UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, October 15, 2021

Kurti will not dismiss Goran Rakic from minister's post (media)
Blinken meets Borrell, discuss Western Balkans (media)
UN Security Council to hold session on Kosovo today (media)
PM Kurti meets COMKFOR Federici, thanks him for cooperation (media)
Tahiri: Borrell proved his bias towards Belgrade (media)
Reka: EU blocked visa liberalisation because of rule of law, now it criticises it (Koha)
CDHRF reacts to Borrell for remarks on Kosovo Police operation (media)
US President nominates Christopher Hill new ambassador to Serbia (N1)
Russia: Kosovo provoking an open confrontation (Koha)
Kosovo-Serbia Arts Festival Promotes Reconciliation Amid Turmoil (BIRN)
COVID-19: No deaths, 31 new cases (media)

Kurti will not dismiss Goran Rakic from minister's post (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said he will not be dismissing Goran Rakic from the post of Minister for Communities and Returns despite his statements against the recent Kosovo Police operation.

"Our government with its actions has hit the nerve of the issue which is fighting organised crime, corruption, and smuggling. Apart from having success with our intensive investigations, at the same time a gigantic unmasking of Serbia is taking place with regards to its destructive attempts through illegal structures in Kosovo. We are clearly on the right path and because we are on the right path Serbia and Vucic are not managing to mobilise Serbs against the fair and legal actions of our government," Kurti said yesterday in Prizren.

"The issue is not Rakic. His dismissal would make him one," he added.

Blinken meets Borrell, discuss Western Balkans (media)

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Washington the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell and among other issues also discussed U.S.-EU partnership in the Western Balkans.

"The Secretary expressed appreciation for the EU’s continuing unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans and commitment to the enlargement process, and he emphasized the need to move forward on accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia," a statement issued by the State Department reads.

At the same time, the EU said in a statement that the two officials "underlined the importance of EU-facilitated Dialogue in addressing issues related to the comprehensive normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo and, referring to recent developments, highlighted the need for de-escalation and re-engagement in negotiations. They agreed to further strengthen their cooperation on these matters."

UN Security Council to hold session on Kosovo today (media)

The UN Security Council will hold a session today to discuss the most recent report of the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the situation in Kosovo.

Kosovo will be represented in the meeting by President Vjosa Osmani.

Several media outlets report that this will be second session of the Council on Kosovo to be held this year, with the first one taking place in April. Klan Kosova meanwhile quotes Teuta Sahatqija, Kosovo's former consul in New York, criticising Osmani for deciding to take part in the session. Sahatqija argued that a lower-ranking official should have represented Kosovo to "show Russia and UNMIK that this mission is futile".

At the same time, Radio Free Europe quoted President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic saying he believed the forthcoming session of the UN Security Council will not solve anything in Kosovo. "I don't think there will be any solution because whatever the Albanians do, they always have the support of the 'big five'. We can expect support from Russia and China and some smaller countries but this will not change things on the ground," he said.

PM Kurti meets COMKFOR Federici, thanks him for cooperation (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti had a farewell meeting the KFOR Commander, Major General Franco Federici, the Government of Kosovo announced in a statement.

Kurti thanked Federici for the "contribution to the deepening of inter-institutional cooperation and coordination of actions between the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo and KFOR, in the service of the security of all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo."

Tahiri: Borrell proved his bias towards Belgrade (media)

Edita Tahiri, Kosovo's former chief negotiator in dialogue with Serbia, condemned the statement issued by the EU High Representative Josep Borrell on the situation in the north of Kosovo as being 'biased' towards Serbia.

Tahiri said Borrell's criticism of what she said was a lawful operation of the Kosovo Police aimed at fighting crime and smuggling showed "the biasness of the EU as facilitator of the Brussels dialogue and even showed how much he [Borrell] is influenced by Belgrade."

Reka: EU blocked visa liberalisation because of rule of law, now it criticises it (Koha)

Blerim Reka, Kosovo's former European integration minister, said that the fight against organised crime in Kosovo split the EU and the Anglo-Americans. He said that while Brussels has called on Kosovo to show restraint, Washington and London have commended it for the recent operation.

"For two decades now the EU asks the Western Balkans countries to provide concrete results in the field of rule of law and even blocked visa liberalisation for Kosovo because of this; yesterday it criticised government actions in enforcing the law," Reka said, adding that the EU High Representative Josep Borrell is "blindly following the 'neutrality' doctrine on Kosovo."

"While the EU prefers stabilocracy instead of democracy, the U.S. and UK revert to the original sources of liberal democracy: no one is above the law," Reka said.

CDHRF reacts to Borrell for remarks on Kosovo Police operation (media)

The Kosovo-based Council for Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) has reacted to the statement of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell on the recent police operation which led to protests in the north of Kosovo.

