UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 5, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: Serbia recognized plates to cover rejection of Brussels agreement (Koha)
Rohde welcomes “ditching of sticker regime” between Kosovo and Serbia (media)
Konjufca condemns “despicable violence” against Sandulovic (media)
Haxhiu: International community must condemn beating of Sandulovic (media)
After being beaten, Sandulovic’s apartment raided (RTK/Dukagjini)
Kusari-Lila: There could be parliamentary elections this year (RTK)
Kosovo candidate status, Belgian EU Presidency: We’ll seek consensus (Express)
Police confiscate 689 bullets of different calibers in Banjska of Zvecan (Nacionale)
Ahmeti: There are successes in foreign diplomacy; security is a priority (KSP)
EU measures inflicted material damage and further damaged Kosovo’s image (AP)
Kosovo allowed visit by Serbian Patriarch, one day later Serbia did the opposite with Svecla (Express)

Serbian Language Media:

One year since wounding of two Serb boys in Gotovusa, near Strpce (Kosovo Online)
Jevtic: Injustice at stake, Serbs unprotected in legal sense (media)
Kosovo Government decision to revoke stickers had not taken effect yet (Kosovo Online)
Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije with believers in Mitrovica North tomorrow (KoSSev)
Djuric: US support to Pristina conditional upon Community of Serb Municipalities (Tanjug)
Drecun: Serbs in Kosovo concerned over Pristina's military service plans (Tanjug, RTS)
Kosovo police found ammunition in Banjska near Zvecan, it is believed it was there since September (KoSSev, N1)

Opinion:

Serbia’s Elections – Defeat for Far Right, as well as Moderate Opposition (BIRN)

International:

Kosovars Finally Get The Visas They've Longed For (Along With A Host Of New Problems) (RFE)
Kosovo’s Houses of Culture, Fading Relics of the Yugoslav Past (BIRN)
Kosovo's amputee soccer stars overcome legacy of conflict (RFE)
Serbian opposition leader brutally beaten by secret services (MSN)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: Serbia recognized plates to cover rejection of Brussels agreement (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post today that the Kosovo government can change its decision to remove stickers on Serbian license plates if Serbian authorities change their approach or behavior on the free movement of vehicles with Kosovo license plates.

Kurti argued that Serbia’s decision to recognize Kosovo license plates should be seen as “a maneuver by a non-democratic regime for its own survival”. He said that the decision came after Serbia for two years used the issue of the plates as a pretext to create tensions in the north of Kosovo and in order to soften the criticism of the international community about the irregularities in the December 17 elections in Serbia.

“The issue of license plates in Kosovo in September 2021 was used to threaten Kosovo and the region even with Russian Mig-29s above the border and by trying to destabilize the country especially through the 16 barricades that were erected on the roads of the four northern municipalities for three weeks in a row in December 2022. In December last year, the self-disciplining of Serbia is used to lower the pressure from the democratic west (EU, U.S. and UK) on Serbia about the manipulated and undemocratic elections, but also to cover up the official rejection of the Basic Agreement in Brussels through the letter that Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic addressed to the EU Council on December 13, and to mask their responsibility for the terrorist and criminal attack in Banjska of Zvecan on September 24, 2023,” Kurti argued.

Kurti also said that “if Kosovo Police meanwhile gets report from the ground about changes in the approach or conduct of Serbian authorities to allow the free movement of vehicles with Republic of Kosovo plates in the territory of Serbia, or obstructing free movement in any form, we will be notified in time and we will act”.

Rohde welcomes “ditching of sticker regime” between Kosovo and Serbia (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said in a post on X today that “welcoming Kosovar and Serbian governments ditched the "sticker regime", making travels between the two neighbours easier. From now on, the only stickers that should be used are the ones for your @EURO2024 sticker albums!”

Konjufca condemns “despicable violence” against Sandulovic (media)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca, in a Facebook post today, condemned what he called “despicable act of brutal violence in Serbia against politician Nikola Sandulovic”. “From media reports and statements by family members and his lawyer we learned that Mr. Sandulovic was taken by the police of the Serbian secret service, was held, and beaten by officials of this state institution, and then his apartment was raided. In a situation of media intimidation and darkness in Serbia, the concerning mentioning that the terrorist Milan Radoicic, wanted by the Republic of Kosovo and internationally for the terrorist attack in Banjska, also took part in the torture, has yet to be clarified,” he wrote.

According to Konjufca, “the attempt to intimidate politicians like Sandulovic, who is attacked only because he recognizes the sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo and apologizes for Serbia’s crimes against the Albanians, comes as an attack against the possibility of fair political reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia, and against the European politics in Serbia”.

