• 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)

Albanian Language Media: • PM Kurti on energy situation: There are almost no power cuts (media) • “Government has taken measures; but consequences are inevitable” (Kosovapress) • Haxhiu: Agreement with Denmark; no need for constitutional amendments (EO) • Minxhozi: Kosovo-Albania railroad construction in 2024 (EO) • PAI leader refutes party member: We remain part of government (Gazeta Express) • Ministry: Vaccination remains most effective protection from COVID-19 (media) • COVID-19: Four new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Vucic: ''I see I am to blame for the lack of electricity in Kosovo also, but the results are winning'' (Kosovo Online, Tanjug) • Serbian families of the missing uninformed about the Brussels dialogue (KiM radio) • Veljko Odalovic banned from entering Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever, RTK2) • Jeremic: Opposition should be ready to defend election results on streets (N1, Beta) • Ambassador Godfrey: America’s goal is same as Serbia’s (N1, Beta, RTS) • Petkovic: Since Kurti came to power, number of incidents against Serbs 50 percent higher (Kosovo Online) • Tombstones in Kisnica village desecrated, condemnations of the act (KiM radio, Kontakt plus radio, gracanicaonline.info) • "Stop Hate Speech" (KiM radio)

• Kurti blames past governments about energy crisis (RTK) • Kosovo reports first cases of COVID-19 Omicron (media) • Citizens warn protests over power outages (euronews.al) • German expert arrives; repair of Kosova B block underway (Koha) • Serbia blocks transit goods, Kosovo still without any action (Kosovapress) • US-sanctioned Serb’s company subcontracts work to Kosovo Albanians (BIRN) • “Easier to decipher Da Vinci Code, than EU position on Open Balkan” (Koha) • Haziri: Serbia is playing a political game in Open Balkan (euronews.al) • BIRN Kosovo Won Prize After Prize in 2021 (BIRN)

Albanian Language Media: • Osmani: Serbia’s militarization reveals Vucic’s objective in Open Balkan (Koha) • Milanovic: Open Balkan, useless if Kosovo is not treated equally (media) • Health Institute: Tests that can detect Omicron expected to arrive today (RFE) Serbian Language Media: • Botsan-Kharchenko: Moscow urges Pristina for normal dialogue with Belgrade (Kosovo-online) • EU Ambassador Giaufret exchanges views with Patriarch Porfirije (N1) • EU: Serbia aligns with policy on Belarus (N1) • Serbia pursuing responsible policy, Vucic tells Austrian ORF (Tanjug) • France and Germany continue to co-operate on an initiative to help Serbia-Kosovo dialogue (RFE) • Covid-19: nine new cases registered in Serbian areas (RTS) Opinion: • The curse of the “Open Balkan” (Koha) • Vucic’s New Pose as Serbia’s ‘Protector’ Shouldn’t Fool Anyone (Balkan Insight) International: • Serbian Minister Faces New Legal Challenge for ‘Insulting Albanians’ (Balkan Insight) • Rio Tinto controversy: Has the EU designated Serbia as a “sacrificial zone” for lithium extraction? (EWB) • Montenegro Close to Choosing Bechtel to Build Adriatic Highway (Balkan Insight) • Hope Fades for Missing Victims of Albania’s Communist Regime (Balkan Insight)