Belgrade Media Update, Jan 31

UNMIK Media Monitoring Report

Distribution of Oil for Batuse and Lipljan Starts in Gracanica (Tanjug)

The distribution of 12 tons of oil for the villages of Batuse and Lipljan has started in Gracanica. This humanitarian aid has been provided by “Jugopetrol” Nis and it will be used for fueling generators in the two villages that have no electricity for more than 40 days The Governor of Kosovo District Srdjan Vasic told Tanjug that the shipment arrived last night in Gracanica after it was stopped at the administrative boundary for several days. Vasic précised that the entire shipment will not be distributed at once in order to prevent possible misuse of the aid. Over the next few days, the CCK will provide rations of food and the basic hygienic items for 200 households in Batuse and Lipljan. Vasic has announced that in the next couple of days the Red Cross will also provide drinking water for the two villages.

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Naumov: No Reasons for Outages in Serb Settlements in Kosovo (RTS)

The Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining Radomir Naumov told RTS that there was not a single reason for not supplying energy to the Serb settlements in Kosovo. Naumov recalled that the Serbian Government has made a decision to publicly pledge enough electricity for the entire consumption of the Serb population in Kosovo. According to Naumov, this electricity would be dispatched from the high-voltage network, which would practically guarantee electricity supply to all Serbs in Kosovo. An agreement on how this energy will be registered and charged would be reached at the later stage between UNMIK and the Serbian Power Company (EPS), explained Naumov. “While EPS was in charge of the network in Kosovo, it was dispatching electricity to everyone without paying any attention to ethnic background of its consumers,” said Naumov.

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Draskovic: Outages Turned into a Game of Playing with Human Sufferings (BKTV)

“As far as Kosovo is concerned, it is almost certain that the final solution for its status will be something that exceeds an ordinary autonomy, but it is less than independence,” assessed the SCG FM Vuk Draskovic in an interview with BKTV. Draskovic assessed that the issue of outages in the Serb settlements in Kosovo has gradually turned into a game of playing with human sufferings: “This game is aimed at scoring cheap political points and protecting parochial interests. This thing can be solved in a very simple way – Serbia should pay for the electricity debt for all those who cannot pay it. We can and we must do that much for them. We should reach an agreement with KEK on dispatching electricity from Serbia to Kosovo aimed at covering the entire consumption of the Serb households in Kosovo and that would be it. It is pointless to lock horns with Jessen-Petersen over this, because we have people who are suffering because of that.” Draskovic called for the immediate resumption of dialogues at all levels: “The dialogue between the Kosovo Serbs and the Kosovo Albanians, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and also the dialogue between Belgrade and Tirana,” said Draskovic.

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Tadic: We Cannot Solve Kosovo Issue Relying on weak Economy (RTS)

“There is not a single issue of the state that can be solved without a strong economy, and the ruling parties obviously do not get this simple fact. Without a well-planned economy, we cannot protect our citizens, the rule of law and our cultural values. Who can solve the issue of Kosovo relying on a week economy? Our productivity has increased only due to the fact that the last year was good for agriculture. If Serbian productivity solely depends on how much rain will fall and rain dances, then we are not in good hands,” RTS quotes Serbian President and DS leader Boris Tadic as addressing the session of DS Main Board held at ‘Sava’ Conference Centre in Belgrade.