UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, March 9, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kosovo establishes working group for NATO integration (media)
Kosovo lifts visa regime for Ukrainian citizens (media)
PDK: Now is the right time for Kosovo to apply for CoE membership (media)
Kosovo is protected by KFOR, assures German ambassador (euronews.al)
CEC calls for expulsion of Russia and Belarus from ACEEEO (media)
IMC to identify media outlets spreading disinformation, roundtable hears (Kosovapress)
COVID-19: 49 new cases, two deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic on April 3 elections and voting in Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)
Vucic announces measures aimed at protecting fuel, food markets (Tanjug)
Hearing in property usurpation case of Dusko Arsic postponed again (Radio KIM)
European Federation of Journalists against the abolition of RT and Sputnik: Do not fight propaganda by censorship (KoSSev, KiM radio)
Covid-19: Three new cases, one death registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM)

Opinion:

How the ‘Kosovo Precedent’ Shaped Putin’s Plan to Invade Ukraine (Balkan Insight)

International:

Balkan Fighters Risk Criminal Charges for Joining Ukraine’s Defence (Balkan Insight)
How is the oil crisis manifesting itself in Kosovo? (Euronews Albania)
Kosovo Says NATO, EU Risk Repeating Ukraine Mistakes in Balkans (Newsweek)
Across South-East Europe, Marchers Stand Up for Women’s Rights (Balkan Insight)
Ukraine War May Change Balkan Calculations, for Greece Too (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Kosovo establishes working group for NATO integration (media)

The Government of Kosovo has established an inter-institutional working group for Kosovo's integration in NATO, media report.

"The main objectives of the group will be advancing the process of Kosovo's integration in NATO, Kosovo's inclusion in the Partnership for Peace as soon as possible, membership in Adriatic Charter A5, strengthening of Kosovo's presence in other mechanisms, and intensification of cooperation with international allies," Prime Minister Albin Kurti said at today's meeting of the Government.

The group will be headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora and will include several ministries and ambassadors. Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla said NATO's enlargement policy is fully in line with Kosovo's aspirations.

Several media outlets interpret the government's decision as the first step towards Kosovo’s NATO membership bid.

Kosovo lifts visa regime for Ukrainian citizens (media)

The Government of Kosovo announced it is temporarily lifting the visa regime for citizens of Ukraine.

"In a sign of solidarity with Ukrainian citizens who are facing the Russian aggression, we propose suspending the visa regime for the nationals of Ukraine," said Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti.

Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla said the decision would positively contribute to citizens from Ukraine wishing to enter Kosovo or use it as transit. "The decision puts the Republic of Kosovo alongside many western countries who took similar actions," she said.

PDK: Now is the right time for Kosovo to apply for CoE membership (media)

Vlora Citaku, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said Kosovo should seize the opportunity with Russia being suspended from the Council of Europe to apply for membership in the organisation.

"Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe is of multiple benefit for our country in terms of strengthening democracy, rule of law and cooperation in the European family and beyond. Among other things, it is of benefit for our citizens, who would have access to justice to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg," Citaku said at a press conference. She noted that PDK would strongly support the government in this objective as well as in other steps needed towards membership in NATO and the EU.

Citaku also said that in light of recent developments in Ukraine, Kosovo ought to allocate more funds for the army. "In face of such a threat to European security, which can easily also undermine the Republic of Kosovo, we have asked the Government to immediately review this year's budget by adding 100 million euro for the army."

Kosovo is protected by KFOR, assures German ambassador (euronews.al)

Kosovo continues to support Ukraine and its people, in choosing to side with Democratic countries.

This was also displayed on Monday’s protest, attended also by the ambassadors of some key European countries.

“We really appreciate the unanimous decision of parliament and government to support the sanctions, in a clear sign of solidarity. Then there were the citizens here, the representative of the foreign corps, and later the president joined us. I think that Kosovo society joined the rest of the world in condemning this aggression”, says German ambassador Joern Rohde.

