Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 767 new cases, eight deaths (media)
• Hoti on COVID-19 situation: We are in a state of war (media)
• Ahmeti: Someone from Kacanik can go to Skopje but not to Pristina (media)
• Hoti: Missing persons, priority in dialogue with Serbia (media)
• Mustafa: No dialogue meetings until after Christmas (Periskopi/Zeri)
• Kosovo Government announces agreement on use of Decan roads (media)
• Ramosaj: Blockade in construction of Decan-Plave road ends (Telegrafi)
• DPM Tahiri on Serbian List: It can leave the government just as it joined (Koha)
• Speaker of Swiss parliament visits Krusha e Madhe memorial site (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic: 1.800.000 doses provided, most likely of Pfizer vaccine; Better to reach a solution for Kosovo sooner than later (media)
• Construction of a road in the municipality of Decani in accordance with the Law on Protected Zones, EU Office says (KIM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)
• Abbot Sava: An arrangement adopted to protect the monastery from the construction of an international road (Kosovo Online)
• The United States will work with the EU in the Balkans, but also with Britain (Danas)
• Stano: It would be good for Belgrade and Pristina to prepare for the next round of dialogue (Kosovo Online)
• Roma Party President: More than 100,000 Roma expelled from Kosovo, large number killed (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)
• Serbian List to Fatherland Movement: Only those who trade with lives of others can wish for conflicts in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)
• Fatherland Movement: What the example of Nagorno-Karabakh teach us, will Vucic visit his friend Hashim Thaci in The Hague (nspm.rs)

Opinion:

• Kosovo War Crimes Court Can Promote Justice on All Sides (Balkan Insight)

Humanitarian/Development:

• Two KelKos hydropower plants granted 40-year licence (Prishtina Insight)
• The Husband-and-Wife Team Behind the Leading Vaccine to Solve Covid-19 (nytimes.com)

 

 

Albanian Language Media 

 

COVID-19: 767 new cases, eight deaths (media)

767 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths have been confirmed in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health said. 186 persons have meanwhile recovered from the virus.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (434).

Hoti on COVID-19 situation: We are in a state of war (media)

In a visit to the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Kosovo’s University Clinical Centre together with Health Minister Armend Zemaj, Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti compared the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic with the state of being at war.

"This is practically a war situation, facing a greater danger every day," he said. 

Hoti said there needs to be an increased efficiency in handling the situation. "We are making maximum efforts to supply clinics with oxygen supply, to adapt the clinics with extra beds, to engage all the staff, doctors in different fields, to work as a team."

Ahmeti: Someone from Kacanik can go to Skopje but not to Pristina (media)

Mayor of Pristina Shpend Ahmeti has continued his criticism over the Government's anti-coronavirus measures dividing Kosovo municipalities into different zones, depending on the number of COVID-19 cases.

The measures put Pristina, in the high-risk red group, on lockdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Ahmeti said the capital of Kosovo was being penalised for the fact it carries out more testing than the rest of municipalities. 

"Here's another absurdity. If you are from Kacanik, you can go to Skopje but not to Pristina (after 19:00). External borders remain more open than 'internal' ones," Ahmeti wrote on Facebook recalling that the number of new COVID-19 infections in North Macedonia in the last 24-hour period was twice as high as that in Kosovo.

Hoti: Missing persons, priority in dialogue with Serbia (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said today that the fate of the missing persons is one of the most important issues in the dialogue with Serbia. He said that the Kosovo Government is making utmost efforts to determine the fate of the missing persons and that it is no coincidence this was the first issue tackled in talks with the Serbian side in Brussels. 

"New facts from TV debates that speak about possible 16 mass grave sites with Albanian victims in Serbia strengthens even more the need to find these remains in Serbia. My key goal is to find and repatriate remains of missing persons. Therefore the agreement with Serbia will be in the function of this common goal," he said at the Assembly of Kosovo.

Hoti said that the missing persons issue is also included in the Washington agreement on normalisation of economic relations.  

Mustafa: No dialogue meetings until after Christmas (Periskopi/Zeri)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Isa Mustafa told Periskopi news website that calls to suspend dialogue with Serbia following Specialist Chambers indictments are unfounded.

