Albanian Language Media:

• Kurti: Kosovo Serbs vote by mail or at the liaison office (DW Albanian, media)
• Hovenier meets Bislimi: Committed to mutual recognition through dialogue (RTK)
• British Embassy: Announcement of competition for Chief Prosecutor, surprising (RTK)
• Borrell on Serbia’s referendum: Citizens should be allowed to vote (media)
• From today, KSF can embark anywhere in the world (Klan)
• Von Cramon: Shocked that Serbia wiretapped Russian opposition (media)
• Kosovo Albanians Applying for EU Residency Reaches Over 70,000 (Exit)
• COVID-19: 427 new cases, two deaths (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Covid-19: 138 new cases registered in Serbian areas, no deaths (KoSSev)
• Borrell spoke with Vucic on referendum, says people should be able to vote (B92)
• “REC ready for referendum in KiM, waiting for response of those in charge” (KoSSev)
• Serbian List, Municipality condemn police action in Gracanica, urge international community to react (Kosovo-online)
• Kosovo special police units raided Gracanica municipal building (Radio KIM)
• Gracanica: Organized transport for celebration cancelled because of special police action (Radio KIM)
• OSCE Mission confirmed it received Belgrade’s request regarding referendum (KoSSev)
• Odalovic: Voting took place during times of Haradinaj and Thaci (Radio KIM)
• “3.000 people from Serbia filed lawsuits against NATO” (B92)
• Threatening leaflet posted at church gate in Vitomirica village (Kosovo-online)
• Oliver Ivanovic’s family says investigation into his murder obstructed (N1)  

Albanian Language Media  

Kurti: Kosovo Serbs vote by mail or at the liaison office (DW Albanian, media)

After a telephone conversation that the Prime Minister of Kosovo had with the EU chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, he said that Kosovo Serbs can vote in the referendum in Serbia only by mail or through the liaison office.

There will be no opening of polling stations in Serb-majority areas in Kosovo, but Kosovo Serbs with dual citizenship can vote in the referendum in Serbia through the Serbian Post and Liaison Office in Kosovo. On Sunday, January 16, Serbia holds a referendum, in which its citizens will declare themselves on the question: “Are you in favor of confirming the act amending the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?”.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, on Wednesday evening had a telephone conversation with the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell and said that he confirmed Kosovo’s position regarding the referendum in Serbia to Mr. Borrell. “I conveyed our position: Serbs in Kosovo who have dual citizenship can vote in the referendum in Serbia by mail or at the liaison office in Pristina. A referendum in the sovereign territory of another state is not an accepted practice in any democratic country,” Albin Kurti wrote on Twitter after the telephone conversation he had with Josep Borrell.

Borrell: Exercise the right to vote

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that he also talked about the Serbian referendum with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and with the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic. According to him, citizens should be allowed to exercise their right to vote. “I spoke with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, about the referendum on the Constitution that is being held in Serbia on Sunday. The collection of votes in the past was done through the facilitation of the OSCE. Citizens should be able to exercise their right to vote,” Borrell wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Vucic: Long-term consequences

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic himself said on Wednesday that not allowing a referendum to be held in Serb-majority areas in Kosovo will have long-term consequences beyond what Albanians and the international community think. “The consequences will be far-reaching those who want to ban Serb voting in the referendum. My request to the entire international community is to inform their child that they are caress and look after it so much, that they must abide by the agreements. The consequences will be very serious if this happens, more serious than the Albanians of Quint assume,” Vucic told public media in Serbia. He called on Western diplomats to put pressure on Pristina, meanwhile, urged the OSCE to treat the Serbian referendum in the same way as the voting for the Serbian elections in Kosovo.

Why does Kosovo have a different attitude towards the referendum?

Kosovo has not banned the organization and holding of Serbian elections in Kosovo, but in the case of the referendum the situation is different, say government officials. “A distinction must be made between a referendum on an exclusively internal matter of a country and elections. In this case, Serbia is organizing a referendum on the system of state organization of Serbia, namely the justice system,” said the Kosovo government.

On Sunday, January 16, Serbia will hold a referendum in which its citizens will vote on the question “Are you in favor of confirming the act amending the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?”. The changes concern the judiciary and are part of the efforts of the Kosovo authorities have repeatedly said that Serbia should amend its constitution to remove the part that states that “Kosovo is an integral part of the territory of Serbia .”

Hovenier meets Bislimi: Committed to mutual recognition through dialogue (RTK)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeff Hovenier met with the First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi.

