• Kurti for Der Spiegel: Vucic wants to return to past, but that train is gone
• Serbian police prevent far-right activists from crossing into Kosovo (RFE/Kallxo)
• Svecla: Police is capable and has capacities to confront criminal structures (Koha)
• President’s Chief of Staff reacts to protest at Jarinje (media)
• Hoxhaj: Serbian regime is solely responsible for tensions (media)
• KFOR to start regular military exercises near its base in Novosella (media)
• Mehaj: Kosovo Army has capacities to protect territorial integrity (media)
• Krasniqi: Government cannot hide behind KFOR (Kosovapress)
• KFOR must remove the barricades, analysts say (Prishtina Insight)
• President Osmani holds end-of-year reception with diplomatic corps (Koha)
• Tajani: Italy to organise conference on Balkans in January (media)
• U.S. welcomes verdict in case against Salih Mustafa (media)
• Conviction of Kosovo’s ‘Commander Cali’ sparks anger at home (BIRN)
• Kosovo arrests Serb ex-policeman for 1999 attack on village (BIRN)

Kurti for Der Spiegel: Vucic wants to return to past, but that train is gone

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview with Der Spiegel that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic wants to return Serbia to the past but that that is impossible. Commenting on Serbia’s request to return 1,000 of its troops to Kosovo, Kurti said: “it seems that Vucic wants to return Serbia to the past, but that train is gone. Kosovo’s international legal status is settled. The International Court of Justice has decided in favor of our declaration of independence. There is no higher court on this planet”.

Kurti also argued that the tense situation in the north of Kosovo is a result of “Belgrade’s panic”. “The European Union and the United States of America are pressuring Serbia to choose between the democratic West and Russia,” he said.

Read full interview at: https://bit.ly/3FXJlaz

Serbian police prevent far-right activists from crossing into Kosovo (RFE/Kallxo)

Serbian police prevented several dozen far-right activists from crossing over into Kosovo on December 18 amid elevated tensions between the two nations. The rally at the border was organized by Narodne Patrole, a Serbian nationalist organization with ties to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner and comes a week after ethnic Serbs in Kosovo blocked roads to protest new licensing laws. Serbia does not recognize the independence of its former province Kosovo.

Pristina-based Kallxo news website covers a statement by the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, noting that they increased their presence in Jarinje because of the possible presence of criminal groups among the protesters. “Today after an active coordination with all parties, KFOR stepped up its presence in Jarinje for safety preventive measures. This was because of the possible presence of criminal groups among the protesters. It is always crucial for all persons taking part in a protest to avoid violence and to express their views in a peaceful way, by avoiding any disproportional action, aggressive action and conduct that can be misunderstood or seen as provocation or unnecessary violence,” KFOR said in a response to the news website.

Koha Ditore covers the protest in its leading front-page story headlined KFOR secures the border which protesters from Serbia tried to attack. The daily also notes that the border crossing point, which the protesters tried to break through, was barricaded by KFOR troops.

Svecla: Police is capable and has capacities to confront criminal structures (Koha)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, reacted to the protest at the Jarinje crossing on Sunday, saying that citizens must be ensured that the Kosovo Police has the capacities and is capable of confronting criminal structures.

Svecla said the protest, which was held on the Serbian side of the crossing, showed an episode of a high-level hybrid Serbian-Russian war against Kosovo. “Our only objective is to secure a safe environment for all citizens without any differences, to secure freedom of movement for all and to confront criminal groups without any difference, for the good of the citizens and in defense of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our Republic,” Svecla wrote in a Facebook post. “The same non-state actors that the regime in Belgrade and Moscow uses, represented by Damjan Knezevic (an associate of the notorious paramilitary organisation Wanger) tried to storm the border crossing. Lately, other state and non-state actors from these countries … have entered the territory of Kosovo and are still here.”

Svecla further argued that armed and masked persons behind the road barricades are triyng to violate Kosovo’s sovereignty by inciting aggressive provocations in order to shift the attention away from the aggression in Ukraine.

President’s Chief of Staff reacts to protest at Jarinje (media)

Chief of Staff to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Blerim Vela, took to Twitter to react to Sunday’s protest at the Jarinje crossing, saying that “right wing extremists from Serbia linked to Vucic’s regime and affiliated with Russian organizations just tried to attack Jarinje border crossing. These organisations must be outlawed and banned as they are tools of Belgrade and Moscow destabilisation of Kosovo and the region”. Vela also noted that “protesters moved from “nema predaje” (no surrender) to “hajmo nazad” (let’s retreat)… This shows how staged was this “protest” by Serbia’s regime. Kosovo will not fall for this right wing theatrics sponsored by Belgrade and Moscow. Our territorial integrity is inviolable.”

Hoxhaj: Serbian regime is solely responsible for tensions (media)

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and former Kosovo Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said in a Twitter post on Sunday “today, on the border between Kosovo and Serbia, the Vucic regime staged protests and tensions in cooperation with Wagner group that is involved in the aggression against Ukraine. This Belgrade dirty game has been around for decades. Serbian regime is solely responsible for tensions.”

KFOR to start regular military exercises near its base in Novosella (media)

The NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said in a statement that in the coming days it will hold regular military exercises near its base in Novosella. “The exercises aim to train KFOR units to guarantee freedom of movement in a crisis response situation and will consist of a series of tactical simulations and logistical activities using military convoys with heavy engineering vehicles and helicopters,” the statement notes.

Mehaj: Kosovo Army has capacities to protect territorial integrity (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defence, Armend Mehaj, said on Sunday that the “Army of the Republic of Kosovo has modern fighting capacities to protect the territorial integrity and state sovereignty of our country”.

