Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 340 new cases, ten deaths (media)
• LDK to elect a two-year mandate leader (media)
• Srpska’s game: Hodzic received thousands of votes in municipalities where no Bosniaks live (Express)
• Egyptian PLE also accuses Serbian List of stealing mandates (Koha)
• Roma Progressive Movement: Roma Civic Initiative is in fact the Serbian List (Telegrafi)
• German Ambassador: Voters have given a strong mandate for change (RTK)
• Kurti: I will create the health insurance fund (media)
• Mustafa: I would break the coalition with LVV even today (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Porfirije – a new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (B92, Tanjug)
• New Patriarch Porfirije in his first sermon: Kosovo is a covenant for us (KoSSev)
• Vucic met Patriarch Porfirije (RTS)
• Serbian List to new Patriarch: We are convinced that in this holy and responsible duty, you will be on same path as your predecessors (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• State Department congratulates election of Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch (media)
• Petkovic: Pristina has obligation to enable unobstructed work of media (Radio kontakt plus)
• Vukmirovic on ban to enter Kosovo: Pristina’s explanation ridiculous and ill-intentioned (RTS)
• Kurti: “We will analyze the ambiguities of the Washington agreement with the Biden administration” (BBC)
• EU launches project to support Western Balkans vaccination effort (N1)

International:

• Kurti’s comments spark pessimism in Belgrade over Kosovo-Serbia talks (euronews.com)
• Kosovo Warns of Census Delay, Blaming Pandemic and Elections (Balkan Insight)
• Filipovic: Improving cooperation with NATO in line with military neutrality is in Serbia’s national interest (EWB)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 340 new cases, ten deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 340 new cases of COVID-19 and ten deaths in the last 24 hours. 411 persons have recovered from the virus during this time, while the number of active cases is 6,737.

LDK to elect a two-year mandate leader (media)

The Democratic League of Kosovo through an announcement has announced that they are carrying out the preparations of the party Assembly for the election of the new president, after the announcement of the resignation of Isa Mustafa.

“The Democratic League of Kosovo, after announcing the resignation of its leader Isa Mustafa, is making preparations for the Assembly, in which it will elect its new leader. The mandate of the new chairman will last until the end of the mandate of the LDK Assembly, respectively until August 2023. Consultations in the branches, with the membership and with the structures of the LDK for the candidacies for mayor will take place until the end of this month. The proposals can be forwarded to the Secretary of the LDK, for the Candidate Commission,” reads the announcement.

LDK states that “the process of proposals, which are forwarded to the Assembly is open and without any intervention by LDK bodies.The Assembly will decide, fully respecting the provisions of the LDK Statute,” the statement said.

Srpska’s game: Hodzic received thousands of votes in municipalities where no Bosniaks live (Express)

The political entity “UH Adriana Hodzic” has broken a record in the elections of February 14, 2021, managing to ensure thousands of votes in the municipalities where there are no members of the Bosniak community, which she represents.

Hodzic, former minister in the Haradinaj government managed to gain about 6,400 votes in the February 14 elections, leaving out of the Kosovo Assembly many political entities that have consistently represented the Bosniak community in the legislature.

This has raised reasonable suspicions that the political entity represented by Hodzic was supported by the Serbian List on 14 February 2021, with the aim of having its parliamentary group have more than 10 MPs. The expectation is that the party directly controlled by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the new Kosovo legislature will have a record number of 13-14 MPs.

Based on the results of the Central Election Commission (CEC) for the February 14 elections and the 2011 census statistics of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, it was found that Adriana Hodzic received hundreds of votes in municipalities where there are no members of the Bosniak Community, or only a few.

Hundreds of Hodzic’s votes in municipalities where Bosniaks do not live.

In the Municipality of Novo Brdo “UH Adriana Hodzic” received a total of 251 votes, or 5.49% of the total votes, while according to the 2011 census in this municipality, only 5 members of the Bosniak community live.

