JOURNALISTS CAN DO IT III

Journalists can do it III Journalists can do it III

Publisher:

Youth Initiative for Human Rights

For the publisher:

Maja Micic

Authors: Tamara Kaliterna

Nemanja Stjepanovic

Design:

Sanja Polovina

Ivan Buncic

Printing:

Draslar Partner

Circulation: 200

December 2012

Copyright @ Youth Initiative for Human Rights

www.yihr.org

Journalists can do it III Table of contents:

Introduction - 5

Negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina - 6

Ownership structure of media in Serbia - 14

The first round - 18

The second round - 37

The third round - 40

The fourth round - 44

The fifth round - 49

The sixth round - 61

The seventh round - 72

The eighth round - 86

Analysis of reports on northern Kosovo Barricades - 95

Journalists can do it III 3

4 Journalists can do it III INTRODUCTION

Back in 2004, Youth Initiative for Human Rights started the „Journalists can do it“ project, as a response to poor, un-objective, racist and pent up journalism of media in creating new relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Eight years after that, some changes occurred in the work of media and relations of Kosovo and Serbia. However, reasons for organizing this project again are mostly similar.

The publication ”Journalists can do it” contains the analysis of media reporting in Serbia about the Belgrade – Prishtina dialogue and the topics relevant for the relations between the two societies. Analysis of media reporting in Kosovo will be a part of the second edition of the book. The publication is an attempt to provide a clear picture of media reporting, of creating an atmosphere in the public, the reactions of the public, to present the positions of the two sides as well as to present the course of the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina which have lasted for almost a year.

Media reporting in Serbia and Kosovo on “technical negotiations” between Belgrade and Prishtina has been mainly formal – based on the relaying of press releases and statements, without offering any analysis of the current situation and the agreements reached. The result thereof is that citizens know very little about the dialogue and the application of the agreements reached.

Little is known about the events in the north Kosovo because Kosovo journalists do not have access to this part of Kosovo and journalists from Serbia often face problems in locating collocutors.

Some of the media are still holding on to stereotypes, thus creating the atmosphere of conflict instead of the atmosphere of dialogue. Very little is known about the day-to- day life and the implications that the Kosovo-Serbia negotiations have on the “ordinary people”.

The role of media and its influence in every society is of great importance. That is why the question of responsibility of editors, journalists and those who control media must be brought up, especially in the Western Balkans.

One of the objectives of „Journalists can do it“ project is to enhance the cooperation between journalists from Kosovo and Serbia, and to improve their objective, unbiased reporting about topics relevant for the two societies.

We thank all the journalists who took part in the project and who committed themselves to creating an informal network for standing cooperation and exchange of information in order to make the reporting about events in Kosovo and Serbia as good and as objective as possible.

For realising this project, YIHR owes great gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

In Belgrade, December 2012.

Journalists can do it III 5 NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN BELGRADE AND PRISHTINA

In September 2010, after the United Nations General Assembly had adopted a resolution1 on Kosovo which Serbia supported, with the help of the European Union (hereinafter EU), both sides were called to a dialogue.

The negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina began on 8 March 2011 in Brussels and lasted until 24 February 2012. This was the first contact between the two states since the proclamation of Kosovo’s independance on 17 February 2008. The negotiations were termed as ”technical”2, even though Belgrade attempted to impose political issues, instead of thechnical ones, as anticipated.

The mediator of the negotiations was the British diplomat in the EU Robert Francis Cooper. He is currently serving as a Counsellor in the European External Action Service. He is also a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and an acclaimed publisher on foreign affairs. As a diplomat, he has worked at various British Embassies abroad, notably those in Tokyo and Bonn. He was the UK’s Special Representative in Afghanistan until mid-2002.

In 2002 he began to work for the European Union. He assumed the role of Director- General for External and Politico-Military Affairs at the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. In that role, he answered to Javier Solana, the former High Representative of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, and had assisted with the implementation of European strategic, security and defence policies. Since 2007 he has also been a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

After the Treaty of Lisbon’s shake up of EU foreign policy structures, and Solana’s replacement by Catherine Ashton, Cooper sat on the steering committee which drew up the proposals for the new European External Action Service (EEAS).

Borislav-Borko Stefanovic, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia (MIP) lead the Belgrade side, and Edita Tahiri, Dputy Prime Minister of Kosovo lead the Prishtina side of the negotiations. The ranks of the chiefs of the negotiating teams within their respective state hierarchies are indicative of the significance each of the negotiating sides gave to the process.

Edita Tahiri is the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, responsible for foreign policy and national security. Before taking on this role, Tahiri was the Minister of Public Administration. Tahiri studied telecommunications and electronics at the University of Prishtina, graduating in 1980. In 1983 she starthed her post-graduate studies in digital telecommunications at Essex University in Great Britain. Tahiri completed her studies as Master of Public Administration, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 2006 and 2007 she studied on a 1 - UN General Assembly Resolution on Kosovo: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/ RES/64/298 2 - B92, Jan 21 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=01&dd=21&nav_ category=640&nav_id=487447 6 Journalists can do it III Fulbright Scholarship at Johns Hopkins University - SAIS, completing a PhD in Political Sciences from University of Prishtina.

Stefanovic was born in Novi Sad in 1974. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Novi Sad University. After the studies, he worked as an apprentice in a law firm. He started working at the Ministry of internal affairs of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2001 and in 2003 went to work at the Serbian Embassy in Washington D.C. as a third secretary, in charge of following the work of the US Congress. He finished his service at the Embassy in 2007 as Deputy Ambassador, a counselling minister, and he was also credited for the creation of the ”Serbian caucus” in the US Congress. In 2007, the Minister of foreign affairs Vuk Jeremic named Stefanovic as the head of his cabinet and the political director of the Ministry. Shortly beforehand, diplomat Mirko Stefanovic, the uncle of Borislav Stefanovic, was given the position of the Secretary of the Minister of foreign affairs.

Stefanovic lead the negotiations for the sale of the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) to Russia in 2008 as well as the negotiations with Israel on the controversial contract on the lease of the Israeli sattelite, which in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction of Serbia’s debt. He also lead the negotiations on the EU mission for the rule of law (EULEX) in Kosovo.

Stefanovic stated for ”Blic” from 30 January 2011 that the ”success of the negotiations“ will be very important for Belgrade, because it will be ”easier” for Serbia to reach its goal of obtaining the status of a candidate and a possible date for the negotiations for joining the EU3.

The negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina consisted of three basic subjects: regional cooperation, freedom of movement and the rule of law. The negotiations ended in seven conclusions in the form of agreements. Of those seven conclusions, according to the Government of Kosovo, the Serbian side is implementing only those related to free trade and the freedom of movement, while there are significant obstacles in the implementation of others4.

Of the eight rounds of negotiations, half of them were held later than anticipated. The total delay was 228 days.

During the first round, held on 8 and 9 of March, economic cooperation was discussed. Other topics discussed during the two deys were telecommunications, air traffic, customs stamps, and land records taken form Kosovo to Serbia in June 1999.

During the second round, on 28 March, there were supposed to be talks about electric energy, freedom of movement and the negotiators were supposed to elaborate on the conclusions made during the previous round — the appearance and text of the customs stamp of Kosovo, regulating air traffic and participation of Kosovo in regional 3 - Blic, January 30 2011. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/232409/Borko-Stefanovic-Zelimo-da-na-Kosovu-- obezbedimo-trajni-mir 4 - Radio Free Europe, August 13 2012. http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/kosovo-ima-li-koristi-od- dijaloga-sa-srbijom/24675542.html

Journalists can do it III 7 meetings. However, representatives of the two parties talked about land records, birth, death and wedding records and electricity supplies.

The third round was held on 15 April. There were talks about freedom of movement, vehicle registration plates and nostrification of University diplomas. During the fourth round on 17 and 18 of May the sides were really close to reaching an agreement on land registers and freedom of movement; the EU suggested that the sides should discuss missing persons and cultural heritage.

Even though the fifth round was scheduled for 14 and 15 June, it was postponed on the initiative of mediator Cooper in order for the two sides to have more time to technically prepare for the first agreements, according to the Belgrade media. It was finally held on 2 July. It was expected that agreements will be reached on land records, freedom of movement and the issues of electricity and telecommunications. A principle agreement was reached on the freedom of movement over the border for vehicles and people, on exchange of information in order for Kosovo to form its own records with the help of Serbia, as well as on mutual nostrification of diplomas.

The sixth round was supposed to be held on 20 and 21 July, but was suddenly postponed until September. The Beta and Tanjug agencies explained that the negotiations were postponed on Cooper’s initiative, because, as he said, it was obvious that no agreement would be reached5.

Edita Tahiri stated in a press release of the Government of Kosovo that Belgrade was responsible for the postponement of the sixth round. ”The sixth round of dialogue was annulled because of the unwillingness of the Serbian side to accept an agreement on free trade, and to accept the stamps of Kosovo customs, which are at this point recognized even by the European Union” stated Tahiri, who had already arrived in Brussels6.

Belgrade justified itself by saying that the Kosovo representative wanted to present Kosovo state symbols at the meeting, which is unacceptable for Belgrade. On 2 September, an agreement on customs was reached (the stamp would only say ”Kosovo Customs”) and on land records. Even though there were talks about telecommunications and diploma nostrification, no agreement was reached on these issues.

The seventh round, scheduled for 27 September, was postponed until 28 September and then cancelled. During this round, there were supposed to be talks about telecommunications, energetics and the participation of Kosovo in regional initiatives. The dialogue was cancelled because of, as stated in Belgrade, ”an escalation of violence in Kosovo” and Belgrade’s demand to discuss the border crossings in Northern Kosovo before continuing the dialogue with Prishtina on technical issues. 5 - B92, September 2 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=02&nav_ category=640&nav_id=539085 6 - SEEBiz, July 20 2011. http://www.seebiz.eu/edita-tahiri-pregovori-odlozeni-jer-beograd-nece-da-prizna-pecat- kosovske-carine/ar-9044/

8 Journalists can do it III The border crossings in question are Jarinje and Brnjak, which were blocked by Serbs in July 2011.

When the Government in Prishtina introduced an embargo on the import of goods from Serbia, asking Serbia to recognize the stamp of Kosovo customs, and tried to put under its control the northern part of Kosovo where Serbs do not recognize Prishtina authorities, the members of the Special Police Forces (ROSU) managed on 25 July in late evening hours to deploy on what Belgrade calls Brnjak ”administrative crossing”, and Prishtina calls a ”border crossing”. EULEX had previously left the location. The local Serbs responded by putting up barricades. During the course of time 18 barricades were set on the territory of Northern Kosovo. On 26 July, Serbia called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council because of, as was explained, the disturbance of stability in Kosovo, but the session was never held. During the whole Summer, Autmn and Winter KFOR took down, and Serbs put up new barricades, which were finally dealt with in 2012, at the Brussels green diplomatic table. The State Secretary in the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic estimated the recognition of the customs stamp of Kosovo as a ”naive attempt to make Serbia recognize Kosovo’s independance”7.

On 25 July Beta agency published a report which stated that ”the Kosovo Police Special Forces (ROSU) had taken over the Brnjak administrative crossing in Northern Kosovo, while the local Serbs prevented them from taking the nearby Jarinje crossing. The State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic warned that the situation in Northern Kosovo might ’escalate’ after the action of the Kosovo Police at the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings...”8.

The blockade did escalate into violence: ”A Group of masked young men carried out an attack on the Jarinje border crossing on 27 July, and caused a fire. The chief of the Belgrade team for negotiations with Prishtina estimated that the attack on the Jarinje control point jeopardizes the position of Serbs in Northern Kosovo. He characterized the arson of the control point as ’a criminal act at a time when we are one step away from a solution’”9.

The Jarinje control point was also set on fire two days after the proclamation of independance of Kosovo, on 19 February 2008. The President of the Zubin Potok Municipality Slavisa Ristic said at the time that the protest was provoked by information reaching the Serbs from Zubin Potok that Albanian customs officers have come to the crossing into Serbia: ”We cannot allow for institutions of a non-existant state to be imposed on us, or to pay fees to so-called independant Kosovo”, he stated10.

In an article entitled ”Barricades in the buffer zone at Brnjak and Jarinje removed”, ”Politika” published on 24 February 2012 in small print that it was done by the

7 - Beta, July 20 2011. http://www.beta.rs/default.asp?tip=article&kategorija=vestidana&ida=2542371&id=&ime 8 - Kurir, July 25 2011. http://www.kurir-info.rs/kosovski-specijalci-preuzeli-prelaz-brnjak-napeto-na-jarinju- clanak-101424 9 - RTS, July 27 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/931544/Zapaljen+prelaz+Jarinje.html 10 - ������������������B92, Feb 19 2008. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=19&nav_ category=640&nav_id=285424 Journalists can do it III 9 Gendarmery (of Serbia, remark by T.K.)11. One day after the barricades were removed, the ”Press” daily reported that ”the last obstacle to our country becoming a candidate for admission into the EU next week has been removed”12.

New negotiations, on exclusively technical issues, scheduled for 14 October, were held on 21 and 22 November 2011. The cabinet of Edita Tahiri stated that ”the Brussels negotiations were delayed because of the withdrawal of the Serbian delegation from the negotiations and after the failure of their intention to impose border crossings as a topic”13. During the November negotiations, there was also, as expected, the most disagreement during the discussion about the control of the border.

The eighth round, scheduled for 30 November 2011, was held from 22 to 24 February 2012. A formula was agreed to, according to which in regional meetings the name ”Kosovo” will be used with a footnothe which states: ’This name does not bring into question the status of Kosovo and is in accordance with Resolution 1244 and the decision of the ICC on the Kosovo declaration of independance’. This means that Kosovo will be able to participate in regional meetings, which Serbia was opposed to from the beginning, to sign its own contracts and speak in its own name in all regional meetings. The Belgrade and Prishtina teams agreed also on integrated border management (IBM) of the two countries. Official Prishtina at first wanted a formula which would, apart from the name Kosovo, also contain Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, Declaration of Independnce of Kosovo and the Decision of the ICC on the legality of the declaration of independance.

When the negotiations which lasted for almost a year are summed up, the two sides have reached an agreement on regional cooperation, integrated border management, free movement, nostrification of University diplomas, licence plates, land registers and customs stamps. To be more precise, it was agreed that Belgrade should give Prishtina the copies of land records and other official records; to mutually acknowledge University diplomas by the European University Association verifying the diplomas of both sides in order for them to be valid outside the area of issuing; an agreement on free movement of people and vehicles over the border (with ID cards, and not passports, because the passport is the biggest symbol of statehood, as negotiator Stefanovic stated).

Apart from Kosovo, the citizens of Serbia can also travel with their ID cards to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, all sovereign, internationally recognized states; Belgrade will accept the stamp engraved with ”Kosovo Customs”; Kosovo can, without opposition from Belgrade, participate in meetings in the region; the border between the two countries will be controlled by the two sides through gradually establishing mutual, integrated, as well as individual and safe control points on all border crossings between the two states. This includes providing freedom of movement on crossings and removal of Serbian barricades in Northern Kosovo.

11 - Politika,����������������������������������� February 24 2012, Page A6 12 - �������������������������������Press, February 25 2012, Page 2 13 - ������������������������B92, September 28 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=28&nav_ category=640&nav_id=545404

10 Journalists can do it III EULEX will be present at the border in accordance with its mandate. Both countries will have their own customs and border service at the crossings under their respective jurisdictions.

On 2 July 2011, the delegations of Serbia and Kosovo reached their first agreement since the beginning of the negotiations on 8 March. The first agreement refers to the freedom of movement and birth registries, but what exactly has been agreed upon still remains between Stefanovic, Tahiri and the EU official in charge of the dialogue. No agreement was actually signed, owing to the fact that the Serbian side insisted that it would not sign any document with Kosovo, since it did not recognise it as an independent state.

Because of that, Cooper was forced to formulate verbal agreements which would be accepted by both parties, but it remains to to be seen whether the agreements will actually be implemented. It is also unclear whether either side will be penalised if what had been agreed on is not implemented.

Serbia has agreed to grant the citizens of Kosovo entry into Serbia using Kosovo ID cards issued in Prishtina, but at the administrative border they are issued special passes by the Serbian police, which allows them to move freely.

Upon exiting Serbia to enter another country, they will be allowed to use Kosovo passports (provided the country in question recognises Kosovo), but as proof of their entry into Serbia they will have to show certificates issued at the administrative border by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The same rule applies to driving licences. The citizens of Kosovo will be given special certificates issued by the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, however these documents will not serve as proof of identity but only as proof that the person is a certified driver. Both sides agreed that the Albanians and Serbs should be encouraged to acquire vehicle registration plates bearing the letters RKS or KS. The RKS plates would stand for the Republic of Kosovo with the Kosovo coat of arms, and this is not considered legal in Serbia. The owners of these plates will be issued temporary plates at the administrative border, which they will have to use during their stay in Serbia.

The plates bearing the letters KS are also known as UNMIK plates, and Belgrade considers them to be status-neutral. Concerning the agreement on birth registries, it is only certain that the two sides are to exchange copies with the help of EULEX and use them to ascertain the current situation in Kosovo municipalities. The birth registries, i.e. people registries, were removed by the Serbian authorities during their withdrawal from Kosovo in 1999.

The contents and the result of the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia under the patronage of the EU determined Serbia’s status in the process of joining the EU: after nine months of negotiations, the European Council delayed awarding Serbia the status of a candidate. In December 2011, the Council determined a series of measures Serbia needed to implement in order to take the next step in the process of euro-integrations: to continue the negotiations with Prishtina, to implement all agreements, but also to

Journalists can do it III 11 reach new agreements and edtablish a normalization of relations with Kosovo. ”A necessary pre-condition for Serbia’s progress (into the EU) is the normalization of relations with Kosovo. Without achieving full regional stability and cooperation, none of the Western Balkans states will have access to membership in the EU. Serbia is no exception”, stated Jelko Kacin, reporter from the European Parliament (EP) for Serbia, and conveyed via Beta agency on 9 December 201114.

The President of Serbia at the time, Boris Tadic, said that when the leaders of the EU delayed the decision of giving Serbia the status of a candidate for EU membership, they also gave a condition to give up on the idea that Prishtina should be represented at public meetings under the UN Security Council Resolution 1244. This, he stated, was requested by everyone who participated in the technical dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina. ”Some of those countries have recognized Kosovo, but Serbia wil not do it explicitly or implicitly”, stated Tadic15.

One week after the negotiations ended, on 1 March 2012, the European leaders in Brussels decided to give Serbia the status of a candidate for EU membership. The news was presented to the press by Herman Achille Van Rompuy, President of the European Council:

”We have decided to give Serbia the status of a candidate country. This significant achievement is the result of the efforts put in by both sides in the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina. I hope this will encourage Serbia to put in further effort into fulfilling the political and economic criteria for EU membership. I also hopethat Belgrade will continue to support regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations in the Western Balkans”, Van Rompuy stated16.

How and why the dialogue with Prishtina is important for Serbia, was also found out by the vice-president of the new Government of Serbia in charge of european integrations. Suzana Grubjesic estimated on 6 August 2012 that the chances of Serbia getting a date for the beginning of negotiations for EU membership in December 2012 are minimal. She also pointed out that for this reason it is very important to start the process of normalizing the relations with Prishtina. ”We have to get rid of the fear that every meeting, handshake or agreement with the representatives of authorities in Prishtina means an actual admission of Kosovo’s independance. It does not”, said Grubjesic for ”Blic” daily. She pointed out that the technical dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina must be continued and finished17.

The chief of the Kosovo delegation in the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, Edita Tahiri, said on 12 August 2012 that the representatives of Kosovo institutions will not agree to a continuation of negotiations until all agreements are implemented, those

14 - ������Beta, �D����������������ecember 9 2011, http://www.mondo.rs/s226894/Info/Srbija/Kacin_Lideri_Srbije_da_ubrzaju_reforme. html 15 - �����B92, �D����������������ecember 9 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=09&nav_ category=1262&nav_id=564443 16 - Vecernje�������� �novosti,�������� �March����� �0�1�� 20��1�2,�� �http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/aktuelno.289.html:368617-Srbija- dobila-status-kandidata-za-EU 17 - ����������������������Blic, August 06 2012, http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Srbija/244733/Grubjesic-Tesko-do-pregovora-u- decembru 12 Journalists can do it III concerning integrated border management. Tahiri stated that out of seven agreements, only one has been implemented fully — the one on reciprocity, and estimated that Serbia lacks the political will to implement the agreements18.

The negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina, although pre-concieved as technical, ended in a par excellence political way.

Kosovo politicians and analysts estimate that the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina has significantly slowed down the rate of recognition of Kosovo. Skender Hyseni, the former Minister of foreign affairs, points out that the dialogue with Belgrade and the agreement on regional representation with a footnote which mentions Resolution 1244 has significantly slowed down the recognition. ”The Government of Kosovo needs ro be resolute and act as a sovereign state in front of Serbia. Kosovo institutions must make clear that they have entered this dialogue as an independant, sovereign country and afterwards there will be no more influence on further recognition”, stated Hyseni. Analyst Krenar Gashi also believes that the dialogue with Belgrade has slowed down the rate of recognition of Kosovo19.

18 - ����������������������Blic, August 12 2012, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/337584/Tahiri-Nema-nastavka-razgovora-dok-se-ne- sprovedu-sporazumi 19 - ���������������������������������Radio Free Europe, July 27 2011, http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/dijalog-znatno-usporio-priznanja- kosova/24627971.html Journalists can do it III 13 OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE OF MEDIA IN SERBIA

Within the analysis of media reports on the negotiations, we deem it necessary to introduce the readers to the ownership structure of the media, in order for them to have a better understanding of their orientation and social conditionality.

The ownership structure of the media and pressures exerted on them were some of the topics included in the research entitled ”Profession on a crossroads — journalism at the threshold of the information society”, carried out in Belgrade in 2011 by the Center for Media and Media Research of the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Belgrade.

Within the research, the owners of the media were interviewed, ”who are often unknown even to journalists who work for them”, as well as the ”directors/managers who are often the only transparent representatives of media companies, or in the case of public media, the persons most responsible for their business policies”20.

One of the first conclusions in the report of the Anti-Corruption Council (heteinafter the Council) published in 2011, was that ”the media in Serbia are under enormous political pressure, which is the reason why they are completely controlled. There are no more media from which the citizens can get complete and objective information, due to the strong pressure exerted by the political circles, and therefore the media either omit reporting on events, or report selectively and incompletely”21.

The three key issues noticed by the Council were the non-transparency of ownership of the media, economic influence of state institutions on their work and the problem of the Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS) which ”instead of being a public service, has taken on the role of the service of political parites and the governing elite”22. Out of 30 media houses whose ownership was analized, the Council concluded that ”the ownership structure of as much as 18 media houses was not transparent enough — their real owners are unknown to the general public”23.

The report also stated that state institutions set aside large sums from the budget for advertizing and promotion, which leads to personal and party promotion. The economic dependance of the media form public relations agencies is also evident, who are ”often in the ownersip of political activists and persons close to them”24.

One of the conclusions of the report is that the media ”are used by their owners and politicians exclusively as a means of creating favourable ratings and election results for political parties, but also as a means of gaining a fortune by some individuals. Due to this fact, there is no critical approach in most media toward the work of state institutions”25. 20 - �”���������������������������Profession on a crossroads �–������������������������������������������������������ journalism at the treshold of the information society�“��, �C��������������������enter for media and media studies, FPS 21 - �“������������������������������������������������������Report on pressures and control of the media in Serbia�”�������, Anti-�C����������orruption �C����������������������������������ouncil of the Republic of Serbia, 2011. 22 - �����Ibid. 23 - �����Ibid. 24 - �����Ibid. 25 - �����Ibid. 14 Journalists can do it III The allegations of political pressure on the media are confirmed by the results of the research conducted by the Center for Media and Media Research of the Faculty of Political Science. Of the 260 interviewed joutnalists and editors, 20.59% believe that strong political pressure and the absence of media autonomy are the biggest problems of the media in Serbia26.

The interviewed owners and directors of media houses share this opinion (51 persons in total).

Within the publication ”Journalists can do it”, the following Serbian media were analyzed: Beta and Tanjug agencies, daily newspapers ”Alo”, ”Blic”, ”Kurir”, ”Politika” and ”Press”, weekly magazines ”Vreme”, ”NIN”, ”Novi magazin” and ”Pecat”, as well as electronic media RTS and B92.

Beta is a private news agency, owned by Ljubica Markovic, who is also its director. The Tanjug agency is the state agency of the Republic of Serbia — the state is its founder and owner. Daily newspapers ”Alo” and ”Blic”, as well as the ”NIN” weekly are in the ownership of a Swiss-German company “Ringier Axel Springer”.“Kurir” daily is owned by Aleksandar Rodic.

The German company “WAC” in 2002 became the owner of 50% of the “Politika” daily. “WAC” shared the ownership of “Politika” via an Austrian company named “Ost holding OMBH” until 2010, i.e. shared the ownership with the company “Politika AD”27.

The state, however, kept the ”golden share“. In July 2012, the Moscow-based company “East Media Group” took over 50% of the company ”Politika newspapers and magazines” from “Ost holding OMBH”. Some political parties and journalists associations reacted to this sudden transactions on 17 July, by accusing the Democratic Party of buying “Politika” in order to preserve its influence on the media in Serbia. This was done at the time when the Democratic Party became an opposition party.

On 19 July, RTS unofficially found out that the owner of ”Farmakom MB” Miroslav Bogicevic confirmed for the state organs that he had bought 50% of shares in “Politika”28.

In a statement by the Journalists Association of Serbia from 16 October 2012, it is said that Bogicevic has become a passive partner of the state in managing the oldest daily newspaper in the Balkans, and that the state therefore has obtained unlimited control over “Politika”29.

According to the report of the Anti-Corruption Council, half of the shares in the ”Press” ���� - �”���������������������������Profession on a crossroads �–������������������������������������������������������ journalism at the treshold of the information society�“��, �C��������������������enter for media and media studies, FPS 27 - �“�����������Politika A.�D�.�”����������������������������������������������� is in the ownership of the Republic of Serbia �(�����26,03��%),���������������������������������������� Action fund of the Republic of Serbia (24,12%), Public Company “Elektroprivreda” (14,48 %), the Republic Pension and Disability Fund (4,92 %), Commercial bank AD (2,97 %), AIK bank (2,08 %), Public Company PTT Communications Serbia (1,22 %), Oil Industry of Serbia (0,89 %) and the “Dunav osiguranje A.D.” insurance company (0,87 %). 28 - ���RTS�;�������������������� September 18 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/Dru%C5%A1tvo/1175966/Politi%C4%8 Dka+kupoprodaja+%22Politike%22++++.html?email=yes 29 - �����Ibid. Journalists can do it III 15 daily are owned by the company ”Amber Press Limited” from Limasol, Cyprus. ”Considering the nature of texts in this newspaper, it was suspected by the public that the company from Cyprus is actually in the ownership of Miroslav Miskovic... Control over this newspaper was even ascribed to Dragan Djilas, the Mayor of Belgrade, vice- president of the Democratic Party and the owner of powerful marketing companies ’Multicom Group’ and ’Direct Media’”30.

According to the report of the Council, six percent of shares of ”Press” is owned by former editors and journalists of ”Kurir”, and 22% by Biljana Kralj, an attorney from the office representing Dragan Djilas. Other owners were not listed.

According to the same report, ”Vecernje novosti” newspaper represents the best example of non-transparent ownership in Serbian media, but also of those media being taken over by powerful businessmen in an illegal way, which was also noticed and severely criticized by European parliamentarists31. The majority of shares of this newspaper is owned by the “Trimax Investments” company (24,99%) and “Ardos Holding” (24,90%) from Austria and the Cyprian company “Karamat” (12,55%), ”whose real owners were officially unknown for a very long time”32.

In November 2010, when he was a guest in the TV show ”Between the lines” on B92, businessman Milan Beko announced that he was the owner of the above mentioned companies, i.e. the owner of 62.4% of shares in ”Vecernje novosti”33.

A text in ”Blic” from June 2011 entitled ”Who are the owners of printed media” states that ”Novosti AD” is owned by the Republic of Serbia (29.51%), company “Trimax Investments GMBH” (24.99%), “Ardos Holding GMBG” (24.90%), “Karamat Holdings LTD” (12.35%) and the Republic Pension and Disability Fund (7.15%)34.

The “Vreme” weekly is the first private weekly magazine in Serbia, founded in 1990 by a group of former journalists of the “NIN” weekly and attorney Srdja Popovic, who transfered his ownesrhip rights to his son. Finally, “Vreme” fas transfered into the hands of journalists, some of whom still work there. ”The ’Veme’ weekly also did not manage to avoid the influence of large capital owners on their editing policy. Namely, the owners of the magazine have a registered debt for loans taken via the ’V film’ company, which has a registered debt of 370 thousand euros to theDelta Maxi company, due for payment on 21 March 2012. In the meantime, the company ’V film’ was removed from the register of companies, and adjoined to ’Vreme’, which is the official publisher of the magazine. The editorial policy of the magazine has also dramatically changed in the meantime, which is indicative of the significant influence of the owner of ’Delta’ on the contents of the magazine, especially on the issue of business dealings of Miroslav Miskovic”35.

30 - �“������������������������������������������������������Report on pressures and control of the media in Serbia�”�������, Anti-�C����������orruption �C����������������������������������ouncil of the Republic of Serbia, 2011. 31 - �����Ibid. 32 - �����Ibid. 33 - �����Ibid. 34 - ��������������������Blic, June 25 2011. http://www.mc.rs/ko-su-vlasnici-stampanih-medija.6.html?eventId=57122 35 - �“������������������������������������������������������Report on pressures and control of the media in Serbia�”�������, Anti-�C����������orruption �C����������������������������������ouncil of the Republic of Serbia, 2011. 16 Journalists can do it III The first issue of ”Novi magazin” came out in May 2010. The founder andowner is Nadezda Gace, a journalist and former president of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia. The money for founding the magazine was provided by Miroslav Bogicevic, the owner of ”Farmakom”, who also owns the Sabac Dairy36. Bogicevic was mentioned earlier in the transactions regarding the ”Politika” daily.

“It is also unclear who the owner of ’Pecat’ is, considering the unusual cyclic ownership structure which conceals the true owner... However, the public believes that the real owner is Milorad Vucelic, the former director of RTS, a close associate of Slobodan Milosevic and a functioner of the Socialist Party of Serbia.”37 .

Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) is financed through a cooperation with independent productions, authors, PR and marketing agencies, the state budget and citizens subscriptions. The Anti-Corruption Council determined that the business dealings of RTS are not transparent38.

In November 2010, Radio Television B92 was sold. ”The majority owner became a local company named ’Astonko’, whose owner is a company from Cyprus of the same name, but whose owner is unknown. However, B92 itself stated that a certain Stefanos Papadopoulos is the owner of the Cyprian firm, among others”39.

“The Republic Broadcasting Agency Council officially approved this change of ownership, but gave no information about the new owner of the media. Instead, it was only stated that all was done according to law, even though there were well grounded suspicions that Article 99 of the Law on Broadcasting was violated, which caused an illicit media saturation”40.

The Minister of Culture of Serbia Branislav Petkovic announced on 20 September 2012 a re-defining of the media strategy and the gradual exit of the state from ownership in the media, with an obligatory transparency of the ownership41. On 13 October 2012, Minister Petkovic stated for the Beta agency that ”it is possible that the state will remain an owner in one part of the media”42. The Law on Public Information states that the state cannot be the founder of a public media in Serbia, directly or indirectly.

36 - ��������������������Blic, June 25 2011. http://www.mc.rs/ko-su-vlasnici-stampanih-medija.6.html?eventId=57122 37 - �“������������������������������������������������������Report on pressures and control of the media in Serbia�”�������, Anti-�C����������orruption �C����������������������������������ouncil of the Republic of Serbia, 2011. 38 - �����Ibid. 39 - �����Ibid. 40 - �����Ibid. 41 - �����������������������������Politika, September 20 2012. http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Drustvo/Petkovic-Postepen-izlazak-drzave-iz- medija.lt.html 42 - Beta, October 13 2012, http://www.beta.rs/?tip=article&kategorija=vestiizzemlje&ida=2775224&id=&ime= Journalists can do it III 17 The Government of Serbia announced on 21 January 2011 that the chief of the Serbian negotiating team will be Borislav Stefanovic, the political director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his deputy will be Vladimir Jovicic, councellor at the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija. This information was conveyed by the media as it was written, except for ”Vecernje novosti” revealing that ”Stefanovic was named as head of the team in September, but that decision, as well as the negotiations platform of Serbia was termed as ’strictly confidential’”43.

Only the ”Politika” daily had an exclusive interview with Stefanovic on the day this information was released, which was published on the front page of the next day’s issue. Author Biljana Mitrinovic got consent for the interview twenty minutes after the Government lifted the confidentiality mark off the information on forming the team for the dialogue with Prishtina. The interview was published under the title ”Choosing the lesser of several evils”.

Stefanovic’s answer to the question why the head of the team was from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and not the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, which could be an indication of the sovereignity of Kosovo was: ”We were trying to get the best results and find the best solutions, including through the personalities of people who have certain experience in the negotiating process. This does not, in any way, represent and admission of independence of Kosovo, regardless of the fact that the head of the team is from the MFA... We know where the red line is, we are aware of the Constitution and our national obligations, and on the other hand, sometimes in order to fix something you do not need to put a label on it. It is our job to choose the best solution from a series of bad solutions, one that is closest to our interest and the interest of citizens of Kosovo and Metohija”44.

When asked how he would react to the recommendation of the European Parliament for the Serbian Government to dissolve the ”parallel Serbian structures” i.e. institutions in Kosovo, Stefanovic answered: ”Just as I have up to this point. The Resolution of the European Parliament and that amendment are formulated as political recommendations, and the majority of MPs are from countries which have recognized the independence of Kosovo. For us, the parallel institutions are not the Serbian, but the Albanian institutions”45.

By this he meant to say that Belgrade does not recognize the legitimacy of Kosovo institutions. On the same day his election was announced, Stefanovic implied that the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina will above all be about issues of vital significance for people in Kosovo, but at the same time ”connected to the status of Kosovo“. Stefanovic stated that, unlike the negotiations lead by the three international representatives in Vienna, in which there were only discussions about the status and which had failed because the Albanians were unwilling to discuss the issue, the topics at the negotiating table in this case will be on all open issues. 43 - Vecernje����������������������������������������� novosti, January 22 2011, Page 2 44 - ����������������������������������Politika, January 22 2011, Page A1 45 - �����Ibid. 18 Journalists can do it III He stated that the negotiations are not technical by nature, and that they represent one of the two most important state issues in 2011, along with the EU candidacy, as well as that each of the issues which will be discussed, such as the problem with electricity supply and telecommunications, has a technical aspect, but is at the same time connected to the status.

Concerning the amendments proposed by the ”green group” in the European Parliament, which insisted that the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina ”should not include status issues”, Stefanovic stated that the amendment does not worry him, because it is only a suggestion, and the status issue will be present during the whole course of the negotiations.

Stefanovic stated that all events in Kosovo could compromise the negotiations, that Kosovo inhabitants could be provoked by some moves by Prishtina, and appealed to Kosovo Serbs to stay calm46.

On the same day, the Serbian state TV station (RTS) reported that ”the begining of the negotiations is uncertain, because even a month after the elections, Prishtina is not capable of forming a Government”. (Parliamentary elections in Kosovo were held on 12 December 2010. These elections were the first after the declaration of independence of Kosovo in February 2008 — remark by T.K.)

The news of the begining of negotiations was embellished in the commentaries: ”It is still uncertain when the negotiations will start, primarily because of the current political crisis in Kosovo, after the Government of Hashim Thaçi fell apart, and the controversial elections which ensued”47.

The state agency Tanjug added, and ”Kurir” daily conveyed the estimate made by Stefanovic: ”We have a lot of obstacles to overcome, but we are optimistic, we have a new flexibe approach and several alternative solutions for all of the open issues”48.

The news that Edita Tahiri was chosen to be the chief of the Kosovo negotiating delegation on 24 February was published by RTS, the media with the highest ratings in Serbia, media whose ratings supercede the ratings of all the other media, and it was added that she was ”a veteran from Rambouillet”. The French town of Rambouillet near Paris was the seat of the peace conference on Kosovo held on 6 February 1999, with participation of the representatives of authorities in Serbia and Kosovo Albanians, mediated by emissaries from the USA, Russia and the EU. After 17 days of negotiations had ended in failure, on 24 March, NATO began bombing the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Tahiri leaving the party of Ibrahim Rugova (president of the Democratic alliance of Kosovo, remark by T.K.), continued the RTS presenter, ”was one of the biggest

46 - ����������������������B92, January 21 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=01&dd=21&nav_ category=640&nav_id=487447 47 - ����������������������RTS, January 21 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Srbija/830182/ Stefanovi%C4%87+vodi+pregovore.html ���������������������������� - Kurir, January 21 2011, http://www.kurir-info.rs/stefanovic-sa-pristinom-o-pitanjima-od-zivotnog-znacaja- clanak-69331 Journalists can do it III 19 political scandals in Kosovo that year, because the newly formed party, Democratic alternatives, was followed by open threats which arrived at Edita Tahiri’s address for days... A source close to the Belgrade negotiating team stated that the choice of Tahiri was ’obvious’, and that her position as the Vice President of the Kosovo Government confirms that Prishtina does not consider the negotiations to be merely technical, and that they are taken very seriously. The same source points out that the emphasis of Kosovo Albanians on the dialogue being about ’practical issues between two independent and sovereign countries’ shows their insecurity about that claim”49.

The same media, on the same day, under a neutral headline ”Edita Tahiri the head of the Prishtina team“ conveys an announcement of the Kosovo Government on the dialogue on practical issues ”between two independent, sovereign states”. ”I expect the chief of the Kosovo negotiating team to enter the forthcoming process in a constructive way”, stated Stefanovic. RTS also adds the estimate of the former Prime Minister of Serbia Mirko Cvetkovic, that Serbia is open for dialogue on all issues, including the status of Kosovo50.

The media mostly point out her political, and not scientific career and qualifications. Tahiri’s family details are not presented to the public, nor the fact that a woman holds such a significant state function and so far up the scale of the political nomenclature of women51.

The media in Serbia presented the biography of Edita Tahiri each in their own way. Author Tamara Spaic, in a text called ”Skilled and accomplished in dialogue”, starts the text by implying in the first sentence who had chosen Tahiri: ”When Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, the ’hero’ of Dick Marty’s report on brutal murders and organ trade, was looking for a way to make the delegation more prominent than the Belgrade side during the negotiations, one of the key options was to place a woman at the head of the team. And so Edita Tahiri, the Vice President of Thaci’s Government, became the chief of the Prishtina delegation and the first woman head of a negotiating team in the Balkans. Additionally, as both Serbs and Albanians agree, she is an excellent professional choice”52.

