• COVID-19: 227 new cases, four deaths (media) 
• Assembly to discuss management of COVID-19 pandemic (media)
• Kurti slammed for decision to vote in Albania's elections (media)
• Kurti pledges to present programme upon return from Brussels (media)
• Kosovo without political consensus towards the grand finale (Koha)
• Klan Kosova: Surroi, Shala invited to join Kosovo negotiating team (media)
• Gervalla: Petkovic to respect Brussels Agreement during Kosovo visit (Express/Klan)
• Lajcak and Vucic meet in Brussels (media)
• Op-ed: Kosovo should rule out any further compromise (BIRN)
• Pjeter Shala: Kosovo Liberation Army’s Shadowy ‘Commander Wolf’ (BIRN)
• Exit polls: Tight race in Albania’s parliamentary vote (AP)

 

COVID-19: 227 new cases, four deaths (media) 

227 new cases of COVID-19 and four deaths have been recorded in Kosovo over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, 615 recoveries were confirmed during this period.

There are currently 11,112 active COVID-19 infections in Kosovo.

Assembly to discuss management of COVID-19 pandemic (media)

The Assembly of Kosovo is scheduled to hold a plenary session today to review the draft law for amending Criminal Procedure Code. This will be followed by a discussion on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kurti slammed for decision to vote in Albania's elections (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti has been criticised for his decision to vote in Albania's general elections on Sunday.

Acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Enver Hoxhaj said that Kurti is more interested in his fellow party members in Albania than the fate of his fellow citizens in Kosovo who continue to suffer COVID-19 effects. "While Albania has reached the figure of 400,000 vaccinations, Kosovo has only vaccinated 20,000 citizens and is waiting for another shipment of vaccine donations," he wrote on Facebook. Hoxhaj said forecasts for Kosovo are grim and Kurti will be held responsible for the situation.

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Driton Selmanaj said that Kurti's voting was unacceptable and will carry geopolitical and geostrategic consequences for Kosovo.

Mayor of Prishtina, Shpend Ahmeti, said that while he doesn't agree on many things with Kurti, voting in Albania is not one of them. "Do not forget, apart from citizenship, VV also ran in elections today. If nothing more, a vote less for VV candidates would not have been fair on them. If we criticise the dual citizenship of the prime minister, we had fewer prime ministers with single citizenship (Ceku - Croatian, Thaci - Albanian). I don't even want to bother going into comparisons between Serbia and Albania. Let's go back to subsidies, vaccines and economic crisis," he wrote on social media.

Eugen Cakolli from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) wrote on Facebook that it is not okay for a citizen holding political and even executive post to vote in elections of another country. "And when this citizen happens to be the prime minister, that also represents a political platform in elections of another country, this makes the situation unacceptable," he said.

Albert Krasniqi from Democraci Plus think tank criticised all Kosovo politicians that voted in Albania. "The majority of these political elites of Kosovo that are voting today in elections in Albania are the same ones that lost the chance for visa liberalisation since 2017. They won dual citizenship and the power. We remained both without Qakorr and without visas," Krasniqi said in reference to the border area that was disputed in the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro.

European Parliament rapporteur Viola von Cramon said Kurti's vote in Albania was not acceptable. "I cannot understand what this is all about. On one hand everyone in Kosovo complains about interference from Serbia or from President @avucic himself but on the other hand here does the PM of #Kosovo even vote in a neighbouring state. Not acceptable. At least not for me."

Former U.S. envoy Richard Grennell said Kurti's voting in the Albanian elections tells the world so much about who he is. "The international community should be suspicious of his motives," he commented on Twitter.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaking to Tanjug news agency after meeting Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak also commented on Kurti's decision. "I stressed to Lajcak the fact that Kurti was boasting of having voted in Albania. What would you have said if I had voted in Gracanica or Zubin Potok? That would have been a scandal of global proportions, although that is our territory as per Resolution 1244," he said.

Kurti meanwhile said that as he holds dual citizenship, he exercised the right to vote. "As Prime Minister I will increase and intensify cooperation with whomever wins the elections," he wrote on Twitter. Upon return to Kosovo, he took to Facebook to state that democracy is a system that Albanians have always loved and voting is a citizen duty for those that love democracy.

Media reported that a number of Kosovo officials from different political parties also voted in Albanian elections, including Mayor of Drenas Ramiz Lladrovci and leader of New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) Behgjet Pacolli. Minister of Environment Liburn Aliu also cast his vote in Sunday's elections.

Kurti pledges to present programme upon return from Brussels (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that the government programme will be presented to the public after his return from the two-day visit to Brussels this week.

"We are in the last days of finalising our gov. program for the next 4 yrs, focused on investment to create jobs & justice to fight corruption. Soon after I return from Brussels next week, we will present the program to parliament for approval and start our transformative agenda," Kurti tweeted on Saturday.

Kosovo without political consensus towards the grand finale (Koha)

Koha Ditore reported that at the time when the Kurti-led government is seeing increased international pressure to deal with the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, the opposition has not a clear view of the government's approach. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has implied it would not become part of dialogue while the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) considers a possible invitation to the opposition to join the talks as an inability of the government to lead the process on its own.

PDK spokesperson Avni Bytyci said they have not seen any document that sets out the Government's objectives in the dialogue with Serbia but that the PDK's role will not go beyond that of the opposition, in line with the results of February elections.