In the municipality of Gracanica, Hodzic received 385 votes, or 5.21 percent of the total votes. In the municipality headed by the chairman of the Serbian List, based on KAS statistics, live only 15 members of the Bosniak community.

In the municipality of Ranilug, where officially no member of the Bosniak community lives, Hodzic received 244 votes, or about 10% of the total votes.

Even in the Municipality of Shterpce this political entity received 494 votes, or 7.44 percent of the total votes, while officially, there are no more than two members of the Bosniak community in this municipality.

In the municipality of Partesh, Hodzic won 183 votes, or 8.69 percent of the total votes, where there are also no members of the Bosniak community.

The same thing happened in the municipality of Kllokot, where Hodzic won 243 votes, or about 15% of the total votes, while there are no members of the Bosniak community in this municipality.

She received even better results in the northern municipalities of Kosovo, namely in Leposavic where she won 1129 votes, or over 11 percent of the total votes, and there is no member of the Bosniak community there.

Even in Zubin Potok, where there are officially no Bosniaks, Hodzic won 407 votes, or about 8% of the total votes. Hodzic won no less than 454 votes in Zvecan (8.53% of the total votes), where there are also no members of the Bosniak community.

She won the most votes in North Mitrovica, 1780 votes, or 15.7 percent of the total votes.

After the Bosniak parties, the Egyptian PLE also accuses Serbian List of stealing mandates (Koha)

The Egyptian Liberal Party (PLE) has raised concerns about what has happened to minority votes, mainly in Serb-majority municipalities, and called on diplomatic missions and local institutions to respond.

The leader of PLE, Veton Berisha, through a press release said that the reserved seat for the Egyptians, can be taken by “Romani Initiative”, which ‘is a product of the Serbian List, and controlled by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.’

‘The Egyptian Liberal Party (PLE) has been informed by the media about a new political version, which is being dictated by the ‘Serbian List’ political entity, that allegedly two political entities of non-majority communities formed are under the control of this political entity. Initially, PLE considered this information as a form of pre-election campaign, but after the election results published by the CEC in some municipalities of Kosovo, it is clear that the Political Entity ‘Romani Iniciativa’ is a product of the ‘Serbian List’, because this political entity has received a large number of votes in settlements where the Roma community does not live at all,” reads the communiqué.

Roma Progressive Movement: Roma Civic Initiative is in fact the Serbian List (Telegrafi)

Erxhan Galushi, chairman of the Progressive Movement of Roma in Kosovo said today the Roma Civic Initiative has managed to gain a significant number of votes in the early parliamentary elections of Kosovo, ‘even three times the votes of the three other Roma political entities, which allows them two seats in the Parliament of Kosovo.”

Galushi wrote in a post on the social network Facebook that during the processing of the preliminary results, it is clearly noticed that these RI votes would never have been gained without the help of the Srpska List, as the latter had announced that they would  “help” Bosniak, Roma and Gorani communities.

German Ambassador: Voters have given a strong mandate for change (RTK)

The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, congratulated Vjosa Osmani on the successful elections of February 14, while emphasizing that the voters have given a strong mandate for change.

“I congratulated Vjosa Osmani on the successful elections. Voters gave a strong mandate for change. We discussed the formation of the government, the election of the president and priorities, including the rule of law, the fight against corruption, the EU-facilitated dialogue. We both underlined the partnership between Germany and Kosovo”, writes Rohde.

Kurti: I will create the health insurance fund (media)

The leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, and the winner of the February 14 elections, Albin Kurti announced the creation of Health Insurance Funds.

“Article 51 of our Constitution guarantees health and social protection. We will start with the health information system, providing clinical guidance and licensing of professionals and move towards the creation of the Health Insurance Fund. No one should go bankrupt just because they get sick,” Kurti wrote. 

