brussels in 2013 and specified in 2015.

Petkovic also noted that Belgrade would continue to insist on normalisation of relations and finding a lasting and sustainable solution to all accumulated problems in Kosovo, which he said was in the interest of all citizens in Kosovo as well as in the interest of peace and stability across the region.

Journalists' Associations in Kosovo: The IMC Law will affect the control and shutdown of the media (KiM radio, Media Center Caglavica)

If it starts to be applied, the Law on the Independent Media Commission will have the effect of shutting down the small media completely, the representatives of the two journalists' associations in Kosovo and AMPEK agreed.

The recently adopted Law on the Independent Media Commission foresees licensing of online media, monitoring and control of their content and fines of up to 40,000 euros. This law continues to attract attention and criticism, and representatives of journalists' associations and organizations see it as an attempt by the authorities to completely control the media in Kosovo.

"We see that the goal of this law is actually an effort by the Government of Kosovo to control and discipline the media. Especially in certain articles, such as fines of up to 40,000 euros. For small media with up to ten journalists and a small staff, this leads to closure. Our concern is that this law tries to reduce media pluralism in Kosovo, which is something that Kosovo is proud of, especially when it comes to the media in Albanian," said Xhemail Rexha, president of the Association of Kosovo Journalists, at the Caglavica Media Center debate.

The president of the Association of Serbian Journalists in Kosovo, Ivana Vanovac, says that this law will not be good for any media that plans to work freely. "This law gives such broad powers to the political structures that every time any media, regardless of whether it comes from the Albanian or Serbian community, is involved in a topic that does not suit the political structures at that moment, they will have very easy and convenient mechanisms to at least make life difficult for those media", Vanovac said at the debate.

The law is disputed for several reasons, according to the executive director of the Association of Independent Electronic Media (AMPEK), Ardita Zejnullahu. "For the first time, the Independent Media Commission will begin to register online media in Kosovo and will be responsible for their online video materials, and this is not well classified in the law and will be a very big problem in implementation."

The European Federation of Journalists, the EU, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, UNMIK and numerous embassies expressed objections to the content of the Law, pointing out that it contradicts European standards.

International Media

Kosovo’s ruling party, broadcaster, accused of ‘smearing’ two media (BIRN)

An article published by the Kosovo public broadcaster, Radio Television of Kosovo, RTK, alleging that two Kosovo-based media outlets were illicitly financed by Serbia, has drawn criticism from journalists and politicians.

RTK on Tuesday announced the establishment of a commission to investigate editorial responsibility for the publication of the article from a Bosnian media outlet, Slobodna Bosna.

Meanwhile, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, accused the ruling Vetevendosje party of using it to launch a smear campaign against the two Kosovo media outlets.

The article, which RTK published on Monday, alleged that two local media outlets, Nacionale and Periskopi, had received problematic funding from the Serbian authorities, and that one was controlled by controversial Kosovo Serb kingpin Milan Radoicic.

Radoicic is wanted in Kosovo for several criminal cases. Radoicic has admitted leading the September 2023 attack by a gang of armed Serbs in the village of Banjska in the north of Kosovo, in which one Kosovo policeman was killed, but he remains free in Serbia.

He became vice president of the Belgrade-backed party representing Kosovo Serbs, Srpska Lista, in June 2018 and is considered to be the real powerbroker in the Serb-majority north of Kosovo. He is also wanted in Kosovo in connection with a corruption case involving illegal construction in the Brezovica mountain resort area.