• UK envoy to the Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach, visits Kosovo (media)
• U.S. dedicated to help Kosovo in the long-term energy plan (media)
• No quorum to vote opposition’s draft resolution against energy price increase (media)
• Who and how much will pay more for electricity? (RFE)
• Kosovo’s Kurti Gives Signs of Softening on Serb ‘Association’ (BIRN)
• Cingel: Slovakia paying the price for non-recognition of Kosovo (RFE/Koha)
• Vehicles without license plates obstructed the police near Lake Ujman (media)
• The missing persons issue remains an unhealed wound (RTK)
• Sadriu: My statement intentionally misinterpreted, I support free speech (Koha)
• The ‘Ghost Hotels’ Of A Kosovo Ski Resort (RFE)
• COVID-19: 1,140 new cases, five deaths (media)

UK envoy to the Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach, visits Kosovo (media)

The United Kingdom’s envoy to the Western Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach, will be in Kosovo today.

He is expected to meet Kosovo leaders with the meeting with President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani having been scheduled at 11.00hrs.

U.S. dedicated to help Kosovo in the long-term energy plan (media)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Jeff Hovenier met on Wednesday with the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli. They discussed about the energy situation in Kosovo.

Hovenier wrote that in the meeting with Minister Rizvanolli, he pledged to help Kosovo to ensure stability with electricity.

“With Kosovo Economy Minister Artane Rizvanolli, committed to assist Kosovo in building a sustainable economy that attracts foreign investment, retains talented youth, and ensures long-term energy security through a reliable, diversified and regional interconnected energy supply,” Hovenier wrote on Twitter.

No quorum to vote opposition’s draft resolution against energy price increase (media)

The draft resolution sponsored by opposition parties rejecting the decision of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) to increase electricity tariffs has not been adopted by the Kosovo Assembly yesterday.

After determining there was no quorum at the session, the voting has been postponed for another time.

Who and how much will pay more for electricity? (RFE)

From over 5 euros and above will be the difference of the electricity bill that will be paid by those citizens of Kosovo, who spend over 800 kilowatts of electricity per month.

The Kosovo Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) approved on February 8 the new incremental bills – only for one category of customers – which entered into force a day later.

This change came after rising world gas prices. Given the fact that Kosovo does not produce enough electricity, it was forced to import electricity at more expensive prices. As a result, the authorities also said they were forced to intervene with rising prices.

ERO’s decision to increase only affects those household customers who spend over 800 kilowatts of electricity per month; those who spend below this amount, will not notice changes in the bill.

According to ERO, consumers who spend 900 kilowatts per month, with the new tariffs will pay 57.9 euros. With the fees so far, they have paid 52.9 euros. This means that the difference in the bill will be 5.1 euros.

For customers who spend 1000 kilowatts, the difference in the bill will be 10.1 euros; for 1100 kilowatts – 15.2 euros; for 1200 kilowatts – 20.3 euros.

So, after crossing the 800 kilowatt threshold, the consumption difference will be billed at 5.9 cents per kilowatt during low tariffs and 12.5 cents per kilowatt during high tariffs.

Or, in other words, for every 100 kilowatts spent beyond the 800 kilowatt threshold, consumers will pay about 5 euros more.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3BcfyrJ

Kosovo’s Kurti Gives Signs of Softening on Serb ‘Association’ (BIRN)

Kosovo’s almost decade-long resistance to the creation of an ‘association’ of Serb municipalities might be about to end, analysts say.

It was barely four years ago that Albin Kurti was setting off tear gas in Kosovo’s parliament to obstruct the creation of an ‘association’ of Serb municipalities. Today, as prime minister, he appears ready to relent, analysts say.

Agreed in 2013 under EU-mediated dialogue between Serbia and its former southern province, the association of Serb-majority municipalities was designed to assuage some of the fears and concerns of the roughly 116,000 ethnic Serbs left in majority-Albanian Kosovo.

But for Kosovo Albanians, wary of replicating the dysfunctional division of power in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was a painful concession in an otherwise vain effort to get Serbia to recognise their independence or at least clear a path to a seat at the United Nations.

Kurti, a former political prisoner in Serbia and leader of the anti-establishment Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] movement that railed against the notion of negotiating with Serbia, shows signs of softening, perhaps from a position of strength since his party’s landslide election win a year ago. Statements from the mediators also point to a possible breakthrough.

International pressure is building, say experts, and may build further once Serbian elections are out of the way in April.

The association’s creation would remove a major sticking point in EU-led talks aimed at ‘normalising’ relations between Belgrade and Pristina, talks that have dragged on since 2011 with little real progress towards a ‘normal’ relationship.

“It is evident that international partners have increased the pressure,” said Kosovo political scientist Dritero Arifi.