Mustafa: I would break the coalition with LVV even today (media)

Isa Mustafa, acting chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said that he did not regret breaking the coalition with the Vetvendosje Movement (LVV), while he said that Albin Kurti and Vjosa Osmani showed lack of elementary knowledge to govern.

Through a reaction on Facebook, Mustafa wrote that instead of the LVV, LDK chose the partnership with the United States of America.

“It was punished because it did not submit to leftist propaganda, violence and pressure, just as it did not submit to Serbia in the 1990s. Or, why ??? It was punished for breaking the coalition with LVV, I do not regret it, because I would break it even today,” Mustafa writes.

As he said, “between the U.S. and LVV, the LDK has chosen the partnership with the U.S.”.

“Between the confrontation with the administration of President Trump and the Vetevendosje Movement, the LDK has chosen to avoid any confrontation and aggravation of relations with the United States, but has lined up to build friendly relations,” said Mustafa.

The leader of the LDK, said that Kurti and Osmani did not give any answer during the debate where they appeared together and according to him, they showed lack of elementary knowledge to govern.

He also criticized the citizens who voted for Levizja Vetevendosje and Vjosa Osmani.

If you have carefully followed the last debate of “Mr. Prime Minister” and “Mrs. President”, it would be good to explain to you, dear citizens and honorable former voters of LDK, what were their answers for the future of Kosovo,” writes Mustafa.

“On economic development, on concluding the dialogue, on relations with the United States, I did not notice any answer but just avoiding the answers. Lack of elementary knowledge to govern,” Mustafa wrote on Facebook.

Serbian Language Media

Porfirije – a new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (B92, Tanjug)

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church has chosen a patriarch in the Memorial Church of Saint Sava in Vracar.

Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana Porfirije has been elected the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Who is the new patriarch?

His Eminence Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana Dr Porfirije (Perić) is the fourth Metropolitan of the Diocese of Zagreb and Ljubljana.

He was born on July 22, 1961, in Becej. He is the first from the three children of Radivoje and Radojka Perić, who, after the Second World War, moved to Vojvodina from the village of Osinje near Derventa in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At his baptism, he was named Prvoslav. He received his primary school education in Curug, and finished high school “Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj” in Novi Sad in 1980.

He attended the study of archeology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. He soon began studying at the Faculty of Theology of the Serbian Orthodox Church, where he graduated in 1987.

He was ordained a monk on St. Thomas Sunday, on April 11, 1986, by his spiritual father, then hieromonk Dr Irinej (Bulović), the current Bishop of Bačka. In the same year, the Bishop of Raska and Prizren, Pavle (Stojčević), the later Serbian patriarch, ordained the monk Porfirije to the rank of hierodeacon in the monastery of the Holy Trinity in Musutište on June 23, 1986.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3ucZH8p

New Patriarch Porfirije in his first sermon: Kosovo is a covenant for us (KoSSev)

The Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo will take first place in my prayers. For Serbs, Kosovo is not just a myth, but an umbilical cord that connects us with our spiritual historical cradle, with the essence of our identity. We are in Kosovo and Kosovo is within us – the new patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije said, KoSSev portal reports.

“First of all, I want our holy Serbian Orthodox Church, wherever it is located, to live with full lungs and for every Orthodox Christian to have true freedom“, the new Serbian Patriarch Porfirije said, noting, however, we live in a time when peace and unity, even in the church, have been shaken.

During his first sermon as the new Patriarch, Porfirije sent words of encouragement and support to all Serbs around the world, but Kosovo Serbs above all.

“The Orthodox Serbs in Kosovo will take the first place in my prayers, as they are an inseparable part of our people in the Republic of Serbia, but also of our faithful people who live in the Republika Srpska, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also in other countries where our people live“.

Kosovo – “our spiritual Jerusalem“ remains my biggest concern and the biggest concern of the Serbian Orthodox Church, according to Patriarch Porfirije.

