Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 3,917 new cases, six deaths (media)
• Kurti: Life and health of people has priority in our decisions (Telegrafi/Koha)
• Opposition MPs slam government for management of COVID-19 pandemic (Express)
• Nearly 8,000 students, teachers infected with COVID-19 (Telegrafi)
• Haradinaj opposes closing of borders and police curfew (media)
• CDHRF: Why should we pay for electricity of four northern municipalities (RTK)
• Police: 200 persons took part in protest against energy tariff increase (RTK)
• Tahiri: Vetevendosje always opposed energy projects (Telegrafi)

Serbian Language Media:

• Three deaths, 186 new cases in Serb areas (Radio Mitrovica sever)
• Stano: Alignment of Serbia with EU foreign policy on rise (Kosovo-online)
• US Ambassador Hovenier: Kosovo Serbs should be able to vote (N1, RTK2, KiM radio, KoSSev)
• Vucic with Kharchenko on regional and global affairs (Kosovo-online)
• Serbia’s Equality Commissioner: Holocaust warns of what hatred of others can do (N1, Beta)
• Brnabic: EU has never been more positive about Serbia (Tanjug)
• SOC and believers in Serbia celebrate St. Sava Day (N1)

Opinion:

• Toying with the judiciary (Kosovo 2.0)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Another Expensive Year (Kosovo 2.0)

Albanian Language Media  

COVID-19: 3,917 new cases, six deaths (media)

3,917 new cases of COVID-19 and six deaths have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said in its daily report. 617 persons recovered during this time.

There are 28,751 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Kurti: Life and health of people has priority in our decisions (Telegrafi/Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in his address in the Assembly today, said that his “top priority is to protect the health of our people with all means available to the government. The life and health of our people has priority in all our decisions”.

Kurti said that the Omicron variant is spreading easier and faster compared to other variants of the virus and that a person infected with Omicron is infecting another four people on average.

Responding to criticism from the opposition about the latest restrictive measures, Kurti said: “the anti COVID measures did not fall from the sky, but are a result of a carefully managed process … We are a government that does not take hasty decisions for the sake of political points, but rather a government that is ready to make even difficult decisions that are for the good of the people. We are aware of the impact that the restrictive measures may have on the economic, cultural and social life”.

“Despite the large number of vaccinated people, this does not offer us safety for the coming days and months. Regardless of the restrictive measures we may introduce, the exponential growth of cases at least for another period of time is going to be inevitable,” Kurti is quoted as saying in Koha.

Opposition MPs slam government for management of COVID-19 pandemic (Express)

In today’s extraordinary session of the Kosovo Assembly, opposition MPs slammed the government for failing to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and for the latest restrictive measures. The Assembly session is held at a time when the infection rate is at a record-high since the start of the pandemic. 

Armend Zemaj, MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and former Minister of Health, said: “nearly 30,000 new cases with COVID-19 only this month. This is the result of the online management of the pandemic; a result of an incapable government which introduces inadequate measures. The government is neglecting mass testing, mass vaccination and care in schools”.

Memli Krasniqi, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said the biggest concern is that the government is not worried about the grave situation with COVID-19. “This government made two basic mistakes in the management of the pandemic: it either hesitated to properly read the situation, or it has read it the wrong way. When they hesitate to read it, they hesitate to react in timely fashion, and when they fail to read the situation properly, they act without a plan but on impulse,” Krasniqi argued. He also said that it is senseless to limit the movement of people.

Shemsedin Dreshaj, MP from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said the measure limiting the movement of people does not stop the virus from spreading. “The pandemic cannot be fought by restricting the movement of people but with healthcare measures,” he said.

Nearly 8,000 students, teachers infected with COVID-19 (Telegrafi)

99 schools in Kosovo have switched to online classes after the spike in new cases with COVID-19, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education told the news website today. “The latest data we got yesterday afternoon from the municipal departments for education show that 99 schools in the Republic of Kosovo have switched to online classes,” the spokeswoman said. She also said that nearly 8,000 students and teachers have been infected with COVID-19.

Haradinaj opposes closing of borders and police curfew (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj reacted against the government’s anti COVID-19 measures again, calling them meaningless. Haradinaj took to Facebook to quote a statement by the World Health Organisation that travel bans are not the answer to the Omicron variant. “The World Health Organisation says that travel bans do not stop the spread of the virus while our government blocks Albanians from entering into Kosovo, and blocks those that are inside with police curfews! Come down to earth, Prime Minister!” Haradinaj said.