According to the ambassador, Kosovo and the entire region has nothing to be concerned about, although asserted that the situation is alarming.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic on April 3 elections and voting in Kosovo (Radio kontakt plus)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday he would fight and he believes that people living in Kosovo and Metohija would vote in the April 3 parliamentary and presidential elections, Radio kontakt plus reports.

Asked what will happen when the agreement on licence plates between Belgrade and Pristina expires on April 1, Vucic said that he did not know what would happen with the elections, let alone with the licence plates.

“Nothing exists for anyone, other than the Russia-Ukraine and Ukraine-West conflicts”, Vucic said.

He added the most important thing now is to preserve peace and stability.

“If we had not joined the condemnations of Russia (at UN SC), we would not have had the right to point out that Kosovo is part of Serbia”.

President Vucic also said Serbia would not have had the moral right to emphasise that Kosovo and Metohija were part of it, if it had not joined the condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within the United Nations.

Commenting on the opposition’s allegations that Vucic made the decision to join the condemnation of Russia because he was blackmailed by the West, he told B92 television that he never stole anything, that he has no accounts abroad and that no one can blackmail him.

Vucic announces measures aimed at protecting fuel, food markets (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced several measures aimed at protecting the fuel and food markets, consumers and the economy from price hikes and shortages resulting from the Ukraine crisis, Tanjug news agency reports.

In an interview for B92 TV late on Tuesday, Vucic said the Serbian Government would soon make a decision to waive 20 pct of excise duties on oil derivatives and lift duties on oil imports from third countries to ensure supplies to the NIS oil refinery and minimise an increase of oil derivative prices at petrol stations.

He said the price of diesel at NIS petrol stations would remain the same for farmers for at least a month and a half.

He also announced that exports of flour, maize, wheat and edible oil would be banned from Thursday.

Vucic also said that, in March alone, the government would have to set aside 150 million euros for the national electric power company EPS and the gas company Srbijagas to keep the market supplied with oil and gas without sudden price increases.

Hearing in property usurpation case of Dusko Arsic postponed again (Radio KIM)

The hearing that was supposed to take place at Basic Court in Pristina yesterday in the case of property usurpation of Dusko Arsic and his uncle Tomislav Arsic has been postponed again, Radio KIM reports. Arsic’s defence lawyer Jovana Filipovic told Radio KIM that the attitude of both, the defendants in this case and prosecution were concerning.

The hearing was postponed because defendants I.M. and N.M didn’t show up.

“We as an affected party are concerned with reasons that defendants in this case are misusing rights in order to make the criminal proceeding obsolete and thus avoid accountability. Also, we are concerned over the passive attitude of the prosecution in this proceeding, given that it does nothing to accelerate the proceeding. The prosecution, given the circumstances, should have proposed some measure in order to ensure the presence of the defendants, however, such a request is still lacking”, Filipovic said.

The next hearing is scheduled for April 15, and the court ordered the presence of defendants, respectively, for them to be brought by the police to attend the trial.

Dusko Arsic was arrested at Jarinje crossing point in December last year, under allegations of committing war crimes only a few days after he filed a lawsuit over usurpation of his property. Arsic has reported residence in Gracanica and was going in and out of Kosovo regularly.

European Federation of Journalists against the abolition of RT and Sputnik: Do not fight propaganda by censorship (KoSSev, KiM radio)

With the start of the war in Ukraine, RT (Russia Today) and Sputnik, which are categorised as Kremlin media channels, were banned in the EU. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) fears the effects of this spiral of censorship on freedom of expression in Europe, reported KoSSev.

"We will ban the Kremlin's media machine in the EU. The state-owned companies Russia Today and Sputnik, and their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war," Ursula von der Layen said last week. "We are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful misinformation in Europe," she added, without giving further details.

EU member states immediately gave the green light at the suggestion of the European Commission a week ago, which, according to the procedure, was followed by the sanction to be published in the Official Gazette, which authorises national media regulatory houses to block RT and Sputnik. The sanction applies to transmission and distribution via satellite, cables, online video sharing platforms, as well as new and already installed applications.

