Albanian Language Media:

• President Osmani meets with the U.S. Senior Official, Derek Chollet (media)
• Rizvanolli: Electricity payment for northern municipalities cannot continue indefinitely (Klan)
• Ambassador Bajrami refutes Vucic: Relations with Libya are deepening (media)
• LDK: LVV trying to hide failures through propaganda (media)
• Citaku: Ambassador Martin Berishaj should be dismissed (media)
• Xhafer Deva’s successor files lawsuit against German ambassador Rohde (express)

Serbian Language Media:

• Jevtic asks for reinforced presence of KFOR in Strpce (Tanjug)
• Vucic says he will meet four international envoys by January 20 (media)
• Vucevic: Strong military helped resolve Kosovo crisis peacefully (BETA, N1)
• Petkovic says Kurti is one moving away from normality (Kosovo Online)
• Brnabic: No expectations from Chollet visit expect formation of Community (Tanjug)
• Brnabic says she received assurances – INTERPOL closed to Kosovo (N1, FoNet)

Albanian Language Media  

President Osmani and PM Kurti meet with the U.S. Senior Official, Derek Chollet (media)

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has started a meeting with the Senior Official of the US Department of State, Derek Chollet, who is visiting Kosovo. The meeting will be closed to the media, while no statements are expected after the meeting, the Presidency of Kosovo said.

The U.S. ambassador to Kosovo Jeff Hovenier and the United States Emissary for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, are also present at the meeting at the Presidency.

Media report that after the meeting with President Osmani, the U.S. adviser, Derek Chollet, has started the meeting with the Prime Minister Albin Kurti, however no statement for the media is expected after this meeting either.

Rizvanolli: Electricity payment for northern municipalities cannot continue indefinitely (Klan)

The Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, said in a media conference after the government meeting, that the electricity payment for the northern municipalities cannot continue indefinitely. Rizvanolli said that they are looking at a solution related to this issue.

“It cannot continue indefinitely, and we are examining all the possibilities to find solutions that will enable the electricity billing of the citizens of that part,” Rizvanolli said.

She also spoke about the allocation of financial resources for KOSTT. She said that at the end of last year they were forced to allocate 17 million euros from the budget of the government of Kosovo for the Operator of the Electricity System, Transmission and Market in Kosovo – KOSTT.

“We are talking about the period from August to November. We are talking about August and September invoices, they were scheduled to be paid. October and November have also been added, since the invoices have arrived and it was a period in which discussions were continuing between KEDS and Elektrosever” Rizvanolli said.

Ambassador Bajrami refutes Vucic: Relations with Libya are deepening (media)

The Ambassador of Kosovo to Belgium, Agron Bajrami, this Wednesday met in Brussels with the Ambassador of Libya to Belgium, Amel Jerary.

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic claimed last week that nine countries, mainly from Africa, including Libya, have already changed their position regarding Kosovo’s citizenship.

“Great discussion and understanding with the ambassador of Libya. We exchanged views on the current situations in our countries and the importance of stability and democracy for the peace and prosperity of the Western Balkans and the Maghreb. We agreed on the need to deepen Kosovo-Libya relations,” Ambassador Bajrami wrote.

LDK: LVV trying to hide failures through propaganda (media)

Spokesperson of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Sibel Halimi, said that at the time when Kosovo is going through many challenges, the government is dealing with propaganda and not with the problems it has.

“Lack of results in many areas. There has been stagnation for two years, 700 million euros less cash flow and higher inflation. The prices are high, and our proposals are not taken into account. The only increase is the import from Serbia,” she said.

She also mentioned 33 million euros in the north for electricity and about ‘the exodus of doctors.

“The other scandal related to Serbia is 600,000 euros of transfers from the ‘GEN’ of Serbia, money that is not known where they went and who they financed, this scandal involving the ambassador of the government,” she said.

According to her, there is also regression in foreign policy, and no reforms in education.  “The list of failures is long, as in the police, energy, justice, nepotism, and there are no new roads or factories, etc., there are only words and nothing else,” she said.

Citaku: Ambassador Martin Berishaj should be dismissed (media)

Vlora Citaku, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) commented on Tuesday’s video of the ruling party, Vetevendosje Movement, mentioning the political opponents.

“A party in the government would have to produce materials to reveal their sucesses, and unfortunately, if such a video were to be produced, it would take very few seconds, as many seconds as it takes to walk down the street on that few-meter-long bridge which Kurti inaugurated in Istog,” Citaku said.

Further she said that today Kosovo has no new recognitions, there is no sovereignty in the north and as she said, the list of government failures is very long.

“Unfortunately, we are dealing with a government that has totally abstained from governance and its only instrument is to hit political opponents,” Citaku said.

“We ask the law enforcement bodies to do their investigative work as well as the relevant institutions,  to immediately dismiss Mr. Berishaj, from the position of Ambassador,” Citaku said.

Xhafer Deva’s successor files a lawsuit against the German ambassador Rohde today (express)

Valdet Deva, Xhafer Deva’s successor, has said that today he will file a lawsuit against the German ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, in a Berlin court. He said that the lawsuit is for defamation of the figure of Xhafer Deva.

“Today, the lawsuit against the German Ambassador in Pristina, Jorn Rohde, is submitted for serious defamation of the figure of Xhafer Deva. The lawsuit is filed in the Court of Berlin, Germany. The ambassador has continued with false and baseless accusations against the figure of Xhafer Deva and has assumed the role of governor by telling us how to deal with our internal affairs. It is a pity that neither Ambassador Rohde, nor his colleagues in Serbia, reacted so harshly when Drazha Mihajlovic or Slobodan Milosevic are celebrated and commemorated, to whom memorials have been erected in many places in Serbia,” he wrote on Facebook.