Spaic continues: ”Those well acquainted with the relations between Belgrade and Prishtina, the Kosovo independence and Edita Tahiri’s role in it agree that she is a good choice for the Kosovo side. She is highly educated, has a PhD from Harvard University, strong diplomatic connections and speaks the language excellently. If the issue had been her knowledge of Serbian language, the negotiations could have easily been held in Serbian, which would be well recieved by Belgrade, but connoisseurs of rules of the game say that is more of a worning for the Serbian side to watch their mouths“ 53. 49 - �����������������������RTS, February 24 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/848304/Vo%C4%91a+k osovske+delegacije+Edita+Tahiri.html 50 - �����������������������RTV, February 24 2011, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/edita-tahiri-na-celu-tima- pristine_240614.html ���������������������������� - Blic, February 24 2011, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/237641/Pregovarac-iz-Rambujea-na- celu-tima-za-razgovore-sa-Beogradom 52 - ������������������������������Blic, February 25 2011, Page 2 53 - I�b�i�d.��� 20 Journalists can do it III ”However, Prishtina is still worried about the favourable outcome of the negotiations, despite the excellent choice of a chief. Behluj Beqaj, a respectable Prishtina analyst, estimated yesterday for ’Blic’ that even the choice of the undoubtedly capable Edita Tahiri cannot improve the inferior position of the Kosovo negotiating team, because of the tainted credibility of Hashim Thaci’s Government. However, the outcome cannot be positive for Kosovo in the way that is expected, because the position of the Government is inferior after the questionable elections, as well as the Prime Minister’s loss of credibility after Dick Marty’s report. Edita is an excellent choice, but not even a genius could get from these negotiations the things that are expected“, stated Beqaj for “Blic”54.

Analyst Dusko Janjic stated: ”The choice of a person highly positioned in the Government for the head of the negotiation team shows that their team will be much more official than ours, and this carries a political message. Equally important is the message to the EU sent by assigning a woman to the position, which shows their adherence to democracy, gender equality and the acceptance of the basic postulates of the EU“ 55.

A correspondent of ”Politika“ daily from Kosovska Mitrovica B. Radomirovic also analysed Tahiri’s past, relying on opinions of an Albanian experts. He stated that naming Tahiri put a stop to numerous speculations present during the previous months, and the Albanian analysts are very surprised by the decision of the newly appointed Prime Minister. Fatmir Seholi stated for ”Politika“ that Thaci had made a wrong move. ”Tahiri does not have the support of the people. It is well known that her party did not recieve many votes in the elections, even though she was in a coallition with Thaci, which she believed would score her some political points“ 56.

The ”Kurir“ daily entitled a short article by an unknown authoe on naming Tahiri “Thaci’s negotiator“57.

”According to some qualifications and the special ’briefing’ which took her to a high position in the administration of the so-called ’Republic of Kosovo’, Edita Tahiri, a Fulbright scholar, post-graduate from Harvard, and graduate of the Faculty for international and safety (!) studies in Germany, could also represent some other, primarily western countries. And their interests, of course.“58

The Editor in chief of this magazine is Aleksandar Vulin, a former official of the Yugoslav Left, a party whose president was Mira Markovic, wife of Slobodan Milosevic, and who founded the Socialist Movement as a left-winng political party after the Yugoslav Left fell apart. Since its foundation, Vulin has been the president of the party, and in the 2012 elections he entered a coallition with the Serbian Progressive Party, New Serbia and the Power of Serbia Movement. He is an advocate for erecting a monument to Slobodan Milosevic59. 54 - Blic, February 25 2011, Page 2 55 - ������������������������������Blic, February 25 2011, Page 2 56 - Po��l�iti���k�a,�� �Fe��b�r�u�ary��� �2�5�� 20��11��,� �Page���� �A�6� 57 - �������������������������������Kurir, February 25 2011, Page 5 58 - �������Pecat, �M��������������������arch 04 2011, Page 8 59 - Radio Free Europe, September 01 2011, http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/srbija_prokuplje_milosevic_spomenik/24314921.html Journalists can do it III 21 The Tanjug agency reported on 28 February that Stefanovic stated at the round table organized by this agency entitled ”Anticipating the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina“, that ”Albanians should be aware of the fact that we in Belgrade view them as normal people, our citizens“60.

RTS gained additional information in the same gathering: Stefanovic stated that there is more than one reality in Kosovo and that after the accusations of Thaci’s involvement in organized crime, there are no angels or devils there. ”There are several realities in Kosovo. Prishtina must realize that Northern Kosovo is also one of the realities“, he stated.

The former vice-president and now president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SPP), after the May 2012 elections also Minister of Defense and the first Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated at the round table: ”We are interested in the minimum of Serbian interests which must be respected, and we still haven’t agreed on that. It will all come down to small compromises we will have to make, without any benefit for the Serbs in Kosovo“61.

Aleksandar Vucic was secretary-general of Vojislav Seselj’s Serbian Radical Party from 1993. In 1998 Vučić became the Serbian Minister of Information. His term as a minister will be remembered by his controversial Information Law, which introduced high fines for independent journalists who spoke against the government. On6 September 2008 Deputy Leader of the Radical Party and de facto leader due to the absence of Vojislav Seselj, Tomislav Nikolic resigned, because of disagreements with Seselj over the party’s support for Serbia’s EU membership, and with other well known Radical Party members formed a new parliamentary club called “Forward Serbia!”. On 12 September 2008 Nikolic and his group were officially ejected from the Radical Party in a session of the party leadership. Vucic, as secretary-general, was called to attend this session, but failed to appear. Nikolic announced he would form his own party and called Vucic to join. Vucic, one of the most popular figures among Radical Party supporters, resigned from his position on 14 September 2008. The next day, Vucic announced his temporary withdrawal from politics. On 6 October 2008 Vucic confirmed that he would join the newly formed Nikolic’s Serbian Progressive Party and that he will be the vice president of the party. Nikolic stepped down as party president on 24 May 2012, following his election as President of Serbia. On 29 September 2012 Vucic was elected as party president.

Tanjug’s report from the round table written by D.M. quoted stefanovic in the title ”This is not a poker game“62, and “Alo“ daily entitled the article by an unknown author “Serbia ready for negotiations on Kosovo“63.

Under the title “Thaci: Dialogue is the end of hostility with Serbia“, the widely read “Vecernje novosti“ daily conveyed on 2 March Tanjug’s report from Prishtina on the 60 - �������������������������Kurir, February 28 2011, http://www.kurir-info.rs/ove-nedelje-detalji-o-pregovorima-beograda-i-pristine- clanak-75832 61 - �����������������������RTS, February 28 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/850296/Teme+dijaloga+se+jo%C5% A1+utvr%C4%91uju.html ���������������������� - Vecernje novosti, M�arch��������������������� 01 2011, Page: 2 63 - Alo,����� M�arch�������������������� 01 2011, Page 3 22 Journalists can do it III dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade64.

On 3 March, in a text entitled “The Belgrade-Prishtina dialogue starts on 8 March?“, the Tanjug agency aside from general facts also stated a thesis that “for Serbia this is a dialogue on essential issues, and Prishtina insists that the negotiations are technical, that they are in no way related to the status, since the status issue has already been resolved... The dialogue begins at a time when Kosovo authorities have managed to form authority organs after many problems, and when the reputation of the Kosovo Prime Minister has been compromised due to the report by Dick Marty on illegal human organ trade“65.

The same agency report was published by the “Press“ daily under the title “Negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina to begin next week“ 66, and by the national televiosion under the title “Negotiations with Prishtina on 8 March“.

The national television announced the negotiations on 7 March under the title “Replicas and tensions the night before negotiations“. The report starts with the following words: “Only one day before the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina, tensions arise in Kosovo. President of Kosovo Behgjet Pacolli paid an unannounced visit to Norhern Kosovo, which was considered by Serbs as provocation. The Kosovo Parliament did not adopt a resolution on the forthcoming dialogue. Rada Trajkovic Left the Parliament during the discussion on terms used to refer to Kosovo and Metohija“...

The announcer continues: “The newly elected Kosovo President flew in unexpectedly in a KFOR helicopter from Prishtina and stayed for a short time at the Jarinje crossing in the Leposavic Municipality. Pacolli asked for a customs service to be established, which the Northern Kosovo Serbs have not been recognizing since Prishtina declared independence. The chief of the Kosovska Mitrovica County Radenko Nedeljkovic considered this as provocation, especially since it happened only one day before the beginning of the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina. Nedeljkovic stated that the Serbs in Northern Kosovo should have been informed of Pacolli’s arrival, but added that none of the Serbian representatives would have met him anyway. This was the second visit by Pacolli in the previous ten days. The first was during the religious holiday All Souls Day, which the Serbs also considered to be a provocation. The session of the Kosovo Parliament dedicated to the forthcoming dialogue was discontinued becouse of disagreements with members of the opposition on the draft of the Kosovo Government Resolution... Immediately after the session, the vice president of the Kosovo Parliament Xhavit Haliti stated that the Prishtina team is ready for next day’s negotiations with Belgrade, even though a resolution was not adopted. MP from the Unified Serbian list Rada Trajkovic left the session earlier when the presiding Xhavit Haliti turned off her microphone because she used the term “Kosovo and Metohija“ when talking to other MPs. Haliti told Trajkovic not to use the term since, as he said, she is violating the Kosovo constitution by doing so. Trajkovic replied that 64 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������� 02 2011, http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/aktuelno.69.html:321330-Taci- Dijalog-kraj-neprijateljstva-sa-Srbijom 65 - �M������ondo, �M��������������arch 03 2011, http://www.mondo.rs/s199302/Info/Srbija/Dijalog_Beograd-Pristina_pocinje_8_ marta.html 66 - �������Press, �M���������������arch 03 2011, http://www.pressonline.rs/sr/vesti/vesti_dana/story/153136/Pregovori+Beograda+i+Pr i%C5%A1tine+po%C4%8Dinju+slede%C4%87e+sedmice.html Journalists can do it III 23 the constitution says “Kosova“ and that she finds that unacceptable, after which he replied that she should read as it is written, and she left the session. Trajkovic stated that ’among the citizens of Kosovo the most valued thing is the Serbian passport, and Kosovo official need to face that fact’“67.

“Trajkovic told the journalists after leaving the session that Serbs should be on the Prishtina negotiating team, pointing out that the forthcoming dialogue represents negotiations between Belgrade and representatives of Albanians“, this very discouraging report stated, broadcast right before the beginning of the negotiations on the normalization of relations between the two states.

Under the title “Now everyone to Brussels“, Milos Teodorovic, a journalist of Radio Free Europe, reported that “the two sides will discuss issues the list of which is still incomplete, at the same time avoiding the ’big’ issues... Even though the big issues, such as the status, will not be discussed, it is evident that the ’ordinary’ issues will provide plenty entertainment“68.

”The Serbian side is trying to leave an impression that they wish the negotiations to be quick. Objecively, that is very important because of the EU candidacy“, said Izabela Kisic, a connoisseur of the situation in Kosovo and the associate of the Helsinki Committee in Belgrade. “Belgrade stated that they are entering the negotiations with a flexible attitutde. They are contacting the civil sector about the negotiations. Such actions can strengthen Belgrade’s position. By using derogatory terms to describe the opposing side, for example by claiming that Prishtina is stalling the negotoations and is not ready for them, by being overly secretive about the Serbian strategy, or by attempting to directly influence the media’s reporting on Kosovo, the initial position is not strengthened, but weakened“69.

“However, right before the negotiations, a move was made in the north which could be positive, even only symbolically. The newly elected Kosovo President Behgjet Pacolli crossed the Ibar bridge on 26 February, crossing from the north to the south, and visited the Albanian settlement ’Three skyscrapers’. He stated that ’there is no division into Northern Kosovo and the rest of Kosovo’ and pointed out that ’the dialogue can begin’. This is true. Through Pacolli’s election, the institution structure in Kosovo has been completed, and the dissolvement of those institutions the previous year was the reason why the negotiating process was aditionally prolonged“ 70.

“Despite all and uder the burden of numerous difficult issues, the long wait for the beginning of the negotiations has made the atmosphere less tense. This in itself is sufficient indication that the negotiations can begin“, optimistically stated NIN’s correspondent71.

The first meeting at the beginning of the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina on 67 - �����RTS, �M���������������arch 07 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/854416/Replike+i+tenzije+uo%C4%8 Di+pregovora.html 68 - �����NIN, �M���������������������arch 03 2011, Page 16 69 - ������Ibid. 70 - �����Ibid. 71 - �����Ibid. 24 Journalists can do it III 8 March (Tuesday) in Brussels, lasted for a little over two hours. The media point out that this was the first meeting of representatives of Belgrade and Prishtina since the declaration of independence of Kosovo. Both sides stated that they were ready for a constructive dialogue, but also that the meeting started four hours later than planned because the Kosovo delegation was late. Statements made by Tahiri and Stefanovic before the dialogue are also quoted, which show that the attitude of the two sides are completely opposite. Reports also explain that the negotiations took place with the mediation of the EU, but that a three-member delegation from Washington D.C. was also present. The topics discussed were regional cooperation, freedom of movement and the rule of law.

Belgrade media did not send reporters to cover the negotiations. In some media, such as “Politika“ and “Vecernje novosti“, the permanent corespondents from Brussels sometmes, but not always, reported on the negotiations. Other media relied on the reports by Beta and Tanjug agencies, which have correspondents in Belgium’s capital, or on statements made by the EU on the negotiations. Comments on the course, contents and results of the negotiations, which were unusually scarce in weekly magazines, also relied on agency news from Serbia, without further research, but with strong opinions

The reports of the media had neutral headlines, such as “Brussels: the first meeting between Belgrade and Prishtina finished“. “Unlike the previous negotiations, which took place in Vienna, and after which Kosovo declared independence, this time the dialogue is taking place in Brussels... The Prishtina delegation still does not have a platform. The Kosovo Parliament has not yet agreed on the details of the resolution which should serve as a platform. B92 gained insight into the two suggestions for the resolution. The suggestion of the Parliamentary group lead by Albin Kurti demands that, before any negotiations start, Serbia should fulfill certain conditions: recognize the independence of Kosovo and change its current Constitution, apologize for war crimes, pay the compensation for commited crimes and give over the remains of 1800 Albanians, stop suporting Serbian institutions in Kosovo and stop the violence over Albanians in the in the Presevo valley. A somewhat more modest suggestion was presented by the party of Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, which stated that only technical issues should be discussed, without bringing into question the independence of Kosovo“72.

“The mediator in the negotiations, Brussels, has obliged to a status-neutral approach, considering the fact that of the 27 members of the EU, five have not recognized Kosovo... During the previous days, representatives of Kosovo Serbs had different opinions on which delegation should represent them. While some believed that the delegation should be from Prishtina, others were sure that it should be from Belgrade“, continued the B92 presenter.

“I believe that Serbs should not be a part of the Prishtina negotiating team and in that way undermine Belgrade’s position. Simply because for 20,000 Serbs their employer is Belgrade, 21,000 recieve minimal salaries and 7,000 are on welfare“, stated Rada

72 - �����B92, �M��������������arch 08 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=08&nav_ category=640&nav_id=497562 Journalists can do it III 25 Trajkovic, MP of the Unified Serbian list, who had obviously changed her opinion on the matter since 7 March.

B92 also points out that “Edita Tahiri and her associates did not manage to travel to Brussels on Monday evening, because of a long discussion in the Kosovo Parliament on the forthcoming dialogue and the refusal of the opposition to accept the proposition of a resolution on the negotiations presented by the ruling coallition“73.

Combining the reports of all three Serbian agencies — FoNet, Tanjug and Beta — the state television reported on 9 March that “the first round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina is finished“. It was reported that “the first meeting was held last night, after several hours of uncertainty, contradictory information from Prishtina and the silence of the EU about the arrival of the Prishtina negotiators... Tahiri insisted that the negotiations were ’technical’, while Stefanovic said that the issues raised during the past two days are ’extremely important and have great political significance, and cannot be called technical because they, above all, concern the lives of people’“.

The words of the chief of the Belgrade delegation Stefanovic were conveyed in the newspapers almost fully. Among other things, he said that “today’s meeting was ’more successful than yesterday’s’ and that the journey to finding common solutions’ has been continued“.

Journalists have a tendency to deal with the ephemeral elements of the negotiations, without getting into the essence of the negotiations on the outcome of which the improvement of living conditions for the citizens of two countries depends on, as well as the lives of two ethnic communities which were the very reason for the start of the negotiations. As far as the Serbian media are concerned, this is an opportunity to continue the political clash with the Kosovo side, even in cases when the topics are completely apolitical. There is no sensibility for the attitudes of “the other side“, there are no investigative efforts to show the complexity of the issues discussed in Brussels, the success of which is a pre-condition for Serbia’s entry into the EU.

RTS for example is interested in why Prime Minister Thaçi did not manage to persuade the MPs of the benefits of his platform: “In an attempt to coordinate their attitudes on the dialogue, the chiefs of the Kosovo Parliament groups held a meeting today, albeit an unsuccessful one. The consultations and coordination will be continued tomorrow afternoon“.

The author at RTS pointed out the following part of Tahiri’s statement: “The situation is asymmetrical, because Kosovo allows import of goods from Serbia into Kosovo, and Serbia prevents export and even transit through Kosovo... Some progress has been made, but I cannot say how much“. The presenter then returns to Stefanovic who stated that this was not an opportunity for making any compromises on the status issue, because the attitude of the two sides are “diametrically opposite“. Tahiri stated that “maybe one day Serbia will accept the reality of the independence of Kosovo“74.

73 - �������Page 25 74 - RTV, March 09 2011, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/zavrsena-prva-runda-razgovora-beograda-i-pristine_242682.html 26 Journalists can do it III The “Blic“ daily also reported on the dialogue on 9 March under a neutral title “First round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina finished“, using the texts by FoNet and Tanjug agencies. The opportunity to estimate the success of the first round was given to Stefanovic: “We will try to set aside the enormous differences between us regarding the status of Kosovo, but eventually, by the end of these negotiations, our relations with Prishtina will be regulated“. There were some truly constructive suggestions, especially on our side, because we came prepared for this dialogue, Stefanovic pointed out and expressed his expectation that the other side will respond well to the suggestions... He also staeted that the Belgrade team “did not allow any deviations during the dialogue“ and explained that the Prishtina team tried to point out “linguistic and narrative“ differences, as well as „their own version of the recent history“. Tahiri’s estimate of the dialogue was reduced to a single sentence: “Tahiri stated that the course of the dialogue went well“75.

A report from B92 from 9 March entitled “Belgrade and Prishtina talk for 6 hours“ supports the thesis that reporters deal with unimportant issues, that attention is given to form and not content, and that unreliable sources are used to support the journalist’s own hypothesis. The report is a compilation of the texts by FoNet and Beta, and it states in the second paragraph only that the “center of attention were three domains — regional cooperation, freedom of movement and the rule of law“. After two sentences of Stefanovic’s estimate and one sentence of Tahiri’s, the report states that “a European diplomatic source which wishes to remain anonymous told the Beta agency that ’today’s meeting was significantly prolonged in hope of reaching any kind of tangible results’“.

The review of the meeting was ascribed to a nameless, and therefore unreliable source, for which it is uncertain whether they represent the EU or the European continent, and the reason for the prolongment of the meeting can be assumed from Stefanovic’s words: “The first meeting of the Prishtina nad Belgrade delegations was a chance to ’read’ the opposing side, to get to know one another and to build a certain degree of trust“. Stefanovic also said, and B92 conveyed, that “the Serbian team came extremely well prepared for the talks with Prishtina“.

After this, a comment is added: “The Prishtina delegation came to Brussels without official guidelines for the dialogue, because the Kosovo Prliament will be voting on the resolution on Thursday. Prishtina is sure only of one thing — that the dialogue with Belgrade will have nothing to do with the issue of independence of Kosovo. Reactions from Prishtina are also conveyed, but their source is not revealed: “The first reactions to the start of the dialogue in Prishtina stress the fear that the process will be detrimental for the Albanians, and that the Kosovo political leaders bear responsibility for that. Publicist from Prishtina Veton Surroi stated that the outcome of this negotiation will be Serbia getting the status of a candidate for the EU, and it is unclear what Kosovo will get. Leader of the Unification movement Avni Klinaku believes that the fact that the negotiations are starting without a minimal consensus of the political forces and without a Parliamentary decision, will leave consequences on the safety of the already fragile democracy in Kosovo“76. 75 - ������Blic, �M��������������arch 09 2011, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/240281/Stefanovic-Nadam-se-znacajnom-napretku-u- skoroj-buducnosti 76 - B92, March 09 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=09&nav_category=640&nav_id=497870 Journalists can do it III 27 After the end of the first round, aside from scarce reports according to which it can be concluded that no agreement was reached, and conveying Stefanovic’s and Tahiri’s words that the first meeting was “normal“, B92 conveyed the report by Beta entitled “Belgrade and Prishtina break the ice“. At the request to comment on the fact that Prishtina is insisting that these are talks between “two states“ and that it is a “technical dialogue“, Stefanovic stated that such statements are for “internal use“: “You have to understand them. It is clear what is currently happening in the Kosovo and Metohija political scene. Things are complicated and we have patience. Those statements are for internal use, for strengthening their position, and they have no effect on us. It would be delusional to try and change the views of the status issue of either side, since it is deeply rooted in our legislature, our Constitution, as well as in International law“, Stefanovic pointed out77.

Commenting on the negotiations was left to the printed media. Before the first round had ended, the “Blic“ daily publihed on the second page that “America made the Kosovo team come to Brussels“. The author of the comment is Tanja Nikolic-Djakovic.

The sub-title of this article is “Albanians first cancelled the dialogue and then boarded the plane“ and it begins as follows: “After the Kosovo delegation announced that the negotiations will be postponed, Washington and Brussels sent a clear and unequivocal message to Prishtina to pack their delegation and immediately come to negotiate with Belgrade in Belgium. Whatever the opinion of the Kosovo Parliament, the mediators stated, there was enough time to prepare a resolution which would represent the attitudes of both the Government and the opposition... The Serbian delgation had arrived to the seat of the negotiations two nights earlier, ready for the dialogue to be held in Serbian, English, Croatian language, or with the help of a translator, in Albanian... While one side of our sources in Prishtina states that the US Ambassador had threatened the Kosovo delegation, others are convinced that there never was a decision to postpone the negotiation, only the need to create a chaotic and uneasy atmosphere in order to make the Albanian side’s arrival in Brussels a bit easier“ 78.

The author suggests that Kosovo is a marionette territory whose moves are dictated by the USA and the EU, and at the same time stresses the willingness and cooperativeness of the Belgrade delegation for a dialogue under all circumstances79.

It is interesting that a second commentary on the first round was also published while the negotiations were still in progress. Author Biljana Mitrinovic, in a text called “Two resolutions divided the Prishtina Parliament“, writes about how well both sides are prepared for the dialogue. The editorial policy of the oldest daily newspaper in the Balkans states that the term “Prishtina“ Parliament which refers to a parliament of a city should be used instead of the term “Kosovo“ Parliament, which would allude to a parliament of a country. “EU representatives were adamant that they will not wait for a resolution to be adopted on Thursday, and therefore Edita tahiri urgently traveled to Brussels yesterday afternoon... Tahiri had originally stated that the negotiations will not begin before a resolution is adopted in the Kosovo Parliament, which is expected to

77 - �����B92, �M��������������arch 09 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=09&nav_id=497857 78 - ������Blic, �M��������������������arch 09 2011, Page 2 79 - ������Blic, �M��������������������arch 09 2011, Page 2 28 Journalists can do it III happen at the session scheduled for Thursday. However, ’Politika’ found out that the EU representatives did not allow for this to happen“80.

Once more, the author suggests that Kosovo is a puppet whose strings are pulled by foreigners. The journalist from Belgrade does not explain how “Politika“, which does not have correspondents in Prishtina, came in possession of “both resolution propositions which were discussed in parliament“. The differences between the two resolution propositions by Thaci and Kurti are described in great detail81.

The next commentator is also a woman. Biljana Bojic is now a journalist of the Belgrade- based tabloid “Kurir“, and she specializes in a variety of topics — from agriculture, to war crimes and foreign politics. She commented on the first round, also before it ended, for the “Press“ daily in a text called “Catherine Ashton ordered the beginning of the negotiations“, with the folowing subtitle “Sabotage: Prishtina tried to postpone the negotiations“. „The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton practically ordered the Prishtina delegation yesterday to appear in Brussels in order for the dialogue with Belgrade to start“82.

Under the title “The solution is far away“, authors G.C. and D.M. report on the beginning of the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina. “According to Stefanovic the meeting, estimated by many to be historical, was graced by a constructive working atmosphere... At the very begining it was evident that the Prishtina tim wasn’t ready. First they were late for the meeting four hours. Edita Tahiri’s team didn’t even get the support of the Kosovo Parliament for the beginning of the negotiations, but it was decided that the approval of the Government was good enough, because the EU was in a hurry to get this process started. The nervousness present in the Prishtina team was also evident in Tahiri’s first statement, who insisted twice on “the state of Kosovo“ and the “Republic of Kosovo“ in just over a minute, stated Stefanovic83.

In all, there was an impression that the tempo of the first day was set by Belgrade, while the other side only evaluated the offers, the authors conclude84.

Dragana Zecevic is the only Belgrade journalist who actually talked to Tahiri. Serbian journalists obtain information on the situation in Kosovo mainly from representatives of Kosovo Serbs, or the representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Zecevic is a correspondent of “Vecernje novosti“ from Kursumlija (Serbia) and Kosovo. To the question whether Kosovo Serbs will be a part of the Prishtina negotiating team, Tahiri replied: “This is a technical dialogue of the two governments which have their respective representatives, and depending on the issues which will be discussed, the compositions of the expert teams will change“85.

The “Politika“ daily, upon the return from Brussels, published an interview with Stefanovic, the chief of the Serbian negotiating team, under the title “Close to a solution“ 80 - ����������Politika, �M���������������������arch 09 2011, Page A5 81 - �����Ibid. 82 - �������Press, �M��������������������arch 09 2011, Page 3 83 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 09 2011, Page 3 84 - �����Ibid. 85 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 09 2011, Page 3 Journalists can do it III 29 and sub-title “Frequent use of terminology and definitions by Prishtina which refer to the status will not provoke our reaction, nor disturb us in any way“. This sentence, with all elements of reported speech, contrary to the tradition of the journalist profession, is stated nowhere in Stefanovic’s replies. Also contrary to the professional principle that the journalist should not take on the role of a suggestive reviewer, the journalist suggested to the Belgrade diplomat: “At the previous negotiations in Vienna the Prishtina delegation was rude at times: I recal them talking amongst themselves while someone from the Serian delegation was speaking. Were there such incidents on this occasion?“86.

Unlike the chief of the Belgrade delegation, the two Belgrade media “Blic“ and “Vecernje novosti“ think differently and suggest the attitudes are still very different — that Belgrade and Prishtina are two tracks of a railroad which never cross, not even in the horizon: “The negotiators pointed out significant differences about the very nature of the dialogue. While the chief of the Prishtina delegation constantly emphasized that the dialogue was ’technical’, her colleague from Belgrade stated that the issues they discussed have great political weight, and cannot be called technical because they concern the lives of people“ stated the unsigned text by B9287.

Under the title “Agreeing only about problems“, the “Vecernje novosti“ daily published the commentary on the first round. The author was Goran Cvorovic, the correspondent of this media house from Brussels, who concluded that “the meeting between Belgrade and Prishtina ended after a total of eight hours without significant results on any issue. The warm-up showed that a lot of diplomacy will be needed to find a mutual solution in certain domains“88.

“There were several issues on which the differences in opinions were significant, because of a closer connection to the issue of the status of Kosovo, such as the customs stamps“, Stefanovic pointed out. The chief of the Belgrade team also stated that this dialogue was not an opportunity co reconcile the diametrically opposite views on the status, and that no one was requested to give up their position on that issue. Edita Tahiri, however, did not waste any opportunity to point out the “sovereignty of Kosovo“, even though the status was never a topic of discussion. Her vocabulary in general was much mor harsh than Stefanovic’s. This is shown in the fact that the chief of the Prishtina team at one point, while talking to journalists, referd to “Serbian occupation“89.

Stefanovic also revealed for “Novosti“ that the delegations talked in English the whole time and that no one spoke neither Serbian nor Albanian. It was clear to everyone that the Prishtina team came to Brussels under pressure. At one point, right before the airplane departed from Prishtina, they tried to postpone the dialogue for Friday, their reason being the lack of approval of the Parliament, but the EU was adamant that the negotiations should start at the planned time. The cabinet of Catherine Ashton,

86 - ����������Politika, �M��������������arch 11 2011, http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Politika/170176.lt.html 87 - �����B92, �M��������������arch 09 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=09&nav_ category=640&nav_id=498068 88 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 10 2011, Page 5 ��������� - Ibid. 30 Journalists can do it III however, sated that there was no perssure90.

Vladimir Jokanovic, correspondent of “Politika“ from Belgium was the author of the text which stated that the first round of negotiations in Brussels ended with the discussions on land records, telecommunications, air traffic and presiding over the regional trade organization CEFTA. “We have presented practical suggestions concerning the customs stamps, but full agreement has not been reached on the issue yet“, stated Stefanovic and added that the Serbian delegation came fully prepared for the negotiations and that they are always one step ahead of the opposing side. Contrary to Stefanovic, Tahiri dedicated most of her time talking to the journalists about the status. Tahiri further stated that 75 states have recognized the independence of Kosovo, and pointed out the “quality“ of those recognitions, because they come mostly from NATO and EU counties91.

The “Alo“ daily wonders about the meaning of a handshake between the negotiators in one of the titles: “A handshake (does not) mean the recognition of Kosovo“92. The handshake phenomenon is also highly rated in this year’s reports from the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia Prime Ministers Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci during the Autmn. “Kurir“ reported that the first dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina lasted for more than five and a half hours93, and “Press“ stated that the dialogue lasted for six hours94.

Of all weekly magazines, only two commented on the first round of negotiations. NIN reported by using the opinions of the European media under the title “European hopes of Belgrade and Prishtina“ 95.

The “Pecat“ weekly commented on the “negotiations on Kosmet“ in an article by Nikola Vrzic entitled “Politeness in Brussels“: “The smile on the face of Borislav Stefanovic, the chief of the Serbian negotiating team at the negotiations with Kosovo authorities on Tuesday night was almost as wide as his open arms when he met Edita Tahiri in Brusseles, in the Justus Lipsius building. Edita Tahiri is the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Kosovo, the one whose head is Hashim Thaci, a trader in human organs extracted from the bodies of obducted and murdered Kosovo Serbs. Whether Stefanovic was smiling at murderer Thaci’s emissary because that day was the International women’s day or because the European Union had ordered us to establish good neighbourly relations because of a ’joint European future’, or just because our main negotiator is a nice an well brought up man, in any case, after the warm greeting they sat at the negotiating table... How this will all go and where it will lead us (the negotiations, remark by T.K.), was evident from the painful symbolism of Stefanovic’s wide smile and open arms for the emissary of a murderer, and from the bottle of water which decorated the negotiating table instead of Serbian state symbols. Bottles of water instead of the Serbian flag showed that Serbia, an internationally recognized state with a seat in the United Nations, has given up its statehood in advance and 90 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 10 2011, Page 5 91 - ����������Politika, �M���������������������arch 10 2011, Page A5 92 - Alo,����� M�arch�������������������� 10 2011, Page 3 93 - �������Kurir, �M��������������������arch 10 2011, Page 2 94 - �������Press, �M��������������������arch 10 2011, Page 3 95 - �����NIN, �M��������������������arch 10 2011, Page 8 Journalists can do it III 31 agreed to talk to a quasi-state creation such as Kosovo as an equal collocutor. What then can be expected from the negotiations?“96.

The author continues: “This case of straying off the ’state track’ of the Serbian policy on Kosovo, is however quite in accordance with the january Resolution of the European Parliament (suggested by Jelko Kacin, the reporter from the EP for Serbia)97, which openly states that the negotiations between Belgade and Prishtina should — and this is the point of revealing the essential goal of the forthcoming dialogue — ’be of use to all Kosovo citizens’ and therefore saying that Serbia should negotiate with Kosovo only for the betterment of Kosovo. In order to avoid all possible confusion, Kacin’s resolution contains an amendment which requires Serbia to enter the dialogue ’without requests for new discussions on the status’“98.

“Vecernje novosti“ published an interview with Stefanovic on the results of the first round under the title “The status is also on the table“. The sub-title of the text whose author is D. Milinkovic states: “Prishtina is only emboldening itself by constantly insisting on independence“. “The fact that Prishtina is persistantly insisting on independence means only that they are encouraging themselves... We will not reveal any details until the issues have been completely resolved“99.

When asked whether the dialogue will have a time limitation, or the negotiations coud be dragged out for years, Stefanovic replied: “The negotiations surely won’t last for 10 years, as was suggested by the public. We will try to reach an agreement on significant unresolved issues by the end of 2011“. His reply to the question whether the success of the negotiations is a pre-condition for EU candidacy was: “We need to realize that good solutions will have an effect on our foreign relations, and therefore also on the issue of European integrations“. He added that Serbia has asked the EU to invite a representative of the UN to the next round of negotiations100.

During the interval between the negotiations, the daily media in Serbia did not report on the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina. Kosovo was mentioned in the usual context — the one used before 8 March 2011.

The media reported that “the former political representative of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army Adem Demaqi stated that it was possible that Kosovo will be joining Albania if, as he stated, Serbia does not change its attitude toward Kosovo; that the trial of two KLA commanders Sabit Gecija and Riza Alija has begun in Prishtina, who were charged of war crimes for torturing civillians in camps in Albania during the clashes in Kosovo and Metohija; that police had confiscated at the control point Rudnica 30.24 kilograms of gold and 85.000 euros; that the Swiss police had arrested the ninth person suspected of crimes over Serbs in the Village Klecka during the war in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999; that the president of the Govenmental committee for missing persons Veljko Odalovic stated that Serbia will insist on an independent international

96 - �������Pecat, �M���������������������arch 11 2011, Page 30 97 - �������������������������������European Parliament Resolution http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP// TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0014+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN 98 - ������Ibid. 99 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 12 2011, Page 2 100 - �����Ibid. 32 Journalists can do it III investigation into the sale of organs taken form obducted and imprisoned Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija; that the arrest warrant for Fatmir Limaj was not put into effect because of his immunity as an MP; that Fatmir Limaj, the commander of the 121 brigade of the KLA and Azem Sula, the former director of the secret services of the Kosovo Albanians are being charged by the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor for intimidation, but also for attempted murder of witnesses who were supposed to give testimony against the KLA at the Hague Tribunal, Blic finds out. The statement made by Stefanovic, the chief of the Serbian negotiating team, published on 14 March, that Serbia will not have representatives at the economic summit in Baltimore, USA, “because Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci will also be participating in the summit, and therefore Serbia’s participation would undermine the state policy on Kosovo and Metohija“, was also an indication that the first round yielded no results101.

On the same day the negotiations began, the Journalists Association of Kosovo and Metohija and the Journalists Association of Serbia warned of the “appearing censorship, political bias and unprofessional behaviour in the Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) because the show “Freely Serbian“ was stopped“102.

The NIN weekly published a special edition on the dialogue in the period between the first two rounds. The author of the edition was Agron Bajrami, the editor in chief of the most prominent Kosovo newspaper “Koha Ditore“, and his text was entitled “The dialogue is a house of cards“. Bajrami wrote: “The Kosovo public met the ’tecnhical’ dialogue with significant mistrust, even open oposition. The reasons are numerous, but the most important one sems to be the fact that Hashim Thaci held the local public, including the Parlialment, the opposition and a large majority of his own associates in the ’informative dark’ regarding the whole process of negotiations with Serbia... The parliament barely approved of the negotiations, owing to the votes of the governing parties, and as late as 10 March, two days after the negotiations had begun“103.

“The dialogue is supposed to help Serbia gain the status of an EU candidate by the end of the year. This in itself would not be a problem for Kosovo if Brussels had opend an equally clear way towards Europe for Prishtina. The other purpose of the dialogue is for it to conceal the failure of the international missions in Kosovo, above all EULEX... And the third purpose — and probably the darkest part of the story — is to use ’technical’ references to conceal or cover up all the evil which is at the heart of the problem between Kosovo and Serbia, i.e. between Serbs and Albanians... The basic premise of a real reconciliation is a dialogue about the crimes from the recent past and independence as its logical and just result, in order to open up a path for the possible discussion on ’technical issues’“, concluded the prominent journalist from Prishtina104.

Engjellushe Morina, the former director of the Kosovo initiative for stability entitled her article in the special edition of NIN “Suspicious conversations“. She wrote that “the

101 - ������Blic, �M��������������arch 14 2011, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/241317/Bez-predstavnika-Srbije-na-samitu-u- Baltimoru-zbog-ucesca-Tacija 102 - ������Blic, �M��������������arch 28 2011, www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/244194/Drustvo-novinara-upozorava-na-cenzuru-na- Televiziji-Kosova 103 - �����NIN, �M��������������������arch 24 2011, Page 8 104 - �����Ibid. Journalists can do it III 33 majority of the public, including parties of the opposition and the civil society in Kosovo do not support these negotiations... We cannot forget that these two sides have sat at the same table on three previous occasions during the last 15 years, and they ended up on opposing sides each time — they never reached a single agreement, and the final solution was usually imposed from the outside... The general mood points to the fact that the inhabitants of Kosovo fear that they will end up being the losers in this game... The neutral position of the EU on the status of Kosovo in the negotiations menas that Serbia can continue to ignore its sovereignty, without interferance by the EU. At the same time, an impression is being created that the EU is compliant with Serbia’s refusal to accept the independence of Kosovo“105.

The Serbian representative in the special edition of NIN was Vladimir Todoric who, in a text called “Vital and status-related“, wrote: “It can be read in Prishtina media that the Kosovo negotiating team is not quite prepared, that they have not developed a negotiation strategy, as well as that the dialogue with Belgrade will not at all be in the interest of Kosovo, because it is still unknown what the benefits will be, while the benefit for Serbia has been known for a long time — the status of a candidate for joining the EU“106.

Todoric, who used to be a member the Foreign Affaisr Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, also wrote: “It is obvious that this political topic is so delicate that certain things cannot even be called their real names. The term ’talks between Belgrade and Prishtina’ is used, even though negotiations are not lead by the representatives of the two cites, but of two governments; they are not referred to as ’negotiations’, but ’a dialogue’; the issues are called ’vitally important or technical’, even though it is practically impossible to avoid the elements of status issues“, Todorovic agreed with the dominant attitude of the chief negotiator from Serbia107.

Under the title “The snowball has been cast“, author Nikola Jovanovic linked the investigation on organ trade in Kosovo with the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina. “Brussels’ instrument of influence on Belgrade is a carrot in the form of a candidacy, and the stick for Kosovo are the accusations against Hashim Thaci“. Jovanovic has been working for the Government’s office for European integrations since its foundation108.

The choice of two state officials, Jovanovic and Todoric, as collocutors on the topic of relations between Belgrade and Prishtina can mean that the editorial staff of NIN enabled official Belgrade to carefully place the Government’s attitudes which it does not wish to announce publically and directly

In the special edition of NIN, journalist Katarina Preradovic interviewed Borislav Stefanovic, and entitled the interview “Northern Kosovo is the key“. In the sub-title, the author points out the part of the conversation with the head of the Serbian negotiating team which states that “parts of Ahtisari’s plan are acceptable“, as well as that “it is not true that the Government of Serbia has for the first time put the interests of the 105 - �����NIN, �M��������������������arch 24 2011, Page 8 106 - �����NIN, �M��������������������arch 24 2011, Page 4 107 - ������Ibid. 108 - �����NIN, �M���������������������arch 24 2011, Page 14 34 Journalists can do it III Kosovo Serbs above the territorial integrity and sovereignty“. The rest of the interview contains the reiteration of Stefanovic’s opinions, but also his estimate that obstinacy in all negotiations since 1991 had cost Serbia a great deal109.

He stated: “We will not allow ourselves to regret something tomorrow which could have been resolved yesterday, which was in my opinion the prevailing characteristic of historical processes in this region from ’the Storm’, ’Z4’ to the fact that Adem Vlasi used to be unacceptable, and after him also Rugova and now Thaci, and then in the end you get stuck with Kurti“110.

