Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 264 new cases, six deaths (media)
• Hoti: Kosovo among countries that have best managed the pandemic (media)
• Zemaj: No new measures without coordination with relevant institutions (media)
• PDK’s Haxhiu accuses government of trying to present false picture of COVID-19 cases (media)
• Hoti on president’s election: January is too late (Koha)
• Tahiri: Vucic’s statements, continuation of his provocations (Telegrafi)
• Government of Kosovo adopts anti-corruption strategy (media)
• Kosovo, North Macedonia governments to hold joint meeting (Kosovapress)

Serbian Language Media:

• 33 new cases of Covid-19, two deaths registered in Serbian areas in Kosovo on Saturday (Radio KIM)
• Kosovo leaders react to Vucic’s position on recognition, Macron announces a meeting (KoSSev)
• Vulin visits the SAJ in Batajnica, the YIHR reacts, the US ambassadors call for the prosecution of all war crimes (KoSSev)
• New restrictions in place at Serbian border crossings (N1, SRNA)
• Serbian List also today didn’t take part at government’s session in Pristina (Kosovo-online)
• ”Our Church” sign in Albanian and English placed on the road leading to the church in Suvo Grlo village (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Office for KiM: We are concerned over yet another brutal attack against Serbian religious and cultural heritage (Kosovo-online)
• Selakovic: UN of special importance for the protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity (Danas)
• Milivojevic: Walker claims Thaci was innocent out of fear from his own responsibility for KLA crimes (Kosovo-online)

Opinion:

• A year that exposed the entrenched violence against women (Prishtina Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• WHO: There is no evidence that a new strain of COVID-19 is more dangerous (Tanjug, B92)
• Holiday traffic clogs Balkan borders despite virus warnings (AP)

Albanian Language Media 

COVID-19: 264 new cases, six deaths (media)

264 new cases of COVID-19 and six deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 990 samples have been tested for coronavirus.

205 persons have recovered from the virus during this period. 

Hoti: Kosovo among countries that have best managed the pandemic (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said at the government meeting today that Kosovo has been successful in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and underlined that the measures taken in November to contain the spread of the virus have given positive results.

“The number of infections has dropped. According to international assessments and the Johns Hopkins University, we are among three-four countries that have best managed the pandemic,” Hoti is quoted in Koha. “We need to continue efforts now with our fellow countrymen arriving to make sure the measures are respected,” he added. 

Zemaj: No new measures without coordination with relevant institutions (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Health Armend Zemaj said today that there would be no new anti-Covid measures introduced without full prior coordination with all relevant institutions. 

He said the only authority in Kosovo responsible for interpreting the anti-coronavirus measures is the Ministry of Health and that any other decision issued by another institution is invalid. “Now when we have the Diaspora coming and the citizens gatherings we urge all citizens to strictly adhere to measures,” Zemaj said. 

Zemaj also said that citizens coming into Kosovo from other countries but who have residence in Kosovo will not have to present Covid test results upon entry. 

PDK’s Haxhiu accuses government of trying to present false picture of COVID-19 cases (media) 

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Bekim Haxhiu has accused the Government of being behind the reduction of the number of COVID-19 tests being carried out in the last month in an attempt to hide the real number of new infections in Kosovo.

In a Facebook post, Haxhiu said the Government should explain why on 12 November there were more than 2,000 tests carried out compared to yesterday’s 1,001. “While the Ministry of Health has proclaimed that seven additional RT PCR testing equipments have been secured, adding to this private labs’ tests, why do we have such a low number of testing,” he wrote. 

Haxhiu further argued that anti-coronavirus measures taken by the Government have proven ineffective in improving the situation with the pandemic. 

Hoti on president’s election: January is too late (Koha)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti spoke to reporters during a visit to Rahovec about the election of the new president of Kosovo noting that the issue should be resolved as soon as possible and that January would be too late.

“The Constitution is clear, this situation can last a maximum of six months but we will not wait for that long, I believe even January is too late to reach an agreement,” he said.

