• EC preparing plan to remove 50 percent of measures against Kosovo (Koha)
• Osmani: Private audience with Pope Leo XIV was an exceptional honor (media)
• Haradinaj: We won’t go to elections again, the people are tired (RTV21)
• Citaku: Kurti dividing the society, he is a totalitarian (Klan Kosova)
• German Defense Ministry Secretary visited German troops in Kosovo (Express)
• German KFOR soldiers continue regular day and night patrols (Telegrafi)
• Clewlow: KFOR was targeted by Serbs; weapons were transported from Serbia (TeVe1)
• Disinformation that kills: Kosovo’s long war on manipulated truths (Prishtina Insight)
• “Kosova 1989–1999” Premieres in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)
• Jevtic: Serbian List is fighting for all 10 seats to prevent trading of Serbian interests (Kosovo Online)
• Vucic, World Bank delegation discuss Serbia's energy security, development plans (Tanjug)
• Serbian minister indicted for ‘unlawfully’ removing ex-military HQ’s protected status (BIRN)

EC preparing plan to remove 50 percent of measures against Kosovo (Koha)

Ministers of EU member states will meet in Brussels today to discuss the enlargement process and are expected to adopt conclusions for the process. The draft of conclusions notes that the Council repeats conclusions from the past and welcomes the removal of remaining measures however it does not specify what will happen with the measures against Kosovo and when.

Diplomatic sources told Koha that the EU Council had earlier approved the removal of measures but that they should be lifted by the European Commission.

Diplomatic sources also said that the European Commission is preparing plans to remove 50 percent of the measures which implies the release of €200 million from the funds that have been temporarily suspended for Kosovo. Such an assessment was made possible after the smooth transition of power in the north of Kosovo and this is expected to be welcomed in the conclusions today.

Osmani: Private audience with Pope Leo XIV was an exceptional honor (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Monday that the private audience with Pope Leo XIV at the Holy See was an exceptional honor. “During the meeting, I once again conveyed my warmest congratulations on the commencement of his mission, as well as the hope that his pontificate will bring light, courage and support to people in need around the world. I also conveyed the warm invitation for a visit by him to the Republic of Kosovo, which would be welcomed with greatest benevolence by all our citizens. We discussed the role of Kosovo, our Dardanian land, as a country that has built peace and interfaith harmony on its historical experience of endurance and sacrifice. We also discussed deepening cooperation in areas that directly affect the well-being of our citizens, with the hope that the Holy See will soon take the long-awaited decision to formally recognize the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo remains committed to the strengthening of the relations with the Holy See and advancing our historic friendship, guided by the values that unite us. In the spirit of the Christmas holiday, we shared our common wishes for peace and harmony throughout the world,” Osmani said.

Haradinaj: We won’t go to elections again, the people are tired (RTV21)

Senior member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Daut Haradinaj said on Monday that he does not believe that Kosovo will go to elections again after the December 28 parliamentary elections. “I don’t believe we will go to elections again, I am very certain of this. And this whole idea that Kosovo will be under threat, I think that there are a spirit and readiness among the leadership of Kosovo to overcome this situation. I don’t believe we will go to elections because the people are tired,” he said.

Citaku: Kurti dividing the society, he is a totalitarian (Klan Kosova)

Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Vlora Citaku, in an interview on Monday, argued that Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti was dividing the society in Kosovo and displaying totalitarian behavior. “The behavior is totalitarian because the moment that you divide society into ‘us’ and ‘them’ and to say that whoever is against us is against Kosovo, against our ideals and against history,” she said.

“When you tell me that I am with Serbia, what does this mean? He said it several times, and not only him but representatives of the Vetevendosje Movement have said it in organized and synchronized fashion,” she argued.

German Defense Secretary visited German troops in Kosovo (Express)

German State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Jan Stoss, visited German troops in Kosovo and expressed his gratitude for the dedication and professionalism of the men and women serving in KFOR. “He also gained valuable insights into their daily operations and the challenges they face on the ground. Germany remains committed to supporting stability and peace in the region,” the German Embassy in Kosovo said in a Facebook post.

German KFOR soldiers continue regular day and night patrols (Telegrafi)

NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, said in a Facebook post on Monday that German soldiers assigned to Regional Command-East mission continue their regular day and night patrols across several municipalities within the RC-E area of responsibility. “Such patrols ensure a visible and reassuring presence on the ground, improve situational awareness, and contribute directly to regional stability. They are a fundamental part of KFOR’s ongoing mission to provide a safe and secure environment for all people living in Kosovo,” the post notes.

Clewlow: KFOR was targeted by Serbs; weapons were transported from Serbia (TeVe1)

A former British officer who served in Kosovo, Ade Clewlow, in an interview with the TV station on Monday, expressed serious concern about the security situation in Kosovo, saying that the events in May 2023 in the north of Kosovo were an intentional act by local Serbs to test and intimidate KFOR peacekeeping troops.

Clewlow said that the events preceded the attack in Banjska in September 2023, which he said was intentional and planned beforehand. According to him, in the weeks and months leading up to the attack, “weapons and ammunition were transported from Serbia into Kosovo”.

