• COVID-19: 621 new cases, 13 deaths (media)
• Hoti: Measures against COVID-19 to be evaluated on Friday (Lajmi)
• Varhelyi: EU working to ensure Western Balkans receive Covid vaccine on time (Klan)
• BIRN Kosovo exposé of hospital security issues draws criticism (Balkan Insight)
• Lajcak: We continued discussions on financial and property claims (media)
• LDK MP: Either a new President is elected, or we go to new elections (RTK)
• AKR: This government has lost credibility (Klan Kosova)
• Ymeri: Vetevendosje wins 40 seats if elections are held soon (Telegrafi)
• Court rules Diaspora vote counting violated Constitution (media)
• Limaj hails Constitutional Court decision (media)
• LVV’s Haxhiu reacts to Constitutional Court ruling (media)
• Incident in Zubin Potok, attack on a Kosovo Police vehicle (Kallxo)
• No room for Kosovo in the EU, says Austrian MP (Klan Kosova)
• Osmani slams reports she terminated contract with William Walker (media)

COVID-19: 621 new cases, 13 deaths (media)

621 new cases of COVID-19 and 13 deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 761 patients have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 13,687 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Hoti: Measures against COVID-19 to be evaluated on Friday (Lajmi)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Thursday that on Friday there will be an overall evaluation of measures against the further spread of COVID-19. “At the end of the week we will meet and make an overall estimation of measures and see if any of the measures needs to be reviewed. The citizens must be very careful during this period,” he said.

Hoti argued that measures introduced in the last couple of weeks have produced results. “We have stopped the exponential rise of new cases. The rise in new cases has stabilised and all countries are following this strategy. The pandemic will not go away until we have the vaccine,” he added.

Varhelyi: EU working to ensure Western Balkans receive Covid vaccine on time (Klan)

European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said that the EU is working to ensure that the Western Balkans are able to receive the Covid vaccine without delays.

In a Twitter post following the meeting of the Western Balkans Investment Framework steering committee meeting, Varhelyi said: “At #WBIF steering committee meeting today I also confirmed that we are working on how to make #COVID19 vaccines available to the #WesternBalkans in a timely manner, as they start to be deployed in the #EU. We stand by our partners.”

BIRN Kosovo exposé of hospital security issues draws criticism (Balkan Insight)

A BIRN TV report, highlighting the lack of controls on who can enter COVID-19 hospitals wards in Kosovo, has angered politicians and hospitals alike.

COVID-19 negative woman attending to her positive family member in the Infective Diseases Clinic in Pristina, December 8, 2020. Photo: BIRN.

BIRN Kosovo Director JetaXharra has been criticised after she and a camera crew visited the Infectious Disease Clinic on Prishtina in Tuesday, where dozens of COVID-19 patients were being treated, to see if it was possible to gain access.

On November 16, Health Minister Armend Zemaj told BIRN that there was “no chance” of anyone who had not been tested for COVID-19 entering the clinic, and that police had been deployed and were operating a zero-tolerance policy on unauthorised entry.

However, Xharra and her camera crew encountered no police and were able to enter multiple clinics treating patients with COVID-19, including the Infectious Disease Clinic, where no security guards were stationed outside.

There, BIRN discovered rooms filled with visitors, some of whom told BIRN that they had not been tested for the coronavirus. Rooms with COVID-19 patients also contained relatives asleep next to them.

The leader of the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Isa Mustafa, and the Central University Clinic of Kosovo, CUCK, reacted strongly on Wednesday, accusing BIRN Kosovo of gaining unauthorised entrance to the hospital.

Mustafa said COVID-19 patients were treated well in Pristina and regional hospitals and praise the work of healthcare staff. It was “a miracle” that despite the lack of facilities and human resources, the flow of patients was being managed, he added.

“When you speak to our doctors, they say they have had no private life for nine months. They have no time to take care of their own families. It is therefore low for someone from the media and the politics to try to undermine this titanic work,” Mustafa continued.

“They have no moral right, either, because some of them receive several times higher salaries than doctors, live freely, far from the responsibilities for the sick and their families – and dare to sow defeatism in the name of free speech.”

CUCK, in an earlier statement, accused BIRN Kosovo of entering the institution without official permission and without personal protective equipment, endangering their health of persons with whom they had contact and hindering the work of staff.

“Groundless allegations against health personnel were used during the ]BIRN TV] show, abusing the emotional state of people who lost their relatives in the fight against COVID-19,” CUCK claimed adding that “our institution was not given the opportunity to present the official version on all the issues raised, which is a principle of professional journalism”.

Answering CUCK’s statement, BIRN Kosovo requested an explanation on the disputed issues it had reported on in the Life in Kosovo show on Tuesday evening. However, no explanation had arrived by the time of publication. 

Lajcak: We continued discussions on financial and property claims (media)

Miroslav Lajcak, European Union Special Representative for the Prishtina – Belgrade Dialogue, said in a Twitter post on Thursday that discussions in Brussels with chief negotiators from Belgrade and Prishtina today focused on financial and property claims.

“Welcomed the chief negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina for the 7th round in Brussels today. We continued our discussions on financial and property claims and will resume again in 2021,” he tweeted.

