UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, September 9, 2024

Albanian Language Media:

Konjufca: Dialogue at dead-end; Banjska was last nail on the coffin (Telegrafi)
Konjufca: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, at a dead end (RTK)
Kurti hosts Leposavic mayor Hetemi and deputy mayor Bogojevic (media)
Abdixhiku: Kosovo has lagged behind with Kurti and his government (media)
Haradinaj: Kurti’s policy in Washington considered almost hostile (media)
Cerkini slams govt for not excavating suspected location of remains (Koha)
Kosovo to open embassy in Colombia soon (EO)
Trajkovic: Vucic cannot easily give up on mafia structures like Radoicic (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Vucic receives Chinese Communist Party official (Tanjug)
Missing a returnee from the village of Gornji Dragoljevac near Istok (RTS, Radio Gorazdevac, KoSSev, KiM radio, media)
The eleventh day of the blockade of Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo; Lajcak announced a visit to Belgrade (RTS, media)
Kosovo special police took away documentation from NBS Treasury in Leposavic, Support Me Association told to vacate office (Kosovo Online)
Rapajic: Pristina government behind purchases of Serbian properties in the north (Kosovo Online, Vecernje Novosti)
Weber: EU and US responsible for the collapse of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina (Danas, FoNet, Kosovo Online)
Rada Trajkovic on “Vucic's political schizophrenia”; Kurti “became a burden” (FoNet, KoSSev, N1)

International:

Kosovo reopens border crossings after Serbian activists end blockades (RFE)
My first trip to Kosovo (Kosovo 2.0)
Reforestation Project Recreates Spirit of Yugoslav ‘Work Actions’, on Film (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Konjufca: Dialogue at dead-end; Banjska was last nail on the coffin (Telegrafi)

Kosovo Assembly President Glauk Konjufca said today that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is at a dead-end and that he does not see many ways out of it. “Serbia contributed to this dead-end with all its actions. I think that the dialogue in the format it had since 2011 got its coffin on September 24 last year with the terrorist attack in Banjska. The information of the international community, including the information of intelligence services, show clearly that this big criminal group of hundreds of people had the direct support of the state of Serbia. They were offered logistics by state bodies and military training grounds, where they trained and got armed. We have facts that weapons were given to this terrorist group by the army … What happened in Banjska was the last nail on the coffin of the dialogue in Brussels,” he argued.

Konjufca said that it is now up to the international community to determine what it wants. “If it wants equal parties in the dialogue as two countries. If it still believes in the principle of the Ohrid Agreement according to which the parties will function as sovereign states … If the international community decides to follow this path, Kosovo is ready. But if it wants to close its eyes and not react as in the latest case when Serbia closed its borders with Kosovo. The permit to block the borders was given by the Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs. The Serbian state allowed criminals to block the borders. I didn’t see any reaction from Brussels or from the international community. We are aware of this and the international community is biased in the relations between Kosovo and Serbia,” he said.

According to Konjufca, international factors were very reserved in terms of sharing and unfolding the results of investigations into the Banjska attack. “The investigations are over. But this information is too sensitive to be shared with the public … We know that international factors have accurate information about the level of involvement in the September 24 attack. We expect actions in line with what they know. What we are seeing is a discrepancy with what they know. For us it is weird and unjust that we are still under sanctions while Serbia remains unpunished,” he said.

Commenting on the Berlin Process, Konjufca said he does not expect that Kosovo will be excluded. “If we are discriminated and invited to take part on an unequal footing with Serbia, Kosovo will not accept. It would be much better if Mr. Sarrazin and internationals that come to Kosovo would focus on the lack of sanctions against Serbia. I don’t think that the Berlin Process can be reduced to CEFTA. The Berlin Process is much broader, and I don’t expect that Kosovo will be excluded from the process … This is a possibility for appeasing Serbia,” he said.

Konjufca said that the ban on Serbian products was imposed because of security reasons. “This involves security issues. Sarrazin did not show understanding for the fact that Kosovo introduced these measures for security reasons, and he asked for the measures to be removed. We are in coordination with the institutions. We address them to have the same vision, we have differences. The measures will remain in force,” he argued.