He said such a request was not made by either Hashim Thaci or Kadri Veseli, both of whom are facing war crimes charges. "I have underlined that dialogue is not taking place for Serbia but for Kosovo's interests, for mutual recognition."

Mustafa added however that there are no plans to hold dialogue meetings in the immediate future. "As far as I am aware, there is no meeting on dialogue scheduled in either November or December. Then there is Christmas. So those calling for a halt to dialogue are speaking in vain."

Kosovo Government announces agreement on use of Decan roads (media)

The Government of Kosovo has announced that an agreement has been reached for the development and use of roads passing through the Special Protective Zone of the Decan Monastery.

In a statement, the Government of Kosovo says the agreement was facilitated by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and supported by Italy's Ambassador Nicola Orlando and the KFOR Commander, Major General Michele Risi. "The agreement is a result of several-month long constructive and fruitful efforts between the Municipality of Decan and the representatives of the Orthodox Church of the Decan Monastery," the statement reads. 

"Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo Mr. Avdullah Hoti has been committed from the start to help in reaching the best possible and acceptable solution which helps free movement of citizens as a guaranteed right but also respects religious and cultural heritage of that zone."

The Government added that the Implementation and Monitoring Council (IMC) has endorsed the terms of the agreement. 

Earlier, a statement to the media issued by the European Union Office in Kosovo, said the IMC endorsed an arrangement on the rehabilitation of roads in the municipality of Decan by respecting the Law on Special Protective Zones (SPZ).

"It aims at fostering inter-community relations through the protection of religious cultural heritage and bolstering the economic development within the municipality of Deçan/Dečane and the region," the statement reads. 

The EU also said the agreement was facilitated by the Italian Ambassador Orlando and supported by COMKFOR Risi. 

Koha writes that the EU did not credit Hoti with the agreement and nor did Decan Mayor Bashkim Ramosaj. 

Ramosaj: Blockade in construction of Decan-Plave road ends (Telegrafi)

Mayor of Decan Bashkim Ramosaj took to Facebook to comment on the agreement for the development and use of roads passing through the Special Protective Zone of the Orthodox Monastery in Decan saying it ends the blockade in construction of the Decan-Plave road.

Ramosaj said the agreement was facilitated by Italian Ambassador to Kosovo Nicola Orlando and KFOR Commander Major General Michele Risi and was also supported by Quint countries, KFOR, and the EU Office. 

He underlined that the Municipality of Decan will proceed with rehabilitation of the Gushavc road and that of the Monastery in their existing lanes as local roads and at the same time will continue the construction of the bypass international road which he said will end the blockade and open local economic perspective and contribute to free movement of people. 

DPM Tahiri on Serbian List: It can leave the government just as it joined (Koha)

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Tahiri commented on the possibility of the Serbian List leaving the coalition government of Kosovo.

"The Government is doing its work while the decision of political parties is always theirs, they can leave just as they joined but I know of no reason for this. There has been no communication with the government and I can therefore not comment any further," Tahiri said.

Yesterday, head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group Arben Gashi criticised the Serbian List for not taking part in the Assembly session that was supposed to vote on the economic recovery draft law. 

Speaker of Swiss parliament visits Krusha e Madhe memorial site (media)

Isabelle Moret, President of the National Council of Switzerland, accompanied by MP Thomas Kolly and Ambassador Thomas Kolly paid tribute to the victims of the conflict in Kosovo by visiting the memorial site in Krusha e Madhe. 

"Ms. Moret was impressed by the strength and courage of the family members of those still unaccounted for and acknowledged the need for justice," a statement issued by the Swiss Embassy in Kosovo reads. 

The Swiss delegation also visited the village's widowed women, founders of the "Gratë e Krushës" cooperative, whose products are exported to Switzerland. 

 

 

Serbian Language Media

 

Vucic: 1.800.000 doses provided, most likely of Pfizer vaccine; Better to reach a solution for Kosovo sooner than later (media)

The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic said, in his address today to the public regarding the current epidemiological situation in Serbia, that 1.800.000 doses of vaccine were provided.   

