Tag: Kosovo

BIRN Bolsters Social Media Expertise

Communication officers from across the BIRN Network gathered in Serbia’s capital on February 23-24 for an intensive training session focused on social media.

BIRN Hub organised the two-day training programme for its six communications officers as part of its focus on staff capacity building, as well as improving the overall output of BIRN’s publications for its international audiences.

Developments in social media and technology were on the agenda, alongside ways to maximize the use of advertising tools, audience targeting strategies, community building and improving the overall digital experience for BIRN’s audiences.

The training was also an opportunity for the country-specific communications officers to share information and experiences face-to-face, rather than via online portals as is common in a Network spanning multiple countries.

Attendees were also able to discuss the Network’s future growth and how they plan to adapt their social media and digital strategies for the future.

BIRN Hub, as a secretariat of the Network, is tasked with offering assistance to its members, including by developing editorial, digital and other relevant skills. The Network has identified a need to support its members by building their capacities and management skills in order to ensure long-term sustainability.

As part of its investment in social media skill development, BIRN Hub will be organising monthly training sessions for its communication officers, aimed at fostering a cohesive approach across all five regions in the Network – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia.

 

BIRN Kosovo publishes assessment report on Kosovo’s privatisation process

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) Kosovo and Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) published the report titled “Panic Selling: Assessing the main challenges and deficiencies of Kosovo’s privatization”.

The analysis provides an overview of the main challenges and problems encountered during the privatization process in Kosovo.

More precisely, it highlights problems such as institutional dualism, ownership disputes, Kosovo’s unresolved international status, methods of privatization, the negative impact on employment, highly under-priced sale of SOEs, corruption, undervalued agricultural land, non-utilization of privatization funds, and the exclusion of citizens from the privatization process.

In addition, this policy analysis offers a range of policy recommendations, which if seriously taken into consideration by relevant institutions, would result in the improvement of the privatization process.

Click to download report in English

 

BIRN Kosovo Reports Win Media Awards

Journalists from BIRN Kosovo’s ‘Justice in Kosovo’ and Gazeta Jeta ne Kosove were awarded top prizes at the Annual Journalistic Awards in Pristina on January 15.

Justice in Kosovo’s televised report “Cannabis Made in Kosova”, by Valdet Salihu, was awarded the prize for the best TV report of 2015. A TV report on loan sharks by cameraman Durim Shala of ‘Justice in Kosovo’ received the award for best video filming. 

The article “Prizren Run by Powerful Hoteliers” published in Gazeta Jeta ne Kosove, by Petrit Kryeziu, was awarded best culture story of 2015.

BIRN Kosovo Wins Two Anti-Corruption Awards

BIRN’s ‘Justice in Kosovo’ (‘Drejtësia në Kosovë’) TV programme and Life in Kosovo (Jeta në Kosovë) newspaper won awards for anti-corruption investigations on the international day against corruption.

The awards for anti-corruption reporting were presented to BIRN’s journalists on Wednesday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK).

The ‘Justice in Kosovo’ programme team, Kreshnik Gashi, Naim Krasniqi and Behar Mustafa, were awarded for their investigation ‘F2 File’ which began in December 2014.

The investigation showed how the contract of the Ministry of Health become the target of allegations of corruption and forgery over the supply of equipment and medicinal products worth millions of euros.

After the programme was broadcast, the owners of three companies involved in the case were arrested and the Prosecutor’s Office in Pristina opened a criminal investigation.

As a result, the Agency for Medicinal Products and Equipment has cancelled licenses for the Friends company, while the Ministry of Health has suspended its contract with the firm. The Health Inspectorate has also blocked stocks of the company’s medicines.

“It is a motivation for us to go further,” said Kreshnik Gashi, the editor of ‘Justice in Kosovo’.

“It is a concern the fact that corruption is increasing in this country, and the number of investigations into corruption are decreasing, as is shown by the number of applications, because every day the number of journalists who fight corruption is decreasing, and this should be a warning for all of us,” Gashi added.

The newspaper ‘Life in Kosovo’, was awarded for a story entitled “Suspicious Emeritus of UP”, about corruption in the education system.

This story shows how the three professors at the University of Pristina, who hold the title “Professor Emeritus” do not meet even the basic requirements to keep that title.