Konjufca: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, at a dead end (RTK)

The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, after the meeting of the Assembly presidency, spoke about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

"I think that the dialogue in the format that it has been in since 2011 had its coffin on September 24 of last year, with the terrorist attack in Banjska, because the information possessed by the international community and our security institutions, including the KIA , clearly show that this large criminal group of hundreds of people had direct support from the Serbian state," he said.

Konjufca said that this terrorist group has been offered logistics and state support, as well as the military training grounds where armed forces have been trained.

"If the European Union wants equal parties as two sovereign states of the united nations, as specified in the Ohrid Agreement, if it will close its eyes and not react, just as it closed its eyes when the borders closed, for which there was support from Belgrade, I did not see any reaction, and this surprised us", said Konjufca.

"Therefore, I consider that precisely for this reason, the minimum of good faith that is required in such processes of negotiators has been destroyed", Konjufca said.

Kurti hosts Leposavic mayor Hetemi and deputy mayor Bogojevic (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti hosted today in Pristina the mayor of the municipality of Leposavic, Lulzim Hetemi, deputy mayor, Marina Bogojevic, and heads of municipal departments. They discussed “the municipal governance in the last 15 months, the new services, including those offered by central agencies, such as the Agency for Employment and the Agency for the Registration of Businesses, and good practices established by the current governance”. Discussions also focused on the need for capital investments for access to drinking water, public lights and infrastructure, especially in the more remote villages and areas of the municipality. Hetemi, Bogojevic and the municipal directors highlighted the importance of budget hearings they have held so far with members of the Serb, Bosniak and Albanian community, with the aim of addressing their requests, planning projects and preparing support bids to the central government.

Abdixhiku: Kosovo has lagged behind with Kurti and his government (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, said today that Kosovo has lagged behind with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his government. “When you have no idea where you’re going, when you don’t have a clear vision about the way forward, when you operate in economic mist, every step you make seems you’re going forward. Unfortunately, for our country, the economic steps of the last four years are major steps backwards,” he writes in a Facebook post.

Abdixhiku further claims that Kurti and his government don’t understand the economy. “Inability is costly. There are no investments. There are no capital projects. The businesses have been oppressed and the dependency on imports is growing every month. The populist government and Kurti don’t understand the economy … Kosovo deserves better. We are months away from the great change. On February 9, we will make this great change together,” he said.

Haradinaj: Kurti’s policy in Washington considered almost hostile (media)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, argues in a Facebook post today “Serbia would have given billions to remove Kosovo from the American defense and other allied countries. Albin [Kurti] removed Kosovo without any payment”.

According to Haradinaj, “Kurti’s policy in Washington today is increasingly being considered an almost hostile policy, while Europe led by Germany, with what Sarrazin said, is excluding Kosovo from the Berlin Process and every regional initiative. Europe is installing a 6 minus 1 policy in the Western Balkans. Kosovo is the minus: excluded from every integration process, sanctioned and awaiting more sanctions and other isolation measures”.

Criticizing Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Haradinaj writes that “Kosovo has a useless President who after four years in power finds the courage to go on TV and talk for 40 minutes about how important the U.S. is for Kosovo” … “a poor effort to remove responsibility from herself and blame it all on Kurti”.

Cerkini slams govt for not excavating suspected location of remains (Koha)

Bajram Cerkini, head of the Missing Persons Resource Center in Pristina, said in an interview with KTV that he is suspecting there is a location with human remains in Mitrovica North, and criticized the government’s committee for missing persons for failing to excavate there. According to Qerkini, the remains of his son and a large number of other missing persons could have been buried near the Muslim cemetery in Mitrovica North.

The government committee meanwhile says that excavations at the location are specific because there are existing graves there and that it requires more accurate information. “Excavations in search of mortal remains of the victims of war, namely persons that forcibly disappeared, are being challenged by the lack of information that should be coming from the institutions of Serbia. The lack of information is especially difficult for work in such locations … We are analyzing several other cases and data, including mortal remains found in the last couple of days, and as a result this location too continues to be part of the agenda,” a member of the government committee told the TV station.

Cerkini meanwhile says that he has lost hope from both local and international institutions. “[EU Special Envoy Miroslav] Lajcak came to my office in Pristina, at the Resource Centre, and promised that in Brussels this will be treated as a human and not a political issue, and that a committee will be formed to end this great pain … He never came again, and he never mentioned the missing persons again,” he said.

