• COVID-19: 534 new cases, 15 deaths (media)
• Hoti: Measures will be reviewed at the end of the week (media)
• “COVID tests to be performed in six other centres by January” (Koha)
• LVV invites Minister Zemaj to report on oxygen shortages claims (media)
• Hoti responds to Haradinaj: I make the decisions, everyone knows this (media)
• Haradinaj: If we don’t agree on President, we go to new elections (media)
• Kurti, Lajcak talk about the dialogue and missing persons (media)
• “Attacks against the Special Court, a very big mistake” (media)
• Hoti claims EP report was built on conspiracy theories (Kosovapress/Koha)
• Tahiri: Government preparing institutional response to EP report (media)
• German ambassador: Some countries still say no to visa liberalisation (media)
• Kurti: Europe to condemn Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo (media)
• Jashari apologises to families of martyrs for Serbian official’s visit (media)
• Kosovo institutions issued permission for Petkovic’s visit (Telegrafi)

COVID-19: 534 new cases, 15 deaths (media)

534 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 928 patients have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 14,254 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo. 

Hoti: Measures will be reviewed at the end of the week (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said in an interview with T7 on Monday evening that the government will discuss and review the current measures aimed at preventing the further spread of COVID-19.

“We have determined a list of measures based on the criteria of the Kosovo National Institute for Public Health and the protocols of the World Health Organisation. The formula we have developed has helped us categorise the municipalities. Last week we had a stable number of new cases. The number of fatalities is unfortunately high, but the measures have helped stop the increase in new cases. At the end of this week we will analyse the measures and act according to the situation,” Hoti said.

“COVID tests to be performed in six other centres by January” (Koha)

Spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Faik Hoti, said they expect that tests for COVID-19 will be carried out in six other Kosovo centres during this month and January, at the latest.

Hoti said the Ministry has secured equipment for PCR tests for six municipalities but added that the staff will initially have to be trained by Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health.

He also addressed reports that COVID-19 patients are seeking alternative ways to secure oxygen after hospitals ran out of it.  “There were cases when regional hospitals did not have sufficient reserves of oxygen and quick solutions had to be made so that citizens did not suffer in any single instance,” Hoti said.

Hoti warned against oxygen purchase through unverified vendors. “There are only two companies in Kosovo licensed to import medical oxygen and we as Ministry of Health do not advise any citizen to try and get oxygen through different channels, except official ones.”

LVV invites Minister Zemaj to report on oxygen shortages claims (media)

The Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) parliamentary group has invited Health Minister Armend Zemaj to report to the Assembly on the situation with oxygen supply in Kosovo hospitals.

The move follows recent reports that hospitals across Kosovo are facing oxygen supply shortages as a result of which patients are forced to secure it through unlicensed vendors.

Hoti responds to Haradinaj: I make the decisions, everyone knows this (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Monday that he makes governance-related decisions on his own because his platform is very clear. “I got my mandate from the Assembly. I answer to the Assembly,” he said when asked to comment on remarks by AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj that he was learning about the government’s decisions through the media.

Hoti said there are no disagreements between him and Haradinaj. “I have no clashes with anyone. I act according to my platform. I make decisions on my own, everyone knows this,” he added.

Haradinaj: If we don’t agree on President, we go to new elections (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj said in a debate on Dukagjini TV on Monday that it is not true that his party is taking Kosovo to new parliamentary elections. “Whoever says that the Alliance is taking the country to new elections is lying. Vetevendosje, LDK and PDK elect the President without the Alliance. The Alliance is not taking the country to elections,” he said.

“I have taken them from the position and brought them to power. When they got to power, they tried to bring me down every day because I was adamant on the tariff. The same people created the Special Court,” Haradinaj said.

“If we don’t agree on the President, we will go to elections. We have no other position. I don’t have votes for any other candidate,” said Haradinaj, who is a candidate for the post of Kosovo President.

Kurti, Lajcak talk about the dialogue and missing persons (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader and former Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said in a Twitter post on Monday that he had a telephone conversation with European Union Special Representative for the Kosovo – Serbia Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

“Today, in a phone conversation w/@MiroslavLajcak, we discussed various topics that need to be resolved, especially the fate of all missing persons. I thanked Mr. Lajčák on the EU’s supportive role in the dialogue and we agreed that citizens should be the ultimate beneficiaries. I reiterated that the dialogue should be principled, well defined and should settle all disputable issues between Kosova and Serbia,” Kurti tweeted.

“Attacks against the Special Court, a very big mistake” (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj said on Monday that attacks against the Specialist Chambers from Kosovo are a very big mistake. “If we attack the Special Court, it will have no other partner but Serbia. This is a very wrong tactic. I don’t know if these people are doing this on purpose … We are ruining every partnership with the court,” he said.

