Amid a digital age where information flows rapidly, diasporas worldwide play an increasingly critical role in combating misinformation and cultivating reliable knowledge systems. During a recent panel discussion, experts shared insights on how their initiatives counter misinformation while fostering civic engagement. During a panel at Ulpiana Forum in Prishtina, panelists underlined the importance of civic…
EU mediator welcomes promise by Kosovo and Serbia to finally implement the 2023 declaration, intended to help find the remaining missing persons from the 1998-99 war, calling it “an important step towards bringing closure to families”. The chief negotiators of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, in a meeting mediated by the EU…
A BIRN report on Kosovo’s mechanisms for terrorism prevention revealed significant shortcomings in implementing the national strategy on early prevention. The report emphasises the need for stronger coordination between central and local authorities to combat both religious and right-wing political extremism. Kosovo faces significant shortcomings in implementing the national counterterrorism strategy, which relies heavily on…
A new exhibition in Ferizaj showcases the work of prominent Kosovo-based photojournalist Hazir Reka, whose images serve to raise awareness among foreign audiences about the suffering of Kosovo Albanians under Slodoban Milosevic’s regime. Kosovo war photojournalist Hazir Reka symbolically rang a school bell on November 28 to announce the opening of his newest photography exhibition…
Forced to flee their homes by shelling, S.N., her two young daughters, mother-in-law and sister-in-law had taken refuge in Dragaqine/Dragacin, south-central Suhreke/Suva Reka municipality. Two days later, Serb soldiers surrounded the village. Now 52-years-old, S.N. has never before spoken of what followed, though rumours and reports surfaced within weeks. “Every night Serbian soldiers dragged three…
Court monitors discovered several cases where Kosovo institutions violated the law on surveillance by illegally wiretapping citizens during criminal investigations. Murat Mehmeti, a tax inspector in Kosovo, was wiretapped for several months in 2016 by the country’s Special Prosecution. The surveillance ultimately proved Mehmeti’s innocence, but the prosecutor handling the case failed to inform him…
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani underscored the critical importance of upholding constitutional patriotism, strengthening international alliances, advancing dialogue with Serbia, and advocating for the rights of Albanians in the region in her yearly address to the assembly. In her annual parliament address on Thursday, Kosovo President Osmani highlighted the importance of constitutional patriotism and safeguarding alliances…
Srdjan Lazovic, a Kosovo Serb arrested in June, is accused of taking part in the mass detention and torture of hundreds of civilians at a village in the Malisheve/Malisevo area in 1999. Kosovo’s Special Prosecution on Tuesday said it has indicted a former reservist member of the Yugoslav Army for war crimes against civilians in…
Kosovo’s artists miss out on regional collaboration opportunities because of politics, lack of money, and sometimes unwillingness. In 2023, for the first time in approximately 50 years, a play from Kosovo performed in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica. “I believe there is a lack of genuine desire to understand one another,” Adrian Morina, an actor from…
Transcending time and space, it has since become an almost universal metaphor for the endless cycle of human violence – an echo that continues to resonate over the centuries. “In some way it was like a catharsis because nobody threw anything at me,” Mitic told BIRN a few minutes after she and her Albanian and…