• COVID – 19: 341 new cases, 3 deaths (media)
• Szunyog: Kosovo to get over 100,000 vaccine doses for free (media)
• Kurti: Difficult road, we paid great personal and political costs (media)
• Haradinaj: I am open to cooperation with Vetevendosje (media)
• Limaj compares Kurti to the Serbian President (media)
• Vetevendosje pledges to form investigation bureau for senior officials (media)
• Election campaign starts with violations of anti-COVID measures (RFE)
• Price: Kosovo – Israel agreement, a historic event (media)
• “Recognition from Israel, positive signal for non-recognising countries” (media)
• The explainer: The EU’s Kosovo awkward squad (Emerging Europe)
• Next status conference on Thaci et al on February 11 (media)
• Putin reaffirms Russia’s position on balanced solution over Kosovo (media)

COVID – 19: 341 new cases, 3 deaths (media)

341 new cases of COVID – 19 and three deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 207 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 6,931 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Szunyog: Kosovo to get over 100,000 vaccine doses for free (media)

The EU Head of Office and EU Special Representative in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, took to Twitter on Wednesday to say that “Kosovo is scheduled to get over 100,000 vaccine doses for free in the first half of 2021 through the #COVAX facility supported by the EU. More vaccine is to arrive in the second half of the year.”

Kurti: Difficult road, we paid great personal and political costs (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader Albin Kurti said at the official opening of the election campaign in Prishtina on Wednesday that the COVID – 19 pandemic was the most difficult eventslast year. He said that when his party comes to power, they will increase the budget for healthcare. “To end the pandemic, we will vaccinate 60 percent of the population. With our governance, we will reform our hospitals and clinics which will be functional and be in line with European standards. We will also increase the budget for healthcare so that fewer citizens will need to go abroad to seek medical care,” he said.

Kurti also said “it is of crucial importance to get over 60 MPs in order to prevent the plans of those that cause crisis”. “We have had a difficult path and we paid great personal and political costs. They don’t want to allow me and Albulena Haxhiu to run in the elections. Vjosa Osmani is also paying the cost from her older party. We didn’t want to make compromises with the old politics; we didn’t give in even when they tried to divide Kosovo,” he added.

Haradinaj: I am open to cooperation with Vetevendosje (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader and candidate for Kosovo President, Ramush Haradinaj, said in an interview with EuroNews that he is open for cooperation with the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement. “We don’t have any red lines and we expect every party for a coalition after the elections. If Vetevendosje wins the elections, we are open to cooperate with them,” he said.

“Kosovo is in a crisis. We are faced with a grave situation. We have economic problems, starting with the COVID – 19 pandemic, the situation with Serbia and integration in the international arena. I am confident that I can safeguard the unity and serve the country,” he said. “We are a parliamentary republic, but the President is responsible for security and the armed forces, defends the Constitution and its enforcement. For all these responsibilities and because I was twice at the helm of the government, I am confident I can lead the country and help Kosovo.”

Limaj compares Kurti to the Serbian President (media)

NISMA leader and candidate for Prime Minister, Fatmir Limaj, said in a debate on Wednesday that Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti wants to have absolute power similar to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. He argued that this would result in what he called total degeneration of the state of Kosovo. “Our country does not have the political and institutional maturity to be governed by a single political party. Even with coalitions, we had problems in governance, let alone an absolute power,” he added. “Vucic has absolute power in Serbia. And the Serbian state is completely different with Kosovo.”

Vetevendosje pledges to form investigation bureau for senior officials (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) MP candidate Adnan Rrustemi said in Kallxo Pernime debate on Wednesday that this party has foreseen to form an investigation bureau for high-ranking officials to verify their source of wealth. “We will also review the legal package for the fight against corruption and we will also define the competencies of the Anti-Corruption Agency,” he added.

Election campaign starts with violations of anti-COVID measures (RFE)

The news website reported on Wednesday evening that because of the COVID – 19 pandemic, gatherings over 30 persons in closed areas and all rallies with over 50 participants are banned but that both measures were violated at the start of the election campaign for the February 14 parliamentary elections on Wednesday.

Price: Kosovo – Israel agreement, a historic event (media)

Ned Price, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said in a press conference on Wednesday that Kosovo and Israel establishing diplomatic relations is a historic event and that the United States is stronger when its partners are united.

Price said: “the United States congratulates Israel and Kosovo on the establishment of diplomatic relations. It was a historic day. Deeper international relations promote stability, peace and prosperity. The U.S. is stronger when our partners are united. The U.S. will stand by Kosovo in its Euro-Atlantic path.”

“Recognition from Israel, positive signal for non-recognising countries” (media)

David Philips, U.S. expert on political developments in the Balkans, said in an interview with Dukagjini TV on Wednesday that the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kosovo and Israel is a historic achievement and that it sends a signal to non-recognising countries.

Philips said that Israel can be a good economic partner for Kosovo. He added that it is good that political leaders in Kosovo, including Vetevendosje Movement leader Albin Kurti, have welcomed the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel.

The explainer: The EU’s Kosovo awkward squad (Emerging Europe)

Israel’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Kosovo has once again put the spotlight on the five EU countries which refuse to recognise the former province of Serbia as an independent state. We explain the reasons behind their refusal.

The Austrian MEP Lukas Mandl responded this week to the news that Israel would recognise Kosovo as an independent country by saying that it was a message to the five EU countries which still haven’t done so.

“The State of Israel will recognise the Republic of Kosovo, which is the youngest state of Europe. Since I feel friendship between Austria, Israel and Kosovo this step means a lot to me. It is also a clear signal for those EU member states which have not yet recognised Kosovo,” Mandl wrote on his Twitter account.

According to Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla, Kosovo’s acting foreign minister, Israel brings to 117 the number of countries which currently recognise the young state, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO conducted a 78-day airstrike campaign to halt the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo’s majority Albanian population.

Most western nations have since recognised Kosovo’s independence (many, such as the US, Germany, France and the UK, did so immediately), but Serbia and its allies Russia and China (and their allies in turn) refuse to do so.

Then there are the five European Union countries that do not recognise Kosovo: Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain.

Read full piece at: https://bit.ly/3rjtkm1

Next status conference on Thaci et al on February 11 (media)

All news websites reported on Wednesday that the next status conference in the case against Hashim Thaci and other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army at the Hague will be held on February 11.

Putin reaffirms Russia’s position on balanced solution over Kosovo (media)

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic reiterated Russia’s principled position that a balanced solution should be worked out to the Kosovo issue to be then approved by the United Nations Security Council, the Kremlin said on Wednesday after the two leaders’ talks.

It is noted that the Serbian president informed Putin about his assessment of the situation in the Kosovo settlement, with regard to his contacts with foreign counterparts.

"The Russian side confirmed its principled position on working out a balanced solution to the Kosovo issue, which should be approved by the UN Security Council," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Russian president pointed out that Serbia could count on his country's support in this and other crucial issues further on.