UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, August 29, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti invites opposition leaders to meet on Tuesday (media)
Haradinaj responds positively to Kurti's invitation for a meeting (media)
Murati: Government will proceed with salary law, educational staff should start work (media)
Kurti: Kosovo has provided shelter for 1798 Afghans (RTK)
Lavrov: The West is ready to recognize independence declared illegally (media)
Tahiri: Why isn’t the text of the agreement on ID cards being published? (Klan)
COVID-19: 89 new cases (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic: Agreement with Pristina makes it easier, not harder, for everyone (media)
Opposition on the BG and PR IDs agreement (media)
Stoltenberg welcomes the agreement on IDs: NATO and KFOR will remain vigilant (Radio Mitrovica sever)
Michel, Varhelyi, Rohde, Rama welcomed the agreement reached on IDs (media, Twitter)
OPEN initiative seeks the C/ASM to be formed (Kosovo Online, KoSSev)
NGO Aktiv: 51 incidents recorder in the first six months of 2022 (KoSSev)

Opinion:

In the history of international law, it never happened that a state recognizes another through license plates or identity cards (Danas, N1)
Unbalanced Vucic-Rama Double Act Benefits Only Serbia (Balkan Insight)

International:

Afghans adrift on US 'lily pad' in Kosovo (DW)
‘Everyone loved each other’: the rise of Yugonostalgia (The Guardian)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti invites opposition leaders to meet on Tuesday (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has invited the leaders of the opposition political parties, Lumir Abdixiku, Memli Krasniqi and Ramush Haradinaj, to meet on Tuesday, to discuss the last meeting held in Brussels with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.

"Yesterday, the invitations were sent in electronic form, while today they are sent in physical form. The invitation to the meeting is for the next day", announced the spokesperson of the government Peparim Kryeziu.

Kurti mentioned this meeting on Sunday, at the meeting of the General Council of Vetevendosje Movement (LVV). He said that the political disagreements between the government and the opposition should not exceed the state interest.

Haradinaj responds positively to Kurti's invitation for a meeting (media)

The chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Ksovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj has responded positively to the invitation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti for a conversation regarding the recent meetings that took place in Brussels. In a post on Facebook, Haradinaj has said that the issue of dialogue for recognition has always been a cross-party issue and that there is no government or opposition on topics of national interest.

"Although I cannot leave without mentioning that the Prime Minister Kurti this time excluded the Alliance as a party, but also the opposition as a whole from any consultation, or even worse, information, regarding what happened in Brussels," Haradinaj wrote.

Murati: Government will proceed with salary law, educational staff should start work (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Finance, Labour and Transfers Hekuran Murati announced in a press conference that the government has processed the law on wages.

“As government, we have processed the salary law, and it is in various stages and will be published in public consultations. In September, when the Assembly returns from vacation, the draft law will be proceeded in the Assembly, in this draft law, the demands of the teachers for keeping the positions of technological surplus, have been taken into consideration. The education sector is the priority of the government of Kosovo,” Murati said.

"Even the Law foresees for strikes that if there are workers who have not agreed with the strike and are working, they will be paid, those who will be part of the strike will not be paid and they must be compensated by the unions," Murati emphasized.

Kurti: Kosovo has provided shelter for 1798 Afghans (RTK)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has written about the sheltering of Afghans that started a year ago, after the departure of the international community from Afghanistan and the departure of many Afghan citizens to different countries.

“On this day one year ago, we welcomed the very first group of Afghan citizens who had left their home amid chaos and uncertainty. Since then, Kosovo has provided shelter to 1,798 Afghans. We are partners to our allies and an ally to those who need a helping hand," Kurti wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo has been highly appreciated both by the USA and various organizations for the protection of human rights for housing the Afghans.

Lavrov: The West is ready to recognize independence declared illegally (media)

"Western countries unilaterally recognize Kosovo as an independent state, because it suits them," the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said to the Russian television "Zvezda".

"The West, in an effort to maintain dominance and go against the objective course of history, rejects international law. Rules are invented depending on the specific task. When necessary, the West is ready to recognize the independence declared illegally, without any referendum, unilaterally, as was the case with Kosovo", he said.

Lavrov reportedly said that when it doesn't suit the West to recognize a country, it doesn't. According to him, this is what happened with Crimea.

Tahiri: Why isn’t the text of the agreement on ID cards being published? (Klan)

The former chief negotiator of Kosovo in the dialogue with Serbia Edita Tahiri has demanded to publish the agreement signed between Pristina and Belgrade on identity cards.

"The agreement on finalizing the implementation of the agreement on accompanying letters for free movement of 2011 was reached, that of license plates is awaited. The question is why is the text of this agreement not being published?" Tahiri wrote on Facebook.