"The most important thing is health. Together with the Government, we set out in search of vaccines, to provide vaccines in the easiest way, to first reduce and then stop the catastrophic effects that coronavirus brings," he said, adding that Serbia has provided so far 1.800.000 doses of the vaccine against COVID-19, and it will most likely be Pfizer.

He explained which groups are priority.

"By the end of January, we will try to provide enough vaccines for the health system, the army and the police that are most affected. Immediately after them would be those who are already ill, as well as the elderly. In the end, middle-aged and young people," Vucic said.

"A very important message is that we will have the first vaccines before the end of December," he added.

President Vucic conveyed the conclusions of the meeting with Quint and EU Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, and pointed out a message of peace and dialogue as the most important, and desire of Belgrade to continue the dialogue with Pristina as the best solution which could be achieved through dialogue, and that it was better to achieve it sooner than later - otherwise a conflict can happen, reported Serbian media. 

"Many might think that the situation around Kosovo is better than before due to the internal situation in Kosovo and that it is not possible to expect greater pressure on Serbia by December and January by the great powers. The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh has shown how a frozen conflict can escalate in a real catastrophe when someone unfreezes it," said Vucic in a press conference.

He emphasized that he would not say who did not learn the lessons from the defeat of the 90s on our soil, but that we must learn the lessons from the 90s, and one of those lessons is that we should not leave frozen conflicts to children and work on solutions.

He also assessed that it was clear that the world, apart from the announcements, was little interested to react, as well as that it was seen that the division in the world was different and regionally, and the interference of great powers.

He pointed out that because of everything, Serbia must continue to strengthen economically and militarily in order to save the country from potential aggression.

"We have to take care of the future of our children, and I am sure that people in Europe will understand that," Vucic said.

Vucic asked the Government of Serbia to accept his request and have a larger number of members of national minorities in the apparatus of the Government of Serbia and the Provincial Apparatus, not only traditional partners like Istvan Pastor, but also members of other minorities - Roma, Croats, Bosniaks...

Vucic also conveyed that several important talks between Belgrade, Tirana and Sofia took place at the Sofia summit yesterday.

One of the results of those talks was that the citizens of Serbia would soon be able to enter Albania with an ID card in days to come. 

Also, it was agreed that the citizens of Albania, Northern Macedonia, when the borders of the three countries open, suffering from Covid-19, will be taken care of and admitted to health institutions at the expense of those countries.

Vucic also said that "single work permits" would be issued, as well as that it was important to open "green economic corridors" that would be established between these countries and the European Union.

Construction of a road in the municipality of Decani in accordance with the Law on Protected Zones, EU Office says (KIM radio, Kontakt plus radio, KoSSev)

The European Union Office in Kosovo announced that the Implementation and Monitoring Council (IMC) has adopted an "arrangement" on the construction of roads in the municipality of Decane in accordance with the Law on Special Protected Zones in Kosovo adopted on June 15, 2008.

"This arrangement includes the synchronous development of an international bypass outside the special protection zone and a local road within the special protected zone," the EU Office said in a statement.

It is added that this arrangement aims to "encourage relations between communities through the protection of religious and cultural heritage and strengthen the economic development of the municipality of Decani as well as the region itself."

The agreement was reportedly made possible by Italian Ambassador to Kosovo Nicola Orlando with the support of KFOR Commander Major General Michele Risi.

Members of the Implementation and Monitoring Council will monitor the implementation of the arrangement with the support of KFOR, which will act within its mandate, added the statement.

A meeting of the Implementation and Monitoring Council was held on November 9th in Pristina.

KIM radio recalls that the brotherhood of the monastery Visoki Decani strongly opposes the construction of the road Decani-Plav, which pointed out that the highway would harm the monastery itself. The monastery repeatedly called for the respect of the Law on Special Protected Zones.

On August 17, the Government of Kosovo ordered the suspension of the construction of the road, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti visited the monastery with the mayor of Decani, Bashkim Ramosaj, and talked with the abbot of the monastery Visoki Decani, Father Sava Janjic.

