UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, October 27, 2022

Escobar: Franco-German plan details expected to be made public soon (VoA)
Osmani: Request to postpone license plate deadline is not pressure (media)
Serbia and Russia ‘using licence plate dispute’, Foreign Minister says (BIRN)
Ursula von der Leyen to meet with Kosovo leaders today (RTK)
U.S. intends to implement the license plate ruling peacefully (RFE)
EU: Kosovo, Serbia should refrain, we don't want escalation (Klan)
Kurti: Our justice reforms are working fast (RTK)
Haradinaj: I’ve seen Franco-German plan, it includes recognition (RTK)
Vehicle of Serb who converted licence plates to RKS, set on fire (media)
Grenades, equipment seized during anti-drug operation in Leposavic (media)
Corruption File: How 150,000 euros was paid to sway court verdict (BIRN)
EU assesses food safety situation in Western Balkans (Food Safety News)
EU gives €80 million to North Macedonia to tackle energy crisis (Reuters)

Escobar: Franco-German plan details expected to be made public soon (VoA)

Kosovo and Serbia are in a new phase of dialogue, while international pressure has increased on both countries to avoid tensions between them. At the center of attention is a plan proposed by France and Germany, which enjoys the support of the United States, but about which few details are known. In an interview with the Head of the Albanian Service of the Voice of America, the American envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, says that after intensive discussions with both governments, he is confident that engagement with the public will begin to understand the essence of the proposal. The senior American official once again calls on the authorities in Pristina to accept the request to postpone by 10 months the implementation of the order for car license plates of Serbian residents in the north of Kosovo.

Voice of America: During your last visit to Pristina, you asked the authorities to postpone for 10 months the decision to place Kosovo license plates on Serbian residents in the north. Have you received any satisfactory response from the authorities?

Gabriel Escobar: No, not yet.

VOA: Are you waiting to hear back?

Gabriel Escobar: I would hope that they would respond positively to the request not only of the United States, but also of the rest of Quint, the European Union and the special representative, Miroslav Lajcak.

Voice of America: These days, the Franco-German initiative seems to be the main proposal for Kosovo-Serbia relations, and as you also pointed out during your visit to Pristina, both sides should take it seriously. How can such an important proposal be kept so secret. How can the public be convinced, when they have no information about what is being discussed? Can you share with us the highlights of this initiative?

Gabriel Escobar: This is an initiative of the European Union. We support it. We support any move in EU-facilitated dialogue as it is important for regional stability. It is important for the stability of Europeans at a time when we are facing crises like the one in Ukraine and other parts of Europe. As for the details, I want to say that they are being discussed within the context of the EU dialogue, which, although we support it, we are not a party to it. I believe that very soon after intensive discussions with both governments, we will begin to engage the public to understand the essence of the proposal.

Voice of America: You said that what is being proposed now is not a final solution, which means that it will not deal with the recognition of Kosovo by Serbia. But just as important for Kosovo is recognition from the 5 countries of the European Union. Is the current proposal related to the recognition of Kosovo by the five EU countries?

Gabriel Escobar: Absolutely, our position is that Kosovo should be part of the European Union and should be integrated into Euro-Atlantic structures. For this to happen, we expect the five EU countries, which have not recognized it, to recognize Kosovo's independence. Europe has charted the path to recognition. They have defined the path of European integration and this path is dialogue facilitated by the EU. Therefore, I constantly encourage the government of Kosovo to take the dialogue seriously, engage honestly and think about solutions that may include compromise, but in the end recognition of independence and integration are the key.

VOA: What role is the US government expected to play? Do we expect a bigger role?

Gabriel Escobar: I would say that we are playing a bigger role. I have full partnership with my EU counterpart. We are fully engaged through Quint, we believe that since this is a European issue and the aspirations of both countries are integration in Europe, the process should be led by the EU. But we are supporting it fully, politically, financially, through capacity building and through any other mechanism that we have, so that the end result, even if there is an intermediate result temporarily, so that the end result, creates long term stability for the region.