Hovenier said the topic of the meeting was his country’s effort for Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic path and dialogue with Serbia.

“Productive discussion with Kosovo First Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi on the United States’ commitment to Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic integration and our common desire to see Kosovo with normalized relations focused on mutual recognition through EU-facilitated dialogue,” Hovenier wrote on Twitter.

Hovenier handed over his credentials to President Osmani on January 10 this year, pledging to continue the Kosovo-US partnership.

British Embassy: Announcement of competition for Chief Prosecutor, surprising (RTK)

The Embassy of the United Kingdom has expressed surprise at the decision of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council to announce a competition for the appointment of the Chief State Prosecutor.

In a reaction of the British Embassy, ​​it is said that they had offered support for the recruitment of the Chief State Prosecutor, while waiting for a response from the KPC, they were surprised by Wednesday’s decision.

“The British Embassy has been supporting the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) for years. Finally, we have provided support for the recruitment of the position of Chief State Prosecutor. While we were waiting for a response from the KPC, yesterday’s decision to announce the position without our support was surprising,” it is said in the reaction

With this move, according to the British Embassy, ​​the KPC has lost an opportunity to demonstrate partnership and transparency.

“Despite the fact that an opportunity to prove partnership and transparency was lost, we expect the KPC to develop a good, transparent and meritorious recruitment process,” it is said in this reaction.

Borrell on Serbia’s referendum: Citizens should be allowed to vote (media)

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that votes in a referendum on Serbia’s constitution held on Sunday were collected with the facilitation of the OSCE mission.

Through Twitter, Borrell said that he talked about this with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

According to him, citizens should be allowed to exercise their right to vote.

“I spoke with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, about the referendum on the Constitution that is being organized on Sunday in Serbia. The collection of votes in the past was done through the facilitation of the OSCE. Citizens need to be able to exercise their right to vote,” Borrell wrote.

From today, KSF can embark anywhere in the world (Klan)

The border between Russia and Ukraine is full of troops. Kosovo can join these forces, as of (today) this Thursday.

In fact, from January 13, the Kosovo Security Force can land anywhere else it needs with the entry into force of the new law on sending the KSF abroad, Klan Kosova reports.

According to the document, in order to participate in international peace operations, there must be an agreement with the receiving, inviting state, or invitation from either an international organization or a member state of an international security organization. Always with a UN Security Council resolution.

It is the government that proposes each mission and the assembly that decides. The final seal, however, is given by the supreme commander, in this case the president.

All these institutions have been supporting the idea that the KSF is ready for anything.

But it is not that the KSF is still at the best level to help states at war, in terms of military capabilities.

“With combat capabilities we are still at an early stage to participate, because the combat capabilities are not yet sufficiently developed, but as far as staff officers are concerned, it has the capacity to go with any NATO country,” Kadri Kastrati, former commander of the KSF said.

According to him, the Kosovo Army can provide great assistance in other areas, such as logistics and medicine.

Whenever this happens, all the activity of Kosovo soldiers abroad is financed from the Kosovo budget. But this can also be done by the organization that invites the KSF on a mission!

The KSF has so far participated in only one peacekeeping mission, in Kuwait alongside the Iowa National Guard.

But there are many other humanitarian landings. 

Von Cramon: Shocked that Serbia wiretapped Russian opposition (media)

The rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, expressed her shock after the news that the Serbian Minister of Interior, Aleksandar Vulin, wiretapped the Russian opposition in Belgrade and delivered to the Russian intelligence service.

Von Cramon wrote that Serbia should support the fundamental rights of the people in its territory. 

“I am shocked by the news of the Russian opposition leaders being wiretapped in Belgrade and its delivering to the Russian intelligence service.

Serbia must uphold the fundamental rights and human dignity of all people on its territory,” Von Cramon wrote.

Gazeta Express reports that Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin in May this year met with Russian Secretary of National Security Nikolai Patrushev, to whom he handed over the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA) recordings of conversations that two Russians opposition leaders Andrei Pivovarov and Vladimir Kara-Murz, had at a meeting in Belgrade.

Kosovo Albanians Applying for EU Residency Reaches Over 70,000 (Exit)

In December 2021, over 56,000 Kosovo citizens applied for a visa in Germany with more than 6000 applying in Croatia and thousands in Slovenia and other European countries.

The number of those applying to leave the country appears to be on the increase. The German embassy in Prishtina said it runs a computer-generated lottery to select those who get an application deadline within the next month.