CDHRF: Why should we pay for electricity of four northern municipalities (RTK)

The Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in several reactions has opposed the increase of energy tariffs saying the people will not be able to afford the tariffs and that there is a discriminatory approach whereby the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo do not pay for electricity. 

The Council said these developments will result in social dissatisfaction and protests which will then lead to lower foreign investments due to political and economic instability. “There is a purely political war going on between the government and the opposition due to the lack of their readiness to find a solution that will be in the interest of the people. The government is supporting the Energy Regulatory Office and the demand for increased energy tariffs, whereas the opposition is slamming the government for paying the electricity bills of the four northern municipalities, although all previous governments have done the same,” the CDHRF said in a statement.

Police: 200 persons took part in protest against energy tariff increase (RTK)

Kosovo Police said in a statement today that around 200 persons took part in the protest against energy tariff increase held in downtown Prishtina on Wednesday. “A protest was held by civil society against the increase of energy tariffs. Around 200 protesters took part and they voiced their dissatisfaction with different slogans. The protest ended around 12:30 and there were no incidents,” police said in a statement.

Tahiri: Vetevendosje always opposed energy projects (Telegrafi)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group chief, Besnik Tahiri, in an interview with the news website today, criticised Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the energy crisis.

“In the last 10 months, despite clear indications from KEDS and international reports that there will be an energy crisis, the Kurti government acted only when Block B [of the power plant] was not operating and only when the energy crisis reached its peak. Meanwhile, other countries have reached agreements and contracted energy. Albania and other countries in the Western Balkans have set up special mechanisms to deal with the crisis in September. The government acted only in December, and its negligence brought us into this crisis,” he said.

Tahiri argued that the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement was always against energy projects even while it was in the opposition. He also criticised the government for lacking a vision for investment in new energy capacities.

Serbian Language Media

Three deaths, 186 new cases in Serb areas (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The Crisis Staff of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica announced today that in Serbian communities in Kosovo out of 285 tested samples, 186 are positive for coronavirus. Three people died.

Newly infected were registered in North Mitrovica (57), Zvecan (32), Leposavic (37), Zubin Potok (5), Gracanica (12), Priluzje (10), Strpce (5), Kamenica (2) and Gnjilane (26). 

There are currently 1180 active cases.

Stano: Alignment of Serbia with EU foreign policy on rise (Kosovo-online)

Alignment of Serbia with the EU foreign policy is on rise, and we expect to see further sustainable actions of Serbia in this regard, supported by concrete steps, EU Spokesperson Peter Stano said, Tanjug news agency reports.

Stano made those statements in Brussels answering the media remarks that Serbia following the Association and Stabilization meeting  “received positive assessments regarding foreign and security policy” despite as some media put it “destabilizing role in the region and high expenditures it allocates for armament”. Stano said Serbia is progressing in its alignment with the EU, that there are talks with it and other partners at different levels on the security area topics, defense and foreign policy, and that reports on general progress are published annually.

He also pointed out that following the meeting, the EU High Representative Josep Borrell sent a clear message that condemns denial of genocide, glorification of war criminals and any other dangerous rhetoric that could be heard in the region.

He also confirmed that the EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak will visit Belgrade and Pristina next week. Asked about the agenda of the visit, Stano said “it was part of everyday activities” of the Special Envoy and as such shall not be announced by Brussels but by local EU delegations. 

US Ambassador Hovenier: Kosovo Serbs should be able to vote (N1, RTK2, KiM radio, KoSSev)

The US Ambassador in Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said on Wednesday that he would work with the Kosovo government to find an acceptable way for the Kosovo Serbs to vote in the coming elections.

“The US and our partners believe that it is appropriate for citizens who have the right to vote in Serbian elections be able to exercise the right to do so,” he told Kosovo TV (RTK) commenting the fact that the authorities in Pristina did not allow the Serbs to vote at the recent referendum.

The ambassador recalled that the international community worked with the Kosovo authorities to come up with an arrangement several years ago which would allow people with the right to vote in Serbia to vote in Kosovo. The OSCE mission organized and facilitated elections by ensuring they were conducted in a way acceptable to Pristina, he added.

The US position was clear – “Kosovo has the right to determine the terms under which other countries’ elections take place in Kosovo,” the ambassador said. 

“Our hope had been that the Kosovo government would allow the same arrangement … in order to allow those people to vote,” Hovenier said.

