Albanian Language Media: 

• Hoxhaj: We don’t see any possibility of cooperation with Vetevendosje (media)

• U.S. Embassy reacts to closure of Serbian-run offices in Kosovo (media)

• Barbano: Situation in the north of Kosovo quiet but fragile (media)

• OSCE reacts to closure of Serbian-funded centers in north (RTK) 

• Diaspora vote counting expected to begin this week (RTK)

• Abdixhiku congratulates Merz on victory in Germany: New opportunity for Kosovo (RTK)

Serbian Language Media:

• Embassy of Germany: Closing institutions without prior agreement can negatively affect the life of Kosovo Serbs (Kosovo Online)

• Difference of 6000 votes in polling stations and municipal centers (Danas, Kosovo Online, Koha)

• Rasic: We will certainly enter the Assembly, with at least one deputy (Danas, KiM radio)

• OSCE: The closure of centers for social work in the north will affect minority communities (Kosovo Online)

• US Embassy: Uncoordinated actions affect thousands of citizens, Kosovo's European future and our bilateral relations (Radio Mitrovica sever, RFE)

• Tolkach: Serbia has been helping Ukraine both humanitarianly and financially from the beginning (Kosovo Online)

• EU spokesperson on Kosovo police closure of Serbian social services (N1)

Albanian Language Media 

Hoxhaj: We don’t see any possibility of cooperation with Vetevendosje (media) 

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj said in an interview with Gazeta Blic that this party does consider an eventual coalition agreement with the Vetevendosje Movement. He said that the PDK candidate for Prime Minister, Bedri Hamza, ruled out a coalition with Vetevendosje after the February 9 parliamentary elections. “The people of Kosovo have voted for the Vetevendosje Movement as the first political party, now they have the right to form the government. And if they don’t manage to form the government, we will try to form a government with the parties that have been in the opposition,” he said. 

U.S. Embassy reacts to closure of Serbian-run offices in Kosovo (media) 

The United States Embassy in Kosovo said in a post on X on Sunday that it was “concerned by the abrupt and uncoordinated closures of Serbia-run welfare offices in Kosovo. These and similar actions negatively impact thousands of Kosovan citizens and risk creating negative consequences for Kosovo’s future in Europe and our bilateral relations”. 

Barbano: Situation in the north of Kosovo quiet but fragile (media) 

Head of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Giovanni Pietro Barbano, said in an interview with Le Canton, that the security situation in the north of Kosovo is stable but fragile. He said that for this reason two different units were deployed to Kosovo in the last couple of months. “At the same time we are working in close coordination with other security actors on the ground and are ready to intervene if necessary and contribute to safeguarding public order and safety in the event of unrest,” he said. 

Asked about the terrorist attacks in Banjska and against the Iber Lepenci water canal, Barbano said that EULEX and the international community are seriously looking into the incidents and the respective investigations. “The EU has condemned the attacks in the harshest possible terms and has continuously called for investigations to conclude swiftly and for all perpetrators to be held accountable,” he said. 

Barbano also said that the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia remains the only sustainable framework toward the normalization of relations.  

OSCE reacts to closure of Serbian-funded centers in north (RTK) 

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo has reacted to the closure of the `Social Welfare Centre` facilities in North Mitrovica – which operated under the Serbian parallel system, stressing that this will negatively impact access to key services for non-majority communities. 

"The Mission notes that the closure of the Belgrade-run Social Welfare Centres on Friday will impact access to key services for non-majority communities. Any disruption of healthcare, education and social support services affects vulnerable social groups the most," the OSCE post on Facebook reads. The OSCE Mission emphasizes that the closure of these facilities should be resolved through dialogue mediated by the European Union.

Diaspora vote counting expected to begin this week (RTK) 

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced that the counting of conditional votes, votes of people with special needs and those from the diaspora is expected to begin this week. CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi said that these votes will begin to be counted after the completion of all procedures, such as: scanning the list of voters signed at regular polling stations, that began on Saturday. According to him, the CEC is evaluating packages of ballots from voting outside Kosovo, respectively from voting by mail.

Abdixhiku congratulates Merz on victory in Germany: New opportunity for Kosovo (RTK) 

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, has congratulated Friedrich Merz and the CDU party on the victory in the elections in Germany, describing this as a new opportunity for Kosovo. Through a post on social networks, Abdixhiku stressed the importance of this day for Germany and the positive impact it can have on Kosovo. “Important day for Germany; new opportunity for Kosovo. The victory of Friedrich Merz and the CDU is a new window for our Republic,” Abdixhiku wrote. 

He announced that he had conveyed his congratulations to Mr. Merz and his friends in the CDU, emphasizing the continued support he has received from the future German Chancellor in the meetings so far. “He knows our journeys well, he supports our goals well,” Abdixhiku added.

Serbian Language Media  

Embassy of Germany: Closing institutions without prior agreement can negatively affect the life of Kosovo Serbs (Kosovo Online)

The German Embassy in Kosovo stated that the closure of institutions in the field of health, education, and provision of social services without prior agreement on alternatives may negatively affect the daily life of Kosovo Serbs and other communities, reported Kosovo Online. 

In the response to Kosovo Online about the closure of centers for social work in the north of Kosovo, the German embassy stated that they "agree that it is necessary to abolish parallel structures in the north, but that institutions in the field of health, education and the provision of basic social services should not be shut down in this way".