“Each month is given proportionally, so that at the end of the year, the total of at most 5500 visas is reached, in terms of those that can be issued for this category,” the embassy said.

Jeton Mehmeti, director of research at the GAP Institute said Kosovo citizens’ applications to Germany account for 30% of all Western Balkan applications.

“The five sectors with the highest risk of leaving the workforce are IT, gastronomy, engineering and healthcare,” he said. Reasons for leaving include low wages, poor living conditions and lack of opportunities. Mehmeti said if the trend continues, Kosovo will be left without skilled workers in several sectors.

Kosovo’s opposition has criticised the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti for failing to acknowledge the issue.

“Why this silence, weren’t you the government of hope? Why do so many citizens rush to leave the country?” asked Ramush Haradinaj, chairman of AAK.

Albania continues to lead the region in terms of citizens leaving. More than 1.7 million Albanians, equivalent to over half the current population, left in less than two decades.

Meanwhile, an increased number of Macedonians sought asylum in Germany in 2021. North Macedonia has not previously had an issue with asylum seekers in Europe, unlike neighbouring Albania. But the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs reported an unprecedented 4500 asylum applications, while adding the number from Kosovo actually decreased.

COVID-19: 427 new cases, two deaths (media)

427 new cases with COVID-19 and two deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. 31 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 2,811 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 138 new cases registered in Serbian areas, no deaths (KoSSev)

Out of 214 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, 138 tested positive for Covid-19, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced, KoSSev portal reports.

The new cases were registered as follows: 73 in Mitrovica North, 23 in Zvecan, 20 in Leposavic, 15 in Zubin Potok, three each in Priluzje and Strpce, and one in Gracanica.

Currently, there are 417 active cases of Covid-19 in the Serbian areas in Kosovo.

Borrell spoke with Vucic on referendum, says people should be able to vote (B92)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said yesterday that he had talked with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic regarding the referendum, B92 reports.

Borrell wrote on Twitter that he had also talked with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti about “collecting votes” in Kosovo and Metohija for the upcoming Serbian referendum on constitutional amendments. Borrell emphasized on Twitter that people should be enabled to exercise their right to vote.

“Spoke to @albinkurti & @predsednikrs yesterday regarding the collection of votes in Kosovo for Sunday’s constitutional referendum in Serbia. Collection of votes in the past has taken place through facilitation of the @OSCE. People should be able to exercise their right to vote”, Borrell wrote on Twitter. 

“REC ready for referendum in KiM, waiting for response of those in charge” (KoSSev)

President of the Serbian Republic Election Commission (REC), Vladimir Dimitrijevic told Tanjug news agency that REC was technically ready to organize voting in a referendum at 140 polling stations in Kosovo and Metohija, adding it however depends on the information relating to security conditions, KoSSev portal reports.

“That was the practice also before. We are still waiting for the notification from state bodies in charge on whether all security conditions to hold referendum have been met. We expect that upon receiving the information to undertake all necessary actions”, Dimitrijevic said responding to a question of REC members if there was a plan to enable people in Kosovo and Metohija to vote in the upcoming referendum. 

Serbian List, Municipality condemn police action in Gracanica, urge international community to react (Kosovo-online)

Serbian List condemned in the strongest terms “the brutal, ungrounded and illegal incursion of armed Albanian police officers to Gracanica municipality in central Kosovo and Metohija, thus harshly jeopardizing the peace in these areas”, Kosovo-online portal reported.

“This ungrounded incursion, without any court warrant, represents a classical act of demonstrating force in a Serbian municipality, aiming at intimidating Serbian people. The Serbian List urges representatives of the international community to strongly condemn institutional violence carried out against the Serbian people, as such behaviour can’t be interpreted otherwise, while silence of the international representatives at this moment is impermissible”, Serbian List said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Gracanica municipal leadership, headed by mayor Ljiljana Subaric in the strongest terms also condemned “the brutal attack of the ROSU special police unit in Gracanica municipal building under the full combat equipment, armed with long barrels and wearing balaclavas”, the portal said.

“It is impermissible and utterly undemocratic, that without elaboration and official court warrant members of the special police storm the municipal building, demonstrating brutally force against security worker who suffered serious psychological trauma and is being treated in a Clinical Center, which has been registered in the medical documentation”, Gracanica municipality said in a statement.

It also said that municipal staff and an entire population in the territory of Gracanica are very disturbed over the news “of the latest terror of Kosovo special police members”, in particular when Serbian people are preparing to mark not only Serbian Orthodox New Year but also major religious holiday.

