Kosovo continues to support Ukraine, in particular, a program to protect journalists is in place

Kosovo will continue to provide support to Ukraine, emphasized Minister of Foreign Affairs Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz during a meeting with Ukrainian journalists – participants in the Journalists-in-Residence Kosovo program. The Minister noted that support is provided despite the lack of official recognition from Kyiv. In particular, the Journalists-in-Residence Kosovo program for professional protection of Ukrainian journalists is in place. This program has been implemented for the fourth year in a row by the governments of Kosovo and Germany together with the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom ECPMF. The project partners are the Association of Kosovo Journalists – AGK and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

Ukrainian journalist – participant in the program, Liudmyla Makei, reported on the event. She quoted the Minister as saying that Europe should seek economic leverage over russia, “so that trade wins this war and Putin loses.” Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz also assured that Kosovo is ready to share with Ukraine its own developments in the system of documenting war crimes and using this evidence in international courts.

“By the way, Ms. Donika is a representative of a well-known political dynasty. Her father, Jusuf Gërvalla, was a figure in the national liberation movement. In 1982, he died under mysterious circumstances in Germany. Law enforcement officers believe that it was an assassination attempt organized by the Yugoslav special services. This tragedy influenced Donika’s later life and her political views. In the 90s, she participated in Albanian student protests against the communist regime and then was an activist of the Democratic League of Kosovo in Germany.

In 2021, she entered the Assembly of Kosovo and headed the foreign policy department in the government of Albin Kurti. As the head of diplomacy, she actively promotes international recognition of her state. “Only last year, Syria, Kenya, Sudan, and the Bahamas were added to the list of countries that established official relations with Kosovo,” the report says.

Earlier, we reported that the Journalists-in-Residence Kosovo professional protection program has been in effect for Ukrainian journalists since July 2022.

We also reported that on October 16, 2024, a conference on sexual violence during conflict was held in the Republic of Kosovo (and in the case of Ukraine, let’s be precise, we are talking about a full-scale war).