• President Osmani decrees the Law on Wages (media) • Opposition seeks clarification about U.S. ambassador's statement (Nacionale) • Stano: Kosovo, an example of cooperation between EU and NATO (media) • Germany: Return of Serbian troops, completely unacceptable (Express) • “Every mistake can cost Kosovo; should learn from North Macedonia” (media) • Haziri: Kurti doesn’t have problems with envoys, but with the people (Reporteri) • Weber skeptical: Unlikely agreement will be reached this year (RFE) • North Kosovo: time to turn to civil society (Social Europe) • Vucic: Chollet will visit Belgrade next week (Kallxo)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 4, 2023 Albanian Language Media: • State Department: Kosovo, Serbia should create climate for reconciliation (Reporteri) • “European” plan to intensify the dialogue in January (Koha) • Deputy Defence Minister: Serbia’s request to deploy troops in Kosovo is absurd (KP) • Haxhiu: Mechanism to monitor human rights implementation by Special Court (Koha) • LDK’s Hoti: Govt to explain why now is not time for mutual recognition? (media) • Von Cramon on how non-recognising states could vote at PACE (Koha) • Hoti: We don’t accept Serbia’s added paragraphs in missing persons document (media) Serbian Language Media: • Recently detained Serbs - Pantic under house arrest, Trajkovic without therapy, and request for extending detention to Adzic (RTS) • Slovak Ministry: Any change of position to depend on Belgrade-Pristina normalisation (Tanjug) • Director of Museum of Genocide sent letters to ambassadors over plans to renovate Xhafer Deva’s house (Kosovo Online, N1) • Quartet of Western envoys to visit Serbia after Orthodox Christmas (Tanjug, Novosti) • Serbs from northern Kosovo call for protest, dissatisfied with Belgrade’s policy (Danas) Opinion: • After barricades: Instead of new Kosovo policy, old problems persevere in new year (KoSSev) International: • Soaring Air Pollution in Region Stokes Health Fears (BIRN) • The DJ and the War Crimes (Rolling Stone)

• EC: Situation in north still very fragile; talks on Association must start (media) • KFOR: We’re examining Serbia’s request to deploy troops in Kosovo (Express) • Hungary plays key role in Kosovo peacekeeping (Hungary Today) • NATO Military Chiefs of Defence Meeting - 18-19 January 2023 (nato.int) • Will Kosovo’s war ever end? (UnHerd) • The religious propaganda that threatens Kosovo (Kallxo) • The Peak of the Balkans Trail: Europe's last true wilderness (BBC)

Albanian Language Media: • German and French chief advisers expected to visit Pristina and Belgrade (Klan) • Ahmeti: Serbia has lost the battle in the Council of Europe (Kosova Press) • KFOR is removing the last vehicles left on the road in the north (media) • Trajkovic asks Vucic for explanation regarding her detention in Merdare (Sinjali) • Weber: The association was the reason the dialogue stalled (Albanian Post) • Bugajski: Association is a ticking bomb, a recipe for discord (Klan) • “EU should give up equalising blame, in cases when Serbia is more to blame” (Albanian Post) • EFJ raises alarm about attack on journalists in the north of Kosovo (RTK) Serbian Language Media: • EU: Situation in north of Kosovo still fragile, we are continuing talks with both sides (RTS, RTV, Kosovo Online) • KFOR: We are conducting an operation to remove vehicles from the road in the north of Kosovo (RTS) • Dacic: Another country will soon withdraw its recognition of Kosovo and Metohija (Tanjug, RTS, media) • Brnabic: We preserved peace in Kosovo-Metohija thanks to wise policy (Tanjug, media) • Hill: There will be more US investments in Serbia this year (media) • Chairman of the KJC: About the resignations of judges from the North in February (Radio Mitrovica sever) • Kosovo Police detained, then released a physical education teacher from Kosovska Mitrovica (media) Opinion: • Will Kosovo’s war ever end? (UnHerd)