Haradinaj said that Kosovo needs to reflect on the Specialist Chambers and that the court should not have been formed outside Kosovo. “There are no bad courts. But the political decision can be either bad or good. The people who created this court in Prishtina are well known,” he added.

Hoti claims EP report was built on conspiracy theories (Kosovapress/Koha)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti commented on the recent report commissioned by the European Parliament which suggested that spread of disinformation contributed to “to the creation of a distorted narrative that led to the fall of Kurti’s government.” Hoti said the report has been constructed on “conspiracy theories and contains no truths”. Furthermore, he said, the report does not represent the position of the European Parliament.

“I hope and I am convinced that we are in communication now with officials in the EU, the European Parliament concerning this report. This report is not the opinion of the European Parliament but of its authors and it is clear based on the analysis made to it that the date used in the conclusions are groundless and conspiracy untruths,” he said during a visit to Rahovec yesterday.

Asked about his relations with U.S. envoy Richard Grenell who is mentioned in the report as using disinformation to further his objectives, Hoti said they are in regular communication with U.S. and that the Washington agreement will be implemented.

Tahiri: Government preparing institutional response to EP report (media)

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri said on Monday evening that Kosovo is preparing an institutional response to a recent report by the European Parliament.

“I have discussed this issue with Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. I met today with Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj – Stublla and Justice Minister Selim Selimi and we are working on an institutional response. I will try to meet President Vjosa Osmani tomorrow so that we as a state can have an accurate and less emotional response to this. The state must engage in a reasonable and fact-based reaction. The current reactions of politicians are quite emotional, whereas the reactions of experts are accurate positions,” he said.

German ambassador: Some countries still say no to visa liberalisation (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said on Monday that some member states of the European Union are still saying no to visa liberalisation for Kosovo’s citizens. “We have always told the Kosovo government how important it is to meet with these countries and convince them. Kosovo must work on this. The European Union is made up of 27 member states and everyone needs to be on board for the decisions. We are working on this, but I don’t believe it will happen before Christmas,” he said.

Rohde said that Germany fully supports the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo – Serbia Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. “The situation was never tension-free, this is why dialogue is being conducted to channel the tensions and reach a solution. Germany fully supports the EU Special Representative for the Dialogue. The parties need to talk to each other again. Dialogue should continue regardless of political developments here in Kosovo,” he added.

Kurti: Europe to condemn Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo (media)

Leader of the Vetevendosje Movement Albin Kurti commemorated an event fifty years ago when the German statesman Willy Brandt knelt before the Nazi victims’ memorial in Warsaw. “He did not utter any words, for the victims did not need words, he did not utter no ‘buts’ because admission of responsibility is not done by avoiding blame,” Kurti wrote on Facebook.

In light of recent events with another mass grave site with Albanian victims was found in Serbia, Kurti said Serbia is not only admitting blame or apologising but instead keeps insisting ‘Kosovo is Serbia’. “This approach of Serbian government officials, who in recent years are increasingly rearming, means they have not renounced the old project that brought about genocide, war and these mass graves,” Kurti said.

“Europe should be adamant in requesting the conviction of politicians that participated in the Serbian government that ordered genocidal crimes while Serbia should free itself of its past, admit crimes, convict perpetrators and recognise Kosovo, if they truly want the Balkans to move towards Europe and not carry the anxiety and insecurity of the future.”

Jashari apologises to families of martyrs for Serbian official’s visit (media)

Skenderaj Mayor Bekim Jashari took to Facebook on Monday to apologise to the families of martyrs for the visit by Petar Petkovic, head of the Serbian Government’s office for Kosovo, to a village in Skenderaj municipality. Jashari said he was not informed by the Kosovo Government about Petkovic’s visit.

Jashari said the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have coordinated with him as Mayor of Skenderaj. “Such actions unfortunately give bad examples and must not be repeated. Honorable citizens, this is not the state for which our martyrs and heroes sacrificed their lives. This should not be the way we govern. I apologise to the families of martyrs, the civilian victims of the war and all citizens of the country, for this unwanted visit and for which our state did not inform me,” he wrote.

Kosovo institutions issued permission for Petkovic’s visit (Telegrafi)

Kosovo institutions are reported to have given permission for the head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, to visit Kosovo.

Kosovo Government spokesperson, Antigona Baxhaku-Idrizi, said the permit was issued in coordination between Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora. “The Government respects the agreement on free movement reached in Brussels and the visits of senior Serbian officials which clearly stipulates that any request is reviewed by competent institutions,” she said.