Author Biljana Zivkovic interviewed Marko Jaksic, the vice president of the Assembly of the union of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija and the member of the executive board of the Democratic party of Serbia, the head of which is former Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. This party was in the opposition at the time the interview was published. From the interview entitled “How Belgrade is helping Shiptars“ his thesis was pointed out which states that “Now that the Shiptars have no more money or perspective, Serbia is supposed to be the one to help them and blindly follow instructions for the negotiations in the name of ’a better life in Kosmet’“111.

Dragomir Andjelkovic writes about “Euro-constructive destructivity of Belgrade“. He predicts: “If Belgrade accepts the Kosovo passport and customs, and if it is followed by a new wave of countries recognizing Kosovo, it will be much harder for us to oppose the campaign of the Albanian military in Northern Mitrovica, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok, let alone to prevent further violence over Serbs south of the Ibar river“112.

Stojan Drcelic wrote a text entitled “Division“, in which he states that the division of Kosovo would be a defeat of the “Merciful Angel“ (code name for the NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia in 1999, remark by T.K.).

“Among Europeans as well, and their opinion is the most important to us, the belief is getting stronger that the option of dividing Kosovo on the territorial principle is practically the only sustainable solution... However, the Serbian Government refuses to mention the division in fear of compromising its negotiating position on the inviolability of its territory, trapped by obligations toward a respectable number of countries which are still refusing to recognize Kosovo, and is waiting for the division as a formal solution to be suggested by someone else. Only formally, naturally, because the division in the field was copleted on the day Kosovo declared independence“113.

However, the idea of the division of Kosovo was discussed in the media only as a reaction to the statements of politicians on the division of the territory of Kosovo.

Author Tanja Nikolic-Djakovic concludes in an analysis entitled “No division of Kosovo“ that “the time for the division of Kosovo as a possible solution for the conflict is long gone. The anxiety in Prishtina is excessive. There will be no drawing of new maps in

109 - �����NIN, �M���������������������arch 24 2011,, Page 8 110 - Ibid.������ ������������ - Pecat, M�arch��������������������� 18 2011, Page 36 112 - Pecat,������� M�arch��������������������� 11 2011, Page 32 113 - NIN,�������������������������� April 28 2011, Page 7 Journalists can do it III 35 the Balkans... Washington and Brussels do not agree with the changing of territories, and it will not be a topic of discussion between Belgrade and Prishtina“114.

She continues: “However, the fact is that 77 countries have recognized Kosovo within its current borders, and 128 have recognized Serbia with Kosovo as its part, undoubtedly leads to a delicate situation and shows that even the current state is not permanent, because the northern part of Kosovo will remain unintegrated, while on the other hand Kosovo will not answer to Serbian institutions. This situation is used by many when insisting that Kosovo is looking for a new model for the solution“115.

�������������������������������� - NIN, April 28 2011, Page 16 115 - Ibid.����� 36 Journalists can do it III THE SECOND ROUND

Before the second round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina, the editorial staff of “Politika“ organized a debate between Aleksandar Vucic, at the time vice president of the Serbian Progressive Party, the strongest opposition party, and Borislav Stefanovic, the chief of the negotiating team. The title of the debate was “Neither the Serbian council in Srbica, nor the Albanian games in Zvecane“, and authors Biljana Bakovic and Biljana Mitrinovic stated during the introduction that the opposition in Serbia is dissapointed that the authorities actually do not know what the talks in Brussels will consist of, nor what Serbia’s strategy is116.

Stefanovic replied: “Our strategy arises from the Constitution and parliamentary resolutions which have been adopted. The fact is that as a negotiating team and a government, we have been given a lot of space for creativity and for finding the best out of the numerous bad solutions presented to us... Everyone in the Pariament knows that we do not accept the one-sided proclamation of independence of Kosovo, that we will not recognize it and that this dialogue is under no circumstances an introduction into such a thing. They also know that no one is even asking us to do so“117.

Vucic stated that “the dialogue is taking place not because we like or want to discuss anything with each other, but because both sides were made to negotiate“ and that a compromise can be achieved only if Serbia loses something. Stefanovic replied: “We travelled all over the world preventing recognition of Kosovo with the aim of winning in the negotiations, since the previous session was discontinued when Prishtina left the table. Generally, we got what we wanted. We wanted negotiations without conditions. The northern part of Kosovo and Metohija is a keyhole, which will either lock or ulock the issue of Kosovo and Metohija“. Vucic concluded that “Stefanovic’s statement was very important, and not at all untrue“118.

One day before the continuation of the negotiations, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic pointed out that they will not allow for any of the solutions reached during the negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina to be used for recognizing the independence of Kosovo. “We will try to find solutions for some essential issues which have an effect on the population, but I am sure that those essential issues have a different side, the side which concerns thee issue of the status“, Dacic stated119.

“During the continued negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina, the issues discussed will be electricity supplies, population registries and vehicle licence plates. For Serbia as a sovereign country it is unacceptable to give up the original population registries“ stated Stefanovic for RTS. “Prishtina does not want the copies of the documents“, stated Edita Tahiri120.

116 - Politika,���������� M�arch��������������������� 28 2011, Page A6 117 - Ibid.������ 118 - Ibid.����� 119 - B92,����� M�arch�������������� 28 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=03&dd=28&nav_ id=502256 120 - �����RTS, �M��������������arch 28 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/865180/ Nastavak+pregovora+u+Briselu.html Journalists can do it III 37 Stefanovic pointed out that the aim of the negotiations is to enable the citizens to use the energetic infrastructure and pay bills to Serbian companies. Commenting on the request of Prishtina to return the population registries which were taken from Kosovo, the chief of the Serbian delegation said that “not a single sovereign country would give up the original population registries or the citizens listed in them, because that would mean giving up on sovereignty“121.

“One of the issues which will be dealt with is the issue of customs stamps, since there is an evident asymmetry in trade relations. We have allowed import of goods from Serbia, and Serbia still does not allow export or even transit of goods in or out of Kosovo“, stated Tahiri122.

After the end of the second round, the chief of the Serbian delgation stated that Prishtina will accept the copies of land records and population registries after all123. Edita Tahiri stated that Prishtina accepted the copies because their delivery also resolves the issue of the succession of former Yugoslavia regarding the former Republics124. The identical text was published in other media, the source of which is the Beta agency. The Serbian media witheld the statement of the chief of the Prishtina team that “Serbia is meddling with the telecommunications and energy systems in Kosovo, which is not only detrimental for the quality of services and what people expect from these services, but is also creating material damage“125.

Three days after the second round ended, Stefanovic stated that on 31 March the Belgrade delegation clearly stated that they will not tolerate attempts to side-track the dialogue in a way which is not realistic, mentioning in that context the attempt in Northern Kosovo to establish Kosovo institutions against the will of the local population126.

On the same day, based on a report by Tanjug, and concerning the issue of Northern Kosovo, the state TV station conveyed the following statement by Stefanovic: “There is no need for anyone to impose the issue of Northern Kosovo, it will be opened during the next phase of the dialogue“. He estimated that the second round of negotiations has lead to some progress, but not to the extent expected by Belgrade, while Tahiri pointed out that Kosovo had accepted a dialogue with the aim of reaching a solution for technical issues, and that the issue of the status is resolved as far as they are concerned127.

121 - RTS, March 28 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/865180/ Nastavak+pregovora+u+Briselu.html 122 - �����Ibid. 123 - �����RTS, �M��������������arch 28 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/865732/Re%C5%A1enje+za+mati% C4%8Dne+knjige+i+katastar.html 124 - ������Ibid. 125 - ����������Euractiv, �M��������������arch 28 2011, http://www.euractiv.rs/srbija-i-eu/1494-u-briselu-nastavljeni-razgovori-beograda- i-pritine-.html EurActiv.rs is the serbian seat of the internationa Internet network EurActiv, dedicated to the activities of the EU, whose contents are available in 12 European languages. The Beta agency started EurActiv.rs in September 2010, in cooperation with the founder of the network from Brussels and the financial support of the EU. ����������� - Blic, �M���������������arch 31 2011, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/245012/Stefanovic-Dogovor-sa-Pristinom-do-kraja- godine 127 - �����RTV, �M��������������arch 31 2011, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/stefanovic-i-tahiri-o-dijalogu-beograda-i- pristine_246452.html 38 Journalists can do it III Author D. Milinkovic, a reporter on politics, economy, but also on malfunctions of aeroplanes owned by the Government of Serbia, interviewed Borislav Stefanovic for “Novosti“ in a text entitled “All cards on the table“. Replying to the suggestive comment of the journalist that “the Prishtina side did not show the necessary cooperativeness and willingness to compromise during the second round“, Stefanovic stated: “We have achieved some progress on the issue of electricity. It is more significant that some of the issues discussed are now close to being resolved, especially the issues of land records and population registries. A committee will be formed which will determine the condition of these two issues in the field“128.

His reply to another suggestive question: “in which way the issue of Northern Kosovo will be resolved cosidering the fact that Prishtina states that it is a ’non-existant’ issue for them“, Stefanovic replied: “There is no need for anyone to impose the issue of Northern Kosovo, it will be opened during one of the phases of the dialogue“129.

128 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�arch�������������������� 31 2011, Page 2 129 - �����Ibid. Journalists can do it III 39 THE THIRD ROUND

Announcing the third round of negotiations for mid April, Stefanovic stated on 1 April that the aim of the dialogue is to close some of the opened issues by the end of the year, as well as that “the dialogue cannot solve all problems, nor are we too ambitious in this respect, but for now there is no alternative for the dialogue... We did not sit to negotiate in order to recognize each other, but in order to solve as many specific problems as possible, respecting our differences“, Stefanovic concluded130.

As time went by, each of the rounds that followed got less space in the media and with fewer details.

The state agency Tanjug laconically reported from the third round of negotiations: “The central issue of the third round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina was the freedom of movement... Discussins were held on other important issues, such as ID cards, passports, vehicle insurance, drivers licences and vehicle registration plates. An announcement from the center of the European Union stated that more meetings will be necessary, in which, among other things, there will be discussions on the issue of the nostrification of University diplomas, which was also started today“131.

Edita Tahiri estimated after the meeting in Brussels that, when it comes to freedom of movement, the Serbian side had suggested some solutions “implemented between countries which do not have normalized relations“. She stated that the Serbian side requested different vehicle licence plates for Serbs in Northern Kosovo, but “we have rejected this option and stated that Kosovo as a country wishes to establish the rule of law in all fields... and on this issue we have requested the implemetation of a reciprocal system“132.

One week after the one-day long third round of negotiations on “technical issues“, the leader of the Belgrade delegation suddenly announced on 23 April for the state TV station: “The Serbian team is not avoiding the possibility to discuss the division of Kosovo. They will never recieve our affirmation of their so-called independence“133.

Stefanovic added that they are willing to negotiate on all topics agreed on by both sides, but that they will alweys respect the Serbian Constitution, parliamentary resolutions and the state policy regarding Kosovo and Metohija... “I think that no one should doubt that we are doing something unconstitutional or something not suported by the parliamentary resolutions, for us the Republic of Serbia is unified and indivisible“, stated Stefanovic134.

However, the Serbian constitution, apart from uniformity and indivisibility of Serbia,

������������������������� - RTS, April 01 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/868626/Tre%C4%87a+runda+pregovo ra+sredinom+aprila.html 131 - ��������������������B92, April 16 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=04&dd=16&nav_ category=640&nav_id=506521 ���������� - Ibid. ������������������������� - RTS, April 23 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/880938/Podela%2C+tema+od+koje+se +ne+be%C5%BEi.html ����������� - Ibid. 40 Journalists can do it III also implies the unifomity and indivisibility of Kosvo as a part of Serbia. According to Article 8 of the Constitution of Serbia, its territory is “unified and indivisible“, and the borders of the Republic of Serbia are “inviolable“.

Later on, the leader of the Belgrade team presented a somewhat milder opinion on the division of Kosovo. On 27 April, answering the questions by MPs in the Serbian Parrliament and the question of Vjerica Radeta, MP from the Serbian Radical Party, who had authorized the team to negotiate on the division of Kosovo, Stefanovic stated that the division of Kosovo is just one of the topics Belgrade is prepared to discuss, and that the parliamentary resolution on Kosovo provides grounds for it135.

The Minister of Police and leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia Ivica Dacic was the second Serbian politician to start the issue of the division of Kosovo. He did this three weeks after Stefanovic and one month after the third round had ended. This idea was presented in the Prishtina-based newspaper “Zeri“: “The idea of the division of Kosovo, considering the existing obstacles and the situation in the field, represents the only realistic solution. I don’t know whether either Prishtina or Belgrade would agree to it, but in my opiniton the most realistic solution is for the territory populated by Serbs to remain within Serbia, and on the other hand that Serbia should agree for the part of the territory populated by Albanians to be within Kosovo“, stated Dacic136.

Dacic’s opinions from the interview in “Zeri“ were summed up in a report by Beta: The division of Kosovo is the only realistic way to quickly solve this problem; the independence issue is still open, and in order to enter the EU, Kosovo will have to get the approval of Serbia137.

While the parliamentary opposition made up of liberals, nationalists and the left center parties estimates that the division of Kosovo is unpermissable and unconstitutional, the United Regions of Serbia, which became a member of the ruling coallition after the May elections, consider the proposition by Dacic, at the time Deputy Prime Minister and now Prime Minister and Chief of Police, to be legitimate138.

The Democratic Party of Serbia lead by former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica estimated the idea of the division of Kosovo to be unpermissable and unconstitutional, as well as that the authorities in Serbia which have, according to this party, already recognized the independence of Kosovo, this is a case of preparing the public for good neighbourly relations with Kosovo.

The chief of the New Serbia parliamentary group Velimir Ilic, now an MP, pointed out that the status of Kosovo is defined by the constitution and that any change of the status would also imply a change of the highest legislative act.

Dragan Todorovic from the Serbian Radical Party lead by Vojislav Seselj considers 135 - ����������������������Blic, April 27 2011, http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/250647/Stefanovic-Podela-Kosova-samo-jedna-od- tema-pregovora 136 - �����RTS, �M������������ay 15 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/892062/Da%C4%8Di%C4%87%3A+P odela+jedino+re%C5%A1enje.html 137 - �����Ibid. 138 - �����RTS, �M������������ay 16 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/892542/URS%3A+Da%C4%8Di%C4 %87ev+predlog+legitiman+.html Journalists can do it III 41 the mentioning of the division of Kosovo to be “an American hoax“. President of the Albanian Party for Democratic Action Riza Hallimi stated that the idea of the division of Kosovo is not a good idea, while the Liberal Democratic Party of Serbia estimates that the time for the division of Kosovo is long gone139.

The spokesman of the previous Government Slobodan Homen stated that Dacic did not violate the governmental code in the statement on the division of Kosovo, because he clearly stated that this was his personal opinion. The former Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic stated that the Serbian Government had never discussed the division of Kosovo: “Over 90% of Serbs living in Northern Kosovo support the division and we should not stay blind to the truth. On the other hand, the majority of Serbs south of the Ibar river are against the division“, stated Bogdanovic140.

Dacic stated that he did not insist on the proposition on division to be discussed during the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, but only stated the opinion of the majority of citizens. He pointed out that he never used the term division of Kosovo. “No one can tell me or the Socialist party (of which he is the President, remark by T.K.) that we did not do everything in our power to defend Kosovo. We even defended it with weapons, unlike others who only presented theories in Belgrade“, stated Dacic. “I believe that this idea could provide a compromise on which the Serbian people should decide“, he said141.

A part of the Beta agency report on the division of Kosovo was conveyed by B92: “This is my opinion, regardless of the fact that it is frowned upon both in Belgrade and in Prishtina. However, I am a realistic poitician and I honestly don’t see a different solution. I believe that the only solution is for the territory populated by Serbs to remain within Serbia, and for the territory populated by Albanians to be separated. That is the only realistic way to a fast solution. Other solutions are a waste of time and years or decades could pass by in the attempt to resolve small issues“, added Dacic142.

B92 entitled this report based on agency sources “New borders as the end of a fairy- tale“. Dacic stated that he only presented his own opinion an that he had also suggested this solution to Slobodan Milosevic years before. “If the issue of former Yugoslaia had been resolved in this manner, there would not have been any wars“, he added143.

According to Dacic, compromise is necessary because in the opposite case “since Serbia considers Kosovo to be a part of it, which no Albanian politician would accept, in order to realize these ideas in case the negotiations fail, would have to use military forces“. Dacic stated that the situation is similar on the Albanian side, and in that case such attitudes would lead to a new war144.

139 - �����RTS, �M������������ay 16 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/892542/URS%3A+Da%C4%8Di%C4 %87ev+predlog+legitiman+.html 140 - ������Ibid. 141 - �������������������Radio Free Europe, �M�����������ay 16 2011, 142 - �����B92, �M������������ay 15 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=15&nav_ category=640&nav_id=512206 143 - �����B92, �M������������ay 16 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=16&nav_ category=640&nav_id=512433 144 - �����Ibid. 42 Journalists can do it III A couple of days later, on 18 May, Dacic stated that international relations are such that it is impossible for Kosovo to remain a part of Serbia. “I was counting on a loud response because the interview was given to a newspaper issued in Prishtina. This is the reality the authorities in Prishtina will also have to confirm“, Dacic clarified his statement145.

“Vecernje novosti“ published a text by an unknown author entitled “No divisions“, in which it is stated that the chief of the Prishtina negotiating team considered the statement of the chief of the Serbian team Borislav Stefanovic to be “provocative“, and rejected the possibility that the division of Kosovo could be one of the toopics of the discussion. “The concept of the negotiations is technical in nature, and political issues will not be discussed... Such provocative statements are detrimental for the dialogue and I believe that in this case Mr. Stefanovic should be held accountable for his contribution to the success of the dialogue“, Tahiri stated146.

Similar estimates were published by the “Alo!“ daily under the title “Tahiri: Borko is provoking us“147 and by “Politika“148, while the “Kurir“ daily published a text by Gordana Rakovic entitled “Serbia supports division!“, in which it is estimated that Dacic spoke first. The newspaper conveyed the opinion of the vice president of the Serbian Progressive Party Aleksandar Vucic, that Dacic is undermining the consitutional order of Serbia through such statements149.

The “Alo!“ daily entitled a text “The state is offering Kosovo Albanians a division of Kosovo!!!“ and wrote in the sub-title that the “Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dacic hinted at a turn in state politics“. The text goes as follows: “Serbia has officially started the campaign for the division of Kosovo! Even though this option has been only hinted at confidentially, during the last few days state representatives have been publicly advocating a border on the Ibar river. Immediately after the chief of the negotiating team Borko Stefanovic brought up the issue of the division of Kosovo, the Minister of Police Ivica Dacic publicly offered this option yesterday as the only solution. Connoisseurs of events in Kosovo agree that this could be a case of preparing the public for a turn in the state policy on the Southern Serbian Province“150.

The “Press“ daily conveyed several statements by politicians and analysts under the title “Dacic’s suggestion dangerous for Serbia“. The politicians and analysts warn that Dacic had made a mistake by speaking with the Albanian side first on this issue. It is added that Dacic’s statement had also caused reactions in the international community: “There is an initiative in the international community to react harshly and ask for the discontinuation of talks on the division of Kosovo, and Serbia is exposing itself to the risk of new sanctions if these provocative issues come up again“, claims the source of “Press“ daily151. ���������� - B92, �M������������ay 18 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=18&nav_ category=11&nav_id=512861 146 - Vecernje��������������������������������������� novosti, April 25 2011, Page 3 147 - Alo���!�,����������������������� April 25 2011, Page 3 148 - ��������������������������������Politika, April 25 2011, Page A7 149 - �������Kurir, �M������������������ay 16 2011, Page 3 150 - Alo,����� M�ay������������������ 16 2011, Page 2 151 - �������Press, �M�������������������ay 16 2011, Page 2

Journalists can do it III 43 THE FOURTH ROUND

The fourth round of negotiations between representatives of Serbia and Kosovo, which was held on May 17th and 18th, 2011, represents a clear example of superficial media reporting in which this process is observed as a mere record of subjects on which the agreement was reached or is expected to be reached without informing the readers about the actual contents of the meetings between the two delegations. They exclu- sively relay statements given by leaders of negotiation teams and there are almost no examples of a more thorough reporting. Statements given by Borko Stefanović in which he accused the Prishtina team that they obstruct the negotiations by insisting on the issue of the status of Kosovo were also relayed during the two days of negotia- tions.

On the first day of the fourth round of negotiations, “Blic” Daily published the following statement given by Borko Stefanovic: “It is realistic for us to reach an agreement on the issue of the cadaster, registries, and the freedom of movement.” Then they went on quoting Edita Tahiri who said that she “expects major success in several important fields including the freedom of movement, free trade, and energetics. I expect that we will reach a framework agreement during these two days on these three issues, that we will continue talking about issues that remained open in the past and that we will trigger some new issues like the issue of missing persons, cultural legacy, and educa- tion”, she said.152

State television offers no further news with this regard in their own reporting: “Leaders of the negotiation teams from Belgrade and Prishtina, Borislav Stefanovic and Edita Tahiri, stated prior to the beginning of the fourth round of negotiations that they expect that some of the issues which were discussed during the previous meetings of the two teams will be closed in this round.”153 The same report relays the statement given by Stefanovic that the issues of “cadaster and registry books” shall be subject to discus- sion, as well as the statement by his Kosovo counterpart, who expects “that we will trigger some new issues like the issue of missing persons, cultural legacy, and educa- tion”. Articles containing identical phrases were also published in “Kurir”, “Politika”, “Večernje novosti” and other media and it was all taken over from the “Tanjug” News Agency report.

Referring to the “Tanjug” report, “Politika” shared the optimism of Borko Stefanovic, who said that his team had prepared proposals “in accordance with the European practice” and he announced that the negotiation team will seek “solutions for some of the issues that had been triggered in the past”. Then they quoted his statement, which is identical to his statement given prior to the beginning of the first day of nego- tiations; “It is realistic for us to reach an agreement on the issues of cadaster, registry books, and the freedom of movement. These topics are closest to resolution.”154 The report further states that “Edita Tahiri said that she expects ‘major success in a number of important fields, including the freedom of movement, free trade, and energetics’”. ����������� - Blic, �M�����ay 17th, 2012. 153 - �����RTS, �M�����ay 17th, 2012, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/892882/%C4%8Cetvrta+runda+dijal oga.html 154 - ����������Politika, �M������������������ay 17th, 2011. - http://srb.time.mk/read/53d384a7be/8e79672cfd/index.html 44 Journalists can do it III Negotiators keep repeating the topics of negotiations like some kind of mantra and media communicate their words without a slightest attempt to gain an insight into the contents of the meetings.

No media have gone further than only broadcasting short agency reports in the form of announcements and they have not shown ambition to inform the public about what the content of the talks on the “cadaster, registry books, the freedom of movement, missing persons, cultural legacy or education” might be. No one, for example, called organizations for missing persons to ask them for their expectations regarding the ne- gotiations on the topics that concern them the most or published possible directions in which the negotiations about the freedom of movement might take. It was only “Beta” Agency that barely touched the question of cultural legacy and did this by quoting the Kosovo participant in the negotiations, “Tahiri said she expected that they would turn to the issues of “cultural legacy and the damages caused to the cultural legacy in Kosovo, the compensation of damages, the restitution of some of the works of art that have been taken away.”155

During the first day of the two-day-long fourth round of negotiations, only “Beta” and “Tanjug” and “RTS” to some extent published reports informing the public about the course of the negotiations. The reports resembled one another so much that some- times it was hard to distinguish whether the media were broadcasting agency news or they had their own reporters. Information obtained only from two main negotiators, namely Stefanovic and Tahiri, were being relayed. Their statements and the entire reports during the two days were so similar that it is hard to establish if anything was happening during the negotiations.

The last paragraph of the short article published in “Kurir”, which summarized the agency reports after the first day of the fourth round of negotiations; speak volumes about the extent to which the news coming from Brussels are scarce and uneventful: “Otherwise, the topics of the talks yesterday and today are cultural monuments, miss- ing persons, cadaster books, telecommunications, energy, custom stamps, freedom of movement, and school diplomas.”156

Without pretension to give lectures about reporting to the media in Serbia, it is appar- ent that the negotiation process is absolutely not being followed by stories from the field like, for instance, interviews with people who travel from Serbia to Kosovo and vice versa in order to hear them say what are the problems that burden them and what are the solutions they hope for, or what would the agreement on cadaster book mean for property owners in Kosovo, or what would the agreement on diplomas mean for graduates, and so forth.

After the first day, media relayed a part of the “Tanjug” news which contains Mr. Ste- fanovic’s statement that one could expect “that some of the topics that had been trig- gered might be finally closed and some issues might finally find concrete solutions.”157 The information that “some topics” might be closed and that “some issues” might be

����������� - Beta, �M�����ay 17th, 2012 - http://srb.time.mk/read/53d384a7be/96be3b2d0d/index.html ������������ - Kurir, �M��������������ay 18th, 2011. 157 - ������Blic, �M����������������ay 18th, 2011 - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/afa4a074d5/index.html Journalists can do it III 45 resolved does not mean a thing to the readers.

If due to the reasons of preserving the integrity of the negotiation process, the pub- lic could not be informed about its course, then it had to be at least informed about what the talks were about, if the “agreement is getting close” or the agreement was reached. Instead of this, the things said prior to the beginning of the fourth round were only modified to a certain extend and repeated.

Media published the “Beta” News Agency report, which contained the statement given by Mr. Stefanovic “that in the last round of negations, they came close to the agree- ment on cadaster books and the freedom of movement and that the EU proposed that the issues of missing persons and cultural legacy be triggered”.158 Further in the report they quoted his statement in which he only briefly spoke about the contents of the talks about the cadaster: “Stefanovic underlined that the issues of the freedom of movement and the cadaster books are extremely significant for day-to-day life of people, highlighting that the solution for the cadaster issue means that the legal state regarding whose land and real estate in Kosovo are is determined.” Even though the aforementioned issues are “extremely significant for the day-to-day life”, Stefanovic was not asked to explain what the agreement that is “close” would look like and there will be no media reporting about this “day-to-day life”.

The report of the “Tanjug” Agency in the interpretation of “Blic” daily after the comple- tion of the fourth round of negotiations is somewhat longer, but not any more eventful than “Beta”’s report. They quoted Stefanovic, who said that some of the issues “like cadaster and the freedom of movement”, have really been almost completely resolved” and he added, “we discussed details about each of the topics that have been trig- gered, namely telecommunications, electric power, the freedom of movement. Some other topics have been mentioned, more in a sense of presenting opinions, and these are the issues of missing persons, protection of cultural legacy and religious legacy and the issue of recognition or the regulation of the use of diplomas.”159

During the negotiations, media gave room to the statements of Borko Stefanovic, who directly or indirectly accused the Kosovo team of obstructing the process. The “Tan- jug” report relayed by “Blic” and other daily newspapers as well, stated the following, “When asked whether the Serbian side insists on the issue of the status, Stefanovic said that it is not Belgrade that is trying to impose this issue within each topic. “For us, this status has been solved and grounded in our Constitution. It is just the opposite. Prishtina insists on this and it pushes the question of the status in every topic that we discuss. If everything can be turned into a political matter, if they find it necessary to impose their so-called independence in everything, then you understand that this is really one very bothersome and complex process. It is not us who insist on this, we want to find concrete answers”, he said.160

“Vecernje novosti” published a similar report: “The leader of our negotiation team, underlined that the issues of cadaster, registries, and the freedom of movement are

158 - ������Beta, �M�����ay 18th, 2011, - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/52c53aa095/index.html ����������� - Blic, �May����������������� 18th, 2011, - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/afa4a074d5/index.html 160 - ������Blic, �M��������������ay 17th, 2012. 46 Journalists can do it III closest to being resolved:

- Unfortunately, in each of these matters there is still one obstruction imposed by Priština”161

Upon the completion of negotiations, the RTS published a short report in which it de- scribed satisfaction of leaders of negotiation teams with the progress made and they once more listed the topics that had been discussed and which have been almost resolved and they deliberate a bit more about Stefanovic’s dissatisfaction with the behavior of the Prishtina negotiation team: “We should be aware that there is some animosity and there is mistrust. Prishtina has one defensive stance trying to obtain recognition of its so-called independence all the time and that is the reason why we often find ourselves in a situation in which concrete proposals for concrete matters suf- fer”, Stefanovic said upon the completion of the talks. Stefanovic stressed that Serbia has a very clear stance and there is will to initiate all topics. “But, if they are looking for every opportunity to block every agreement with regard to matters like the cadaster, then you can imagine how hard it gets when we come to matters like the north or the issue of permanent regulation of problems between Belgrade and Prishtina”, Stefa- novic said.162

Besides reference to the “Tanjug” report, the aforementioned article published in “Blic” also added the statement “that the Serbian side is the one that had offered all of the solutions without limitations, but he noted that the Prishtina side constantly tries to link every question to the issue of the status. International representatives accepted the proposals made by the Serbian side very positively”.163 There are no details about what these “solutions without limitations” are and what the proposals that the interna- tional representatives “accepted very positively” are.

“Beta” gave the identical report about the Stefanovic’s proposal: “He assessed that the Serbian side is the one that has offered all solutions without limitations, but he added that the Prishtina side constantly tries to link every matter to the issue of the status. In- ternational representatives have accepted very positively the proposals of the Serbian side”, Stefanovic said.”164

It is indicative that in the days after the fourth round of the negotiations was completed, there were no articles about what would the solutions for the issues that have been discussed (telecommunications, electric power, cultural heritage, missing persons) or issues which have come close to the agreement (the issues of cadaster and the free- dom of movement) mean for the citizens of Kosovo. Not a single web portal, daily or weekly magazine has published reports made in the field in Kosovo, in which Kosovo Serbs, or even Albanians and members of national minorities, would point to their day- to-day needs, which would be placed in the context of negotiations.

Instead of this, there is not a single word in the media about the negotiations between two rounds of negotiations, except for the articles reporting on the postponing of the

161 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, M�ay����������������� 17th, 2012. - http://srb.time.mk/read/53d384a7be/8bbb6c6f92/index.html 162 -������������������� RTS, 18.5.2011. - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/754b32bbac/index.html 163 - �������������������Blic, 18.5.2011. - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/afa4a074d5/index.html ������������������������ - Beta, 18.5.2011. - http://srb.time.mk/read/2a4e0c1ff1/52c53aa095/index.html Journalists can do it III 47 next round and the reasons for such a turn of events. The truth is that the columnists of the obscure magazine called “Pecat” (Stamp) do mention the negotiations from time to time in the period between two rounds of negotiations and they heavily criticize Serbian officials for negotiating with Prishtina at all. For example, they heavily criti- cized Borko Stefanovic because he visited Prishtina prior to the negotiations because he allegedly recognized Kosovo in this way: “The inspirers of the meeting, who used the chief Serb negotiator as a puppet, obviously did not find enough of the wanted symbolism in his entering the building. Therefore, they took him to the room with the flag of Kosovo standing in the corner with little Kosovo and Serbian flags standing on the table. When he saw these Kosovo flags, were he not a puppet, Stefanovic could have just turned around and leave like Serbian delegations had done at a number of international gatherings in the past. However, Borko Stefanovic decided not to go. This brings us to one conclusion only and that is that he was purposely brought there to sit at the table decorated by the flag of independent Kosovo. What’s the effort for? Be- cause by such an act of a Serbian official, by reconciling with the Kosovo flag, Borko Stefanovic recognized the independence of Kosovo on behalf of Serbia”.165

During the negotiations, “NIN” and “Novi magazin” magazines dealt with the idea bred by Serb officials in the past about the division of Kosovo, and “Vreme”, since the is- sue for that week came out on the day when the fourth round of negotiations started, published an informative article about the three previous rounds. However, “Vreme” also just gave a list of the topics discussed during the three previous rounds: “The del- egations from Belgrade and Prishtina met on March 8th and 9th and discussed mutual business cooperation, telecommunications, air traffic, custom stamps, land registries, and registries of the dead and the birth registry. During the second round, on March 28th, they discussed the electric power, the freedom of movement, and the custom stamps again, air traffic and the participation of Kosovo in regional initiatives. A certain progress was made in the talks about land registries, and the birth registry. The third round, on April 15th, again the freedom of movement, vehicle registration plates, and diploma recognition.”166 In the same article this weekly magazine from Belgrade also offered very short biographies of the negotiators.

165 - �P�e������at, 20�.�5�.����2011�. 166 - Vreme, 19.5.2011. 48 Journalists can do it III THE FIFTH ROUND

The talks within the fifth round of negotiations, which were originally scheduled to take place in mid-June, were held on July 2nd, 2011, and the media in Serbia announced that Serbian delegation insisted on this adjournment. “Blic” conducted a research into the reasons for the change of date, in which it published the report of the “Beta” News Agency quoting Edita Tahiri who stated that Belgrade is responsible for this delay: “She stated that Serbia is apparently scared of signing the agreement on the freedom of movement and free trade, as well as on the issues of energetics, telecommunications, restoration of cadastral and civilian documents, fates of the missing, and diploma recognition. ‘Whenever we approach the signing of an agreement, Serbia steps back”, Tahiri said.”167

However, different information comes from Belgrade: “We made a mutual decision that it would be ‘better to have this meeting in late June so that we could prepare better elements of the closing segment of the agreement”, Stefanovic stated anent the statements from Prishtina that Belgrade asked for the delay of the talks.”168

Within the fifth round of negotiations, some of the first solutions with regard to certain issues, including the freedom of movement of vehicles and persons across the border, exchange of information with regard to registry books were reached, while the issue of mutual recognition of university diplomas was only discussed in general. Even though the contents of the agreements reached were somewhat explained in the media reports, the essence of the agreements remained in the shadow of political issues like the question if Serbia practically recognized the independence of its former province by accepting the agreement with Kosovo.

Three weeks prior to the negotiations, Borislav Stefanovic announced: “that no treaty shall be signed, but that the two governments shall implement every agreement reached, with the assistance and under the monitoring of the EU. No treaty shall be signed with Kosovo, because Kosovo is not a state and, therefore, no treaty can be signed with Kosovo”.169 Apparently aware of the possible pressure of the opposition and the public, namely the media, the Serbian negotiator intended to dissociate himself in advance from providing any sort of legitimacy to Kosovo authorities. The text following this statement contains a completely different statement: “’Serbia is not afraid of any agreement’, Stefavnovic said and added that he thinks that the other side should be more afraid considering their internal political situation.”170

In any event, Stefanovic insisted on the fact that no “treaty” shall be signed, but that they are only going to reach “agreements” with the “EU assistance and monitoring”, while Edita Tahiri persistently used the word “treaty” in her statements. The question of semantics which seems irrelevant at the first glance represents the expression of ideological positions of the Serbia and Kosovo governments with regard to the (non) ����������������� - Blic, June 9th, 2011 http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/259108/Tahiri-Peta-runda-pregovora-odlozena-zbog- Srbije 168 - ������������������������������������� Radio Television Vojvodina, June 10th, 2011. http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/tahiri:-uskoro-dogovor-o- sest-pitanja_258275.html ���������� - Ibid. 170 - �����Ibid. Journalists can do it III 49 recognition of the Kosovo’s independence. Both terms are legitimately used in media reports in Serbia; however, it is conspicuous that state officials tend to use the term “agreement” in their statements, while local nationalistic opponents to negotiations with Kosovo almost exclusively use the term “treaty”.

When the agreement (or treaty) was reached, media paid utmost attention to the statement and reactions of Edita Tahiri, who said that “Serbia is on its way to recognize Kosovo” instead of focusing on the contents of the agreement reached. B92 web page published the “Beta” report with this headline: “It is becoming clearer that Serbia’s EU integration is conditioned by recognition of Kosovo and Serbia’s first step towards recognition of Kosovo’s independence was made today,” Tahiri stressed after several- hour-long negotiations in Brussels.”171

In addition to communicating agency reports, sometimes even reports made by the Kosovo media, the press also published the statement given by Edita Tahiri, who assessed that “these are maybe the first historical agreements between the two states and I think that they have been reached because both states aim at becoming members of the European Union. By these agreements, Kosovo and Serbia have fulfilled some of the conditions and values that lead towards the EU.”172

Media in Serbia offered some more room for Stefanovic’s denial of the claims given by his Kosovo counterpart: “The first agreements reached with Prishtina do not represent explicit or implicit recognition of Kosovo, Borislav Stefanovic stated. Statements made by Edita Tahiri that the agreements represents a step towards the recognition of Kosovo’s independence, were given due to the pressure of the opposition, Stefanovic stressed. The head of the Government of Serbia negotiations team with Prishtina, Borislav Stefanovic, stated that the agreement on the resolution of the issue of the freedom of movement of persons and exchange of registry books with Kosovo authorities does not represent “either explicit or implicit recognition of Kosovo”.173

After the fifth round of negotiations and the signing of agreement by the two delegations with the assistance of the EU representatives, at the first glance printed media stick to their earlier practice not to get engaged in researching the contents of the agreements signed, but only to offer a short list of the topics that were discussed and for which the solutions were reached. The approach in this case actually marked the first reports from the fifth round of negotiations and it relates to the period before representatives of the negotiation teams made official statements and before a limited number of statements, which were available prior to the finalization of Belgrade daily newspaper issues prepared for the following day.

Hence, “Kurir” published the following: “During the yesterday’s round of the Belgrade- Prishtina dialogue, agreements were reached with regard to the issues of the freedom of movement, registry books, and recognition of diplomas, an EU official stated for Beta News Agency. The leader of the Serbian team, Borislav Stefanovic expressed 171 -������������ B92, July 2nd, 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=02&nav_ category=640&nav_id=522852 172 - ����������������� Politika, July 3rd, 2011. 173 -������������ RTS, July 3rd, 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/918676/Stefanovi%C4%87%3A+Nism o+priznali+Kosovo.html 50 Journalists can do it III his expectations that concrete agreements on cadastre books, energetics, and custom stamps will also be reached.”174 “Blic” published similar reports: heads of the Belgrade and Prishtina negotiation teams reached the agreement on the freedom of movement, registry books, and recognition of diplomas in Brussels yesterday, Beta learned in the EU. Discussions between Belgrade and Prishtina teams in Brussels lasted the entire day yesterday. Before this, sources from these two delegations and the EU announced that agreements on certain issues had probably been reached and that the facilitator in the dialogue, high European diplomat Robert Cooper, is expected to give an official statement about this. The new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina was held today in Brussels. The head of the Belgrade negotiation team, Borislav Stefanovic, stated previously that he expected the agreement on the freedom of movement, cadastre books, and registry books to be reached in this meeting. As previously stated, the topics of the discussion were registry books, cadastre books, telecommunications, electric power, customs, and recognitions of university diplomas.”175

Belgrade “Press” daily newspaper published an article titled “Agreement on the freedom of movement reached” in which it is stated that “the agreement on the freedom of movement, registry books, and the recognition of Kosovo diplomas was reached in the fifth meeting between the Belgrade and Prishtina delegations, which washeld yesterday in Brussels.”176 Obviously it was only possible to obtain this brief information until the end of the day; hence, the rest of the article contains the statement that Borislav Stefanovic h prior to his trip to Brussels in which he, among others, promised that “there will not be any discussion about the ‘so-called Kosovo passports’ and they will not be recognized in Serbia”. Despite the obviously neutral journalist’s reminder, they also published the opinion which the leader of the Serbian negotiation team had already stated in public on a number of occasions, “in the negotiation rounds held to date, officials from Prishtina insisted in all issues on the resolution of the status of Kosovo exclusively, while Serbian side still opined that the status of Kosovo had been regulated and founded in the Constitution of Serbia and that the discussion should be directed towards some burning issues and concrete day-to-day problems of citizens in Kosovo.”