“Kosovo is not just a myth for Serbs, a myth belongs to the world of imagination and we can lose and win there. Kosovo is a covenant for us, and that Kosovo covenant is tied to the New Testament, which is based on holiness. Hence, Kosovo is a myth for us, the umbilical cord that connects us with our spiritual historical cradle, with the essence of our identity. We are in Kosovo and Kosovo is within us, in our shrines, in Cyrillic and the Kosovo covenant. Kosovo is the heart of Serbia“, he emphasized.

See more at: https://bit.ly/2ZtJGNh

Vucic met Patriarch Porfirije (RTS)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, following his enthronement today, RTS reports.

“With newly elected Serbian Patriarch Mr. Porfirije, the guardian of the Serbian unity and a worthy heir of Saint Sava”, Vucic posted on Instagram, along with their photo. 

Serbian List to new Patriarch: We are convinced that in this holy and responsible duty, you will be on same path as your predecessors (Radio Mitrovica sever)

In a press statement issued Thursday, Serbian List congratulated Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana Porfirije on his election as Serbian Patriarch, Radio Mitrovica sever reports.

“Your Holiness, on behalf of the Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija, we congratulate you on your election to the position of Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade and Karlovac and Patriarch of Serbia, convinced that you will be on the path of your predecessors, who, in turbulent times and challenges, managed to save the Serbian people”, Serbian List said in a statement.

It added that “Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija are eagerly awaiting your visit to Kosovo and Metohija to encourage and comfort them with your prayers and words, so that they would survive in their own properties, no matter how difficult the challenges, which all of us are faced with in this century.” 

State Department congratulates election of Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch (media)

The US State Department congratulated the election of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije.

“The United States congratulates the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful on the election of Metropolitan Porfirije as the new Patriarch. We wish him success in his efforts to pursue unity, inter-faith dialogue, and peace for all”, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price wrote on official Twitter account. 

Petkovic: Pristina has obligation to enable unobstructed work of media (Radio kontakt plus)

Decision of Pristina institutions to ban RTS team to enter Kosovo, represents an example of arbitrariness, disrespect of the basic human rights and agreements made in Brussels, Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic said, Radio kontakt plus reports.

Petkovic also said that “media were neither obliged nor have a duty to announce their visits in Kosovo, neither to Belgrade nor in Pristina, nor were there any deadlines regulating those visits”,

Petkovic said he has informed Brussels about “recent Pristina’s act and a ban to RTS crew preparing the broadcast “Right to Tomorrow” to do reporting from Kosovo”.

Pektovic noted he expects “prompt reaction in the protection of the right of the media to free reporting and freedom of movement, which are basic civilization values and democratic postulates on which the European Union itself is based upon”. 

He stressed the media must be enabled to do their job unobstructed, without intimidation and pressures. 

Vukmirovic on ban to enter Kosovo: Pristina’s explanation ridiculous and ill-intentioned (RTS)

The crew of RTS TV broadcast ‘Right to Tomorrow’ returned to Belgrade, after it was told by Pristina, following four days of waiting, that they could not enter the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, RTS reports.

Editor of the broadcast, Svetlana Vukmirovic, pointed out that the procedure of Pristina was ill-intentioned and called on authorities to resolve the situation, so that it would not happen again in the future.

Speaking for RTS morning news edition she said Kosovo police at the Jarinje crossing, after four days of waiting, said that the border administration in Pristina does not allow the team to enter Kosovo and Metohija because, as they said, the arrival was not announced 72 hours earlier, through the liaison officer Dejan Pavicevic.

As media reported, Dejan Pavicevic earlier said journalists are not obliged to announce their arrival at the crossing points.  

Vukmirovic pointed out Pristina’s explanation was not serious and the reason was “more than ridiculous”, because “there is no rule that journalist teams must announce their arrival in such a way”.

“No one”, as she said, “has ever before asked the show’s crew, or other journalists, to announce their arrival in such a way”. She explained that since they were stopped, she decided to be persistent and wait for an explanation.

