• Kosovo PM Kurti speaks with US envoy Escobar on the phone (Express)
• Hovenier: Excited to come to Pristina to deepen US-Kosovo ties (media)
• Caroline Ziadeh appointed new head of UNMIK (media)
• Kurti: I’d vote for unification with Albania in democratic referendum (media)
• U.S. calls for implementation of all Constitutional Court decisions (media)
• Citaku on UNSC sessions: I had hard time getting information about war (Koha)
• President Osmani speaks at the Halifax International Security Forum (media)
• Mehaj: Presence of permanent military base in Kosovo, important (media)
• The battle with lobbies (Koha Ditore)
• Spain preparing historical turn towards Kosovo (media)
• The integration of the north remains on paper (Koha Ditore)
• Minister: Boycott bars and restaurants that don’t serve communities (media)
• Two Serbian List officials risks decertification (Koha)
• COVID-19: 7 new cases, no deaths (media)
• As COVID wave strikes Balkans, infections in Kosovo drop (BIRN)
• Serbian Albanian leaders deny deal over deleted addresses (BIRN)

Kosovo PM Kurti speaks with US envoy Escobar on the phone (Express)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke by phone with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Gabriel Escobar, to discuss a wide range of issues, Gazeta Express reports.

Kurti said that he discussed with the US envoy Escobar among other things also on the dialogue with Serbia and the need to see results and progress cantered on mutual recognition.

“In a phone conversation with DAS State Department Gabriel Escobar. We discussed a range of issues including our democratic reforms, program on jobs and justice, commitment to dialogue and the need to see results and progress cantered on mutual recognition,” Kurti wrote on Twitter.

Hovenier: Excited to come to Pristina to deepen US-Kosovo ties (media)

The newly appointed Ambassador of the United States to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, wrote on Twitter that he is looking forward to returning to Pristina and working on strengthening ties between the two partner countries. Ambassador Hovenier replied to a post he was tagged in from Blerim Vela, the Kosovan President’s Chief of Staff, congratulating him on the new post.

Earlier on, Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke over the phone with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar, putting an emphasis on democratic reforms, as well as the Dialogue with Serbia and the need to see some clear results in the near future.

Thursday’s plenary session took place amid a fiery debate that climaxed when former premier Ramush Haradinaj accused PM Kurti of being “anti-American” for dropping out from the US-backed pipeline project running through Greece and North Macedonia.

Caroline Ziadeh appointed new head of UNMIK (media)

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Caroline Ziadeh of Lebanon as the new Special Representative and head of UNMIK.

Ziadeh brings to the position close to 30 years of experience in international diplomacy, with a career in the diplomatic service of Lebanon and extensive knowledge of the United Nations having led national delegations to the United Nations on issues such as migration, sustainable development and the Ministry’s work related to human rights and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, media report quoting a statement issued by the UN.

Kurti: I would vote for unification with Albania in democratic referendum (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in an interview for Monocle online media that in the future he would vote in favor of unification with Albania if it would be presented in a democracy way. Kurti however said that this is not his priority during this mandate but that in a future mandate he would not rule this out.

“I think that if there were two referendums, people would vote for unification. I was elected Prime Minister to combat corruption and to create jobs for the youth and women. In the future I would not rule this out, but in terms of the stability of the region, it would be best for the six countries of the Western Balkans to join the European Union,” he said. “Kosovo and Albania are two states but one nation. We did not declare independence against Albania, but against Serbia”.

Link to the interview at: https://bit.ly/3cAlWgP

U.S. calls for implementation of all Constitutional Court decisions (media)

Commenting on the recent visit of the President of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, Gresa Caka-Nimani, to the United States where she met the Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Counselor for International Affairs Bruce C. Swartz, including senior officials in the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development as well as the U.S. representatives in the Venice Commission, the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo said on Facebook: "Kosovo’s independent justice institutions are critical to its democracy. It's time to implement all Kosovo Constitutional Court decisions and fill vacancies on the Court."

Citaku on UNSC sessions: I had hard time getting information about war (Koha)

Vlora Citaku, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and former ambassador to the United States spoke about her appearances at the UN Security Council sessions on Kosovo.

"Right after the war there was a great effort in Kosovo on the part of the political establishment and the sizeable international presence not to talk so much about the war, about the past. I am not saying there was pressure to forget it, there was an attempt to move on. We cannot move forward by burying the truth, by denying what happened. We cannot reconcile about the future if we cannot agree about the past," Citaku said in an interview with KTV, adding: "We have not done enough to sufficiently document the war and crimes in Kosovo. I had a hard time whenever I went to the Security Council to get accurate data. We still have problems documenting the crimes that Serbia has committed in Kosovo."