The municipality urged all relevant international institutions and embassies to condemn the latest attack against democracy, as well as KFOR to increase its presence on the ground in order to protect the population from new possible police provocations. Gracanica municipality also said it received no information from the central level regarding the reasons for such police action, adding they will insist on receiving this information.  

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic commenting on the action yesterday told RTS that 20 members of the Kosovo special police raided the municipal building in Gracanica. As Vucic said they expected to find some meeting there, but were in fact “chasing a bull that was supposed to be roasted tomorrow on the occasion of the Serbian New Year”.

“They have not arrested the bull and their action failed. I am telling them to respect what has been signed. This only tells when someone is losing political strength it is ready for such acts as well. It is much more dangerous that they prepare for the referendum and not allow Serbs to vote. This will cause far-fetching consequences. My message is to respect the Brussels agreement, message to the intentional community is that they should inform their child to respect the agreements”, Vucic said. 

Kosovo special police units raided Gracanica municipal building (Radio KIM)

Number of armed members of the Kosovo special police unit raided the Gracanica municipal building yesterday around 7 p.m. to check if Orthodox New Year is being celebrated there, Radio KIM reports.

Special police with several vehicles came to the municipal building and then armed with long barrels raided it.

Previously local media announced the celebration of Orthodox New Year with music and a roasted bull in the center of Gracanica this evening, for which local authorities obtained official permission from responsible institutions in Pristina. Organizers also announced that the celebration will be carried out respecting epidemiological measures, and that inspections will carry out checks on the ground.

A municipal official told RTS special police members became suspicious over lights being turned on in many offices in the municipality. According to him preparations, ahead of the announced celebration that was supposed to take place this afternoon, were underway there at that moment.  

Gracanica: Organized transport for celebration cancelled because of special police action (Radio KIM)

Gracanica municipality called upon people to respect all epidemiological measures during the marking of Orthodox New Year as per Julian Calendar today, in order not to give room to “ill-intended individuals, institutions and security services to cause new unrests and pressure on people”, Radio KIM reports.

In relation to this, organized transport for New Year’s Eve in Gracanica has been cancelled.

“Because of the newly created situation and last night’s brutal action of the Kosovo police special units in the municipal building, and in order to prevent possible unwanted reactions, Gracanica Municipality informs the public that organized transport for tonight’s ceremony has been cancelled”, the statement reads.

Residents self-initiatively may come as of 4 p.m. to the center of Gracanica and be served with boiled wine, brandy and roasted bull meat that is being prepared for this occasion.

“Gracanica Municipality, as it was the case so far, continues to undertake all necessary measures and preparations in order that tonight’s marking of Orthodox New Year goes peacefully, in good mood and in line with applicable epidemiological measures”, the statement added. 

OSCE Mission confirmed it received Belgrade’s request regarding referendum (KoSSev)

KoSSev portal reported OSCE Mission in Kosovo confirmed to the portal that the Serbian Government sent a formal request to the OSCE to conduct a collection of ballots operation for the Serbian referendum on 16 January.

They revealed that they received this formal request on 20 December.

“The Mission informed the Kosovo Government and offered to conduct such an operation under the same conditions as was done for the Serbian parliamentary elections of June 2020. These conditions include consent from both parties”, the OSCE said in a written reply to KoSSev.

The mission, however, failed to specify whether they received a response from the Pristina government, the portal added.

“The Mission will carefully monitor the situation on the ground”, OSCE said.

So far, the campaign for the referendum has not been visible in Serbia or the Serb majority areas in Kosovo and Metohija. Although the referendum voting in Serbia proper has been scheduled for January 16, Serbs in Kosovo have no official information on whether they will be allowed to vote in this referendum.

A member of the presidency of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) Igor Mirovic, called on the citizens to vote in the referendum on Sunday, urging them to vote for the constitutional changes. Despite strong opposition from part of the public, the Serbian Parliament passed the Law on Referendum and People’s Initiative and the Law on Expropriation in November.

The main feature of the Law relates to the abolition of the election threshold for a successful referendum. No mandatory minimum of voters will be required for a referendum to be deemed valid. The law raised concerns among experts that it could result in the possible abuse of the will of the citizens. The government, however, has repeatedly denied such claims.

