UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 24, 2022

Albanian Language Media:

Kurti: We need to jointly discuss a way out of crisis (Kallxo/Express)
Abdixhiku: Government's delayed response on energy shows regime's inexplicable fear (Klan)
PDK: Institutions were indifferent to announcements of energy price increase (Kallxo)
Kusari-Lila: No going back to past practices regarding Serbia's elections (Telegrafi)
Greece's Dendias expresses support for progress in Kosovo-Serbia relations (media)
COVID-19: 2,243 new cases, two deaths (media)
Haradinaj asks Kurti to lift COVID-19 border measures (media)
North Macedonia urges Kosovo to review recent COVID-19 measures (media)
Why Kosovo Shrugged off Balkan Conspiracy Theories About Vaccines (Prishtina Insight)

Serbian Language Media:

Covid-19: 155 new cases registered in Serbian areas on Saturday (Kosovo-online)
Blakaj: Kosovo institutions have not done enough to gather evidence of the war (Danas, KiM radio)
Greek FM lends support to Lajcak’s efforts on Kosovo (N1)
Complaints over new decision of Kosovo government that booster dose is needed to enter Kosovo (KoSSev)
Vucic on voting in Kosovo on April 3 elections (TV Most)
Dacic says international community should ensure that Serbs vote in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever)
US, UK & German embassies deny PM claim they finance protests in Serbia (N1)

Humanitarian/Development:

Olympic dreams come true for Kosovo skier Kiana Kryeziu (AP)
Europe could be headed for pandemic 'endgame': WHO (france24.com)

Albanian Language Media

Kurti: We need to jointly discuss a way out of crisis (Kallxo/Express)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti urged MPs to jointly discuss a way out of the energy crisis, Kallxo and Express report.

He said that the Energy Regulatory Office report on the electricity price is not a "take it or leave it" thing but something that is subjected to public discussion. "That report can receive your comments, those of our Government, the comments of line ministers, parliamentary groups of committees," he said. "What would be the point of having an ERO if I am to take the decision?" he asked.

Express quotes Kurti as saying at the Assembly session today that he cannot interfere in the decision of the Energy Regulatory Office. "I realise it is a heavy burden for the state as well as for the citizens. Together we need to discuss how to exit the crisis but I cannot take the decision while there is the ERO. Asking me to decide would be to ask me to become a dictator."

Abdixhiku: Government's delayed response on energy shows regime's inexplicable fear (Klan)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku said the refusal of the Government to discuss the electricity price increase proposal shows its "inexplicable" fear to, as he said, deal with the truth.

Speaking to MPs during an extraordinary session of the Assembly, Abdixhiku accused the Government of "political hypocrisy". "Kosovo institutions, the Government, have consistently denied that there was a crisis in Kosovo. The delayed response is the result of incompetence that has led first to power cuts and then enormous price increase," he said.

Abdixhiku added that the "crisis denial" will cause damage estimated at 150 million to 200 million euros. He said the Assembly of Kosovo should reject the proposal of the Energy Regulatory Office to increase electricity tariffs.

PDK: Institutions were indifferent to announcements of energy price increase (Kallxo)

Abelard Tahiri, head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group, criticised Kosovo's institutions for being "indifferent" to the energy price increase announcements, Kallxo reports.

"When countries in the region and the European Union began to take steps to avoid the anticipated energy crisis, our government was negligent and to this day I cannot comprehend the indifference it displayed during those months," he said at the Kosovo Assembly session today.

Tahiri called on all parliamentary parties to harmonise the text of a resolution at the end of the session rejecting plans to increase electricity price.

Kusari-Lila: No going back to past practices regarding Serbia's elections (Telegrafi)

Mimoza Kusari-Lila, head of the Vetevendosje Movement parliamentary group, said that there will be no going back to the past practices of holding Serbia's elections in the territory of Kosovo.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly presidency, Kusari-Lila said that Serbia's upcoming presidential elections will not be taking place in Kosovo. "Regarding the elections on April 3 in Serbia, I think that what happened with the resolution adopted in the Assembly for a referendum is a practice that should continue to be applied. Kosovo should function as a normal state not only in the region but also in Europe by guaranteeing citizens with dual citizenship a voting process either through mail or the Belgrade liaison office in Pristina," she said.