Hoti then promised that the government would find a solution for building the road, respecting the laws of Kosovo, the media reported.  

Abbot Sava: An arrangement adopted to protect the monastery from the construction of an international road (Kosovo Online)

The Abbot of the monastery of Visoki Decani, Archimandrite Sava Janjic, published on Facebook the decision of the Council for Monitoring Protected Zones, which adopted an arrangement for the protection of the monastery from the construction of an international road, which, as he stated, ensured respect for the law.

"This decision of the Council for Implementation and Monitoring of Protected Zones adopted an arrangement that will protect the monastery from the construction of an international road, which will go by a bypass outside the protected zone, and on the other hand enable rehabilitation of the existing road through the zone for local use of Decani residents. The process will go synchronized and under international monitoring. This ensured respect for the law, which our Church insisted on from the beginning," said Sava Janjic, the portal quoted.

The United States will work with the EU in the Balkans, but also with Britain (Danas)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among the first European leaders to congratulate Joseph Biden on his victory in the elections in the United States, and the two of them also talked about the Western Balkans in a telephone conversation on Tuesday, reported the president-elect's office, writes Belgrade based daily Danas. 

The US and Great Britain are "distant" partners of the Western Balkans, believes Jelica Minic, president of the European Movement in Serbia.

"The region is completely surrounded by the member states of the European Union, it is largely de facto, if not formally integrated into it, and three countries in the region are also members of NATO. That is why in EU circles, it is considered that it represents the "soft belly" of the Union, where all the moves of "external" partners are carefully monitored," Minic told Danas.

It will be interesting to follow, she said, "how the two countries will implement the agreed cooperation in our region, since their economic presence cannot be compared to Russia, China, Turkey, or even the United Arab Emirates, while the political presence is very different from country to country''.

The attitude of the new US presidential administration towards the recent initiative of the outgoing President Trump, regarding the regulation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, will be the best indicator of to what extent and in which direction will be manifested the new / old US policy towards the region and what role the traditional alliance (of America) with Great Britain will play in that. 

"It seems that further policy will be more coordinated with the European Union," the president of the European Movement in Serbia concluded.

The United States will work with all its overseas partners, including the EU and Great Britain, when it comes to the Western Balkans, says Dragan Djukanovic, president of the Center for Foreign Policy and professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences.

"They will coordinate their activities to a much greater extent," Djukanovic told Danas. 

When it comes to the future cooperation between Biden and Johnson, he states that it will not be better than it was with the Donald Trump administration.

"It will be a very different cooperation, but that kind of traditional alliance between America and Britain will be preserved regardless of who the president is," Djukanovic points out.

On Tuesday, Biden spoke by phone with French leader Emanuel Macron, as well as with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel congratulated Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their election victory. Merkel also expressed the wish that "the two countries will have close cooperation marked by mutual trust in the future," said the spokesman of the German chancellor.

Stano: It would be good for Belgrade and Pristina to prepare for the next round of dialogue (Kosovo Online)

EU spokesman for foreign policy and security Peter Stano told portal Kosovo Online that the next round of dialogue at the highest level will be held in Brussels as soon as the conditions allow.

Stano's reaction followed the statement of LDK leader Isa Mustafa "that the dialogue will continue after Christmas", and when asked by Kosovo Online how he commented on the mentioned statement, Stano answered:

"As a rule, we do not comment on the remarks or reports on alleged remarks by officials on one side or the other. The EU is a facilitator of dialogue and organizes meetings at expert and high political level to advance the work. This is a continuous work. We always publish the date, time and agenda of the forthcoming meeting when it is needed. The next high-level dialogue meeting will be convened in Brussels as soon as conditions allow. In the meantime, it would be good for Pristina and Belgrade to prepare for discussions, showing the necessary spirit of pragmatism and political will to compromise," Stano said.

Roma Party President: More than 100,000 Roma expelled from Kosovo, large number killed (Kosovo Online, Tanjug)

Today, the President of the Roma Party, Srdjan Sajn, called on the Serbian Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, Gordana Comic, to publicly call on everyone to speak correctly on the issue of victims of crimes in Kosovo and to not omit Roma when talking about those victims, because more than 100,000 were expelled, and a large number were killed and disappeared, reports news agency Tanjug.