LDK's Muhamet Hamiti at the same time noted that the Government should prove it is capable of leading Kosovo, including the process of dialogue. "It has said it will do so better, now is its chance to prove it."

Klan Kosova: Surroi, Shala invited to join Kosovo negotiating team (media)

Klan Kosova reported during the weekend that publicist Veton Surroi and former advisor to president Hashim Thaci Blerim Shala have been invited by Prime Minister Albin Kurti to become part of the Kosovo negotiating team in dialogue with Serbia.

The report was however denied by Kosovo Government spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu. He said that Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi had a meeting with Surroi and Shala as part of a project funded by the Norwegian Embassy. "It was not about a negotiating team. It was about a team of experts funded by the Norwegian Embassy as part of the MoU signed this week which will also include Mr. Surroi and Mr. Shala," Kryeziu told Arbresh.info news outlet.

Klan said that the project in question involves several former Kosovo diplomats who will be in charge of drafting an action strategy for the dialogue with Serbia.

Gervalla: Petkovic to respect Brussels Agreement during Kosovo visit (Express/Klan)

Kosovo's Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla said that the authorities have issued permission to the head of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo Petar Petkovic to visit Kosovo in the understanding that he will adhere to the Brussels Agreement.

Gervalla said that measures would be taken against Petkovic if he violates the terms of the Brussels agreement.

In Kosovo visit, Petkovic handed over keys to twelve flats to families in Mitrovica North, a donation from the Government of Serbia.

Lajcak and Vucic meet in Brussels (media)

Miroslav Lajcak, EU Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, met in Brussels Aleksandar Vucic, President of Serbia.

Along a picture with Vucic, Lajcak said that they discussed the dialogue and the work ahead. "Later this week, I will discuss the same issues with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti," he wrote on Twitter.

Vucic on his part noted that Serbia would positively respond to any type of dialogue and that it wants to be contstructive in resolving problems. He said he insisted on implementation of Brussels Agreement including the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, freedom of movement of persons, goods and services. "That is of crucial importance for progress in all economies in the region," Vucic said.

Op-ed: Kosovo should rule out any further compromise (BIRN)

The new watchword being touted in the dialogue is ‘compromise’, but after years of imbalance and concessions it is one Kosovo would be well advised to resist, writes Aidan Hehir, who teaches at University of Westminster, in an opinion piece for Prishtina Insight.

Hehir notes that  the pressure on Kosovo to make compromises has been a prominent feature of international diplomatic engagement with the Kosovo-Serbia issue in recent years and that this is illustrative of a new disposition and agenda which has ominous implications for Kosovo. "Of late, the Western world’s aims for the dialogue have been less focused on consolidating Kosovo’s statehood and more on enabling Serbia’s accession to the EU. This is itself one part of a broader strategy: to consolidate Serbia within the West’s sphere of influence and in so doing limit Russia’s influence in the Balkans."

At the same time, Kosovo has received very little in return with its citizens not yet being able to enjoy visa-free travel while successive governments responded to Serbia's preferential treatment with 'unedifying compliance', the author remarks.

"The new Vetevendosje-led government, however, is committed to a different approach. A government spokesperson recently criticised the readiness of previous governments to compromise, and stated its determination to uphold Kosovo’s sovereignty during the Dialogue. This more robust stance may make achieving a deal with Serbia more complicated and will certainly disappoint those who hoped that Kosovo would continue to roll over when ordered to do so."

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3xr5OaD

Pjeter Shala: Kosovo Liberation Army’s Shadowy ‘Commander Wolf’ (BIRN)

In Pjeter Shala’s father’s home village of Brekoc in Kosovo’s Gjakova municipality, there is little to learn about the man who appeared for the first time this week at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

Villagers said that all they knew about Pjeter Shala, who was born elsewhere in Kosovo, in the city of Prizren, was that he was an only child and that his parents are now dead. They were reluctant to say any more.

Shala pleaded not guilty on Monday to war crimes including the arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder of prisoners who were held at a metal factory in the northern Albania town of Kukes, which the prosecution claims was used by the KLA as a detention centre, between May 17, 1999 and June 5, 1999.

“They were held under armed guard in makeshift cells, handcuffed and tied, relieved of travel documents and money, and subjected to acts of cruel treatment and torture,” the indictment claims.

At a status conference in the case at the Specialist Chambers on Friday, Shala’s defence lawyer Jean-Louis Gilissen asked the prosecution to disclose the names of the victims in whose killings he is alleged to have been involved.

“We are of the opinion that Shala should know the names of the victims, who are alleged to have died,” said Gilissen.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3tShHo2

Exit polls: Tight race in Albania’s parliamentary vote (AP)

An exit poll for Albania’s parliamentary election on Sunday suggests that the ruling Socialist Party is in a tight race with the opposition Democratic Party.

The exit poll run for Euronews Albania from the MRB, part of the London-based Kantar Group, projects that the left-wing Socialists will win about 46% of the vote while the Democrats are expected to capture about 42%. It is still unclear whether Socialists will get 71 seats in the 140-seat parliament to govern alone.

Some 3.6 million eligible voters in Albania and abroad voted to elect 140 lawmakers for a four-year mandate in the Balkan nation.

“The process was characterized by a calm situation, security and integrity,” said Ilirjan Celibashi, head of the Central Election Commission. He said the winner would be known in 48 hours.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/2PlUPOz