“Večernje novosti” also published that “the fifth round of the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina which was held last night in Brussels, finally resulted in an actual agreement. Novosti received information from the European sources by the end of the day that the two sides reached an agreement on three topics, namely the freedom of movement, registry books, and the recognition of diplomas.”177 In the absence of the information from Brussels, the earlier state position that “no treaties will be signed between Belgrade and Prishtina, but they would rather conclude verbal agreements, which will then be immediately implemented. The agreements will not be signed so the two sides will not be made equal in the status of the parties to the agreement.” Finally, “Novosti” “exclusively found out” that the successfully completed negotiations will be appropriately marked and the function of the facilitator in the talks, Robert Cooper, is formulated by the use of the terminology, which more often seen in the description of 174 - �������������Kurir, July 3rd, 2011. 175 - ������������Blic, July 3rd, 2011. 176 - �������������Press, July 3rd, 2011. 177 - V�e�č�ern���j�e���� nov�osti,������ J�ul��y� �3�rd, 2011. Journalists can do it III 51 physiological rather than social and political processes, and all this for the purpose of avoiding to present him as a mediator between two equal parties: “A small cocktail party was organized on this occasion in the Council of Europe and it was scheduled for the EU facilitator in the negotiations, Robert Cooper, to give a public statement.”

“Politika” published one of the most detailed reports a day before the negotiations and it quoted the statement given by Stefanovic to the “Tanjug” News Agency about the contents of the agreement. However, his allegations, therefore the newspaper article as well, were burdened by the question that had emerged earlier whether the agreement means the recognition of Kosovo, so this topic put aside the question of the content of the agreement.

„Politika” reported that in Brussels the agreement was reached “on the matter of registry books, freedom of movement, and general acknowledgment of university and school diplomas.”178 The report further explains that a part of the agreement on registry books practically comes down to the exchange of the copies of registry books between Serbia and Kosovo. In order to avoid suspicions that Serbia gave up its sovereignty by this action, Stefanovic gave the following statement: “I think this issue has been very well regulated because we avoided handing over original registry books, which was the firm and persistent request of the Prishtina team. Original books are the proof of sovereignty”.179

The situation is similar when it comes to the agreement on the freedom of movement with regard to which Stefanovic underlined the use of the “status neutral” registration signs: “the leader of the Belgrade negotiation team stated that the issue of the freedom of movement was resolved in such a manner that citizens of Serbia who live in Kosovo and Metohija will in the future use either ‘KS’ registration plates or ‘RKS’ plates, which have attributes of the ‘so-called sovereignty of Kosovo’. ‘They will be able to choose between these two types of plates and Serbs will, upon our recommendation of course, take the ‘KS’ plates, which are status neutral and known as ‘UNMIK’ plates .They will be able to move across the entire territory of Serbia with these plates and the matter of vehicle insurance will be regulated.’”.180 He mentioned that an important achievement in the negotiations was the fact that vehicles with “RKS plates will not be allowed to move through the rest of the Republic of Serbia and they will have to use temporary registration plates”.181

As far as the movement of persons is concerned “Stefanovic stressed that the freedom of movement has been regulated by the use of personal identification cards issued in Kosovo and that Belgrade succeeded in avoiding the use of ‘Kosovo passports’, on which Prishtina insisted since the beginning of the dialogue. ‘All citizens, who live in Kosovo, will be able to move on the territory of the rest of Serbia with the so-called Kosovo identification cards and will be able to use their own drivers licenses’, he said.”182 Instead of introducing the public to the things that will be possible after the

178 - ����������������Politika, July 3rd, 2011. 179 - �����Ibid. 180 - �����Ibid. 181 - �����Ibid. 182 - �����Ibid. 52 Journalists can do it III signing of agreements, media reports mainly focus on Stefanoivc’s statements which highlight the things that will not happen or will not be allowed – we will not hand over original registry books, vehicles with RSK registration plates will not be allowed to drive through Serbia, Kosovo passports will not be used. And all this is done, of course, in order to prove that not a single “step towards the recognition of Kosovo” has been made as Edita Tahiri assessed.

The article is concluded by the statement of the international facilitator Robert Cooper, who clearly said that “by these agreements Serbia does not recognize Kosovo nor does Kosovo give up its status”.183

B92 web page relayed the promise given by Stefanovic on the day when the negotiations took place that “the Government of Serbia will not recognize the independence of Kosovo” and that “so-called Kosovo passports or Kosovo registration plates will not be recognized in Serbia. A passport is the ultimate symbol of a state, Stefanovic said adding that personal identification cards are not the same as passports, hence they may be recognized, which is the case in the relations between China and Taiwan, or in the Cypriot model.”184

State broadcasting service published the news about the signing of the agreement and it did not ask citizens of Kosovo and Serbia for their reaction, but representatives of the two hard core nationalistic parties – Democratic Party of Serbia and the Serb Radical Party, who absolutely agree with the assessment of the leader of the Kosovo negotiation team Edita Tahiri: “Former Minister for Kosovo and Metohija, Slobodan Samardzic, assessed that the agreement between Belgrade and Prishtina represents the recognition of the independence of Kosovo because, as he said, it violates all of the documents on which the sovereignty of Serbia is founded. ‘Today’s agreement with representatives of the illegal state of Kosovo represents a clear violation of the Constitution of Serbia and the Resolution 1244, and as such, it represents a clear violation of legal documents on which the sovereignty of Serbia is based’, Samardzic, who is also the Vice President of the Democratic Party of Serbia, stated for Beta Agency (…) According to the former minister, the topics regulated step by step mean that Serbia is being poisoned step by step. Samardzic stated that the topics, which are subject to the present discussion and which will be subject to discussion in the future are positive for the ‘false state of Kosovo’. The Vice President of the Serb Radical Party, Dragan Todorovic, stated that with the agreement with Prishtina Belgrade has made yet another step, which leads not only to the recognition of the independence of Kosovo, but to new blackmails.”185

Statements by political analysts Predrag Simić and Dušan Janjić are relayed further in the article, and they assess that “the long awaited breakthrough in the negotiations has happened and for the time being one can only welcome the progress made in these negotiations in which measures for the strengthening of trust between Prishtina and Belgrade are looked for” and that it is “good that the agreement was reached even 183 - �����Ibid. 184 - �����������B92, July 2nd, 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=02&nav_ category=640&nav_id=522723 185 - �����������RTS, July 2nd, 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/918416/Reakcije+na+dogovor+Beogra da+i+Pri%C5%A1tine.html Journalists can do it III 53 though it was reached in only two areas because negotiations had already hit a major crisis”.186

‘Alo’ tabloid from Belgrade also asked two nationalistic parties for their opinions first. Under the title “DSS: Government Recognized Kosovo” they published an article in which they quoted Borislav Stefanovic with regard to the signing of the agreement and then they gave stage to the critics of the agreement and Edita Tahiri: “Former minister for Kosovo and Metohija and the Vice President of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Slobodan Samardzic, said that the treaty represents the recognition of Kosovo ‘because it violates all of the documents on which the sovereignty of Serbia is founded’. – The state and the people can only come to terms with the fact that a part of its historical territory has seceded and the government has acknowledged this- Samardzic said.

SRS agreed with this claim and added that a step has been made not only towards the recognition of the independence of Kosovo, but also towards other blackmails. The rage was additionally heated by the statement of the leader of the Prishtina negotiation team, Edita Tahiri, who said that by this agreement Serbia has made the first step towards the recognition of Kosovo’s independence.”187

Other tabloid “Kurir” published a column authored by Samardzic’s party colleague Miloš Aligrudić, who said “Belgrade makes generous moves, allegedly in order to satisfy day-to-day interests of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, thus de facto recognizing the independence of Kosovo.”188 At the end of the article, DSS columnist addresses the President of Serbia and the leader of the Serbian negotiation team by saying: “Congratulations, Boris and Borislav! Mantra that you will not recognize independent Kosovo lives despite the natural and social laws that regulate your actions. IT is tragic that you lie to your own citizens about what you are doing, and you also lie to the ones who live on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija that this will make them feel betrer. You traded Kosovo for the membership in the EU. The only thing is that it is a bad trade because the other party is not willing to fulfil its own obligation.”189

When the issue of the recognition of the independence of Kosovo by concluding treaties/agreements with Prishtina was once triggered, for a short period of time media completely forgot about the contents of the treaty. The day after the signing of the agreement, the response of the Serbian negotiation team leader to the critics was published on the RTS web page in which he stated, “the agreement on the regulation of the freedom of movement of persons and the exchange of registry books with the Kosovo authorities does not represent either explicit or implicit recognition of Kosovo”.190 Stefanovic further added, “The ways in which independence of a state or entity is recognized are clear. In this case none of them have been used and we are not planning to use any. The only ones who can make Serbia recognize the independence

���������� - Ibid. 187 - Alo���!�,�������� July 3rd, 2011. 188 - �������������Kurir, July 5th, 2011. 189 - �����Ibid. 190 - �����������RTS, July 3rd, 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/918676/Stefanovi%C4%87%3A+Nism o+priznali+Kosovo.html 54 Journalists can do it III of Kosovo are us.”191 Finally, he gave a direct answer to the stance of the nationalistic opposition regarding the recognition of Kosovo “assessing them as ‘acts of political hacks’ and calling upon representatives of the opposition parties to offer concrete proposals for the resolution of the Kosovo problem.”192

Apart from communicating statements of Edita Tahiri from Brussels, it is hardly possible to hear in Serbian media any other stance of the Kosovo authorities or local analysts. One of the rare reports treating Kosovo side appeared a day after the agreement was signed on B92 web page. They relayed the press statement of the Kosovo government in which they “stressed the inter-governmental character of the agreement and they emphasized that these are the ‘three inter-governmental treaties with Serbia’ that were reached through the mediation of the EU and with the assistance of the US. ‘The results of this round of technical dialogue will have impact on the improving of the neighbouring relations and regional cooperation, which are criteria for the integration into the EU. Through these achievements, Kosovo has made a significant step in the national interest of their own citizens”, the statement said.”193

Then they relayed three statements given by anonymous citizens of Kosovo, one of whom was against the signing of the agreement because “Serbia always does things in its own interest”,194 and the other two spoke affirmatively about the agreement reached between the two parties. Finally, they published the statement of the Kosovo political analyst Behlul Beqaj, who alleges that “practically the agreement has a role to preserve the governing elites in Kosovo and Serbia, rather than to really solve standing issues, which burden regular citizens” and added that “negotiators are not acting appropriately because, until yesterday, they were saying that these are technical issues and yesterday they said that possible solution of these matters actually meant mutual recognition of Kosovo’s sovereignty.”195

“Politika” relayed briefly the opinions of representatives of Kosovo Serbs offering two opposite opinions of local politicians. In the article in which the journalist first attempts to clarify with Stefanovic what the agreements reached mean in practice, they queted his statement: “It was agreed that citizens of Kosovo will be allowed to cross the administrative line with Kosovo documents, but when they cross the border they will receive an identification card, which they will have to return on their way out of Serbia and they will travel further with the Kosovo passport. As Stefanovic stated for “Politika,” our identification cards will still be valid and the state will continue to carry outits functions.”196 Further in the article it is said that “conflicting interpretation comes” from Edita Tahiri in Prishtina, regarding the issue of the agreements reached, who stated that Serbian “parallel structures will no longer exist, while citizens of Kosovo shall move freely in Serbia with the existing documents. According to her, the offices which had issued documents illegally will no longer exist and until that time all old registration

191 - �����Ibid. 192 - �����Ibid. 193 - ������������ B92, July 3rd, 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=03&nav_ category=640&nav_id=522912 194 - �����Ibid. 195 - �����Ibid. 196 - ����������������Politika, July 5th, 2011. Journalists can do it III 55 plates will cease to be valid”.197

The article is titled “Kosovo Serbs Interpret the Agreement Differently” and the second part of this article offers statements of the member of the Serbian Parliament, Stojanka Petkovic from Zvecan, and the Mayor of Gnjilane, Predrag Stojkovic. Ms. Petkovic, a member of the United Regions of Serbia, alleges that “registration plates that Serbs have been using to date will be terminated. We have fought for Serbian institutions and Serbian plates with which we have been able to move throughout the entire Kosovo lately. (…) She also assessed that by this agreement Serbs only lose the things that they had. (…) This all looks to me as some sort of tacit integration, especially of the north of Kosovo, in the Kosovo institutions. What we maintained and what Albanians or International Community had not been able to take away from us, Belgrade now offers on a plate. Serbian community in the north will not accept this”.198 On the other hand, Predrag Stojkovic assessed that “the agreement will facilitate the day-to-day life for Serbs living south of the Ibar River. As he stated for Beta, Serbs, who live in the area around the Morava River in Kosovo and who gravitate towards Bujanovac and Vranje will be able to cross the administrative line easier with traffic licenses and registration plates, which will be recognized by both, Belgrade and Prishtina.”199

In order to reveal some of the details of the agreement reached, “Blic” Daily published an interview with Borislav Stefanovic where he repeated his statements made during the previous days, but he also revealed some new facts. He stated that Kosovo documents shall be allowed in Serbia with a “certificate card for transit purposes only”, that registration plates with the coat of arms and the sign “Republic of Kosovo” will not be valid on the territory of Serbia. He also said that Serbs in Kosovo will be able to use “status-neutral plates” and so forth.

This interview, just like the articles from previous days, is focused on whether the agreement between the two parties favours the independence of Kosovo. For instance, when he describes the process of travelling through Serbia, Stefanovic said: the certificate will state that this document shall in no way prejudice the status of Kosovo. For us this is a legal verification that the documents shall be used for transit purposes only. This will mean that we allow all people, who are also our citizens, to move freely without jeopardizing our position relative to the status. The so-called passports of Kosovo will not be allowed.

What would jeopardize the status?

- Only if they put the stamp on some of these documents. This would mean that we accept the document from the authority that issued it.”200

The article in “Blic” daily for the first time announces the strategy of official Belgrade with regard to matters which will be subject to negotiations in the forthcoming rounds of negotiations. Stefanovic, for example, presented the proposal of the Serbian side ���������� - Ibid. 198 - �����Ibid. 199 - �����Ibid. 200 - ����������������������Blic, July���������������� 5th, 2011. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/263962/Stefanovic-Cinilo-mi-se-kao-da--pricam-sa- ljudima-sa-druge-planete 56 Journalists can do it III for the resolution of the cadastre issue: “We have proposed a solution which entails a body which will work on this. If a person in Prishtina says “this is my house or land’ and we have a person who has been displaced from Kosovo and who has a proof of ownership and the contract for this house, we will make a mechanism allowing the real owner to dispose of his property”. The team from Prishtina made a step back regarding this issue for unknown reasons, but this does not mean that we will not reach the agreement on this issue next time.”

“The team from Prishtina” is being criticized in most answers and in one place Stefanovic victoriously stated that the two delegations failed to reach an agreement on certain significant issues: “If we talked about the nineties and condemned the war crimes, they talked about occupation and genocide. We did not manage to agree on what happened, let alone on what we want in the future. They wished and tried to obtain the full validation of their independence, that there is no Serbia in Kosovo, through companies, institutions or through the area code. We managed to win”.201

Finally, the “Blic” collocutor presented himself as a victim and the other side as the party that is almost not worth mentioning: “Sometimes I had an impression that I was talking to people who are not from the same planet as we are. The talks were terribly difficult because every sentence and opinion that we presented were completely opposed to what the Albanian side said.”202 The decision of the editor to title the interview “Stefanovic: “I had an impression that I was talking to people who are not from the same planet as we are” on the basis of the aforementioned paragraph despite the great number of answers relating to the most important issues concerning the citizens of Kosovo.203

However, what makes the article special is the fact that Kosovo was called “a state” for the first time in a Serbian medium. When the journalist asked “why did it take so long to reach simple solutions”, Stefanovic said, “We faced very hard and sometimes extreme positions of the state. They demanded that Kosovo passports and registration plates of the Republic of Kosovo absolutely and exclusively be accepted, that the only way to enter Kosovo be with the passport of the Republic of Serbia.”204 In the issue published the following day they reported that this was a mistake; the entire apology of the editorial office is as follows: “A mistake of technical nature was made yesterday. The answer to the question ‘why did it take so long to reach such simple solutions’ should say: ‘We faced very hard and extreme positions of Prishtina.’ We apologize to our readers and Borislav Stefanovic.”205

Even though it was originally reported from Brussels that the agreement on mutual recognition of university diplomas was reached, it became clear that such a conclusion was premature and that the agreement is expected to be reached. Hence, Stefanovic announced in the aforementioned interview in “Blic” that Serbia cannot recognize a diploma which contains the text “Republic of Kosovo – University in Prishtina” and

201 - ������ Ibid. 202 - ������ Ibid. 203 - ������ Ibid. 204 - ������ Ibid. 205 - ������������Blic, July 6th, 2012. Journalists can do it III 57 therefore proposed that “we should find a solution between the two proposals or that some other university in the region should nostrify diplomas, for instance, the University in Podgorica, and our institutions would recognize the nostrification and not the diploma itself. The team from Prishtina proposed that an international organization verifies the diplomas but it was not clear which organization should do this, or that a non-governmental organization should do this, which was also unacceptable for us.”206

Edita Tahiri’s statement, given for “Tanjug”, was relayed in “Press” Daily; in this statement she said that the issue of diplomas will be put on the agenda during the next round of negotiations: “I expect that the final agreement on the recognition of faculty diplomas shall be reached during the following round of talks between Belgrade and Prishtina, which I expect to take place around July 20th. (…) Tahiri claims both parties agreed that the process of diploma recognition should be conducted and monitored by an international institution, which both sides deem appropriate for this task.”207

Weekly magazines “Vreme” and “NIN” published articles about the fifth round of negotiations. “Vreme” published a short commentary which practically summarizes the agreement; however this is done in order to satisfy the form and not the essence, and all this is done in order to “finally satisfy representatives of the European Union”.208 They reminded of the Serbian position that the consent to agreement does not violate its sovereignty, but also of the positions expressed by Edita Tahiri that the “EU process of Serbian European integration is conditioned by the recognition of Kosovo” and a part of Serbian opposition that “Tadić’s government has committed an act of treason and indirectly recognized Kosovo”.209 They concluded with the opinion of the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, who stated that agreements are equally good for both parties because they are not asking any of the parties to give up anything, while the benefit is mutual”.210

“NIN” published a somewhat longer article in which, among others, the author is looking for an answer to the question, “is this the step forward of the Serbian side towards the recognition of the independence of Kosovo and is this the price Serbia has to pay for the integration into the European Union”.211 They reiterated Stefanovic’s claim that the agreements reached do not violate the sovereignty of Serbia, but also the opinion of Slobodan Samardzic from the Democratic Party of Serbia that this is the “humiliating recognition of Kosovo independence by Serbian authorities”.212

Unlike other newspapers, “NIN” quotes the representative of Serbs from Kosovo, Rada Trajkovic, and analyst Azem Vlasi. Ms. Trajkovic alleged that “Belgrade should not be the exclusive address fulfilling the list of wishes of Kosovo Albanians and Brussels, but there are also some things that Prishtina must give up and accept”.213 206 - ������������Blic, July 5th, 2011. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/263962/Stefanovic-Cinilo-mi-se-kao-da--pricam-sa- ljudima-sa-druge-planete 207 - �������������Press, July 5th, 2011. 208 - Vreme,������������� July 7th, 2011. 209 - �����Ibid. 210 - �����Ibid. 211 - NIN,����������� July 7th, 2012. 212 - �����Ibid. 213 -������ Ibid. 58 Journalists can do it III She claims that the agreement is beneficial for Kosovo Serbs and stressed: “What does it actually mean for Serbs in Kosovo? When a Serb from Kosovo goes out of his backyard in the morning, he does not know with what measures of police pressure he is going to encounter; is it going to be related to drivers licenses, traffic cards, registration plates, … This is a constant motivation for leaving this territory. These clear rules in which you know what you need to do – only with UNMIK registration plates that have KS written on them will be used, not the plates with the Kosovo coat of arms, provided some support to Serbs in Kosovo to stabilize”.214 This part of her statement sounds as a small surrogate to the repor. However, it would certainly be more useful if a Belgrade magazine or any other daily or weekly newspaper featured a more serious report from Kosovo that would cover topics related to the negotiations.

Azem Vlasi welcomed the agreement on the freedom of movement because this will “make lives of citizens of Kosovo easier” and he added that negotiations represent a beginning of the route map for Serbia towards the recognition of Kosovo, which will have to happen in a certain phase, that is, when Serbia stands at the door of the EU membership”.215

In some media, the echo of the agreement that was reached appeared in the shape of Borislav Stefanovic’s reaction, who, as “Press” relayed from the “Beta”’s report, claimed that “during the past two days Prishtina has been trying to unilaterally change the reality in Kosovo and the agreement that the two sides reached through the mediation of the EU.”216

The short remainder of this article does not explain very clearly what it is that makes Stefanovic unsatisfied. The answer could be found in “Politika” which alleges that “only three days after the agreement on the freedom of movement was reached between Belgrade and Prishtina, Kosovo authorities confiscated the personal identification card from Marko Vasić, from Plametina, handcuffed him and apprehended him and released him later on but without his identification card.”217 Serbia, the article further alleges, informed the EU about the incident, and the reaction to this incident faded during the following days, just like the mention of the results of the fifth round of negotiations vanished from the media.

The conclusions of the fifth round were, therefore, followed in the media somewhat more actively than in the previous four rounds. However, the issue that was in focus was the question if Serbia recognized the independence of Kosovo by concluding these agreements, instead of focusing on the consequences that the agreement will have in the field and the benefits for the citizens of Kosovo, of Albanian and Serbian ethnicity. It is almost frivolous to ask if someone in the press has mentioned the stances of other national minorities regarding the results of the agreement,

As far as the reporting technology is concerned, once again there are only several mainly agency reporters from Serbia in Brussels. Consequently, newspaper articles mainly resemble one another. Not a single report from the field has been published, 214 - �����Ibid. 215 - �����Ibid. 216 - �������������Press, July 8th, 2011. 217 - ����������������Politika, July 8th, 2011. Journalists can do it III 59 so it is quite refreshing to see in articles even the slightest indication of the importance that the negotiations have for the life in Kosovo or the mentioning of any other name besides Borislav Stefanovic and Edita Tahiri.

60 Journalists can do it III THE SIXTH ROUND

Negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia should have been continued within the sixth round on 20th and 21st July, however they were delayed until September. Without getting into details, the media reported that the topics of the discussion should have been the issues of electric energy, telecommunications, land registers and customs stamps. The portal of the Serbian national television conveys the words of the EU mediator Robert Cooper that the delay took place in order for the parties involved in the negotiations “to think“ with the aim of “a quicker resolution“: “I have just informed the two parties that I have decided to cancel the next meeting of the dialogue. I took this decision as it became clear that no agreement would be reached tomorrow. This is of course regrettable. We have now reached a stage in the dialogue where agreements are part of the process. There are a few issues that are ready or very close to agreement and there is no use in holding a meeting if we cannot reach an agreement, and it was clear that would be the case“, Cooper stated.218

The same text also conveys the words of Edita Tahiri, who stated that “The sixth round of dialogue has been canceled due to the Serbian side, which has not shown a willingness to accept a free trade agreement or to recognize Kosovo customs stamps, which are now recognized by the EU.”219 Stefanovic’s reply was also published, in which he stated that “The team from Prishtina demanded to display elements of Kosovo’s statehood during the meeting, which Belgrade could not accept.”220 The Serbian media did not further investigate the real reasons for postponement.

The period betweent the fifth and sixth rounds of negotiations was burdened by larger and smaller incidents in the relations between Kosovo and Serbia. It all started with a skirmish about the Serbs in Northern Kosovo (not)paying their electricity bills.

”Tanjug” agency published on 16th July 2011, and web portals conveyed the statement of Edita Tahiri, that during the next round of negotiations the issue of paying overdue electricity bills of Kosovo Serbs to the Kosovo Energy Corporation (KEK): ”If the Serbian side agrees with the already prepared propositions, then Serbia will have to pay all debts to Kosovo for approximately twelve years, by using the lines for transmitting energy”.221 She further stated that ”Prishtina’s proposition anticipates the introduction of paying electric energy also in the northern part of the southern Serbian province” and adds that ”the experts of KEK have calculated that the unpaid electricity bills in Northern Kosovo amount to two million euros per month, or 24 million euros per year.” Tahiri also added that Kosovo’s proposition does not determine whether the debt will be paid by the consumers or the Serbian Government. ”I believe that the debt will be paid, because KEK did provide the electricity, while all the money went into the hands of the Serbian Corporation”, she added.222

218 - �������������������RTS, 19�������������� July 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/927280/Dijalog+odlo%C5%BEen+za+s eptembar.html 219 - �����Ibid. 220 - �����Ibid. 221 - �������������������B92, ��������������16 July 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=16&nav_id=525800 222 - ������ Ibid. Journalists can do it III 61 Belgrade’s response was fast and explicit, conveyed in the same report by ”Tanjug”: ”It is not true that the electricity debt will be a subject at the forthcoming negotiations in Brussels”, Stefanovic stated. He also said that the plan does not include overdue electricity bills, and that it is obvious that Tahiri is using every possible opportunity to better the position of the Prishtina team as well as her own position through such statements.223 The State Secretary of the Government of Serbia’s Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic also made a statement: ”Paying KEK or the authorities in Prishtina for overdue electricity bills will definitely not be a topic of conversation. Energy supplies can be one of the topics, but only in the sense that the Kosovo authorities should realize that KEK and EPS are partners, that EPS delivers electricity to the northern part of the province, and therefore only EPS can collect money for the bills. Opening a topic for which it is known in advance that Belgrade will not agree to can only represent the bad habit of Prishtina to obstruct the forthcoming dialogue.”224

Prishtina’s suggestion that the Serbs from Northern Kosovo should pay for the electricity they had spent in the past twelve years is viewed as a scam and an attempt to obstruct the negotiations. The media showed no attempts at researching, or going a step further than conveying the ”provocation” by Edita Tahiri and the response of the Serbian officials. There is no investigation on why KEK was not paid so far for the electricity, whether there is even an intention to start paying in the future, nor to determine who is telling the truth — Tahiri when she says that KEK is providing the electricity, or Ivanovic who claims that EPS is delivering electricity to the north of the province. Apart from B92 and RTS, other media, primarily the printed media, did not convey ”Tanjug’s” report, nor did they in any way report on unpaid electricity bills in the following days.

Several days later, Kosovo made a decision ”based on reciprocity” to ban import of goods from Serbia. Using headlines such as ”Embargo on import from Serbia” and ”Kosovo’s sanctions towards Serbia” the B92 and RTS portals conveyed the attitude of the authorities in Prishtina that this is a ”reaction to Serbia not recognizing the stamp of Kosovo Customs, which disables export from Kosovo to Serbia”225, as well as the words of Minister of Trade and Industry in the Kosovo Government Mimoza Kusari Ljilja, who said: ”We do not recognize the Serbian customs stamps and all goods coming from Serbia will bi stopped at the border. This decision is effective immediately”. 226

Afterwards, there were almost no reports except for choir reactions of Serbian officials, headed by the President: ”This is a provocation for Serbia. We did not enforce counter- measures, because we need the situation in the region to be stable”, Boris Tadic said. The President was not asked what those counter-measures could be, since Serbia at that time already did not allow import of goods with Kosovo customs stamps.

223 - �������������������B92, 16�������������� July 2011, http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=16&nav_id=525839 (the same date and portal as the previously quoted text, but the text itself is not the same) 224 - �������������������RTS, 16�������������� July 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/925620/Dugovi+nisu+tema+razgovora. html 225 - ��������������������B92, 20 July 2011, http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=20&nav_id=526730 226 - �������������������RTS, ���������������20 July 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/927848/Kosovske+sankcije+Srbiji.html 62 Journalists can do it III Sharp reactions of Serbian officials ensued, including that of Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, Minister of Agriculture Dusan Petrovic, as well as Borislav Stefanovic, who claims that this is an ”ill-considered and very harmful move by Prishtina” and who reprimands the Kosovo authorities with the following words: ”This shows that they are prepared to blackmail when they realize that they are not getting what they want. This is a spiteful move which is harming the inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija, and it will not be approved by anyone in the International community.”227

The story of Kosovo’s embargo towards Serbia did not go further than simple statements made by politicians and soon died away, because a new chapter in the skirmishes between the two sides was opened, this time followed by violence and use of firearms. The attempt of Kosovo Special Forces to take over border/administrative crossings developed into a series of incidents, after the Serbian structures had informed the population about the attempt and formed barricades at certain points. This issue has been elaborated in a separate part of this report.

Between the fifth and sixth rounds of negotiations there was a short and very indicative text in ”NIN” weekly magazine, entitled ”Sealed violation of Constitution”. The text clearly exhibits the readiness of Serbian journalists to save Serbia from the independance of Kosovo, and to carefully make sure that no state officials stray off that path. ”NIN”, namely, informed the public that on 21st July 2011 (almost a month before the text was published) an act was signed in Belgrade on forming a joint agency for the development of small and middle-sized businesses in South-Eastern Europe.

The signatories are the Agency for regional development of Serbia and the Agency for supporting small and middle-sized businesses of Kosovo, as well as similar agencies from Montenegro and Macedonia. The text warns the readers of the anti-state actions of the agency: ”And so, as far as we know, this is the first document to contain the stamps of a Serbian and a Kosovo institution. Those stamps were put on the document only two days after Jarinje went down in flames”.228 To avoid any confusion, the identity of the signatory on the Serbian side is also revealed: ”In the name of Serbia, the document was signed by the director of the Agency Ivica Ezdenci (...) a member of the Democratic Party...”229

”NIN” contacted Borislav Stefanovic, Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic and, unsuccessfully, Ivica Ezdenci, and even the signatory from Kosovo, Dzemail Silja. He stated that ”the first contact with Serbian businessmen had been made at a simposium in the Belgrade Sava Center, and two years of mutual cooperation preceeded the signing of the document”.230 This is one of the rare examples during the period relevant for this report that a journalist from Serbia directly contacted a Kosovo official. This is an almost perfect example of investigative journalism, which shows that information is actually available when there is a will to look for it. It is a shame that this approach is missing in the majority of other segments of reporting on the issue of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.

227 - ����������������������Politika, 21 ����������July 2011 228 - �������������������NIN, 18 August 2011 229 - �����Ibid. ���������� - Ibid. Journalists can do it III 63 Immediately after the end of the crisis with barricades, on 2nd September 2011, a one-week sixth round of negotiations was held in which, as stated by the media, an agreement was reached on the issues of customs, i.e. the use of the stamp of the Kosovo Customs, as well as an agreement on land registers, and there were also talks, albeit with no agreements reached, on telecommunications and University diplomas. The agreement about stamps was the focus of all reports, and the issue of land registers is only mentioned marginally in some media, if mentioned at all.

The issue of customs had occupied the attention of the media almost in the same way as the agreements on free movement and population registers during the fifth round of the negotiations. Stefanovic announces the news of a ”status-neutral” agreement, then the issue of whether this agreement is actually a way toward recognizing the independence of Kosovo is raised, and finally comes the justification of the chief of the negotiating team of Serbia. Once more, it all comes down to daily political skirmishes, with the evident absence of a serious debate on the essence of the reached agreement and the anticipated results of its implementation.

The texts which announced the beginning of the sixth round of negotiations were already full of clues as to how the potential agreement would be treated. ”Stamp with the coat of arms of Kosovo unacceptable”231 was a title at the B92 portal which conveyed parts of the ”Tanjug” report and parts of a text in ”Politika”, which stated Stefanovic’s words that it is unacceptable for Serbia that the stamp should contain the coat of arms and the words ”Republic of Kosovo”.

The national television web portal quoted Stefanovic right before the negotiations in more detail: ”We have to remind the public that the negotiations on customs stamps have been going on for a while now, and that Pristina did not always have the same attitude on the issue. (…) The real issue is for us to be able to accept the customs stamp, by fulfilling certain conditions. Therefore the negotiations, in essence, have their own dynamics and changes of position, and they did frequently change their position, trying to get a confirmation for their so-called statehood.”232 The same text also conveys the words of Edita Tahiri who stated that ”Prishtina was ready to reach an agreement in July, but the Belgrade team prevented it. I don’t know what Belgrade will propose tomorrow, but the proposition already on the table is in accordance with CEFTA. The EU has recognized Kosovo stamps, and it is up to Serbia to agree with European principles”.233

The news from Brussels that the agreement had been signed, again via agency news, was conveyed by internet portals, namely B92, RTS and RTV Vojvodina, while the printed media, obviously depending on the time of finishing an edition, conveyed the information more or less poorly.

Under the title ”Neutral solution for the stamp”, RTS reports that the ”chief of the

231 - ���������������������B92, 31������������������������������ August 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=08&dd=31&nav_ category=206&nav_id=538509 232 - ������������������������RTS, 01������������������� September 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/949174/Re%C5%A1enje+za+car inske+pe%C4%8Date.html 233 - �����Ibid. 64 Journalists can do it III Belgrade negotiating team in the dialogue with Prishtina, Borislav Stefanovic, pointed out that the agreement on stamps and land registers does not portend the status of Kosovo. He also pointed out that the customs stamps and customs documentation is irrelevant for the status. Stefanovic stated at the press conference that the customs stamps will contain the words ‘Kosovo customs’, which means that it does not contain any elements of the so-called statehood of Kosovo.”234

The B92 portal also conveyed his statement that ”the agreement has no elements of the so-called statehood of Kosovo” and that ”the agreement on stamps enables exchange of goods and normalization of life end means of supply in Kosovo”.235 He also stated that he expects ”the Prishtina embargo on goods from Serbia to be lifted in the next few days”236. While justifying to the local public why Serbia agreed to sign a document with Kosovo, he stated that ”there are examples of special customs zones within the same state”237. Stefanovic pointed out the opinion of UNMIK ”formally stated by the chief of that mission Lamberto Zannier, that the customs stamp of Kosovo is neutral toward the status and in accordance with Resolution 1244, as well as that this stamp was accepted by states which have not recognized the independence of Kosovo. Serbia retains the right to add its own stamp to customs documentation without damaging the Kosovo one, which will confirm the status-neutral approach to Resolution 1244. This will be done in a way which will not violate the procedures of CEFTA and International customs regulations”, Stefanovic stated.238

The public service of Vojvodina on its portal published similar agency information, along with the following statement made by Stefanovic: ”We have had difficult conversations about other customs documents — the customs declaration and the phyto-sanitary certificate. The accompanying customs documents will also be status- neutral, he pointed out, adding that the customs documentation will not portend the status of Kosovo. The Republic of Serbia retains the right to add its stamp to the documentation without damaging the Kosovo stamp, and by that to confirm the status- neutral approach, Stefanovic stated.”239

Statements of the negotiators are convezed uncritically, without getting into its content. Similarly, the previous paragraph reveals very little about the contents of the agreement, because statements such as ”accompanying customs documents will be status-neutral” or ”Serbia will be able to ad its stamp to the documents without damaging the Kosovo stamp” do not actually reveal much. Not to mention the fact that an averagely educated viewer does not have the faintest idea what a ”phyto-sanitary document” could be.

Stefanovic was also a guest of the RTS evening news, and instead of asking

234 - �������������������03 September 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/950110/Neutralno+re%C5%A1enje+za +pe%C4%8Dat.html?tts=yes 235 - ������������������������B92, 03 September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=03&nav_ id=539409 236 - �����Ibid. 237 - �����Ibid. 238 - �����Ibid. 239 - ������������������������RTV, �������������������03 September 2011, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/stefanovic:-dogovor-ne-prejudicira-status- kosova_271296.html Journalists can do it III 65 him questions about additional details of the negotiations or the plans for their implementation, instead of adding to the report from Brussels, he was only given the opportunity to reiterate the attitudes he had already stated after the negotiations had ended, and which were conveyed by other media: ”In the RTS evening news, the chief of the Belgrade negotiating team Borislav Stefanovic stated that yesterday’s agreement on stamps gives Serbia security and the opportunity for the exchange of goods to be unimpeded. According to him, we have gained an opportunity for Prishtina to lift its one-sided illegal embargo, which will be beneficial mostly for the citizens and Serbian companies”.240

Even though agencies had already reported that, according to the agreement, the stamp of the Republic of Kosovo with its coat of arms will not be in use anymore, the journalist asked Stefanovic the following question: ”Did we recognize the same stamp which had existed since 2008, or from the proclamation of the independence of Kosovo?”241 As could be expected, the chief of the Serbian negotiating team simply reiterated what he had already said earlier that day: ”The agreement was the result of compromise, because Prishtina insisted on changing the already existing stamp. The chief of the negotiating team also stated that Prishtina insisted for the stamp to contain elements of the so-called statehood of Kosovo — its coat of arms and the words Republic of Kosovo — and now we have international guarantees that the stamp is in accordance with Resolution 1244 and that its status is neutral”.242

Borislav Stefanovic, in his statements, extensively uses the words ”so-called”, and therefore we have so-called Kosovo passports, so-called Kosovo statehood, and finally the so-called Republic of Kosovo. Regardless of the fact that Serbia’s attitude is clear even without adding these words, he wanted to emphasize that Kosovo has not been recognized as an independent state. The media support this and sometimes even use the same term themselves. Therefore, after years of listening about ”so-called Croatia” and ”so-called Bosnia and Herzegovina”, we now also have ”so-called Kosovo”.

Concerning the part of the agreement about land records, the portals reported that ”the chief of the negotiating team also pointed out the importance of the agreement on land records, which will enable the citizens to achieve their property rights in Kosovo. According to Stefanovic, this agreement also regulates the issue of church property.”243 The media also quotes his statement that ”with the help of a clearly regulated procedure, the citizens will be able to provide evidence that certain real estate, land, houses or business objects are in their possession. Afterwards, with the help of this procedure and the organs which were agreed on, through commissions in which we will participate, we will be able to revise and consolidate the two land records.”244

The fact that people with an unsolved property status actually exist can only be heard 240 - ������������������������RTS, 03������������������� September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=03&nav_ id=539409 ����������������������������� - RTS, 03������������������� September 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/950110/Neutralno+re%C5%A1en je+za+pe%C4%8Dat.html?tts=yes 242 - �����Ibid. 243 - ������Ibid. 244 - ������������������������B92, 03������������������� September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=03&nav_ id=539409 66 Journalists can do it III from the mouth of Borislav Stefanovic. In the following days, no portal, newspaper or weekly magazine did publish a story from the field about, for example, one or more Serbian refugees who are trying to exercise their right to their abandoned property in Kosovo. The media are satisfied with the agency reports and Stefanovic’s statement from Brussels, and that is where the story ends. Apart from stating that the procedure will be a ”long and difficult” one245, there are no clues as to what it will look like, what steps the property owners should take, or who they should talk to.

Due to the speed of the Internet and its way of spreading information, it is natural that Internet portals published the story without an in-depth analysis from the field, but it was expected of the daily newspapers to go a step further from simply conveying the news, to scratch under the surface of the scant information on the results of the negotiations in extensive analytic texts. Instead, the texts in the printed media are even shorter and contain even less information.

The Belgrade-based ”Press” newspaper reports only that an agreement on land records has been achieved, and then conveys the words of Stefanovic on the customs arrangement, with the inevitable explanation that Serbia’s sovereignty is not in any danger: ”He pointed out that the stamp containing the words Kosovo Customs was agreed on based on the positive attitude of UNMIK and in accordance with Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council. The words Kosovo Customs do not endanger the position of Serbia, because the stamp will not contain state symbols or the coat of arms of Kosovo, Stefanovic stated, and added that the accompanying documentation is also status-neutral.”246 Press also reported that ”during yesterday’s sixth round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina there were no talks about the administrative crossings. ‘Our attitude is clear — Serbia will not accept the presence of Kosovo customs officers on the Jarinje and Brnjik crossings’ Stefanovic stated, and added that the agreement between the Government of Serbia and KFOR on protecting the administrative crossings will be enforced at least until 15th September”247. Stefanovic accused the Kosovo side of ”trying to set the negotiations back ten steps with their suggestions and their reluctance to try and negotiate on Telekom and the nostrification of University diplomas”248. However, Edita Tahiri’s reply was not published.