Clewlow said that the current number of KFOR troops are clearly insufficient to face a possible threat coming from Serbia and questioned the real capabilities of the mission to guarantee security.

Disinformation that kills: Kosovo’s long war on manipulated truths (Prishtina Insight)

For more than two decades, disinformation in Kosovo has fueled ethnic hatred, legitimised violence, enabled terrorism, and, in some cases, led directly to murder.

Disinformation in Kosovo is not simply a matter of false headlines or misleading social media posts. The BIRN Documentary ‘Disinformation that kills’ shows how it has fueled interethnic violence, legitimised extremism, enabled terrorism, and even led directly to murder.

Since the 1999 war, and up until the recent Banjska attack, manipulated narratives have repeatedly been used to destabilise the country and divide its society.

The disinformation campaigns began almost immediately after the war ended in June of 1999. Narratives circulated portraying NATO’s KFOR mission and the UN administration in Kosovo, UNMIK, deployed under Resolution 1244, as incompetent and hostile. NATO was framed as unable to provide security, UNMIK as incapable of governing or protecting minorities, particularly Serbs.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/I9opz

“Kosova 1989–1999” Premieres in Prishtina (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo’s most turbulent decade returned to the screen as Youth Initiative for Human Rights premiered “Kosova 1989–1999” at Kino Armata, a documentary tracing the years from Milosevic’s rise to Kosovo’s liberation and declaration of independence.

On December 11, Kino Armata was packed full with an audience ready to revisit a defining chapter of Kosovo’s past. The premiere of “Kosova 1989–1999” was not just a documentary screening, but a collective act of remembering a decade that shaped a struggling nation.

The screening was followed by a conversation with Tim Judah, one of the world’s best-known chroniclers of the Balkans, and Veton Surroi, publicist, writer, and witness to the era. The conversation focused on the process of state-building—and on what still remains unfinished in Kosovo.

The film begins in 1987, with a scene that is now regarded as the opening act of intensifying unrest in Kosovo. In Fushe Kosove, the emerging Serbian communist leader Slobodan Milosevic addressed a crowd of Kosovo Serbs, declaring, “No one is allowed to beat you.”

Within two years, Kosovo’s autonomy was dismantled. The documentary mentions mass demonstrations by Albanians, systematic arrests, and the tightening of Belgrade’s rule. It also explores Gazimestan in 1989, where the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo became another stage for Milosevic’s expansionist rhetoric.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/4qDKq

Jevtic: Serbian List is fighting for all 10 seats to prevent trading of Serbian interests (Kosovo Online)

Serbian List Vice President Dalibor Jevtic, stressed that in the upcoming elections the party is fighting to win all ten seats in order to prevent anyone from trading in Serbian interests.

“Winning all ten seats is important because, in the previous parliamentary elections, one seat was taken by a person who did not represent Serbian interests. We are not fighting for ten seats in order to hold a monopoly within the Serbian community, but because Albin Kurti handed that seat to Nenad Rašic with Albanian votes. We are fighting for all ten seats so that no one is allowed to trade in Serbian interests”, Jevtic explained in a statement to TV Tanjug.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/DoWnK

Vucic, World Bank delegation discuss Serbia's energy security, development plans (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Monday with a senior World Bank delegation headed by Regional Director for Infrastructure for Europe and Central Asia Charles Cormier, and noted that the discussions had focused on Serbia's energy security.

"An exceptionally productive meeting with a World Bank delegation, focusing on Serbia's energy security, the course of active projects we are working on together, as well as on plans for accelerated development of our country in several different areas", Vucic posted on Instagram after the meeting.

He added that they had exchanged views on far-reaching challenges facing the energy sector at global and, especially, regional level.

Serbian minister indicted for ‘unlawfully’ removing ex-military HQ’s protected status (BIRN)

The Public Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime in Serbia has indicted Minister of Culture Nikola Selakovic and three other people for illegally removing the cultural heritage status of the bombed Yugoslav Army HQ in Belgrade to pave the way for its redevelopment.

The lifting of the former army HQ’s cultural asset status is needed to allow for the demolition of the building to make way for a new investment project believed to be a Donald Trump-style tower. The project is linked to the Affinity investment firm owned by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

The indictment proposal must be confirmed by a court in order to launch a trial.

Besides Selakovic, the other suspects are the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Slavica Jelaca, the acting Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Goran Vasic, and the acting director of the Belgrade City Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, Aleksandar Ivanovic.

They are charged with abuse of official position and forgery of an official document. Selakovic was questioned by the prosecution office on December 4. He denies wrongdoing.

According to case files seen by BIRN, Ivanovic told the prosecutor’s office that he denies having committed any crime but gave in to pressure from Selakovic to send a draft decision on revoking cultural heritage status from the old army HQ, even though he did not have the authority to do so. Jelaca told the prosecutor’s office she had never knowingly done anything unlawful. Vasic admitted his role in the affair in May.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/Yvyzb