"Not mentioning Roma by the public when they talk about the victims of crimes, for which the trial before the Specialized Chambers for Crimes in The Hague has started these days, is the most heinous insult to human dignity," Sajn said in a statement.

He points out that respect for all victims and the fight against extremism are the basic preconditions for establishing a dialogue and calls on Minister Comic to react and publicly call on everyone to speak correctly on the issue of victims.

"We are convinced that you will react and, in that way, show your readiness to fight so that neither the Roma, nor any other community, can be a collateral damage of the so-called great interests," says Sajn.

He reminds that more than 100,000 Roma left Kosovo without their will, that a large number of them disappeared or were killed, and that to this day those people and their families have not been compensated.

Campaign for the mayoral elections in North Mitrovica started today (Tanjug)

The campaign for the snap elections for mayor of North Mitrovica scheduled for November 29 began today with a ballot paper draw. 

Candidate of Serbian List is Milan Radojevic, who is also the incumbent Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, and three more lists are participating in the race for the first man of North Mitrovica - Dusan Milunovic as an independent candidate, Florent Azemi from PDK and Erden Atiq from VV, CEC Commission member Nenad Rikalo told Tanjug. 

“Campaign for the elections scheduled for November 29, which will be held also in Podujevo, will end on November 27,” Rikalo added, emphasizing that the measures adopted by the Ministry of Health forbid gathering citizens during the campaign. 

Serbian List to Fatherland Movement: Only those who trade with lives of others can wish for conflicts in Kosovo (Kosovo Online)

“Only “traders” in the lives and destinies of other people’s children, and political adventurers and pests on the political scene such as Marko Jaksic, Slavisa Ristic and other self-proclaimed patriots-members of Fatherland can rejoice in the chaos in Nagorno-Karabakh, and wish for conflicts and wars in Kosovo and Metohija,” Serbian List stated.  

“Since they have thoroughly secured themselves financially and hid their children throughout the rest of Serbia and the world, they would now want to provoke conflicts,” the Serbian list statement reads. 

It added that “unaware of their stupidity, by such actions they are calling for the disappearance of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija”.  

“That is why, once again, the’Serbian List and Serbian people in Kosovo unequivocally provide full support to President Vucic to preserve the peace, Serbian people and our Serbia from all attacks, but also from these false patriots and political adventurers”. 

Fatherland Movement: What the example of Nagorno-Karabakh teach us; will Vucic visit his friend Hashim Thaci in The Hague (nspm.rs)

People’s Movement of Serbs from KiM ‘Fatherland’ published an  opinion piece pointing out that “the signing of the armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding Nagorno-Karabakh with the mediation of the Russian Federation shows the full value of the international law that

Azerbaijan has adhered to for the last 30 years. After three decades, Azerbaijan has reached internationally recognized borders that no one in the world can challenge”.

“It is worth noting that most of the Azerbaijanis left Nagorno-Karabakh and its surroundings, and that virtually none of the members of that people lived in that area. However, it did not occur to the Azerbaijanis to say, as Aleksandar Vucic says, that for that reason they should give up internationally recognized territories. Azerbaijan has been waiting for more than 30 years for the dice to roll and for international opportunities to mature for it to exercise its territorial right.”

“That is why it is political nonsense when we listen to the President of Serbia when he says that he does not want to have a frozen conflict because there will be a war like in Nagorno-Karabakh. In other words, the President wants to say that we should give up the primordial part of our territory, which according to Security Council Resolution 1244 and international law belongs to us. Nobody can take Kosovo and Metohija away from us, unless we give it up ourselves. Unlike Serbia, Azerbaijan does not have criminals, thieves and traitors at the helm of the state, but it has a patriot who defends the sovereignty and territorial integrity of his country.”

“If Serbia wants to preserve its territorial integrity, this is a sufficiently instructive example, because today in the Security Council, Resolution 1244 is defended by the Russian Federation and not by the Washington Agreement of Aleksandar Vucic. He has the right and can gamble with his family property in Cipulic near Bugojno in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but not with Kosovo and Metohija.”