The text on Brussels negotiations in the ”Vecernje novosti” daily newspaper conveys Stefanovic’s words that the customs agreement “makes the one-sided Prishtina embargo towards Serbian goods completely nonsensical. We have, therefore, enabled an unimpeded flow of goods for our citizens and their businesses. (…) The solution for the land records anticipates a detailed comparison of land records of the Albanian and Serbian sides, which will enable the citizens, the church and legal entities to protect their property in Kosovo and Metohija. Stefanovic also stated that there were no discussions on the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossings, which could be a topic at one of the following rounds of negotiations.”249

245 - ������������������������RTS, 03������������������� September 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/950110/Neutralno+re%C5%A1en je+za+pe%C4%8Dat.html?tts=yes 246 - ������������������������Press, 3���������������� September 2011, 247 - �����Ibid. 248 - �����Ibid. 249 - V�e�č�ern���j�e���� nov�osti,������ 3����������������� ����������������September 2011, Journalists can do it III 67 The “Blic” daily published a short text on reaching an agreement, with the emphasis on the section which stipulates that the Kosovo customs stamp “will not contain a coat of arms, or any other marks of statehood. As ‘Blic’ found out, the accompanying customs documentation will also be void of status markings. (…) There will also be a revision of the two land records, in order for the citizens to establish the status of their property”250. The text also states that an agreement on energetic issues had not been reached because “Prishtina did not have a constructive attitude”, and also conveys the statement made by Edita Tahiri, albeit before and not after the negotiations: “I believe that Serbia knows, just as we as a state know, that there are two criteria for euro-integrations, and those are neighborly cooperation and regional cooperation. Therefore, it is up to Serbia to decide if they are willing to comply with European principles.”251

The “Alo!” daily, in an even shorter text, reports that “an agreement has been reached on customs stamps which will contain only the words ‘Kosovo Customs’ without any other markings related to the self-proclaimed authorities in Prishtina. During a press conference in Brussels, where the negotiations were held, Stefanovic stated his expectation that Kosovo will lift the embargo on goods from Serbia within seven to ten days. He also stated that an agreement on land registers had also been reached, but gave no further details. Analysts from Belgrade and Prishtina agree that the solution for the customs stamp will somewhat alleviate the tension between Belgrade and Prishtina.”252

The winner in the race for the shortest text on the reached agreement in Brussels was certainly the tabloid “Kurir” whose report laconically entitled “Agreement on stamps” can be conveyed here fully: “During the new round of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtina in Brussels, an agreement was reached yesterday on customs stamps and land registers, an official of the European Union who had insight into the ending of the negotiations stated. The delegation of the Republic of Serbia was lead by Borislav Stefanovic.”253

Apart from all the issues noticed thus far, such as reports limited to agency news, the length of the texts on negotiations is also indicative of how much the local public actually cares about the issue of Kosovo. Reports are long and detailed only when it comes to incidents, while negotiations, which are very important for the inhabitants of the “southern Serbian province” are treated almost as a necessary evil.

Concerning the reactions from Kosovo, the “Beta” agency published on 3rd September 2011, and portals conveyed, a report which lists the reactions of certain representatives of Kosovo Serbs to the reached agreement. These reactions are once more mostly political, with the already worn-out thesis that the reached agreements are bringing Serbia closer to recognizing the independence of Kosovo. It is evident, even in these short statements of Kosovo Serbs, that it is only important for them to retain the status quo in Brnjak and Jarinje, administrative crossings which their countrymen had taken

250 - �����������������������Blic, 3 ����������������September 2011, 251 - �����Ibid. 252 - Alo���!�,������������������� 3���������������� September 2011, 253 - ������������������������Kurir, 3 ����������������September 2011, 68 Journalists can do it III over in July.

Newspapers also conveyed the words of the head of the Kosovo-Mitrovica region Radenko Nedeljkovic, who estimated that ”yesterday’s agreement between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels, with EU mediation, was expected in order to overcome ’temporary obstacles’ in the province. Nedeljkovic told ’Beta’ that the Serbs in Northern Kosovo will not accept Albanian customs officers, regardless of any agreement. ’I am positive that there will be no Kosovo customs officers at the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings. As far as the stamp is concerned, they can use it south of the Ibar river’, Nedeljkovic stated.”254 He also added that ”the inhabitants of Northern Kosovo will use all political and democratic means to fight against the Kosovo customs on these two administrative crossings.”

The president of the Leposavic Municipality Branko Ninic from the Democratic party stated that the Kosovo customs stamp in the northern part of the province ”is unacceptable and that the Serbs will not agree to the presence of Kosovo Customs officers at the 1 and 31 crossings”, while the president of the Kosovska Mitrovica Municipality Krstimir Pantic from the Serbian Progressive Party ”estimates that the reached agreement is bad for Serbia, because we consider Kosovo as a part of Serbia and its stamps should be the only official ones”.255

The harshest criticism of the moves of the Serbian negotiating team came from the president of the Zubin Potok Municipality Slavisa Ristic from the Democratic Party of Serbia, who stated that reaching an agreement on the use of the customs stamp is actually “a stamp for the sale of Kosovo.” He told the ‘Beta’ agency that this was “just one more in the series of frauds, and that it should be expected that Kosovo customs officers will be distributed on the crossings to Central Serbia very soon. We are calling Borislav Stefanovic to stand in front of the people and explain what he had agreed to, instead of the people unknowingly going and putting themselves at risk of being shot by the Kosovo Special Police forces”.256

The Serbian National Council from Northern Kosovo and Metohija went as far as to demand a replacement for the chief of the negotiating team Borislav Stefanovic ”because of the harm he has inflicted on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija”, who estimated this demand as ”emotional and impulsive”.257

The “Tanjug” agency conveyed the statement made by Edita Tahiri, whose presence in the media had been visibly reduced since the previous round of negotiations, in which she stated that the acceptance of the Kosovo customs stamp means that “Serbia has recognized the independence of Kosovo” and explains this statement in the following way: “The agreement on accepting customs stamps is extremely important both on

254 - ������������������������B92, �������������������03����������������� September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=03&nav_ id=539384 255 - �������������������������RTV, ��������������������03 September 2011, http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/stefanovic:-dogovor-ne-prejudicira-status- kosova_271296.html 256 - ������������������������RTS, 03������������������������������������ September 2011, http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/950062/ Srbi+ne%C4%87e+kosovsku+carinu.html 257 - ��������������������������05 September 2011, Izvor: http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/951198/Zahtev+za+smenu+- +emotivne+kritike.html Journalists can do it III 69 political and economic plains, but also on the plain of regional cooperation. This agreement represents a reciprocal admission between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia in this field.”258

A part of the press conference held by Slobodan Samardzic, the former Minister for Kosovo and Metohija from the Democratic Party of Serbia is also conveyed, in which he stated that this agreement “solidifies the border between Serbia and Kosovo” and that “the previous agreements on documents represented a huge breakthrough in gaining independence, and this agreement on customs stamps is just a part of that process”.259

The text in the “NIN” weekly magazine sums up practically everything which was stated in the media during the previous days, including Tahiri’s attitude that there was “a reciprocal admission between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia”260 in certain fields, as well as the previously stated discontent of the presidents of some Kosovo municipalities. Borislav Stefanovic was also given the opportunity to reply and he stated that “customs are not an attribute of statehood. The International Community guarantees that this is a case of status neutrality. The customs territory does not necessarily coincide with the territory of sovereignty. There are examples of separate customs zones within sovereign states elsewhere in the world, like in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the Öland Island”.

The negotiating teams had apparently understood the agreement on customs and border crossings each in their own way and soon after the end of the sixth round skirmishes began to appear once more. It all culminated in new incidents which represented a burden for the beginning, and afterwards the very course of the seventh round of negotiations in Brussels. The incidents, naturally, were reported in more detail than the negotiations, but this will be the topic of a separate part of this report.

The reports on negotiations in Brussels are once more uninteresting and unoriginal, the opponents of the agreement are once more the first ones to be asked for reactions, and then Stefanovic is given space to reply to them. The topic of the negotiations is burdened by the eternal question of whether through it “we have recognized independent Kosovo” to such an extent that the contents of the agreement itself were again left uncovered. The report from Brussels and the ensuing texts, apart from political statements, do not contain reactions of those who the agreement actually refers to.

Will businessmen in Serbia and Kosovo benefit from the customs agreement and how much did they lose in the mutual blockage of export? What should the citizens do and who they should talk to in order to obtain their property in Kosovo based on the agreement on land records? Does the Serbian Orthodox Church really have the opportunity, or does it even intend to resolve the issue of its property based on the agreement on land records? We have heard the opinions of representatives of

258 - �������������������05����������������� September 2011, http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=05&nav_ category=640&nav_id=539790 259 - �����Ibid. 260 - NIN, 8 September 2011, 70 Journalists can do it III Kosovo Serbs but not the citizens themselves; what do Kosovo Albanians and Serbs in the Enclaves think about the agreement? These and many other questions remain unanswered in the Serbian media.

Journalists can do it III 71 THE SEVENTH ROUND

On the termination of the sixth round of the negotiations, it was planned for the dialogue to be continued in September, but due to the increased tension “in the field” with the blocked cross-borders Brnjak and Jarinje, the discussions were delayed for October, and then for November. First, on the 25th of September 2011, the Kosovo police special units occupied the administrative crossing Brnjak, and then the local Serbs stopped them from doing the same at Jarinje. That was enough to postpone the next round of the dialogue.

Daily newspaper “Politika” publishes an article where it is stated that “after a harsh use of force on Serbs on the administrative crossing Jarinje”, Borislav Stefanovic spoke to the EU and USA representatives in Brussels and that “the Belgrade – Prishtina dialogue would not be continued until further notice.”261conflicting opinions on the actual reasons for postponing the dialogue have been stated. On one side, the mediator in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Robert Cooper, communicated that “the Serbian delegation is not willing to talk to Prishtina representatives on the matters of energy, telecommunication and the participation of Kosovo in regional forums. In a written statement, he said that the situation on the administrative crossings in the North of Kosovo is not the topic of the dialogue, or any other separate communication with Serbia, which was formerly set as a condition for the continuation of the dialogue with Prishtina.”262 At the same time, Stefanovic’s opinion that Serbia is still interested in continuing the negotiations with the representatives of EU and USA on solving the problems in the North of Kosovo triggered by the armed action of KFOR on the unarmed citizens and the unilateral actions of Prishtina on the cross-borders, and that the dialogue with Prishtina could ensue only after that serious problem is resolved.”263

In the daily newspaper “Press”, Cooper is not mentioned and they give the entire space to Stefanovic to explain Serbia’s position. In mini-interview titled “No Dialogue While Blood Sheds”, he states that “in a situation of burning problems in Jarinje and Brnjak, and shooting unarmed people, we could not talk to Prishtina’s team about telecommunications, electric energy and regional forums.”264 On the outcome of the communication with the international representatives, the head of the Serbian negotiation team says: “We have stated our arguments, concrete suggestions and modalities for enabling a free transfer of goods and people that would not include the presence of Kosovo customs officers. But, our standpoints have not been brought closer. They have a negative perception and a lack of understanding that Serbia should accept the current state of affairs caused by unilateral actions of Prishtina and supported by international community.”265

At the same time, “Kurir” renders the most original scenario of the reasons of the postponement of negotiations: “Crimson Goal! The incident at Jarinje border was organized by the institutions of Prishtina in order to obstruct the negotiations in

261 - ����������������������Politika, September 29th, 2011 262 - �����Ibid. 263 - �����Ibid. 264 - �������������������Press, September 29th, 2011 265 - �����Ibid. 72 Journalists can do it III Brussels, as “Kurir” learns.”266 No less, but “Kurir” has a source in the EU that gave them an exclusive information: “Prishtina, in fact, wanted for the negotiations to end because negotiations are not in their best interest. They were helped by a part of the international community in it – says Kurir’s source from the EU.”267 Belgrade’s tabloid newspaper corroborates such allegations with statements of Borislav Stefanovic, Goran Bogdanovic, a Minister and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Board for Kosovo and Metohija, and Dejan Radenkovic, and to top it all, stands the statement of the Democratic Party Parliament Member, Srdjan Milivojevic, who says that “any type of communication would have been unfavorable for the false State of Kosovo.”268 Opinions of the negotiation team of Kosovo haven’t been cited in any of the given articles.

Under the title of “Negotiations in a Mist”, the National Service informs that there are “shy notices” that “after the termination of the dialogue about technical questions, a new round of political negotiations could ensue”269 between Kosovo and Serbia, although it has not yet been seriously taken into consideration, nor is it known when the technical negotiations would be continued. Stefanovic’s words that the speculations about the possible beginning of the new negotiations “represented a confirmation that the problems in the North of Kosovo, that are crucial for solving the Kosovo crisis, need to be talked about, too”270, have also been cited.

Even though, only a few days earlier it informed that the mediator in the negotiations, Robert Cooper, stated “that the situation on administrative crossings in Northern Kosovo is not the topic of the dialogue, or any other separate communications with Serbia”271,on the 5th of October 2011, Belgrade “Politika” decided to still believe the claims of Borislav Stefanovic that Brnjak and Jarinje would be talked about. Apart form Stefanovic’s assurances, a part of the report from “Beta” is cited, in which an unnamed source from Brussels is quoted: “The sources from the EU have said for this agency that Cooper will endeavor to assure the two sides that the continuation of the negotiation would be favorable, but that he will be ‘ready to listen and discuss about cross-borders’ and the implementation of the Kosovo Customs Seal Agreement. Those sources added that Cooper will be ready to talk about the situation at Jarinje and Brnjak, too, ‘if the topic would have already been started during the discussion in Belgrade.’”272

In the same article, the official opinion of Maja Kocijancic, the spokesman ofthe EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, that the only topic of the negotiation would be “telecommunications, energy, the cooperation of Kosovo in regional forums, and the implementation of the achieved agreements”273, which is completely opposite to what the alleged unnamed source stated. Such disproportion of attitudes of named and unnamed sources from Brussels for “Politika” is explained 266 - �������������������Kurir, September 29th, 2011 267 - �����Ibid. 268 - �������������������� Kurir, September 29th, 2011 269 - �����������������RTS, 04.10.2011.������������ http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/966620/Pregovori+u+magli+.html 270 - �����Ibid. 271 - ����������������������Politika, September 29th, 2011 272 - �������������������Politika, October 5th, 2011 273 - �����Ibid. Journalists can do it III 73 by Stefanovic from his point of view: “They don’t want to irritate Prishtina because they think that if they would now publicly say that we are discussing the situation in the North, it could deeply disturb Prishtina. But even Prishtina knows well that it is very well going to be talked about.”274 So, Borislav Stefanovic is, unlike the international mediators, not afraid to disturb Prishtina and publicly announce the outcome of the supposed secret negotiation.

On the same day, October the 5th, 2011, “Press” brings a short news where it is mentioned that Robert Cooper would “come to Belgrade tomorrow evening.”275 After that, there aren’t any detailed reports about what has been happening at the announced meeting with Cooper, or whether he came at all, and not until the 14th of October did the B92 web portal communicate Stefanovic’s claim that he is going to talk with the international mediator via video link that very day, and that “the central topic would be the administrative crossings Brnjak and Jarinje.”276 Although, he admitted that “the questions of energetics, telecommunications, as well as the participation of Kosovo in regional forums”277 would be discussed, too.

When he spoke to the domestic public, especially to the Serbs from the North of Kosovo (as a result of whose actions Brnjak and Jarinje were blocked at the time), between rounds six and seven, Stefanovic kept claiming, and the media kept reporting, that the central topic of the rest of the negotiation would be Brnjak and Jarinje. Yet, it never actually happened, judging by the media reports, unless we take into consideration that in the seventh round, as a part of the agreement about all cross-borders, the rules for Jarinje and Brnjak were agreed, too.

In the mid-October, an article that showed how intransparency of the Serbia-Kosovo negotiations leaves space for different kinds of manipulation in the public, flashed in the Serbian media. Namely, “Beta” agency reported that Lirim Grajchevci, member of the Kosovo negotiation team, stated for TV station ‘’Klan Kosova’’ that he was “promised that Serbia would recognize Kosovo if it gets the northern part of the territory”278 by Borislav Stefanovic. Grajchevci, who is also a political consultant of the Kosovo Prime minister, explained that it happened during the informal discussion in one of the round of negotiation: “He (Stefanovic) came to me and said: Set the border where it should be, and we will recognize you the next day.”279 He added that “the division of Kosovo was not mentioned during the official negotiations of the two delegations in Brussels, but that Stefanovic repeated it several times off the record.”280

In the same article, that was brought out the same day by B92 internet portal, and the day after by daily newspapers “Blic” and “Politika”, Stefanovic responds that “Prishtina tendentiously reported the news” about the alleged division of Kosovo and highlighted: 274 - Politika, October 5th, 2011 275 - Press, October 5th, 2011 276 - B92, October 14th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=14&nav_ category=640&nav_id=549395 277 - Ibid. 278 - Beta, October 12th, 2011 http://www.beta.rs/default.asp?tip=article&kategorija=vestidana&ida=2586067&id =&ime 279 - Ibid. 280 - Ibid. 74 Journalists can do it III “I certainly did not say that, because the recognition of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is unacceptable for Serbia. All other solutions would be the topics of the dialogue in the future and the resolution of the problems in the north of Kosovo would be talked about the most.”281

The truth is that Gajchevci could have brought out the alleged discussion ‘off the record’ even if the negotiations were more transparent, but the public would, if it had been better informed on the events in Brussels, have been able to establish to what degree is it possible that the words of the consultant of the Kosovo Prime minister true. This way, it is Grajchevici’s word against Stefanovic’s, and vice versa, and the media, apart from reporting the news form “Beta”, did not deal with the information furthermore.

In the end of October, some newspapers published the statement of the Serbian President, at the time, Boris Tadic, who, in a few short phrases supported the continuation of the negotiations: “Belgrade wants to return to negotiations because we cannot get result without it, we cannot solve problems of the people and protect the vital national interests.”282 Tadic said that he met with the representatives of the Northern Kosovo Serbs and explained the “realistic political situation” to them and that it is “crucial that Serbia provides normal life for the people in Kosovo, but, also, that the legitimate national interests should be kept: ‘As a president, I can’t give up on them’, Tadic stated. He reminded that he was accused from different sides at the same time that he was both “giving up on Kosovo and that he wasn’t” and he added that he thinks that everything is fine as long as there are accusations such as these.”283

And while Tadic invited to continue the negotiations, Stefanovic kept claiming that the negotiations with the European representatives are already afoot, and that, in the next round of the negotiations, resolution of the situation in Jarinje and Brnjak would be discussed. That’s why Edita Tahiri spoke to the public, and her statement was cited by “Tanjug” and “Beta”, and published by B92 on its internet portal. She said that “the delegation of Kosovo in dialogue with Belgrade could retreat from the process if Serbia doesn’t start complying to the agreements” and that she “rejected the possibility of negotiating the customs checkpoints in the north of Kosovo.”284 She estimated that “the statements of the Serbia team head, Borislav Stefanovic, that Serbia is negotiating about it (cross-borders Brnjak and Jarinje) with the international community, are demagogic.”285

If Edita Tahiri is right, then Borislav Stefanovic has been deceiving the Serbian public for weeks with the information on negotiations with the international representatives about Brnjak and Jarinje. Yet, the media reported his statements, day by day, without even trying to verify the content; also, the words of the Kosovo negotiation team head on this and other cases haven’t provoked even the least investigative journalistic attempts. 281 - B92, October 12th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=12&nav_ id=549000 282 - Press, October 25th, 2011 283 - Politika, October 25th, 2011 284 - B92, November 5th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=05&nav_ category=640&nav_id=555312 285 - Ibid. Journalists can do it III 75 Even though during the entire negotiating process one magazine kept supporting every radical voice of opposition to any type of contact with Kosovo authorities and influenced the creation of a climate in which even an attempt of negotiation is seen as an act of national treason, in this report, for the sake of illustration, it is being analyzed rarely because of its specific content. The magazine is “Pecat” whose first man is also the former Milosevic’s first man of journalism and the director of the National Television of Serbia during the war, Milorad Vucelic. That very man, under an almost paranoid title “Wahhabis, Vinca and the FBI”, warns in the editorial commentary that “the Serbs and the Kosovo Serbs (the text is cited without any grammatical corrections286) are pulled into a trap that was set for them by Borko Stefanovic and his negotiations with Prishtina.”287

Belgrade is criticized for accepting the agreement with Prishtina, with the claim that Stefanovic, with the agreement on the freedom of movement of citizens and vehicles, “made every Kosovo Serb who owns a car become a citizen of the independent Kosovo, because, to register his automobile with the ‘status neutral’ KS license plates, he needs a valid ID issued by the Kosovo authorities.”288 Later in his lament, the editor of “Pecat”, trying to be humorous, tends to break the bitterness of his commentary, and says that now, the Serbs from the barricades, “as soon as the license plate registration expires on the trucks with which they are blocking Thaci’s customs officers, would all together have to the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, to the police station, and get Kosovo IDs and register their trucks. Because Borko agreed on that.”289

A sequence of abstruse opinions, like, for example, the statement that the U.S. Feds have come to Serbia to look for Wahhabis with the help of an “organized ambassadors group” of the United States and other Western countries that works under the name of “Friends of Sandzak”, which is not the topic of this report, and also requires a more detailed analysis.

Despite the opposition of the editor of “Pecat”, the negotiations have, after almost a three-month break, been continued as a part of the seventh round in Brussels on the 21st of November 2011. Announcing the continuation of the negotiation, B92 internet portal writes that “questions of electricity, telecommunications and the participation of Kosovo in regional forums”290 would be on the table, also, the matters of customs and mutual recognition of university diplomas. Borislav Stefanovic stated that he expects agreement on at least one of the mentioned topics, but directs the guilt for the possible failure towards Prishtina, stating that “some elements of Prishtina’s demands seem very, very unacceptable for our side.”291 At the same time, Edita Tahiri promises that “she will be very committed to achieving concrete results, and she also expects that

286 - The adjective Kosovo (as ‘the Serbs from Kosovo’ are ‘Kosovo Serbs’) should be written with lower case letters in Serbian (kosovski Srbi) 287 - Pečat, November 4th, 2011 http://www.pecat.co.rs/2011/11/vehabije-vinca-i-fbi/ 288 - Pečat, November 4th, 2011 http://www.pecat.co.rs/2011/11/vehabije-vinca-i-fbi/ 289 - Ibid. 290 - B92, November 21st, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=21&nav_ category=640&nav_id=559420 291 - B92, November 21st, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=21&nav_ category=640&nav_id=559420 76 Journalists can do it III Prishtina would be rewarded for constructiveness in the dialogue by establishing a contractual relation with EU.”292

In the same article, the opinion of the analyst Predrag Simic that the negotiations “would formally be continued, but that it would basically remain frozen at least until the problem of Serbs from the North of Kosovo is resolved”, and the writings of the Belgrade “Politika” is reported, and informs that “ Serbs from the North of Kosovo are planning a proclamation of the independence of four Serbian municipalities, in case that Prishtina, helped by the international forces continues with the actions of occupying the cross-borders Jarinje and Brnjak by force.”293 In the conclusion, they also remind that “the continuation of the dialogue, which was stopped in September due to the issue of cross-borders Jarinje and Brnjak, represents the crucial condition for Serbia to be given the candidate status for membership to the EU by the European Council.”294

In the end of the day, the 21st of November 2011, the internet portals informed that an agreement on university diplomas has been achieved, but not on the participation of Prishtina in regional conferences or the cross-borders. From these and some subsequent articles in the newspaper, it was completely unclear what was agreed ‘on the diplomas’, since this topic remained in the shadow of the unanswered questions that are, obviously, politically more attractive.

The National Television’s web portal brings an article titled “Agreement on Diplomas”, and then in the subtitle “the representatives of Belgrade and Prishtina achieved an agreement on university diplomas”, and then, finally, in the first sentence of the article the words of Borislav Stefanovic that “the two sides achieved an agreement on the question of university diplomas in Brussels.”295 And that’s all on diplomas. Not a word about the mechanisms by which the diplomas would be mutually recognized.

Of course, it is completely expected that a technical question such as the mutual recognition of the university diplomas gets less attention in the media than the negotiations, even the incomplete ones on the problem of cross –borders that occupied the attention of the public for several months before that, but it is totally unbelievable that there is not a single word on the content of that agreement. The fact that there are graduates among their readers who find the problem of diplomas more important than the status of Kosovo does not matter, although the resolution of that problem could be in the interest of the broader public as a guide for overcoming some other problems between two entities.

It is further stated in the text that the administrative crosses would be talked about during the next few days, and that there is a significant progress on the matter of participation of Kosovo in regional conferences. Words of Borislav Stefanovic, who blamed the other side for the possible failure of the negotiations, have been cited: “Prishtina still insists on the symbolism that would confirm their statehood and that is 292 - Ibid. 293 - Ibid. 294 - Ibid. 295 - RTS, November 21st, 2011 - http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/994528/Nastavak+dijaloga+sa+ Pri%C5%A1tinom.html Journalists can do it III 77 why it will be very hard to reach an agreement. For us, an administrative line will never be a state border, which they insist on.”296

In a similar way, citing the agency report of “Tanjug”, B92 web portal reports. A statement of Borko Stefanovic is communicated that “at the moment, it is unlikely to reach an agreement on telecommunication and electricity”297,but that he is optimistic on the matter of administrative crossings and regional representation of Kosovo. That the topics of the negotiations are just being listed is the case again, and even when someone of the negotiators says something about their content, their words are just quoted without any additional explanation. For example, Edita Tahiri stated that “the integrated management of the border is a solution by European standards”298, and in this or any other article, there is no explanation how it actually works in practice.

The words of Edita Tahiri that “Serbia has only applied one out of five agreements reached in the previous rounds of the dialogue, and that is the one on free trade”299 are cited. A statement that gives motive for journalist investigation and for asking a set of different questions to the representatives of the State authorities in Serbia, did not get much attention.

The information on the agreement were also published in the press, and “Vecernje novosti” write about Stefanovic’s attitude that even in the agreement on diplomas, we have kept the integrity of Serbia and its alleged power over Kosovo: “Republic of Serbia would treat only a substitution of a diploma that would be issued without any designation, as well as the certificate of the European University Association that would confirm the validity and qualification of the carrier of the substitution. It wasn’t easy to reach this agreement, but I think that we have very successfully kept our constitutional and national position and avoided any type of recognition of the so-called elements of statehood of Kosovo.”300

The negotiations were aborted for several days after that, and during that break the expectations of the local and foreign officials have been reported. “Blic” published a pessimistic attitude of the State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija, Oliver Ivanovic that “it is hard to expect that the negotiation teams of Belgrade and Prishtina would reach an agreement in Brussels for the administrative crossings in the North of Kosovo and he thinks that the only way out of this crisis is returning to the state as it was until the 25th of July.”301 “Politika” takes cue from “Blic” and brings out Ivanovic’s fears that “he doesn’t believe that there would be any greater changes” and that the agreement will be reached along with an estimation that in the next round of the negotiations the regional representation of Kosovo would be talked about: “The resolution for that problem which is supported by Belgrade is in reaching asymmetry – by which Kosovo could not be represented neither as Kosovo nor as the Republic of

296 - ����������������RTS, November����������� 21st, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/994528/Nastavak+dijaloga+sa+P ri%C5%A1tinom.html 297 - ����������������B92, November����������� 21st, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=21&nav_ category=1262&nav_id=559505 298 - �����Ibid. 299 - �����Ibid. 300 - V�e�č�ern���j�e���� nov�osti,�������� Nov�ember�������� 22nd, 2011 301 - Blic, November 27th, 2011 78 Journalists can do it III Kosovo. A clear prefix needs to exist that points out the connection with the Resolution 1244 and which points out that Kosovo is a protectorate.”302

That very day, an article titled “Brussels Expects New Agreements “ is published in “Vecernje novosti” and in it a near continuation of the negotiations is announced. It is not about he agency’s article, but the report of a regular correspondent of “Vecernje novosti” from Brussels. And besides that, the information are incomplete and difficult to comprehend. For example, it is mentioned again that there would be “the hot topic of integrated management of the cross-borders which is currently the biggest stumbling block” and that “the sources close to the dialogue point out that, in that sense, a formula that could satisfy both sides is being looked for.”303 Obvious is the effort of the correspondent of “Novosti” to get as much information as possible from the sources close to the negotiations, but it was not easy for him, which probably reveals more about the intransparency of the negotiating process than about his qualities as a journalist.

Also, “the source” tells about the agreement on diplomas, but not too much: “Truth is, an agreement has been reached, but not everything turned out as we wanted. This time, we hope that there will be further progress.”304 Nothing has yet been published on the content of the agreement on diplomas at the moment. Paradoxically, it is mentioned in the text that “the European Council says that the dialogue exists primarily to make the everyday life of citizens better”305, but we cannot find out much from this or any other article in the Serbian media about the ways how it did or it is going to make their lives better.

Contrary to the announcements of Oliver Ivanovic that an agreement isn’t to be hoped for, Borislav Stefanovic said for the daily newspaper “Press”, in an article titled “There Will Be an Agreement”, that “an agreement will be reached, although the differences on attitudes between Belgrade and Prishtina are big. Mutual management of the cross- borders, in Stefanovic’s opinion, is one of the best options, but only under the condition that it does not harm our national interests or the interests of the Serbs in the North of Kosovo in any way.”306 The same day, “Politika” reports his words that the Serbian side “came up with a set of concrete suggestions for overcoming the differences, but, as he stated, the delegation of Prishtina responded with new ‘minimalist and unacceptable requests.’ Stefanovic stated that Serbia can under no circumstances accept that the administrative crossings have any kind of characteristic of a state cross-border.”307

And really, two days after, on the 3rd of December 2011, Kosovo and Serbia signed an agreement on cross-borders. And once again, the main theme and the most important question was if, by this agreement on integrated management of the cross-borders, Serbia recognized Kosovo? In an article titled “Not a Word on Cross-Borders in the Agreement”, B92 web portal reports Stefanovic’s statement to Serbian agencies that “the agreement doesn’t prejudge the statehood of Kosovo in any way, and a cross- 302 - Politika, November 27th, 2011 303 - Vecernje novosti, November 27th, 2011 304 - Ibid. 305 - Ibid. 306 - Press, December 1st, 2011 307 - ����������Politika, �D���������ecember 1st, 2011 Journalists can do it III 79 border, or a state border, or anything like that is not mentioned even terminologically.”308 It is added that “by this agreement, our statehood is certified and our Constitution, as well as the Resolution 1244, is fully complied with” and that “on reaching this agreement, the situation on the field has been taken into consideration, which means that the citizens who use our license plates and documents would not be punished or harassed for it.”309

RTS web portal reports similar information and cites that Stefanovic “characterized the agreement as satisfying, pointing out that “it doesn’t prejudge the statehood of Kosovo and it does not turn an administrative border into a state border.”310 In order to avoid any kind of reference to a state border, the use of the term ‘customs officers’ has been replaced with ‘customs witnesses’: “On the crossings, there would be the representatives of the Serbian police, officers of the Ministry of Finance, EULEX, Kosovo police, and ‘customs witnesses’ from Kosovo that would monitor what is passing the administrative line.”311

In his statements, Stefanovic kept refusing to use the term “customs officers” of Kosovo, and so he stated that the agreed “solution is not an ideal one, but it preserves our national interests. The Constitution and the Resolution 1244 (…), because, as he explained, a part of our staff is going back to Kosovo and Metohija, and the customs officers from Kosovo would only have a dysfunctional role of witnesses.”312 In the same text, an integral article of “Beta” agency is taken and published, titled “Agreements on Integrated Border Management between Kosovo and Serbia” in which it is clearly reported that the “agreements would, as requested, include the balanced presence of all the belonging offices of both sides, such as customs services, the police, etc.”313 What was left unclear is the meaning of Stefanovic’s statement that Kosovo customs officers would have a ‘dysfunctional role of witnesses’, as well as which part of ‘our staff’ returns to Kosovo. Although, an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo has been publicly announced for the first time, these dilemmas are not clarified in the media. Yet, one day after the agreement, “Blic” published a few items titled “What Was Settled by the Agreement on Integrated Border Management”, where the “customs officers” that “that would not have any executive authorities”314 are actually mentioned, but it is not completely clear from which part of the text was that extracted.

As for the claims that by the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia a state border line has not been recognized, it is cited in the footnote of the agreement that “one side acknowledges the line as a border; the other side acknowledges the line as an administrative border line.”315

308 - ������ B92, �D���������ecember 3rd, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=03&nav_ category=640&nav_id=562811 309 - �����Ibid. 310 - �����RTS, �D���������ecember 3rd, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1002088/ Postignut+dogovor+o+prelazima.html 311 - Ibid.����� 312 - �����RTS, �D���������ecember 4th, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1002536/Sporazum+%C4%8Duv a+nacionalni+interes+.html 313 - �����Ibid. 314 - ������Blic, �D���������ecember 4th, 2011 315 - RTS, December 4th, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1002536/Sporazum+%C4%8Duva+nacionalni+interes+.html 80 Journalists can do it III A day after reaching the agreement, all of the daily press reported a part of President Tadic’s statement to the media in Berlin where he stayed for the congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He then reassured the public that the negotiation team protected the interests of Serbia and that his government did not and will not recognize Kosovo. “He pointed out that he sees the agreement only as an agreement on administrative lines, and not in any case as an agreement on border lines, and repeated once more that Serbia will never recognize independent Kosovo. To confirm it, he stated that there aren’t any national symbols of the so-called State of Kosovo in the agreement, or any other national symbols, no customs officers that would do their customs officers’ duty, and would be nothing but observers.”316 Identical words are published in other daily papers.

At the same time, Tadic speaks to the Serbs from the North of Kosovo and asks them to respect the agreement and remove the barricades from the border lines. “’I expect from the Serbs from the North of Kosovo to support the agreement and not to obstruct its implementation. I believe that they will. I’m asking and demanding it from them’, said the president of Serbia. He pointed out that he does not demand it only from the citizens, but, above all, from their leaders who, at this time, shouldn’t be hiding behind the citizens.”317

It is important to emphasize that, at the moment, the signing and implementing the agreement Prishtina was of crucial importance for Serbia for their candidature for membership in the EU. It was clearly pointed out only by an article in “Blic” titled “Until the Barricades Are Removed, the Agreement Isn’t of Great Significance.”318 The first couple of days after the agreement, other media mainly reported the optimistic statements of Belgrade officials about the candidature, without any critical review and presentation of the fact that the agreement without implementation would really be insignificant. By the way, the barricades, at the time, haven’t been completely removed despite the signing of the agreement, and the European officials clearly estimated that Serbia hasn’t done enough, so it didn’t get the status of candidate, not just then, but for another year, by the time when this report brought closer to the end.

Even though, this time, the quarrels on whether Serbia recognized Kosovo by the agreement have been sporadically reported (“Tahiri: Recognition of Kosovo”319, “Borko: We Won’t Give National Symbols to Kosovo”320), for the next couple of days, the central topic in the domestic press still referred to whether Serbia would get its candidature for the EU thanks to its cooperativeness in the negotiations or not, and that was supposed to be determined on the 9th of December 2011.

The media mostly reported that, for getting the candidature, it is necessary to remove the barricades, and it became known that there is one more condition: “The chances of Serbia getting a German ‘yes’ on Friday and even an unconditional status of candidate became more realistic after the seven-hour conference of the Foreign Affairs Ministers

316 - ����������Politika, �D���������ecember 4th, 2011 317 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, D�ecember��������� 4th, 2011 318 - ������Blic, �D���������ecember 4th, 2011 319 - ��������Pravda, �D���������ecember 6th, 2011 320 - Alo���!�,�� D�ecember��������� 7th, 2011 Journalists can do it III 81 of the countries of the EU, where 24 countries defended the interests of Belgrade. As any other good news, this one, too, has one ‘but’. During the marathon meeting, Germany, supported by the Netherlands, has brought out a new condition for getting the candidate status – reaching an agreement with Prishtina on the regional presentation of Kosovo. The condition was accepted and it entered the official conclusions of the Council of Ministers. Of course, the continuation of the removal of the barricades is also required.”321

As often, the responsibility for the possible failure on the matters of getting the candidature was put on some of the members of the EU: “Although the representatives of 24 countries wholeheartedly pleaded for the further progress of Belgrade in the integration process, three powerful countries – Germany, Austria and Great Britain – inexorably defended their position that our European endeavors should be made even harder with new conditions.”322

The daily newspaper, “Press”, offered the most original solution, stating that Europe is “putting pressure” on Kosovo Prime Minister Thaci that he should give up his “maximalist demands”323 and, doing so, make Germany soften its attitude towards Serbia. “The European Union is putting pressure on Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci to accept the agreement with Belgrade on regional representation of Prishtina, which is the condition of Germany to definitely give way to Brussels giving the candidature for membership in the EU to Serbia.”324

Therefore, everything depends on Germany and other members of the EU, and then, on the Kosovo Prime Minister… on everyone but Serbia. A headline “We Have Carried Out Everything, but It’s Still Uncertain”325 from the daily paper “Kurir” accurately sublimes the message that was sent by the media these days on getting the candidature. The uncertainty was removed during the next few days and Serbia did not make any new steps in its Euro-integrations: ”Serbia did not get the candidate status because it does not accept the new condition of the EU by which it is required that it should give up on regional presentation of Kosovo under the designation of the Resolution 1244 SB UN. The top officials of the Government, state the sources of “Blic”, find that it would mean giving up on the Resolution completely, and that is something no one is prepared to. The informed sources of “Blic” state that Germany, along with the Netherlands and Austria, insisted the most on the new condition, while it is unacceptable for Serbia because it would make equal the presentation of Prishtina with legitimate countries, but, also, implicitly recognize the independence of Kosovo.”326

The implementation of the Agreement on the Integrated Border Management started on the 26th of December 2011, and that is when the issue that would, only for a little while, instead of politics, emphasize in the media reports the problems of the common people, especially of those who cross the border between Kosovo and Serbia

321 - ������Blic, �D���������ecember 7th, 2011 322 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, D�ecember��������� 7th, 2011 323 - �������Press, �D���������ecember 8th, 2011 324 - �����Ibid. 325 - �������Kurir, �D���������ecember 8th, 2011 326 - ������Blic, �D����������ecember 11th, 2011 82 Journalists can do it III everyday. The Government of Serbia, namely, adopted an ordinance which regulates the passing of vehicles across the border and, which is very important, the payment of insurance for vehicles that go from Serbia to Kosovo, and vice versa: “The owners of vehicles that enter Central Serbia with KS license plates would pay an insurance of 105 Euros per month. The owners of Serbian license plates that enter Kosovo pay 60 Euros for 15 days. Entering the Central Serbia is provided for vehicles with RKS license plates, too, but their owners, apart from the monthly insurance, have to pay probation license plates that cost 30 Euros and 500 Dinars per day spent in Central Serbia. The insurance for trucks with Serbian license plates that enter Kosovo is 160 Euros per month. With the listed prices, the insurance per year for cars would be 603 Euros, for the owners of vehicles from Central Serbia. For trucks and busses it would be 1680 Euros.”327

This ordinance of the Government caused strong reactions of citizens of Kosovo and Serbia, but also of some politicians, which the media accurately reported and, maybe for the first time from the beginning of the negotiations, they gave a significant space to the issue of the everyday problems of people instead of the issue of the status of Kosovo.

