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Life in Kosovo Discusses Latest Protest

This week’s show on Friday, February 16, features analysis and comment on developments since the February 10 protest in Pristina.

Two people died and over 80 were injured in the violent protest against the UN proposal for Kosovo’s final status organised by the Vetevendosje (self-determination) movement.

The show starts with exclusive footage of the protest followed by comment from panelists in the studio.
The discussion panel will consist of:

Naim Maloku, head of the security commission in the Kosovo assembly Ulpiana Lama, spokesman of the Kosovo government and political advisor to the prime minister; Visar Ymeri, Vetëvendosje movement activist; Veton Elshani, spokesman of the Kosovo Police Service, KPS; Nuredin Ibishi, former KPS officer and expert on policy issues; Berat Buxhala, editor-in-chief of the Kosovar daily newspaper Express;

Life in Kosovo will be broadcast at its regular prime time of 20:30.

BIRN Kosovo journalaists appear widely in international media

BIRN Kosovo staff made a number of regional and international media appearances in the last few weeks, in conjunction with the coming out of the plan for Kosovo’s final status.

BIRN Kosovo Country Director Jeta Xharra was interviewed by the Polish daily newspaper Republika, the France 24 news channel and the Aljazeera TV Station about the situation in Kosovo before UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented his proposal for Kosovo’s final status and possible reactions to it.

After the introduction of the plan, Xharra commented on reactions to the plan in an interview for Austrian national radio FM4.

BIRN Kosovo Editor Krenar Gashi was interviewed about Kosovo’s final status by the online publication Bulgarian Post. In addition, French daily newspaper La Croix questioned Gashi on the Kosovo media’s coverage of the Serbian elections.

BIRN BiH director briefs Lebanese students

Nerma Jelacic, director of BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina, gave a two hour presentation on post-conflict justice and reconciliation to about 20 students from Lebanon.

The presentation took place on December 27 in BIRN’s Sarajevo offices.

Students of human rights, journalism and film visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in an effort to compare reconciliation experiences here with those in their own country.

Balkan Insight Republication Boost

Balkan Inisght output for 2006 – 316 articles – was republished 900 times in
over 130 local media outlets in the region, including daily, weekly and monthly
newspapers and magazines, TV and radio stations, websites and news agencies.

In international media, BI articles were republished 480 times in over 100
media outlets. Additionally, the team of country directors and editors gave over
80 interviews to local and international media, as leading experts and
commentators on Southeast Europe issues. 

Among the most republished
articles were those dealing with challenges and reforms in the region related
to European integration, such as  “Crossfire Over Enlargement Confuses
Balkans”   and “EU Hails Balkan Free Trade Deal as Milestone”, republished 20 times respectively in local and
international media.

The negotiations over Kosovo’s final
status was one of the central issues for the region throughout 2006 and BIRN
monitored developments closely. The articles “Diplomats Plan Mission for
Independent Kosovo” and “Fresh Delays Likely to Kosovo’s
Independence” were republished 50 times in local media outlets

Business Reporting Initiative: Top Experts Join Editorial Advisory Board

A brand new BIRN project, the Business Reporting Initiative, is gathering strength, with leading analysts of Balkan business and economy joining an editorial advisory board.

Board members include Danica Popovic of the University of Belgrade and the Centre for Liberal Democratic Studies; Almir Begic, former director of the Sarajevo Stock Exchange; Natasa Srdoc-Samy, president of the Adriatic Institute, a free market think tank in Croatia; Muhamet Mustafa, head of Riinvest, Kosovo’s leading economic development think tank; and Theodor Troev, longtime Bulgaria correspondent at the Financial Times.

The board will perform a steering role when BIRN launches a new publication, presently under development, covering business and economic news.
 
With the future publication, BIRN aims to raise the local standard of Balkan business journalism by supporting genuinely independent reporting and employing innovative reporting methods.
 
Eric Jansson, a former Balkans correspondent at the Financial Times, is working with BIRN to develop the publication.

BIRN BiH director honoured in Japan

BIRN BiH director, Nerma Jelacic, was one of ten people from around the world who were named peacemakers of the year in Japan.

The honour was bestowed by Japan’s second largest daily newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, which has a circulation over 8 million readers a day.

The newspaper singled out Jelacic’s involvement in the promotion of justice and reconciliation.

BIRN Bosnia to train journalists in Uganda

BIRN Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold a week long training seminar for 16 journalists from Uganda at the end of February.

Journalists from this African country will be tought about the work of the International Criminal Court and how to report on upcoming trials there.

The training – to be held in Kampala February 26 to March 2, 2007 – will bring together representatives of the ICC prosecution and registry, Human Rights Watch officials, Coalition for the ICC activists and leading trainers in court reporting, to seek ways of improving coverage of the ICC in the country.

The project is sponsored by UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Life in Kosovo on Final Status Plan

BIRN Kosovo will have a live debate tonight, February 2, at 20:30 on UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s plan for Kosovo, which will be revealed in Pristina at 16:00.

BIRN Kosovo will have a live debate tonight, February 2, at 20:30 on UN special envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s plan for Kosovo, which will be revealed in Pristina at 16:00.

The panelists in the studio will be.

– Nexhmedin Spahiu, an analyst from Mitrovica
– Adrian Gjini, a minister and member of the final status negotiating team
– Arlinda Desku, an independent journalist
– Dardan Gashi, a member of final status negotiating team

During the programme, BIRN will also broadcast an interview with Hashim Thaci, head of opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, and member of the Team of Unity, the decision-making body mandated to deal with the UN proposal.

The programme will be the first televised analysis of the plan which will pave the way for the resolution of Kosovo’s political status in the coming months.

According to a section of the draft proposal obtained by BIRN, the UN proposal will bring Kosovo “de facto” independence, though the word does not figure explicitly in the document.

Internationally-mediated negotiations on Kosovo’s final status started in Vienna, in January 2006. After several months of meetings, Kosovo’s and Serbia’s negotiating teams failed to achieve an agreement, refusing to budge from the original negotiating positions, the former demanding full independence and the latter autonomy.

With the negotiating process close to collapse, the international community decided to have Ahtisaari draw up a proposal for Kosovo’s final political status, which is due to be presented in Belgrade and Pristina today.

AP Journalist Takes Over as BIRN Editor in Belgrade

Aleksandar Vasovic, the Bratislava-based Associated Press correspondent, has been appointed Belgrade-based BIRN editor-trainer.

Prior to his Bratislava post, Vasovic was AP correspondent in Kiev, Ukraine. Between 2004 and 2006, he covered developments there, including the so-called Orange Revolution.

Since joining AP in 1999, he has also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Macedonia, the insurgency in southern Serbia, the Kosovo war and Slobodan Milosevic’s ousting and arrest, as well as other key developments in the Balkans and the rest of Europe.

Vasovic’s career began in the late 1980s with Radio Beograd. He then moved to Radio B92 in 1991, where he worked as a journalist, editor and foreign desk editor, covering the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.

He has also produced two B92 TV documentaries about the Northern Ireland peace process and the Middle East conflict.

Vasovic’s will be responsible for monitoring local and regional trends, overseeing contributors, implementing regional projects in Serbia, including the training of journalists enrolled in BIRN Serbia local projects.

Vasovic will take formally take up his post on April 1.