“We are a journalist team, not state representatives, our work and the concept of the broadcast have been violated in this way. I consulted with the management of our media outlet, which gave me support that I ought to stay”, Vukmirovic emphasized, stating that Pristina’s explanation was ill-intentioned.

According to her, everything was reported to Brussels, OSCE, the Serbian journalists’ associations UNS and NUNS. She added that the team of the broadcast would head to Kosovo and Metohija again, because the broadcast meant a lot to the people who were living there and who were abroad.

Kurti: “We will analyze the ambiguities of the Washington agreement with the Biden administration” (BBC)

Albin Kurti, for the second time in a year and a half, is the main actor in the political thriller of the change of government in Kosovo, writes BBC in Serbian language. 

His party, Self-Determination, won the early parliamentary elections for the second time in a row, and a convincing triumph brings Kurti the position of prime minister – for the second time.

“This time we will have a majority, there will be no four months of negotiations with a smaller partner, and we also have four months of experience in power.

“Together with President (Vjosa) Osmani, we have the support of the people, which no one had in post-war Kosovo – it is a great opportunity, but also a responsibility,” Kurti told the BBC.

Already in the election night, he emphasized that the dialogue with Serbia will not be among his first priorities, so he explains that he will work on what the citizens of Kosovo want, regardless of whether they are Albanians or Serbs.

“I will not neglect the importance of dialogue, but all research shows that the dialogue among people of Kosovo is in sixth or seventh place.”

“I will make a concession, and place it fourth place, right behind the first three key ones: employment, justice, the coronavirus pandemic – and which of these three can I replace with dialogue?” Kurti wonders.

Self-determination won more votes in the elections than the next three parties, so it seems that the deputies of minority communities will be enough for Kurti to form a government.

What is the fate of the Washington agreement?

In the months between Kurti’s two terms, Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti signed the Washington Agreement.

“I have never in my life seen an international agreement with so many elements, and such a short text.”

“We need to sit down with President Biden and his administration and check what the background to these points is because there is a lot of ambiguity,” Kurti said.

Already at the time of signing the Agreement, Kurti sharply criticized some provisions, such as the point by which Kosovo undertakes not to seek membership in international organizations in the next year.

“It is contrary to our Constitution.”

“If I try to respect that provision, the Constitutional Court will replace me – it’s just not feasible.”

For Kurti, the feasibility of infrastructure projects is also questionable, which the American envoy Grenell was especially proud of.

“First of all, I want to see a feasibility study for the Nis-Pristina highway, because we do not have the funds for such projects at the time of the pandemic.”

“People are tired of the big highways, they are actually closed flows that are destroying our villages and turning Kosovo into a transit country, instead of one that is good to live in.”

The future Kosovo PM says that he is ready to lead the Pristina side in the future dialogue, but he also warns what he considers to be the normalization of relations.

“When I say normalization of relations, I do not want it to be built on further non-normalization of both sides.”

“I want the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, but I also want the normalization of Serbia, just as I want the normalization of Kosovo.”

From the first term of the Prime Minister, he will single out an example of how, with the mediation of KFOR and the Italian embassy, the ministers of health of Kosovo and Serbia fought against the pandemic of the coronavirus.

“More dialogue and cooperation will bring us closer, especially if we are in areas where we can feel progress – the pandemic was an unprecedented event and we had a dialogue.”

“We need such a dialogue, where people are the ones who benefit, and the previous dialogues have been guided by the motive of saving the skin or saving the face of one or another politician.”

From Serbia – neither American nor German vaccines

While he is proud of the example of the dialogue of health ministers from the first mandate,  Kurti attracted attention by saying that he would not accept the donation of vaccines against coronavirus from Serbia because they are Chinese and Russian, and Kosovo is turned to the West.

BBC: What if Serbia offers you Pfizer vaccines?

