• COVID-19: 785 new cases, four deaths (media)
• Government to say tomorrow if new measures are approved (media)
• Economic recovery draft law fails to pass second reading (media)
• Calls for national protest, demanding Health Minister’s resignation (media)
• Prishtina mayor strongly disagrees with new anti coronavirus measures (media)
• Chamber of Commerce calls on businesses to respect new measures (media)
• Reshitaj: AAK has asked for new measures to be reviewed (KTV)
• EU: Kosovo must understand dialogue has no alternative (RFE)
• Tahiri: New elections if our offer for President is not accepted (media)
• Vetevendosje, PDK don’t support Haradinaj’s candidacy for president (KTV)
• VV refuses PDK’s call to suspend parliamentary activity (RFE/Telegrafi)
• Olluri: LDK, PDK are negotiating President and government (Express)
• Status conference for Thaci at The Hague on November 18 (media)
• Italian ambassador visits Prekaz memorial site (media)
• Court calls public session on complaint against government formation (Express)

COVID-19: 785 new cases, four deaths (media)

785 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths from the virus have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 142 patients have recovered from the virus during this time.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (328).

There are 9,373 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Government to say today if new measures are approved (media)

The Kosovo Government held an electronic meeting on Wednesday to discuss and vote on the new proposed measures against the spread of COVID-19. The meeting will continue Thursday.

Antigona Baxhaku, Director of Information in the Office of the Prime Minister told Klan Kosova that an announcement on the new measures will be made on Thursday. “The voting will continue on Thursday, because it is online. Tomorrow we will inform you if changes were made or if the plan was approved without changes. So far there are no proposals for changes,” Baxhaku said yesterday.

Economic recovery draft law fails to pass second reading (media)

The second reading of the economic recovery draft law has failed to be voted at the Assembly due to a lack of quorum, media reported.

Head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Arben Gashi, that sponsors the draft law, blamed the opposition as well as the coalition partner, the Serbian List, for not supporting the law. “I call on all MPs to be responsible and come and perform their constitutional duties. The opposition and a part of coalition partners are behaving obstructively, unreasonably, and illogically,” Gashi is quoted to have said at a press conference, Koha reports.

Calls for national protest, demanding Health Minister’s resignation (media)

Several news websites reported on Wednesday that a Facebook group has called a national protest this Friday at 11:15 in front of the Kosovo government building to oppose the new restrictive measures against COVID-19.

1,000 people have confirmed their participation, while another 4,600 have said they’re interested to join the event. One of the demands of the protest is the resignation of Health Minister Armend Zemaj.

Prishtina mayor strongly disagrees with new anti coronavirus measures (media)

The Mayor of Prishtina, Shpend Ahmeti, has strongly criticised the government’s recently proposed new measures aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 which put Prishtina into a high-risk zone and on lockdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.

“I am against unfounded criteria setting Prishtina aside by mistaken calculations. These measures will only make the situation with COVID more difficult, not easier. If measures include all of Kosovo on based justification that they will slow down the virus spread, we will support them,” Ahmeti said.

He said Prishtina is being penalised for the fact it carries out more testing than other municipalities. “This is unfair and a bad motivation against testing. We should aim to achieve the opposite, to test as much as possible,” Ahmeti wrote on Facebook.

Chamber of Commerce calls on businesses to respect new measures (media)

Kosovo Chamber of Commerce President Berat Rukiqi told a press conference on Wednesday that the new restrictive measures against the spread of COVID-19 will help businesses to survive. “The economy to a large extent will remain open and will continue to operate … only to survive,” he said.

Rukiqi also called on businesses to respect the new measures because the fines are very high. One of the new measures proposed by the Kosovo government on Wednesday notes that businesses that fail to respect the measures could be closed up to three months.

Reshitaj: AAK has asked for new measures to be reviewed (KTV)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) MP Albena Reshitaj said in an interview with the TV station on Wednesday that this party has asked for the new measures proposed by the government against the spread of COVID-19 to be reviewed.

Reshitaj argued that a total lockdown is not the right solution and that other alternatives can be found. “A total lockdown would have grave consequences on the economy and on the public health,” she said.

“An informative meeting was held today between Prime Minister Hoti, Deputy Prime Minister Tahiri, the Minister of Health and some chambers of commerce and a joint decision was made to introduce stricter measures but not a total lockdown,” Reshitaj added.

EU: Kosovo must understand dialogue has no alternative (RFE)

Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the European Union, told the news website on Wednesday that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has no alternative and that Prishtina and Belgrade must be ready to resume the process and achieve a compromise.

