UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, November 11, 2021

Next round of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue scheduled for 16 November (RFE)
Kurti: Mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia at the centre of agreement (ATV)
In U.S., Osmani meets State Department officials, MCC chief (media)
Escobar on Open Balkan: U.S. supports any initiative for region’s economic integration (Koha)
PM Kurti comments on Kosovo not invited to democracy summit (Telegrafi)
Von Cramon says Biden administration made a mistake by not inviting Kosovo (Koha/Klan)
Spanish congressman calls on PM Sanchez to ‘recognize Kosovo at once’ (euronews.al)
'Mysterious' visit of Richard Grenell to Pristina (Kallxo)
Kosovo War Trial Witness ‘Saw Guerrillas Beating Prisoner’ (BIRN)
RTK: KSC justifies Trendafilova's contradictory statements on detention duration
United States pledge additional $2.5million assistance for Kosovo (Koha/RTK)
COVID-19: 14 new cases, no deaths (media)

Next round of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue scheduled for 16 November (RFE)

The EU foreign policy spokesperson Peter Stano announced that the next meeting between Kosovo and Serbia representatives will be taking place in Brussels on 16 November.

According to Stano, the parties are expected to discuss implementation of agreements reached so far, open issues and the way forward.

Kurti: Mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia at the centre of agreement (ATV)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that the mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia is at the core of the future agreement.

"Serbia's recognition of Kosovo is not at the end of the process but at the centre of the agreement and this is a tectonic positive shift for Kosovo and this is why there is panic with the President of Serbia who I believe has been unmasked and discredited as never before," Kurti said in an interview. He added that the most important issue in the dialogue with Serbia will be that of missing persons.

Kurti reiterated opposition to the Open Balkan initiative. "Serbia does not recognise our diplomas, documents, seals or certificates. There can be no Open Balkan with a closed Serbia for Kosovo. Let Serbia first open for Kosovo, by removing barriers it places on us and then we can think about Open Balkan." He also spoke about the recent statement of the U.S. representative Gabriel Escobar in support of the initiative. "They do not come out against it but they respect Kosovo's skeptic position towards such an initiative."

On the opening of KLA archives, Kurti said the Kosovo Liberation Army has been transparent and "the documents of our liberation war are Kosovo's archives and were always open for UNMIK, ICTY, EULEX and the wider audience."

In U.S., Osmani meets State Department officials, MCC chief (media)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani met in Washington D.C. officials of the United States National Security Council as well as State Department officials. At the White House Security Council, President Osmani met with Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Finer, the Council's Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat, as well as with the director for the Balkans and Central Europe at the National Security Council, Dr. Robin Brooks. She also met with Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dereck Hogan as well as the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland.

"President Osmani stressed the importance of strong Kosovo-US relations and the need for continued commitment to further harmonization of the common strategic priorities in strengthening the rule of law and in ensuring lasting peace and security in our region. President Osmani also pointed out the importance of this several-decade-long alliance and the positive impact it has had on the citizens of Kosovo, adding that Kosovo's successes came as a result of the strong will and resilience of its people, but also due to significant US investment and its commitment to democracy," a statement from the Kosovo presidency reads.

At the meeting with Donfried and Hogan, Osmani meanwhile underlined that "recent developments in the region, particularly potentiating Serbia's destabilizing tendencies and also the increasingly dangerous presence of both Russia and China. In this regard, she called for US support in combating this dangerous influence and engagement to maintain peace and stability in the region. Furthermore, the President stressed Kosovo's full dedication for active engagement in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which, as stated by President Biden, should be focused on mutual recognition."

Under Secretary Nuland tweeted after the meeting with Osmani: "Pleased to welcome Kosovo President @VjosaOsmaniPRKS to discuss a wide range of shared priorities, including rule of law, energy, and normalization of relations with Serbia. The United States thanks Kosovo for its early and generous support to temporarily host relocated Afghans."

During her visit to the U.S., Osmani also met the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Mahmoud Bah. "President Osmani expressed the readiness of the institutions to continue the cooperation. President Osmani particularly praised the US decision to allocate 200 million euros for Kosovo via the MCC, emphasizing that this decision will have a direct impact on economic performance in the country."

Escobar on Open Balkan: U.S. supports any initiative for region’s economic integration (Koha)

The U.S. Special Representative for Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar said that Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the region should join the Open Balkan initiative, Koha reports quoting Tirana’s Top Channel.

