• About 74% of polling stations have been recounted (media)
• Haxhiu demands that the head of the CEC and every individual who has violated the law be investigated (media)
• Three municipality of Pristina officials arrested for bribes (media)
• Rama on the Arrest of Municipal Officials: No One Is Above the Law (media)
• Uncertainty before the LDK Assembly: It is still not known whether there will be a resignation of Abdixhiku or a vote of confidence against him (Nacionale)
• MIA publishes informational documents for permanent and temporary residence permits for foreigners (Kallxo)
• Izbica massacre case (Koha)
• German Embassy in Kosovo Remembers Holocaust Victims (media)
• Petkovic with Conrad and German MFA Official: Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija exposed to physical and institutional violence (Kosovo Online)
• Ukraine’s answer might be Kosovo (Foreign Policy)

About 74% of polling stations have been recounted (media)

Several media outlets report that in the Counting and Results Centre, around 74% of polling stations have now been recounted — that is, 1,887 out of a total of 2,557 polling stations, according to data from the centre, media report today. Central Election Commission (CEC) Spokesperson Valmir Elezi of the said that the recount process has been completed in 27 municipalities so far.

He explained that from the start of the process on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 18:00 until Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 10:00, the recount has progressed to include about 74% of all polling stations. The recount is being done for the polling stations for which the CEC decided to recount the votes. Final outcomes for each polling station will be shown on the CEC’s official results platform once the recount for each station is completed.

Haxhiu demands that the head of the CEC and every individual who has violated the law be investigated (media)

Former PDK Parliament member Bekim Haxhiu through a Facebook post, reported in the media, is demanding “the Prosecution to immediately initiate investigations into all decisions and actions that have undermined the integrity of the electoral process, starting from the head of the CEC down to every individual who has dared to violate the law, distort the electoral process, and manipulate the will of citizens.”

Three municipality of Pristina officials arrested for bribes (media)

According to many media reports, the Chief Prosecutor of the Basic Prosecution in Pristina, Zejnullah Gashi, has confirmed to Koha.net that three of the Municipality of Prishtina officials were arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes. One of the officials was reportedly caught in the act.  According to the statement, three people were taken into custody after undercover investigations conducted by authorities. They are suspected of receiving bribes in relation to their official duties. Meanwhile the Basic Prosecution also issued a statement confirming the police operation and the arrests.

Rama on the arrest of municipal officials: No one is above the law (media)

Several media websites reports that Pristina Mayor Perparim Rama has reacted to the arrest of three officials of the Municipality of Pristina, who are suspected of bribery and abuse of office. He said that no one is above the law. “No one is above the law. If there have been violations, they must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable,” Rama said.

Uncertainty before the LDK Assembly: It is still not known whether there will be a resignation of Abdixhiku or a vote of confidence against him (Nacionale)

The Democratic League of Kosovo will hold its Assembly on Saturday. But it is still not known what will happen in this Assembly. The agenda has not yet been published.

Supporters of the current chairman, Lumir Abdixhiku, claim that at the Assembly there will only be a vote of confidence for the chairman of the party. This has also been made known in a statement by the branch of the LDK in Peja/Pec. Meanwhile, MP Avdullah Hoti, who has declared his candidacy for leader of the LDK, has said that the agenda should include the election of the new chairman of the party.

In an interview for the political show Pressing (T7), he said that Abdixhiku has given his resignation and cannot now request a vote of confidence from the delegates. Even the chairman of the LDK has not shown what will happen at this Assembly. On his Facebook profile he only published the invitation for the Assembly. Media are also reporting on a social media post by Agim Veliu, who has called for the immediate reform of the Podujevë/Podujevo branch of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Veliu said that for the first time, Podujevë/Podujevo has no representative in the Assembly of Kosovo.

MIA publishes informational documents for permanent and temporary residence permits for foreigners (Kallxo)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has published informational documents about the criteria that foreigners must meet and the documents they must submit when applying for temporary and/or permanent residence permits in Kosovo.

