• COVID-19: 735 new cases, 12 deaths (media)
• Government, municipalities to discuss new measures (media)
• Health Minister implies new measures against COVID-19 (Kallxo)
• Measures may be assessed after increase in new COVID-19 cases (Koha)
• Prishtina Mayor: €5 million for businesses, €100,000 for the media (media)
• Thaci, Krasniqi to appear before court today (media)
• Enver Hoxhaj elected acting leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo (media)
• Analysts: Biden will shut down idea for territorial exchange (Koha)

 

COVID-19: 735 new cases, 12 deaths (media)

735 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths from the virus have been recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 77 patients have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are currently 7,719 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

The highest number of new cases is from the municipality of Prishtina (312).

Kosovo’s National Institute for Public Health said in a statement on Sunday evening that the record-high number of new cases was a result of people’s carelessness. The Institute called on people to advise those not respecting the restrictive measures in order to avoid a total lockdown.

Government, municipalities to discuss new COVID-19 measures (media)

Several news websites reported on Sunday evening that the Kosovo Government, the Association of the Municipalities of Kosovo and all mayors will discuss on Monday the new measures aimed at preventing the further spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 11:00.

Health Minister implies new measures against COVID-19 (Kallxo)

The news website reported on Sunday that Kosovo’s Minister of Health, Armend Zemaj, has implied introduction of new measures in the fight against COVID-19, after a meeting with heads of chambers of commerce and the association of gastronomists on Sunday. Zemaj said after the meeting that the recommendations he received from his interlocutors will be discussed with Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

“We all feel responsible for the public health and the healthcare system, therefore, it is crucial that we must all together, where we work, to implement the rules aimed at preventing the spread of the virus, and the instructions from the COVID-19 Protection Manual. The concerns of every category of our society are reasonable, but we must all together think about the public health,” Zemaj said. 

Measures may be assessed after increase in new COVID-19 cases (Koha)

The news website reported on Sunday evening that the number of positive cases with COVID-19 is on the rise with a record-high 730 new cases and 11 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours.

A source from the government’s committee for managing the pandemic said the decision to put seven municipalities in lockdown over the weekend came as a result of a large number of people going out on Fridays and Saturdays. The source said the lockdown was a test and that the results will be seen in 7 to 10 days.

It is unclear whether the lockdown measure will be applied in coming weekends too. Minister of Health, Armend Zemaj, told KTV that the assessments are made by the National Institute for Public Health and that it is too early to say if the decision for a lockdown was successful.

Representatives of the Ministry of Health also told KTV that the committee will meet again this coming week to assess the epidemiological situation and the measures in force.

Meanwhile, the municipalities have asked to meet the Minister of Health in order to have a better understanding of future steps.

Minister Zemaj met on Sunday with Berat Rukiqi, President of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, and Arian Zeka, Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, and representatives of the association of gastronomists. “All concerns of every category in our society are reasonable, but all of us together must think about the public health,” Zemaj said after the meeting.

Prishtina Mayor: €5 million for businesses, €100,000 for the media (media)

Prishtina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti took to Facebook on Sunday to say that the municipality will allocate €5 million for small businesses and a fund of €100,000 for media operating in Prishtina.

“In the coming days, we will start the process of allocating grants for microbusinesses and small businesses. We have allocated €5 million for this. Considering the number of businesses operating in Prishtina, this is a small aid but for microbusinesses and small businesses it could be very meaningful in the pandemic. The process will be transparent (online),” Ahmeti said.

Thaci, Krasniqi to appear before court today (media)

Former President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and former Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi, indicted on war crimes charges, will make their initial appearance before the Specialist Chambers courtroom in The Hague today. Krasniqi's session will take place at 11:00 while that of Thaci at 15:00. Both hearings can be viewed online.

Enver Hoxhaj elected acting leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo (media)

Most news websites reported over the weekend that Enver Hoxhaj will be acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) after the confirmed indictment by the Specialist Chambers against party leader Kadri Veseli.

The PDK chairmanship also elected new deputy leaders, including Sami Lushtaku, Bedri Hamza, Hajredin Kuci, Xhavit Haliti and Memli Krasniqi.

Analysts: Biden will shut down idea for territorial exchange (Koha)

The news website reported on Sunday that according to political commentators, the President-elect of the United States of America, Joe Biden, will not support the idea of a territorial exchange between Kosovo and Serbia.

Bodo Weber, a political analyst with the Berlin Democratisation Policy Council, told Koha that negotiations between the two countries will return to the original principles with the aim of reaching a legally binding agreement.

“It will definitely end the dangerous episode of pushing the parties into an agreement for territorial exchange. The dialogue will be retuned to the original framework by saving its basic principles – that the idea of border changes in the Balkans is long gone. Serbia needs to resort to a reality-based policy by admitting that it has lost Kosovo long ago, in order to become a real partner of the West,” he said.

Weber also said that the agreement reached in Washington on September 4 on economic issues and the agreement on the Mini – Schengen, will be shifted within the context of the European Union.

Arbresha Loxha from the Prishtina-based Group for Legal and Political Studies said she expects Biden to be harsher on Serbia and Russia’s challenging of the state of Kosovo. “We naturally expect this change to reflect on the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in which the White House will be more stable in promoting the independent state of Kosovo and openly oppose Serbia and Russia’s practices and their de-recognition campaigns,” she said.