They also add that they fully support the EU spokesperson's statement on that matter.

"As already stated, the German Embassy agrees that it is necessary to abolish parallel structures, but institutions in the field of health, education and the provision of basic social services should not be extinguished in this way. Closing such existing structures without prior agreement on alternatives may negatively affect the daily life of Kosovo Serbs and other communities," they stated.

Difference of 6000 votes in polling stations and municipal centers (Danas, Kosovo Online, Koha)

The data published by the Central Election Commission show a discrepancy of about 6,000 votes between the results given after the counting at the polling stations and those at the municipal counting centers, reported Danas yesterday, citing Koha. 

By counting the votes of political parties at the polling stations and verifying them in the municipal counting centers, discrepancies were found in the results for 6,316 votes.

Of that number, 5,888 votes went to entities that passed the electoral census and the Serbian List.

After the verification of the results in the municipal centers, Self-determination received 3,348 more votes, the Democratic Party of Kosovo 1,267, the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo 1,147, the ABK-Nisma coalition 446, and the Serbian List 126 votes.

The CEC did not provide any explanation for the difference in results on Saturday.

Even two weeks after the election, the commission has not completed the vote counting process.

Rasic: We will certainly enter the Assembly, with at least one deputy (Danas, KiM radio)

Danas wrote on Saturday that although not all the votes have been counted yet, the president of the party For Freedom, Justice and Survival and minister for return and communities in the technical mandate, Nenad Rasic, claimed that his party would certainly win at least one parliamentary seat. In his statement to KiM radio, he recalled that he announced this during the election night "when the Serbian List was celebrating".

"According to the current results, although the conditional and diaspora votes have not been counted, in our opinion, there is enough room for faith that we will certainly enter (the Assembly of Kosovo) with at least one deputy," Rasic told Kim radio.

He believes that the "weight" of votes for his party ''is far greater than those who were forced to vote for some other parties''.

He emphasized that the displaced Serbs came to vote for the Serbian List "forced with a baton".

He concluded that in the last 12 or 13 years in Kosovo, "we have one third less Serbs", but also that "we know who is most responsible for that".

OSCE: The closure of centers for social work in the north will affect minority communities (Kosovo Online)

The OSCE mission in Kosovo announced on Facebook that the closure of centers for social work in the north of Kosovo will affect access to key services for non-majority communities.

“The Mission notes that Friday's closure of Belgrade-run Centres for Social Welfare will affect access to key services for non-majority communities. Any disruption to healthcare, education and social support disproportionately affects vulnerable social groups. These closures should be resolved through the EU-facilitated Dialogue,” read the OSCE FB post. 

US Embassy: Uncoordinated actions affect thousands of citizens, Kosovo's European future and our bilateral relations (Radio Mitrovica sever, RFE)

The US Embassy in Pristina expressed concern about the closure of centers for social work in the north of Kosovo. They say that such uncoordinated actions threaten Kosovo’s European future and bilateral relations with America, reported Radio Mitrovica sever.

“The U.S. Embassy is concerned by the abrupt and uncoordinated closures of Serbia-run welfare offices in Kosovo. These and similar actions negatively impact thousands of Kosovan citizens and risk creating negative consequences for Kosovo’s future in Europe and our bilateral relations,” read the US Embassy X post. 

Tolkach: Serbia has been helping Ukraine both humanitarianly and financially from the beginning (Kosovo Online, Beta)

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Serbia, Volodymyr Tolkach, stated, ahead of the third anniversary of the war, that all Ukrainians believe this will be the last one. However, he emphasized that it is still too early to discuss the outcome of potential peace negotiations and that only the Russian side can stop the war. He also pointed out that Serbia has been helping Ukraine both humanitarianly and financially from the beginning, for which he is grateful, reported Kosovo Online, citing Beta agency. 

"It’s not that I just want to be polite—I truly want to say thank you because Serbia has provided us with all the humanitarian support it could. Serbia donated ambulances for our civilians, which are now in Dnipro and Sumy. Additionally, a significant amount of medical equipment and medicines were donated, as well as electrical equipment, which has been very useful to us," Tolkach said in an interview with the Beta news agency.

Read more at: https://tinyurl.com/4h7bv2ka

EU spokesperson on Kosovo police closure of Serbian social services (N1)

A European Union spokesperson told N1 on Friday that Belgrade-backed institutions providing basic social services to the Kosovo Serbs should not be shut down.

The spokesperson said that the EU noted the KP operations against Serbia-supported structures in the north of Kosovo earlier on Friday. “Our EULEX Mission is monitoring the situation on the ground, in line with its mandate. We are awaiting further details to establish the facts,” the spokesperson added.

“The status of these Serbia-supported structures and services is foreseen to be resolved through the EU-facilitated Dialogue. No Serbia-supported health and education institutions, nor other Serbia-supported structures providing basic social services should be shut down,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson warned that closing existing structures providing basic social services for Kosovo Serbs and other communities, without any prior agreed alternative arrangement, negatively affects the daily lives and living conditions of these communities and directly undermines normalisation efforts. “These issues should be addressed between the Parties. EU Special Representative Sørensen stands ready to facilitate the discussions,” the spokesperson said.