Already on the first day of the implementation of the agreement, the broadcaster B92 reacted. Under the title “Albanians and Serbs: Insurance Is Too Expensive” the words of the Kosovo-Pomoravlje district chief, Dragan Nikolic, are cited that “the Serbs south of Ibar will need about 1000 Euros per year only to be able to enter Central Serbia and that it is a marvelously devised plan for complete destruction of a nation. By this ordinance, about 30.000 Serbs who live in the municipalities Gnjilane, Kosovska Kamenica, Vitina and Novo Brdo are directly affected, and these people are directed every day to crossing administrative borders Konculj and Mucibaba, in the municipalities of Bujanovac and Presevo, where European standards are applied, and they live on African standards.”328

In the same article, the words of an Albanian member of Serbian Parliament, Riza Halimi, who estimated that “after the implementation of the insurance of about 105 Euros per month for entering Kosovo, instead of the promised freedom of movement, there is now a complete restriction of movement. Instead of administrative, we now have financial difficulties, and insurmountable ones, for that matter.”329 These days his statements have been reported in the media many times.

Daily papers in Serbia have criticized the ordinance of the Government in similar way, so “Blic”, under the title “Serbs need 100 Euros to cross Merdare”, reports that “the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, almost certainly will not be able to drive their cars with former symbols of towns in the Province or the very frequent Vranje and Novi Pazar license plates, because it would be too expensive. Serbs from the North of Kosovo, where the implementation has been postponed for the time being, but

327 - �����RTS, �December���������� 26th, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1015484/Po%C4%8Dinje+naplata+na+prelazi ma.html 328 - �����B92, �D����������ecember 26th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=26&nav_ category=640&nav_id=568818 329 - �����B92, �D����������ecember 26th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=26&nav_ category=640&nav_id=568818 Journalists can do it III 83 probably not for long, will be practically forced to take Kosovo license plates, which is something they resisted for the last couple of years using the KM license plates in order not to pay about 100 Euros.”330

The daily paper “Alo!”, under the title “Restricted Movement for Both Serbs and Albanians”, writes that “the implementation of a scandalous decision of the negotiation teams has started” and that “Serbs and Albanians from Kosovo, as well as those who live in Presevo Valley, are united”331 in a strong criticism of the state of affairs.

At the same time, “Kurir” asks “Who’s the Crazy One?” and reports words of the Deputy of the President of the Board for Kosovo and Metohija, Dejan Radenkovic: “Everyday life of citizens who pass the cross-borders to visit a doctor, family or cemeteries, got significantly complicated. This would make the already bad financial situation of these people even worse. I am committed to finding an immediate solution that would be in the best interest of the citizens. There must be a way.”332

In an interesting article, “Kurir” cites the word of a Kosovo citizen, Nezmin Ajupi: “When I heard on the Kosovo border that I have to pay 60 Euros to enter Kosovo by car, I decided to leave the vehicle in Merdare and to cross to the other side on foot. I am travelling to Kosovo Polje and I will take a taxi because it would be much cheaper.”333 The report ends with an observation of a journalist who was at the scene: “In two hours that the reporters of “Kurir” spent on Merdare cross-border, only one vehicle with Serbian license plates entered Kosovo and Metohija, while there were no vehicles with KS license plates leaving Kosovo. Only the vehicles with foreign license plates have no problems at the crossings.”334

“Blic”, as well, implies to the problems with insurance and reports from the borders: “Serbs from Kosovo, yesterday – the first day of the implementation of the agreement on the freedom of movement, were less interested in the political background of this solution. Like not so many times by now, the Serbs north and south from Ibar had almost an identical comment: “We don’t have that kind of money.” And that’s how the Government’s regulation on freedom of movement, besides fear and panic, in the first few hours of implementation got the name ‘The Regulation of Non-Movement’ and ‘The Regulation of Prison.’ Agreement is applied along the entire administrative line, but the implementation is temporarily delayed in the North. Yesterday, both Serbs and Albanians were able to avoid paying because they had double license plates which they changed between crossings.”335

Finally, “Vecernje novosti”, concisely reports to whom does the insurance payment represent a problem: “Because of the astronomical and totally unrealistic prices, the drivers protested yesterday, along with the leaders of Kosovo Serbs, Albanian politicians, and, as we found out, even the Ministers in the Serbian Parliament, were

330 - ������Blic, �D����������ecember 23rd, 2011 331 - Alo���!�,�� D�ecember���������� 27th, 2011 332 - �������Kurir, �D����������ecember 27th, 2011 333 - �����Ibid. 334 - �����Ibid. 335 - ������Blic, �D����������ecember 27th, 2011 84 Journalists can do it III unanimous that these high prices must be suspended immediately.”336

Serbian officials were forced by the public reactions to agree with the claim that paying for crossing the administrative line is unbearable for a longer period of time. The Minister of Police at the time, Ivica Dacic, said that “the price of the car insurance that is paid at crossings from Central Serbia to Kosovo should be lowered. Dacic said that the issue with insurance prices is a matter of the Ministry of Finance and insurance companies, because relations between Belgrade and Prishtina are not the same as relations between two states.”337 At the same time, Borko Stefanovic promises: “I only ask for some patience. We will do everything so the citizens wouldn’t have to pay the insurance even for the period before the agreement on the insurance associations is signed.”338

Reaction to the imposts of the insurance companies, i.e. Serbian Government, surely represents the most significant, and maybe the only example of the situation when more space in the media was given to a life issue and not to a political one. Nevertheless, maybe it wouldn’t be so surprising if the information was revealed and published earlier, maybe even during the negotiations in Brussels. In a statement which was only reported by B92 web portal, Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs, Bajram Rexhepi, revealed that issues considering the insurance were mentioned in the negotiations. He informed that “starting from today, the insurance for the vehicles from Central Serbia entering Kosovo will be charged. (…) Rexhepi said that with it starts the implementation of the agreement on freedom of movement that the delegations of Belgrade and Prishtina accomplished in Brussels. (…) He also pointed out that he doesn’t find that this is a good solution because the drivers will pay a high price for insurance, since, as he said, Serbia insisted on this kind of solution.”339 If Rexhepi’s words are true, there surely was a way to get that information during the negotiations. Instead of that, the focus was almost entirely on the matter of Serbia’s candidature for the EU, and statements of Serbian officials in which the public is assured that the agreement doesn’t mean that Serbia recognized Kosovo.

With the exception of the reaction of the media to the high prices of insurance that are charged at the Kosovo – Serbia crossings, reporting during the seventh round seemed like reporting during the previous phases of the negotiations. Again, the problem of intransparency is present, primarily caused by the decision of the negotiators and political management of Serbia and Kosovo to give the news about negotiations bit by bit. Besides that, the information are unavailable to the public because of the small number of reporters form Brussels, as well as the unwillingness of the media to investigate the mentioned topics by following the trace of the news. The statements of Serbian officials are rarely, almost never, questioned in the reports, even though, as it has been showed, there were reasons for additional questions and explanations in some situations. The guilty ones for the postponement and the failure of the negotiations, as well as for the decision that Serbia shouldn’t get the candidature for the EU, are, by the rule, found on the other (Albanian) or third (European) side… Everywhere, just not in its own lines.

336 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, D�ecember���������� 27th, 2011 337 - �����B92, �D����������ecember 26th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=26&nav_ category=640&nav_id=568935 338 - Vecernje������������������ novosti, D�ecember���������� 27th, 2011 339 - �����B92, �D����������ecember 26th, 2011 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=26&nav_ category=640&nav_id=568706 Journalists can do it III 85 THE EIGHTH ROUND Practically the entire period prior, during and after the last, eighth round of negotiations, media dealt with the dilemma referring to the way in which Kosovo will be represented in international forums, with or without mentioning the SC Resolution 1244, with a footnote or without it, then who is responsible for the delay in negotiations and slowing down of the Serbia’s integration process. And, of course, they also discussed whether the agreement on the representation of Kosovo in regional gatherings means that Serbia recognized Kosovo. However, other events, mainly relating to the application of some earlier agree- ments, are also mentioned from time to time.

Hence, it was published on the State Broadcasting Service’s web page how the proce- dure for the mutual recognition of diplomas will look like. The information did not come from any of the domestic sources, but through a Kosovo web page “Zeri.info”, for which the head of the Kosovo negotiation team, Edita Tahiri, gave statement explaining that “the Association of European Universities (AEU) will be in charge of implementing this agreement, while the activities of this Association shall be conducted in its office that will be set up in Prishtina where diplomas will be nostrified. Tahiri said that this agreement allows the diploma recognition to students, who have graduated from all of the universi- ties on the territory of Kosovo. According to her, the agreement shall be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo and the Association of European Universities (…) According to Tahiri, this international office will receive requests of individuals, who obtained a diploma and then they will forward them to the Association of the European Universities, which will conduct international certification of diplomas and send them back to the office in Prishtina where applicants will be able to collect them”.340 This short but informative news explains for the first time how the process of diploma nostrification will look like. However, only RTS communicated the news and no one else, and by the end of the reporting period, the issue of diplomas was not mentioned at all.

An incident related to the application, or non-application, of the agreement on the free movement of persons happened in mid-January 2012. Kosovo Minister for Diaspora, Ibra- him Makoli, was namely stopped at the Konculj border crossing when he was trying to attend the meeting with representatives of Albanians from the south of Serbia. “Makoli ar- rived at Konculj where Serbian police prevented him from crossing the border (…) Makoli was supposed to meet today with mayors of Bujanovac and Preshevo municipalities, Saip Kamberi and Ragmi Mustafa, and the president of the Albanian National Council, Galip Beqiri. The Mekoli’s visit to the south of Serbia would have been the first visit of a minister from the Kosovo Government to Bujanovac and Preshevo.”341

Most media agencies relayed the disappointment of representatives of Albanians from the south of Serbia, Shaip Kamberi and Riza Halimi, who “assessed this entire situation as a political scandal caused by the Government of Serbia and the Ministry of Interior. Kamberi explained that Makoli’s visit was supposed to represent a ‘symbolical act of establishing a

������������������� - RTS, January 9th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1023826/ Uskoro+priznavanje+diploma+.html �������������������� - RTS, January 12th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1025374/Makoli+zaustavljen+na+Kon %C4%8Dulju.html 86 Journalists can do it III more peaceful and stable situation in this part, but that the Government of Serbia showed that it is the cause for instability in this part of Serbia and the entire Western Balkans’”.342

On the other hand, all the media communicated the statement by Ivica Dacic, who “stated that anyone from Kosovo and Metohija can come to the Central Serbia as a citizen, on the basis of the agreement on the freedom of movement from Brussels, if they provide proper documents at the administrative line, but not as a politician. ‘The Ministry of Interior was not informed that the visit of the Kosovo Minister for Diaspora, Ibrahim Makoli, was scheduled. Anyone is allowed to come as a citizen, but not as the Minister for Diaspora’, Dacic said.”343

Media felt that Dacic’s explanation was enough and no one asked him what particular part of the agreement he referred to and where does it state that persons are not allowed to come from Kosovo to Serbia “as politicians” but only “as citizens”.

“Alo!” Daily went one step further and stressed some other moments other than Dacic’s clear explanation of the reasons why Makoli was prevented from entering Serbia. They published an article titled “Tachi’s Minister Refused Police Control” in which they alleged: “Kosovo Minister for Diaspora, Ibrahim Makoli, gave up his plans to come to Central Serbia and visit the Preshevo Valley! As “Alo!” found out from its sources, Serbian police stopped him at the Konculj administrative crossing for routine control, but Makili did not let the police do their job and he turned around and went back to Prishtina out of protest”.344

At this time, the continuation of the negotiations was still uncertain, and the state broad- casting service offered the following reasons for this: “Prishtina wants Kosovo to be rep- resented in regional forums by its name, but with the footnote ‘this determination does not prejudice the position of the states with regard to the status’. Serbia wants the foot- note to state: ‘in accordance with the Resolution 1244’. According to the sources from the international community, the Kosovo Governments generally agreed to have Kosovo represented by its name with the footnote stating ‘without prejudice to the position of the states with regard to the status’, but Serbia did not accept any compromise on this.”345 The article provides allegations from the Prishtina “Koha ditore” daily and in this moment it was certain that Kosovo will appear under its name in regional and international initiatives, and that there will be an annex written under its name, but the text of which only has to be coordinated. B92 relayed the same article from “Koha ditore”.

Other daily newspapers reported in the similar manner, quoting Stefanovic’s statement that “the issue of the representation of Kosovo at regional and international forums has not yet been resolved”346 and that “the representation of Kosovo without mentioning the Resolution 1244 is unacceptable for Serbia”.347

Then American official Philip Rieker visited Serbia and the media announced prior to his arrival that Boris Tadic’s four point plan will be presented to him during his meeting with ������������������������� - Politika, January 13th, 2012. ����� - �V�e�č���ern�j����e no�v������osti, �J�����anuar�y�� 1�3th, 2012 �������� - Alo!�������������, January 13th, 2012. ��������������� - January 10th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1024066/ Fusnota+ko%C4%8Di+dijalog%3F.html ���������������������� - Kurir, January 12th, 2012. ��������������������� - Blic, January 12th, 2012. Journalists can do it III 87 Serbian officials, namely the “special status for the north, protection of the cultural and religious heritage, protection and security of the property of Serbs in Kosovo, and the re- turn of the displaced”.348 They communicated the statements of Borislav Stefanovic, who stated that “legally elected institutions which represent the only institutional framework that exists in the north of Kosovo, cannot be abolished”349. He speaks, of course, about the so-called parallel institutions in the north of Kosovo, for which international represen- tatives expected and they still expect from Serbian authorities to abolish them.

Philip Rieker said this publicly in his statement given or the Kosovo Radio Television in an interview, parts of which were transmitted on the Serbian state broadcasting service’s web page: “There cannot be any changes of borders, or divisions, or exchanges of territories in this region. Serbs in the south of Kosovo have integrated and they are citizens of the free and democratic Kosovo. And Serbs in the north will integrate into Kosovo institutions”.350 After the meeting, Stefanovic timidly stated that they presented to Rieker the essence of Tadic’s plan “in general” and that “it turned out that there is some understanding for the four points on which the plan relies”351, then he added that the meeting was “constructive” and that after the meeting with Rieker it was allegedly clear that Serbia may expect some pressure “on Prishtina by the authorities from Washington to be more constructive in the dialogue”.352

Media reports until the continuation of the negotiations and the final agreement resem- bled one another and they practically communicated the quarrels between the leaders of the Kosovo and Serbian negotiation teams about how regional representation of Kosovo should look like and Stefanovic’s statements in which he accused Prishtina for slowing down the dialogue.

The introductory paragraph of the article published on B92 web page summarized the po- sitions of Kosovo and Serbia: “Edita Tahiri stated that it would be acceptable for Prishtina to have Kosovo represented in regional initiatives with the footnote which would state “without prejudice with regard to the status”. Borislav Stefanovic responded that the foot- note is acceptable but only if it mentions the Resolution 1244.”353

If one should search the articles from January 2012 by the key word, there is no doubt that “Resolution 1244” would be absolutely the most used term in the media since this period was very much characterized by Borislav Stefanovic’s intensive campaign in which he an- nounced that Serbia would not give up the position that the Resolution must be mentioned in the footnote when Kosovo is being represented in regional gatherings. In this way, the then Serbian government claimed, it would be clearly indicated that Serbia does not rec- ognize Kosovo and that delegations from Prishtina in international forums cannot appear as a sovereign state.

������������������������������ - RTS, January 19th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1029466/Riker+u+Beogradu.html �������������������� - B92, January 19th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=01&dd=19&nav_ category=640&nav_id=575132 �������������������� - RTS, January 19th, 2012 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1029466/Riker+u+Beogradu.html �������������������� - B92, January 20th, 2012 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=01&dd=20&nav_ category=640&nav_id=575637 ���������������������������� - RTS,January 20th, 2012 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1030610/Razumevanje+za+Tadi%C4% 87ev+plan.html �������������������� - B92, January 23rd, 2012 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1031798/Fusnota+razdora.html 88 Journalists can do it III It is enough only to take a glance at some of the headlines from January to be able to conclude that such a campaign of Serbian authorities exists and is greatly supported by the media: “Nothing Without Resolution 1244”354, “Resolution Obliges”355, “Only With UN Resolution”356, “We Will Find a Solution, But We Won’t Give Up Resolution”357, “Stefa- novic: It Is Now Clear That We Will Not Give Up Resolution 1244”358, “Resolution 1244 in All Proposals”359.

The articles with the aforementioned headlines were published prior and during the meet- ing that Borislav Stefanovic had with the international facilitator Robert Cooper in which they discussed the continuation of the dialogue. All media relayed Stefanovic’s stance that “it is now absolutely clear that Serbia cannot give up the Resolution 1244 and that it is up to the international community to make influence on Prishtina to give up its maxi- malistic and negative positions about the Resolution since it is the only valid international legal act relative to Kosovo.”360

After Stefanovic’s meeting with Cooper, B92 published on its web page an article titled “Painful Compromise Between Belgrade and Prishtina” which communicated the allega- tions published in the Kosovo “Koha ditore” daily in which it is said that “Kosovo and Ser- bia will reach an agreement on the representation of Kosovo in regional initiatives in early February, and the compromise will be painful” and it will entail “that Kosovo agrees to be represented without mentioning the Republic in its name, while Serbia will agree to omit UN SC Resolution 1244 from the representation of Kosovo.”361

Right after this, media relayed Stefanovic’s response: “Of course it is false and they have published false information which was served by the authorities in Prishtina before (…) In the forthcoming days we will see how false this information published by the Koha ditore daily was, but I assure you it is completely false”, Stefanovic stated and reminded that this newspaper has published information on several occasions which did not come true.”362

In these days, Serbian party to negotiations blamed Prishtina for the delay in the con- tinuation of the dialogue and the media dedicated certain space to Stefanovic’s state- ments on this matter. “Blic” communicated his statement “that a ‘rigid and maximalis- tic Prishtina’ which refuses any sort of agreement is reflected in statements given by the leaders of the Prishtina negotiation team, Edita Tahiri, relating to the regional rep- resentation” in the article titled “Stefanovic: Prishtina Has Enormous Requests”.363 B92 offered more details on this subject: “’Now we see one rigid, maximalistic Prishti- na, which refuses any agreement, denies an international valid document pertinent to Kosovo and Metohija, which is the only valid and the last one to be adopted and at the same time it strives to be part of the international community’, Stefanovic added.”364 ���������������������� - Kurir, January 12th, 2012 ��������������������� - Blic, January 12th, 2012 ���������������������� - Kurir, January 24th, 2012 ���������������������� - Press, January 26th, 2012 ������������������������� - Politika, January 26th, 2012 ����� - �V�e�č���ern�j����e no�v������osti, �J�����anuar�y��� 26th, 2012 ������������������������� - Politika, January 26th, 2012 �������������������� - B92, January 26th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=01&dd=26&nav_id=577252 �������������������� - RTS, January 26th, 2012 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1034010/Nema+dogovora+bez+Rezolu cije+1244.html ��������������������� - Blic, February 2nd. 2012. �������������������� - B92, February 1st, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=01&nav_ Journalists can do it III 89 In these articles Stefanovic responded to the statement that Edita Tahiri had given for “Tanjug” after the meeting with Robert Cooper in Prishtina: “Cooper presented Serbian proposals to me and I rejected them because both proposals mention the Resolution 1244. Our position is that the Resolution is outdated and that it does not reflect the real situation in the region”, Tahiri stated for ‘Tanjug’365

The time period until the beginning of the eighth round of dialogue was marked by spo- radic arguments between Belgrade and Prishtina and guessing what the agreement on the representation of Kosovo in international forums would look like. “Vecernje novosti” wrote and B92 relayed that there are two possible options for the agreement that are be- ing discussed: “The first one is to have next to the name of Kosovo a note that it is repre- sented without prejudice to the position of states relative to its status, and the other option refers to the UN SC Resolution 1244, the ICJ Advisory Opinion from 2010, and the United Nations Assembly Resolution with regard to this opinion. Whichever option is adopted, it shall be written in a note marked with an asterisk on the plate with the name of Kosovo.”366

One of the rare statements given by Kosovo politicians, other than Edita Tahiri, relating to the possible agreement was published on B92 and RTS web pages that relayed agency reports. They relayed the statement that the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjage, gave after her meeting with Robert Cooper in which she said “that there should be reciprocity in relations of Kosovo and Serbia” and that it is important “that they discuss with Serbia the matters of mutual interest and that results of such discussions should be in accor- dance with the best European standards and practice and that their implementation is guaranteed by the EU”.367 They also published the statements given by the Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci who said that “Any solution which does not reflect the reality of the new and sovereign state of Kosovo will be unacceptable”.368

The last row of accusations coming from the Serbian authorities against Prishtina in the media was communicated several days prior to the continuation of negotiations and it was part of the reaction to the letter that the authorities from Prishtina addressed to the Euro- pean states in which, as the media agencies from Belgrade relayed, they are asking that Serbia does not get the candidacy status for the membership in the EU. “Blic” daily pub- lished news under the title “Blackmails from Prishtina” in which it quoted Borislav Stefa- novic who gave the following statement: “No one in the international community approves of the manner in which Prishtina acted now. Our international partners think that Belgrade is acting constructively offering five or six possible solutions.”369 They also published the opinion given by the head of the Government’s Media Office, Milivoje Mihajlovic, who said that in the letter to the capitals in Europe, Prishtina “stated a series of false things related to the dialogue because they are trying to find a way to gain indirect recognition of inde- pendence”, as well as the opinion of an analyst who is close to the government, Vladimir category=640&nav_id=579045 �������������������� - RTS, January 27th, 2012 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1034906/Link+slabiji+od+rezolucije. html �������������������� - B92, February 5th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=06&nav_ category=206&nav_id=580271 ��������������������� - B92, February 14th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=14&nav_ category=640&nav_id=582514 ��������������������� - RTS, February 14th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1044806/Hap%C5%A1enje,+znak+d obre+volje+.html ��������������������� - Blic, 21.2.2012. 90 Journalists can do it III Todoric, who said “it was their autogoal.”370

The state broadcasting service relayed on their web page the statement by Borislav Ste- fanovic, who was a guest in the “Evening News” where he said that the letter of Kosovo authorities to European countries represents “a proof that they do not understand Euro- pean integrations because we are deeply convinced that Prishtina is not the one that can or that has the right of veto and I am sure that Brussels will not perceive this move with affinity”.371 Stefanovic stated in the same interview that “they are not asking us for new fa- vours. We gave five or six proposals for the regional representation of Prishtina and they all contain Resolution 1244. There is a broad consensus in the international community on our proposals and if there is enough wisdom and courage on the side of the govern- ment in Prishtina, we will reach an agreement”.372

Three days after the talks and, as some media described, “negotiation marathon”373, the two parties came to an agreement that there would be an asterisk besides the name of Kosovo in international forums and the footnote shall state: “This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence”374 Therefore, upon the request of Serbia, Reso- lution 1244 was accepted and at the same time the proposal of Prishtina to underline the opinion of the International Court of Justice, which pronounced that the Kosovo Declara- tion of Independence is legal, was also adopted.

Even though this is not the subject of this part of the report, it is important to underline that all media announced a day before the Belgrade and Prishtina delegations reached a final agreement that Kosovo Serbs finally removed barricades from Brnjak and Jarinje cross- ings. This was one of the conditions, besides reaching an agreement on the international representation of Kosovo, for Serbia to receive a positive evaluation on March 1st in the European Council session for obtaining the status of a candidate for the membership in the EU. It was obviously insufficient and implemented too late since it was assessed that other agreements were not seriously applied, hence Serbia again failed to obtain the can- didacy. Media failed to criticize such an approach of Serbian authorities who implement any request made by the international community and its earlier promises only when all of the deadlines have expired.

In any event, it was announced on February 24th, 2012 that Prishtina and Belgrade finally reached an agreement. The public broadcasting service communicated the satisfaction of the leaders of negotiation teams and international facilitator: “All our interests have been fully protected. The delegation from Prishtina will be represented in regional forums in an asymmetrical, unequal manner”, Stefanovic stated. (...) Speaking about the protocol for the application of the agreement on the integrated administration of the crossings, Edita Tahiri stated that today Serbia de facto recognized the independence of Kosovo because, as she says, this protocol regulates the relations between two states. The EU facilitator ���������� - Ibid. ���������������������� - RTS, 19.02.2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1047714/Srbija+spremna+za+nastavak+dijalo ga.html ���������� - Ibid. ���������������������� - RTS, 23.02.2012.������������ http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1049914/Pregovara%C4%8Dki+maraton+u+ Briselu.html 374 - �����������������RTS, 24.02.2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1050772/Dogovor+Beograda+i+Pri%C5%A1 tine.html Journalists can do it III 91 in the dialogue, Robert Cooper, stated that both parties confirmed their dedication to the fundamental values of the EU when it comes to the regional cooperation. “The agreement will enable Kosovo to sign treaties and to participate in regional forums, while until now the agreements were signed by UNMIK, the Cooper’s press statement alleged.”

The highest ranking European officials also expressed their satisfaction: “High Repre- sentative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Catherine Ashton, and the European Commissioner for Enlargemetn, Stefan Fule assessed that the agreement between Belgrade and Prishtina represents a huge step forward.”375

After the agreement was reached, the media in Serbia and officials’ statements created some sort of victorious euphoria. The first reason was the fact that the Resolution 1244 was mentioned in the footnote, but they still ignored the fact that a favour to Prishtina was also made by mentioning the opinion of the International Court of Justice. Second, because they were waiting for, which will later show to be in vain, the candidacy status for the membership in the EU. On the other hand, they intended to show that Kosovo was defeated by this agreement, and this time they quoted more than ever before a number of Kosovo sources, from Edita Tahiri, through Hashim Thaci to the opposition DSK and the “Self-Determination”.

They communicated certain voices of content, like the statement given by the Deputy Min- ister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Petrit Selimi, who said, “that now the road to 36 regional initiatives has opened to Kosovo” in which it can participate as a “full member and not only an observer”: “We will have the right to contractual relations and this is important for us because it allows us to have greater interaction and to be a more responsible member of the international community, and Kosovo and Serbia shall sit at the same table”.376

Then, they relayed the statement of allegedly less content Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, which were relayed by some of the media through “Tanjug” and “Beta” Agencies: “Kosovo becomes a member and is being represented by its name in all multilateral rela- tions as an equal state”, the Prime Minister of Kosovo stated at the same time underlining that this formulation is not ideal, but it is the most acceptable option at the moment.”377

“Kurir” tabloid published an article under the title “Agreement Makes Albanians Furious” in which it summarizes the reactions in Kosovo in the following manner: “A part of the Kosovo public is not satisfied with the agreement that Belgrade and Prishtina reached yesterday in Brussels and Albin Kurti’s “Self-Determination” movement even announced protests. They all claim that Hashim Thaci made a too big of a favour to Belgrade. The analyst and the Editor in Chief of the Prishtina Koha ditore Daily, Agron Bajrami, stated that the agreement from Brussels does not represent a compromise. – Achievements for Kosovo are way too small and very unclear. Most of the things that are now mentioned as achievements – liberalization of visas, contractual relations with the EU and other – had already been mentioned as achievements after the December agreement – Bajrami said. He added that he “personally believes that the agreement on the regional representation

���������� - Ibid. 376 - ����������������B92, February 24th, 2012.http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=24&nav_ id=585315 ��������������������� - B92, February 24th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=24&nav_ category=640&nav_id=585377 92 Journalists can do it III of Kosovo with a footnote is unjust”.378 They also communicated the disagreement of the opposition Democratic Alliance of Kosovo with the agreement because they assessed “that in regional initiatives, Kosovo should be represented by its Constitutional name, as a sovereign and independent state.”379

The state broadcasting service also provided some space for the stances of the Kosovo opposition parties on their web page: “Leader of the ‘Vetevendosje’ (‘Self-Determination) Movement, Albin Kurti, called upon the citizens of Kosovo to express their disappointment with the move made by the government on Monday in the protest and he claimed that Thaci privatized the state and reached an agreement without the approval of the Parlia- ment or some sort of a serious debate in the government. ‘This is Prime Minister’s person- al agreement and, therefore, it is not obligatory for the institutions or citizens of Kosovo’, Kurti said alleging that the protest on Monday shall last for four hours, which represents the number of years that have passed since the unilateral declaration of independence.”380

The media sporadically relayed opinions of the opposition leaders in Serbia, like the President of the Democratic Party of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, who alleged “that Ser- bia was humiliated in Brussels and that the EU made it an accomplice in the creation of the independent state of Kosovo. The Government celebrates the fact that they will obtain the candidacy status and the fact that they reached an agreement with Albanian separatists.”381. Vice President of the Serb Radical Party, Dragan Todorovic, had a similar reaction alleging that the “treason has been made so that Serbia could become a candi- date for the membership in the EU”.382

Representatives of Serbs from Kosovo also reacted to this agreement and they were un- satisfied with the agreement signed. The Mayor of Kosovska Mitrovica stated that “Serbs in the north of Kosovo are upset and disappointed. We think that the agreement between Belgrade and Prishtina is unconstitutional.”383

Otherwise, a number of verbal clashes happened between the chief participants in the negotiations process after the completion of the eighth round on many issues including the issue of the duration of the agreed manner of the representation of Kosovo with a foot- note. Edita Tahiri referred to the fact that there would be a footnote i.e. an asterisk besides the name of Kosovo in international forums and said: “This asterisk is like a snowflake; it will melt when the winter is over”.384 All media in Serbia relayed this part of her statement.

Stefanovic responded to this by saying: “the winter of their dissatisfaction will not pass because the footnote will not melt”.385 In the same statement he reiterated his opinion that he had been repeating since the beginning of the negotiations that by accepting the

����������������������� - Kurir, February 25th, 2012. ����� - �V�e�č���ern�j����e no�v������osti, �F������ebruar�y��� 25th, 2012 380 -����������������� RTS, February 24th, 2012. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1051208/Pri%C5%A1tina%3A+Od+f usnote+do+ulice.html 381 - ���������������������Politika, February 25th, 2012. 382 -������ Ibid. 383 -������������������� Kurir, February 25th, 2012. 384 -������������������ BETA, February 24th, 2012. http://www.beta.rs/default.asp?tip=article&kategorija=vestidana&ida=2657767&id= &ime= 385 - ����������������B92, February 25th, 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=02&dd=25&nav_ category=640&nav_id=585569 Journalists can do it III 93 agreement “Serbia does not recognize Kosovo”.386

The entire course of the negotiations was marked, among others, by the question of le- gitimacy and legality of negotiations, the reaching of agreements and even the contacts between the state team with representatives of Kosovo. Constant insisting on the claim that “we did not recognize Kosovo” clearly points to the fear of the authorities from public reactions as soon as some progress is made in negotiations with Kosovo representatives. This public opinion has been made mainly thanks to politicians, but, one has to say, also thanks to the essential and sometimes the key help of the media.

The main problem with the reporting in Serbia on the course of the negotiations is, as it seems, the lack of transparency of this process. Politicians on both sides bear the great- est responsibility for this, but also the media, which have agreed to the position in which they only relay the things that they have been told without putting pressure on negotiators to reveal some more information. Media and the public should fight for a greater transpar- ency of some prospective negotiations and put pressure on politicians to allow for a better access to information.

In the previous part of this analysis we mentioned the fact that only “Beta” and “Tanjug” agencies had their representatives in Brussels during the negotiations as well as a small number of daily newspapers who had their reporters in Brussels. The poor financial situa- tion in most of the media in the region definitely had impact on this. Since we can expect in the forthcoming period mutual visits of Kosovo politicians to Belgrade and Serbian politicians to Pristina, it would be of great importance to improve the exchange of infor- mation between Kosovo and Serbian media. This would for sure make the monitoring of the negotiations and other meetings by the media that are not able to send their repre- sentatives to every meeting, much easier. Even if we did not have this financial issue, the cooperation between journalists and media houses would certainly improve the quality of the reporting in Serbia about the events in Kosovo and vice versa.

It is also apparent that the focus in media reporting in placed on political issues and not on the topics which are directly significant for the life of citizens in Kosovo and Serbia. One example from the last two rounds of negotiations clearly illustrates this situation. Namely, the entire text of only two agreements – the one on the integrated administration of the crossings reached in the seventh round387 and the agreement on the representa- tion of Kosovo in regional forums from the eighth round388 - were published in the media in Serbia. The fact that this happened tells us that they had to find the text of the agree- ments, even with regard to the most delicate issues, which could potentially cause nega- tive reaction of the public, especially its part affiliated with opposition political parties. At the same time, they do not reveal the specific contents of any of the agreements reached, for instance the agreement on the mutual recognition of university diplomas or on registry books, which points to the lack of media interest in these topics.

386 - �����Ibid. 387 - �����RTS, �D������������������ecember 4th, 2011 http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1002536/Sporazum+%C4%8Duva+n acionalni+interes+.html 388 - �������������������������Blic and RTS, February 25th, 2012. 94 Journalists can do it III ANALYSIS OF REPORTS ON NORTHERN KOSOVO BARRICADES Just like their predecessors, the Government of Serbia that was formed following the May 2012 elections does not give up the “Both Europe and Kosovo” slogan when describing the future of the state. Simply put, the government envisages Serbia in the EU with Koso- vo within its state border. This guiding idea also brought the previous government into a cul-de-sac. In the key moments – establishing firm relations with the EU, i.e. Serbia´s step towards EU membership – the authorities have drastically transformed; according to cur- rent necessities, they carried out “pro-Kosovo“ or “pro-European“ policies. In both cases –controversial and contradictory policies.

On March 2 2012, Serbia received EU membership status, about ten days after complet- ing an almost one-year negotiation process with Kosovo on the normalization of relations. However, the date of begin of proximity negotiations is unknown and Serbia will not get this date in 2012389.

Beside Serbia´s progress in fulfilling European standards in the 30 chapters formulated by the EU, the “Kosovo issue” will be decisive for estimating whether Serbia is ready to begin negotiations on EU membership.

Although the first barricades were set up in France back in 1588 in order to divide Catho- lics and Protestants, they were first used in the Balkans as means of inter-national conflict on August 17 1990 when armed ethnic Serbs – Croatian citizens – used logs to separate territories they considered their own, from the rest of the territory of Croatia.

Twenty-one years later, the “Kosovo barricades“ in northern Kosovo were much more colorful – besides the defense of “Serbia´s national sovereignty in Kosovo“ they also served as a place for prayer (the Jagnjenica barricade), the location of the First Cossack- Orthodox campaign from Russia to Serbia; they were equipped with a video screen show- ing sports events, concerts; they served as locations for weddings. The barricades were visited by high-ranking officials of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) led by Hague indictee Vojislav Seselj – SRS Vice President Dragan Todorovic, members of DSS led by the party´s spokesperson Petar Petkovic, head of the Socialists´ Movement Aleksandar Vulin who is today in charge of Kosovo in the Serbian government390.

The barricades are a good indicator of their builders´ attitude towards the northern Koso- vo Serbs, Serbs in other parts of Kosovo and Belgrade. At first, Belgrade supported the building of barricades and when in the fall of 2011 they became an obstacle for Serbia´s accession to the EU, the barricades´ builders committed patricide by pulling away from the control of Belgrade, as the barricades became a great burden to the Serbian capital in its relations to Brussels.

By erecting the barricades, northern Kosovo Serbs became isolated from the Serbs from other parts of Kosovo, from Belgrade and the “motherland“, hindering their access to Ser- bia while, at the same time, pushing themselves in deeper isolation. With their deeds, the 389 - Danas, Sep 15 2012. http://www.danas.rs/danasrs/politika/kritika_u_vecini_oblasti_.56.html?news_id=247741 390 - Autonomija,������������������������ Nov 6 2011, http://www.autonomija.info/tamara-kaliterna-barikade-kao-turisticka-atrakcija.html Journalists can do it III 95 builders of the barricades annulled their great verbal devotion to Serbia. Also, by doing so they displayed a lack of observance of the Serbian Constitution which in Article 82 guar- antees a unified market of goods, labor, capital and services and their free movement391, but also towards the same constitution´s preamble which states that the “Province of Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of the territory of Serbia“392, since they physically separated its northern and southern part.

In late October 2011, “The New York Times“ published that the smuggling of oil derivatives in barricades-divided northern Kosovo yearly amounts to $100 million. Quoting police of- ficers and international observers, the New York paper observes that the protests and bar- ricades are mainly supported by businessman Zvonko Veselinovic who has built around ten barricades and pays the protesters $70 per day393.

The barricades were visited – for per diems, but as “fighters for the Serbian cause“ – by Russian members of the “Kosovo front” coalition, Polish members of the “Poles for Ser- bian Kosmet” organization and people from the “Slovak Renewal Movement”. Adis Alajov has also stood guard at a barricade. “I came as soon as I heard that the gathering at the barricades is taking place”, said Alajov, who is from Ethiopia394.

Although Belgrade media learned from so-called “well informed sources“ that the Kosovo barricades were organized and controlled by the opposition, Serbian authorities also con- demned violence against Serbs from the barricades. When it comes to the barricades, government and opposition were united.

“Serbia will insist on dialogue, and the barricades are a barrier of Kosovo´s independence. We are not in favor of force because that would mean disaster“ – sources of ’Press’ daily from the Belgrade authorities stated and urged the Serbs at the north to remain calm and peaceful and do not fall for provocations from Pristina. Belgrade´s goal is also to prevent customs revenues which will be charged in cash to go into the Kosovo budget“395.

However, there were more prosaic motives behind “patriotic“ excuses for setting up bar- ricades – gaining personal wealth. That is the reason why the keepers of the barricades were paid per diems, namely in order to keep the profits from illegal and uncontrolled im- port and export of goods from Serbia and Kosovo: “Zvonko Veselinovic, who was present- ed in northern Kosovo as a great patriot had faced several investigations. Veselinovic was suspect for tax-free goods smuggling in cooperation with Albanian criminal structures. A 2005 decision by the Vojislav Kostunica government had abolished VAT for all goods heading to Kosovo. Instead of the Kosovo Serbs receiving cheaper goods due to such decision, individuals – both Serbs and Albanians – were getting richer while damaging the budget. As discovered by the “Insider“ TV program in its latest series, the goods were either returned to Serbia as tax-free and sold for a price which includes VAT or smuggled to the southern part of Kosovo, thus being tax-exempt both of the Serbian VAT and the 391 - Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, Official Gazette http://www.sllistbeograd.rs/documents/ustav_repub - like_srbije_lat.pdf 392 - Ibid. 393 - The New York Times, Oct 24th 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/24/world/europe/in-balkans-smuggling- forges-a-rare-unity.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www 394 - Autonomija, Nov 6 2011 http://www.autonomija.info/tamara-kaliterna-barikade-kao-turisticka-atrakcija.html 395 - Press, Sep 16 2011. p. 2 96 Journalists can do it III Kosovo customs and taxes“396.

“Our investigations and our intelligence officers have found that this was the case; that people, regardless of their nationalities did this together, because a lot of goods managed to leave down there; I am referring to Southern Mitrovica or other parts of Kosovo. It is certain that people from Serbia or someone from the northern part, alone, could not be able to do that, that is was done by Albanians of Kosovar nationality (citizenship, remark T. K.)”, says Naim Huruglica, head of the Kosovo customs397.

As early as during 2005, 2006 and 2007, the UNMIK administration attempted to deter- mine the manners of smuggling between Serbia and Kosovo... Back in 2007, according to the “Insider“ program´s information, UNMIK informed the authorized institutions in Serbia about all gathered evidence398.

Northern Kosovo which borders Serbia is populated by approx. 55,000 Serbs. This data stems from the estimates of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) because the inhabitants of northern Kosovo boycotted the 2011 census. Ac- cording to the preliminary information from this census which was carried out on Sep- tember 21 2011 by the Kosovo Statistics Agency, the total population of Kosovo is 1,739, 825, however without three municipalities in the north of the country. Albanians constitute 92,93% of Kosovo´s population, while Serbs constitute 1,47%, which amounts to 25,575 people399.