Serbian Language Media 

Jevtic asks for reinforced presence of KFOR in Strpce (Tanjug)

Strpce mayor Dalibor Jevtic asked KFOR commander for the region West to step up KFOR presence in Strpce, Tanjug news agency reports.

“The situation is very difficult and serious. Continuation of the narrative related to the events from January 6 and intent to justify attempted murder of a boy and a young man is particularly concerning. This is what I told KFOR commander for the region West. I conveyed to him all concerns and information citizens have”, Jevtic said.

He added he asked for a reinforced presence of KFOR in Strpce.

In addition to this, Jevtic said he will request from Kosovo police that in addition to permanent checkpoints, they also increase patrols near the schools once the school year starts.  

Vucic says he will meet four international envoys by January 20 (media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Wednesday he would by January 20 receive international envoys for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, to whom he referred as “the big four”, Tanjug news agency reports.

Vucic was speaking to reporters after a visit to the construction site of a New Belgrade-Surcin bypass.

When asked to comment on a statement by Pristina’s deputy PM Besnik Bislimi, who has announced penalties for those who fail to re-register their vehicles after March 31, Vucic responded Bislimi had evidently not read agreements reached by someone else.

“Or he is announcing a new action. I do not think they have a way of doing that because otherwise they would have removed the barricades. It is a tactic where we are supposed to remain silent when someone is supposed to become a UN member”, Vucic noted, adding that Bislimi’s words were not to be taken as true.

Vucevic: Strong military helped resolve Kosovo crisis peacefully (BETA, N1)

Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said on Tuesday that the recent crisis in Kosovo was resolved peacefully because Serbia has a strong military, N1 reports.

“When you have a strong military you’re not easy prey”, he told B92 TV. The authorities in Pristina did not try to violently remove the barricades put up by Serbs in northern Kosovo because of what Vucevic said was President Aleksandar Vucic’s firm policies and the unity of the Kosovo Serbs.

“The Serbian military is positioned to send a clear message that there are red lines”, the minister said adding that this means “there won’t be any new pogrom of Serbs in Kosovo”. “Everything else can and should be done at the negotiating table without new convoys of refugees”, he added.

According to the minister, Serbia would have a better position on the Global Firepower web site if the military had received “everything that was supposed to arrive”, and if the weapons that have arrived but are not part of official statistics had been presented. He said new weapons and equipment partly produced in Serbia would be presented soon.

The BETA news agency said that Global Firepower lists Serbia in 58th place, up from 61st place a year earlier.

Petkovic says Kurti is one moving away from normality (Kosovo Online)

Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic in reaction to the statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti who said that Serbia is getting more and more abnormal, said it was Albin Kurti who is moving more away from normality by his refusal to establish Community of Serb municipalities, thus trampling over the dialogue, Kosovo Online portal reports.

“It is Kurti only becoming more and more abnormal by refusing to establish ZSO, an obligation of Pristina for 10 years already, thus trampling over dialogue and stifling normalisation of relations. It is certainly not normal the one shooting at Serbian children on Christmas Eve”, Petkovic said in a post on Twitter.

Brnabic: No expectations from Chollet visit expect formation of Community (Tanjug)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Wednesday she had neither good nor bad expectations from an upcoming visit by US State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet and only expected the US to deliver on a promise a Community of Serb Municipalities would be formed in Kosovo, Tanjug news agency reports.

“I have no expectations, good or bad. The only thing that matters and that is on the table is a US promise that the formation of a Community of Serb Municipalities would begin, and that would be good, that would be an implementation of the Brussels Agreement”, Brnabic told Pink TV.

UN resolutions apply to Cyprus, but not to Serbia

She also said double standards were at work in international relations when it comes to territorial disputes, citing the cases of Cyprus and Kosovo, which she noted were being treated differently by the German foreign ministry.

“The German foreign ministry has said a ‘two Germanies’-type solution is not an option for Cyprus, but that a solution must be sought only through the UN and respect of relevant UN resolutions. Therefore, two states are not an option for Cyprus, but when they talk about Serbia, I guess it is the only option, and respect of UN resolutions is not an option. But that is the reality, and we must work in those frameworks and protect Serbia, and President Vucic is working on that”, she added.

Brnabic noted that, besides protecting its national interests in the political sphere, Serbia must work on strengthening its economy.

“You must protect the interests of our people politically, including in terms of Kosovo and Metohija, but on the other hand, you must still build bridges with those who say that a UN resolution applies to Cyprus but must by no means be applied to Serbia”, she opined. 

Brnabic says she received assurances – INTERPOL closed to Kosovo (N1, FoNet)

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said she had a very good meeting with INTERPOL President Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi during her visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who confirmed that Kosovo membership bid to this organisation will not be on the agenda during his term of office, FoNet news agency reports.

Brnabic told Pink TV that this was of special importance for Serbia because she views INTERPOL and UNESCO as two key institutions and it is very important that they do not consider Kosovo membership applications.

I am extremely satisfied with the results of my visit to the UAE and with our cooperation with that country, Brnabic said, adding that Serbia signed with the UAE ten agreements last year.

Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi was elected INTERPOL President in November 2021 for a 4-year term.