COVID-19: 89 new cases (media)

The Ministry of Health announced on Monday that 42 new positive cases of COVID-19 were registered within the last 24 hours in Kosovo.

New cases of infection were recorded from a total of 251 samples taken for testing. According to the ministry's announcement, 224 people affected by COVID-19 have recovered during this period.

The current number of active cases is 1,503.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic: Agreement with Pristina makes it easier, not harder, for everyone (media)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that Serbia managed to get the best possible out of the agreement with Pristina, emphasizing that the agreement was verbal.

After a joint exercise by the police and the army members at the Pasuljanska Livada training ground on Sunday, Vucic told reporters that the agreement, according to which Serbia abolishes the issuance of exit-entry documents for people who have Kosovo identity documents, and Kosovo does not introduce them for those who have Serbian identity cards, was verbal because the written agreement was signed in 2011, cited Serbian media.

Vucic said that since 2011 citizens have been crossing the administrative line using Kosovo documents which were accompanied by a paper that has now been abolished.

“Because of that decision, it is not harder for anyone, it is easier for everyone,” Vucic said.

He also noted that he was “always” ready for the session of the Parliament of Serbia regarding Kosovo, but that it should be arranged in accordance with his duties, reported media.

Ana Brnabic, the prime minister-designate for the new Government of Serbia, said that the deal on personal documents reached with Pristina was a “gentleman's agreement” with EU guarantees.

Brnabic also said that she believed the new Government of Serbia will be formed in September and that Sinisa Mali, Milos Vucevic and Ivica Dacic will certainly be part of it but that it was not yet time to talk about it in public.

This morning she told RTS that it was "natural" that the leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Ivica Dacic should be "vice prime minister".

"The vice presidents will be Sinisa Mali and Miloc Vucevic. Absolutely all three will have ministerial positions," said Brnabic and added that "we are still thinking" about the number of departments of the future government, she told RTS, cited Serbian media.

"The clearest challenges before us are Kosovo and Metohija and the preservation of peace and stability, which bothers me the most now. Another key topic is energy security and the security of our country," said the mandate holder.

The director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, told RTS on Sunday that the agreement preserved Serbian identity cards for Serbs living in Kosovo, as well as peace and stability. He also pointed out that this was the first step towards the normalization of relations and pointed out that the Serbs will not give up ''KM vehicle plates''.

He pointed out that it was "the first step towards the normalization of relations", when it comes to respecting the agreement on freedom of movement.

"It is particularly important that we managed to make a statement, that is, a 'disclaimer' within the framework of the agreement," said Petkovic, and added that the 'disclaimer' actually clearly showed that by mutual acceptance of personal documents ''we do not recognize, nor will we ever recognize the independence of Kosovo".

"We are also waiting for talks on the issue of vehicle plates, where the situation is much more difficult, because Albin Kurti refuses to accept KM plates, given that the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija will not give up KM plates, which are issued by the Republic of Serbia," he said.

Opposition on the BG and PR IDs agreement (media)

Opposition parties displeased with the agreement, assessed the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on personal identity documents mostly very negatively. The leader of People’s Party (NS) Vuk Jeremic said that “the only change in comparison to the situation before was that Serbia would start recognizing the documents of the so-called ‘Kosovo’, which was not the case before. Everything else remained the same, Jeremic wrote on Twitter. “What we got in return are praises for Vucic from the EU officials, he added.

The leader of Dveri Movement Bosko Obradovic said that the freedom of movement for Serbs from Kosovo with documents issued by their state of Serbia should not be a question at all, but it was disputable for Serbia to recognize the personal documents issued by Pristina authorities.

“Serbia must not recognize personal documents issued by false state of Kosovo, because this means recognition of Kosovo independence regardless of the fact that this is attempted to be avoided by some new and invisible footnote, now called disclaimer,” Obradovic said, with a demand that nothing should be agreed with Pristina until a negotiation’s platform was enacted in Serbian Parliament.

NADA coalition, whose main member was once ruling (New) Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), emphasized that the agreement was “another concession to secessionist authorities in Pristina” and that it would be unacceptable for the outgoing government to reach “big decisions harmful for Serbian people”, without a discussion in the Parliament.

The Serbian National Forum, based in Kosovo, joined the criticism of the agreement, and "most vigorously" condemned the Serbian president for, as they said, "betrayal of national interests, violation of the Constitution, usurpation of jurisdiction, as well as unprecedented manipulation and humiliation of Serbia and Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija", reported KoSSev.

They said that the recognition of documents issued by the Kosovo authorities by the Republic of Serbia was "another stone in the foundation of strengthening Kosovo's independence".

President of the Party of Kosovo Serbs Aleksandar Jablanovic saw the agreement on IDs as a victory for Albin Kurti.