The government of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica tolerated the anarchy and economic chaos in northern Kosovo because they were mostly generated by his own party´s offi- cials thus acquiring financial benefits and political support. However, the government that was formed on July 7 2008 also tolerated this for more than three years:

Northern Kosovo is steeped in crime. All citizens of northern Kosovo know this and they are silent about it. Northern Kosovo is a source of narcotics, human trafficking and oil smuggling to central Serbia because in northern Kosovo VAT was being collected neither by Belgrade nor Pristina. It was only in September 2011 that the Serbian government adopted a bylaw which practically means reintroduction of VAT. “Amendment to the Or- dinance on implementation of the VAT Act on the territory of Kosovo, which was adopted by the Government on Friday, September 16, practically means the reintroducing of VAT concerning the circulation of goods and services in the Province, Tanjug agency was told by the Government. During a telephone session, the Government has decided to abolish customs procedure at checkpoints at administrative crossings to Kosovo and to reintegrate the circulation of goods and services in the Province into the taxation system of Serbia“400.

At northern Kosovo, some citizens are armed, there are no customs and the state-owned and other media in Serbia report about unarmed people defending themselves against 396 - B92, May 22 2012. http://www.naslovi.net/2012-05-22/b92/veselinovic-i-patriotska-pljacka/3481204 397 - B92, May 22 2012. http://www.naslovi.net/2012-05-22/b92/veselinovic-i-patriotska-pljacka/3481204 398 - Ibid. 399 - Slobodna Evropa, Sep 21 2012. http://www.slobodnaevropa.org/content/kosovo-ima-1739825-stanovnika-srba- skoro-1-5-posto/24715904.html 400 - RTS, Sep 19 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/958322/ Vra%C4%87en+PDV+na+sever+Kosova.html Journalists can do it III 97 heavily armed KFOR troops who want to remove the barricades; there is no mention of the fact that Serbs used gunfire to prevent KFOR at the checkpoints to arrest suspects of the July 2011 murder of the members of the Kosovo Police Special Units ROSU and their helpers. Northern Kosovo citizens do not pay their electricity bills, landline phone, rent or taxes. Mobile phone operators in northern Kosovo are the ones from Serbia. In the fall of 2011, Serbs in northern Kosovo denied obedience to Belgrade when it suited them. The northern Kosovo authorities were dominated by parties from the so-called “patriotic block“ while the pro-European coalition was in power in Belgrade.

When the Pristina government introduced on July 20 an embargo on the import from Serbia, asking Serbia to recognize the Kosovo customs seal and attempting to establish control over northern Kosovo where Serbs do not recognize the authority of Pristina, on late night of July 25 ROSU members managed to dispose at what Belgrade calls the “ad- ministrative crossing“ Brnjak, and Pristina calls “border crossing“. EULEX401, the “largest civilian mission in the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), had previously retreated. Local Serbs responded by setting up barricades. In time, 18 barricades were set up on the territory of northern Kosovo. Analysts disagree on whether Pristina took action without asking anyone or was it done after consulting the international community. On July 26, Serbia demanded an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council for, as it was explained, violations of stability in Kosovo; however, the session was not held. During the entire summer, KFOR removed the barricades, while the Serbs set up new ones which were definitely torn down in 2012 at the green diplomatic table.

The Government of Kosovo decided on July 20 2011, based on reciprocity, to introduce a ban on import from Serbia since Serbia does not recognize the Kosovo customs seal, thus preventing the export from Kosovo to Serbia. The decision on the embargo, as was stated in a Kosovo government announcement, was the consequence of “failing to reach an agreement on recognizing the customs seals of Kosovo and free trade“. On the previ- ous day, the sixth round of negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade was postponed in Brussels. State Secretary with the Ministry of Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic described the recognition of the Kosovo customs seal as a “naive attempt for Serbia to recognize the independence of Kosovo”402.

Serbian President Boris Tadic reacted on July 21: “This is a provocation for Serbia. We will not react with a countermeasure”403.

Two days later, due to the embargo by Pristina, dozens of trucks stood at the Merdare crossing404, and on July 25 the BETA agency published a report saying that “special units 401 - Its goal is the assistance and support to Kosovo institutions in the area of rule of law, concretely in the fields of police, judiciary and customs. EULEX works within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Participants are all EU countries including Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Croatia and USA, and other countries can join. The CSDP mission shall develop and strengthen an independent and multiethnic judicial system and a multiethnic police and customs service, making sure these institutions refrain from political interfering and are in concord with internationally recognized standards and best European practices. The Mission shall implement its mandate through monitoring, supervision and advising, retaining certain executive authorizations“, http://www.eulex-kosovo.eu/sr/info/ whatisEulex.php 402 - Beta, Jul 20 2011. http://www.beta.rs/default.asp?tip=article&kategorija=vestidana&ida=2542371&id=&ime= 403 - B92, Jul 21 2011. http://www.b92.net/biz/vesti/srbija.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=21&nav_id=526954 404 - Blic, Jul 22 2011. http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Politika/267304/Poceo-embargo-Zaustavljeni-sleperi-na-putu-za- Kosovo 98 Journalists can do it III of the Kosovo Rose police took over the administrative crossing Brnjak at northern Koso- vo while local Serbs prevented them to take over the nearby checkpoint Jarinje, too. A source for BETA agency from the Ministry of Kosovo and Metohija told that the citizens have blocked roads in Leposavic, the village of Rudare and Zubin Potok in northern Koso- vo... Radio-television Kosova reported that the Kosovo police began an action to overtake the administrative crossings to Serbia, by orders of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi. State Secretary of the Ministry of Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic warned that the situation in northern Kosovo could ’escalate’ following the action by the Kosovo police at the administrative crossings to Serbia, Brnjak and Jarinje“... “It is a thoughtless gesture which is inexplicable”, Ivanovic said on the decision by Pristina to have a special police unit take over Brnjak and Jarinje crossings405.

Radio-television Kosova reporters from the scene confirmed that the ROSU special po- lice units took over the Brnjak crossing, that they were nearby the Jarinje crossing, but that the road is blocked by four lorries filled with sand and a group of local Serbs. Those checkpoints were under the jurisdiction of the EULEX customs and they also had Serbian staff, employees of the Kosovo police. It was told by EULEX that they learned about the action by the ROSU special units from the media. Minister of Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic stated that the attempt by the Kosovo police to take over the administrative crossings Jarinje and Brnjak in northern Kosovo was an “unreasonable act we believe may have been synchronized with EULEX”406.

“Special units of the Kosovo ROSA police took control of the administrative crossing Brn- jak, nearby Zubin Potok, while Serbs from Leposavic prevented them with a road block to take over the Jarinje crossing. Until now, both crossings have been controlled by the EULEX customs which did not implement the decision by Pristina on the ban of import from Central“, RTS reported407.

“There was a clash near Brnjak, between members of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and protesting Serbs. Four protesters were arrested and the ROSU troops beat up 20-year- old Aleksandar Perovic from the Zupca village, in the Zubin Potok municipality. Minister of Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic and head of the Belgrade negotiating team in the dialogue with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic talked in Leposavic with KFOR Commander Erhard Bühler and commander of the ROSU units (whose name is not stated, remark T. K. ). Bogdanovic and Stefanovic told that the conditions for the Serbs to remove the bar- ricades was that ROSU retreats from the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings“408.

The “Vecernje Novosti“ daily hired M. Niciforovic and I. Radulovic on July 26 to write an article entitled “The People Prevented Capturing of Jarinje“. The rather long article states that “the people of Leposavic quickly gathered, blocked the road and is not allowing Thaçi´s special units to pass through Leposavic and continue towards Jarinje which is still controlled by the KPS mostly constituted of local Serbs... There were defense sirens in Leposavic, as well as bells from the local church and the people gathered in large numbers at the place where the Kosovo special units were stopped. A fire truck from

405 - Kurir, Jul 25 2011. http://www.kurir-info.rs/kosovski-specijalci-preuzeli-prelaz-brnjak-napeto-na-jarinju-cla- nak-101424 406 - Ibid. 407 - RTS, Jul 26 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/930476/Specijalci+napustili+prelaze.html 408 - RTS, Jul 26 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/930476/Specijalci+napustili+prelaze.html Journalists can do it III 99 Leposavic, trucks and several tree logs were placed in front of the ROSU unit special ve- hicles... Although they gathered spontaneously, the Serbian people in this part of KiM are determined to defend the Jarinje administrative crossing, a checkpoint which saw mostly the arrival of goods from Serbia these days, during the Albanian blockade“409.

The following day, the blockade escalated into violence: “On July 27, around 7 pm, a group of masked young men attacked and then burned the Jarinje crossing. President Tadic called for cessation of violence and stated that extremists and hooligans, with their violent behavior, act against the interests of the state of Serbia and its citizens. Head of the Belgrade team for negotiations with Pristina said the attack on the Jarinje checkpoint worsens the Serbs´ position in the north of Kosovo. He described the burning of the checkpoint as a act of crime at a moment when we are near a solution’... ’We will not al- low the arrival of extremists from the interior of Serbia to northern Kosovo so that they can violate public order’”, said police director Milorad Veljovic for Tanjug410.

“KFOR will control this crossing, mainly in order to prevent possible weapon smuggling, KFOR spokesperson Hans-Dieter Wichter said for Tanjug. He specified that, unlike Ja- rinje where only KFOR will be present, the Kosovo police forces will remain at the Brnjak crossing411.

This is the second time that Jarinje burned. It was also set on fire two days after Kosovo declared its independence on February 19 2008.

“A police checkpoint was set on fire at the administrative crossing Jarinje and the Brnjak crossing near Zubin Potok was destroyed in an explosion during the protest of several thousand Serbs against the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo. The Brnjak and Jarinje crossings were closed for 24 hours, UNMIK decided“. Slobodan Samardzic, then Minister of Kosovo and Metohija, assessed that the action by Kosovo Serbs was legitimate. On that occasion, about a dozen automobiles of the Kosovo and UNMIK police were cimpletely destroyed, the local population insulted KFOR members, beat up local and foreign journalists. Head of the Zubin Potok municipality Slavisa Ristic said the pro- test took place after the Serbs from Zubin Potok head that Albanian customs officers had arrived to the crossing with Serbia: “We cannot allow them to enforce upon us institutions on a non-existing state and pay taxes to some sort of independent Kosovo”, he said in 2008412.

No one was charged for these felonies in Serbia, even though Serbian citizens were hurt in the riots, as well.

In a lengthy report on the latest events in the crisis area on July 27 2011, RTS – a media with the largest following in Serbia – dryly reported that at 3.20 pm “shots were fired at the KFOR helicopter, as stated by KFOR commander“ and that Serbia has asked for an ur- gent meeting of the UN Security Council concerning Kosovo. There were broad interpre- tations of a statement by the chief of the Belgrade negotiating team in the dialogue with 409 - Vecernje novosti, Jul 26 2011. p. 12 410 - RTS, Jul 27 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/931544/Zapaljen+prelaz+Jarinje.html 411 - Ibid. 412 - B92, Feb 19 2008. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=19&nav_ category=640&nav_id=285424 100 Journalists can do it III Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic: “The agreement on the staff composition at the crossings in the north of Kosovo and Metohija that was reached yesterday with KFOR representatives was not followed. Against the agreement, Albanians were brought to the crossings – cus- toms officers and officials of the border police from Pristina. KFOR is helping the Kosovo police to take over the administrative crossings”. Stefanovic called upon the United Na- tions mission not to allow itself to be an instrument of Pristina, and he also asked the citi- zens to stay on the streets, prepared, but to refrain from rebuilding the barricades for now. Stefanovic also made an appeal for dealing with the issue without political divisions413.

However, KFOR Commander Erhard Bühler stated at the Jarinje administrative crossing that special units of the Kosovo ROSU police were “pulled from the north” and that the administrative crossings were manned by “regular policemen”, Serbs and Albanians414.

The same night, President of Serbia Boris Tadic gave two statements in which he con- demned violence: “Extremists and hooligans with their violent actions are at work against the interests of the citizens and the state of Serbia and are joining extremists on the Albanian side who aim to stop the peace process and dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, by acting unilaterally and violently”415.

Author Slobodan Ikonic, under the title “Checking the Pulse“, writes about the “night time aggression against northern Kosovo“. Using a vocabulary dating from the time of Slobo- dan Milosevic, Ikonic – who was also back then a journalist for NIN, a weekly that today presents itself as being be different then the Milosevic-era NIN – continues: “The shooting at Zubin Potok shows that the Kosovo police unwillingly retreats from the administrative border with central Serbia. It all depends on the decision by Pristina´s great patrons who determine Hashim Thaçi´s every move. Hashim Thaçi is back to his element and, instead of UCK units, his driving force are the special units of the Kosovo ROSU police. Suddenly and veiled by darkness, the temporary administration in Pristina used these units to make the first serious attempt of establishing control over the north of the Province, i.e. the en- tire territory of Kosovo and Metohija“416.

Another weekly writes in a similar vein – journalists do not advocate the truth. Two au- thors, M. Milosevic and M. Rudic wrote very “opinionated“ about the Brnjak conflict for the “Vreme“ weekly which used to be thought of as a media of the “anti-Milosevic“ Serbia. The text begins like this: “The crisis is ongoing since Wednesday, July 20, when Pristina put a ban on the ’import’ from Serbia. The calming was misleading, because around 3 pm, an armed incident took place at Brnjak. It is difficult to tell who fired the first shot, but there is blood on the asphalt around the scene of the incident, a few Serbian cars were shot at, and one member of the Kosovo police Enver Zymberi was badly wounded and was taken by helicopter to the Pristina hospital where he died 22 hours later, on July 26“... The authors, one of whom is a founder of the weekly – continue: “Hashim Thaçi has obviously dramatized the customs disagreement in order to establish control in northern

413 - RTS, Jul 27 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/931036/Normalizovano+stanje+na+Kosovu. html 414 - Ibid. 415 - B92, Jul 27 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=27&nav_ category=640&nav_id=528252 416 - NIN, Jul 28 2011. p. 16 Journalists can do it III 101 Kosovo, something Pristina had not managed for 11 years“417. The text suggests that “several Serbian cars were shot at“ implies that the shooting was done by those who are not “Serbs“.

“KFOR Assists the Independence of Kosovo“, is another suggestive news headline, by B92 on July 28. It is in fact an interpretation of the Minister of Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic´s assessment that KFOR was helping create an independent state of Kosovo, whereby KFOR imposes the Pristina institutions to function on the entire territory of the province. In this report, the Minister´s statement preceded what was much more important for the safety of the citizens, Serbs in northern Kosovo, namely that “NATO proclaimed Jarinje and Brnjak banned military zones, threatening with the use of live ammunition in the case of attack“. There is extensive coverage of the announcement of the Serbian Government: “the basic goal behind the violent operation of attempting to take over the checkpoints Jarinje and Brnjak by the special police is not to establish law and order, but a clear inten- tion to alter the entire reality in the north part of the Province, using force and regardless of human casualties»418.

On July 29, Radio B92 aired an interview with President of Serbia Boris Tadic, entitled “Kosovar Criminals Torched Jarinje“. Journalist Zana Bulajic learned from Tadic that “Ser- bia is not giving up the negotiation process, we want the situation back to where it was, before the intervention by ROSU. It is very important to us that KFOR and EULEX keep their status-neutral position“. When asked suggestively by B92: “Could the ROSU special units attempt the overtaking of the administrative crossings only with the order of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, and without the support from the international community?“, Tadic replied: “It is not possible to imagine such a naive scenario of ROSU appearing out of the blue“. When asked who did set Jarinje on fire, Tadic replied that those were “criminal structures in Kosovo and Metohija and not only those among Serbs but also criminal structures directly linked with Albanian criminals from Kosovo and Metohija. It is well known that the criminal structures in Kosovo and Metohija have strong ties with the Pristina establishment“. He denied any kind of connection of Belgrade with the Kosovo violence, adding: “Pristina resorted to violence at this moment, Belgrade did not“419.

When asked whether a division of Kosovo was a possible solution, Tadic replied: “All solu- tions should be taken into account“420.

“Serbs from northern Kosovo spent the night at the barricade in the village of Rudare in the Zvecan municipality, where a larger number of citizens gathered than it was the case in the previous nights“, reported RTS on July 31. “President of the Zubin Potok municipal- ity Slavisa Ristic held an improvised press conference at a barricade where he conveyed the conclusions of the Headquarters for emergency situations of four northern Kosovo municipalities, stating that the barricades represented a defense of the Resolution 1244 and that they were the last line of the resolution´s defense... The Serbs at the barricades emphasize that they would remain there until the situation at the administrative crossings

417 - Vreme, Jul 28 2011. p. 8 418 - B92, Jul 28 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=07&dd=28&nav_ category=640&nav_id=528484 419 - B92, Jul 29 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/intervju/index.php?yyyy=2011&nav_id=528701 420 - Ibid. 102 Journalists can do it III to central Serbia returns to the state before the special units of the ROSU Kosovo police attempted to take over the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings. Serbs from northern Kosovo organized a performance at the Jarinje crossing, nearby the American checkpoint – a soc- cer game with players wearing yellow ribbons around their arms“421.

The last sentence from the state television anchor should be a reminder that the Serbs in Kosovo are in the same position Jews were in, in territories under Nazi occupation in World War II.

Under the panic-stricken headline “Serbs fear a New Storm!“ (military-police action in Croatia in 1995, which reintegrated all regions occupied in 1991 by the Yugoslav People´s Army and the paramilitary from Serbia into the constitutional and legal system of the Re- public of Croatia, remark T.K.) the high-circulation tabloid “Kurir“ published a report from northern Kosovo. Although the article is not signed, the text reads: “At the blocked roads, on several occasions there were close encounters between Serbs and heavily-armed KFOR soldiers who said they would use force if the barricades are not removed“422.

The unidentified journalist conveys the assessments of unidentified interlocutors: “We are waiting for shots to be fired! We´ve seen everything else during these few days“, we were told in Leposavic. “There´s fear among the people, fear for the weak, women, children... I´ve been saying for a long time that we´re in for “Storm 2“. I fear that the Shiptars will not stop now, that this is only the beginning“, says Serb Dragoljub O. His fellow citizen adds that the situation resembles the one prior to the 1999 bombing.“We are waiting for something and we don´t know what it is. We fear an intrusion of the Kosovo Protection Corps over the Bajgora mountain. We fear a raid; how can we oppose such a force“, he said honestly“423.

Around 2.15 pm rapid fire was heard at Brnjak. “Let them shoot, I don´t care“, said one of the Serbs. KFOR Commander Erhard Bühler conditions the continuation of the negotia- tions by removing the barricades. The Serbs respond by raising a large Serbian flag424.

Author Zeljka Jevtic states that the “gathered people and the erected barricades at the main roads in northern Kosovo currently represent the strongest trump card for the Bel- grade authorities´ negotiating position“425. She explains that “at some less important bar- ricades the people moved when KFOR soldiers came along, watched silently as they removed the tree logs and then returned to their positions. At strategically more important locations, such as Rudara near Zvecan, the people laid on the road despite of KFOR´s ultimatum that they must move in the stipulated timeframe ’or there will be use of force’426.

Again, an unidentified – both by name and state of origin – “international diplomat from Pristina says for ’Blic’ that it is not the intention of the states who recognized Kosovo, but also of KFOR, to return the state at the border crossings to the previous situation, as demanded by Belgrade. He added that Pristina´s intention was to demount parallel struc- 421 - RTS, Jul 31 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/933064/Brnjak+otvoren+za+putnike.html 422 - Kurir, Jul 30 2011. p. 2 423 - Ibid. 424 - Kurir, Jul 30 2011. p. 2 425 - Blic, Jul 30 2011. p. 4 426 - Ibid. Journalists can do it III 103 tures of Serbia in the north, through the checkpoints“427.

Based on agency reports, on August 5 RTS brought the statement by the Kosovo and Metohija Minister Goran Bogdanovic that the Serbian government had reached an agree- ment on resolving the northern Kosovo crisis with KFOR commander Erhard Bühler. “On the other hand, the gathered Serbs have refused tonight to remove the barricades and the head of the Kosovska Mitrovica municipality Krstimir Pantic announced that the MPs of the four municipal assemblies from northern Kosovo will make a statement tomorrow on whether they accept the agreement between the Government of Serbia and KFOR“, the report stated428.

It is then that the rift began between official Belgrade and the northern Kosovo Serbs who began to use their blackmailing potential in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Belgrade´s chief negotiator Borko Stefanovic asked the Kosovo Serbs “to be united, to support their state which cannot sur- vive without them, but also to be aware that they cannot survive without their state. “I ask of you to accept the agreement; it is temporary”, Stefanovic said429.

However, the citizens who blocked the road in the village of Rudare would not unblock it, despite appeals by Stefanovic and Minister Bogdanovic430.

In a text entitled “Thaçi has Calmed Down“, author Jovica Krtinic learned in Belgrade, instead of Pristina – the source of the information – that the “so-called Thaçi government which initially angrily refused the framework agreement reached by representatives of the Serbian government and KFOR, subsequently announced yesterday its consent with the KFOR commander´s plan“431.

“In the struggle for their right, the Kosovo Serbs should use the reliable peaceful methods and techniques used by the Kosovo Albanians when they did not want to live in Serbia. If the international community accepted what the Albanians did, I cannot see how it is pos- sible to have double standards“, said Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic432, suggesting northern Kosovo Serbs to fight for their sovereign territory in Kosovo which would then unite with Serbia, according to scenarios tested in the aggression of Serbia against Croa- tia in 1991, and against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. Dacic was one of Milosevic´s closest associates and after Milosevic´s death he became his successor as President of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Dacic accused Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi that he had sent special police forc- es to the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings in order to provoke a clash, and then “stood behind international forces. Had such attempts been successful, today, at the anniversary of the Croatian military action ’Storm’, we would have an exodus of Serbs from northern Kosovo and we would talk about that, while the international community would probably justify the

427 - Ibid. 428 - RTV, Aug 5 2011. http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/dogovor-kfora-i-vlade-srbije-ali-barikade-ostaju_266766.html 429 - Ibid. 430 - B92, Aug 5 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=08&dd=05&nav_category=640&nav_id=530172 431 - Kurir, Aug 5 2011. p. 4 432 - Vecernje novosti, Aug 5 2011. p. 2 104 Journalists can do it III action“, Dacic said433.

In his alarmingly-titled text “On the Razorblade“, author Milan Milosevic sums up: “It is dif- ficult to persuade anyone that those highly dangerous developments in northern Kosovo happened by themselves: postponed negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade be- cause of customs seals along with the – coincidental, of course – increased statement by various diplomats that Serbia would have to recognize Kosovo if it wants to join the EU“434.

Milosevic is not different from the part of Serbia´s political establishment that believes that the recognition of Kosovo is a condition for Serbian accession to the EU, even though Brussels never presented it as a condition. What is demanded instead is the normaliza- tion of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

“While the President of Kosovo sees no alternative for Kosovo, her colleague from Bel- grade (Boris Tadic, remark T. K.) views the European Union as something without alterna- tive. While this European Union and the USA openly take the side of the Pristina govern- ment, the Serbian Assembly insists on a dialogue with Pristina managed by Brussels and Washington, and receives American support for this. While the Kosovo authorities claim the administrative crossing Jarinje was torched by criminals, Serbian authorities claim the same thing… Yes, the Serbs are on the barricades in Rudar, Leposavic, Zupca and Zubin Potok, at the Mitrovica bridge, left to their own devices“, Nikola Vrzic writes435.

Journalists measure the government´s attitude towards Kosovo according to their own po- litical and partisan preferences, rather than facts. In that sense, after describing Kosovska Mitovica as “the last Serbian refuge in Kosovo and Metohija“ “Pecat“ journalist Miodrag Zarkovic visited the barricade in the Rudare village where “day and night, Serbs from the entire area are standing guard; i.e. not just those from Rudare, but also from Mitrovica and the surrounding villages... “We must not leave the barricade because they would remove it right away. They come to provoke us all the time, as it is. Every day a KFOR units comes along, like they didn´t know that the barricade was not removed“, people we found there confided. The barricade itself, made both of piled up logs and a laterally parked freight truck, a spread tent, rocks, is covered by photographs of Vladimir Putin. “He was the only one who voiced his concrete support“, one of the people at the barricade explained436.

There were no reports on support from Putin to the people at the Kosovo barricades by Serbian or international media, but the myth about Russian support to the Kosovo Serbs is as resilient as every other Kosovo myth. The entire Russian KFOR contingent, 650 peacekeeping troops, have left Kosovo in 2003 and have not returned since.

The fact that northern Kosovo was a scene of conflict for political opponents is also il- lustrated by the conversation with Milan Ivanovic, head of the Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija. Ivanovic´s political background is shown by the headline used for the interview “The Yellow Three have Betrayed and Sold us“. Yellow is the color as- sociated with Boris Tadic´s Democratic Party which was the ruling party in Serbia when the interview was published. Answering questions by Ugljesa Mrdic, Ivanovic replied: “It´s 433 - Vecernje novosti, Aug 5 2011. p. 2 434 - Vreme, Aug 4 2011. p. 10 435 - Pecat, Aug 5 2011. p. 6 436 - Pecat, Aug 26 2011. p. 18 Journalists can do it III 105 obvious that a new time has come in which criminals like Hashim Thaçi and other people described as members of terrorist organizations even by the State Department and who were accused by neutral European authorities of the harshest felonies, such as organ trade, are accusing us, Serbian politicians, of being criminals... All of this is a well-con- ceived scenario of a second phase of violence which is to be carried out in Kosovo and Metohija in order to impose the false and illegal state of Kosovo and expel Serbs from the northern part of the Serbian province, as well“437.

Batic Bacevic, a senior NIN journalist, reports – also without identification details about his interlocutors, which is a means for a journalist to state his own opinion – that “foreign diplomats are ready to say that this is a new crisis, one which during a couple of days saw the taking over of northern border or administrative crossings, torching, and installing Serbian barricades in northern Kosovo, only the first serious step in recognizing the new reality – that Jarinje marks the beginning of a new state which must be cooperated with. One could hear statements from Serbian officials that the fuse has been lit in northern Kosovo so that Belgrade would demonstratively leave the negotiations, so that in the period to come Serbia and Kosovo would be put on the same wagon of European integra- tions. Opposition politicians will soon state that the battle for customs checkpoints has only made clear something that every western ambassador in Belgrade would say off the record – that the negotiations with Europe cannot start before the begin of establishment of good neighborly relations with Kosovo. Serbs from Kosovo, however, will say noth- ing. They have already erected barricades and rendered all the grand diplomatic games meaningless, even if it´s only temporary.438.

The government does not give up the division to good and bad guys – the bad guys are always in Pristina. “Tadic: Thaçi calls for violence“; this is a headline of a report on Serbian President Boris Tadic´s assessment of the Kosovo situation. “Serbia supports KFOR and EULEX actions in northern Kosovo, only if their goal is to combat crime and if they re- spect the status-neutral position of international missions“. Tadic assesses the statement by Hashim Thaçi (the state-owned media agency does not mention the fact that Thaçi is Prime Minister of Kosovo, remark T. K.) on the alleged terrorist operation in northern Kosovo, as calling for violence. Tadic stated that the Pristina institutions are “not immune” to organized crime and that they cannot establish the rule of law in northern Kosovo. He said that Serbia would not give up her institutions in northern Kosovo because they pro- vide the Kosovo Serbs with normal life and security“439.

On September 7 the state-owned TV RTS, after its regular evening news program, brought the Tanjug news, entitled “Thaçi wants to go to Brnjak and Jarinje“: “Chief of the Belgrade negotiation team in the dialogue with Pristina Borislav Stefanovic said that the state of Serbia, as well as its citizens, will do everything to prevent the one-sided action of disposing Kosovo customs officers to the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings, as announced by Pristina for September 16“ and added that Serbia will do everything to receive support by the international community in its opposition to such a move440. 437 - Pecat, Aug 19 2011. p. 14 438 - NIN, 4. avgust 2011. p. 6 439 - RTS, Aug 31 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/948158/Tadi%C4%87+u+U%C5%BEicu. html 440 - RTS, Sep 7 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/952346/Ta%C4%8Di+ho%C4%87e+na+Brnj ak+i+Jarinje.html 106 Journalists can do it III The same story was published by the “Politika“ daily under the headline “Stefanovic: We will do Everything to Prevent the Action by Pristina“441.

“All vital roads in northern Kosovo and Metohija are blocked after the Serbs addition- ally reinforced the barricades“, RTS reported on Sunday, September 18. “KFOR set up barbed wire at the Jarinje crossing. After a transport helicopter landed at the base near the Jarinje crossing, thick smoke appeared, followed by flames“, TSR reported442.

“The situation is the same as yesterday. We have a continued tension here, the citizens are awaiting but they are calm and that is the most important. They want an answer and the state´s task is to provide one”, said Borislav Stefanovic who visited the “Lola fot” factory in Lesak with the Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic... “Obvi- ously, we have great determination by the citizens not to give up their demands, and the determination of Pristina not to give up the completion of its sovereignty”, Stefanovic said. Bogdanovic and Stefanovic visited the barricades, as well, where they talked to the citizens. Representatives of the tax administration at the Merdare, Konculj, Rudnica and Brnjacki Most crossings have directives from the Serbian Ministry of Finance not to let goods marked with “Republic of Kosovo“ leave Kosovo and Metohija”443.

Journalist Veljko Miladinovic reported from Jarinje that “Serbs from northern Kosovo and Metohija last night decided in favor of blocking all roads, indefinitely, as a response to Pristina´s announcement that it would today send Albanian customs officials to the Jarinje and Brnjak administrative crossings. The top state authorities stated that it has a strategy for such unilateral act by the Kosovo authorities but they still believe that the international community would prevent the violence“444.

Unidentified sources are still being used to present the government´s standpoint: “Serbia will insist on dialogue and the barricades are a barrier against the independence of Koso- vo. We do not want any use of force, for that would mean catastrophe“ – said sources of ’Press’ daily from the Belgrade authorities who urge Serbs in the north to remain calm and composed and not fall for provocations from Pristina. Belgrade goal is also to prevent the customs revenues, which will be collected in cash, to flow into the Kosovo budget“445.

When in September 2011 the Mirko Cvetkovic government declared void the 2005 or- dinance of Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and reintroduced VAT in northern Kosovo, Borko Stefanovic commented that by doing so, Belgrade reinforced its fiscal sovereignty over Kosovo446.

The stays at the barricades are organized in eight-hour cycles. Those are the working hours of institutions and factories. “Blic“ journalist Ivana Mastilovic-Jasnic describes the barricades in northern Kosovo which are, at times, several meters tall and are supposed to prevent members of EULEX, KFOR or Kosovo police to reach the crossing by land.

441 - Politika, Sep 8 2011. p. A5 442 - RTS, Sep 18 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/957790/Tre%C4%87i+dan+blokade+.html 443 - RTS, Sep 18 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/957790/Tre%C4%87i+dan+blokade+.html 444 - Press, Sep 16 2011. p. 2 445 - Ibid. 446 - RTS, Sep 19 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/958322/ Vra%C4%87en+PDV+na+sever+Kosova.html Journalists can do it III 107 (The mandate of KFOR is determined by the Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, while the Kosovo Police was subordinated to the UNMIK Police (which was also deployed to Kosovo through an UN decision) until February 2008 when Kosovo declared indepen- dence, remark T. K.). The “Blic“ journalist – who writes mostly from Belgrade on various topics, with no specialized field – continues: “In all of the cities, there are great shortages of food, and especially fuel. At any given moment, there are around 50 people at the bar- ricades, but all of the other citizens are ready to come out if we receive some indications. Cars are ready and entrepreneurs prepared vans and trucks, as well. When the alarm sirens go off, it takes us need less than 10 minutes all to arrive there“ – says the “Blic” source from Leposavic. The text is published under the headline: “We Argue across the Wire but it all Ends there“447.

Under the headline “Stefanovic: Don´t Touch the Barricades“, Tanjug reports on Septem- ber 27 that the chief of the Belgrade negotiation team in the dialogue with Pristina called on KFOR to stop removing the barricades in northern Kosovo. “With these moves, KFOR is trying to weaken our position before the negotiation process and I believe that it is completely unnecessary to use force against people who are protesting peacefully and to arrest people”, Stefanovic told Tanjug448.

“This morning, on a day when talks are expected between Belgrade and the international community about the situation at the administrative crossings in northern Kosovo, KFOR troops closed the alternative crossing near the Jarinje checkpoint where they are remov- ing barricades in an action which saw several arrests. Sometime later, around 10.30 am, an incident took place at the barricade when citizens threw rocks at KFOR and the inter- national forces´ soldiers responded with teargas“449.

“The Serbs who sustained serious injuries in today´s riots at the Jarinje administrative crossing claim that KFOR opened fire at unarmed citizens. One of those injured, Sasa Stanojevic, stated tonight that he came to Jarinje to support the people protesting at this northern Kosovo crossing, but that KFOR fired at the people“450.

“KFOR fired shots, Serbs did not”, read the BETA agency news on September 28 from Kosovska Mitrovica, although the text did not contain any facts in support of the headline. It goes on that “the head of the Kosovska Mitrovica county and presidents of the northern municipalities of the Province called for the creation of an independent commission that would investigate the Jarinje incidents. Following a meeting between heads of northern Kosovo municipalities and KFOR northern zone commander Darius Nobs, the former stated that KFOR will attempt to conceal evidence on the use of fire arms“451.

In yesterday´s clash between KFOR troops and Serbs at the alternative road near Jarinje, more than 10 persons were injured. Six Serbs sustained flesh wounds and deep injuries

447 - Blic, Sep. 19 2011. p. 4 448 - B92, Sep 27 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=27&nav_ category=640&nav_id=544995 449 - B92, Sep 27 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=27&nav_ category=640&nav_id=544995 450 - Ibid. 451 - B92, Sep 28 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=09&dd=28&nav_ category=640&nav_id=545393 108 Journalists can do it III and there were also four injured KFOR troops452.

Borislav Stefanovic spoke in Brussels on the cancellation of the seventh round of dialogue with Pristina, also mentioning “use of force by KFOR against unarmed citizens”453.

Journalist Ivana Mastilovic Jasnic reports that “six Serbs sustained serious injuries, while several were lightly wounded in clashes which took place yesterday between citizens gathered at the barricades and German KFOR soldiers in northern Kosovo, nearby the Jarinje. Four KFOR troops were also injured in the clashes. The citizens of Kosovo who grew unaccustomed to violence only to be reminded again of the ugly scenes from late July when the Kosovo ROSU special units charged the checkpoints, survived yesterday a true war. It was clear that the situation could escalate in early dawn when KFOR closed the alternative road passing immediately nearby the Jarinje crossing, and represents the only connection between northern Kosovo and Raska. Approximately one thousand pro- voked citizens gathered, surrounded the KFOR troops and threw rocks at them454.

In a report entitled “Serbs defending Barricades in spite of KFOR Might“, the journalist quotes a nameless citizen who, as she says, “was at the scene“: “German soldiers first threw the teargas and then they started shooting, first rubber bullets and then live ammu- nition. There was panic, the citizens were running in all direction. In that chaos, many got hurt, some had problems with their eyes because of the teargas. One could hear shouts, it was like an execution“455.

“All patients who were taken to our hospital, except for one, were hit by live ammuni- tion, and in one case we even had a deep wound and we removed a real bullet from the patient´s body – says the Director of the Kosovska Mitrovica hospital Milan Jakovljevic456.

“Blic“ continues with a chronology according to which, on the previous day, KFOR re- moved a rubble barricade near Jarinje; an hour later the Serbs set up a new one, five meters tall, made of rubble. When KFOR closed the alternative direction near Jarinje connecting northern Kosovo and Raska at six o´clock, Serbs were shouting at the KFOR troops, throwing rocks at them and surrounded them; the troops responded with the use of teargas. “Rapid fire at Jarinje, helicopters flew over the zone, Serbs ran away in panic“, the journalist reported. “Sanitary vehicle hit with eight bullets... Revolted Serbs in North- ern Mitrovica damaged two EULEX vehicles“... “The people will not allow being placed in a ghetto and behind a border with the mother state. KFOR has no mandate to implement Pristina´s policies. As for the Belgrade authorities, they care more about the gay pride pa- rade, no one cares about the citizens on the barricades, about the arrested truck drivers”, says for “Blic” Dragisa Milovic, head of the Zvecan municipality“457.

“Vecernje novosti“ journalist Ivan Radulovic writes: “They used rapid fire to prevent med- ics help injured citizens... KFOR troops fired automatic weapons at barehanded people who peacefully expressed their dissatisfaction because of the violent action by American

452 - Ibid. 453 - Blic, Sep 28 2011. p. 2 454 - Ibid. 455 - Ibid. 456 - Ibid. 457 - Blic, Sep 28 2011. p. 2 Journalists can do it III 109 and German soldiers... “Serbs threw rocks at German soldiers. One of them was hit and the soldiers had to fire rubber bullets in self-defense“, said KFOR deputy spokesperson Kai Gudenoge458.

A report by “Vecernje novosti“ states that unidentified men “used rapid fire to prevent medical staff from helping injured citizens“. It is unclear whether this implies to the KFOR medics, or Serbs. A report by “Blic“ states that “a sanitary vehicles was hit by eight bul- lets“. It is not specified whose vehicles were in question, even though the bullet holes were counted.

Zoran Saponjic´s text is brought with a headline: “Blood was Shed in Kosovo!“, with the “They Shot at Living Flesh!“. “At least seven people, shot by live ammunition, remained wounded in the dust. The Jarinje crossing and alternative roads around it turned yes- terday afternoon into real war zone! KFOR soldiers, from machine gun trenches and armored vehicles, firing automatic shots at Serbs who were at the barricades at that mo- ment... From the cemetery above the KFOR base, where the Kurir reporter was located at the time, the military unit´s attack looked terrible... Brutal“459. “Press“ used twice the same, although slightly different terms in its headlines: “KFOR Shot at Serbs“, i.e. “NATO Soldiers Attack Serbian People“. Both suggest that Serbs were shot at by members of international forces460. A headline in “Alo” has the same national tone: “KFOR Automatic Fire at Serbs!!!“461.

The NIN weekly summed up the September clashes in its “See you in the Next Peace“, which is an allusion to the movie titled “See you in the Next War“ directed by Zivojin Pavlovic, a prominent part of the “black wave“ in the 1980s Yugoslav film. Reporter Batic Bacevic assesses that “both Kosovo officials and their Western patrons described the transforming of the two administrative crossings into state checkpoints – with open trium- phalism – as the beginning of reintegration of northern Kosovo, normalization of relations with Serbia or, more plainly, as the shift of the Kosovo myth from politics into remem- brance. The position of the Kosovo Serbs was the only to be considered crystal clear. Fearful that they could get lost somewhere in the triangle Belgrade-Pristina-Brussels, they seem to have made up their minds to force all the players onto the open scene: both European diplomats and the Thaçi government, as well as Belgrade... When the author of this text two weeks ago asked a diplomat what kind of outcome of the Kosovo story can be expected, he received a rather wry and cynical reply: “All these stories about sce- narios, status issues, may be helpful to the government or citizens to swallow the defeat with less pain, but 12 years have elapsed and maybe one should realize that there exists only one scenario or solution – an independent Kosovo in which Serbs would enjoy rights stipulated by the Ahtisaari plan Serbia would genuinely strive to develop good neighborly relations with. ”462.

