• 13 new cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours (media)
• Thaci: New government will have my support (media)
• LDK announces names of its ministers in new eventual government (media)
• Osmani: Transitional govt until new elections, best option (Koha)
• Mustafa: We will have a government with a full mandate tomorrow (media)
• Haziri doesn’t trust the Hoti government (media)
• Source: Some MPs in the coalition will vote against (Lajmi)
• Abazi says LDK agreed to give SL leading posts, including DPM (media)
• Constitutional Court kept no records of sessions on Thaci's decree case (Koha)
• EP rapporteur calls on all parties to respect Court’s decision (media)
• Konjufca: LDK is now group of close interests, Thaci gave them the govt (T7)
• Svecla: Vote on Hoti government tomorrow, very likely to fail (KTV)
• Vetevendosje: Protest are becoming inevitable, but not tomorrow (media)
• New round of Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, maybe in June (RFE)
• EU calls on Kosovo to review decision on reciprocity with Serbia (RFE)
• Grenell to continue to serve as Presidential Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia talks (media)

 Kosovo Media Highlights

13 new cases of coronavirus in last 24 hours (media)

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday that 13 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the last 24 hours. Seven of the new cases are from the municipality of Prishtina.

Thaci: New government will have my support (media)

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said in an interview to RTV21 on Tuesday that the new government of Kosovo will have his support. “Tomorrow we will have an opportunity for a new chapter. Time and the people that will assume their responsibilities will prove how much this opportunity will be used,” he said.

On the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Thaci said: “we need to work together, the government and the opposition. We need to work so that any solution that can be accepted by Kosovo must certainly go through the Assembly or in my opinion even through a referendum.”

Thaci also said that acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the acting ministers of Interior Affairs, Health and Justice, and the Deputy Prime Minister “must be brought to justice for their bad governance, the violation of laws and their criminal actions”. 

LDK announces names of its ministers in new eventual government (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate for Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti, presented the names of LDK ministers in the new government that will be voted in the Kosovo Assembly on Wednesday. Driton Selmanaj – Deputy Prime Minister, Agim Veliu – Minister of Interior Affairs, Arban Abrashi – Minister of Infrastructure, Anton Quni – Minister of Defense, Vlora Dumoshi – Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Armend Zemaj – Minister of Health, and Hykmete Bajrami, Minister of Finance. 

Osmani: Transitional govt until new elections, best option (Koha)

Kosovo Assembly President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview to the news agency on Tuesday that new elections are the only way to restore the legitimacy of institutions and that in the current pandemic Kosovo needs a unity and technical government. 

“Politically, and I have said this in the past, elections are the only option that can restore the legitimacy of the institutions. Meanwhile, until conditions are created for new elections because of the pandemic, I think the only way to prevent an extreme polarisation and major clashes would be a transitional government for six-nine months led by an above-party unifying figure and with technical ministers,” she said. 

Osmani also said that a unity and technical government would help overcome the political and economic crisis, prepare the country for new elections, achieve consensus on the dialogue and defend territorial integrity. 

Osmani, who is also deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said “governments that are completely dependent on the Serbian List were never successful and could not bring stability, because the dependency of the Serbian List threatens any objective or success for the good of the country”. 

Media also reported that several MPs from the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement supported Osmani’s idea for a transitional government. They also report that Murat Jashari is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the post.

Mustafa: We will have a government with a full mandate tomorrow (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Isa Mustafa told reporters after the meeting of his party’s presidency on Tuesday that Kosovo will have a new government with a full mandate on Wednesday. 

Asked to comment on LDK deputy leader Vjosa Osmani’s proposal for a transitional government until the new elections, Mustafa said he was confident the Hoti government would get the required number of votes in the Assembly on Wednesday. “I am very confident that we have the required votes, from the LDK and the other partners of the coalition,” he said. “Tomorrow we will have a new government. This will not be a transitional government; it will be a government with a full mandate.”