Zejnel Kelmendi, Faik Brestovci and Mujë Rugova are those who hold this title – two of them were former rectors of UP. They receive the same salary as the regular professors in UP – over 1,429 euros. But several years later, UP had come to the conclusion that they do not meet the basic criteria to get that title. In fact, it is said that neither their files for these titles are listed in the Rectorat.

BIG DEAL: Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue ‘Split Asunder’

Only four of 16 agreements between Belgrade and Prishtina reached in Brussels since 2011 have been fully implemented, shows the most recent report by BIG DEAL, a civic oversight initiative on the Kosovo-Serbia negotiations. It is the same number as observed in the previous report six months ago.

“BIG DEAL: Split Asunder” is a joint report produced by BIRN Kosovo, Internews Kosova and the Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC) of North Mitrovica. The report finds that this six month period has been a time of division within Kosovo society over dialogue, as well as time of growth of negative feelings between the two capitals.

BIG DEAL calls on Prishtina, Belgrade and the European Union to prioritize the so-called ‘normalisation’ process, as most of the accords reached between the sides have not been fully implemented so far.

“It is unfortunate that, similar to six months ago when we presented our first report, only four of 16 reached agreements have been fully implemented,” said Jeta Xharra, Executive Director of BIRN Kosovo.  “Four and a half years after the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue began, Kosovo and Serbia are refusing to recognize one another’s diplomas. The draft law on cadastre has been blocked for two years with no progress, and Kosovars can still use the operating codes of other countries to make telephone calls.

Dusan Radakovic of ACDC said the agreement on justice is lagging behind in implementation at a real cost to citizens.

“We need the court so northern Kosovo can finally stop being a rule of law vacuum. The judiciary is the cornerstone of any society, he said:.  Once this agreement is fully implemented, it will make it easier for the others to also be implemented.”  

The report is the result of more than 100 interviews with negotiators, local politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens in one and a half years of intensive research done across Kosovo and Serbia. With an in-depth view of the current state of play in implementation, BIG DEAL aims to make the process of normalising relations a more transparent one.

“Lack of accountability in the process, where politicians are using the smallest opportunity to accuse other side for not implementing what was agreed, bring them trivial political points,” said Tanja Maksic, program coordinator at BIRN Serbia. “This pushes the prospect of normalisation further away.”

Big Deal’s third report examines the dynamics of the implementation, which has been seriously hindered by the political deadlock in Kosovo, decisions by the Serbian Constitutional Court and crises that have shifted the attention of the European Union.

“The primary progress in the last six months was in reaching agreements in August unblocking the path to implementing agreements on telecom and energy,” said Valerie Hopkins, primary researcher of the report. “There have also been agreements on the future of the Mitrovica bridge and the main elements of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, but progress on the latter remains blocked until mid-January when the Constitutional Court will decide if the agreement is in harmony with Kosovo’s constitution.”

Big Deal is supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Prishtina, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. This is the third report in a series.

Click to download BIG DEAL ‘Split Asunder’ in English.

Click to download BIG DEAL ‘Split Asunder’ in Albanian.

Click to download BIG DEAL ‘Split Asunder’ in Serbian.

BIRN Wins Legal Case Against Kosovo PM’s Office

A Pristina court rules the prime minister’s office must make travel expense documents public after three-year legal battle for access.

The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, has been awarded a legal victory over the Kosovo Prime Minister’s office by a court in Pristina, following a three-year battle to gain access to government travel expense documents.

The court victory was announced on Thursday during a conference on public transparency and access to official documents, organised by the Justice and Citizens Campaign and BIRN.

Jeta Xharra, executive director of BIRN in Kosovo, noted that the process of reaching a conclusion to the case was a lengthy one but, in the end, the court established an important precedent for future requests of a similarkind.

“I want to encourage every citizen of Kosovo to knock on the doors of public institutions and demand accountability on the way their taxes are spent and use this court decision as an argument that the authorities must open this data,” Xharra said.

BIRN had requested access to documented foreign travel expenses of the former Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci, who now serves as vice-prime minister and foreign affairs minister, and the same information from the current Isa Mustafa government.

BIRN also requested the same information from six deputy prime ministers of the Thaci government and four deputy ministers of the current Mustafa government.

The PM’s office had denied access to such information, arguing that it could infringe the privacy rights of public officials because invoices for food and drinks could reveal religious and dietary information about individuals.