In a press release, he pointed out that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic "confirmed once again that the Serbs in Kosmet do not have a state, but an illusion of a state, directed in Belgrade and through the state media."

Referring to the words of representatives of the Serbian government who said that the agreement was a success, he ironically pointed out that "this "victory of Serbia" was just another signal to the Serbs to forcefully leave Kosovo, and to seek their future in a more normal place. ''We fear that the next Aleksandar Vucic's victory, Serbs in Kosovo will not survive,'' Jablanovic said, cited Serbian media.

The President of the European Movement from Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic, wrote on Twitter that "it is good that we have an agreement that will enable freedom of movement, but its content - the formalization of full reciprocity between Serbia and Kosovo - has shown that after 10 years with Vucic at the head, Serbia is not only diplomatically backed into a corner: it is no longer even in the negotiating room", cited Serbian media.

Stoltenberg welcomes the agreement on IDs: NATO and KFOR will remain vigilant (Radio Mitrovica sever)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced, on the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, that NATO and KFOR will remain vigilant, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

"I welcome the agreement under the auspices of the EU on freedom of movement between Kosovo and Serbia. I encourage Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti to resolve the remaining disagreements through political dialogue. NATO and KFOR will remain vigilant," Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

Michel, Varhelyi, Rohde, Rama welcomed the agreement reached on IDs (media, Twitter)

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, welcomed the agreement reached, for which he said was in the interest of citizens.

"I heartily welcome the agreement reached within the dialogue led by the EU, to ensure an easy road between Serbia and Kosovo, in the interest of the citizens," Michel wrote on Twitter.

European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi welcomed the agreement and wrote on Twitter that he hoped that this signals a new era of real progress in dialogue based on mutual agreements.

"I welcome the agreement on free movement between Kosovo and Serbia and sincerely hope that this marks a new era of real progress in dialogue, based on mutual agreements and implementation," Verhelyi wrote.

German Ambassador to Kosovo Jorn Rohde called the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on personal documents really good news.

“Good news indeed. More of this news please, for example for energy, license plates," he wrote on social networks.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that the good news was the resolution of the issue of free movement between Serbia and Kosovo through dialogue and added "with congratulations to both sides, I hope that this development of dialogue will raise it to a new level, so that we do not waste time and energy...'' Rama wrote on Twitter.

OPEN initiative seeks the C/ASM to be formed (Kosovo Online, KoSSev)

CSOs from the Serbian community in Kosovo organized within the OPEN initiative demand from the Government of Kosovo to establish the Community/Association of Serb majority Municipalities, reported portals Kosovo Online and KoSSev, citing the statement of the initiative.

"We civil society organizations from the Serbian community, gathered within the OPEN initiative, ask the Government of Kosovo to implement the provisions of the Brussels Agreement and to start the establishment of the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities,'' the statement reads.

''The establishment of the Community/Association of Serbian Municipalities is an obligation undertaken during negotiations in Brussels and ratified by the Assembly of Kosovo, therefore the Government of Kosovo must find a way to implement it,'' the statement added, reported the media.

NGO Aktiv: 51 incidents recorder in the first six months of 2022 (KoSSev)

The same day when the Kosovo Police (Friday) announced that ethnically motivated incidents were declining, stating that in the first six months, 4 cases with a possible ethnic background and 48 cases related to cultural heritage were recorded, NGO Aktiv recalled the report of its Rapid Response Civic Group (RRCG), which recorded 51 security incidents in the same period, reported portal KoSSev.

Incidents of a different nature, including physical attacks, thefts, damage, and insults, were recorded in 21 municipalities, of which the most (20) were in the Pristina region. The municipality of Leposavic follows, where 11 incidents were registered, followed by 7 incidents in Kamenica, and five incidents in Pec, cited the portal.

Out of 51 incidents, the largest number, 14 of them, were damage or theft of religious and property of the Serbian Orthodox Church, while 13 incidents were in the form of damage, burglary, or robbery of households. In addition, seven physical attacks were recorded, one each in Gorazdevac, Straza, Gracanica, Babin Most, Obilic, Staro Gracko and Banja.

There were six thefts or damage to property of public institutions, while five thefts or damage to private movable property were recorded. RRCG recorded 6 provocative graffiti.

Based on the RRCG report, during 2021, 87 incidents were recorded in majority Serbian areas in Kosovo, the largest number of which were directed at the facilities and property of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The security situation was assessed as one of the key issues in areas inhabited by members of Serbian and other non-majority communities.

The Rapid Response Civic Group was established in 2020 with the aim of monitoring the implementation of the measures of competent central and local institutions in the fight against the coronavirus, monitoring the vaccination process, the security situation, including in the institutional response in relation to the various needs of citizens in areas inhabited by members of non-majority communities, as well as Albanian communities in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo.

