• COVID – 19: 720 new cases, 11 deaths (media)
• Kosovo Assembly to meet today, Hoti to face two interpellations (media)
• Minister: A government that fails to pass economic recovery bill, must go (Kallxo)
• “Serbia deliberately concealing truth of genocide committed in Kosovo” (media)
• “Anyone who commits war crimes should be brought to justice” (media)
• Haziri: Time has come for LDK to get President post (Express)
• Osmani: Women participation in dialogue, necessary and smart decision (media)
• Poll: 66% of citizens think new elections would bring political stability (Telegrafi)

COVID – 19: 720 new cases, 11 deaths (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Wednesday that 720 new cases of COVID – 19 and 11 deaths from the virus have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (319). 469 patients have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 12,008 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Kosovo Assembly to meet today, Hoti to face two interpellations (media)

Most news websites report this morning that members of the Kosovo Assembly will meet today at 10:00. Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti will face two interpellations called by Vetevendosje Movement MPs, “on including and sharing the Gazivoda Lake with Serbia in the document on pledges signed on September 4” [the Washington Agreement] and “on the detrimental treatment of missing persons in the September 4 pledges, by conditioning it with the IDPs”.

Minister: A government that fails to pass economic recovery bill, must go (Kallxo)

Kosovo’s Minister of Economy and Environment, Blerim Kuci, said in an interview on Wednesday evening that the Hoti-led government must go due to its failure to pass the economic recovery bill.

“I think that a government that cannot pass the economic recovery law must go. I am speaking with a broken heart, because we are faced with an emergency, with the pandemic … I have tried to help businesses as far as my competencies have allowed me. It is fair to say ‘let us vote on the economic recovery law and then go to elections’, this makes sense. I would vote in favor of ousting the government, as long as we vote in favor of the law first,” Kuci was quoted as saying.

“Serbia deliberately concealing truth of genocide committed in Kosovo” (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meliza Haradinaj – Stublla, said on Wednesday that Serbia was deliberately concealing the truth of the genocide committed in Kosovo. Below is the full text of the statement:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, expresses its deepest indignation towards the authorities in Serbia, who continue to conceal the monstrous crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo in 1998/1999, by not revealing the locations of the mortal remains of innocent civilians killed by Serbian paramilitary forces, deliberately hidden in mass graves throughout Serbia.

The so-called war crimes courts and prosecution in Serbia have been aware for decades of the whereabouts of mortal remains of the Kosovo Albanians in a location called Kizhevak, near Rashka, but decided to take no steps to shed light on the crimes committed and refused to order detention against those who committed the genocide.

This proves that crimes committed by Milosevic’s state and criminal apparatus, whose close and loyal collaborators are now in charge of Serbian institutions, Vucic and Dacic, are deliberately keeping open one of the most severe wounds of post-war Kosovo, i.e. the issue of the missing persons. This reveals the true character of Serbia’s leaders, who are by no means distancing themselves from their criminal past. There can be no dialogue or a final agreement with a state that continues to refuse apologizing for the crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo and continues to conceal the committed genocide. The international community should look into Rashka and other mass graves in Serbia and not remain silent in the face of internationally recognized facts that prove Serbia’s responsibility before international justice for all crimes, massacres and genocide committed in Kosovo.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora would like to commend the Commission for Missing Persons and the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Prishtina, working diligently to uncover and identify the bodies of the missing persons in this mass grave in Serbia.

We owe it to Kosovo, to mother Ferdonije from Gjakova and all mothers and families of the missing persons, to do everything within our power and not leave a stone unturned until we have shed light on the fate of their loved ones.

Our hearts and minds are with the families during this difficult period, whose pain is being aggravated these days, and the wound of the war is deepening, 21 years after its end.

The continuation of Serbia’s impunity policy continues to remain a stain for international justice.

“Anyone who commits war crimes should be brought to justice” (media)

Several news websites cover the U.S House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee’s post on Twitter which notes that anyone who commits war crimes, regardless of ethnicity, should be brought to justice.

“ANYONE who commits war crimes regardless of ethnicity should be brought to justice. Period But, justice must not be a prism through which images of only one ethnicity can pass. Right now, it seems that’s happening in Kosovo with the Special Court, and something has to change,” the post notes.

Haziri: Time has come for LDK to get President post (Express)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) deputy leader Lutfi Haziri said in an interview with the news website on Wednesday that the time has come for this party to get the post of Kosovo President.

Haziri praised the statesmen-like approach of leaders that are facing confirmed indictments at The Hague. He said that other processes should not be stopped because of ongoing proceedings at The Hague “and we need to address internal problems such as the pandemic, which has high priority, and also the economy”. “At the international level, the dialogue [with Serbia] is the only way and the only mechanism to resolve the problem with Serbia and other problems that we face as a new republic,” he said.

Asked to comment on remarks that a possible conviction of the former KLA leaders or even the trial itself could shake the foundations of Kosovo’s statehood, Haziri said: “We cannot preempt. Justice will have its say, we need to wait and have faith. Justice may be late, but it is always served. We in the LDK have highly evaluated the statesmen-like approach, the political maturity and readiness of those whose indictments were confirmed … We need to have faith and wait for the final result. We need to believe that this court will produce justice rather than new heroes”.

Asked if the LDK would be willing to give up the post of Prime Minister in exchange for the post of Kosovo President, Haziri said: “No … this is not the best way. I believe the time has come for the LDK to get the post of Kosovo President because we would cover all political parties and be successful in managing domestic and international processes … Until then we support the government. We are not willing to make compromise on the back of the current government, not only because of the LDK, but also because of the partners in the ruling coalition … We also want the partners of the coalition and the opposition to meet and find a sustainable solution. A format of dialogue must be built soon that will give the country the President, a government or even a date of elections because this option too is not ruled out,” he added.

Haziri said LDK leader Isa Mustafa could be a person of unity in the post of Kosovo President. Asked if he would be willing to lead the LDK, in the event Mustafa gets elected President of Kosovo, Haziri said the process is not linked to his name or any individual’s name. “LDK getting back the post of President would create a good atmosphere of trust not only among the LDK membership and structures, but also among other parties. Under the LDK’s leadership of the post of President, major problems were always resolved despite the crisis of times.”

Asked if he will run for the post of Prime Minister in the new parliamentary elections, Haziri said he is working with full capacities in his post of mayor of Gjilan municipality and as deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo. “I will do my best to return the party to the leading position in the Republic of Kosovo,” he added.

Haziri said U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is one of the politicians that actively designed the liberation of Kosovo and that he knows best the politics in the Balkans and also relations between Albanians and Serbs. He also said that it was Kosovo’s fortune that Biden was elected President and that “the process of normalisation with Serbia will be sealed by Joe Biden”.

Osmani: Women participation in dialogue, necessary and smart decision (media)

Kosovo’s Acting President Vjosa Osmani said on Wednesday that the participation of women in the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue is at a concerning level. “We need to understand that the participation of women in the process of dialogue is not only a necessary but also a smart decision and above all proof of commitment to respect the objectives of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325,” Osmani said in the conference titled “Reclaiming time: Women, peace, security and justice agenda in Kosovo and beyond”.

Poll: 66% of citizens think new elections would bring political stability (Telegrafi)

The news website reported on Wednesday evening that according to a poll conducted by Pyper, a Prishtina-based platform for public opinion research, and Dukagjini TV, the absolute majority of Kosovo’s citizens (88 percent) think that there is no political stability in the country. 66 percent of respondents said new parliamentary elections would bring political stability, while 21 percent believe the government must be reshuffled in order to have stability.