The European Federation of Journalists, which opposed the decision, also confirmed that Vice President of the Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton had talked with the chairman and members of the European Regulatory Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) about the decision. Media controllers were urged to ensure the immediate imposition of sanctions, and ERGA agreed.

These procedures were practically followed by Kosovo. Two weeks ago, the Independent Media Commission in Kosovo decided to temporarily remove all media outlets from the Russian Federation from the platform in Kosovo, to prevent, as they claim, propaganda, hate speech and false news, and thus protect public safety in Kosovo, wrote KoSSev.

Immediately, three channels in Russian were removed, which were available through MTS D.O.O. in the North. These are Russia Today, Russia 24, Planet RTR. Their program has not been available to viewers for the second week in majority Serb communities where these channels could be watched.

"For the first time in modern history, Western European governments are banning the media"

The Secretary General of the European Journalists' Federation, Ricardo Gutierrez, expressed surprise at the decision in Europe, emphasising that with censorship one does not fight against propaganda.

"First of all, it should be borne in mind that media regulation does not fall within the competence of the European Union. We believe that the EU has no right to grant or withdraw broadcasting licences. This is the exclusive competence of the states. In our liberal democracies, independent regulators, and never the government, have the right to manage licensing. The EU's decision is a complete break with these democratic guarantees. For the first time in modern history, Western European governments are banning the media," he said, adding:

"Second, the complete closure of the media does not seem to me to be the best way to combat disinformation or propaganda."

He explains that censorship can have a completely counterproductive effect on citizens who follow banned media.

"It is always better to oppose misinformation of propaganda or supposedly propaganda media by exposing their factual mistakes or bad journalism, showing their lack of financial or operational independence, emphasising their loyalty to government interests and their neglect of the public."

The EFJ recalled the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, emphasising that banning the media is a serious act, which must be based on solid legal bases and objective elements, to avoid arbitrariness.

"The challenge for democracies is to fight disinformation while preserving freedom of expression," Gutierrez said.

For the EFJ, other strategies should be given priority: increasing support for independent journalism, strengthening editorial independence, strengthening the social status of journalists, promoting professional ethics through independent press councils, encouraging media pluralism, promoting media literacy for all, increasing transparency for those in power (which they never suggest!) …

"The real cure for disinformation is not a ban on the media, but the promotion of a living, pluralistic, professional, ethical and sustainable media ecosystem, completely independent of those in power," Gutierrez said.

This association practically already predicted the counter-effect that Moscow will start undertaking, which is strongly criticised by Western officials and civil activists these days, including yesterday's testimony of Victoria Nuland in the Congress, recalled KoSSev.

Covid-19: Three new cases, one death registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM)

Out of 28 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo three were positive for Covid-19, while one person passed away, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced, Radio KIM reports.

The new cases were registered one each in Mitrovica North, Leposavic and Gracanica. Deceased person was from Mitrovica North.

Currently there are 37 active cases of Covid-19 in the Serbian areas in Kosovo.

A total of 213 persons have died since the outbreak of the pandemic in the Serbian areas, while a total of 10.624 persons were positive for Covid-19.

Opinion

How the ‘Kosovo Precedent’ Shaped Putin’s Plan to Invade Ukraine (Balkan Insight)

Vladimir Putin has consistently used Kosovo’s Western-backed unilateral declaration of independence as legal justification for his military incursions into other former Soviet republics to support Russian-backed rebels, writes judge Dean B. Pineles.

As an American judge, I have extensive rule-of-law experience in Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Kosovo. Looking at what has happened in these four countries provides a compelling explanation for the horrific events that are unfolding today.

International

Balkan Fighters Risk Criminal Charges for Joining Ukraine’s Defence (Balkan insight)

Laws passed to penalize people from joining ISIS and other radical Islamist groups in the Middle East could be used against volunteers from the Balkans who want to join the Ukrainian resistance.

As reports emerge of Balkan citizens joining Ukraine’s armed resistance to Russia, local laws put into effect years ago to prevent people from joining ISIS in Syria mean they risk criminal charges if they return home.