The ambassador said that the US position for the coming elections in Serbia would be to work with the government in Kosovo to find arrangements acceptable to Pristina which would allow people to vote.

Dialogue: A lot done, more work ahead

When it comes to the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Hovenier pointed out that a lot has been done, but that work was still ahead, reported RTK2.

“You can understand my arrival here as an additional indicator of the United States’ interest in helping our partners in Kosovo and helping the Serbian authorities reach an agreement on normalization,” the US ambassador added.

He emphasized that ”Kosovo is a sovereign country, and although some dispute that, it is simply so” adding that people can quarrel as much as they want, but the reality and facts on the ground speak for themselves.

“The challenge in the dialogue is to reach the appropriate arrangements so that you can achieve this normalization, this agreement on normalization, which, as I said, should be aimed at mutual recognition from the perspective of the United States,” Hovenier said. 

There should be Association/Community of Municipalities with Serb majority

”The idea of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities first appeared in the status negotiations led by Martti Ahtisaari, but no one had in mind something that would have some additional layer of power, something with executive functions and the like,” said the American ambassador.

“I am aware of the concerns of the other Republika Srpska. Nobody is interested in that. That is not of help for Kosovo. That is not useful. But there are some benefits of coordination. And the last thing regarding this, the Government of Kosovo has committed itself to the existence of the Association of Municipalities with a Serb majority,” said Jeffrey Hovenier. 

”The position of my government is that Kosovo should respect the obligations it has undertaken, which would mean that we believe that there should be an Association of Municipalities with a Serb majority,” said Hovenier and pointed out that the US does not dictate what it (Association/Community) should do and what it should look like. 

“There are models that we actually think are feasible, and we encouraged the government to think about those models and consider the issue,” US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier said in an interview with RTK, media cited.

Vucic with Kharchenko on regional and global affairs (Kosovo-online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met today Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko and discussed topics relating to bilateral relations, as well as current regional and global affairs, Kosovo-online portal reports.

The two interlocutors expressed readiness on behalf of their countries to continue close cooperation on a series of topics, and voiced satisfaction over constant strengthening of economic cooperation. They also discussed official visits between the two countries.

They touched upon the situation in the east of Europe, and Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko informed President Vucic about the talks that the Russian Federation is having with US and NATO. On his side, Vucic pointed out the issues relating to the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, the portal said citing the statement from Vucic’s press office. 

Serbia’s Equality Commissioner: Holocaust warns of what hatred of others can do (N1, Beta)

Brankica Jankovic, Serbia’s Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, said on Thursday, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, that the Holocaust should warn every one of the catastrophic consequences of discrimination, intolerance, and hatred towards others.

In a statement, Jankovic underlined the “inadmissible phenomenon that has been becoming more frequent lately,” i.e., the inappropriate use of the term fascism.

“It is used in political confrontations and mutual disqualifications in public life; it reaches for its symbols; it is abused under the pretext of artistic expression. All this shows a basic ignorance of recent history and a lack of understanding of the essential meaning of the word, which represents the ideology of inciting racial, religious and national hatred, which led to the killing of millions of people,” Jankovic added.

She emphasized that Serbia’s people were “among one of the greatest victims in the Second World War, which is why such a relationship (with fascism) further humiliates and degrades the killed and minimizes and relativizes one of the greatest crimes of humanity”.

The Commissioner said that respect for human rights and diversity were civilizations achievements which could not be challenged, “not even under freedom of expression pretext.”

“What the public, especially young people, should be reminded of, is the culture of remembering all victims of the Holocaust and the unequivocal condemnation of all anti-Semitism and racism,” Jankovic said.

“The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau – as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”

On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides,” a US website dedicated to Holocaust says.

See at: https://bit.ly/3AA0CDw

Brnabic: EU has never been more positive about Serbia (Tanjug)

Serbian PM Ana Brnabic on Thursday said the EU had never been more positive about Serbia when it comes to reforms, and that Serbia had made its rule of law reforms a priority and achieved much in the field, Tanjug news agency reports.

In an appearance on the RTS, Brnabic said the Serbian Government had been sending monthly reports on rule of law reforms to Brussels, the EU Delegation to Serbia and all EU member states, as well as that regular meetings had been held with ambassadors of EU member states.

She noted that Serbia’s EU integration was primarily tied to rule of law reforms and to the success of the dialogue with Pristina. Brnabic said Brussels should make Pristina return to the negotiating table and get it to be ready for compromise.