Commenting on the initiative of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to call a roundtable of political representatives in an effort to find a solution to the matter, Hoti said the actual invitations for such an event have not been printed out but they urged the parties to find a solution.

Hoti further noted that the dialogue with Serbia as a process is to be concluded in a matter of months and if no mutual recognition is achieved at the end of it, Kosovo will continue its journey as an independent country.

Tahiri: Vucic’s statements, continuation of his provocations (Telegrafi)

Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Tahiri commented on President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic’s statement against recognition of Kosovo’s independence saying it is a continuation of provocations against Kosovo. 

“Anyone that thinks he would say he would recognise Kosovo I think has a dose of political naivety. We do not deal with him, we deal with Kosovo’s political and state position. We have our principles that guide us in the dialogue with Serbia, we have our strategic goals for joining the EU and NATO and maintaining good relations with both the EU and NATO,” Tahiri said. 

He noted that Vucic’s remarks convey two messages: “First is that it sends a message to the international community that Vucic is not serious in the dialogue and his instrument is to look like a moderate politician that wants peace and agreement with Kosovo.” Second, added Tahiri, the statement is also dedicated for internal consumption in Serbia implying that Vucic has authority over everything there. 

Government of Kosovo adopts anti-corruption strategy (media)

The Government of Kosovo has adopted a strategy against corruption for the next two-year period.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri, who presented the strategy, said the actions set out in the document mainly relate to the political sector and aim to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms, increase transparency in the public administration and in the financing of political parties. “The strategy also elaborates in great deal about the integrity of officials working for the state administration,” he added.

Kosovo, North Macedonia governments to hold joint meeting (Kosovapress)

The governments of Kosovo and North Macedonia are expected to hold a joint meeting on 25 January of 2021, Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Albulena Balaj-Halimi announced at today’s meeting of the government.

Balaj-Halimi briefed the cabinet about preparations underway and specified that Skopje will host the meeting.

The Government of Kosovo adopted today the initiative for signing an international agreement with North Macedonia for operationalisation of joint border crossings at Hani i Elezit-Bllace and Glloboqice-Jazhince points. 

Serbian Language Media

33 new cases of Covid-19, two deaths registered in Serbian areas in Kosovo on Saturday (Radio KIM)

33 new cases of Covid-19 infection and two deaths were registered in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, Crisis Committee announced on Saturday, Radio KIM reports.

At the same time, 152 persons have completed a two-week isolation period.

Out of 122 tested samples, 33 were positive on Covid-19. The new cases were registered as follows: ten in Zvecan, six in Mitrovica North, five in Gnjilane, four in Zubin Potok, two in Leposavic, two in Gracanica, two in Kamenica and two in Strpce.

Deceased persons were from Mitrovica North and Zvecan.

At the moment there are 1.003 active cases of Covid-19 infection in the Serb-populated areas.

A total of 74 persons died due to Covid-19 in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Kosovo leaders react to Vucic’s position on recognition, Macron announces a meeting (KoSSev)

French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel intend to organize a meeting between Belgrade and Pristina in order to help ”create a constructive atmosphere for negotiations”.

This was announced to President Aleksandar Vucic by Macron in this morning’s telephone conversation, it was announced from the presidency.

Presidents Vucic and Macron, among other things, discussed the continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and agreed that the negotiations are necessary.

It was the initiative of Merkel and Macron that announced the renewal of the dialogue this summer. It came after 18 months of stagnation due to taxes on the import of goods from Serbia imposed by the Kosovo government.

Currently, although the dialogue is taking place at the level of expert groups, despite the announcements of regular meetings at a high political level, only two such meetings have been organized so far.

The last meeting between Vucic and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdulah Hoti, scheduled for September 28th, was canceled a few days prior to the meeting due to the appearance of the Covid-19 infection in Lajcak’s team.