BIRN argued this line of defence was not relevant and could not be used to circumvent legal obligations to grant access to official documents, and the court decided in BIRN’s favour.

The court considered the PM’s office claim to be unfounded because public officials’ expenses, especially those of senior officials of state, are funded with money collected from taxes and fees paid by the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo.

Therefore, the court ruled that citizens have a reasonable interest in being directly informed about every penny spent and in knowing how entrusted public officials are spending public money, so that officials may be held accountable for their expenses.

The PM’s office failed to follow all procedures in appealing the case, and therefore the original verdict became conclusive.

At the same venue and hall where BIRN shared its legal victories, the PM’s office had scheduled a conference on transparency and access to official documents.

The government’s conference, which took place immediately after BIRN’s, was organised in cooperation with the Kosovo National Agency for Personal Data Protection.

 

“Filmi” Trevjeçar për Menynë e Kryeministrit dhe Zëvendësve të…

Padia e BIRN-it kundër Zyrës së Kryeministrit të Kosovës për shpenzimet e Kryeministrit dhe Zëvendës Kryeministrave në dreka e darka zyrtare jashtë shtetit tashmë ka marrë fund me një vendim të gjykatës se publiku ka të drejtë t’i ketë në dorë këto dokumente

Posted by Gazeta Jeta në Kosovë on Friday, October 30, 2015

 

BIRN Conference Sparks Widespread Media Interest

Several Bosnian TV stations, including the region’s CNN affiliate N1 and over 30 online media outlets, reported on BIRN’s conference on media freedom challenges in the Balkans held last week.

The BIRN network directors were featured on ‘Reflex’, a talk show hosted by Mimo Sahinpasic on TV OBN in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They discussed the various issues media professionals are faced with in the region today.

Commenting on the situation in Macedonia, BIRN’s director Ana Petruseva highlighted the power the government has over media in the country. “The prime minister’s cabinet decides on everything, from topics to be covered to potential interviewees,” Petruseva said.

BIRN regional network director Gordana Igric told FACE TV meanwhile that the media and civil society in the Balkans should not wait for Brussels’ help but act to ensure their own freedom and avoid becoming victims of political games.

Mirna Buljugic, BIRN BiH’s acting director, gave an interview for N1 in which she raised concerns about the deteriorating situation in the media sector, increasing political pressures as well as physical attacks on journalists in the country.

The cost of ethical and professional media is always high as room for critical opinion is constantly shrinking, concluded Jeta Xharra and Dragana Zivkovic Obradovic, BIRN directors from Kosovo and Serbia for Hayat TV.

In addition, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn’s video message to the conference about the disturbing media situation in the Balkans was featured on Radio Free Europe, Banja Luka-based portal Buka, klix.ba, news agencies Tanjug and Fena as well as kurir.rs, vesti.rs, beta.informer.rs, bljeask.info, dnevnik.ba and video news site source.ba.

BIRN Marks its Tenth Birthday in Bosnia

The BIRN network celebrated its 10th anniversary from June 12th to 14th with a regional media conference in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, followed by series of team building events, meetings and workshops on Mt Vlasic, some two hours’ drive away.

More than a hundred employees of the organisation from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia participated in two days of events at a hotel on Mt Vlasic.

Programme managers, project coordinators and administrative staff discussed rules, guidelines and a new information management strategy in two sessions led by Dusica Cook, BIRN Regional Operations Manager.

Jeta Xharra, BIRN’s Kosovo Director, used the opportunity to brief the management on the monitoring of elections, courts, procurement, the Kosovo-Serbia agreement, and municipalities.

BIRN journalists attended training sessions on journalistic standards led by Andrew Gray, Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence Editor, and on investigative journalism, led by Lawrence Marzouk, BIRN editor.

Valon Canhasi, BIRN Kosovo’s Social Media Editor, guided journalists on the importance of having a presence on social media and on the latest trends in users’ habits.

Balkan Insight and Balkan Transitional Justice staff held editorial and commissioning meetings, while Ana Petruseva, Balkan Insight’s Managing Editor and Milos Milosavljevic, BIRN’s Chief Digital Officer, held a technical training session for journalists.

Finally, BIRN journalists and management had two sessions – one on databases in the Network and their further development and possible integration, and the other focusing on BIRN’s web strategy.