Mehaj said that they are continuing to develop and advance Kosovo’s forces according to the highest standards of NATO member states and partners. “For effective participation in international peacekeeping missions in coordination and alongside allied forces led by the United States,” he said.

Krasniqi: Government cannot hide behind KFOR (Kosovapress)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, commenting on the tense situation in the north, called on the Kurti-led government not to behind behind KFOR and to act according to the Constitution and the laws of Kosovo.

Krasniqi called on the government to remove the barricades in the north as soon as possible. He said that the PDK has a clear request from the international community, too. “The PDK has been clear in its request and call to the international community to denounce the anti-state actions against Kosovo, controlled and directed by Belgrade, and especially to denounce the criminal gangs. This would be the first necessary step which would be followed by coordination between Kosovo’s security institutions and KFOR to remove the barricades. We had these situations in the past too, but we removed the barricades. The government cannot hide behind KFOR. The government must enforce the Constitution and the laws, otherwise it should say that it is incapable of governing Kosovo,” Krasniqi argued.

KFOR must remove the barricades, analysts say (Prishtina Insight)

While barricades in the north remain intact, analysts in Kosovo call for KFOR to remove them.

Eight days have passed since the main streets of the northern part of Kosovo have been blocked by barricades.

Requests for their removal have come from the Kosovo government, civil society and US representatives. However there seems to be a disagreement in who is responsible for removing these barricades.

“The Kosovo Police has the capacity to remove the barricades. But in a fragile security situation, everything can escalate. Therefore, it remains for the peacekeeping forces of NATO to clear the roads in the north”, said Imer Mushkolaj, a political analyst, for Prishtina Insight.

He added that the dialogue must not continue without removing the barricades. If this happens, then Kosovo’s institutions surrender to criminals and paramilitaries, who are attacking in the north.

“KFOR has intervened in the past to destroy the barricades. But at that time, it was seen as part of a longer political cooperation between Kosovo and the western partners as part of a joint process for the integration of the north”, said Agon Maliqi, a political analyst for Prishtina Insight.

“I believe that now such discussions at the political level are being opened up so that the Serbs remove the barricades voluntarily”, he added.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3jfumB3

President Osmani holds end-of-year reception with diplomatic corps (Koha)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani held the end-of-year reception with the diplomatic corps in Kosovo. Following the reception, Vjosa wrote in a Twitter post: “Kosovo is stronger with friends by its side. This week, at the end-of-year reception with the diplomatic corps, I recalled the positive impact our partnerships with allies have had on Kosovo and for our citizens, and thanked the international community for their continued support”.

Tajani: Italy to organise conference on Balkans in January (media)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that “there is a lot of tension between Kosovo and Serbia, we are trying to do everything to prevent the situation from escalating. There are a thousand Italian soldiers on the border who ensure stability and peace and are well-liked by Serbs and Kosovars”.

In an interview with Skytg24, Tajani also said that “Italy wants to be a protagonist in this region” and it wants to “accelerate” its European journey. “In January, we will organize a sort of Italian Balkans conference in Trieste to prepare a series of political initiatives,” he added.

U.S. welcomes verdict in case against Salih Mustafa (media)

Spokesman for the U.S. State Department, Ned Price, said on Friday that the United States welcomes the verdict in the case against Salih Mustafa, the first case at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers involving war crimes charges.  “Mustafa, a former commander in the BIA Guerrilla unit of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was convicted of the war crimes of arbitrary detention, torture, and murder committed at a BIA detention and interrogation site in 1999 and sentenced to 26 years.”

“As the Trial Panel noted, the decision is not a judgment against the KLA or Kosovo but relates only to the defendant’s individual criminal responsibility.  This verdict is a strong step towards helping Kosovo uphold the rule of law and ensure justice for victims.  We also commend the bravery of the individual victims and witnesses who came forward and condemn the threats and intimidation that they have faced.  Without these courageous individuals, justice would not be possible.”

Conviction of Kosovo’s ‘Commander Cali’ sparks anger at home (BIRN)

Kosovo Albanians have expressed discontent about the verdict handed down on Friday by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague convicting former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Salih Mustafa of war crimes and sentencing him to 26 years in prison.

“Today, the former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Salih Mustafa, [alias] Cali, who fought for the liberation of the country from Serbian occupation, received a severe and undeserved sentence,” Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Liburn Aliu wrote on Facebook.

Aliu, a member of Kosovo’s ruling party, the Vetevendosje Movement, said that the conviction of Mustafa vindicated his party’s opposition to the establishment of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the so-called Special Court set up to try KLA ex-members for wartime crimes.

Aliu said his party was “against the Special Court when its establishment was proposed in the [Kosovo] Assembly then, and today it is understood, unfortunately, that we were right”.

“A full 26 years of punishment for a man who defended his country. This is a great injustice to our entire nation,” he declared.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Yyqn2v

Kosovo arrests Serb ex-policeman for 1999 attack on village (BIRN)

Kosovo Police on Friday announced the arrest of a Serb police officer in the city of North Mitrovica on suspicion of involvement in war crimes in the Vushtrri/Vucitrn municipality in 1999.

Prosecutors said that the policeman, identified only by the initials S.T., is suspected of participating in a Yugoslav Army operation on April 6, 1999 in the village of Reznik.

“On this occasion, the suspect, in cooperation with other persons, was involved in the mistreatment, robbery and killing of civilians as well as violent displacement from their homes during the war,” the prosecution said in a statement.

A police statement said that “in line with the prosecutor’s decision, the suspect has been put into custody”.

The Serbian authorities named the suspect as Sladan Trajkovic, who served as a Kosovo Police officer until last month, when he resigned alongside more than 570 of his Serb colleagues in protest at the Kosovo government’s decision to impose fines on drivers who refuse to change Serbian-issued vehicle licence plates for Kosovo registrations.

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