CDHRF said Kosovo has been denied visa-free travel to Europe on the justification that it was not doing enough to fight crime and corruption and when its authorities take an action to combat these, which led to the arrest of 9 Albanians, 1 Serb and 1 Bosniak, "Borrell equalises the legal right and obligation of the Kosovo Police to fight organised crime with suspects and those arrested for organised crime." CDHRF said such an approach on the part of the EU in any normal country would be considered 'scandalous', 'irresponsible' and 'biased'.

"The north of Kosovo, since the end of the war, has become a 'promised land' for organised crime where criminals of all ethnicities coexisted and interacted unhindered, and who in many cases had the support and protection of politics and powerful politicians of all ethnicities," CDHRF said.

It noted that the Kosovo Police operation was fully in line with the law. "CDHRF is against application of double standards in the fight against organised crime as requested by Borrell who even before was not known for the virtue of impartiality and objectivity."

US President nominates Christopher Hill new ambassador to Serbia (N1)

The US President Joseph Biden nominated Christopher R. Hill as a new ambassador to Serbia, the White House said on Thursday, replacing Antony Godfrey, who had served in Belgrade since October 2019.

Hill is “a career member of the foreign service. Most recently, he has been the 2021 George Ball Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs,” the statement said.

It added that “before retiring from the Foreign Service in 2010, Hill served as US Ambassador to Iraq, Korea, Poland and Macedonia, as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and as Head of the US delegation to the 6 Party Talks on North Korea. Earlier in his diplomatic career, he was a member of the negotiating team whose efforts led to the Dayton Peace Agreement, ending the Bosnian war. For ten years, Hill was Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and then Chief Advisor to the Chancellor for Global Engagement and Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at the University of Denver. He earned a BA at Bowdoin College and an MS at the Naval War College. The recipient of numerous honors, including the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations and the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Award, Hill speaks Serbian, Polish, Macedonian and French.”

Russia: Kosovo provoking an open confrontation (Koha)

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reacted to the situation in the north of Kosovo following an anti-smuggling operation of the police.

Russia said that the Kosovo Police violated the agreement signed most recently in Brussels and is provoking "an open confrontation". "We are witnessing the unwillingness of Kosovo Albanians to renounce their aggressive plans aimed at cleansing this territory from the non-Albanian residents by creating unbearable conditions of existence for them."

Russia further warned Pristina that its policies, "combined with unclear reactions of its foreign sponsors is unavoidably provoking a slip to open confrontation and is destroying conditions for continuation of dialogue." The Ministry went on to call on KFOR to implement the UN SC resolution 1244 considering that it is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the region.

Kosovo-Serbia Arts Festival Promotes Reconciliation Amid Turmoil (BIRN)

As tensions remain high between Pristina and Belgrade in the aftermath of unrest in northern Kosovo, the arts festival Miredita, Dobar Dan (‘Good day’ in Serbian and Albanian) is seeking to provide a platform for people from both societies to communicate and work together.

On Thursday, ahead of the opening of the festival in the evening, Kosovo was still reeling from violence that erupted the previous day when police conducted raids against suspected smugglers in the Serb-majority north; the unrest came not long after a border dispute that saw roads blocked by protesters and armed police units deployed.

“The political situation is always an obstacle. We live in a state of constant crisis, and the peaks of these crisis tend to happen just before or during the festival, as is the case this year as well,” Fiona Jelici from the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, one of the NGOs organising the festival, told BIRN.

Jelici said that the festival, which runs until Saturday, is sometimes overburdened by expectations “that we will provide answers to all the problems between Serbia and Kosovo, that we will react to all the injustices that citizens are going through because of their ethnic backgrounds, and that we will resolve all the difficult issues of the legacy of the past”.

“The festival is only one piece of the reconciliation puzzle,” she continued, explaining that it provides a safe space for people to “meet, cooperate, discuss, exchange ideas, and present their work”, while tackling the most difficult issues that remain unsolved in the frozen Kosovo-Serbia conflict such as missing persons or war crimes.

The first film to be shown in the festival is ‘Hold Me Right’, a documentary that explores the aftermath of sexual assault through first-hand testimonies. It is directed by Belgrade-born Daniela Stajnfeld, herself a victim of sexual abuse.

Jelici said that “due to the enormous bravery of several survivors of rape, including Daniela Stajnfeld”, public support for victims of sexual abuse has increased, but the festival wants to contribute to making this support more widespread, both in Serbia and Kosovo.

The festival will conclude with another film, ‘The Load’, an award-winning feature by Ognjen Glavonic that focuses on a Serbian truck driver transporting a mysterious cargo during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 which led to the withdrawal of Slobodan Milosevic’s forces from Kosovo.