Haziri doesn’t trust the Hoti government (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) deputy leader and Gjilan mayor, Lutfi Haziri, said in an interview on Tuesday: “Lately I am not that engaged because a government that I don’t trust is being formed. A government, which I trusted more, could not successfully perform its mandate”. Haziri said he doesn’t mind expressing his opinions openly.

“This is my conviction, and this is my political courage to say what I mean to every level, every citizen and every leader. No one can stop my political conviction. I am loyal to my decisions; I also respect the decisions of the majority. I am engaged as much as they ask of me, but this is my conviction,” he added. 

Source: Some MPs in the coalition will vote against (Lajmi)

The news website reported on Tuesday that it doesn’t seem certain that LDK’s candidate for Prime Minister Avdullah has the required number of votes to form a new government.

Citing unnamed sources, Lajmi reported that some MPs in the coalition between the LDK, AAK and NISMA, will not vote in favor of the new government at the Assembly session on Wednesday. According to the same source, Hoti also has not secured the votes of minority MPs.

Abazi says LDK agreed to give SL leading posts, including DPM (media)

Kosovo's Acting Deputy Prime Minister Haki Abazi said that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) is intentionally not releasing to the public the coalition agreement with the Serbian List as it gives the latter the post of one deputy prime minister and other leading positions in the government of Kosovo.

In a Facebook post, Abazi wrote that the Serbian List also stands to get the posts of deputy director of the Kosovo intelligence agency, deputy command of the Kosovo Security Force, deputy ambassador to the U.S., as well as veto rights on issues pertaining to KSF, KIA, diplomacy and policy.

LDK's candidate for prime minister Avdullah Hoti pledged to make the agreement with Serbian List public soon saying it is in line with the Constitution of Kosovo and previous practices.

Constitutional Court kept no records of sessions on Thaci's decree case (Koha)

After the Vetevendosje Movement demanded the Constitutional Court release the transcript and records of its deliberations on the case about President Hashim Thaci's decree to nominate Avdullah Hoti to form the new government, Koha reports quoting sources that the court did not keep such records during its sessions.

The unnamed source said that the Constitutional Court has not been using the electronic data management system for a while now and as a consequence, it cannot be determined whether the ruling actually reflects the content of discussions during the deliberation sessions.

The source said that it is unacceptable for such an important institution not to keep records. "They are important because it shows whether the Court decided on its own accord or whether someone else wrote the ruling," the source added.

EP rapporteur calls on all parties to respect Court’s decision (media)

Several news outlets reported on Tuesday that Viola von Cramon, the European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, said on Tuesday that all parties need to respect the recent decision of the Constitutional Court. “We need to respect their decision; this is the basis for democracy. Now, the power is in the Assembly's hands,” she tweeted. 

Konjufca: LDK is now group of close interests, Thaci gave them the govt (T7)

Kosovo’s acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and senior Vetevendosje member, Glauk Konjufca, argued in an interview to T7 on Tuesday that President Thaci enabled the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) the form a government without going to elections. 

“The situation is very serious and critical, because for the first time in Kosovo’s history a government without elections is being installed. They are trying to impose a government without asking the people. This is happening as a result of Thaci’s maneuvers. The LDK liked this and Thaci gave them this opportunity through the Constitutional Court,” he added. “Thaci gave the following guarantees to the LDK: You bring down Kurti, I will give you the post of Prime Minister through the Constitutional Court”. 

Konjufca further claimed: “The first favor that the LDK did to Thaci was to bring down the government. The second favor is a new government without elections. The third favor will most probably be cooperation with Thaci in the dialogue with Serbia. The LDK is an interest group and they are willing to do anything over their close interests”. 

Svecla: Vote on Hoti government tomorrow, very likely to fail (KTV)

Kosovo’s acting Minister of Interior, Xhelal Svecla, said in an interview to KTV on Tuesday that a new coalition government led by LDK’s Avdullah Hoti will likely fail to secure the required number of votes in the Assembly on Wednesday. “I believe this short-lived government will be subject to repeated blackmail by Serbia,” he added. 

