• Some anti COVID measures will become stricter, Health Minister says (KTV)
• Kosovo reports over 100 new cases with COVID-19 on Wednesday (Express)
• Escobar expected to visit Kosovo in January (Albanian Post)
• Hasani: Kosovo Serbs cannot be part of Vucic’s referendum (media)
• “Kosovo violated international relations by expelling Russian UN staff” (Telegrafi)
• Kosovo’s energy crisis halts cryptocurrency production (Prishtina Insight)
• Kosovo experts question legality of cryptocurrency mining ban (BIRN)
• U.S. imposes new sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Dodik (Reuters)
• Osmani on sanctions on Dodik: A decisive and much-needed decision (media)
• Why Serbia’s President is a threat to Europe (foreignpolicy.com)
• A hotbed of cloak-and-dagger skullduggery in the Hague (nationalinterest.org)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 5, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

• LDK, PDK reach co-governance agreement in Prishtina municipality (Telegrafi)
• Haxhiu: We won’t give up on vetting process (Kosovapress)
• Kraja: Kosovo made concessions to Serbia; Association biggest blow (media)
• Hoti: Serbia trying to remove Albanians from Presevo Valley (media)
• Another false alarm for explosive device at Prishtina bus station (media)
• Prime Minister and Health Minister on pandemic: We must not relax (media)
• COVID-19: 107 new cases, no deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 36 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (KoSSev)
• “Kosovo can go to Olympic games, but Kosovo Serbs can’t take part in referendum” (Radio KIM)
• Serbian Patriarch expresses respect to health care staff in Christmas message (FoNet, N1)
• Surlic: International community views status of K. Serbs and ZSO only through prism of whether Kosovo will achieve independence (KoSSev)
• 20 US military police officers to deploy to Kosovo (KoSSev, AP)

International:

• Montenegro Leads Region in Sudden Surge in COVID-19 Cases (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• KFOR donates medical equipment to health house in Vidanje returnee village (KoSSev)

• 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)