On the eve of that meeting, the official announcements that the Association of Serb Municipalities, the main issue of interest to the Serbian side, would be discussed, were changed, and it was emphasized that the ASM will not be discussed at that meeting because, as Lajcak said, ”one side is not ready”.

A message from Macron is coming a day after the Serbian president stated that he will not recognize Kosovo by the end of his term in 2022 which caused reactions among Kosovo officials.

First to react was Kosovo Minister of Foreign Affairs Meliza Haradinaj Stublla who saw the statement either as proof that Serbia will be withdrawing from the negotiations or that the EU facilitator does not expect recognition of Kosovo by Serbia.

Following this reaction, Kosovo’s Chief negotiator, PM Avdulah Hoti said that the renewed dialogue was established on ”clear principles” – a final agreement on the normalization of relations and mutual recognition.

”If there is no mutual recognition, then there will be no agreement,” Hoti’s response stated.

See at: https://bit.ly/3mHaQJr

Vulin visits the SAJ in Batajnica, the YIHR reacts, the US ambassadors call for the prosecution of all war crimes (KoSSev)

The Serbian Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SAJ) commemorated the anniversary of its establishment today. The Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs, Aleksandar Vulin boasted that this unit ”left a mark in time and the continuous struggle of the Serb people for freedom and the right to make our own decisions ”. ”Parts of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, as well as the SAJ, whose Day of the Unit you attended today, participated in the state operation of covering up the bodies of war crimes victims in Kosovo (1999-2001) at the SAJ Training Center in Batajnica,”  the Youth Initiative for Human Rights from Belgrade wrote in an open letter to the Serbian Minister of Interior.

”The Serb people are writing their history through a constant struggle for freedom. Through endless, countless wars and battles, the Serb people fought for their right, through all hope, to make their own decisions,” Vulin said today at the celebration of the SAJ anniversary.

According to the Serbian Minister of Interior, Aleksandar Vucic is a contemporary who guaranteed this right. Vulin also noted that the Serb people were usually threatened by someone bigger, more numerous, wealthier and more powerful than them.

”In this generation, the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic fought for the right to make our own decisions, and we will certainly not give that right to anyone,” Vulin emphasized.

While pointing out that the deployment of the SAJ is not “undertaken lightly” and that the orders given to this unit are never accidental or given for no reason, Vulin stressed that this unit, while executing its tasks, ”never turns back, withdraws, surrenders, or fails”.

The Special Anti-Terrorist Unit paid special tribute to its fallen comrades-in-arms – 16 of whom lost their lives in the line of duty.

YIHR: Minister, after the discovery of the mass grave, arrests should follow, not recognitions

”During the celebration of the Unit, you paid tribute to 16 members of the SAJ who died while protecting the citizens of Serbia. However, you are also obliged to pay tribute to the 744 civilians whose bodies were concealed at the shooting range of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior for two years, ” the Youth Initiative for Human Rights from Belgrade wrote in a statement.

The YIHR recalled that 744 sets of remains of Albanian civilians from Kosovo were found at the SAJ training ground in Batajnica in 2000.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3nPBFMU

New restrictions in place at Serbian border crossings (N1, SRNA)

Serbian and foreign nationals have to produce a negative PCR test or agree to self-isolate if they want to cross the border into Serbia as of Monday.

Under the new measures introduced to help combat the coronavirus pandemic, Serbian nationals can enter the country without the negative PCR test but have to self-isolate for 10 days. That self-isolation can be cut short if they test negative in the meantime. 

The new measures took effect at midnight on Monday following days of long queues of vehicles and buses waiting to enter Serbia before they took effect. Some 90,000 people entered Serbia through the Batrovci crossing from Croatia passing through seven gates for cars and one for buses. The situation was similar on the border with Hungary where some 50,000 people entered Serbia through the Horgos crossing point, N1 reports.

See at: https://bit.ly/37zTM42

Serbian List also today didn’t take part at government’s session in Pristina (Kosovo-online)

A session of the Kosovo Government took place in Pristina today, without participation of the Serbian List, Kosovo-online portal reports.