Kusari-Lila notes that the Serb community in Kosovo should realise that the "illusion that Kosovo is part of Serbia has ended."

Greece's Dendias expresses support for progress in Kosovo-Serbia relations (media)

Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias met the EU Special Representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajcak.

On Twitter, Dendias said they discussed the "state of play and the way forward in the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue," and that he reiterated Greece's firm support for Lajcak's efforts in achieving progress in the relations between the two sides.

Lajcak on his part thanked Greece and Dendias for "their leadership, interest in and support for both my work and the EU's engagement in the region."

COVID-19: 2,243 new cases, two deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 2,243 new cases with COVID-19 and two deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 465 persons recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 19,519 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Health has issued a statement noting that all COVID-19 measures have been taken as a result of a careful analysis and consultation process with health professionals and the advisory committee. "The decision doesn't necessarily ask for proof of three doses of the vaccine to enter Kosovo, having also the possibility of entering with two doses and the possession of a RT PCR negative test no older than 48 hours, a rule also applied by other countries," it said. The Ministry recalled that the current measures will be reassessed on 4 February.

Haradinaj asks Kurti to lift COVID-19 border measures (media)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj has called on Prime Minister Albin Kurti to recall the recent measures against coronavirus requiring all those entering Kosovo to present a certificate of a third vaccine dose or two doses and a recent negative PCR test.

Calling the decision "arbitrary", Haradinaj said the decision first and foremost affects Albanians. "This measure has not been applied by any of the neighbouring countries. This grave mistake of the government cannot be justified by anything," he wrote on Facebook.

North Macedonia urges Kosovo to review recent COVID-19 measures (media)

North Macedonia's Minister of Health Bekim Sali had a telephone conversation with Kosovo counterpart Rifat Latifi and discussed the recent measures Kosovo introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Sali expressed understanding for the decisions aimed at managing the pandemic but at the time conveyed concerns of the citizens of North Macedonia who have family, business and other ties to Kosovo and whose travel, he said, has now been significantly affected by the recent measures.

According to the Ministry of Health of North Macedonia, Sali asked Latifi to seek alternative solutions that would protect the health of citizens but at the same time not hinder free movement.

Why Kosovo Shrugged off Balkan Conspiracy Theories About Vaccines (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo was initially hit by the wave of conspiracy theories about vaccines in the Balkans – but now has the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the region.

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines, big and small, have spread alongside the virus around the world – and have found fertile ground in the Western Balkans.

When vaccines were first released, many citizens of Kosovo were reported not to want them, fearing allegedly dangerous or fatal side-effects.

But, in over a year, the situation flipped, with more people getting vaccinated every day.

Kosovo now leads in the Western Balkans in terms of vaccination rates, with 53 per cent of the population vaccinated once and with 45 per cent having had a second dose.

Vaccination in the country started at the end of March 2021 and 1,749,719 doses of vaccine have since been given out, 801717 people have had both first and second dose. Another 44,143 have had a booster.

Trust in science and institutions, public awareness about the importance of the vaccine, and travel and other restrictions for unvaccinated people may have been some of the reasons for the shift, experts say.

Anduena Berveniku, from Prishtina, said she did not want a vaccine in the beginning, as it came out quickly, and she was influenced by warnings she read on social media.

“In the beginning I was very influenced by what I read on social media, I had dilemmas about the way the vaccine came out so fast and I did not want to take it with the first group of vaccinated citizens,” she told Prishtina Insight.

But Berveniku changed her mind after seeing that family members did not show any serious side-effects, and that she would need it to avoid the growing restrictions.

“After my family members got vaccines, I felt assured that many of the things I read did not stand up, and of course I needed it [a jab] for work, and to avoid a lot of other restrictions,” she said.

Abraham Aldama Navarrete, a public opinion researcher, from the University of Pennsylvania, told Prishtina Insight that many factors dictate why people decide to get vaccines or not.

“A number of things that may determine people’s willingness to get vaccinated, and to believe and share misinformation and conspiracy theories,” he said.

Navarrete, who has conducted research on political psychology in developing countries, said education of the population, the attitude of the media and the strategy of conveying messages from institutions all play a key role.

“These include people’s pre-existing trust in science, what kind of news the media is sharing, and the recent public-health messaging strategy, and the incentives to get vaccinated put in place by both the government and the private sector, among many others,” he said.

