• COVID - 19: 137 new cases, ten deaths (media) • Acting President Osmani meets four parties, meetings to continue today (media) • Constitutional Court preparing to publish decision (Koha) • Kurti: No delays in declaring new elections (media) • Sources: Enver Hoxhaj, PDK’s candidate for Prime Minister (Telegrafi) • Vetevendosje’s Konjufca doesn’t rule out coalition with PDK (media) • PDK responds to Konjufca: Too early to talk (media) • Krasniqi: PDK heads to elections to win (media) • Limaj: We don’t rule out a coalition with the PDK (RTK) • Pacolli: AKR has no red lines for other parties (Lajmi) • EU: This Assembly must approve the budget (media) • Assembly expected to be dissolved (Koha) • Orlando: Kosovo to have free and fair elections (media) • Gashi: Vetevendosje will come first in the elections, PDK second (media) • Hasani: New Assembly cannot abolish the Specialist Chambers (media) • Police arrest Serb war crimes suspect in Peja (media) • OSCE condemns assault on reporter in Prishtina (media) • Online media in Balkans ‘need regulation, not censorship’ (Balkan Insight)

COVID - 19: 137 new cases, ten deaths (media)

137 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed of 841 tests carried out in the last 24 hours, Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health said. Meanwhile, ten deaths and 382 recoveries have been reported over the same time period. There are currently 12,002 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Acting President Osmani meets four parties, meetings to continue today (media)

After the announcement of the Constitutional Court regarding its Decision No. KO 95/20 on Monday, the Acting President of Kosovo, Dr. Vjosa Osmani held meetings on Tuesday with the Vetëvendosje Movement, the Democratic League of Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

The meetings discussed the early parliamentary elections and it was said that the date of their holding could be set only after the parties receive the full Judgment of the Constitutional Court.

Today, Acting President Osmani will continue the meetings with the representatives of the other political entities.

At 11:00 the Acting President will meet the representatives of the Nisma-AKR coalition, at 12:00 of the Group 6+, while at 13:00 she will conclude the cycle of meetings with the representatives of the Serbian List.

Constitutional Court preparing to publish decision (Koha)

Officials from the Constitutional Court told Koha that preparations are underway for publication of the ruling on the validity of the vote cast by MP Etem Arifi in election of the current government.

“The decision is in the preparatory stage of publication. As soon as it is ready, the decision will be submitted to all parties involved in the case, will be published on the Court’s website and forwarded for publication in the Official Gazette,” said court’s spokesperson Veton Dula.

Kurti: No delays in declaring new elections (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader Albin Kurti took to Twitter on Tuesday to say that there should be no delays in announcing the new parliamentary elections. “The Court has spoken, and while we await the final verdict, we must not delay in declaring new elections to restore legitimacy to government. From managing the pandemic to rebuilding our economy and reforming our justice system, we have a lot of work to do, but we are ready,” Kurti tweeted.

Sources: Enver Hoxhaj, PDK’s candidate for Prime Minister (Telegrafi)

Citing sources in the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the news website reported on Tuesday evening that the party’s acting leader Enver Hoxhaj will be a candidate for Prime Minister in the upcoming early parliamentary elections.

Vetevendosje’s Konjufca doesn’t rule out coalition with PDK (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) deputy leader Glauk Konjufca said in a debate on Dukagjini TV on Tuesday that this party does not favor a coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) but that they don’t rule out this possibility.

“It would be wrong to say that the LDK is bad because it brought down a good government and that this is the reason why we are favoring the PDK for a coalition for the upcoming elections. We don’t have such positions. We hope the Vetevendosje Movement will win the elections and form a big majority in parliament,” he said.

“So far our cooperation is certain only with Vjosa Osmani. The Vetevendosje Movement does not go beyond this,” he added.

Asked directly about a possible coalition with the PDK, Konjufca said: “We don’t favor a coalition with the PDK”. And asked if this implies, they are excluding such a coalition, Konjufca said: “exclusion made sense only in 2019, now it is only about not favoring.”

PDK responds to Konjufca: Too early to talk (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) spokesperson Avni Bytyqi said on Tuesday it is too early to talk about an eventual coalition with the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement. In response to a statement by Vetevendosje deputy leader Glauk Konjufca about an eventual coalition, Bytyqi said: “Glauk just said that the Vetevendosje Movement does not rule out a coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo … It is too early to talk about this topic. But the Democratic Party of Kosovo is the constant in our country. We are going into the race [elections] without any obligations towards anyone and our argument is the opposition we have proved.”

Krasniqi: PDK heads to elections to win (media)

Memli Krasniqi represented yesterday the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in a meeting called by acting President Vjosa Osmani following the decision of the Constitutional Court declaring the government to have been elected unconstitutionally.

Krasniqi said they expect the election date to be announced in the shortest time possible and that end of January would be the optimal time.

“We wait for the Constitutional Court to publish the full verdict. It is important not to lose time. The crisis can be greater [and] there are uncertainties that can lead us to complicated constitutional situations,” he said.

Krasniqi could not say whether the party will run on its own in the upcoming elections or will be part of some pre-election coalition noting that PDK’s goal is to win. “It is important to run with a ticket better than all of other parties.”

Limaj: We don’t rule out a coalition with the PDK (RTK)

NISMA leader Fatmir Limaj said in an interview with RTK on Tuesday that coalitions with other parties will depend on their approach and if their political concepts match the positions of his political party.

“We need to unite in this way, there should be no reservations. This concerns the foundations of the state and this should come in first place, the state identity and economic development. In this respect, we are open to cooperate with all those that are interested in these issues,” he said.