Svecla said: “I found funny the statement by the LDK leader who said that they intend to make another sacrifice for Kosovo. A funny and stale statement. It is no sacrifice when a person that ranks twelfth on the list of voted candidates wants to become Prime Minister and an entire establishment led by the President wants to serve this objective. This approach has major problems with legitimacy. The government that they brought down with the motion was a government that was not dependent of the Serbian List. The ministers from the Serbian List in our government were a result of the obligations from the Constitution”.

Vetevendosje: Protest are becoming inevitable, but not tomorrow (media)

The Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) issued a media statement on Tuesday saying that protests are becoming inevitable but that they will not be held on Wednesday when the Kosovo MPs will vote on a new coalition government led by LDK’s Avdullah Hoti. 

The statement criticised the recent decision by the Constitutional Court calling it unjust and unacceptable “for ruling out elections and the winner of the elections”. 

“Protests are becoming inevitable. But the Vetevendosje Movement will not organise a protest tomorrow. For us the government is not the objective but the means to serve the people. We also don’t want to discourage other protests announced by different groups of citizens,” the statement noted. 

New round of Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, maybe in June (RFE)

Citing reliable sources, the news agency reported on Tuesday that the European Union’s Special Representative for the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, plans to hold the first round of talks very soon, perhaps even this month. 

Lajcak met with ambassadors of EU member states at the Policy and Security Committee in Brussels on Tuesday. He tweeted after the meeting: “Grateful for the strong support I received from the 27 EU Member States today! Very encouraging discussion about my mandate and the way ahead.”

Diplomatic sources in Brussels said Lajcak said repeatedly during the meeting that border changes or a territorial exchange cannot be the result of the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue. According to the same sources, the majority of member states too said they were against these options. 

Lajcak also said he would contact the new government of Kosovo as soon as it is formed to start preparations for the meeting that would mark the resumption of dialogue for the normalisation of relations. The Kosovo Assembly is expected to meet on Wednesday to vote on a new government. 

Sources also said that during the meeting there was criticism over Kosovo President Thaci’s opposition to Lajcak’s appointment as Special Representative for the dialogue and also Thaci’s remarks that he would not take part in the dialogue led by Lajcak. 

EU calls on Kosovo to review decision on reciprocity with Serbia (RFE)

The European Union called on Kosovo authorities on Tuesday to review a decision made on Saturday for expanding reciprocity measures against Serbia. Asked by the news agency to comment on the latest decision, Peter Stano, spokesman for EU High Representative Josep Borrell, said they expect Kosovo and Serbia to implement the agreements reached during the Brussels dialogue.

 “This is a basic principle for every agreement in international relations and is a principle created by the fact that Belgrade and Prishtina have sat at the table of negotiations as equal partners and what they agree upon needs to be implemented. Therefore, it has nothing to do with reciprocity. We call on Kosovo’s authorities to review the decision they made on Saturday,” Stano said. 

“The dialogue must move forward. The status quo is unsustainable. We are trying to enable the talks to resume. However, the resumption of talks is in the responsibility of these states. If one side or the other makes unilateral decisions that do not respect the compliance of previous agreements, they damage the possibility of resuming the dialogue”. 

Stano also said: “we are working on returning to the dialogue. This however is not impossible if both sides are not ready. The right conditions need to be created too, because ultimately it is up to the two sides to be willing to sit at the table and to restore dialogue for the good of their citizens, the region and for finding an agreement on the normalisation of relations, because this is what their European future depends on”. 

Stano said the statements of EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak on the matter are supported by all EU member states. “He has the full support and trust of EU member states to work on restoring the dialogue,” he added.

Grenell to continue to serve as Presidential Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia talks (media)

 Several media covered a statement by Robert O’Brien, National Security Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, thanking Richard Grenell for his distinguished service in the Trump administration.

“I am also grateful for Ric’s willingness to continue to serve our nation in a part-time capacity as the President’s Special Envoy for Kosovo and Serbia negotiations, working out of the White House,” O’Brien said.