• COVID – 19: 322 new cases, nine deaths (media)
• Kosovo parliamentary election to be held on February 14 (Prishtina Insight)
• Kosovo ‘should rethink Serbia agreements’ with Biden in power (Balkan Insight)
• Gucati, Haradinaj to appear before Specialist Chambers today (media)
• Kurteshi: Kurti will be part of Vetevendosje’s list in new elections (Kallxo)
• Haradinaj: AAK aims for post of President in the elections (media)
• Poll: Vetevendosje has 41.10 percent, PDK 20.80 percent (media)
• “Very small chances for Kosovo to get visa liberalisation this year” (media)

COVID – 19: 322 new cases, nine deaths (media)

322 new cases of COVID – 19 and nine deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 647 persons have recovered from the virus during this period. There are 7,743 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Kosovo parliamentary election to be held on February 14 (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo’s acting president Vjosa Osmani has dissolved the Kosovo Assembly and announced new parliamentary elections to be held in mid February.

Through a press release, Kosovo’s acting president Vjosa Osmani has announced that parliamentary elections will be held on February 14, a decision that dissolved the seventh legislature of the Kosovo Assembly.

“Based on Constitutional responsibilities and the Judgment of the Constitutional Court no. KO-95/20 and following discussions with Kosovo’s parliamentary parties and the Central Election Commission, acting president Vjosa Osmani, has decided to announce elections and to set February 14, 2021 as the date for holding early parliamentary elections,” the announcement states.

On December 21, the Constitutional Court annulled the election of acting Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s government in June 2020, ruling in favour of Vetevendosje complaint. However, the decision only came into effect earlier on Wednesday after the full text was published.

Osmani previously held meetings with the leaders of Kosovo’s parliamentary political parties on December 22 and 23, to discuss the date of the elections.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, have announced that acting party leader Enver Hoxhaj will stand as its candidate for prime minister, while acting prime minister Avdullah Hoti has been nominated as the prime ministerial candidate for the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.

Vetevendosje were expected to announce party leader Albin Kurti as its candidate for prime minister, but aspects of the Constitutional Court’s decision may prohibit him from running for MP.

The decision states that no person convicted with a final decision by a Kosovo court in the last three years may be sworn in to the parliament and serve as an MP. In summer 2018, Kurti was convicted for his role in throwing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in protest at agreements reached with Montenegro in Serbia in 2015.

Kosovo ‘should rethink Serbia agreements’ with Biden in power (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo’s Acting President Vjosa Osmani said that after Joe Biden’s administration comes to office, her country needs to talk again about agreements with Serbia that were signed while Donald Trump was in power.

Acting President Vjosa Osmani told BIRN that after US President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 21, that Kosovo needs to talk to Washington about reviewing some of the agreements that her country has signed with Serbia, which she believes are proving to be harmful.

In September 2020, the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia, Avdullah Hoti and Aleksandar Vucic, signed agreements at the White House on mainly economic issues in the presence of President Donald Trump. The agreements were signed separately by Kosovo and Serbia with the US, not with each other.

“We need to sit and talk with US President Biden’s team, to see what they think about those issues which were reached as pledges, not as an agreement,” Osmani told BIRN Kosovo’s television show.

Reservations have been expressed in Pristina about whether all the clauses in the Washington agreement benefit Kosovo.

“There are questions over issues such as the Ujmani lake and other political issues about which we need to see what the Biden administration’s position is,” Osmani said.

In the agreement, Kosovo and Serbia committed to work with the US to explore the possibility of sharing the Ujmani/Gazivode lake, a strategically important reservoir that is claimed by both sides.

“I am not prejudging because I am not one of those who think that new administration will just throw this agreement in the bin,” Osmani added.

Osmani said she is also hoping that the Biden administration will favour a review of an EU-mediated agreement signed with Serbia in 2015 to establish a so-called Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities in Kosovo. Serbs see the idea as a guarantee that their interests will be protected but Kosovo Albanians politicians argue that it creates a parallel Serb power centre.

