• Kurti wants inter-party agreement to avoid new elections over the president (RFE)
• Hamza: Osmani doesn’t have guaranteed PDK votes for her candidacy (Dukagjini)
• Kosovo committed to full normalization with Serbia with mutual recognition (Kosovapress) 
• Kurti meets UNDP Resident Representative Queiros (media)
• Kosovo war-crimes verdict against Serb ex-policeman upheld (BIRN) 
• Serbia’s office for Kosovo reacts to verdict against Arsic (Kosovo Online)
• Hasani: Kurti committed in Ohrid to Association and will form it (Kossev)

Kurti wants inter-party agreement to avoid new elections over the president (RFE)

Kosovo Prime Minister and leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, said on Monday that the situation over the election of the President “is not easy” but that he is going to try together with the two other bigger Albanian parties to avoid new elections. 

The news website notes that the mandate of President Vjosa Osmani expires on April 4 and the last deadline to vote on the President is March 4. Osmani meanwhile has made it clear that she wants another term in office.

“We will do our best to avoid elections,” Kurti said after meeting Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku. He said that the Vetevendosje Movement, the LDK and the PDK do not have candidates for the post of President.

Asked if he supports a re-election for Osmani, Kurti said the Vetevendosje Movement did not collect signatures for anyone, “because even if we did, in the best case we would get 66 which is still far from 80”.

“The solution is between the three political parties,” Kurti said. “I don’t see a zeal for new elections and this is something that we have in common. These are the elements that make an optimistic”.

Hamza: Osmani doesn’t have guaranteed PDK votes for her candidacy (Dukagjini)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Bedri Hamza was asked on Monday if this party supports another mandate for Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani. “In addition to the readiness there is also a procedure that needs to be followed. A candidate needs to meet the formal and legal requirements, 30 signatures, there have to be candidates with 30 signatures each. There also need to be 80 MPs in the room,” he said.

Hamza said that Osmani doesn’t have guaranteed votes from the PDK for her candidacy. He also recalled that Osmani was elected President with the proposal of the Vetevendosje Movement and the support of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). “Until December 28, she acted in favor of the Vetevendosje Movement,” he said.

Kosovo committed to full normalization with Serbia with mutual recognition (Kosovapress) 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti hosted on Monday the EU special representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Peter Sorensen. The latter congratulated Kurti on the formation of the new government and his new mandate.

The meeting focused on the latest developments in Kosovo, the rule of law and Kosovo’s progress in the European integration process, and the clear priorities of the government and on the EU-facilitated dialogue. A press release issued by Kurti’s office says that the government of Kosovo remains committed to the full normalization of relations with Serbia with mutual recognition.

Kurti meets UNDP Resident Representative Queiros (media)

Most news websites reported on Monday that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nuno Queirós. Kurti thanked Queiros for the continued and professional cooperation between the Kosovo government and UNDP, emphasizing that UNDP remains a reliable and strategic partner in strengthening institutions and implementing reforms that deliver concrete results for citizens.

“The meeting reaffirmed readiness to continue cooperation in priority areas such as the fight against corruption and the rule of law, protection of cultural heritage, documentation and addressing of war crimes, environmental protection and the green transition, as well as education reform and the strengthening of institutional capacities. The Prime Minister stressed that public procurement reform remains one of the Government’s key priorities, focusing on increasing transparency, digitalizing processes, and strengthening safeguards against the misuse of public funds. In this regard, the Government will continue with the adoption of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and the Law on the State Bureau for the Confiscation of Unjustifiable Assets. Both parties agreed that the cooperation to date has produced tangible results and expressed their commitment to further deepening the partnership in support of sustainable development and the strengthening of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo,” a press release issued by Kurti’s office notes.

Kosovo war-crimes verdict against Serb ex-policeman upheld (BIRN) 

Pristina Basic Court on Monday sentenced former Serbian police officer Dusko Arsic to 13 years of imprisonment on war-crime charges for involvement in Serbian police units committing murders and mistreating Kosovo Albanian civilians during the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.

But charges of his personal involvement in expulsion, robbery and burning houses in the Pristina area were dropped.

A similar first-instance verdict two years ago was overturned by the Court of Appeals in January 2025 on “essential violations of the provisions of criminal procedure”.

“From the testimonies we have heard, it was proven in entirety that Dusko Arsic was part … of Serbian police and military forces that committed mistreatment and murders in Butovc village. Witnesses have identified Dusko Arsic as being part of other Serbian police and paramilitary forces,” the judge Vesel Ismaili said. He added that the defence had not provided enough evidence challenging the indictment.

Read more at: https://shorter.me/XinYb

Serbia’s office for Kosovo reacts to verdict against Arsic (Kosovo Online)

The Serbian government’s office for Kosovo said in a statement on Monday that the prison sentence imposed on Dusko Arsic in the retrial for an alleged war crime confirms the political instrumentalization of Pristina’s judiciary and a system based on “intimidation and the disenfranchisement of Serbs”. “This is yet another example that in Pristina there is neither democracy nor courts serving law and justice, but rather institutions that serve exclusively to repress Serbs,” the statement said.

According to the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, it was not proven during the trial that Arsic committed any crime. They further point out that the indictment against him was filed only three days after he submitted a lawsuit seeking the return of property that had allegedly been illegally sold, which, they claim, indicates that the case was nothing more than “an attempt to cover up theft and grant amnesty to those who seized Serbian property.” They add that, unfortunately, this is not the first such case before Pristina’s judiciary.

Hasani: Kurti committed in Ohrid to Association and will form it (Kossev)

Enver Hasani, former President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and former Rector of the University of Pristina, said in an interview with KoSSev that Kosovo’s most recent elections “were neither free nor fair,” claiming that the alleged mass distribution of several hundred million euros to voters amounted to “the largest vote-buying operation in Kosovo’s post-war history.”

Parliamentary mandates obtained in this way, he said, are immoral, while calling early elections this year would constitute “political suicide” for Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

In the interview, Hasani said he does not believe in a second presidential mandate for Vjosa Osmani.

“I seriously doubt that Mr. Kurti would support a person who represents a permanent challenge to his power and authority. Ms. Osmani has proven to be someone Kurti cannot reliably depend on,” the university professor said.

Because, as he claims, Kurti personally accepted political autonomy for Kosovo Serbs in Ohrid in 2023, Hasani believes that the Prime Minister views the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities as inevitable and will therefore choose a president above all who is a “loyal person” — one “who possesses strong moral-patriotic qualities.”

“Not only is this likely, it is more than certain that he will do so,” Hasani said, referring to the Association.

Read more at: https://shorter.me/XGhjh