Asked to comment on statements by some political leaders in Kosovo that the dialogue must be suspended, Stano said: “We are confident that in order to meet the aspirations of the citizens of Kosovo for a European future, Kosovo must understand and agree that there is no alternative to dialogue … The EU commends the clear vision of Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and his readiness to make the difficult choice, by displaying consistency and maturity, especially in these challenging times”.

“The Kosovo society is mature enough to understand that the dialogue cannot be used for short-term political arguments. Kosovo’s European prospect is real. But achieving this is in the hands of the citizens of Kosovo and their elected leaders. The European Union remains committed to offer every help. The facilitation of the dialogue is part of this help,” Stano said.

Tahiri: New elections if our offer for President is not accepted (media)

Kosovo’s Principal Deputy Prime Minister and member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Besnik Tahiri, said in a debate on Dukagjini TV on Wednesday that the AAK will not back down from the candidacy of its leader Ramush Haradinaj for the post of Kosovo President.

“The Kosovo Assembly has 120 MPs. Let the other 100 MPs in the Assembly, without the AAK, elect the new President,” he said. “In these grave circumstances, Haradinaj has the capacity, leadership and knowledge to be President and to create stability in Kosovo … We have our offer and if it is not accepted we will go to new elections.”

Vetevendosje, PDK don’t support Haradinaj’s candidacy for president (KTV)

The Vetevendosje Movement (VV) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) have not supported an offer made by Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj who asked for their votes in support of his candidacy for the post of Kosovo President. Haradinaj said he would return the favor, with his MPs voting in favor of the candidates of these parties for the posts of Assembly President or Prime Minister.

Vetevendosje representatives said on Wednesday that this is an unacceptable deal. A spokesman for the party told KTV: “The current Assembly suffers from the deformation of the political will and is therefore unable to elect a President, a unifying figure, except through political deals. The public offer that is being made to all parties is a typical offer of political deals. Only after the election of a new Assembly, can we discuss the post of President”.

PDK officials said they are not discussing the issue at this point. “This is not a topic of discussion in the PDK. We haven’t discussed it, and we are not discussing it. I presented to you our position for postponing our presence in the Assembly for a week,” PDK’s Abelard Tahiri said.

Civil society representatives meanwhile argue that the President must not be elected through political deals but rather from the will of the people. Albert Krasniqi from the Prishtina-based Demokracia Plus said: “The President must not be elected through a deal between the political parties, or through an exchange of votes, because the MPs vote in favor or against a candidate with their own will and no political party owns the votes of the MPs or use them for support”. Krasniqi further argued that the way Haradinaj plans to be elected as President is enough to disqualify from the race.

VV refuses PDK’s call to suspend parliamentary activity (RFE/Telegrafi)

The Vetevendosje Movement (VV) has refused to join the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in suspending the parliamentary activity for one week as a sign of protest against the recent indictments of the Specialist Chambers.

Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from Vetevendosje, Arberie Nagavci, said the current situation in which Kosovo has found itself has been expected from the moment the PDK and its allies voted in favour of the Specialist Chambers’ establishment. “It makes no sense to believe that raising awareness or reflection, as they said, can be achieved in a week’s time.”

Olluri: LDK, PDK are negotiating President and government (Express)

Reporter and commentator Parim Olluri said in a debate on T7 on Wednesday that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) are negotiating the post of Kosovo President and the government. According to Olluri, the LDK has offered several posts to the PDK to join the Hoti-led government.

Status conference for Thaci at The Hague on November 18 (media)

Most news websites reported on Wednesday evening that the status conference for former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague will be held on November 19 at 11:00.

Italian ambassador visits Prekaz memorial site (media)

Italy’s Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicola Orlando, followed the example of his colleague from the UK, Nicholas Abbott, to visit the memorial site in the village of Prekaz, the resting place for the KLA Commander Adem Jashari and his family.

“I joined @nickabbottfcdo example today honoring Jashari memorial in #Prekaz to remember the humanitarian intervention leading to independence. Flag of Italy was at Kosovars side in 1999. We continue supporting Flag of Kosovo independence & its citizens right to live in a free & democratic country,” Orlando tweeted.

Court calls public session on complaint against government formation (Express)

The news website reported on Wednesday that the Constitutional Court will hold a public session for Vetevendosje Movement’s case to the court, in which it questioned the constitutionality of an MP’s vote in favor of the formation of the Hoti-led government. The said MP was found guilty of fraud by a court in 2019.

The court told Gazeta Express that the session is scheduled for December 2 and will be held via video conference. The court also said it will address the Venice Commission on the matter. The news website notes that the Hoti-led government can fall if the court finds that the MP’s vote was anti-constitutional.