• Abdixhiku on LDK assembly: Now it’s time for the membership to speak (Koha)
• Election rout spurs calls for ‘radical’ reform of Kosovo opposition (BIRN)
• Kosovo launches first-ever Women Security Network, signs memorandums (Kosovapress)
• Vengu: No need to ask for permission from anyone about defense agreements (EO)
• Peci condemns burning of bulldozer in Mitrovica: No peace with crime (media)
• Vucic: Two US demands; one is about energy, other is more political (Kosovo Online)
• Particle pollution in the Balkans is highest in Europe, research finds (The Guardian)

Abdixhiku on LDK assembly: Now it’s time for the membership to speak (Koha)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku said today that when the party’s assembly meets this Saturday, the membership will speak. He said that the LDK has always made decisions in the Assembly, through its people, openly, with a debate, without fear and with a majority. “This is how we will act again, on Saturday. We will meet to discuss and decide on all our matters, with free will and free vote, as suits a democratic party that respects its membership and no other interest. This is our principle and modus operandi. The LDK knows no other way,” he said in a Facebook post.

Several news websites note that Abdixhiku has asked for a vote of confidence from the party’s council, after the LDK’s poor results in the last parliamentary elections, and meanwhile senior party member, Avdullah Hoti, has announced his candidacy for party leader.

Arben Gashi, another senior member of the LDK, was asked by Indeksonline today to comment on Hoti’s candidacy. “Every candidacy is welcome. The first point of the agenda [on Saturday] is the vote of confidence or the resignation of the current leader, and then we will move on to other issues,” Gashi said. Asked if he would support Abdixhiku’s resignation, he said: “We will discuss it, but I will support his resignation. I am in favor of a change in the Democratic League of Kosovo”.

Election rout spurs calls for ‘radical’ reform of Kosovo opposition (BIRN)

People and policies need to change in Kosovo’s major opposition parties if they are to challenge the dominance of Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje, experts say.

At midday on January 13, ranking members of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, the country’s oldest political party, passed one by one through a scrum of television cameras and photographers.

Two weeks earlier, the LDK had limped across the finishing line of Kosovo’s December general election with just 13.2 per cent of votes cast, which translated into a meagre 15 MPs in the country’s 120-seat parliament – five less than it won in the previous, inconclusive election of February 2025.

The LDK top brass had gathered to dissect the result and the responsibility of party leader Lumir Abdixhiku amid calls for him to quit.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/K5stu

Kosovo launches first-ever Women Security Network, signs memorandums (Kosovapress)

The Jahjaga Foundation has launched today the Women Security Network, a support mechanism for existing security institutions in Kosovo. At the ceremony, a memorandum of cooperation was signed with the Kosovo Police, the Kosovo Security Force, the Kosovo Police Inspectorate and other institutions, the news website reports.

Former Kosovo President and founder of the Jahjaga Foundation, Atifete Jahjaga, said that Kosovo is the first in the world to launch such a network. “Today we are launching a mechanism that will serve not only women but also our security institutions. Women are an active part of our security institutions, and it has been proved for decades that they have an undeniable contribution in police, defense, institutional oversight and emergency management … The network has been envisaged as a support mechanism for the existing structures. It does not replace mandates or competencies but strengthens them through professional cooperation and continuous dialogue. Through the network, women will be able to share the best practices, learn from each other and build joint initiatives,” she said.

Executive Director of the Jahjaga Foundation, Egzona Bexheti said the network is a strategic point for Kosovo and that it goes even beyond the aspiration for equality. “There can be no sustainable security without a meaningful inclusion of women. The network will serve as a bridge of cooperation in an area where the professionalism and commitment of women translates into decision-making powers in the service of society as a whole,” she said.

Vengu: No need to ask for permission from anyone about defense agreements (EO)

Albania’s Minister of Defense, Pirro Vengu, said today that Albania, Kosovo and Croatia don’t have to ask for anyone’s permission to sign agreements in the area of defense. Asked to comment on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s remarks about the agreement, Vengu said: “I have surely noticed that there is a sense of panic in official statements coming from Belgrade time after time. What I can say is that this is a tripartite agreement and that it is not aimed against anyone. In fact, I was the first to say that Serbia too should join the initiative if it believes that the region, stability, and the Euro-Atlantic future of countries in the region is important. You can imagine that I never received an answer about the invitation. I can say that Croatia, Albania and Kosovo have started cooperating based on the agreement, in the military aspect, training, academic education, and also in terms of military manufacturing,” he said.

Vengu said there are two reasons why they agree with Kosovo. “We have an agreement with Kosovo for armored vehicles, and this is because of two reasons: first, we see real risks and threats in the region. Secondly, I don’t believe that Croatia, Albania and Kosovo need to ask for permission with regards to this part. Third, we welcome other countries to join us. This is an open partnership. Many people are calling it a defense agreement. We have noticed that all three countries have similar needs in terms of capacity development,” he argued.

Peci condemns burning of bulldozer in Mitrovica: No peace with crime (media)

Mitrovica South Mayor Faton Peci condemned the burning of a bulldozer in the ownership of a company that was engaged to demolish and remove illegal buildings in Mitrovica. He said the vehicle was burned late Sunday and he condemned the “macabre and cowardly act”. “This criminal act is a direct threat against those all engaged for making Mitrovica a city where order and public quiet rules,” he said in a Facebook post. “All those that think they can scare us with such criminal acts, are wrong. Our fight against unlawfulness, criminality and irregularity will not stop”.

Vucic: Two U.S. demands; one is about energy, other is more political (Kosovo Online)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic did not specify today which are the two demands of the United States, which he mentioned in Davos, in order to start talks on a strategic partnership between the two countries, but said that one concerns energy, while the other is more political.

“It wasn't yesterday (the U.S. demands at the session of the Government of Serbia), it will be in the coming days. As soon as we get it ready, let the government know. One is certainly related to energy, the other is more political in nature,” Vucic told Blic TV when asked about the two demands.

Vucic said in Davos, noting that Serbia remains on the European path that it must accelerate, for which it has the opportunity, that it also wants to strengthen cooperation with the United States. He said he believes that Serbia will meet two formal requirements of the United States and that “we will be able to enter into strategic partnership talks”.

Particle pollution in the Balkans is highest in Europe, research finds (The Guardian)

When we think of the world’s most polluted cities, images of Delhi or Beijing come to mind, but new data has revealed acute pollution problems close to the heart of Europe.

Prof Andre Prevot, of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland, explained: “In winter, the particle pollution in the Balkans is the highest in Europe. Particle pollution levels are often higher than in Beijing and on some days they are among the highest in the world. Sulphur dioxide in winter can be over 30 times greater than what we normally see in western Europe.”

About 3,300 people are estimated to die early each year from particle pollution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is hard to understand a city’s air pollution from making measurements in one place. Instead, the team from the PSI packed state-of the-art air pollution sensors into an adapted van, with sample pipes on the roof, and drove circuits of Sarajevo during wintertime. Each circuit took about 90 minutes, with the team driving up to six circuits in a day.

Michael Bauer, of the PSI, said: “One of the hardest parts of the study was spending so much time in traffic, driving in the narrow streets up and down the hills. Some evenings were visibly smoggy in the west. There were clear odours of wood and coal smoke in the residential areas, and also wafts of grilling, especially of cevapi, in the city centre.”

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/X8LcR