“There are still question marks over whether Kurti will change his stance but I see some positive moves. He has realised it is an international obligation.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/34LHneq

Cingel: Slovakia paying the price for non-recognition of Kosovo (RFE/Koha)

Jan Cingel, executive director of the Bratislava-based Strategic Analysis think-tank, said Slovakia was paying a high diplomatic price for not recognising independence of Kosovo.

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Cingel, who is also co-author of the recent study of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and the Wilson Center, said that Slovakia is under pressure from the EU and U.S. on the issue of Kosovo. “Although it has the support of Greece, Spain and Romania, this is still a high price for Slovakia when the issue of Kosovo is in the agenda of international forums.”

“It is true that it is getting thanks and praises from Serbia but this did not translate into deeper economic ties,” he said, adding that Hungary is among countries that has recognised Kosovo and yet has stronger relations with Serbia. “At the same time, Slovakia is harming itself when it comes to Kosovo because its position is in line with that of Russia and China.”

Vehicles without license plates obstructed the police near Lake Ujman (media)

Kosovo Police was impeded on Wednesday evening by several individuals near Lake Ujman in the northern part of Mitrovica, while trying to stop a truck suspected of smuggling goods, the Police reported.

According to the announcement, two civilian vehicles have obstructed police officers, preventing them from stopping the truck. “The two civilian vehicles, with their movements and the creation of obstacles on the road, have obstructed the police officers, by preventing them from stopping the truck which was suspected of smuggling goods.

Other relevant police units have been alerted about the case, and they assisted the border officials, for investigation and search of suspected individuals and vehicles.

“Kosovo Police continues its commitment and dedication in carrying out police duties and activities, in implementation of the law and prevention of criminal activities,” it is said in the announcement.

The missing persons issue remains an unhealed wound (RTK)

1,617 people are still missing in Kosovo. This wound remains open for many families in Kosovo, as they wait every day for the long-awaited news of their fate. Some of them are suspected to be located in five locations in Serbia, RTK writes.

The issue of missing persons continues to be one of the unhealed wounds for more than 20 years, although since the beginning of the war more than 6 thousand people have been missing. Two decades later, Kosovo is still missing 1,617 persons. The remains of some of them are suspected to be located in five locations in Serbia, but the latter continues not to indicate the possibility of mass graves, although their state archives contain accurate data.

“Determining locations in the territory of Serbia is always difficult, as long as Serbia does not make available information from the archives of the former Yugoslav army and the interior ministry and does not make it available to this process,” Kushtrim Gara from the Kosovo Government’s committee for the missing persons told RTK.

“Witnesses are dying day by day and this is a great loss for the state of Kosovo, for its institutions but the media should also engage as much as possible in this process and gather real evidence. We have a lot of evidence, but not all of it has been completed,” Ahmet Grajcevci, chairman of the Coordinating Council for the Missing, told RTK.

Sadriu: My statement intentionally misinterpreted, I support free speech (Koha)

Prindon Sadriu, Kosovo diplomat serving in North Macedonia and husband of the Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, has said his statement was misinterpreted and that respects and appreciates the work of the media.

“Just as I will always be a supporter of the protection of freedom of speech, I will also be a supporter of the promotion and protection of professional and independent journalism. I never intended or intend to undermine professional journalism, an occupation necessary for democracy, to which many dedicated journalists and media contribute. However, when the life of my family is endangered due to demonization, misinformation and propaganda by certain people, it is an equally sacred duty for all of us to protect the family, dignity and truth,” Sadriu wrote on Facebook.

In an earlier post, Sadriu reacted to media reports detailing the expenses Osmani incurred for travel while still an MP. “When representatives of joint criminal enterprises, ‘journalists’ of parapolitics, and persons involved in racketeering and abuses worth millions, preach,” he said.

This statement was condemned by the Association of Journalists of Kosovo while the European Parliament rapporteur Viola von Cramon who said that she was “closely monitoring the denigrating campaign organised against journalists in Kosovo to fully understand recent events.”

The ‘Ghost Hotels’ Of A Kosovo Ski Resort (RFE)

After the collapse of a massive investment plan, empty hotels patrolled by security guards have become symbols of uncertainty for the future of one of Kosovo’s most picturesque ski resorts.

Kosovars once had high hopes for the development of Brezovica, a settlement in the mountainous south of Kosovo blessed with sweeping slopes and puffy snow. Today, as plans for the resort remain unclear, some of Brezovica’s largest hotels are inhabited only by security guards.

In April 2015, Pristina signed a contract with a French consortium for a massive 410 million euro investment into the rundown mountain resort of Brezovica. The project apparently stalled in 2016 when the French investors failed to front up the money needed for the first phase of development.

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

COVID-19: 1,140 new cases, five deaths (media)

1,140 new cases of COVID-19 and five deaths have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24-hour period, the Ministry of Health said. 3,624 persons recovered during this time.

There are 18,506 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.