C 47/124
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
7.2.2023
Wednesday 6 July 2022
32.
Reiterates that the institutionalisation of the learning of official languages in Kosovo and equal access to services and information in the official languages are essential; welcomes, in this respect, the establishment of the Department of Balkan Studies at the University of Pristina and the decision to open a language centre for learning Kosovo’s official languages;
33.
Reiterates its call for greater inclusion of persons belonging to minorities, including the Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian, Bosniak, Turkish and Gorani communities, as well as persons with disabilities and displaced persons, by providing them with access to adequate healthcare, social protection, education, justice, housing, employment opportunities and other social and public services, and by ensuring their access to political and social decision-making, while efficiently tackling the intersectional forms of discrimination that these groups face through a systemic institutional approach; urges greater efforts to fight anti-Gypsyism; encourages the government to accelerate work on a new 2021-2026 strategy and action plan for the inclusion of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo;
34.
Calls for the urgent revision of high school textbooks, which provide misinformation and use discriminatory language and descriptions for ethnic minorities, sexual minorities and women; encourages government authorities to pursue the EU supported initiative ‘European Union Support to Basic and Secondary Education’, which was started in late 2021 and aims to update these textbooks;
35.
Commends Kosovo for the peaceful co-existence of religious communities and calls for it to intensify its efforts in providing minority groups with equal opportunities, adequate representation in political and cultural life and the protection and promotion of the cultural heritage, languages and traditions of its national and religious minorities; welcomes the Government of Kosovo’s initiative to regularly consult and meet with all communities living in Kosovo as part of internal dialogue and welcomes the creation of the new government position of Deputy Prime Minister for Minority Issues and Human Rights;
36.
Acknowledges that Kosovo’s constitution is very progressive in terms of minority rights; notes, in that respect, that the petition signed by nearly 500 people who have historically self-identified as Bulgarian, which was registered at the Assembly of Kosovo in May 2018, has still not been considered and recommends that those rights be enshrined in law and ensured in practice;
37.
Underlines that the free media are one of the essential pillars of democracy and that journalists must be protected from political pressure; condemns the political pressure to which they are subjected and the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation to intimidate them, which also leads to self-censorship; stresses that the use of defamatory language against journalists is unacceptable; warns against any statements stigmatising media, in particular from officials and public figures who should lead by example;
38.
Notes that the media landscape has been distorted in recent years, with large-scale investments leading to increased private sector influence over major media outlets and online media being frequently used for commercial and political blackmail; reiterates the need to guarantee media transparency, including on media ownership; welcomes the appointment of the new board of public broadcaster RTK through a transparent and merit-based process; calls for the finding of a sustainable solution to secure RTK’s editorial independence;
39.
Is deeply concerned about the continuing high level of domestic and gender-based violence, as well as violence against children, in Kosovo, the number of femicide cases and the unsatisfactory performance of the judiciary in efficiently prosecuting femicide and gender-based violence cases; calls for the effective implementation of the national strategy against domestic and gender-based violence; underlines that education is key in order to fight gender-based discrimination; highlights the need to ensure the proper functioning of the system of protection, prevention and adjudication of all forms of gender-based violence, including through an increase in the number of gender-sensitive law enforcement agents and judges, support to women’s shelters, legal aid to victims and public awareness raising campaigns;