“The situation in northern Kosovo can deteriorate or be escalated up to a point – and that is when someone gets irritated. That someone will be the one who will be able and willing

458 - Vecernje novosti, Sep 28 2011. p. 4 459 - Kurir, Sep 28 2011. p. 4 460 - Press, Sep 28 2011. p. 2 461 - Alo!, Sep 28 2011. p. 2 462 - NIN, Sep 22. 2011. p. 14 110 Journalists can do it III to end the story once and for all. In order to somehow clarify the entire story, a normal police investigation would be necessary which would show where was who standing dur- ing the shooting, who heard and saw what, where empty shells were found, who was hit with what, and all that goes with it. Kosovo police force did, though, send an investigation team on Tuesday afternoon but chances that it accomplishes something are bleak: KFOR may or may not let them to the scene (they do not have to); the Serbs don’t recognize them anyway in this overheated situation, nor will they believe anything they would be told by the investigators“, says Milos Vasic in one of the rare reasonable texts about these clashes463.

Other weeklies suggest that those protesting on the barricades are innocent and un- armed. “The Last Battle of Kosovo“ is both a militant impression and the conclusion of Tanja Nikolic DJakovic when she writes about the situation in northern Kosovo: “Germany is waiting for the first KFOR victim and Serbia can forget about the candidate status for the EU. As far as the Kosovo issue is concerned, it has to be solved in a manner demanded by German Chancellor Angela Merkel – the north has to be a recognized part of Kosovo within its administrative borders. When we say Merkel, one should read European Union; when we say EU and Kosovo, one should count on the USA. And they - EU, Brussels and Washington will march towards that goal until its fulfillment. If that requires the use of force, they will use force and Serbia will be blamed for whatever happens“464.

In continuation of her text the author quotes – quite unusually in journalist circles – a letter from Berlin to a Belgrade editorial board: “This warning was sent by a NIN source close to German government circles immediately before the Tuesday dramatic events at the alter- native crossing near the administrative checkpoint Jarinje... Citizens installed loudspeak- ers near the barbed wire set up by KFOR and played Serbian folk music. They parked their truck inches away from the barbed wire while four helicopters carrying military rein- forcement to the ground troops flew over. The citizens moved towards the wire and KFOR responded with gunfire“465, says the report where the reader is persuaded that armed troops opened fire and charged on peaceful people who sang patriotic and folk songs.

Another article dedicated to the situation in Kosovo, published in the same issue of NIN, also carries a militant headline – “Gunshot to the negotiations“. Its authors Batic Bacevic and D. Kolendic – write: “It has been made clear to Serbia that, following the end of the Hague story, regional cooperation will be the next condition for EU candidacy. These ’two separate processes’ confluenced in a rather brutal way on September 27 when Brussels was to host a new round of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, but it was called off because of the heavy clash of the KFOR soldiers and Kosovo Serbs at Jarinje “466.

“It is not clear who made the decision that KFOR should restore order in northern Kosovo but, for some reason, it is believed that that was a result of a US-German compromise, reached between the American Embassy and KFOR commanding structures. Such action forced Belgrade to cancel the new round of Kosovo negotiations“467.

463 - Vreme, Sep 29 2011. p. 10 464 - NIN, Sep 29 2011. p. 6 465 - Ibid. 466 - NIN, Sep 29 2011. p. 10 467 - NIN, Sep 29 2011. p. 10 Journalists can do it III 111 A quasi “German-American conspiracy against Serbia“ represents a constant fed to most of the Serbian public opinion since 1990, introduction of the UN sanctions against the then FRY in May 1992 and NATO air raids against Serbia in 1999.

Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) leader Vuk Draskovic, who at that time was close to the democratic option, said for B92 that Kosovo would be the theater of an operation resembling the scenario of the “Storm“ in Croatia. “We are facing a scenario to insti- gate bloodshed, to set tractor columns into motion, that would infuriate citizens of Serbia against the West, but also that these barricades would be turned into barricades between Serbia and the democratic world. Serbs from northern Kosovo are to be the first victims of this infernal strategy“468.

In an interview published on October 4, SPO leader whose party is a member of the leading coalition and is also represented in the parliament, accused the government of concealing the truth about the developments in northern Kosovo. Speaking to the mem- bers of the Security Committee of the People’s Assembly of Serbia, he divulged security services information about the events at Jarinje. He revealed that an alternative crossing was dug with the view to isolate a KFOR stronghold, whereupon KFOR deployed barbed wire and closed the crossing. According to information stemming from Serbian security services Draskovic was quoting, soon thereafter an organized group of people appeared. The crowd would follow suit. They hit the wire with a truck, carried scissors to cut it and assaulted the KFOR soldiers. It had come to physical contact, an American soldier’s rifle was taken from him and it has not been found until that point in time. Shock bombs were thrown under the truck and live ammunition was used by both sides, Draskovic said469.

SPO President stressed that the prime state and national interest obliges that all that is communicated to the citizens on television, that they are clearly said who is behind all that and that footage of those events is aired. “On that location everything is filmed, our cameras, too, but they don’t want to say that publically because officially we don\t have members of the security services present there. However, NATO says that they have filmed everything and sent the footage to our side should it happen that our people do not have it “, Draskovic said470.

Borko Stefanovic replied to Draskovic: “We do not have the KFOR footage“471.

“Only the citizens of Serbia don’t have full information about what really happened at Jarinje“, said October 5 head of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Cedomir Jovanovic. Jovanovic underlined that the “credibility of our side in front of the EU and the entire in- ternational community will be damaged to catastrophic proportions unless all causes and elements of last week’s armed clashes at Jarinje are clarified immediately”. According to him, the Serbian public has for days been subject to misinformation and creation of over- heated atmosphere and national charge by means of asserting that unarmed citizens had 468 - B92, Oct 4 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=04&nav_ category=640&nav_id=546922 469 - B92, Oct 4 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=04&nav_ category=640&nav_id=546922 470 - Ibid. 471 - B92, Oct 6 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=06&nav_ category=640&nav_id=547558 112 Journalists can do it III been shot at Jarinje 472.

“There are information that the incident was caused by a group of armed extremists who do not want to put up with the introduction of customs procedures and who thus, because of their business interests, used their violent behavior and assaults on KFOR soldiers and implicated innocent and disturbed Serbs who live in the area”, Jovanovic said and added that the state authorities have complete information about the development and that this information apparently differs drastically with what has been served to the public. According to what he said at the session at the Security Committee of the Assembly of Serbia, the public should be unequivocally informed whether it is true that extremist and criminal structures openly attack international representatives and thus corner Serbia in an impossible position, simultaneously jeopardizing lives and security of those Serbs who are peaceful citizens473.

Heads of municipalities in the north of Kosovo labeled as “false and malicious” state- ments by “certain political leaders in Serbia to the effect that Serbs who belong to criminal groups are accountable for the events at Jarinje on September 27 “474.

“North Kosovo Serbs Reply to Vuk“, runs the headline in the Belgrade “Alo“ daily report on the conflict between two party leaders in Belgrade with northern Kosovo Serbs: “Dras- kovic, who once came to power by torching Belgrade and the parliament building, today says that we are extremists because we defend the piece of our land while living fenced by barbed wire. That is unheard of! We who were present there, at Jarinje, know the real truth, and he can talk whatever suits him... Soldiers shot in the back the people who were running away and carrying the wounded into ambulances, all that about a hundred meters away from the barbed wire and the crossings... said for “Alo!” the Serb S. B. from Leposavic, who was at Jarinje that day“475.

This citizen did not have enough courage to introduce himself/herself with full name and the anonymous journalist accepts his/her story as credible and runs it.

The “Novi Magazin“ weekly tackled the topic of “Business and politics on the barricades of northern Kosovo“. Its author Ratko Femic reminds that “only a few days since the public learned that the security services had informed the MPs that Zvonko Veselinovic’s group initiated the clash with KFOR on September 27 at the Jarinje crossing, Serbian Progres- sive Party (SNS, party of the current Serbian president, remark T. K.) stood up in defense of this controversial businessman. A part of both the ruling coalition and the opposition defended him ... Representatives of the ruling coalition insisted on the story that NATO at Jarinje attacked ’barehanded people’ who peacefully protested. Defense Minister Dra- gan Sutanovac is one of the few government officials who made a semi-confession that information on the attack against the barehanded people were not completely truthful by stating that ’not everything is black and white as being presented’”476.

“SNS imposes the standpoint that all those who speak of Zvonko Veselinovic attempt to 472 - Vesti online, Oct 5 2011. http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Srbija/169165/LDP-Hitno-sednica-o-Jarinju 473 - Ibid. 474 - Blic, Oct 6 2011. p. 3 475 - Alo!, Oct 7 2011. p. 3 476 - Novi magazin, Oct 13 2011. p. 28 Journalists can do it III 113 weaken Serbia’s position. Similar view was held by Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, whereas Kosovo and Metohija Minister Goran Bogdanovic said that there were no criminals at the barricades... Up to the year 2000, the decisive role in the political life in northern Kosovo was played by SPS, which was subsequently succeeded by DSS. In the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, SNS is currently in power, DSS has the upper hand in Zubin Potok and Zvecan, whereas Leposavic is ruled by DS“477.

Randjel Nojkic, an official of Draskovic’s SPO told “Novi Magazin“: “In a car ahead of mine there were three guys and one of them asked me if he could join me in my car because their car is too low and I was driving alone. His telephone rang and he said to someone: Commander Zvonko ordered us to torch Jarinje and we did’. He also told me that Zvonko was his best man”, Nojkic says478.

“The frozen conflict in northern Kosovo will last all the way to December and maybe even until the spring’, NIN’s sources predict. Unless the cold chases the local Serbs off the barricades KFOR, acting on instructions from Berlin or Washington, decides to use force, which is unlikely“, says Tanja Nikolic-DJakovic in her text “Freezing the Conflict“479.

“We think it would be negative if KFOR should resort to violence and removal of the barricades because such a thing cannot be productive in such a tense and overheated atmosphere. It could jeopardize the entire diplomatic process conducted with the view on solving the problem at the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings”, said Borislav Stefanovic to the Beta agency480.

Stefanovic who is Serbia’s representative in the negotiations with Kosovo, thus threat- ened Brussels and the international community that any kind of intervention in northern Kosovo would mean that Belgrade would interrupt the seven-months-long negotiations with Pristina.

Based on a compilation of reports by agencies BETA and TANJUG, a lengthy information was composed which reads: “Serbs in the village of Zupca gathered around the main barricade in the village and protested against KFOR’s intention to remove the barricades from the border to Kosovska Mitrovica. ’If there is no Serbia here, there will be no Serbia in Belgrade, either.’”, head of the Zubin Potok municipality Slavisa Ristic said on October 17. The gathered people included women and children and schools in Kolasin will be closed today. They will take turns and stand guard at the barricades the whole day, announcing it as a peaceful protest. LDP asked for verification of the information that school children will be taken to the northern Kosovo barricades without knowledge of their parents. The LDP statement reads that the party was contacted by ’terrified parents from northern Kosovo who ‘claim that certain high school headmasters intend to lead the students to the bar- ricades without their parents’ permission’”481.

“Belgrade stands firmly by the Kosovo Serbs“, said President of Serbia Boris Tadic on

477 - Ibid. 478 - Ibid. 479 - NIN, Oct 13 2011. p 16 480 - Blic, Oct 17 2011. p. 3 481 - B92, Oct 17 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=17&nav_ category=640&nav_id=550072 114 Journalists can do it III October 19,482 and thus confirmed Stefanovic’s resolve that even the negotiations would be sacrificed for the sake of the barricades.

Borko Stefanovic, chief of the team for the negotiations with Pristina puts in an interview for the “Vreme“ weekly the relations between Belgrade and Kosovska Mitrovica in the context of Brussels negotiations in a nutshell. Within a week’s time, he softened his stand- point: “Some of the leaders in the north of Kosovo think that it is practically possible to accomplish something that is, in fact, accomplishable only in an ideal world of their party programs. Secondly, some of them think that the right way of fulfilling our and their inter- est lies in mutual antagonism and in the conviction that the barricades have a self-fulfilling purpose. Peaceful struggle on the barricades is legitimate and we support it. But the bar- ricades are not the end, they are just a means.“483.

“The Republic of Serbia did not promulgate Kosovo as a separate customs entity. Since 2006, Kosovo has been a CEFTA member as UNMIK–Kosovo, which the then Vojislav Kostunica government accepted. The continuation of the dialogue is the only way for Ser- bia to defend her state and national interests and to resist demands to abolish institutions in northern Kosovo. But, it is important that the citizens on the barricades remain calm. They are not only preventing a state of Kosovo from coming into existence but they also defend their homes and their lives and their survival in Kosovo. It is in this sense that we think along the same lines with them and that there is no difference between the state and its citizens. Difference are of tactical nature. The state of Serbia will by all means remain functional in northern Kosovo – that is what we want to reach an agreement about“, says Stefanovic. Mr. Stefanovic was interviewed by Andrej Ivanji, and the interview was head- lined “Barricades: Means, not End“484.

Journalists, too, sensed that the wind was changing direction. They started to lift curtains from the northern Kosovo events. “Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the largest opposition party SNS (current Serbian president, remark T. K.) publically confirmed the assumptions that the building material used to erect the barricades was supplied by controversial business- man Zvonko Veselinovic, who is a suspect in the case of torching the Jarinje crossing and assault on KFOR at that checkpoint, Ratko Femic writes. In the ’Between Two Fires’ talk show on October 17 he said that Veselinovic supplies the material for the barricades and vehicles free of charge. Veselinovic himself said the same thing several days earlier, stat- ing that the barricades jeopardize his clean 140,000-150,000 euro a month profit – ninety from his 30 trucks and the rest from his gas station“485.

“At this point, it is of utmost importance that Belgrade clearly calls upon the Serbs in the north of Kosovo to remove the barricades and enable the restoration of normal movement of people and goods. That is a prerequisite for the implementation of the customs seals agreement and undoubtedly a condition to acquire the EU candidacy“, Jelko Kacin, Euro- pean Parliament rapporteur for Serbia, explains for NIN486.

482 - RTS Oct 19 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/975334/Podr%C5%A1ka+predsednika+Tadi %C4%87a.html 483 - Vreme, Oct 27 2011. p. 10 484 - Ibid. 485 - Novi magazin, Oct 20 2011. p. 24 486 - NIN, Oct 20 2011. p. 28 Journalists can do it III 115 “Press“ daily special reporter Mihailo Medenica found himself on October 20 at 6 am, at the place where KFOR started to remove the barricades. Otherwise permanently sta- tioned in Belgrade as a columnist, Medenica must have travelled to Kosovo at least a day earlier in order to eyewitness the removal of the barricade, as well as to learn about the removal sufficiently in advance. His report was featured as breaking news by the editorial staff.

“After the warning that the citizens trespassed the KFOR protected zone and that force would be used unless they dissolve, German soldiers used teargas against the inhabit- ants of Jagnjenica who were peacefully gathered at the barricades, whereby they did not spare the eldest among them... Soldiers forcefully removed a group of women standing in front of the military vehicles and suppressed the crowed with shields... After the Serbs’ protest, teargas was thrown at them. The outcome of the clash are 22 Serbs, three of which sustained serious injuries, as well as eight NATO troops... Thereupon, members of the NATO French contingent stationed at Brnjak, charged a Serb barricade at the crossing and apprehended four Serbs. Half an hour later, they were released“487, Medenica report- ed, using favorite stereotypes about defenseless women and brutal international soldiers.

Under the headline “KFOR Preparing Hell!“, the “Alo“ daily carries an unidentified by- passer’s impression: “We must not give up these barricades, whatever the cost, because if they pass here, we have lost everything“488.

“Blic“ journalist Zeljka Jevtic asserts that “by using teargas, eight KFOR soldiers inflicted light injuries to themselves because they had not lowered their protective eye shield“. In other words, all of the eight injured soldiers were hurts as a result of their own negli- gence489.

Under a dramatic headline “Serbs Stopped Tanks with Bare Bodies“, Milena Markovic and Ivan Radulovic report that “Serbs from Ibarski Kolasin stopped – with their bare bod- ies – heavily armed and shielded KFOR soldiers from breaking through a barricade in the village of Jagnjenica... The epilogue of this hours-long drama are about 40 injured Serbs (“Press“ speaks of 22), three of which heavily, as well as eight light injured KFOR troops. The first barricade in the way of the KFOR units was the one in the village of Jagnjenica, the very place where KFOR commander, German general Dreevs (Erhard Dreevs, re- mark T. K. ) sat, talked, ate and drank slivovitz with local Serbs two days prior to that. As his response to their welcome and hospitality, Dreevs ordered his troops to forcefully disperse the peaceful defenders of the barricades“490.

“The operation started at dawn, sometime after 3 am (“Press“ mentions 6 am as the beginning, remark T. K.)... At that moment a cry broke through the still unawaken morn- ing: ’Lie down! Lie down in front of the transporters!’. The transporters stopped in front of the bodies lying on the road… An impassable live wall was created in front of the KFOR soldiers might, and the crown literally leaned on their shields with their backs. They sat and sang ’We won’t give you up, country of Dusan’. The response to that came quickly thereafter, in the form of teargas, but the crown did not get up. They remained seated, 487 - Press, Oct 21 2011. p. 2 488 - Alo!, Oct 21 2011. p. 2 489 - Blic, Oct 21 2011. p. 4 490 - Vecernje novosti, Oct 21 2011. p. 8 116 Journalists can do it III backs turned to KFOR... The crowd reinforced the body chain to the extent that everyone in this chain of people was determined not to move for a second, in spite of the might of the soldiers who tried to push them back. And in spite of their weapons directed in the people’s backs. ’Sit, just sit still’, they said to each other, and their voices joined together in the cries and song: Serbia, Serbia!491“

“At an instance, women stood up in front of the cordon. Each attempt of the troops to push them back met a response of chanting. ’We are here to defend our country, our homes and our children’, said Slobodanka Arbutina. Then a KFOR warning came: ’Citizens, go to your homes. To your families. You are now in the zone of responsibility of KFOR and if you don’t disperse, we will use force’. This warning was repeated several times as was the use of teargas and the liquid that irritates eyes. Serbs responded with whistles and outcries: ’Boo!’. The drama did not end until midday“492.

Biljana Radomirovic, a “Politika“ daily journalist, had also learned in (Belgrade) and re- ported it to her readers, that “in the first ranks, together with men, women queued in a line opposed to German and Austrian soldiers at Jagnjenica“. The report was run on the front page493.

RTS vaguely reported that “dozens of citizens requested medical aid because of teargas“ and that “during the night and early morning alarm sirens were repeatedly heard in Zubin Potok, calling on citizens to come to the barricades“494.

On Sunday, October 23, four municipality heads from northern Kosovo had a four and a half hour long meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic. The meeting ended with no results at 10.30 pm. Thereupon, president of the Zubin Potok municipality Slavisa Ristic said that the barricades would remain and that the Serbs on the barricades would con- tinue to hinder KFOR’s and EULEX’ movements. “The worst option for Serbia and Kosovo Serbs would be if the heads of our municipalities in northern Kosovo do not accept the state leadership’s political decisions and turn their backs on Belgrade. That would benefit Pristina only, as well as those who want tensions and chaos“, said Borko Stefanovic on October 25, upon learning about the failure of the negotiations held with Tadic495.

“Alo“ daily carries under the headline “State has no Solution for North“ M. Dakic ’s inter- pretation that “the marathon meeting between the four municipality presidents and Boris Tadic has not brought the Serbs, who have for two and a half months stood guard on the barricades, a single step closer to their homes. Although the Serbs’ representatives de- manded from the President that the state involves into solving of this crisis and demands EULEX’ official guarantees that it would not transport Albanian customs and police of- ficers to the Jarinje and Brnjak checkpoints, such a promise was not given to them“496, whereas the “Kurir“ daily carries northern Kosovo Serbs’ resolute standpoint: “The bar-

491 - Vecernje novosti, Oct 21 2011. p. 8 492 - Ibid. 493 - Politika, Oct 21 2011. p. A1 494 - RTS, Oct 20.2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/975846/Kfor+uklanja+barikade!. html?tts=yes 495 - B92, Oct 25 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=10&dd=25&nav_ category=640&nav_id=552141 496 - Alo!, Oct 25 2011. p. 3 Journalists can do it III 117 ricades are our only chance!“497

“After the Belgrade talks, Serbs from northern Kosovo anxiously await the agreement of their leaders. After the meeting which took place the day before yesterday between rep- resentatives of local self-government and President Tadic, there were different reactions to the outcome of the talks. One side thought it was possible to find the best solution: let KFOR and EULEX pass through, but with the latter’s firm guarantees that they would not provide logistic support to the Pristina institutions. However, the other side thinks they were “betrayed“. We reached only one point of agreement – the barricades stay until the final agreement for certain peace“, wrote M. Markovic and I. Radulovic under the headline “Both Sides Strengthening Positions“498.

“The Authorities in the North will Remain Serbian“: this was the headline for “Alo“ daily’s report about the statement by Borko Stefanovic, who said that “the conditioning with EU concerning the abolishing of Serbian structures in northern Kosovo“ was not acceptable for Serbia. Asked by the German ’Tageszeitung’ what if it happens, against the will of Ser- bia, that the parallel structures in northern Kosovo are abolished, he said that this could only happen through use of force and that whatever is aimed to be extorted by force is unsustainable in the long run“499.

NIN journalist Stojan Drcelic writes about a “boomerang of applied barricadology“; he says that the “Serbian authorities, preparing for elections and listening to the echo from Brussels, is obviously preparing to blame the four municipality presidents from northern Kosovo, negotiator Borko Stefanovic and the bad boys from the ranks of the opposition for the defeat of the policy ’Both Kosovo and the EU’“500.

Two weeklies, “Pecat“ and NIN – although they represent diametrically different political and professional standards – simultaneously brought the conversation between journal- ists Natasa Jovanovic and Ugljesa Mrdic with Krstimir Pantic, head of the Kosovska Mitro- vica municipality, under the headline “Belgrade allows them to Kill us“. Pantic says: “We have heard countless times from Belgrade officials that Serbia will not go to war again, which means that Albanians can freely murder Serbs and that the state will not do any- thing to protect its people in those cases“501.

State Secretary of the Ministry for Kosovo and Metohija Oliver Ivanovic made a statement for KiM Radio on November 26: “Albanians created the violence and they should by no means benefit from that fact”502.

The clashes in Jagnjenica were qualified by RTS on November 28 as a “new escalation of the situation. After dozens of Serbs were injured at the Jagnjenica barricade, KFOR announced tonight that the number of injured soldiers is now 25 and warned that it will ’respond with all adequate means’503,

497 - Kurir, Oct 25 2011. p. 2 498 - Vecernje novosti, Oct 25 2011. p. 11 499 - Alo!, Nov 3 2011. p. 3 500 - NIN, Nov 17 2011. p. 13 501 - Pecat, Nov 18 2011. p. 10 502 - RTS, Nov 29 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/998120/Euleks+na+potezu!.html 503 - RTS, Nov 28 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/998836/Sukobi+na+Jagnjenici.html 118 Journalists can do it III while B92 underlined TANJUG’s estimate that EULEX had condemned the violence against KFOR in the Jagnjenica village, when KFOR used water cannons and teargas with the aim of disperse the gathered citizens and the citizens threw rocks at them504.

Authors J. J. and R. F. write for the “Novi Magazin“ daily about the arrest of Zvonko Veselinovic from Kosovska Mitrovica, his brother Zarko and two friends in Kopaonik (Ser- bia) for the suspicion of causing incidents at the barricades in Jarinje and Jagnjenica. “Following his (Veselinovic’s, remark T. K.) orders, a group of around fifty young men used a Molotov cocktail to torch Jarinje, the Serbian Ministry of Interior learned shortly after the incident. According to those information, Veselinovic controls all criminal activi- ties in northern Kosovo“505.

They added that “KFOR Commander Erhard Dreevs, during a meeting with a group of Belgrade journalists in early December, named Zvonko Veselinovic the organizer of the clash in Jagnjenica in which two German soldiers were wounded. According to the KFOR Commander’s claims, Veselinovic was also wounded by a rubber bullet, which he later denied through the Belgrade media close to the opposition party SNS which, in turn, is close to him. Dreevs said that KFOR was videotaping the entire Jagnjenica incident and gave the footage to EULEX, insinuating that EULEX was cooperating with the Serbian police and military“506.

“The incident in Jagnjenica on November 28 came about because KFOR wanted to cut off the Zvecan - Zubin Potok communication which is important for the circulation of smuggled goods and movement of criminals, including the six suspects for the July murder of an Albanian policeman or their helpers. According to intelligence data, Zvonko Veselinovic has an important role in the financing of the people on the barricades and in providing the 50 euro per diems. Together with members of the local self-government in northern Kosovo and using his political connections through SNS and the New Serbia party, he is among the main organizers of the day-long watches at the barricades which are considered work duties for employees of state institutions and enterprises in northern Kosovo“507.

Author B. Majdarevic comments in the “Alo“ daily under the headline “Boris’ Comeback!“, that “Boris Tadic, Serbian President, has suddenly had a change of heart and asked the Serbs to retreat from the barricades in northern Kosovo... Serbian president stressed that due to the events in northern Kosovo, Serbia is today further away from receiving the EU candidacy508.

“Blic“ journalists Ivana M. Jasnic and Natasa Latkovic assess Serbian president’s urg- ing the citizens and Serbian leaders in northern Kosovo to leave the barricades in a text entitled “Tadic does not want Victims, Serbs won’t leave Barricades“509, “Press“ runs the text “Lives more Important than Barricades“510, whereas “Kurir“ journalists, choose the 504 - B92, Nov 28 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=11&dd=28&nav_id=561394 505 - �������������Novi magazin �D���������������ec 22, Page 14 506 - ������Ibid. 507 - �����Ibid. 508 - Alo���!�,��������������������� Nov 30 2011. Page 3 509 - ���������������������������Blic, Nov 30 2011. Page 2, 510 - ��������������������������Press, Nov 30 2011. Page 2 Journalists can do it III 119 headline: “Creating a Conflict for the sake of Candidacy“.

G. Rakovic and K. Blagovic supplemented Tadic’s appeal with the subheading “Infernal Plan – Serbia must solve Kosovo problem in order to get EU candidate status“. They quote the then Interior Minister Ivica Dacic who is certain that the goal of the latest inci- dents in Kosovo is to halt the receiving of EU candidacy for Serbia. “How else can one interpret the fact that KFOR began with the action to remove the barricades just day or two before the dialogue was to continue“ – Dacic stated511.

“Belgrade’s chief negotiator on improving relations with Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic, praised the phenomenon of the barricades which physically, too, divided the two states: he assessed that ’the barricades played their role by preventing the Pristina authorities to bring their customs officers and policemen to the administrative crossings’“512.

The delegations from Belgrade and Pristina did not agree on the administrative crossings and regional representation of Pristina, because “Pristina wanted to confirm that the ad- ministrative line is a state border“, said Borislav Stefanovic on December 1 2011513.

Two days later, Stefanovic confirmed that an agreement was made on an integrated man- agement of the Kosovo crossings. “The agreement does not presuppose the statehood of Kosovo in any way, there is even no mention of terms such as border, border crossing, etc“, Stefanovic said for the Zvecani “Most“ TV514.

However, the last-minute deal was not enough to fulfill Serbia’s European ambitions – taking a step closer to the EU. On December 3, Tamara Spaic reports: “Minimal chanc- es, nonexistent, none – this is how yesterday, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that ’Serbia did not fulfill conditions’, Serbia’s chances were estimated to receive EU candidate status on December 9... A statement from the German government which quotes Chancellor Merkel’s negative attitude and her message to the Serbian govern- ment to ’change its course’, halted yesterday all speculations, as well as hopes of Serbia whether it could receive candidate statues, even if there is an improvement in the nego- tiations between Belgrade and Pristina on northern Kosovo border crossings administra- tion, representation of Kosovo in regional forums and if there are no more incidents at the barricades“515.

The author B. M. writing for “Alo“ daily, wonders what does the agreed upon integrated border management mean: “After Reprimands, Victory or Capitulation?!“. “While the chief of the Serbian negotiation team Borislav Stefanovic presents this agreement as a great success which reinforced Serbia’s foreign policy positions, representatives of the Kosovo Serbs see the arrangement as capitulation under pressure and blackmails of the Euro- pean Union on the eve of December 9“516.

511 - Kurir, Nov 30 2011. p. 2 512 - Blic, Nov 30 2011. p. 2 513 - RTS, Dec 1 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1000620/Nastavljeni+pregovori+u+Briselu. html 514 - B92, Dec 3 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=03&nav_ category=640&nav_id=562811 515 - Blic, Dec 3 2011. p. 4 516 - Alo!, Dec 4 2011. p. 4 120 Journalists can do it III In its headline “Until the Barricades are not Removed, the Agreement won´t mean much”, “Blic“ relativizes the agreement, and author Marija Males claims that “Serbia aims to get EU Candidate Status” with this agreement517.

On Sunday, December 4, Stefanovic said on national TV (RTS) that the executive admin- istrative function at the Brnjak and Jarinje crossings will be performed by EULEX, rather than Pristina customs officers. At the same time, he called on northern Kosovo citizens to remove the barricades because, as he stressed, they represent a danger of another attack on the citizens. “I hope the barricades will not stay, because they have fulfilled their goal. They were necessary to prevent unilateral actions by the Kosovo Police Special Units ROSU and they have fulfilled their purpose”, Stefanovic said. He repeated that the “barricades were a means, not and end”518.

“Two steps to advancement“, an unknown author assesses in the “Vecernje novosti“ daily, and adds: “To get the EU candidacy, Serbia has to fulfill two conditions by Friday – to continue the removal of the barricades and reach an agreement with Pristina concerning a formula of their representatives´ participation in regional forums“519.

“Although the world demands for years from Serbia to abolish parallel institutions in north- ern Kosovo, which is also one of the conditions for Serbia´s accession to the EU, Borko Stefanovic said on December 21 that there were no parallel institutions in Kosovo and that Serbia cannot undermine its own Constitution and laws by abolishing its own institutions. ’Those are institutions legally elected in democratic’”, he said520.

“´There are 22.000 people employed by Serbian institutions in Kosovo; half of them does not work nor live in Kosovo´, B92 conveyed the statement by Ministry of Kosovo and Metohija officialOliver����������������������������������������������������������������������� Ivanovic on December 26 B92. ’One cannot say that those institu- tions are parallel, but the only ones Serbs can rely on and that are keeping them alive. If the Serbian population would rely only on Kosovo institutions, there would be no life for them’”, Ivanovic stressed521.

“Vreme“ journalist Andrej Ivanji sums up the almost year-long negotiations between Bel- grade and Pristina and underlines: “Forgotten somewhere at the negotiating table, there remained a demand put once by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that prior to acquiring EU candidacy, Serbia should abolish ’parallel’ institutions in the north of Kosovo. This con- dition will be reiterated at the next step Serbia makes on her European path. And in the final phase of Serbia’s ‘European path’, whenever that may be – according to the present pace, maybe within the next ten to fifteen years –regulating of Kosovo’s status will be on the agenda again, that is, clear definition of Serbia’s state borders within which she would want to join the EU. It is perhaps needless to keep repeating that the EU will certainly not want to import problems, that it will not grant membership to a state which has not man-

517 - Blic, Dec 4 2011. p. 4 518 - RTS, Dec 4 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1002536/Sporazum+%C4%8Duva+nacionaln i+interes+.html 519 - Vecernje novosti, Dec 7 2011. p. 3 520 - B92, Dec 21 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=21&nav_ category=640&nav_id=567669 521 - B92, Dec 26 2011. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2011&mm=12&dd=26&nav_ category=206&nav_id=569025 Journalists can do it III 121 aged to resolve regional conflicts“522.

When Serbian Government’s Ordinance on border crossing control, based on the agree- ment between Belgrade and Kosovo delegations in Brussels, was issued, presidents of northern Kosovo municipalities challenged on December 27 2011 the constitutionality of the Ordinance and supported the initiative for a referendum where the Serbs would de- cide whether they want to integrate into Kosovo institutions523.

Under the headline “Referendum for Serbia“, Nikola Vrzic writes that “hope for Serbia... comes from Leposavic, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Kosovska Mitrovica. When next Tues- day and Wednesday (February 14 and 15, remark T. K.) they cast their votes at the refer- endum on (in)acceptance of independent Kosovo’s institutions, these four municipalities will not only vote about Hashim Thaçi´s customs and tax officers and judges, neither will our compatriots only vote for their homes, common past and a more certain future; they will vote for all of us, for the respect of this state and its laws and Constitution. That will be a referendum for Serbia which will show that our Serbia – which is different from theirs because it is not crippled and robbed of Kosovo and Metohija through – stubbornly con- tinues to refuse to give up“524.

“Serbia’s President Boris Tadic has thus sent a message that the referendum in northern Kosovo is ’unconstitutional’ and ‘serves no purpose’. Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said that the ‘right of self-determination of the northern Kosovo municipalities is illegal and counter-constitutional as well as that it has no effect’. If the referendum meets the op- position of all of them, it must disturb them a lot. That is, by itself, a sufficient (additional) reason for it to be held “525, the journalist continues his political showdown with the ruling Democratic Party (DS) and its president Tadic. And he opens his cards: “In a nutshell, the referendum on the (in)acceptance of Kosovo institutions produces the same effect as those barricades erected in late July last year. It represents an obstacle to the establish- ment of the independent state of Kosovo on the territory of our entire southern province526.

For the same author, Nikola Vrzic, “the referendum in Kosovo“ is “a referendum for Ser- bia“, and the “referendum in the north of Kosovo is opposed only by those for whom the Constitution of Serbia represents an unpleasant obstacle for the establishment of an func- tioning, independent Kosovo. The referendum must, therefore, succeed, for the sake of not only the people in the four northern municipalities, but for the sake of entire Serbia“527.

“Opposition to the referendum represents a logical continuation of the redefinition of the barricades‘ purpose which, according to testimonies of government officials, overnight transformed from guarding national interests to disturbing these very interests… Presi- dent Boris Tadic’s appeal on Serbs to abandon the barricades represents a unique ca- pitulation, but such a move was to be expected after Serbia’s President’s acceptance of most demands put forward by Pristina, such as the one regarding integrated border man- 522 - Vreme, Mar 1 2012. p. 13 523 - RTS, Dec 27 2011. http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/9/Politika/1016712/Ocena+ustavnosti+Vladine+ured be+.html 524 - Pecat, Feb 10 2012. p. 10 525 - Pecat, Feb 10 2012. p. 10 526 - Ibid. 527 - Ibid. 122 Journalists can do it III agement. It is then and thus that consent was given that this part of Kosovo, too, should fall under Pristina’s jurisdiction and be de facto and de jure amputated from Serbia, says Serb leader from Kosovo and DSS official from Kosovo Marko Jaksic for “Pecat“528. Jaksic was interviewed by Natasa Jovanovic. DSS is the arch nemesis of Tadic’s DS.

Borko Stefanovic said on January 23 2012 that “there is no point on making a referen- dum on something we all agree on”. Stefanovic also commented northern Kosovo Serbs’ standpoint that Serbia’s EU candidate status does not concern them if they must accept Kosovo institutions: “Apparently someone from this or that party headquarters, for in- stance Brace Jugovica St. (DSS HQ) misuses that”529.

In another article run in the “Pecat“ magazine, under the title “Serbs said no”, Miodrag Zarkovic warns that “an absolute majority of voters in the north of Kosovo and Metohija voted against the Kosovo institutions. In all four municipalities in northern Kosmet a little more than 75 % voters cast their ballot and a convincing majority (99,74 %) voted that they don’t accept Kosovo institutions, the referendum commission reported. 26,725 of the registered 35,500 voters took part. A total of 26,524 voted against the acceptance of the Kosovo institutions. The final results of the referendum will be announced on February 19.530

According to the final results of the referendum in the four municipalities in northern Koso- vo, 99,74 % votes cast were against the acceptance of Kosovo institutions. Sixty-nine citizens in the four northern Kosovo municipalities voted in favor of accepting Kosovo institutions, while 133 ballots were invalid. 75,29% of the total of 35,500 registered voters took part in the referendum531.

Aleksandar Vulin, presently in charge of Kosovo in the Serbian government, then still a journalist, announced: “Serbs in Kosmet, toughened and united through a six-month resistance, have learned not only to erect barricades but they also realized that, first of all, they have to rely on themselves. People’s trust that was fought out and deserved by northern municipalities’ representatives, will not disappear just like that“532.

Under the headline “Brnjak and Jarinje Buffer zone Barricades Removed“, “Politika“ in- conspicuously reported on February 24 that it was done by members of the Gendarmerie (of Serbia, remark T. K. )533.

“Barricades erected by Serbs in front of the administrative crossing Brnjak on the road between Zubin Potok and Ribarice on the territory of central Serbia were removed yester- day around 2 pm. At Brnjak, traffic was reestablished and local Serbs who were on guard there left after the Gendarmerie units had arrived. At the same time, Gendarmerie units closed an alternative route at Banja close to the Brnjak crossing in the north of Kosovo,

528 - Pecat, Feb 10 2012. p. 6 529 - B92, Jan 23 2012. http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=01&dd=23&nav_category=640&nav_id=576160 530 - Pecat, Feb 17 2012. p. 34 531 - RTV, Feb 20 2012. http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/konacni-rezultati-referenduma-99-74-odsto-protiv_301449. html 532 - Pecat, Feb 3 2012. p. 12 533 - Politika, Feb 24 2012. p. A6 Journalists can do it III 123 eyewitnesses told Beta agency. Two nights ago, members of the Gendarmerie removed two barricades between Donje Jarinje and Brnjak, thus reopening these two administra- tive crossings. According to eyewitnesses, Serbian police did not allow access to loca- tions where the Genermerie removed the barricades towards Jarinje, and Gendermerie patrols were deployed along a line longer than one kilometer. President of the Municipal Assembly of Zubin Potok Slavisa Ristic claims that EULEX and the Kosovo customs of- ficers demanded Serbs travelling by bus to show them their passports. The man in charge of Ibarski Kolasin told ’Politika’ that ’EULEX customs officers yesterday openly sided with Pristina and Hashim Thaçi, whereby agreements reached by Borislav Stefanovic in Brus- sels are only detrimental to the Serbs and beneficial to Pristina and the criminal structures that do not give up the intention to integrate northern Kosovo into the institutions of the quasi-state of Kosovo’“534.

A story on the same subject carried by “Vecernje novosti“ was headlined: “All Barricades Removed“535.

“Barricades have been removed thanks to the reason and consciousness of those who had been guarding them and all that took place in the interest of Serbia and our citizens in Kosmet “, General Bratislav Dikic, Gendarmerie commander, told ’Novosti’536.

A day after the removal of the barricades “Press“ daily reported that “the last obstacle for our country to become a EU candidate next week has been eliminated“, and journalist Biljana Bojic added that Belgrade and Pristina delegations yesterday “after hard negotia- tions, reached an agreement on regional representation of Kosovo and integrated border management “537.

“Why did the so-called international community support Serbia this time?”, “Vreme“ weekly commentary asks. It states that Serbia’s stance since December 2011 was “well-balanced and sufficiently constructive/yielding, with a correct assessment of what can work and what not. Secondly, because this time it has apparently been estimated that Serb poten- tial to jeopardize regional security is greater than that of the Kosovo Albanians, as well as that Serbia, too – i.e. its “pro-European government” – has to be offered something in order to prevent somebody worse to get into power or someone still unknown and poten- tially incalculable, such as the Serbian Progressive Party. This argument was accepted at the international scene once again, we will see how it will score at the elections.“538

On March 1 2012, Serbia was granted EU candidate status. The ruling coalition was de- feated at the elections.

534 - Politika, Feb 24 2012. p. A6 535 - Vecernje novosti, Feb 24 2012. p. 15 536 - Vecernje novosti, Feb 24 2012. p. 15 537 - Press, Feb 25 2012. p. 2 538 - Vreme, Mar 1 2012. p. 13

124 Journalists can do it III ISBN 978-86-85381-28-7

Journalists can do it III