Exactly one week has passed since, as experts say, the strongest earthquake of the century hit Turkey and Syria. The same region was then struck by more than 650 aftershocks, leading to the collapse of over 6,000 buildings and resulting in over 36,000 deaths. This news shook the world, and regional public last week.
When it comes to developments in Kosovo, the past week was marked by a visit by the EU envoy, followed by additional calls for talks on reaching an agreement in Brussels based on the European proposal, and on the formation of the ASM. The President of SDA Sandzak, Sulejman Ugljanin, demanded that the same rights requested for Serbs in Kosovo be given to Bosniaks in Serbia proper. Energy was also a hot topic last week – with the two sides placing blame on each other over the fact the agreement on this issue has yet to be implemented.
The expropriation of land in the north was a subject of public discussion. Information on the total acreage of land being expropriated finally became public. Furthermore, it was announced that public discussions on this topic would be held in Zubin Potok and Leposavic. The end of the week was marked by new police action in the north, as part of which three drug labs valued at over 2.3 million euros were discovered.
At the same time, the past week was marked by KoSSev’s Editor-in-Chief receiving order of the Knight of the National Order of Merit.
Last week began with another visit of the EU special envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. While his stay in Belgrade went almost unnoticed, news arrived from Pristina about its „principled acceptance of the EU proposal.“ The announcement was welcomed by Lajcak.
The very next day, the president of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak, Sulejman Ugljanin, sent a comment on the European proposal for an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina in the form of a letter addressed to the Serbian president, the EU, and the US.
He revealed that he sent the letter „to resolve the status of Bosniaks in Serbia“, precisely because Bosniaks are not satisfied with their position in Serbia and request the same rights that are being sought for Kosovo Serbs.
Land expropriation continued to be one of the main topics. The total acreage of land being expropriated in two municipalities in the north became public information. Namely, the Kosovo government declared as many as 138 hectares of land in Leposavic and Zubin Potok to be of public interest. After the plot owners rallied against the lack of transparency of the process and illegal expropriation, as well as the reaction of the European Union, the Kosovo government scheduled public discussions in these municipalities for February 15 and February 21.
Meanwhile, Kosovo Serb CSOs called on the Kosovo government to cease work on the expropriated land, expressing concern that the announced public discussions are “only about ticking the box, and not about raising essential issues.”
On the other hand, in the past week, a somewhat forgotten topic – the issue of energy, i.e. the Energy Roadmap – was brought to the fore once again. The Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, accused Elektrosever of being at fault for its non-implementation. On the same day, the company denied his allegations, accusing Pristina of refusing to grant distribution services to Elektrosever.
Kurti: Unpaid electricity bills in the north cost taxpayers 337 million Euros; Petkovic: Lies and nothing but lies
In a series of Twitter posts, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti also broached the topic of energy last night, saying that citizens in the north not paying for basic utilities like electricity and water cost taxpayers around 337 million euros. He placed the blame on “Serbia-controlled parallel structures” and official Belgrade. Kurti’s allegations were denied by the head of the Kosovo Office.
“Lie and nothing but lies from Albin Kurti,” the head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic, shortly reacted to Kurti’s accusations.
“For two decades, Belgrade had financially supported electricity consumption in the north of Kosovo and, just as an example, between November 2009 and December 2020, we allocated 171 million euros for that purpose,” Petkovic stated.
During the last week, Bislimi also spoke about the license plates issue. Although Pristina officials, including Bislimi himself, have so far denied that vehicles carrying Serb license plates with markings of towns in Kosovo will be confiscated, he sent a somewhat different message last Wednesday:
„An unregistered car used in Kosovo will be confiscated, and the driver will be fined 150 euros.“
After the US ambassador in Pristina gathered politicians and representatives of civil society from the Serbian and Albanian communities in Kosovo at a meeting held on January 31st to discuss the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, another, informal, discussion was held last week.
The details of what was discussed during this dinner are unknown.
While the US representative, as well as other officials from the West, are trying to find a way to help Pristina accept and form the ASM, the Kosovo Prime Minister deals with the internal politics of Serbia, criticizing official Belgrade and seeking reciprocity for minority communities in Serbia proper, primarily for the Albanians in Presevo, Bujanovac, and Medvedja.
This Thursday, Kurti listed municipalities in Serbia run by minorities and 21 official minorities in Serbia.
The European Council also called for the implementation of the concluded agreements and the formation of the ASM.
Not long after, Kurti and the Serbian president received another invitation from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrel, to come to Brussels as soon as possible and take action on the European proposal.
While Kurti says that he is ready to travel to Brussels, but only to discuss the Franco-German proposal, Vucic, on the other hand, claims that he will go, but only if the ASM is the first topic on the table.
The weekend seemed peaceful until Sunday afternoon when the Kosovo police carried out an anti-drug action in North Mitrovica, as part of which three drug labs were discovered and two people were arrested. The value of the found drugs and equipment, as confirmed by the Kosovo Minister of the Interior, was estimated at 2.3 million euros.
Part of the action was carried out in a private house located near the Basic Court, the police station, and the detention center in this town.
The police also linked these drug labs to two men at whom the police opened fire near the Bistrica Bridge in January of this year. They say that one of them is actually the co-owner of the lab discovered yesterday, that is, that he is related to one of the persons arrested yesterday.
What marked last week the most for KoSSev was the presentation of the Order of Knight of the National Order of Merit, by decree of the French President, to the editor of the KoSSev portal, Tatjana Lazarevic.
The French Ambassador Olivier Guerot presented the insignia to Lazarevic at the French Residence in Pristina last Tuesday, during a ceremony attended by dozens of guests.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