Konjufca also called on the international community to condemn the act, saying that “the reaction of democratic countries against this grave act is highly determinant”.

Haxhiu: International community must condemn beating of Sandulovic (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said in a post on X today that the international community must condemn the beating of Nikola Sandulovic, leader of Serbia’s Republican Party. “Serbia is still in the 90s and far from its normalization. There, the only oppositionist Sandulovic is beaten and tries to be eliminated only because he accepts the truth of Kosova. The international community must condemn this act,” Haxhiu wrote.

After being beaten, Sandulovic’s apartment raided (media)

RTK reported on Thursday evening that “after members of the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA) brutally beat Serbian politician Nikola Sandulovic, for honoring late KLA commander Adem Jashari, his apartment was also raided following a request by the prosecution and adopted by the court”.

Cedomir Stojkovic, an attorney for Sandulovic, told RTK that the apartment was raided with the excuse of securing evidence for the criminal offense of spreading national hatred against Serbs. He also said that Sandulovic was brutally beaten and that his condition is not stable. Stojkovic also described in detail the violence against his client and the lynching against him in Serbian media.

Dukagjini reports that Stojkovic posted a video on X today with the caption “this is a video of Nikola Sandulovic being taken from the emergency center of the hospital in Belgrade to the central prison, by order of the public prosecutor from Nis, at the moment when Nikola’s life is in danger”.

Klan Kosova quotes a post on X by Stojkovic in which he published a document by the senior prosecutor in Nis for arresting Sandulovic “for his post on the social network X that he laid flowers on the graves of Albanians in Kosovo”.

Nacionale quotes Sandulovic’s daughter as saying that “agents took him from his house” and that “he seems to have been poisoned, and is paralyzed”.

Kusari-Lila: There could be parliamentary elections this year (RTK)

Head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, in an interview with RTK on Thursday, did not rule out the possibility of parliamentary elections this year saying that 2024 is a year of global elections.

“In March, we will enter the fourth year of governance. According to the election calendar, it is possible that we will have regular elections by the end of the year which would be in line with the election calendar, and which otherwise would be held in February next year. Before and after the 60-day period there is an option of discussions between political parties and the President to find a common date. Therefore, it would not be anything new if Kosovo goes to an election process this year. It would not be extraordinary,” she said.

Kusari-Lila also said that in Vetevendosje they’re not discussing new elections, but that the party is mobilized to deliver on its promises as this is the final year in government.

Kosovo candidate status, Belgian EU Presidency: We’ll seek consensus (Express)

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union said in a response to the news website that it will try to push forward Kosovo’s ambition to become a member state of the European Union, but also mentioned the dialogue with Serbia as a condition. “During its Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Belgium will seek consensus among the member states, taking into account the sensitivities of all member states and with full respect to the EU enlargement methodology,” David Jordens, a spokesperson for the Belgian Presidency said.

He said that Belgium supports the EU perspective of the Western Balkans, including Kosovo, but said that no further steps were made in this regard. “Since Kosovo submitted its EU membership application during the Czech Presidency in December 2022, no further steps have been made. So far, consensus has not been reached in the Council to ask the European Commission for an opinion about Kosovo’s EU application,” he added.

“The normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia remains crucial for Kosovo’s future in the EU. To make progress on its path toward EU membership, in the short and long term, Kosovo – as well as Serbia – needs to engage constructively and positively in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and to deliver on commitments from previous agreements.”

Police confiscate 689 bullets of different calibers in Banjska of Zvecan (media)

During a patrol in the village of Banjska in the north of Kosovo, near a hill, Kosovo Police confiscated 34 cartridges, a magazine for AK47, and 689 bullets of different calibers, and a Serbian flag. No arrests were made, and the case is under investigation, the police report notes.

Several news websites quote Kosovo Police Deputy Commander for the north, Veton Elshani, as saying that the ammunition was found near the location where police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed in September last year.

Ahmeti: There are successes in foreign diplomacy; security is a priority (KSP)

Kosovo’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Kreshnik Ahmeti, said that Kosovo has achieved success in foreign diplomacy in 2023, and that there is daily engagement to secure new recognitions and membership in international organizations.

Ahmeti said Greece could recognize Kosovo’s independence, “as relations between the two countries have grown very close”.

Commenting on the EU-facilitated dialogue, Ahmeti accused Serbia of failing to implement the Basic Agreement, and said that in this phase security is a priority for Kosovo.