She said this would not keep Serbia from moving on and opening more clusters in the EU accession talks, but noted that Pristina would be a major problem.

SOC and believers in Serbia celebrate St. Sava Day (N1)

January 27 is celebrated across Serbia as the St. Sava Day, Savindan, dedicated to the first Serbian Archbishop, educator and teacher, also honored as the school’s saint, N1 reports.

“Today we rejoice spiritually as Christians, but we also rejoice as Orthodox Serbs because today we celebrate the ancestor of our family. The one who gave birth to us in Christ; the one who gave birth to us by the Holy Spirit, the one who once and for all paved the way the Serbs go“, Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) Patriarch Porfije told the liturgy in the crowded Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade.

Savindan is also celebrated in schools throughout Serbia every January 27.

The day is also marked in Serb areas in Kosovo. On this occasion, Visoki Decani Monastery wrote on Twitter along with the photos “celebration of St. Sava of #Serbia 14/27 Jan at Dečani #Monastery, the first Archbishop (1219) of the #Serbian #Orthodox #Church, a monk at Mount Athos, the renowned Church leader, a diplomat & an enlightener of our people who is venerated throughout the Orthodox Christian world”.

Opinion

Toying with the judiciary (Kosovo 2.0)

By Dario Hajric

A REFERENDUM QUESTION WITH A HIDDEN MEANING.

Unlike elections, referendums in Serbia are not a common occurrence. The voting process conducted on January 16 of this year is only the second referendum since Serbia became a wholly independent country again in 2006.

The first referendum was inevitable because, after the dissolution of the state union with Montenegro, it made sense to adopt a new constitution. The opportunity was used to embed a preamble to the Constitution that cemented in place the legal position of Serbia towards Kosovo, stating that “the province of Kosovo and Metohija is a constituent part of Serbia,” and that “state institutions are obligated by the Constitution to represent and protect the state interests of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija.”

This time the referendum dealt with changes to the Constitution, relating specifically to the justice system.

The proclaimed goal was to harmonize Serbia’s legislation with that of the European Union and thereby lessen the impact of party politics on the judiciary, all to better facilitate Serbia’s accession into the EU.

Key changes affect how judges and prosecutors are selected. In the future, they will not be elected by Serbia’s Parliament but by the High Judicial Council (VSS) and the High Prosecutors’ Council (VST). These are bodies which, on paper, secure and guarantee the independence of the judiciary. The current members of VSS and VST will be chosen again in line with a new procedure.

Although such changes may seem positive, the response among citizens was subdued — a mere 30.1% of registered voters voted. The winning option, “for,” prevailed with 60% of the vote. Only by thinking through the question of why such a small number of people decided to vote on such an important issue — we are talking about a core aspect of the country’s judiciary — do we get a glimpse of the complexity of the problems related to the January referendum.

Unclear referendum question

The first reason for the low turnout was a lack of information. The question posed at a referendum should be clear and unambiguous, formulated in a way that the average citizen can understand and declare if they are for or against it. This time, however, the question was as follows: “Are you in favor of confirming the act on changing the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia?” In other words, it referred to a package of amendments that will change a series of judiciary-related provisions in the Constitution.

In order for anyone to take a stance on the topic, they would need to immerse themselves in 29 typed pages of legal terminology and be knowledgeable about the specialized issues that would be affected by the proposals. For instance, would it be a good or bad thing to legally prevent the same person from being elected twice for president of the Supreme Court? The vast majority of citizens have no relevant information because they are not legal experts, and public debate on the referendum was virtually nonexistent.

The second reason for the low turnout was the absence of a campaign. 

This is a result of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) which, this time around, didn’t deploy the state budget to flood billboards with calls to vote. Nor did it mobilize its “safe voters” by bribing them with newly paved roads or free groceries. The media, which favors SNS, avoided the topic. President Vučić and Prime Minister Brnabić did not bother to invite people to vote, although they declared that they support the changes. Some of the more prominent members of SNS, such as Vučić’s close associate and longtime member of parliament Vladimir Đukanović, openly opposed the changes.

As expected, the opposition didn’t support the changes, and emphasized that the referendum was announced by an illegitimate and de facto single-party Parliament, with no public debate. The only thing opposition parties didn’t agree on was whether people should vote against the referendum or whether they should boycott the referendum entirely.

But even if we leave these arguments aside, the proposed act contains a slew of issues which render its adoption meaningless.

