• COVID-19: 764 new cases, 12 deaths (media)
• Ahmeti: Two weeks after anti-Covid measures, same number of new cases (media)
• Hoti confident economic recovery law will be passed next week (media)
• Former minister slams economic recovery law, says it has ‘zero substance’ (Kosovapress)
• Hoxhaj: No readiness in PDK to join coalition government (RTV21/Telegrafi)
• Bogujevci: The least Selmanaj could have done was apologise (Koha)
• Besian Mustafa: Our family’s last hope lies with the Special Court (Prishtina Insight)

COVID-19: 764 new cases, 12 deaths (media)

764 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 584 persons have meanwhile recovered from the virus.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (319).

There are currently 14,590 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Ahmeti: Two weeks after anti-Covid measures, same number of new cases (media)

Mayor of Prishtina Shpend Ahmeti said that two weeks since the Government of Kosovo introduced tougher anti-coronavirus measures, the number of new infections remains the same as prior to the steps which saw curfews being imposed on municipalities with higher number of cases.

“Two weeks following the measures that it doesn’t take an epidemiologist to understand that logically they cannot be effective, the Covid numbers are the same or even higher than two weeks prior. What the government should not do it to double logical mistakes of measures that not only cause economic damage but are also ineffective,” Ahmeti wrote on social media.

Hoti confident economic recovery law will be passed next week (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said he was confident that the draft law on economic recovery will pass its second reading at the Assembly next week.

“I am making a public promise that the law for economic recovery will be adopted next week and this issue will be over with and all other matters will be defined, including the money the citizens will be able to take from their savings, a list of legal changes, as well as the possibility to delay tax obligations, review VAT in the raw material of the local production,” Hoti is quoted by Kosovapress.

He also said he was open to receiving feedback on the law from other parliamentary parties. “I believe we will achieve broad consensus because this law affects all citizens, businesses, families,” Hoti said during a visit to a winery in Suhareka.

Former minister slams economic recovery law, says it has ‘zero substance’ (Kosovapress)

Besnik Bislimi, former finance minister and deputy leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, said the draft law on economic recovery proposed by the Government has no substance.

“The law is anything but recovery while the budget has the recovery included in it. It means Avdullah Hoti has all mechanisms, all possibilities, but his brain is not in it. The draft law on recovery cannot provide it. My strong belief is that Avdullah Hoti knows this draft law is nothing and has no interest in it being passed. The moment it would be adopted, the citizens would realise it has no substance and no people that can push it forward,” Bislimi said.

He said the Vetevendosje has proposed to enable citizens to get a 900-euro loan, free of interest, with a monthly return rate being 16 euros.

Hoxhaj: No readiness in PDK to join coalition government (RTV21/Telegrafi)

Acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj said that there is no mood within the party to join the current coalition government of Kosovo.

“We have no conditions, desires, or will to be part of the government,” Hoxhaj said in an interview with RTV21.

He also said it would be morally right for other political parties to endorse a PDK candidate for the post of president as the mandate was cut short by Hashim Thaci. However, Hoxhaj said PDK considers it is premature to decide on a name for the post for as long as there is no agreement between political parties.

Commenting about the economic recovery draft law, Hoxhaj said the PDK is ready to support it but only when it takes into account the party’s proposals, noting that the needs of the citizens and businesses are much bigger than what the law currently stipulates. “It is regrettable that Kosovo has approved only one package while countries in the region have each adopted three or four.”

Bogujevci: The least Selmanaj could have done was apologise (Koha)

MP from the Vetevendosje Movement, Saranda Bogujevci, spoke in an interview with KTV about remarks the Deputy Prime Minister Driton Selmanaj made about the issue of missing persons deemed offensive to the families.

Bogujevci said the right thing for Selmanaj would be to resign following the statements adding that “the least he could have done was to apologise to the families.”

“Even if the issue would be tackled daily at the Kosovo parliament, it would never be exaggerated or consumed,” she said.

Bogujevci further argued that the issue of missing persons cannot be put on the same footing with any other issue in the dialogue with Serbia process and noted that it is not yet clear what has exactly been discussed in Brussels.

“It cannot be said there is verbal agreement with Serbia to open archives. This process, apart from taking time, will unfortunately take even more and is quite complex. It is not just about identification of sites but there are other elements that the families need to know about the truth and there needs to be justice served.”

Besian Mustafa: Our family’s last hope lies with the Special Court (Prishtina Insight)

Twenty years after the murder of Xhemajl Mustafa, his son Besian hopes that the Kosovo Specialist Chambers can provide answers about the killing of his father and other LDK activists in the aftermath of the Kosovo war.

Although Mustafa says that his family was not contacted by the Specialist Prosecution Office, he hopes the special court can bring justice for his father. “As a family, our last hope lies in the Hague based court,” Mustafa told BIRN.

Xhemajl Mustafa was a prominent activist for the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, in the 1990s and a close ally of former president Ibrahim Rugova. On November 23, 2000, he was killed in front of his apartment in Prishtina. No suspect has ever been charged with his murder.

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