Kurti: When the government is formed, we will immediately allocate our funds for vaccines and make priorities among the groups in society. We will first talk to the European Union because the EU has invested so much here, although Kosovo may not be integrated into the EU, but the EU is fully integrated in Kosovo. Our orientation is completely turned towards the West and I do not agree with the foreign policy of Serbia, which is not turned only on that side.

BBC: But this is a health issue?

Kurti: I know, but those countries don’t see it as a health issue.

BBC: So, would you refuse a few hundred vaccines that could save lives in Kosovo, if they are made by Pfizer, just because they come from Serbia?

Kurti: We’d rather buy them on another side. I don’t like things that have a background, and I don’t agree with Serbia’s foreign policy.If Serbia was turned to the EU and NATO, I would think about it.

How Self-Determination will return to the government with Serbian List

When Albin Kurti answers questions about relations with the Serb community, he insists the problems of Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo are the same.

“We will create inclusiveness with two key motives – investments that lead to employment and the fight against corruption.”

“Regardless of nationality, people don’t see a fair relationship in institutions, just as they don’t see progress.”

On the other hand, differences appear when it comes to the Serbian List, a political organization close to official Belgrade, which won all ten mandates, guaranteed to the Serbian community.

According to the Kosovo Constitution, that will bring the Serbian List one or two seats in the future government, which Kurti was loudly against when he formed the cabinet the previous time.

“They voted against my government, and they had two ministers in it with whom I cooperated well, there were no complaints about my moves and behavior, and they voted to overthrow our government.”

“One night, automatically, as if someone had pushed a button, they voted to overthrow the government.”

As a key reason for the problems in cooperation, Kurti states the lack of trust.

“It is difficult to build trust when you include someone, and then they overthrow you and join the opposition.”

“The lack of authenticity, independent thinking in the Serbian List makes me very insecure in cooperation, because predictability is necessary for cooperation – and someone else decides on behalf of the Serbian List, they are just the voting machinery in parliament.”

However, the future prime minister says that he will respect the Constitution, but he hopes that there is still a chance that at least one mandate will not go to the Serbian list in the distribution of Serbian mandates.

“It is difficult if there is an insistence that there is only one party for Serbs. It all reminds me of that infamous slogan from the 1990s – then all Serbs, wherever they were, were supposed to be in one state, and now all Kosovo Serbs should be in one party.”

Minority “electoral engineering” and Belgrade

The post-election days in Kosovo are marked by the claims of the Bosniak parties that the mandates, which were guaranteed to this community, went to the lists that won most votes in areas where Bosniaks do not live, but Serbs.

“We have to see the results, all the votes should be counted, and then the court should deal with these appeals and we should wait for that. It is very bad if someone used citizens as pawns who can be sacrificed on the chessboard, it is an attack on democracy and the parliamentary system. I could not have foreseen this and it is clear that things happened non-transparently, and someone had a plan and a strategy – I don’t think it’s the Serbian List, but Belgrade,” Kurti said.’’

How to get to jobs, justice 

Albin Kurti says he is aware that he is returning to power at a time when Kosovo’s economy is further weakened by the pandemic, the global economic crisis. He says he will find the money for reforms mostly in the system itself.

“We will reduce the costs of the administration, we will transform public investments – no more into asphalt, which was the case in Kosovo, where six times more was spent on roads than on education and five times more than on health.”

“I want the diaspora to start investing in the homeland because our working class, as well as some of our richest businessmen, as well as professors, are the best students abroad,” says Kurti.

He adds that Kosovo is also waiting for labor market reform, which should be more firmly connected to the education system, which would dramatically reduce the large number of young people who go abroad.

However, although his goals were similar a year and a half ago, his rule did not last long – he was overthrown by the then coalition partners from the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (LDK).

He now has a more stable majority, but also an idea of how to further strengthen it.

“We will respect the Constitution and the laws; we will also cooperate with the opposition because this was an earthquake and we need to see who survived it.”