Limaj said they are willing to discuss a pre-election coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). “We are willing to talk with the PDK too if we agree on the topics that interest us, why not. We don’t rule out the possibility of pre-election coalitions. We share this opinion with many of our colleagues. Our country is in a bad state; therefore we need to push forward these concepts,” he added.

Pacolli: AKR has no red lines for other parties (Lajmi)

New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) leader Behgjet Pacolli told the news website on Tuesday that he is open to cooperate with other political parties for the upcoming early parliamentary elections. “We don’t have any red lines for cooperation with other parties, if they are fair toward us and our principles,” he said.

EU: This Assembly must approve the budget (media)

All news websites reported on Tuesday that the European Union, in its first reaction after the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, called on the Assembly to adopt the budget before Kosovo goes to early parliamentary elections.

A spokesman for the EU in Brussels said the EU has taken note of the decision of the Constitutional Court and that it is waiting for the full decision to be published. “It is now up to Kosovo’s institutions to take the necessary steps in line with the decision,” the spokesperson said.

“The European Union will continue to engage with all in Kosovo to promote the European integration agenda and necessary reforms.”

“It is particularly important for the 2021 budget to be passed by the current Assembly as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.

Assembly expected to be dissolved (Koha)

The newspaper reports on its front page today that the verdict of the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the Hoti-led government will impact the work of the Assembly too. A senior unnamed official in the Assembly told the paper that the legislative will be dissolved once the ruling of the court is published in the Official Gazette. And even if the dissolution does not take place, according to the rules, the Assembly suspends its work one day before the start of the election campaign. If the 2021 budget is not passed by that time, Kosovo risks failing to execute any payment since March.

Orlando: Kosovo to have free and fair elections (media)

Italian Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicola Orlando, met yesterday Minister of Health, Armend Zemaj, and commented on Twitter about the Constitutional Court of Kosovo ruling.

“The Constitutional Court has spoken: soon there will be free, fair & credible elections in Kosovo. Meanwhile Italy will continue working closely with Government to tackle the most urgent challenges, starting with Covid,” he wrote.

Gashi: Vetevendosje will come first in the elections, PDK second (media)

Political commentator and publicist Shkelzen Gashi said in an interview with Klan Kosova on Tuesday that he is confident that the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement will come out first in the upcoming early parliamentary elections, followed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in the second place.

“I believe there is no dilemma that the Vetevendosje Movement will grow. The PDK will be the second political force, whereas the LDK will drop the most. The AAK too could have problems with crossing the threshold if they don’t join forces with NISMA,” he said.

Gashi did not rule out a coalition between the Vetevendosje Movement and the PDK. “They have said on several occasions that they don’t mind cooperating with the PDK if the two main leaders of the PDK are no longer in those positions. I don’t rule out this possibility,” he said.

Hasani: New Assembly cannot abolish the Specialist Chambers (media)

Enver Hasani, former President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, said in an interview with Klan Kosova on Tuesday that the new Assembly will not be able to abolish the Specialist Chambers. “It can address the mandate but evaluating the constitutionality of the mandate goes to the Constitutional Court in The Hague. The Constitutional Court in Kosovo does not evaluate it, because there has been a total transfer of sovereignty in the area of justice,” he said.

“The new Assembly can vote, but it cannot abolish it [the Specialist Chambers]. The court in The Hague interprets the constitutionality because the Kosovo Assembly has given it a full mandate. The court in The Hague is entitled to reach international agreements just as Kosovo reaches agreements with sovereign and independent countries. This is the mandate given to the court by the Assembly of Kosovo. There is also a decision by the Constitutional Court in The Hague which said that the mandate cannot be discussed,” Hasani added.

Police arrest Serb war crimes suspect in Peja (media)

Several news websites report that Kosovo Police arrested a Kosovo Serb suspected of having committed war crimes. A police spokesperson said that after being interviewed, the suspect was sent to a detention center in Prishtina and that the case is now being treated by the Special Prosecution of Kosovo.

OSCE condemns assault on reporter in Prishtina (media)

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo condemned the assault against Valon Syla, editor in chief of Gazeta Metro, in Prishtina on Tuesday. “The OSCE Mission condemns the attack on Valon Syla, the editor in chief of Gazeta Metro. The right to work free from the threat of violence should be guaranteed, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression should be respected by all. The Mission joins the AJK in calling upon authorities to investigate the attack on Syla and prosecute those responsible,” the OSCE said in a statement.

Online media in Balkans ‘need regulation, not censorship’ (Balkan Insight)

Online outlets in Western Balkan countries need to be better regulated to tackle hate speech and defamation, but restrictions should be crafted to avoid censorship, media and legal experts told a BIRN debate.

Experts told an online debate hosted by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network on Tuesday that the current regulation systems for online media in the Western Balkans are not good enough, but efforts to curb the publication of hate speech and defamatory comments must not tip over into censorship.

Media and legal experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia who spoke at the debate entitled ‘Case Law and Online Media Regulation in the Balkans’ also said that the application of existing legislation is inadequate.

Authorities often rely on legislation that was developed for traditional media which has not been adapted accordingly, or on self-regulation which is not mandatory.

Lazar Sandev, an attorney at law from North Macedonia argued that “those who create public opinion regarding matters of public interest do not uphold any standards, they do not have any legal knowledge”.

Jelena Kleut, associate professor at the University of Novi Sad’s Faculty of Philosophy, said that in Serbia there is lack of willingness to apply standards in online media, and noted a difference between rich and poor media outlets as well as responsible and not responsible ones.

“The wealthy, irresponsible media – they have legal knowledge but they don’t care. They would rather see the complaints in court, pay a certain amount of fines and continue along, they don’t care. On the other end of the spectrum, we have responsible but poor media,” Kleut said.

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