Speaking at the conclusion of his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Escobar said: “I understand the hesitation about Open Balkan. The United States support all initiatives that integrate the region economically, including the Open Balkan, an initiative that currently includes North Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania. Business people, the youth, economies are developing and Bosnian authorities should realise that this is an opportunity and they should move in that direction. We see the Open Balkan as an opportunity and will endure the initiative is effective not for political gains but for raising the region to the level of European standards.”

PM Kurti comments on Kosovo not invited to democracy summit (Telegrafi)

During an election campaign visit to Podujeve, Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti was asked by reporters to comment on Kosovo not being invited to the U.S. Summit for Democracy.

"There is nothing to be worried out and we have explained it earlier and this has very simply been explained by the American Embassy too," Kurti said.

The U.S. Embassy had said that not all partners could have been accommodated to the summit.

Von Cramon says Biden administration made a mistake by not inviting Kosovo (Koha/Klan)

Viola von Cramon, European Parliament's rapporteur for Kosovo, commented on Kosovo not being invited to the Summit for Democracy summit in the U.S. calling it a mistake of the Biden administration.

In a Twitter comment, von Cramon said she believed Kosovo deserved to be at the Democracy Summit "but don't understand what security grounds hinder Kosovo's participation." "This is clearly a mistake by the Biden administration that hopefully still can be fixed," she added.

Meanwhile, Bodo Weber from the Berlin-based Democratization Policy Council linked Kosovo's snub to the dialogue process. "It seems to me this is a clear attempt on the part of the Biden administration and Special Representative Escobar who does not wish to take on a clear position towards Serbia in order to keep alive the idead of continuation of the dialogue. This way a scandalous, completely unfair, equalisation is being made between Kosovo and Serbia. This is done so as not to anger any side, particularly the Serb one," he said for Klan Kosova. Weber added that Kosovo is a consolidated democracy in contrast to Serbia which, he said, is led by an autocratic regime.

Spanish congressman calls on PM Sanchez to ‘recognize Kosovo at once’ (euronews.al)

Aitor Esteban, the spokesperson of the Basque Group in Spain’s Congress of Deputies, has called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to “recognize Kosovo at once”.

During Wednesday’s plenary session, Esteban dismissed that the move could backfire and bring repercussions with the situation in Catalonia, adding that “What has to happen will happen.”

During his speech, Esteban even recalled the football match played between the two national teams, which was ensued by widespread controversy as Spain is one of the five EU member states that do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, along with Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Cyprus.

“Regarding Kosovo, recognize Kosovo once and for all, if you have even faced them in soccer. What has to happen will happen”, declared Esteban.

'Mysterious' visit of Richard Grenell to Pristina (Kallxo)

The former U.S. envoy for Kosovo-Serbia negotiations, Richard Grenell, is staying in Kosovo but his agenda is not known and none of political representatives confirmed they will be meeting him.

Arben Gashi from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) suggested Kallxo reach out to the party's spokesperson but "I don't think anyone will have any meeting." Head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group Besnik Tahiri also said he was not aware anyone from the party would be meeting Grenell. Officials from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) that the news website tried to reach were unavailable while those from the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) said that they had no information that there has been any request for a meeting. Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu at the same time said: "There is no such meeting in the daily agenda."

Before Kosovo, Grenell was in Albania where he met President Ilir Meta and Prime Minister Edi Rama. Kallxo highlights that his visit comes days after the Belgrade-based analyst Dusan Janjic alleged that Grenell was being paid by Serbia for lobbying activities.

Kosovo War Trial Witness ‘Saw Guerrillas Beating Prisoner’ (BIRN)

A protected witness told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Tuesday that he saw five or six people beating a prisoner who was being held in an improvised detention facility in the village of Zllash/Zlas, some 30 kilometres east of Kosovo’s capital Pristina, during the war in 1999.

The witness, who was testifying at the trial of former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrilla Salih Mustafa, said that he and four other people who were detained there were able to see the violence “through the holes of a cowshed” where the prisoner was assaulted.

“The second time they brought him to the cowshed, he was almost dead. He barely stood up… When they finished the beating, they brought him where we were staying. Every time they brought him [at the cowshed] they told us to say ‘Death to traitors’, ‘Death to thieves’ and ‘Glory to the KLA’,” the witness said.

His testimony echoed a previous witness who said last month that he was detained by KLA fighters in a cowshed, beaten up, urinated upon and given electric shocks.

Mustafa is accused of involvement in murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detentions during the Kosovo war in April 1999 at a KLA-run detention compound in Zllash/Zlas, which was allegedly run by a unit that he commanded.