The portal added, citing reports of Pristina-based media, that Serbian List requests its demands to be met.

Serbian List announced earlier it will not take part at the work of the assembly, since coalition agreement is not respected. 

”Our Church” sign in Albanian and English placed on the road leading to the church in Suvo Grlo village (Kosovo Online, Radio Mitrovica sever)

Portal Kosovo Online reported that a sign ”Our Church”, written in Albanian and English, was placed on the road leading to the sacral remains of the church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God in Suvo Grlo. 

According to a resident of this village, the sign was placed two days ago, reported the portal. 

”The village has been covered by fog for a week now, so none of us locals were there, but two days ago we noticed that on the road leading to the walls of a church, someone put up a sign that reads “Our Church” in Albanian and English, ” Tomasevic told portal Kosovo Online. 

He pointed out that the church was demolished a long time ago, and despite that, the people were visiting the walls and the locals were surprised that someone appropriated the church overnight. 

”This surprised us, I don’t think any of the locals put up that sign. We have no problems with the Albanians who live here,” Tomasevic pointed out. According to him, about 150 Serbs live in Suvo Grlo and make up the majority in the village itself, while there were more Albanians in the surrounding villages. 

Office for KiM: We are concerned over yet another brutal attack against Serbian religious and cultural heritage (Kosovo-online)

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija with great concern informs the public that unknown perpetrators placed a sign in Albanian and English languages “Our church” nearby remains of an Orthodox Church in the village of Suvo Grlo, Kosovo-online portal reports citing the statement issued by the Office.

“Although it remains unclear by now if it were a self-initiated provocation or official campaign of Pristina we are warning, that following endangerment of Visoki Decani Monastery and an article published on the Albanian portal which says that Pec Patriarchate was an Albanian church, this is certainly about yet another brutal attack against the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija”, the statement reads.

It is about remains of a church that Serbs from Suvo Grlo village still visit for ceremonial purposes, therefore about a living place of prayer and worshiping, and that is why, they with reasons shared their concerns about this provocation with us, the Office added.

At the end, Office said it would inform representatives of the international community in Kosovo and continue to consistently struggle for the rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and right to freedom of religion.

Selakovic: UN of special importance for the protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity (Danas)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selakovic talked today with the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Serbia Françoise Jacob, reported Belgrade based daily Danas. 

The head of Serbian diplomacy pointed out that the UN Resident Coordinator was very important in uniting the activities of 19 UN agencies, residential and  non-residential, which were active in the direction of improving economic and social development.

The Minister said that Serbia considers the UN one of the most important multilateral organizations, which was of special importance for the protection of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and which represented a unique platform for considering and finding sustainable solutions in various areas.

Serbia has consistently and continuously advocated respect for the principles of international law and the legally binding resolution UNSCR 1244, which guarantees the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, the minister said, adding that UNMIK’s presence and action in Kosovo was crucial for Serbia, since the UN framework is guaranteeing the status neutrality of the international presence in the province.

The Minister emphasized that Serbia was strongly committed to its economic and social development and expressed gratitude to the UN for its assistance in advancing numerous areas, which significantly contributed to comprehensive reforms of our society, as well as readiness to actively accelerate European integration.

Selakovic said that Serbia attached great importance to the implementation of the Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Also, the Minister expressed his gratitude to the UN Team in Serbia for providing help and support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister Selakovic also expressed the expectation that the UN Secretary General would have the opportunity to visit Serbia in the coming period, stating that it would be useful for the entire region, reported the daily.

Milivojevic: Walker claims Thaci was innocent out of fear from his own responsibility for KLA crimes (Kosovo-online)

Former Serbian diplomat Zoran Milivojevic commented on the statement of a former head of the OSCE Verification Mission in Kosovo, William Walker that he saw no evidence implying that Hashim Thaci and other KLA leaders committed the war crimes, by saying that such claims are coming out a fear of bringing up his own responsibility for covering up the KLA crimes, Kosovo-online portal reports.

