Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
This next Life in Kosovo show will discuss the controversial imposition of Value Added Tax, VAT, on NGOs.
Since January 1, 2007, many humanitarian organisations have been complaining that they are not able to bring humanitarian aid into Kosovo because of the high taxes.
To explore the subject, the following will take part in a panel discussion.
Zef Shala – director of the humanitarian group Mother Tereza/ Nëna;
John Chesnut – Chief of the humanitarian group Team Kosova;
Gjyljeta Mushkolaj – law expert; Fatime Islami – deputy director of the department of fiscal politics;
Bujar Shatri – Kosovo customs official;
Sakip Imeri – Kosovo tax administration official;
“Life in Kosovo” will be broadcast on RTK at 20:15 this Friday.
BIRN’s televised show Life in Kosovo, in its upcoming edition on April 6, will discuss economic issues and the problems Kosovo will face once its political status is determined.
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What will the state of Kosovo’s economy be after independence? How will Kosovo become economically independent once final status is settled? What strategies are there for employing people? Will an independent Kosovo attract foreign investors? And to what extent will social welfare increase? These are among some of the issues to be discussed.
Panelist in the studio will be:
Dardan Stublla, advisor to the Ministry of Economy and Finances
Shpend Ahmeti, economist and professor at the American University in Kosovo
Arianit Blakaj, economist
Driton Tali, economist
Ejup Fejza, official at the Trade and Industry Ministry
Gani Musliaj, Mediator ( negotiator) in the foreign investment process
The Life in Kosovo show will be broadcast on Friday at 20:30.
BIRN and the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, ICTY, are organising two seminars on reporting about the work of the ICTY for journalists from Kosovo and Macedonia next week in Pristina and Skopje.
The seminars, scheduled for April 10 in Pristina and April 11 in Skopje, will offer an opportunity for media professionals from Kosovo and Macedonia to discuss various issues related to the ICTY and the coverage of war crimes with tribunal officials and experts on war crimes reporting. The seminars will be divided into six sessions and are envisaged as a forum for an open exchange of opinions and experiences, to facilitate better access to ICTY-related information. The events are organised by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, in cooperation with ICTY Outreach and with financial support from the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The upcoming edition of BIRN’s Life in Kosovo TV show on March 23 will look at the return of refugees and displaced persons to the territory.
Large amounts of money have been spent on the returns process, which has engaged not only Kosovo’s government, but other local and international organisations as well.
Are people really returning in Kosovo? What are their expectations and what do they indeed find when theycome home? And who should be held responsible for securing the conditions for returns?
These are some of the points to be discussed during the debate between:
Nazmi Fejza, deputy minister for returns; Valdete Idrizi from the “Development of Communities” organisation in Mitrovica;
Hasim Uka, a returnee from the village Kashtanjeva, Shterpce municipality;
Dragana Gërciq, a returnee from Kosh village, Peja municipality; and
Nazmi Mikullovci, a Mitrovica local unable to access his property in the north part of the city.
Following the debate, BIRN will show a short documentary by Birol Urcan, which features the return of the Uka and Gercic families to their homes.
Life in Kosovo will be broadcast at its regular prime time of 20:30.
On 9 March 2007, BIRN’s televised debate show will address the issue of visas and the numerous difficulties Kosovars have when seeking to travel abroad.
Life in Kosovo will look at the extent to which citizens are informed about procedures for obtaining visas, what diplomatic offices in Pristina offer, whether the territory is to be covered by visa liberalisation policies and who should negotiate for concessions in this regard.
Panelists in the debate will include: Yvana Enzler, head of the Swiss liaison office in Pristina;
Bernd Kuebart, deputy chief of the German office in Pristina;
Nikolay Kolev, head of the Bulgarian office in Pristina; Dardan Velija, advisor to the Kosovo Prime Minister;
Fatmir Curri, of the Kosovo Open Society Foundation and
Fehmi Hajra from the New European Federalists organisation, JEF.
This edition of Life in Kosovo will be broadcast in its regular prime time slot of 20.30 on RTK.
The Life in Kosovo show this Friday, 02 March, will discuss electricity in Kosovo, with a particular focus on the new power plant Thermo Central Kosova.
The plant, which has been commissioned by the ministry of energy and mines, has provoked a range of reactions from civil society, environmentalists and some opposition parties.
Life in Kosovo will feature supporters and opponents of project, in what is expected to be a lively debate.
The panelists in the studio will be: Agron Dida, deputy minister for energy and mines; Ardian Gjini, minister of environment and spatial planning; Bajrush Xhemajli, from Democratic Party of
Kosovo’s department of energy; Luan Shllaku, representative of civil society and an expert on environmental issues; Daut Maloku, Green Party of Kosovo; and Mehmet Krasniqi, member of the Kastriot municipal assembly.
The debate will be broadcast at its regular prime time slot, 20:30.
BIRN’s Life in Kosovo television show, in its 23 February edition, will look at how key texts published by Kosovo academics and scholars plagiarise others’ work.
With recent cases exposing how medical professors published books passing off the work of foreign authors as their own, the debate will also address more general concerns about the quality of studies at the Public University of Pristina.
Panelists include: Avdullah Hoti, advisor to the Minister of Education and economics professor; Dr Ejup Pllana, head of the Department for Internal Medicine; Enver Hoxhaj, head of the Parliamentary Commission for Education and Pristina university professor; Adem Beha, member of the Political Science Students’ Association; Gazmend Gashi, medical student; and Arben Hyseni, journalist from the daily newspaper “Express”.
The debate will be broadcast in its regular prime time slot, 20:30.
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 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 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.