While in other European countries, conspiracy theories have affected about a quarter of the population, in the Western Balkans some 75 per cent of interviewed citizens say they have been affected by at least one of the main conspiracy theories, a study from BiEPAG in 2020 showed.

According to this study, support for conspiracy theories is also linked to general sentiment toward the US and China, with minorities being the groups most likely to fall prey to theories.

Kosovo now leads in the percentage of the vaccinated population, even though it was the last country in the region to start mass vaccination. It is also the only country on the Balkans using only Pfzier and AstraZeneca, while other countries in the region also use the Russian and Chinese vaccines.

Serbian Language Media

Covid-19: 155 new cases registered in Serbian areas on Saturday (Kosovo-online)

Out of 288 tested samples in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, 155 tested positive for Covid-19, Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced on Saturday, Radio KIM reports.

New cases were registered as follows: 57 in Mitrovica North, 43 in Leposavic, 19 in Zvecan, six in Zubin Potok, 17 in Strpce, nine in Gracanica and four in Priluzje.

Currently there are 994 active cases of Covid-19 in the Serbian areas in Kosovo.

Blakaj: Kosovo institutions have not done enough to gather evidence of the war (Danas, KiM radio)

Kosovo's institutions, including the former Institute for War Crimes Investigation, have not done enough to gather documentation and evidence of events that took place during the war in Kosovo, Bekim Blakaj of the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Center told daily Danas.

Commenting on the decision of the Government of Kosovo to establish an institute, i.e. a mechanism for war crimes investigation during the war, Blakaj reminds that the government established the Institute for Research of War Crimes in 2011, KiM radio cited.

"This institute was operational until 2018, when it was abolished by the decision of the then Government of Kosovo, and instead the body of the Department for Transitional Justice within the Ministry of Justice was formed. The institute was not particularly successful, except for several publications," Blakaj said.

He added that the representatives of that Institute complained that they did not have enough support, neither political nor financial.

"The government of Albin Kurti has launched the idea of re-establishing an institute for research and documentation of war crimes, although it is not certain that the body will be called the Institute or just the Mechanism. However, the government has already decided to form that body," said Blakaj.

According to him, no accurate official narrative about the past has been created in Kosovo.

"In that sense, such a mechanism is needed, but that mechanism must have precisely defined tasks, goals and mode of operation. Also, the mechanism must be comprehensive in its work and in no way overlap with other existing institutions, either in judicial or extrajudicial institutions. The mechanism should deal with documentation, analysis of documentation, publications to inform and educate, especially young generations, about the past. This is the only way the mechanism makes sense," said Bekim Blakaj.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said recently that 22 years have passed since the war, that solving crimes was far away, that a special mechanism will deal with them and that documenting crimes would serve to raise awareness in Kosovo and the region.

Milovan Drecun, President of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian Parliament, pointed out, among other things, for Danas that the decision to establish an institute or mechanism for collecting data on war crimes was "a story that Kurti returns to" and that it was ''easiest to play the card about the anti-Serbian story and the alleged crimes of the Serbian forces".

Stefan Surlic from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade told Euronews Serbia that the institute, i.e., the mechanism, would be formally established, but with the aim of considering crimes committed by the Serbian army and police, and not crimes against Serbs.

"I do not see anything new in this institute except the realization of the pre-election promise and the political decision," said Surlic, reported KiM radio.

Greek FM lends support to Lajcak’s efforts on Kosovo (N1)

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Monday that he expressed his country’s support towards progress in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to European Union envoy Miroslav Lajcak.

“I discussed the state of play and the war forward in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and reiterated Greece’s firm support for his efforts to achieve progress in relations between the two sides,” Dendias said in a Twitter post after a meeting with European Union envoy for the Western Balkans Lajcak.

Dendias said that they met on the margins of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

Lajcak replied in a retweet, thanking “Dendias and Greece for their leadership, interest in and support for both my work and the EU’s engagement in the region”.

See at: https://bit.ly/3Iy1wTC

Complaints over new decision of Kosovo government that booster dose is needed to enter Kosovo (KoSSev)

KoSSev portal writes today that Presevo mayor Ardita Sinani, southern Serbia, took it to Facebook to comment on the latest decision of the Kosovo government that a third vaccine dose or so-called booster or negative PCR test were needed in order to enter Kosovo.

She argued that the new measure significantly hampers movement of the citizens from three Serbian southern municipalities towards Kosovo.