Serbia insists that the association must be established in line with the agreement, but Kosovo Constitutional Court ruled in 2015 that many of its provisions do not conform with Kosovo’s constitution.

Osmani argued that the agreement, signed by former Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, would make Kosovo a dysfunctional state.

“I am convinced that it is in this [Biden’s] administration’s interest to keep Kosovo functional,” she said.

Osmani was elected speaker of the Kosovo parliament in February 2020 and took over as acting president in November when Hashim Thaci resigned after being indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

With snap elections looming following a Constitutional Court ruling last month which caused Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s cabinet to collapse, Osmani now holds two of the three most important official positions in Kosovo while simultaneously trying to establish her own political organisation.

An election date has yet to be announced, but Osmani, who in June was dismissed from her position in the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK party, recently chosen Guxo! (To Dare!) as the slogan of her organisation.

Her plans are to run in the elections alongside candidates from the opposition Vetevendosje Movement party, led by ex-premier Albin Kurti.

“I have only discussed it with Mr. Kurti so far… So far we have only discussed the will to cooperate,” Osmani said.

Gucati, Haradinaj to appear before Specialist Chambers today (media)

Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj, leaders of the KLA War Veterans Organisation, will appear before the Specialist Chambers at The Hague today. The two men are indicted for offences against the administration of justice, namely obstruction of official persons in performing official duties, intimidation of witnesses, retaliation and violation of secrecy of proceedings.

Kurteshi: Kurti will be part of Vetevendosje’s list in new elections (Kallxo)

Sami Kurteshi, Vetevendosje Movement’s representative in the Central Election Commission, said on Thursday that VV leader Albin Kurti will be part of this party’s list in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“Albin Kurti will run in the elections. He is the most voted person in Kosovo. He has the people’s trust. The ruling [of the Constitutional Court] does not pertain to Albin Kurti. Our list will include people that have won a very large number of votes, the most voted people in Kosovo who enjoy the people’s trust. We have no reason whatsoever not to include these people in the list,” Kurteshi said.

Haradinaj: AAK aims for post of President in the elections (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader, Ramush Haradinaj, said on Thursday that he remains a candidate for the post of Kosovo President and that his priority if he gets elected will be Kosovo’s membership of NATO. “As President, my priority will be Kosovo’s membership of NATO, and also the security and the economic development of the country,” he said.

Haradinaj also said that in the new parliamentary elections, scheduled for February, the AAK won’t aim to get the post of Prime Minister, but the post of Kosovo President.

Poll: Vetevendosje has 41.10 percent, PDK 20.80 percent (media)

Several news websites report that according to a poll conducted by Prishtina-based IPSOS, the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement (VV) will win 41.10 percent of votes in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is expected to win 20.80 percent of votes, while the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) 15.70 percent of votes. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) is expected to be fourth in place with 8.60 percent of votes, and Limaj’s NISMA will win two percent. According to the poll, Vjosa Osmani’s political initiative will win 3.20 percent of votes.

“Very small chances for Kosovo to get visa liberalisation this year” (media)

The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola Von Cramon, said on Thursday that there are very small chances for Kosovo to get visa liberalisation during the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Von Cramon said in an interview for RTV Dukagjini that regrettably they could not do more during the German presidency because of the skepticism of some member states.

“Even before the German presidency of the Council, together with many colleagues in the European Parliament, we tried to include the topic in the agenda but regrettably we have to say that we were not able to make any progress because of the existing resistance from certain member states. I certainly hope that the Portuguese presidency will address the issue, but because of the extraordinary situation caused by the pandemic, I don’t expect any substantial progress before the second half of 2021. The Government of Kosovo must convince skeptical countries like France and Holland to move forward in the visa liberalisaton process. Certainly, more work is needed in fighting corruption and organised crime,” she said.