Under EU pressure

The idea that a government which, according to reports by organizations like Freedom House is degrading the level of democracy in its own country, would consider strengthening the judiciary seems suspicious.

If we look at the proposal up close, we would see the influence of politics will remain preserved, just in a different form. For example, instead of the Parliament selecting judges, they will be selected by the VSS. The catch is that most members of the VSS, six out of 11, are selected by Parliament.

THE JUDICIARY IS ONLY PART OF A PROBLEM OF SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION IN SERBIA.

Not to mention that the judiciary is only part of a problem of systemic corruption in Serbia — the prosecution and police will remain firmly in the hands of the ruling clique. The result of this is seen in a series of serious scandals in which not a single government minister or high official of the SNS has ever been indicted for corruption. Last year’s European Commission report reiterated a number of unaddressed shortcomings in combating corruption and organized crime.

Even completely independent courts wouldn’t fully fulfill EU requirements, there are more fundamental and harmful problems remaining in the judiciary.

Bearing in mind that the opening of pre-accession chapters is necessary for accessing EU funds, it’s evident why the Serbian government was willing to organize the elections. However, the question arises of why they decided to take such a passive approach. Wouldn’t it have been more logical for them to wholeheartedly support a campaign for the adoption of the constitutional changes?

It’s possible Vučić didn’t even want the changes to be adopted and that the referendum was simply organized due to pressure from the EU.

A second more plausible theory emerges when considering the current political moment in Serbia. Just before announcing the referendum, the Parliament of Serbia adopted changes to the Law on Referendums and the Law on Expropriation, which provoked a wave of demonstrations across the country. The demonstrations were a response to the way that the Law on Expropriation opened up space for the expropriation of property to the benefit of foreign interests, such as the controversial company Rio Tinto that intended to mine lithium in Jadar, on the outskirts of the town of Loznica, with potentially devastating environmental effects.

Recent protests by environmental activists, followed by road blockades, have proved to be more challenging than previous protests. The government didn’t manage to suppress the protests even with the combined force of party thugs, police, misdemeanor reports and the unavoidable tabloid offensive. This is the first time that Vučić has had to back off. He withdrew the Law on Expropriation, though the changes to the Law on Referendums were adapted by removing some of the debatable items, such as a requirement that would have made it onerously expensive for citizens’ initiatives to file petitions with the government.

True change

Part of the changes that remained, however, are more significant than the subsequent referendum itself because they will have consequences for every subsequent referendum held in Serbia.

Namely, a provision has been repealed that requires more than half of the total number of citizens registered as voters to vote in order for a referendum to be valid. Why is this significant?

Dissatisfied with both the government and the opposition, a large part of Serbia’s voters has become utterly apathetic. When the electoral threshold still existed, most of the burden for a referendum’s success fell on those who advocated for it: opponents could simply boycott it and “bring it down” via a low turnout.

Repealing the electoral threshold means that boycotts no longer serve a purpose except to deprive the process of legitimacy. However, to adopt far-reaching changes, such as constitutional changes, it now suffices to get support from the majority of those who voted, even if it’s just a single person.

Vučić thus gives himself more power in relation to the Constitution, which is one of the rare remaining constraints on the government. For instance, a similar set of constitutional changes, packed with legal jargon and stuck among amendments worth voting for, could be used as a vessel to smuggle in changes extending presidential and prime ministerial powers.

On the other hand, if he reasons that it could help him prolong his rule, he could use such a set of changes to modify the famous preamble of the Constitution, which allegedly obliges him to never recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Will this also form part of some future gambit? It may be difficult to imagine such a thing today, but no one ever expected him to play with the judiciary either.

Humanitarian/Development

Another Expensive Year (Kosovo 2.0)

Many causes of inflation, few opportunities to intervene.

Genita Ukaj, a 26-year-old journalist, spends her monthly salary on transportation, food and rent. Two weeks out of the month her work shift ends at midnight, and she has to take a taxi to her rented apartment, where she lives with two friends. So, every month she spends around 70 to 80 euros just on taxis.

Meanwhile, to travel to her family in Peja and then back to Prishtina on weekends, she used to pay 6 euros for the bus ticket. Besides transportation costs, during the day she spends around 5 euros, without including food, which she tries to cook for herself.

Despite all the expenses, Ukaj has managed to somehow save around 40 to 50 euros from her salary every month for seven years now. But with prices increasing and services costing more, she had to give up on her savings plan.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/33Z5ead