According to the official announcement, these materials explain the legal requirements and obligations that foreign nationals must fulfill when requesting a temporary residence permit or permanent residence permit under the Law on Foreigners. All of the documents, including checklists of required paperwork for applications for both types of residence permits, are available to the public on the official Ministry of Internal Affairs website.

Izbica massacre case (Koha)

Koha reports on the retrial of Muhamet Alidemaj, who is accused of war crimes against the civilian population in the “Izbica massacre” during 1999. According to the indictment, Alidemaj allegedly participated with Serbian police and military forces in the Izbica massacre of March 1999, where about 130 Albanian civilians were killed. In the first trial in July 2024, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the Court of Appeal overturned that verdict, citing insufficient reasoning regarding the decisive facts of his role, and ordered a retrial.

German Embassy in Kosovo Remembers Holocaust Victims (media)

The German Embassy in Kosovo held a remembrance event to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, particularly marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, media report.  Representatives from the German Embassy and the Israeli Embassy in Kosovo gathered for the occasion to honor the memory of those who suffered and perished under the Nazi genocide and to reaffirm the commitment that such atrocities must never be forgotten.  

The US Embassy also through a social media post marked the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, honoring the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazi persecution, media report.

Petkovic with Conrad and German MFA Official: Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija exposed to physical and institutional violence (Kosovo Online)

The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo Petar Petkovic, Petar Petkovic, met with the Ambassador of Germany, Anke Konrad, and the Deputy Head of the Western Balkans Department of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, Matthias Konrad, whom he briefed on the extremely difficult position of the Serbian people in Kosovo due to, as stated in the press release, the unlawful and unilateral actions of Albin Kurti, Kosovo Online reports.

Petkovic said that, on a daily basis, the Kosovo Serbs faced physical and institutional violence and pressure by the Kurti regime, which he noted was doing everything to expel the Serbs and create impossible living conditions for them, the Office for Kosovo said in a statement. He said an announcement of so-called laws on foreigners and vehicles was a testimony to this and that the international community must take concrete measures to protect the rights of the Serbs, their right to work, movement and family life, which he noted were all jeopardised by such moves by Pristina.

Ukraine’s answer might be Kosovo (Foreign Policy)

After nearly a year of chaotic, stop-and-start efforts to broker a cease-fire in Ukraine, the Trump administration remains deeply involved in talks to stop the war. Unsurprisingly, the most vexing topic remains territorial concessions—in Trump-speak, “land swaps.” And until now, diplomats have not come up with anything likely to solve it. The discrepancy between the original pro-Russian 28-point plan that surfaced in November 2025 and the reworked Ukrainian-U.S.-European version speaks volumes about how far Ukraine and Russia remain from each another. The 28-point plan calls for international recognition of all currently Russian-held territory as well as marking the entirety of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts as Russian. The plan amounts to a surrender ultimatum for Ukrainian forces, and it positions Russia perfectly to eventually re-start its campaign in a better position.

The 20-point counterproposal calls for fighting to be halted at current battle lines, which will become the lines of contact. It refuses to recognize any of the Russian gains in eastern Ukraine or Crimea as legal. Ukraine says it can accept Washington’s proposed demilitarized zones and a free economic zone in the part of the Donetsk region that it controls, but it also wants Russian-held territory of equivalent size to be included, too.

The void between these proposals is where U.S. international affairs analyst and former negotiator in the Balkans Edward P. Joseph has jumped in. In a recent journal article, Joseph proposes using the template of U.N .Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1244, which was adopted in June 1999 and affirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) but called for “substantial autonomy and meaningful self-administration for Kosovo.” After a unanimous vote in the UNSC, Kosovo was emptied of Serbian and Kosovar Albanian militaries and placed under an interim U.N. administration with an international security force.

Kosovo Might Offer the Answer for Ukraine's Land Swap Dilemma