• COVID-19: Three new cases, no deaths (media)
• Germany to give 3 million COVID-19 vaccines to Western Balkans (media)
• Kurti: Time for bold actions in both the EU and Western Balkans (media)
• Merkel sees strategic case for Balkan states joining EU (Reuters)
• EC president calls for acceleration of Western Balkans EU integration (RFE)
• Varhelyi: EU to support Western Balkans economic recovery with €30bn (media)
• Kurz: EU to deliver on promises to Western Balkans (media)
• Kosovo welcomes first sexual violence during conflict conviction (media)
• Kosovo Feels US, EU, Heat on Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities (BIRN)
• Osmani: Thaci should not be called "Americans' hound dog" (Koha)
• Kurti-led government doesn't plan on forming new municipalities (Klan)
• Kosovo Municipality Takes Serb Returnee Case to Court (BIRN)

 COVID-19: Three new cases, no deaths (media)

Three new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours and no deaths. 5 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 158 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

569 vaccine doses have been administered in the last 24 hours. To date, a total of 206,443 vaccines have been administered in Kosovo. 49,616 persons have received both doses of the vaccine.

Germany to give 3 million COVID-19 vaccines to Western Balkans (media)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that the country would be donating 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the Western Balkans.

Speaking at the Berlin Process meeting, Merkel said the vaccines would be delivered to the region as soon as possible.

Kurti: Time for bold actions in both the EU and Western Balkans (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said at the virtual Berlin Process summit, hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel, that Western Balkans countries are aware of the homework ahead but added that the EU should also do its share of the work and deliver on its promises.

Recognising the frustration in Kosovo over the failure of the EU to grant visa liberalisation as well as that in Albania and North Macedonia for not opening EU negotiations, Kurti said: "We nevertheless need to be strongly engaged in the EU integration agenda, democratisation and economic development for our citizens."

"We know the Berlin Process was set up in the backdrop of geopolitical challenges and uncertainties in the Western Balkans, at a time when the region's perspective for EU accession seemed distant. Unfortunately, seven years later, the situation has not changed a great deal. This calls for brave actions on the part of the EU as well as the Western Balkans in renewing commitment and strengthening ties which would speed up reforms."

Kurti said he hoped the European Commission would seriously review the proposal for transforming the CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreement) agreement into SEFTA (South East Europe Free Trade Agreement) which he said would resolve current obstacles to free trade.

Merkel sees strategic case for Balkan states joining EU (Reuters)

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she sees the six Western Balkan states as future members of the European Union for strategic reasons.

"It is in the European Union's very own interests to drive the process forward here," Merkel told reporters after a virtual Western Balkans conference, hinting at the influence of Russia and China in the region but without naming them.

She said stronger regional cooperation promoted since 2014 had already achieved initial successes, such as a roaming agreement that had just come into force.

See more at: https://reut.rs/3wjOXF4

EC president calls for acceleration of Western Balkans EU integration (RFE)

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, reiterated the position that the future of the Western Balkans is in the European Uinon and called for the acceleration of the enlargement process.

"Our first priority is to accelerate the enlargement agenda across the region and support our Western Balkan partners in their work to deliver on the necessary reforms to advance on their European path," she said at the Berlin Process meeting with Western Balkans.

Von der Leyen also spoke about the assistance the EU has provided to the region in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. She said that the drop in the number of new infections in the Western Balkans has enabled the EU to decide to lift travel restrictions and that the European Commission would continue to offer financial assistance in overcoming the consequences caused on by the pandemic.

Varhelyi: EU to support Western Balkans economic recovery with €30bn (media)

European Union Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, said European Commission is expected to provide almost €30 billion in way of support for the Western Balkans countries to overcome the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our Economic&Investment Plan for #WesternBalkans worth close to €30bn could be a game changer. But Plan will only work if region works as one," he wrote on Twitter.

Kurz: EU to deliver on promises to Western Balkans (media)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said at the Berlin Process summit that the European Union needs to fulfill its promises made to the Western Balkans and to support the region's economic recovery.

"After COVID, it is now time to deliver: We must keep our promises, remain a reliable partner for the region and support economic recovery," he tweeted.

Kosovo welcomes first sexual violence during conflict conviction (media)

Kosovo has welcomed yesterday's court decision to sentence Zoran Vukotic, a former Serb police officer, to ten years in prison for sexual violence against an Albanian woman in May 1999.

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said sexual violence during 1998-99 has been used as a tool of war in Kosovo and thousands of women and men, girls and boys have been victims of this crime. "Today, after 23 years of impunity for the crime of sexual violence, for the first time someone is convicted," he wrote on social media. Kurti added that justice is necessary, even if delayed. "Victims of sexual violence need justice but also our social support to fight stigma that accompanies them."