According to Ahmeti, circumstances surrounding the draft statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities have changed, after a statement by EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak that this is an internal matter for Kosovo. He added that Prime Minister Albin Kurti is willing to work on a draft statute in cooperation with line ministers.

EU measures inflicted material damage and further damaged Kosovo’s image (AP)

President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, told a press conference that as a result of EU’s penalty measures which were introduced in June last year, Kosovo lost around €300 million in different projects. He said that the measures prevented the implementation of projects which would have a direct impact on Kosovar businesses.

Rafuna said that the EU measures also hurt Kosovo’s image in the eyes of foreign investors. “It is not a good image when you as a country have penalty measures. We want the measures to be lifted as soon as possible, and we call on the institutions to meet the conditions and criteria for them to be lifted,” he said.

Rafuna said that according to a poll that the Chamber of Commerce conducted with around 500 businesses, around 67 percent of them are very concerned that workers will leave their jobs as a result of visa liberalization.

Kosovo allowed visit by Serbian Patriarch, one day later Serbia did the opposite with Svecla (Express)

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to the news website that through official channels they accepted the request to allow the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church to visit Kosovo on January 3. The news website notes that Serbia however did not act the same way with the request from Interior Affairs Minister Xhelal Svecla to visit Presevo Valley in Serbia.

Serbian Language Media

One year since wounding of two Serb boys in Gotovusa, near Strpce (Kosovo Online)

Tomorrow will mark one year since the wounding of two Serb boys, Stefan (11) and Milos (21) Stojanovic on Christmas Day, January 6, in the village of Gotovusa, near Strpce, Kosovo Online portal reports.

Member of Kosovo Security Forces (KSF) who shot and wounded the boys has been released pending trial. Defense lawyer of Milos, Veljko D. Radic said the last hearing took place on March 16, last year and the case is now at the Court of Appeals.

He said since that hearing, neither him nor his colleague representing underage Stefan received call or written information about the course and the status of the criminal proceedings against defendant Azem Kurtaj.

“According to the information I received at the Basic Court in Urosevac from the acting judge, the case is currently at the Court of Appeals in Pristina, and the accused Azem Kurtaj himself is free. With the decision from March 16, the measure of detention was replaced by a measure of conditional detention, after two months it was revoked and the defendant is now free", Radic said.

Jevtic: Injustice at stake, Serbs unprotected in legal sense (media)

Stpce mayor and Serbian List Vice President, Dalibor Jevtic told the media that one year after the attack on two Serbian boys, Stefan and Milos Stojanovic, in this municipality on Christmas Day, prevailing impression is that injustice was at stake and that Serbs are not protected in a legal sense.

He added his personal feeling, that of his co-citizens and the families of the wounded boys is that uncertainty still exists.

He said institutions should be more decisive in implementing justice. “I am using this opportunity to call upon responsible institutions to take a good look, analyze and make the most just decision, because it is not only decision to punish the perpetrator, but also decision has to have a preventive effect, to prevent anyone who think of carrying out something like this and then go unpunished. I think this is the main thing that I, families and my co-citizens expect in this regard”, Jevtic said.

Kosovo Government decision to revoke stickers had not taken effect yet (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo Government decision made yesterday to revoke the sticker’s regime for vehicles with Serbian license plates entering Kosovo had not taken effect yet, Kosovo Online portal reported.

The portal said its reporter was at Jarinje crossing point this morning adding that vehicles with Serbian license plates have stickers.

Kosovo Government made a decision to revoke stickers yesterday, and it would enter in force upon publication in the Official Gazette, media reported. People wishing to exit Kosovo at Jarinje crossing point today need to wait for one hour due to congestion.

Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije with believers in Mitrovica North tomorrow (KoSSev)

Orthodox believers for three days from tomorrow onwards will celebrate Christmas, KoSSev portal reports. Raska-Prizren Eparchy Bishop Teodosije along with the clergy will consecrate the Christmas tree in Saint Demetrius Church in Mitrovica North. The consecration and lighting of the Christmas tree will start at 16:00 tomorrow in front of the city temple. Bishop Teodosije will also deliver an appropriate sermon, the portal added.

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije is also visiting Kosovo. In anticipation of the Christian holiday, he visits monasteries in Metohija and central Kosovo, the portal said.

Djuric: US support to Pristina conditional upon Community of Serb Municipalities (Tanjug)

Serbian Ambassador to Washington Marko Djuric says a bill on support for the Brussels Agreement that has recently been tabled to the US Congress made US support to the Pristina authorities directly conditional upon the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities.