Odalovic: Voting took place during times of Haradinaj and Thaci (Radio KIM)

Serbian National Assembly Secretary General Veljko Odalovic said Serbia until now was able to organize “all sorts of voting” in Kosovo and Metohija, however, current Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is the first one to ban holding of upcoming referendum on Serbian Constitution amendments in the area of judiciary, Radio KIM reports.

Odalovic told RTS that “all types of elections were organized also during times of the governments of Hashim Thaci, Ramush Haradinaj and Avdullah Hoti”, adding that “perhaps Kurti may have some silent or more direct consent” not to allow it to happen now.

“Kurti tries to force Serbia to address them with a special request as if it was about diaspora, which is of course unacceptable to us. The territory is unique, it is ours, and he may like it or not”, Odalovic said.

 “3.000 people from Serbia filed lawsuits against NATO” (B92)

Two new lawsuits against NATO over depleted uranium used in Kosovo during the 1999 bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) will be filed with the Belgrade High Court next week, B92 reports.

According to lawyer Srdjan Aleksic, who is filing the lawsuits on behalf of about 3.000 people, in cooperation with the Italian lawyer, he told TV Prva that more lawsuits are being prepared against the Alliance.

According to him, “the previous lawsuit was filed in January last year and was sent to the defendant, i.e. NATO, but no answer has been received yet”.

That lawsuit contains all relevant documents, evidence, it is in English, and they have now been given a deadline to declare themselves, Aleksic added, noting that in addition to two new lawsuits, new ones are being accepted.

When asked who the plaintiff against the Alliance is, he explained that about 3.000 people have so far called, our citizens, members of the Serbian Army, reservists, civilians who were in Kosovo and Metohija during the NATO bombing.

Also, as he pointed out, the lawsuit was written in cooperation with an Italian lawyer, who participated in 250 final cases, in which the court made a decision on compensation to Italian soldiers who developed deadly diseases due to depleted uranium.

As Aleksic explained, this is a very specific tumor, and in all these cases it was proven that there were heavy metals in their blood. It is the same, he continued, with our soldiers, reservists, but also civilians who were in the bomb-throwing zones, but their cases are even more difficult.

The evidence is solid, he concluded, stating that it was on the basis of them that the Italian court passed 250 final verdicts in favor of the Italian soldiers who were in Kosovo and Metohija during the NATO bombing.

Threatening leaflet posted at church gate in Vitomirica village (Kosovo-online)

A threatening leaflet with a yellow ribbon closing the passage was placed on a gate of Serbian Orthodox Church Holy Apostle Luka in the village of Vitomirica, Pec municipality, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Radio Gorazdevac.

The case has been reported to the police. The leaflet includes inscriptions in three languages, demanding immediate end of the works; it is handwritten, with stapled official logos of Kosovo Government and USAID.

Pec police spokesperson Fadil Gashi confirmed to Radio Gorazdevac that this incident took place.

“The priest reported the incident at 13.30 and police went to the spot. Investigation is ongoing and we will inform you about new details if there are any in the coming days”, Gashi said in a written reply.

The parish house of the church was restored in 2012, and since then it was robbed and damaged several times. Last time it was pelted with stones on Christmas Eve and windows were broken.

Recently the roof construction of a temple has been renovated.

The Church of Holy Apostle Luka was built in 1912, and in 1999 it was desecrated, demolished and burned from inside.   

Oliver Ivanovic’s family says investigation into his murder obstructed (N1)

Miroslav Ivanovic, brother of the assassinated leader of Civil Initiative Freedom, Democracy, Justice,  (SDP) Oliver Ivanovic, said Thursday that the investigation was obstructed and the Belgrade government needed to engage far more to shed light on the crime that took place four years ago, N1 reports.

Ivanovic was murdered in front of his office in Mitrovica North on January 16, 2018. Belgrade and Pristina had conducted separate investigations, but none had so far resulted in any conviction.

“We recently received information which appalled me – that Oliver was killed with six shots in the back with a 5.56-millimetre weapon. What does it mean? Oliver was killed with a nine-millimeter weapon. The 5.56 caliber should say that the perpetrator used NATO ammunition“, Ivanovic told the Belgrade NIN daily in an interview.

“The information released to the public was supposed to draw attention to NATO weapons. That can only be seen as an obstruction of the investigation. Someone wants to gain time out of own special interests,“ Ivanovic said.

Lawyer Aleksandar Ivanovic, Oliver Ivanovic’s nephew, earlier said it was not known who killed Oliver, but it was known that someone powerful was covering up all the security camera footage in North Mitrovica showing the movement of people who followed and killed his uncle.