BIRN Assembly members and Gordana Igric, BIRN’s Regional Network Director, convened for their regular annual meeting where they discussed BIRN’s new five-year strategy.

The BIRN team celebrated the fact that the Balkan Investigative Reporting Regional Network was established in July 2005, ten years ago, since when it has grown significantly, winning numerous national and international awards and merits and becoming one of the most trusted media organisations in the Balkan and Southeast Europe region.

The next meeting of the BIRN network, scheduled for 2017, will see a new round of team building activities, workshops and a checkpoint review of the five-year strategy.

BIRN Kosovo Presented the Report on Implementation of Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue

The European Policy Center (EPC) gathered authors of the “Big Deal” report, which exclusively talks about implementation of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

EPC Senior policy analyst, Corina Stratulat gave a few introductory remarks regarding to the report. She pointed out that Serbia’s relationship with Kosovo is central to the country’s EU accession talks, and that following the 2014 elections, both Belgrade and Prishtina agreed to integrate Kosovo’s police and judiciary.

BIRN Kosovo Executive Director Jeta Xharra, explained the methodology of the Big Deal report, its outline and some other key findings, including problems with the implementation of key agreements for the lives of citizens, like car insurance.

Ulrike Lunacek, Vice President of the European Parliament and member of the delegation for relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo noted that the BIG DEAL report was key to her understanding of the level of implementation of the agreements and said it was a valuable tool for her and other MEPs.

BIG DEAL report author Valerie Hopkins highlighted the difficulty in bringing the four northern Kosovo provinces under the control of Prishtina, with delays in unifying the judiciary, adopting municipal budgets and incorporating members of the Civil Protection Corps into Kosovo institutions. One success has been the integration of former Serbian police officials into the Kosovo police, and one complete failure has been mutual acceptance of diplomas.

The discussion involved also Rasa Nedeljkov, Programme Manager at the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA), based in Belgrade, who spoke about the value of creating one account of the implementation process for both Kosovo and Serbia.

Haki Abazi, Programme Director for the Western Balkans at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, reminded attendees that neglecting Kosovo from an international perspective could have dangerous consequences, citing the ongoing political turmoil in Macedonia.

Click for more information about this report.   

BIRN’s Kosovo War Crimes Film Screened in Pristina

BIRN’s new documentary, which investigates the Serbian commanders responsible for some of the worst attacks of the Kosovo war, was screened for the first time in Pristina.

The new documentary, The Unidentified, which names the Serbian officers who ordered attacks on Kosovo villages around the town of Pec/Peja in 1999 and those involved in the cover-up operation to hide the victims’ bodies, was screened for the first time in Kosovo on Thursday evening at the Architecture Faculty in Pristina.

Marija Ristic, the director of the documentary, which was the result of a two-year investigation, told the Pristina audience that the hardest moments during the making of the documentary were when she was trying to secure interviews with Serbian police officers.

“They started to inform each other. They were trying to prevent other people from speaking out. At one point, we were afraid that we would not manage to prove anything because we could not get police officers to speak about this,” Ristic said.

Kosovo’s Ombudsman, Sami Kurteshi, said he was touched by the story in the documentary, in which both victims and perpetrators are interviewed, but said that for him, it was just one small part of the war.

Kurteshi said that despite the fact that there is little political will to tackle war crimes, such efforts should continue.

“The strengthening of justice is very important. Justice should not be dependent on political will,” he said.

Chief prosecutor at Kosovo’s Special Prosecution, Sevdije Morina, praised the documentary for getting both victims and perpetrators to talk about the crimes.

Morina also said that the Kosovo’s prosecutors are ready to take over war crime cases after the mandate of the EU rule-of-law mission, EULEX, was changed.

“Local prosecutors will soon take over the big cases, like the big massacre at Meja, from the EULEX prosecutor that was responsible until now for the war crimes [cases],” said Morina.

‘The Unidentified’ takes viewers back to 1999, to the villages of Ljubenic, Cuska, Pavljan and Zahac near Pec/Peja in Kosovo, where Serbian fighters killed more than 118 Albanian civilians. Their bodies were either burned or removed, and some of them were later found in mass graves at the Batajnica police training centre near Belgrade in 2001.

The trial of 11 fighters alleged to have been involved in the killings – 10 of them accused of being direct perpetrators – is still ongoing in Belgrade, but the police and army generals who gave the orders have never been prosecuted in Serbia.