• Kurti wants more KFOR forces in Kosovo (RTK) • Bonne, Plotner and Escobar to visit Kosovo this month (Klan) • Osmani congratulates Sweden, “cooperation to get Kosovo closer to EU” (RTK) • Balkans, a priority of Sweden's EU Council Presidency (Albanian Daily News) • Svecla for the Swiss medium: We are not afraid of Serbia (Albanian Post) • Germany welcomes removal of barricades (Anadolu Agency) • NATO's highest authority to meet this month to discuss security in Kosovo (AP) • Krasniqi doesn’t expect fast agreement; “Kurti invented deadline” (Klan) • ‘Life is Beautiful’: Visually Impaired Kosovo Writer Rejects Limits (BIRN) • French Museum Keeps Memory of Long-Ago Balkans Alive (BIRN) • Activists who attacked assembly building acquitted (Prishtina Insight) • Person of the Year for Prishtina Insight, Faruk Kukaj (Prishtina Insight)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 30, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • Barricades removed, border crossings in the north still closed (Koha) • Vela: Kosovo-Serbia relations can only be based on mutual recognition (media) • Gervalla: Serbia creates artificial conflicts; no force can blackmail us (media) • Italy welcomes the removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (Klan) • Joseph: Barricades, proof how Vucic plays the U.S. and EU (RFE/Koha) • Buhler: Serbia's threatening rhetoric is intolerable (DW, media) • PDK submits the Law on Public Officials to the Constitutional Court (Telegrafi) • Man in Leposavic reports he was attacked by two masked men (media) • Barricade in Zupc removed, regular traffic begins (media) • Vucic offers job in the ministry to young man sentenced to prison in Kosovo (Express) • COVID-19 cases increasing in Kosovo (Koha) Serbian Language Media: • Removal of barricades in northern Kosovo (RTS, Kosovo Online) • Visoki Decani Monastery on absence of international representatives in Kosovo reaction on Patriarch entry ban, impertinence of Pristina (Kosovo Online, social media) • Dacic: Germany’s position on Kosovo different to others (N1) • Opposition MP on Kosovo: Exercise badly played, we did what suits Kurti (N1) • When journalists “guard“ barricades, but guards are nowhere to be seen (KoSSev) • Lajcak: Tensions in Kosovo remain high, level of mistrust higher than ever (FoNet, N1) • Dacic receives Romania's special Western Balkans envoy (Tanjug) • Man arrested at Gazimestan to work on humanitarian issues at KiM Office (N1, KoSSev)

• Kurti: They put up barricades themselves, removing them themselves (media) • Borrell praises leaders; “diplomacy prevailed in removing barricades” (Klan) • EU wary of further Kosovo-Serbia tensions as it pushes final deal (Politico) • Osmani meets Hovenier, discuss latest developments (media) • NATO: We expect all parties to adhere to their commitments (media) • KFOR: All parties should avoid any triggering rhetoric (media) • Hill: Lucky that barricades are being removed, we want political solution (Klan) • Rama on barricades: Nothing new, in the end everyone returned home (media) • French Embassy comments on removal of barricades (Kallxo) • Haziri on removal of barricades: Decision was neither Kurti nor Vucic’s (media) • Fake News Spikes Amid High Tensions in the North (Prishtina Insight) • Kosovo: Serbs agree to dismantle barricades after talks (BBC) • Kosovo-Serbia tensions: Mood on the ground, possible scenarios (Al Jazeera) • Kosovo Reopens Main Border Crossing With Serbia (VoA) • In northern Kosovo, conflict is avoided, for now (Emerging Europe) • Hoax Bomb Threats Leave Balkan Region Frustrated, Unnerved (BIRN) • Serbia Investigates Kosovo Albanian for Alleged Arms Trafficking (BIRN)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 29, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • Kosovo Police confirms: Merdare crossing opened (media) • Two trucks set on fire at a barricade in the north of Kosovo (media) • New effort for final agreement; Scholz and Macron advisors visit Kosovo in Jan (media) • UNMIK chief welcomes measures to deescalate tensions; calls for return to dialogue (media) • German MP expects concrete actions from EU about situation in North (Albanian Post) • The removal of the barricades hasn't started yet (Paparaci) • Krasniqi: Kosovo is going through one of the most fragile moments since it was declared an independent and sovereign state (Klan) • “Those who believed they protected Serbia by setting up barricades, it is a lie directed by SL” (Telegrafi) • Tahiri: Kurti made compromises with Serbia, this time he accepted Association (Koha) • Abdixhiku meets head of OSCE in Kosovo, discuss situation in the north (Klan) • Haradinaj: Thanks to USA and EU, solution from explosive situation in north found (Koha) Serbian Language Media: • Vucic: Removal of barricades to start Thursday morning (N1, media) • Ziadeh (UNMIK) welcomed the removal of barricades and de-escalation (N1, media) • KFOR: Serbian forces don’t need permission for movements in their territory (N1) • Two trucks at barricade near Dudin Krs, Mitrovica North burned down (KoSSev) • Dacic: It depends upon Kurti only if there will be escalation of conflict (Radio KIM) • Djuric: Pristina lost “blank cheque” support for its behaviour from US and international community (RTS) • US Ambassador Hill says Kosovo crisis requires political solution (Nova.rs, N1) • Heightened combat readiness state of Serbian Army revoked (Kosovo Online) • Petkovic: Trampling US-EU guarantees will not be easy for Pristina (Tanjug, TV Pink) • Vucic to receive Nedeljkovic tomorrow (Danas) Opinion: • "Full escalation in Kosovo only postponed": What's next in 2023? (DW, Danas) International: • Serbia's Vucic Says Kosovo Roadblocks To Be Removed (RFE) • Village’s Xmas Lights Draw Thousands of Kosovars (Prishtina Insight) • In northern Kosovo, conflict is avoided, for now (emerging-europe.com)