LDK MP: Either a new President is elected, or we go to new elections (RTK)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Besa Gaxherri said on Thursday that political parties must hold a roundtable to try and solve the issue of Kosovo President. “Both the LDK leader and the Prime Minister have called for a roundtable for the election of the President. We have constitutional timelines and if we don’t elect the President, we must go to new elections. I find the irresponsibility of political leaders in Kosovo unacceptable. We have two options either we elect a President based on the constitutional timelines or we go to new elections,” she said. 

AKR: This government has lost credibility (Klan Kosova)

The New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) led by Behgjet Pacolli said on Thursday that the Hoti-led government has lost its credibility. Naim Murseli, an advisor to Pacolli said: “Only a unified opposition can make way for new elections in Kosovo. This government has lost its credibility and the people are anxiously waiting for a new government to take office.”

Murseli also said that “in the current circumstances a new President [of Kosovo] cannot be elected without the readiness of the opposition. The AKR will support the initiative of bringing down the government”.

Ymeri: Vetevendosje wins 40 seats if elections are held soon (Telegrafi)

Visar Ymeri, political commentator and former Kosovo MP, said in a debate on Dukagjini TV that if new parliamentary elections are held soon, the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement would certainly have 40 MPs.

Ymeri argued that the Haradinaj-led Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) has become a “kingmaker” because they knew Vetevendosje’s position against the election of a new Kosovo President now. “In this constellation, only Vetevendosje can render invalid the position of the AAK,” he said.

Ymeri also said that Vetevendosje is intentionally calling for a new President to be elected only after new parliamentary elections. “According to polls, Vetevendosje will certainly have 40 MPs. With 40 MPs after the elections, Vetevendosje locks in on the post of Prime Minister. And with that number of MPs it can also bring down the government, because the President cannot be elected without them,” he added.

Court rules Diaspora vote counting violated Constitution (media)

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo has declared admissible the appeal of the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA), New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and Justice Party (PD) coalition challenging the decision of the Supreme Court to count the votes from Diaspora which has arrived after the expiration of the legally-set deadline concerning last year’s parliamentary elections.

The Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) appeal to count the 1,806 ballot packages received by post after 5 October.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled that the Supreme Court ruling was not in accordance to the Constitution of Kosovo.

Limaj hails Constitutional Court decision (media)

Leader of the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) Fatmir Limaj hailed the decision of the Constitutional Court on the ballots received from Kosovo Diaspora during 8 October elections which arrived by post after the legal deadline saying it strengthens Kosovo’s democracy.

“NISMA only appeals when convinced there was a legal violation, therefore all our professionally prepared appeals with factual information have been declared admissible in different court levels, including today’s ruling of the Constitutional Court,” Limaj wrote on Facebook.

LVV’s Haxhiu reacts to Constitutional Court ruling (media)

Albulena Haxhiu from the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) reacted to the ruling of the Constitutional Court declaring admissible the appeal of the NISMA-AKR-PD coalition against the decision of the Supreme Court to count the 6 October election votes from Diaspora which has arrived after the expiration of the legally-set deadline. The Supreme Court had initially ruled in favour of the LVV to count the 1,806 ballot packages in question.

Haxhiu said the ruling implies that members of the Kosovo Diaspora will have to physically use their right to vote to make sure their ballots, despite being mailed on time but arriving later, are actually counted. “It is painful to see the toppling of constitutional rights by the institution that ought to defend them,” she wrote.

Incident in Zubin Potok, attack on a Kosovo Police vehicle (Kallxo)

The news website reported on Thursday evening that a Kosovo Police vehicle was hit by another car as they were chasing a truck with suspected smuggled goods in Zubin Potok, in the northern part of Kosovo. The news website learns that three border police officers had noticed the truck and started chasing it.

During the chase, another car hit the police vehicle supposedly trying to prevent it from chasing the truck. Kallxo also notes that minutes later around 20 vehicles had gathered at the site to obstruct the police officers from doing their work.

No room for Kosovo in the EU, says Austrian MP (Klan Kosova)

Harald Vilimsky, a member of the Austrian Parliament, said on Thursday that Kosovo’s membership in the European Union is out of the question as well as visa liberalisation for Kosovars. He said that a report by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee notes that Kosovo must step up efforts to fight corruption and organised crime.

“This is a polite way of saying that this country is still characterised by a mafia structure and is a stronghold for organised crime, drug and organs trafficking … Visa liberalisation would only encourage the further expansion of the businesses of criminals in the EU,” he argued.

Osmani slams reports she terminated contract with William Walker (media)

Acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani reacted to reports that the presidency terminated a contract for consultancy services with William Walker, former head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, signed by her predecessor Hashim Thaci in September of 2020 worth 35,000 euros. Osmani said the reports are inaccurate and that the the fact of the matter is that the contract is set to expire this month.

Osmani also said that the contract was not signed with William Walker but a foundation under his name that was headed by someone else and that it was confirmed in an official meeting that no proceeds are sent personally to Mr. William Walker. “In the official announcement, sent to this foundation, on December 1, the Presidency has expressed its readiness to remain in contact with Mr. Walker personally,” Osmani wrote on Facebook.

“Every friend of Kosovo will always have open doors in our institutions, therefore, we will extend our cooperation as we have done until now. Meanwhile, any way of engagement will be done only in accordance with the law.”