In the opinion piece, Fatherland also “assumes that the President of Serbia will visit his close friend Hashim Thaci in the detention unit in The Hague, at least out of decency”.  

 

 

Opinion

 

Kosovo War Crimes Court Can Promote Justice on All Sides (Balkan Insight)

The cases of former Kosovo Liberation Army officials in The Hague should exert pressure on Serbia to prosecute its own former officials for war crimes in Kosovo, says Lotte Leicht of Human Rights Watch.

While eyes were fixed on elections in the United States last week, a president in Europe resigned to face trial for atrocity crimes committed more than 20 years ago.

Kosovo’s Specialist Prosecutor’s Office formally charged President Hashim Thaci with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the 1998-99 Kosovo war, along with three other senior members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, the rebel group that rose up after years of the Serbian government’s persecution and abuse.

Thaci promptly resigned and was taken to The Hague, where the Kosovo Special Chambers are based, and where he made his first appearance on Monday.

The court, funded by the EU with an American as chief prosecutor, was established in 2016 to try crimes committed during and just after the Kosovo conflict, many of which were also documented in a 2010 Council of Europe report. The court is formally part of Kosovo’s judicial system but is based in the Netherlands and employs international staff, as well as judges, prosecutors, and the registrar.

Critics of the court portray the effort as a one-sided, anti-Albanian campaign. But the charges include the murder of ethnic Albanians who were political adversaries of the KLA. Many of the roughly 100 Albanian, Serbian and Roma victims of the crimes prosecuted went missing after the war, so these crimes were unrelated to the hostilities.

Indeed, many of these crimes were not covered by the UN’s war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the ICTY, which only included crimes up to the war’s end in June 1999, while the Kosovo special court has jurisdiction up to December 31, 2000.

Three steps are essential now. First, the court, the EU and other supporters need to continue to ensure robust witness protection, the lack of which has undermined cases against other former KLA leaders, including at the ICTY.

Second, the prosecution and the court need to provide these and any future defendants with unerringly fair trials with all due process rights.

Third, the United States and European governments should use this development to advance justice in Serbia for crimes in Kosovo and across the former Yugoslavia for abuses in the wider war.

See at: https://bit.ly/36xPRTH

 

 

Humanitarian/Development

 

Two KelKos hydropower plants granted 40-year licence (Prishtina Insight)

On Thursday, Kosovo’s Energy Regulatory Office, ERO, granted Austrian company KelKos a 40-year licence to generate electricity from two of its hydropower plants, “Belaja” and “Decan,” which have been the subject of years of protests by environmental activists.

On October 14, the ERO refused to grant a temporary licence to KelKos for three hydropower plants in the Decan valley on the basis that the company failed to provide an environmental permit from the Ministry of Economy and Environment. 

However, on Wednesday night, an agenda for an ERO board meeting was published, which contained points stating that the licences for two of these hydropower plants would be reviewed.

BIRN then contacted environment minister Blerim Kuci on Thursday morning to ask whether KelKos had now been granted an environmental permit. He stated that no permit had been issued. 

“KelKos, as far as I know, is in the process and needs to complete some conditions,” Kuci told BIRN. “As yet, we have not granted permission.”

See more at: https://bit.ly/3poVr32

The Husband-and-Wife Team Behind the Leading Vaccine to Solve Covid-19 (nytimes.com)

The German company BioNTech, founded by two scientists, has teamed up with Pfizer on a vaccine that was found to be more than 90 percent effective.

Two years ago, Dr. Ugur Sahin took the stage at a conference in Berlin and made a bold prediction. Speaking to a roomful of infectious disease experts, he said his company might be able to use its so-called messenger RNA technology to rapidly develop a vaccine in the event of a global pandemic.

At the time, Dr. Sahin and his company, BioNTech, were little known outside the small world of European biotechnology start-ups. BioNTech, which Dr. Sahin founded with his wife, Dr. Özlem Türeci, was mostly focused on cancer treatments. It had never brought a product to market. Covid-19 did not yet exist.

But his words proved prophetic.

See at: https://nyti.ms/3lq7vyH