• Kosovo bans cryptocurrency mining in efforts to save energy (media) • Pristina’s actions against UN mission member should be met with response — Russia’s MFA (TASS) • Haradinaj accuses Kurti of "corruption" and "extreme leftism" (media) • Weber: Demonstration of force may happen again in the north (lajmi.net/media) • Xhaferi: "Open Balkan" incomplete without all Western Balkans countries (Kosovapress/media) • COVID-19: 108 new cases, no deaths (media) • Kosovo sees surge in COVID-19 cases (Express) • Deputy Minister: Kosovo about to enter a new wave of COVID-19 infections (Telegrafi)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 4, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • “France has changed approach”; optimism for visa liberalisation (Kosovapress) • Will Biden launch an offensive in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue this year (Gazeta Express) • Joseph: Rama’s rapprochement with Vucic is not healthy (Radio Free Europe) • Thaci and others are held in detention on assumptions, attorney says (Kosovapress) • COVID-19: 108 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Covid-19: 25 new cases registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM) • Petkovic reacts to Pristina’s decision to declare UNMIK official “persona non grata” (B92, social media) • Moscow reacts to Pristina's move (media) • Trajkovic: Albanian political elite in Kosovo admitted return of expelled Serbs is politically conditioned (Kosovo-online) • Schieb: Serbia–Germany relations aim at providing support for EU integration (N1) • Chen Bo: Great results of cooperation between China and Serbia in 2021 (N1) • EU Office condemned recent desecration of cemetery in Kisnica (Radio KIM) • Two anti-coronavirus shots needed to enter Kosovo as of January 3 (Radio KIM) • Server: Pristina also responsible for issue of missing persons (Kosovo-online) • Kosovo police members received letter of reprimand for detaining KoSSev’s editor last year (KoSSev)

• Stoltenberg: Tensions increased in Kosovo and B&H; NATO promotes stability (Telegrafi) • Kosovo declares UNMIK staff a “persona non grata” (media) • UN: "Persona non grata" doctrine not applicable to UN personnel (media) • Hasani: UNMIK personnel cannot be declared "persona non grata" (Koha) • Kosovo has high expectations of Albania joining UN Security Council (Klan) • Serwer: I do not expect a Kosovo-Serbia agreement this year (Kosovo Online, media) • Kosovo Surveillance Build-up Raises Privacy Concerns (BIRN) • Serbia praises another arms shipment from Russia (AP) • World Athletics confident Kosovo will participate in Serbian event with no issues (Exit.al) • COVID-19: 38 new cases, no deaths (media) • New COVID-19 restrictions come into force in Kosovo (Exit.al) • Pandemic forces 3,000 firms out of business, additional relief packages needed (euronews.al)

• Kurti and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donfried talk about Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (media) • President Osmani decreed the Law on the Budget of Kosovo for 2022 (media) • Dialogue, the biggest challenge for the Kurti Government in 2022 (Koha) • Kurti meets Kosovo’s Security Council (media) • Osmani and Kurti meet heads of security institutions (media) • OSCE Condemns Desecration of Serb Gravestones in Kosovo (BIRN) • Chinese cameras from the American black list, through Serbia in Kosovo (RFE) • Enlargement crisis and its consequences: Key events in the Western Balkans in 2021 (EWB) • COVID-19: 53 new cases, no deaths (media)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 30, 2021 Albanian Language Media: • Kryeziu: Agreement with Serbia can be reached within government’s mandate (Klan) • Venice Commission to present its opinion on Vetting process in March (RTK) • Musliu files lawsuit against Minister Peci (RTK) • Jeffrey Hovenier sworn in as the new US Ambassador to Kosovo (Telegrafi) • Families of the missing gather in Prishtina (media) • COVID-19: 53 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Vucic talks about economic success, referendum, Kosovo issue in his annual address (media, B92) • Godfrey: US-Serbia security cooperation at highest level (Tanjug) • Dacic: February 15 deadline for dissolution of parliament (Tanjug) • Minister: Rio Tinto has no right to lithium exploitation in Serbia (N1) • Spain on Kosovo independence: An act contrary to international law (Kosovo-online) • Simic on election of Judicial Council members: Rights of Serbs ought to be respected (Kosovo-online) • OSCE Mission condemned desecration of Serbian cemetery in Kisnica (Kosovo-online) International: • Rocketing Real Estate Prices in the Balkans Stir Suspicion (Balkan Insight)