“The fear of Walker is obvious and somehow it should be understood, since he was a direct participant and lived afterwards in Kosovo among former KLA members whom he always supported. If someone was Thaci’s associate, for whom it could be determined he was a criminal, in that case he would share the same fate”, Milivojevic said.

Commenting on Walker’s statement that 21 year after “Serb criminals who committed the crimes in Racak and many other places in Kosovo are not being tried in The Hague today, and that former KLA leaders are now brought before the justice”, Milivojevic said that “Walker should be reminded that some of the Serbian police generals are still serving the sentences in The Hague (…) and also political actors from that time”.     

“As far as Serbia is concerned, this story is over and Serbia has nothing more to do with that. This is about KLA crimes exclusively”, Milojevic added.

He also opined if the Specialist Court determines some facts and confirms that KLA committed the crimes, then responsibility of all those who supported the KLA is opened as well.

Opinion

A year that exposed the entrenched violence against women (Prishtina Insight)

2020 saw a steep rise in domestic violence and femicide in Kosovo but temptations to blame the pandemic should be avoided. The answers lie closer to home, writes Liridona Sijarina. 

Throughout 2020, the Kosovo state has failed to protect women, maintaining its record of indifference and negligence towards gender issues. Under the neoliberal maxim of “equal treatment for all” – an oppressive notion for unprivileged groups – the state continued to protect the strong and suppress the disempowered, ultimately resulting in the killing of another seven women.

In the two months following the first confirmed coronavirus cases in Kosovo in March, there was a 30 percent increase in reported cases of domestic violence, and a number of gross violations of women’s rights. 

The circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic have often been attributed as the cause of the increased levels of domestic violence and femicide. However, from a feminist perspective this is an incorrect assumption that risks misrepresenting the systemic nature of these issues, while following this logic will only prove harmful in future attempts to address gender-based violence.

In reality, the cause of these issues lies within Kosovo’s institutions, which are led in a deeply patriarchal manner that both reproduces and incites violence against women. It is this patriarchal system that is the root cause of the violence, other factors are simply aggravating circumstances.

The state’s failure to tackle patriarchy normalises violence against women, while a weak justice system has allowed women to be subjected to violence even during the pandemic. The violence endured by women in 2020 is not a result of the world created by COVID-19, but a more visible continuation of men’s dominance over women in Kosovo, which begins within the family.

Research has already revealed both the alarming levels of violence against women in the home and that statistics only tell a small part of the story. 

Read more at: https://bit.ly/2KHpHX9

Humanitarian/Development

WHO: There is no evidence that a new strain of COVID-19 is more dangerous (Tanjug, B92)

The World Health Organization still has no evidence that the new strain of COVID-19 will lead to increased mortality.

This was stated by one of the directors of that organization, Sylvie Brian, for the French BFM television, as reported by TASS.

“Viruses are changing and what has happened now is not a surprise. In order to determine whether the mutation will have an impact on human health, we will have to do additional research in the laboratory. At this moment, we do not see a change in the mortality rate”, Brian said.

She added that research is also needed on whether the new strain will affect the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. “So far, it seems that the new type of COVID-19 will have a difficult impact on the effectiveness of vaccines. I believe that the measures taken in Great Britain will have an effect on stopping the spread of the new type of virus until mass vaccination of citizens”, Brian said.

See at: https://bit.ly/3nCywjv

Holiday traffic clogs Balkan borders despite virus warnings (AP)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Balkan citizens leaving Western Europe to go home for the holidays created huge traffic jams at border crossings Saturday despite coronavirus restrictions that seek to discourage travel over Christmas and New Year’s.

Huge lines of cars formed on the borders between Slovenia and Croatia as well as Hungary and Serbia as thousands of people waited for hours Saturday and earlier on Friday to cross.

Many people from countries like Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Bosnia work and live in Western Europe. They traditionally travel home by car for holidays, both in the winter and in the summer.

See more at: https://bit.ly/38ll2SZ