Kosovo to open embassy in Colombia soon (EO)

Kosovo’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Liza Gashi, during her visit to Colombia, met with her Colombian counterpart Jorge Enrique Rojas. The ministry said in a Facebook post that the visit is of special importance, “as it is the first official visit on the eve of the opening of Kosovo’s embassy in Bogota” and the embassy will further strengthen relations between Kosovo and Colombia in all areas.

Trajkovic: Vucic cannot easily give up on mafia structures like Radoicic (media)

Several news websites cover an interview that Rada Trajkovic, leader of the European Movement of Kosovo Serbs, gave to Pobjeda, highlighting her remarks that it is difficult for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to give up on what she called “mafia structures like Radoicic and Veselic who are loyal to him and serve his personal projects”.

“He is under heavy pressure because of Milan Radoicic and to protect and manage the process against him, Vucic is giving Ukraine important weapons which are strategically important for some western centers. Vucic has a problem with Rio Tinto, he needs to make sure that they have no problems with the people and so that they can mine without any obstacles. This is why he entered the campaign in Central Serbia, where he lobbies more directly for the Rio Tinto project,” Trajkovic is quoted as saying.

Serbian Language Media

Vucic receives Chinese Communist Party official (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met in Belgrade on Monday with Lin Wu, Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of China's Shandong province, to discuss the most important matters in the bilateral relations with China and numerous aspects of the strategic partnership between Serbia and China, Tanjug news agency reported.

"A special topic of the discussion were ongoing expressway projects, specific steps regarding future cooperation as well as plans in the field of infrastructure development and modernisation in the road and air transport sectors", Vucic wrote in an Instagram post.

He also noted that he had taken the opportunity to thank Chinese President Xi Jinping again for taking the overall Sino-Serbian relations to a strategic level, which he added was extremely important for Serbia's development.

Missing a returnee from the village of Gornji Dragoljevac near Istok (RTS, Radio Gorazdevac, KoSSev, KiM radio, media)

The returnee Vule Asanin (1976) from the village of Gornji Dragoljevac in the municipality of Istok has been missing since August 28, his neighbor told Radio Gorazdevac and confirmed that his disappearance was reported to the Kosovo police.

Zoran Rajcic, a neighbor and friend of the missing Asanin, stated that Vule Asanin was last seen in Osojane. .

"The last time he was seen was in the Osojane infirmary, and he received an infusion there. He was driven by a taxi, a white Mercedes. Since then, every trace of him has been lost. His disappearance was reported to the police on September 5th. For now, we have no information," Rajcic said.

Information about the disappearance of Vule Asanin was sought from the KP, but no confirmation arrived.

Radio KIM reported later today that Vule Asanin has been found and undergoes treatment in a specialized health facility in Belgrade.

The eleventh day of the blockade of Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo; Lajcak announced a visit to Belgrade (RTS, media)

For eleven days, the KP has been blocking the buildings of Serbian institutions in the north of Kosovo. Hundreds of employees still cannot go to their workplaces, recalls RTS.

The EU's special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, announced that, after Pristina, he would visit Belgrade to prepare the next meeting "within the dialogue on the normalization of relations" between the two sides. He did not specify the date of his planned visit.

Summing up the previous week, Lajcak stated on FB that, after the Bled Strategic Forum, he was in Pristina to prepare for the next meeting of the main negotiators in Brussels.

Read Lajcak’s FB post at: https://tinyurl.com/3zajstyu

Kosovo special police took away documentation from NBS Treasury in Leposavic, Support Me Association told to vacate office (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo special police members today took away documentation from the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Treasury in Leposavic, Kosovo Online portal reported. An armored vehicle was parked in the yard where this institution was located, while police vehicles could be seen around the building of Leposavic Municipal Provisional Authority.

In front of the building, there is also furniture moved out from the office of the Support Me Association, which was used by parents and children with disabilities. They were visibly upset and not in mood to say anything for camera, but confirmed that they had been told to vacate the office.

The NBS Treasury has not been in function since May this year, when all premises of Postal Savings Bank were closed in the north of Kosovo, and is located in the building in which the Provisional Municipal Authority had been relocated.