• Joint Statement on the Escalating Tensions in the North of Kosovo (media) • Kurti calls on Serbs to apply for jobs in Kosovo public institutions (euronews.al) • Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani interview with Klan Kosova • Vucic: Removal of barricades will start on Thursday morning (RFE) • Serbs in northern Kosovo to start removing barricades from Thursday (Reuters) • KFOR reacts to tensions: Solution must come through dialogue (media) • EULEX: We have neither mandate nor capacity to remove barricades (Klan) • Prosecution: Pantic was sent to house arrest due to his health (media) • Haxhiu: Special Prosecutor, Court chose to side with criminal groups (Koha) • JCK and PCK react to Kurti about Pantic (media) • Graffiti against judge and prosecutor who freed ex-Serb police officer (media) • Krasniqi: Kurti to clarify if there was secret deal for Pantic release (media) • Haradinaj: Situation is serious, it requires coordination (media) • Petkovic: Vucic asked Serbs to withdraw from barricades (media) • Hill: Patriarch Porfirije must be allowed to visit Kosovo in future (euronews.al) • Xhacka: Serbia to stop, so-called ‘Kosovo and Metohija’ gone forever (media) • Tension soars as Kosovo shuts main border crossing with Serbia (AFP, Reuters) • Why ethnic tensions are flaring again in northern Kosovo (CNN) • Germany urges Kosovo Serb militants to remove barricades (Deutsche Welle) • Kosovo-Serbia Crisis Simmers as New Barricade Blocks Border (BIRN) • Kosovo closes border crossing as tensions with Serbia intensify (FT) • Kosovo to Host Five Persecuted Afghan Journalists (BIRN)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 28, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • Osmani: There is nothing that can defeat will of people to live freely (media) • Kurti about barricades in the north: Criminals will be arrested (Telegrafi) • Kosovo Police: Blocking in Merdare is illegal (Zeri) • Pantic’s detention replaced with house arrest measure, attorney confirms (RFE) • Kurti surprised by the decision to send Pantic to house arrest (Koha) • Von Cramon welcomes decision on Pantic, demands immediate removal of barricades (Klan) • Abazi: Pantic’s release, failure of the entire institutional chain (Telegrafi) • Bomb threat at Pristina Airport, passengers and staff evacuated (media) • AAK’s Tahiri calls on Kurti to summon meeting of party leaders (media) • LDK’s Hoti proposes four points for Kosovo to “emerge from Serbia’s trap” (media) • Gashi: Serbs citizens in north are paid €50 daily to be in barricades (Klan Kosova) • Kremlin: We are not pushing Serbia to incite tensions in Kosovo (RFE) Serbian Language Media: • Barricades entered the 19th day: Now and Merdare crossing closed (KoSSev) • Dejan Pantic under house arrest (RTS, Blic, Tanjug) • Vucevic: Serbia's position to seek a political agreement (KoSSev, RTS) • Vucic: Pristina wants to banish Serbia, Serbs from Kosovo forever (Tanjug) • A new convocation of the Zubin Potok assembly formed (RTS) • Brnabic responds to Osmani on justice and democracy (Kosovo Online, social media) • Hill: Important that the Patriarch be with the Serbs in KiM (Danas, Nova.rs) • Civil society: The Kosovo government to apologise to the patriarch; international community to speak out and condemn it (Kontakt plus radio) • Haradinaj: Kurti's statements complicate the situation; KFOR cannot be given deadlines (KoSSev) • UNS and DNKiM: Ensure unobstructed work to Svetlana Vukmirovic and other journalists (UNS, media) • Petkovic asks Rohde if he will condemn entry ban to RTS journalist (Kosovo Online, social media) • Nikola Nedeljkovic arrested on June 28 at Gazimestan released after six-months sentence (Tanjug) • Dacic: Albanian FM spurring Kurti to further provocations (Tanjug) International: • Kremlin Denies Kosovan Claims Russia Is Pushing Serbia to Stoke Tensions (Reuters)