The document, tabled by Congress member Claudia Tenney, who co-chairs the Serbian caucus in the US House of Representatives, not only acknowledges the months-long blatant repression, terror and violence against Serbs in Kosovo, but also deprives Albin Kurti’s institutions of any US government aid until such actions are stopped, Djuric told Politika in an interview.

"US support to the Pristina authorities is directly made conditional upon the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities and upon putting an end to a campaign of pressure and violation of the human rights of Serbs in our southern province. An additional strong political message that is conveyed by Claudia Tenney's proposal is a demand that all of the so-called special forces be withdrawn from the north of Kosovo and Metohija and that their illegal presence be terminated. One could say this is a novelty in the US attitude towards the ethnic Albanian side", Djuric said.

He said he expected the facts stated in the document to soon encourage more and more Democratic and Republican Congress members to endorse it politically.

Drecun: Serbs in Kosovo concerned over Pristina's military service plans (Tanjug, RTS)

Chairman of the Serbian Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun said Friday Serbs in Kosovo were particularly concerned over the fact Pristina was expediting the process of introducing compulsory military service.

"What, in my opinion, is a particular reason for concern for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is the fact the planned 2028 timeframe for introducing compulsory military service has been brought forward significantly and that, this year, they are planning a pilot project with compulsory military service", Drecun told Serbian public broadcaster RTS.

“This could pose a great problem for Serbs and put them under additional pressure to move out or serve in the so-called Kosovo army, the main factor threatening their security”, Drecun said.

Commenting on a visit to Pristina by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Drecun said the UK's key goal was to provide military assistance to Kosovo.

Cameron said in Pristina the UK would help Kosovo to gain more recognitions and admissions to international institutions. Drecun said London was trying to demonstrate its presence in the region. But, despite the UK's desire to demonstrate it stands firmly with Kosovo and supports its unilaterally declared independence, London's potential to secure new recognitions for Pristina is exhausted, Drecun opined.

Kosovo police found ammunition in Banjska near Zvecan, it is believed it was there since September (KoSSev, N1)

Kosovo police said it found around 700 bullets and 34 shell casings in the village of Banjska, near the place where in the night of September 23 to 24, a police officer was killed, KoSSev portal reports. Veton Elshani, Kosovo police deputy commander for the region North said the bullets were found before the bridge.

Also, 34 shell casings were found, as well as a Serbian flag, and the first suspicions are that everything has been in this place since September.

"Probably, this is also left over from the conflict in Banjska. The police will now search this side of the village in more detail", Elshani told the portal.

Opinion

Serbia’s Elections – Defeat for Far Right, as well as Moderate Opposition (BIRN)

Opinion piece by Mirko Dautovic, an international relations analyst from Serbia and Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Webster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The pro-EU opposition lost badly outside Belgrade on December 17 – but a number of once hopeful far-right parties did far worse, and now face oblivion.

The moderate opposition came second best in Serbia’s December 17 elections, first place going to the incumbent Serbian Progressive Party, SNS. The right-wing parties suffered a major defeat. Two weeks after the elections, we can analyse the results and positions of the right-wing parties and the geopolitical echo that protests against the results are gaining.

The elections were held on two levels: general elections for parliament and local elections for assemblies in 65 cities and municipalities, out of 174 local assemblies in total. In Belgrade, local elections were held for the City Assembly but not for the assemblies of the city’s 17 municipalities. In both the parliamentary elections and those for Belgrade City Assembly, the turnout was around 59 per cent.

In effect, there were two battle fields and the incumbent party, President Aleksandar Vucic’s SNS won them both. The opposition is too broad a term and needs to be separated into the moderate coalition “Serbia against Violence”, which won 34 per cent of the votes in Belgrade to the SNS’s 39 per cent; and won 23.7 per cent in the parliamentary elections to 46 per cent for the SNS.

International

Kosovars Finally Get The Visas They've Longed For (Along With A Host Of New Problems) (RFE)

Before clocks chimed in their new visa-free relationship with the EU on New Year's Day, an informal poll of Kosovar students in the capital produced a seemingly modest list of dream destinations.

Outside the faculty where she studies graphic design, Fatjona Hajdaraj said she'd choose Italy or Greece for the culture. Naron Bllaca, a dentistry student, said probably Austria or maybe a Scandinavian country. Enxhi Sada, a medical student, said she and a friend were eyeing a concert in France. Rilind Berisha, a pharmaceutical student, said he'd like to go to Teubingen, an idyllic German town at the foot of the Swabian Alps where about 1-in-4 people is a student at the local university.

"I want to see how they study there, what student life is like," Berisha told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.