Rapajic: Pristina government behind purchases of Serbian properties in the north (Kosovo Online, Vecernje Novosti)

Over the last 15 years privatization in Kosovo is unfolding in non-transparent manner as far as Serbs are concerned, while premises at which Albanian business had opened over the last weeks and months in Mitrovica North were sold in a kind of auction by Kosovo Privatization Agency, Aleksandar Rapajic from Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture told Vecernje Novosti daily, Kosovo Online portal reported.

He also claimed that those premises were bought by Albanians in auctions, offering large amounts of money in order to take over the Serbian premises.

"According to unconfirmed, but real information, the Government in Pristina, which has several programs to help Albanian businessmen for these purposes, is behind the purchase of Serbian properties in the north of Kosovo and Metohija", Rapajic pointed out.

He added it is precisely Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla parading in the north on a daily basis, aiming to show that the situation there is as Pristina wants it to be, to the detriment of the Serbs living there.

Serbian media reported over the weekend, that Svecla visited several sites in Mitrovica North, including the recently opened fast food shop at Mitrovica North promenade, owned by Albanian. Leader of Serbian Democracy, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, protested his visit by blowing the whistle, while Kosovo police attempted to obstruct his protest.

Weber: EU and US responsible for the collapse of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina (Danas, FoNet, Kosovo Online)

Senior associate at the non-governmental Council for Democratization Policies in Berlin, Bodo Weber, said that the European Union and the USA are the most responsible for the collapse of the German-French initiative and the complete collapse of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, reported Danas, citing RTK.

As he stated, those responsible for the "status quo" in the dialogue do not admit their guilt but engage in simulation and do not admit that the entire phase of the dialogue has failed.

They do not even admit responsibility for the escalation of the situation from Zvecan, via Banjska, but remain in the position of repeating statements and protesting the unilateral moves of Belgrade, that is, Pristina in the north.

It is a fatal dynamic in which they are the most responsible for Pristina's moves, said Weber, reported Danas.

In his opinion, there is little chance that the meeting between the main negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina will produce any results.

Rada Trajkovic on “Vucic's political schizophrenia”; Kurti “became a burden” (FoNet, KoSSev, N1)

The first and most important priority is the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo, the president of the European Movement of Serbs in Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic, said in an interview for FoNet news agency, and assessed that Serbia is a country without a strategy and that the "political schizophrenia" of Aleksandar Vucic's behavior robs the country of its strength to fight for its priorities.

Asked what remained of Serbia's sovereignty in Kosovo, she replied that Serbia lives in every Serb and that the government in Belgrade should understand that the main task is to keep the people.

"To make concessions that imply a compromise with the authorities in Pristina, that they don't label it as treason. Because all that could be betrayed, in Belgrade was done, and to understand that the first priority and the most important priority is the survival of the Serbs in that area," explained Trajkovic.

She described the situation in the North of Kosovo as repression and the establishment of the most brutal military-police system.

Such a state of emergency cannot be stabilized unless the civilian government is stabilized, and the civilian government should be dominated by Serbs because they are the majority, Trajkovic emphasized.

Serbs are compromised

"We had temporary bodies that fundamentally did not have the institutional capabilities to function," she reminded and emphasized that the SL, participating in the parliament in Pristina, legalized that all property in Kosovo is the property of Kosovo.

Trajkovic believes that all this would not have happened if "someone had not withdrawn the Serbian police, taken off their uniforms and left the people bare-handed".

"And plus, you had Banjska where a group led by Radoicic plunged into", she reminded and concluded that all these moves, which caused harm to the Serbian people, "were for the purpose of mobilizing the Serbs in Kosovo and labeling the entire nation as criminal".

This deprived the Serbs of the arguments that they are protecting their territory and their right to survival through democratic methods, but "now we have to suffer, because someone is asking for Radoicic to be prosecuted", emphasized Trajkovic.

"Imagine a state that wants to protect a man who essentially belongs to the mafia," she added and said that "she really doesn't understand why we don't do it in a way that we get some points in terms of credibility, regaining points both as a state and as a people".

A/CSM in Albin Kurti's drawer

Asked whether the issue of the status or the position of the Serbs in Kosovo is more important in the current situation, Trajkovic replied that it is mutually connected and stated that "when people are left without a state, it is very difficult for them to adapt to the circumstances when the state is not present for them".