Osmani: Request to postpone license plate deadline is not pressure (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani spoke to the media on Wednesday about the issue of license plates of Serbs in the north of the Kosovo, who have until November 1 to convert them from KM to RKS. Her statements follow several meetings she had in recent days with the ambassadors of the QUINT countries, who reportedly asked her to extend this deadline.

"In the first place, I wouldn't call it pressure, everything that comes from our friends is a suggestion with the best intention," Osmani said.

"Just as us, as institutional leaders, the goal of the international friends is to maintain peace and stability in Kosovo and beyond."

"As for my position about license plates, I gave it a few days ago, so this is a matter of the rule of law and in full coordination with our international partners, we will find a solution where Serb citizens will not feel threatened nor scared," Osmani said. Osmani said that a solution will be found. "So, we have to sit down and find a common solution where the legal and constitutional obligations we have are respected," she said.

"And on the other hand, for all the Serbs living in Kosovo to feel protected and above all we protect them against the constant threats that the Serbian criminal gangs are making. I believe that a solution will be found in the future that will also protect the Serbs, and the deadline will also be respected."

Serbia and Russia ‘using licence plate dispute’, Foreign Minister says (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gërvalla, said on Tuesday at the Western Balkans Summit 2022 that the license plate issue is being used by Serbia and Russia to increase the threat to peace in Kosovo.

Gërvalla said Serbia has made the issue of license plates the main problem. Serbia has said the issue “is a technical problem”.

“A technical problem, which comes from our neighbors, which takes a technical problem, making it the main problem, so the UK, the EU partners and the US have been talking to us for months; it shows that if you don’t choose the big problems, you will spend time on technical problems,” she said.

The Special Envoy of the US for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has asked President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti to postpone any decisions on converting license plates for 10 months.

But the government has said that it will not postpone its deadline, a decision which is supported by Kosovo President Osmani.

Speaking at the summit, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Kosovo had postponed its deadline once already, calling on all ethnic Serbian citizens to convert their number plates to Kosovo ones in the remaining days.

“I once again call on all citizens of Kosovo who are of Serbian origin to convert their license plates. Let’s not forget that the campaign continues, we are continuing the campaign through the media, official public meetings, so that RKS license plates are added and other license plates are removed,” Kurti said.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3zg3Psk

Ursula von der Leyen to meet with Kosovo leaders today (RTK)

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Kosovo today as part of her tour in the Western Balkans. During her stay, she will meet with the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Von der Leyen is expected to be at the Presidency at 09:00 in the morning and afterwards they are expected to address the media together at 10:05.

Meanwhile, from 10:30 the President of the EC will be in the prime minister's office for a meeting with the head of government, Albin Kurti.

After the meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the two Ministers of Economy and Education, Artane Rizvanolli and Arberie Nagavci, she will visit the project financed by the EU for energy efficiency.

U.S. intends to implement the license plate ruling peacefully (RFE)

The United States intends that the decision of the government of Kosovo to re-register cars with Serbian license plates in RKS - Republic of Kosovo - be implemented peacefully, and not contribute to the increase of tensions. This is what a spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in Pristina told Radio Free Europe.

Among other things, the Embassy has said that the USA, together with its European partners, believe that the decision of the government of Kosovo is in accordance with the Brussels agreements, and in principle, they have no objections to it.

"However, we have requested, together with our international partners, a ten-month postponement for the implementation of the decision", said the Embassy's response.

The deadline for re-registration of cars in RKS started on September 1 and ends on October 31.

EU: Kosovo, Serbia should refrain, we don't want escalation (Klan)

EU spokesman Peter Stano told the news portal that Kosovo and Serbia should refrain from escalating steps.

"The European Union and its member states expect Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from unilateral, escalating steps and focus all energy and efforts on achieving progress in the dialogue to move it forward towards the ultimate goal of reaching a comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations", said the EU spokesperson for Klan Kosovo.

