• COVID-19: 79 new cases, three deaths (media)
• US Embassy slams Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, gives up its monitoring role (media)
• Hoti concerned after U.S. Embassy withdraws its experts (media)
• Serbia appoints new head of Office for Kosovo (Express)
• Haradinaj-Stublla: We would welcome Greece’s decision to recognize Kosovo (media)
• Canak’s shocking testimony: We were told not to talk about 16 mass graves (RTK)
• Police confirms arrest of Istog mayor Haki Rugova (RTK)

COVID-19: 79 new cases, three deaths (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said on Friday that 79 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the last 24 hours.

61 persons have meanwhile recovered from the virus during this time and three deaths were recorded.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (26).

There are currently 1,159 active coronavirus cases in Kosovo.

U.S. Embassy slams Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, gives up its monitoring role (media)

The U.S. Embassy in Pristina has harshly criticized the selection processes of the new Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) members, media report.

The U.S. Embassy issued a statement which notes that selection processes of new prosecutors have been fundamentally broken lacking transparency and are subject to increasing conflict of interest. The U.S. Embassy has decided to withdraw its experts monitoring and mentoring the election of new prosecutors.

“Since further Embassy involvement could be misinterpreted as an endorsement of this broken system, we will no longer participate. Prosecutors should be selected based on their qualifications, not political affiliation or connections,” the U.S. Embassy said in a press release.

“Changes to the legal framework underpinning the KPC are needed to restore transparency and fairness to this system. Therefore, we call on all parties to support the Minister of Justice’s efforts to complete the Functional Review immediately,” the U.S. Embassy stated.

Hoti concerned after U.S. Embassy withdraws its experts (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has reacted after the U.S. Embassy in Pristina decided to withdraw its experts monitoring and mentoring election processes of new prosecutors of Kosovo.

PM Hoti said that he is concerned with this decision adding that this should be taken seriously by Kosovo institutions. “Only a transparent process, without conflict of interest or political influences, grants a merit-based recruitment,” Hoti wrote on Facebook.

He said the government through the Ministry of Justice is working to implement reforms on judiciary, including a vetting process. He added that a vetting in judiciary will help to have a more transparent and accountable judiciary.

Serbia appoints new head of Office for Kosovo (Express)

Petar Petkovic will be the new head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo.

The government of Serbia made this decision on Friday, after the decision of Marko Djuric to leave this post. Petkovic has been Djuric’s deputy since 2016. Djuric has been appointed Serbia’s Ambassador to the United States.

Haradinaj-Stublla: We would welcome Greece’s decision to recognize Kosovo (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla, met Friday the Greek FM Nikos Dendias. They discussed relations between Kosovo and Greece, the necessity to strengthen and advance them, especially in areas of common interest. According to a press release issued by the Kosovo Foreign Ministry, they also discussed  influential political issues in the region.

Haradinaj-Stublla said that she understands the position of Greece towards the independence of Kosovo, and this is an additional reason why they are interested in developing and advancing the existing relations. “Obviously, we would welcome Greece’s decision to recognize Kosovo, but we are committed to strengthening existing relations, as well as deepening them in the right direction,” she said.

The Minister asked Dendias that Greece, as an influential country not only in the region, but also as a member of the European Union, to help clarify the final objective and timeline of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in order to reach a final solution “which cannot be less than mutual recognition within existing borders.”

According to the Ministry, Dendias welcomed the increased commitment of Kosovo to expand and use the political momentum for the region and for the two countries, to strengthen economic and trade dialogue and in particular the implementation of energy projects under the Washington Agreement, which in the future are expected to be another important link between Kosovo and Greece. The Minister also confirmed the full support of Greece in to visa liberalization for the citizens of Kosovo and in general Kosovo’s European integration.

Canak’s shocking testimony: We were told not to talk about 16 mass graves (RTK)

Even though the former official of the State Security Service of Serbia during the war in Kosovo, Uros Uvaskovic, denied being aware of Albanian remains during a debate on the “Cirilica” TV show, the former Speaker of Parliament of Vojvodina and chairman of the Social Democratic League, Nenad Canak, spoke about the statements of the then Minister of Police regarding the existence of 16 possible mass graves, and about the decision not to speak publicly about it.

“I think that you were there every time when the Minister of Police, Dusko Mihajlovic, said this sentence: ‘I cannot sleep. I have to share this with you. ‘ We found 16 mass graves in Serbia. So, 16 mass graves in Serbia. And when I saw what we found there, should I share this with you, and agree on what to do with all this? I asked to talk, and told him I did not understand the question. This was soon after October 5, maybe January or February. “What to do with all this,” I said, not understanding the question. We are not here to hide the crimes of the former regime, but to reveal them. So, this means a press conference tomorrow, to take the journalists from one location to another to film and then decide what to do. Then, Zoran Djindjic, who has always been reserved, was not willing to impose his opinion, even though he had great importance, said: “No, no. This matter should be investigated, but not much publicity should be given, because who will invest in a state where every time you dig the land you will pull out a skull. Then I realized that we had a serious internal problem,” Çanak is quoted as saying.

In a separate article, RTK portal reports that the leader of the Serbian Liberal Democratic Party, Cedomir Jovanovic, while talking about the mass graves of Albanians, also said that the former Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic had asked to be “investigated quietly, to gain time to understand what to do.”

Police confirms arrest of Istog mayor Haki Rugova (RTK)

Kosovo Police through a written response to the news portal confirmed the arrest of the mayor of Istog, Haki Rugova, the deputy mayor of this municipality and a legal official.

“We can confirm that the investigators of the Directorate for Economic Crimes and Corruption, on 9.10.2020, have interviewed three persons as suspects, on suspicion of committing criminal offenses ‘abuse of official position’, ‘conflict of interest’ and ‘forgery’ of the official document’. After the interview with the decision of the state prosecutor by the Prosecution in Peja, the suspects were sentenced to 48 hours of detention,” was written in the response of the Kosovo Police.