At the same time, the Office for KiM for the same period, from January to June of this year, recorded on its website as many as 74 ethnically motivated cases that took place in Kosovo, recalled KoSSev.

Opinion

In the history of international law, it has never happened that a state recognizes another through license plates or identity cards (Danas, N1)

It has never happened in the history of international law that one state recognized another through license plates or identity cards, Marko Milanovic, a professor of international law at the University of Reading, told N1, thus rejecting the claims of certain political subjects that Belgrade recognized ''Kosovo's independence through the recent agreement with Pristina'', reported daily Danas.

Referring to the recent agreement on IDs between Belgrade and Pristina, Milanovic said that the two sides have actually just agreed to implement The agreement on freedom of movement that they signed in 2011.

According to the 2011 Agreement, all citizens should be able to travel from one territory to another without an entry-exit document.

''Point three of that document was intended for transit travel to third countries", he explains and reminds that the Serbian authorities, contrary to the agreement, issued this type of paper to Albanians from Kosovo who travelled to central Serbia.

At the same time, Milanovic rejects the claims of certain political subjects that Serbia, by accepting Kosovo's identity cards, recognized the uniformly declared independence of Kosovo.

Recognition, he explains, can only be done with a fairly formal act, that Serbian officials declare that they recognize Kosovo, or that Serbia, for example, appoints an ambassador in Pristina.

"Never in the history of international law has one state recognized another through license plates or identity cards. This whole obsession with whether we will inadvertently recognize Kosovo is pointless," says Milanovic.

When it comes to license plates, Milanovic reminds that two agreements were signed - in 2011, when Kosovo agreed to issue status-neutral plates, and in 2016, when that agreement was extended for another five years.

That deadline has now expired, and Albin Kurti does not want to extend the status-neutral plates, because as Milanovic says, it goes against his entire policy of nationalism and reciprocity.

The N1 interlocutor still sees the whole problem with the vehicle plates as "a huge amount of noise about a meaningless thing".

"It's a matter of symbols. They turned plates into an icon," he says.

According to him, if ''the Kosovo authorities require a person in the north to use the plates of the Republic of Kosovo, as if he renounced Serbia, and not as a completely technical matter, it is impossible to know what will happen''.

"Public opinion in the north is largely under the control of the authorities in Belgrade. I do not know what Vucic wants to produce, maybe more tension to calm it down later, since that is his modus operandi," says Milanovic.

He also reminds that the majority of Serbs in Kosovo live south of the Ibar and use RKS license plates, so they have not become less Serbs because of that.

"It's not a problem that would have happened on its own, it was created by Vucic and Kurti. The whole idea of this is to preserve power, and in the case of Kurti, also ideology, because he devoted his entire political life to the fight for the consolidation of the Kosovo state and Albanian nationalism," says N1 interviewee.

Milanovic also explains that all the agreements signed between Belgrade and Pristina so far are of a political nature and have no legal force, and that their implementation depends on the political will of the two parties.

A legal document in written form is only the end of this normalization process, if there is such an end, Milanovic points out. Then, he explains, Belgrade and Pristina would sign an international agreement, which would not necessarily be recognition, but which would regulate the relations between the two parties, cited daily Danas.

Unbalanced Vucic-Rama Double Act Benefits Only Serbia (Balkan Insight)

By Fron Nahzi

With the anxious threat Russia will expand the Ukraine conflict to the Balkans, Albania’s pro-US prime minister, Edi Rama, and Serbia’s pro-Russian president, Aleksandar Vucic, have developed a Balkan oddity – a partnership that many in the West hope can provide a foundation for regional stability.

A closer look at their relationship, however, belies this wishful thinking and reveals what is in actuality nothing more than a political charade by Vucic that allows him to continue straddling the divide between East and West.

Maintaining power in the Balkans requires a three-tiered chess game played simultaneously at international, regional, and local levels. Vucic has become the Grandmaster and Rama but a pawn.

In spite of their vastly different ideological origin stories – Vucic as an ultranationalist collaborator with the regime of Slobodan Milosevic and Rama as a socialist former artist – the two share parts of the same unsavoury playbook.

Both understand that bad moves at the local level are more tolerable to the West than those at the regional level, as long as you play nice with the neighbours; both rule their countries with an iron fist – Vucic overtly, Rama’s hidden behind a velvet glove.

International

Afghans adrift on US 'lily pad' in Kosovo (DW)

Afghan evacuees whom the US had said would be temporarily housed in Kosovo are still there a year later — with no way out. Teri Schultz shares the story of one man who says he is treated more like an inmate than an ally.