Stano, among other things, said that the prevention of escalation between the two countries can only be achieved through dialogue.

"Progress in dialogue is the best way to prevent escalation that only hurts people on both sides," Stano emphasized.

Kurti: Our justice reforms are working fast (RTK)

Kosovo is ranked first in the Western Balkans in the "World Justice Project" annual Rule of Law index, while second in the world for major improvement in the rule of law during the past year. This was confirmed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu.

This year, the World Justice Project has again ranked the Republic of Kosovo #1 in the Western Balkans on rule of law. It has also ranked Kosovo #2 in the entire world for the greatest improvement in the rule of law over the past year. Independent confirmation that our reforms are working, and rapidly so,” Kurti tweeted.

Haradinaj: I’ve seen Franco-German plan, it includes recognition (RTK)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said in an interview with RTK that the Franco-German plan is American, and it is the final agreement with Serbia, there is the recognition of Kosovo.

He said that the document, which was offered for agreement, explicitly recognizes Kosovo, and added that the agreement is expected to be signed this year, while the Franco-German plan is final and that there is no other agreement.

"The agreement may not be called an agreement for recognition, it may be called an agreement for normalization, but it has recognition in its content," stated Haradinaj.

"This is the final agreement, there will be no other agreement, no more negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia for anything else... this is the final," Haradinaj said.

Asked if he is optimistic that the agreement will be reached this year, Haradinaj said that there are possibilities. "I don't sign, Kurti signs. In this case, I would support him if he accepts the obligations based on the subject matter of this agreement," he said.

Haradinaj also spoke about license plates.

"I think that the request of Mr. Escobar, but also of QUINT, is to be careful and to plan well the duration of the implementation so that there are no tensions and incidents... that could be used either by the Serbian side or by other parties to blame Kosovo," he said. He added that any deterioration of the legal and security situation in any part of Kosovo does not suit the Republic and its agenda.

"We have some topics that are quite serious. We are also waiting for the visa liberalization … we must only bring good news of a calm and functional public order, and at the same time the only one who benefits from these mistakes is Vucic," he said.

"This time it is very interconnected. From the way we will behave in the dialogue, they will behave towards us. They have made such conditioning to keep us under control until the conclusion of the dialogue," Haradinaj said.

Vehicle of Serb who converted licence plates to RKS, set on fire (media) Several news websites cover a Kosovapress report noting that a vehicle was set on fire on Wednesday night in the municipality of Leposavic. According to the news agency, unknown persons burned the vehicle after its owner had registered it with Kosovo licence plates. A police spokesman in the north confirmed the incident.

Grenades, equipment seized during anti-drug operation in Leposavic (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, said on Wednesday that during an anti-drug operation in the municipality of Leposavic, police seized four hand grenades, €12,000, an automatic rifle, 200 bullets of different calibers, a radio communication unit and other equipment. Svecla wrote on Facebook: “A person of Serbian nationality was arrested. We remain fully committed in coordination with all security institutions to enforce the law throughout the territory of the Republic of Kosovo. We will act against every individual or a certain group regardless whose aim is to violate the rule of law and security of citizens of our country.”

Corruption File: How 150,000 euros was paid to sway court verdict (BIRN)

After publication of BIRN’s two-year investigation – which shows how 150,000 euros was paid to influence a court case – the Special Prosecutor’s Office has started investigations and the Justice Minister has demanded arrests

Over two hours of audio and video recordings from a series of meetings filmed by a BIRN investigation has revealed the efforts made to influence the decisions of courts in Kosovo.

In a case concerning businessman Salih Dakaj, former chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeal Haxhi Dërguti is seen in the recordings attempting to obtain cash through promises that he will talk to the judges and persuade them to decide in Dakaj’s favor.

“Give priority to this process, give money, otherwise this work will not be done,” Dërguti tells businessman Dakaj.