• COVID – 19: 15 deaths, 875 new cases (media)
• Ministry announces new measures: 18 municipalities in red zone (media)
• Bislimi: Haradinaj has grip on partners of ruling coalition (Kosovapress)
• Daut Haradinaj: Kosovo needs a president like Ramush Haradinaj (media)
• “Government doesn’t want to secure votes for economic recovery bill” (media)
• “Arrest, deportation of Turkish nationals from Kosovo, human rights violation”

COVID – 19: 11 deaths, 855 new cases (media)

855 new cases of COVID – 19 and 11 deaths from the virus have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 1,930 samples were tested. The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (298). 748 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 12,220 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo. Telegrafi reports that 14 patients with COVID – 19 in Peja hospital are in critical condition.

Ministry announces new measures: 18 municipalities in red zone (media)

All news websites reported on Friday evening that Kosovo’s Ministry of Health has announced additional restrictive measures as part of efforts to contain the further spread of COVID – 19. The red zone, which includes the municipalities with the highest risk or municipalities with over 151 infected persons in 100,000 persons in a week, now includes 18 municipalities: Prishtina, Fushe Kosova, Gjilan, Obiliq, Gjakova, Shtimja, Podujeva, Peja, Ferizaj, Mitrovica South, Vushtrri, Lipjan, Viti, Zvecan, Leposavic, Zubin Potok, Mitrovica North and Kamenica. These municipalities go on curfew from 19:00 to 05:00 and during this time all economic activity and the movement of citizens is restricted.

Bislimi: Haradinaj has grip on partners of ruling coalition (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) deputy leader Besnik Bislimi said in an interview with Kosovapress news agency that in the current circumstances of the ruling coalition, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj has the biggest negotiating power.

“They will try their best to find a solution to avoid elections. Ramush Haradinaj has the biggest negotiating power, because he has a grip on more or less all the other leaders, as in the event of new elections he would be damaged way less than the PDK and LDK. For Haradinaj it is not very important if he falls from 9 to 6 or 7 MPs. But for the LDK to go from 28 to 12 – 13 MPs, this would be a political disaster. This is why Ramush Haradinaj has realised now is his time,” Bislimi said.

With less than two weeks from the public hearing of the Constitutional Court on the vote of a former MP that was decisive in the election of the Hoti-led government, Bislimi said he is confident that Prime Minister Hoti was elected in opposition with the Constitution. He also argued that the earlier decisions of the Constitutional Court have shown that the highest legal body is not so independent.

Daut Haradinaj: Kosovo needs a president like Ramush Haradinaj (media)

Daut Haradinaj, leader of the parliamentary group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said in an interview with RTV21 on Friday that he does not see any other option except for Ramush Haradinaj as the new President of Kosovo.

“We chose our option and we believe it is the best. We believe that the President must be a statesman … The President must guarantee the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,” he said.

According to Haradinaj, they have the support of other political parties for Haradinaj’s candidacy. “We are cooperating with the other parties. 80 MPs are required to vote, and we are talking with all political parties in Kosovo,” he said.

“Government doesn’t want to secure votes for economic recovery bill” (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) MP Fitore Pacolli in an interview with Ekonomia Online slammed the Hoti-led government for mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic and argued that the government’s measures are proving ineffective.

“We are faced with a very grave situation now and we are seeing every day a high rise in the number of infected persons. We’re also seeing an extreme overload of our hospital and human capacities. In Prishtina alone they are lacking 78 doctors who have yet to be substituted,” she said. “The problem is that this government was not prepared to face this situation. The [Health] Minister lacks basic knowledge about the situation. He makes decisions without genuine analysis on how the number of cases can be reduced. All the measures implemented so far have resulted in a higher number of cases.”

Pacolli further argued that the partners of the ruling coalition are not interested to secure votes in parliament to adopt the economic recovery bill. “The government has thousands of ways to help businesses and the citizens, but it doesn’t want to do this,” she added.

“Arrest, deportation of Turkish nationals from Kosovo, human rights violation”

Several news websites covered a report by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) which concluded that the arrest, detention and forced transfer to Turkey of six Turkish teachers by Kosovar and Turkish state agents in Kosovo on March 29, 2018 was arbitrary and in violation of international human rights norms and standards.

Kahraman Demirez, Mustafa Erdem, Hasan Hüseyin Günakan, Yusuf Karabina, Osman Karakaya and Cihan Özkan were arrested in Kosovo at Turkey’s request in March 2018 over alleged links to Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, and forcibly transported to Turkey.

WGAD held that Kosovar and Turkish authorities’ deprivation of liberty of the six Turkish citizens was in contravention of the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to life, liberty and security, the right to an effective remedy, the right to freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to a fair trial and the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

The UN working group called on Ankara to release the six individuals immediately and the Turkish and Kosovar governments to accord the victims an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

“In the current context of the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the threat that it poses in places of detention, the Working Group calls upon the Government of Turkey to take urgent action to ensure the immediate release of the six individuals,” the WGAD press release said.