She said given the number of people who have not receive third dose as no sufficient time has passed since they received second dose, many of them have no financial means to do PCR test, whenever they want to go to Kosovo, so this measure limits freedom of movement between Presevo and Kosovo, where they work, study, recuperate or even visit their families. She also urged the Kosovo government to reconsider this decision or amend it.

Bujanovac mayor Nagip Arifi sent a letter to Prime Minister Albin Kurti expressing hope that the new decision to enter Kosovo will be reconsidered. In a letter Arifi said that mandatory vaccination with a third dose, hampers the movement even for those vaccinated with two doses and having PCR test.

Similar criticism came from North Macedonia. Minister of Health Bekim Shalla said he already spoke with his Kosovo counterpart Rifat Ljatifi, asking that the government reconsiders its latest decision. He also pointed out frequent visits and departures to and from Kosovo by North Macedonian residents.

He noted the number of cases in Kosovo and North Macedonia when it comes to pandemic were similar, adding he kindly asked Ljatifi to first reconsider the decision and then search for other ways to protect the public health, but without hampering freedom of movement.

The portal also said, citing Pristina-based media that residents of Albania also expressed dissatisfaction regarding this decision, and that Kosovo opposition voiced criticism regarding the new measure.

Serbian media earlier reported that students from central Serbia also faced difficulties to enter Kosovo and attend their exams or certificate semesters at University in Mitrovica North given that the vast majority of them had not been vaccinated.

Vucic on voting in Kosovo on April 3 elections (TV Most)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic voiced belief that Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija will be able to vote in the elections on April 3. After being asked what he expects in April when it comes to Serbs voting in Kosovo, taking into account Pristina's behavior in the event of a referendum, Vucic told TV Pink that he believes citizens will go to the polls, not only in the north but throughout Kosovo and Metohija.

"I hope that someone is smart enough to understand that, and what far-reaching consequences would be if that did not happen", he said.

Commenting on Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his refusal to accept proposals of the EU and Quint states regarding the referendum, Vucic said he smiled every time they told him they had issued a statement, but Kurti did not want to listen.

"The EU was somewhat fairer regarding the referendum, but some other factors behaved irresponsibly”, he added.

However, he did not want to say who he meant, but only that he knows who he was talking about.

Asked whether a solution can be expected within the dialogue, Vucic said that Pristina likes to talk only to itself, and that it does not like to talk even with the international community.

"They are only interested in recognizing them as an independent state and that's all”, Vucic said.

Dacic says international community should ensure that Serbs vote in Kosovo (Radio Mitrovica sever)

The international community must provide conditions for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija to vote in the next elections and not to repeat the situation regarding the recent referendum, Serbian Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic said, Radio Mitrovica sever reports.

"It is a matter of principle and Serbia will not give up on that", Dacic said, answering the journalist's question.

He emphasized that Serbs must have the right to vote in Kosovo and Metohija, as it was always done.

"This is the creation of an atmosphere that Serbs cannot participate in the electoral and political processes in Serbia, and the only thing here is that in the past, the representatives of the international community were the ones who ensured that the other side agreed, this time there was no agreement", he said.

Dacic points out that this time the agreement was awaited as a "possible point for possible interventions" in those places where voting would be organized.

US, UK & German embassies deny PM claim they finance protests in Serbia (N1)

The embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany in Belgrade denied in a joint statement Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic's claims they financially backed the environmental protests that made the government end its deal with the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto mining company, N1 reports.

“These claims do not reflect our partnership with Serbia“, the joint statement added.

It recalled that since the beginning of the democratic transition process in Serbia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany had been among the most generous and reliable partners and friends of Serbia, providing financial assistance totaling over three billion euros.

Humanitarian/Development

Olympic dreams come true for Kosovo skier Kiana Kryeziu (AP)

Competing in the giant slalom at the Beijing Olympics will be a giant step for 17-year-old Kiana Kryeziu and her country of Kosovo.

Kryeziu is the first female athlete from Kosovo at the Winter Games after she met the qualifying standard during races held in Italy.

“I really didn’t expect it would happen this early,” Kryeziu told The Associated Press. “It was one of my biggest goals. It was one of my dreams and now all is becoming reality.”

Not that it’s been easy, she said, with a lot of hard training as well as finding the money for an expensive sport.