According to her remark, what ''we have the right to, which is decentralization and the A/CSM, is somewhere in the drawer of Albin Kurti", which he does not agree to implement.

Trajkovic thinks that in such circumstances "on both sides" the implementation of the German-French plan has been stopped, but she notes that Turkiey is increasingly present on the territory of Kosovo.

According to her explanation, "Kurti makes deals with Turkey more than he is ready to make them with the European Union, and his anti-Americanism is already clearly coming to the surface."

"How much pride means to Serbs to defend their territory and territorial integrity"

Trajkovic sees the situation in Kosovo now as the status quo, as very complex and unclear "as regards the responsibility of both Belgrade and Pristina according to the German-French plan".

On the remark that the position of Serbs in Kosovo is getting worse, and that the government in Serbia is turning the public's attention to other topics, such as lithium, she said that it depends on "how much Kosovo means to the public. How much Kosovo means to Serbs and how much Serbs means pride to defend their territory and their territorial integrity".

"Serbia is a country without a strategy. That political schizophrenia of Vucic's behavior is something that takes away the strength of the state to fight for its priorities," warned Trajkovic.

She believes that Vucic and Ana Brnabic have been actively and aggressively lobbying for lithium in recent days because the people's resistance is great, and ''the circles that run lithium and that corporation are very powerful and very dark". It most likely told them, "you promised, calm down the people", interpreted Trajkovic and estimated that, otherwise, that corporation could significantly influence Vucic's political future.

When asked why there is no similar reaction from citizens when it comes to Kosovo, she replied that in the people's protests for water, air, and land, she sees the prospect that this "mass, if it wins, can make much wider demands."

She is referring to Kosovo, which she says has not met the elements that would make it ''a candidate to be recognized as a de facto independent state''.

Trajkovic also emphasizes that Serbia, as a country surrounded by NATO members, should do everything to become part of that family, as well as to accept the values of the EU.

She would never sell weapons to Ukraine if she knew that Russian soldiers would die, although she says that she would not sell them to another country either.

However, she would be very happy to "impose sanctions on Russia in terms of what is required by the EU and its foreign policy."

"Kurti has become a burden"

Trajkovic adds, at the same time, that there is no sincere support for European principles in Kosovo, neither from one nor the other side, and specifies that a new revenge is at work, which is reflected through terror against the Serbs, while "the poor Kosovo judiciary has sunk into ethnic justice".

When asked what kind of future awaits the Serbs in Kosovo and how she sees the perspective of relations between Pristina and Belgrade, she replied that "we cannot run away from each other."

"We can decide on a series of revenges, we to revenge them, then they to revenge us, but peace and stability are necessary for all citizens of Kosovo, regardless of their nationality”.

"Kurti has become a burden, and I count on some responsible Albanian people that will, through the elections, understand that we have a common future, because we live in the same area," concluded Trajkovic.

International

Kosovo reopens border crossings after Serbian activists end blockades (RFE)

All border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia have reopened after blockades set up by Serbian activists angry over Kosovar government policies ended, Kosovar Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said on September 7.

Svecla said the two border crossings at Merdare and at Brnjak that the Kosovar authorities had closed late on September 6 were reopened on September 7. The crossing at Jarinje had already reopened in the morning, he said.

The reopening of the border crossings came after Serbian associations lifted all blockades set up on September 6 to protest the closure of institutions in northern Kosovo that support ethnic Serbs.

Kosovar authorities claimed there were masked men at the Brnjak crossing, prompting the move to shut it and the larger one at Merdare. Masked men were seen at the Brnjak crossing by an RFE/RL correspondent, who recorded video of them at a makeshift checkpoint set up on the road.

"After receiving the announcements that the blockades created by masked extremists that were placed yesterday in the territory of Serbia have already been removed, and seeing that there are no obstacles to traffic from and to the border points of the Republic of Kosovo, we made the decision to open for circulation the border points Merdare and Bernjak," Svecla said on Facebook, using the Kosovar spelling for the crossing point.

The government said late on September 6 that it had closed the border crossings after Kosovar Serbs and supporters from Serbia began settling up the checkpoints and blocking roads leading from Kosovo into Serbia, turning back passengers with Kosovar documents.