• Kurti recaps 2021 in end-of-year press conference (media) • No referendum of Serbia will take place in Kosovo, Kurti says (Klan/G. Express) • Vucic reacts to Kurti's remarks on referendum (Telegrafi) • Assembly fails to elect two Constitutional Court judges (media) • Kosovo Ministry confirms being in touch with Spanish authorities (G. Express) • Woman charged for joining a terrorist group (Kosovapress) • COVID-19: 33 new cases, no deaths (media)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 29, 2021 Albanian Language Media: • Kosovo Assembly declares energy emergency (media) • Kurti thanks Rama for helping with energy supply during end year holidays (euronews.al) • Kurti: 2021 to be remembered as a year when hope, trust, and will for change became unbreakable (Telegrafi) • Kosovo Government approves draft law on setting up bureau for confiscation of unjustifiable wealth (Koha) • Israel Appoints First Ambassador To Kosovo (Prishtina Insight) • UK Embassy welcomes appointment of anti-corruption agency head (media) • COVID-19: 33 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Patriarch: What the Vatican is for the Roman Catholic Church, Kosovo is for us (KoSSev, RTS) • US Ambassador Godfrey: “The US does not see Serbia as a threat…” (B92, N1, TV Prva) • Israel appoints ambassador in Kosovo (N1, KoSSev) • Jevtic: They want to use police actions to force Serbs to leave Kosovo and Metohija (Politika) • EU sources: How to get Western Balkans out of stagnation in 2022 (N1, BETA) Humanitarian/Development: • Urban Vision: Woman Painter Transforms Humdrum Kosovo Town With Murals (Balkan Insight)

• Kurti calls on diaspora to get vaccinated upon arrival in Kosovo (media) • COVID-19: 13 new cases, no deaths (media) • Constitutional Court decides on payment for electricity in the north (media) • ERO warns crisis through April, KEDS, KOSTT cannot do billing in north (EO) • Albania to provide electricity to Kosovo for New Year's (media) • Residents fire up generators as Kosovo energy crisis escalates (Reuters) • Record of remittances in Kosovo in 2021 (Radio Free Europe) • Court orders retrial of Kosovo Serb MP sentenced for ‘ethnic hatred’ (BIRN) • Kurti received the Minister of National Defense of Turkey, Hulusi Akar (media) • IOC threatens Malaysia and Serbia with event hosting ban (inisdethegames.biz)

Albanian Language Media: • Minister calls on MPs to support emergency measures in energy sector (media) • Kosovo's energy sector experiencing one of major challenges in last twenty years, KEDS says (media) • Kurti: Sustainable progress brings together democracy and science (Koha) • COVID-19: 13 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • "Sad indicator of religious and ethnic intolerance" (KiM radio, KoSSev) • 17 cases of COVID-19 in Serb areas (KoSSev) • Borrell: The rhetoric of divisions in 2021 hampered the Western Balkans' path to the EU (Danas, Beta) • Vulin, Petkovic with Teodosije on the position of Serbian people in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever) • Balkan Security Network: Serbia has largest army of all ex-Yugoslav republics (Beta, N1) • Holiday message to negotiators in Pristina, Belgrade, and Brussels (KiM radio)

• Kosovo Assembly to hold extraordinary session to discuss electricity crisis (media) • Haradinaj blames Vetevendosje, Kurti for electricity crisis (media) • Kosovars Protest Against Electricity Cuts, Demand Sackings (BIRN) • Turkish minister to visit Kosovo today (Koha) • Serbian official not permitted entry to Kosovo (Koha) • Borrell: 2021, a year of transitions (RTK) • Russia Is Playing With Fire in the Balkans (FA/Klan) • Kosovo: Guerrillas’ Trials Begin at Hague War Crimes Court (BIRN) • COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media)