“These elections were more than elections, they were a referendum, and now I would like to see the deputies more as representatives of the people who voted for them in the referendum, than as representatives of the parties.”

Kurti’s solution for the biggest threat to the permanence of his government – the election of the President of Kosovo – is hidden in that formulation.

For the successor of Hashim Thaci, at least two thirds of the 120 deputies are necessary to be present in the hall when the majority of 81 deputies is requested to vote through three rounds, and then in the last round, the vote of 61 deputies

In case of failure, new parliamentary elections are to be held.

Kurti insists that the current acting President Vjosa Osmani be elected to that position and believes that it will not cost him stability.

“Kosovo has a president and I think that Osmani should stay in the office because she is doing good things in foreign policy and the integrity of institutions, expressing the will of the people.”

“I think that there will be enough votes of MPs, and from the opposition, who will think that it is reasonable to stay in the hall and vote, even against, and at the same time they will not have an interest to opt for elections,” says Kurti.

At the same time MPs as Pacolli, who competed on the list of the convincingly defeated LDK, are announcing just such an attitude.

Because of all this, even though his first term ended after 52 days, Albin Kurti, when asked whether this government will last a full term, will clearly answer: “Yes.”

EU launches project to support Western Balkans vaccination effort (N1)

The European Commission said on Friday that a new European Union project has been launched to support vaccination efforts in the Western Balkans, reported N1. 

“The European Union in partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched a new regional project worth over Seven million Euro to support safe and effective vaccination of the populations across the Western Balkans,” a press release said. It added that the project will help prepare the region for the effective reception and administration of COVID-19 vaccines, including those received from COVAX and through the EU vaccine sharing mechanism with EU Member States. “It will also help improve the region’s resilience against health emergencies and support it in moving towards sustainable funding for universal health care,” it said.

The press release quoted Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi as saying that the project shows that the EU “continues to deliver on its commitment to support our partners in dealing with the pandemic since its start”. “The project comes on top of our €70 million package to support access to vaccines for the region and to procure the necessary equipment for the campaigns,” he said.

See at: https://bit.ly/2OVaqnN

International

Kurti’s comments spark pessimism in Belgrade over Kosovo-Serbia talks (euronews.com)

The comments of Kosovo election winner Albin Kurti to Euronews appear to have done little to improve relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

Kurti’s Vetëvendosje party won its largest share of the vote in elections at the weekend, paving the way for him to be prime minister.

“I’m ready to engage in a dialogue [with Serbia] where people will be the beneficiaries,” Kurti told Euronews on Tuesday.

“But I think it is not acceptable to anyone in Kosovo – of course, including me – to engage in a dialogue where we are supposed to compensate the state of Serbia for the loss of this state during times of Milosevic.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3s6zgPR

Kosovo Warns of Census Delay, Blaming Pandemic and Elections (Balkan Insight)

The population census due to be held by October this year faces likely postponement due to the pandemic, early legislative elections and upcoming local elections, the country’s statistics agency has said.

The census in Kosovo that was due to be held this year for the first time in ten years might have to be postponed due to the pandemic and last Sunday’s early parliamentary elections, Kosovo’s Agency for Statistics, KAS, told BIRN.

“The population in Kosovo will be registered via the ‘face-to-face’ method, and the data will be taken by members of households,” KAS told BIRN, explaining, however, that this method required certain conditions.

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

Filipovic: Improving cooperation with NATO in line with military neutrality is in Serbia’s national interest (EWB)

In September 2020, Ambassador Branimir Filipović became the new head of the Serbian Mission to NATO. EWB talked with the ambassador about the relations between Serbia and NATO, the cooperation in the coming period, the importance of KFOR mission for Serbia, the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), Serbia’s attitude towards Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership in NATO and the implication of the election of Joseph Biden as President of the United States for NATO and the Western Balkans.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3s9HPcA

Humanitarian/Development