President Vjosa Osmani meanwhile said: "A significant breakthrough today - for the first time, a Serbian policeman has been convicted for wartime rape. But let us not forget that justice delayed is justice denied. We need accountability & justice for the other thousands of Kosovar women who have not received it.

Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, said Vukotic's conviction is good news for all victims of sexual violence during wartime and also for the history and future of Kosovo. "Justice for war crimes will be done and we will work on this every day," she wrote on Facebook.

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, said there can be no full justice for the victims of sexual violence during war in Kosovo without every perpetrator being brought before justice. "Despite such perpetrators being hidden and remained at large for 23 years, today, Kosovo justice broke the barriers by putting one of them to face responsibility. However, Zoran Vukotic is not the only one. He is simply the first."

Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said that war crimes never get old or get forgotten. "Zoran Vukotic is the first convicted man in Kosovo for raping an Albanian woman. 10 years of prison will not undo the systemic sufferings of Albanian women and men; but remain a sign of our social and historic duty to prove crime as a crime," he said, adding that yesterday's conviction should serve prosecutors as a motivation to bring before justice each and every perpetrator.

The British Embassy in Kosovo has also welcomed the first conviction for sexual violence during the conflict calling it "an important milestone for Kosovo and the victims of sexual violence."

Kosovo Feels US, EU, Heat on Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities (BIRN)

The US Deputy Assistant of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Palmer, on Sunday said that Kosovo needs to fulfill its obligation to set up an Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.

“I think the way that [EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue] Miroslav Lajcak and the EU team would put it as ‘pacta sunt servanda’ [‘agreements must be kept’], which is, what is agreed should be implemented,” Palmer told local Kosovo broadcaster TV21 on Sunday referring the Association.

Serbia and its former province agreed in 2013 to establish a semi-autonomous municipal association for the Serbian minority, an agreement then ratified by a two-thirds majority of the Kosovo parliament.

Another agreement signed in August 2015 in Brussels also envisaged, among other things, the establishment of the Association.

Palmer told TV21 that “existing agreements reached through the Brussels dialogue, through the EU-facilitated process”, should be implemented to facilitate the country’s “European path”.

“The Association of Serbian Municipalities is an obligation that Kosovo has undertaken and it is one that it needs to deliver,” he added.

Kosovo media outlet Koha has reported that Kosovo and Serbia will discuss the implementation of agreements reached so far at the next meeting in Brussels, expected this week. However, there has been no official confirmation.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3wjefDj

Osmani: Thaci should not be called "Americans' hound dog" (Koha)

President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani was asked during an interview with German paper Der Spiegel whether the time has come for Kosovo to be emancipated from the United States at a time when former President Hashim Thaci, often described as Americans' hound dog, is in detention at The Hague.

Osmani replied by saying that no one should be using such a description for Thaci, adding that relations with the U.S. do not depend on the political officials. "Despite all political differences we might have had with Thaci, no one should be calling him Americans' hound dog. Thaci was prime minister and president at historic times. With regards to relations with the U.S.: They do not depend on the leading political personnel. There are special links that keep us together. We do not forget the role of the Americans in Kosovo during the 90s," she said.

Kurti-led government doesn't plan on forming new municipalities (Klan)

Kosovo's Minister for Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, said the process of amending the law on local self-government is aimed at improving the functioning of municipalities and that the government of Kosovo has no plans to establish new municipalities.

"I have made an assessment of the requests that reached the ministry throughout the years for new municipalities. I can say these are mostly wish lists saying 'we deserve a municipality for this or that reasons' but there is no elaborate assessment stating why these should be formed. Establishment of new municipalities is not in our agenda," he said.

Kosovo Municipality Takes Serb Returnee Case to Court (BIRN)

The case of an elderly displaced ethnic Serbian woman from Gjakove/Djakovica in Kosovo who attempted to return to her home has taken a new twist as the municipality has requested the court to annul the rent contract for the apartment she was living in until June 1999, in a move that could see the saga drag on.

Slavica Gasic became known to the Kosovo public last week when she decided to return to her apartment she left in June 1999, when thousands of Kosovo Serbs left their homes in fear of retaliation by Kosovo Albanians who were returning after the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo following 78 days of NATO air strikes.

Gasic returned after Kosovo’s Property Comparison and Verification Agency allowed her to use her apartment again, as it had been occupied by others since the war.

“The case is now with the court. The municipality has taken the case to court to review it,” Donika Grezda, a Gjakove/Djakovica municipality spokesperson, told BIRN.

The court has confirmed to BIRN that it has received the case but was not able to pledge any timeframe on when a decision could be expected. The court also said that they could not locate Gasic and ordered the municipality meanwhile to pay a fee of 1,000 euros within three days for the expenses of her temporary representative.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3xkSy78