She said the UN Security Council still operates under a resolution adopted in 1999 and that whoever reads it will see that the text refers to a 'non-existent' reality in Kosovo. "Although we have to go there, give our version, speak on our own behalf, what we as Kosovo need to do is to insist on these sessions not taking place at all." Citaku said that her biggest achievement while representing Kosovo was to ensure, together with colleagues in the Kosovo's consulate - Teuta Sahatciu - and those in diplomatic missions, the scaling down of the number of Security Council sessions from four to two. "We have lowered the level of representation... to send the message that Kosovo is not the hotbed of the crisis. The Security Council holds more sessions on Kosovo than on Syria or Yemen or on other genuine crisis points. We have to insist on those sessions not taking place at all or at least undergo a format change, be closed."

President Osmani speaks at the Halifax International Security Forum (media)

The President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani delivered a speech on Saturday at the Halifax International Security Forum, where she spoke about the perspectives of Kosovo and its challenges, both in the field of security and in battling with the pandemic.

“She potentiated the importance of international cooperation and partnerships in order to tackle the pandemic and similar challenges successfully. For cooperation to work, countries must agree on common rules and strengthen international institutions through oversight. Furthermore, she highlighted the danger of Russia's malicious influence which is supporting autocratic regimes, destabilizing various regions of the world, including the Western Balkans, and through funding of disinformation campaigns is reducing people's trust in institutions,” reads a press release issued by the Office of the President.

Elaborating on battling with the pandemic President Osmani said that Kosovo had difficulties in dealing with the pandemic, due to a fragile health system inherited from the 1990’s and due to the fact that it was the last country in Europe to start with the administration of vaccines. However, she emphasized that despite all this Kosovo has made progress in the vaccination process.

"Kosovo has now become a leader not only in the region but also in terms of the percentage of vaccinated population," explained Osmani, indicating that Kosovo has refused to receive vaccines from Russia and China. Further, the she has demanded no backing down against vaccine skepticism.

"It is our duty to convince our citizens that the vaccines we use are safe and that this is the only way out of this extremely challenging medical and economic situation," she said.

At the end of her address to the Halifax International Security Forum, President Osmani stressed the importance of international solidarity in situations such as the pandemic, strengthening transatlantic institutions as a way to protect democracy, fair economic competition and building sustainable societies and economies.

Mehaj: Presence of permanent military base in Kosovo, important (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense, Armend Mehaj participated in the International Security Forum in Halifax in Canada. On the sidelines of this forum, Mehaj met with the commander of the Special Operations Command of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Mehaj wrote in a post on Facebook that during this meeting they exchanged views on current developments in terms of defense and security, both at the national level, as well as regionally and globally.

"I also reiterated the importance of the presence of a permanent military base in the Republic of Kosovo, which would benefit not only Kosovo, but the entire region and beyond," Mehaj wrote.

The battle with lobbies (Koha Ditore)

The daily reports on its front page this morning that the Serbian state is using all resources for lobbyists in the United States, in order to push forward its economic and political interests. “Meanwhile, despite the lack of financial support from the Kosovo Government, Albanian-American lobbyists are working to secure supporters in favor of Kosovo’s interests at a time when efforts are being made to secure a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Among them is Senator Bob Mendes, who has offered his support in opposing the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities,” the paper reports.

Spain preparing historical turn towards Kosovo (media)

The Spanish newspaper "The Objective" wrote on Saturday that the head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, is preparing a historic turning point in terms of Madrid's official position for Kosovo. According to this Spanish newspaper, such a move will de facto mean recognition of the independence of the Republic of Kosovo.

"The Objective" relies on diplomatic sources which say that Spain is expected to open a Trade and Cultural Office in Pristina. The newspaper says that such an action will be done following Franco's model with the USSR, without implying full recognition.

However, diplomatic sources from the Office of Diplomatic Information have told the newspaper that these options are not on the table at the moment adding other ideas are being studied.

Regarding the issue of Kosovo's recognition by Spain, the Secretary of State for the EU, Juan Gonzales-Barba, spoke on Friday, making it clear that Spain will not recognize Kosovo diplomatically until there is an agreement between Pristina and Belgrade.

But the number three of Spanish diplomacy for the first time has opened the door for cooperation with Kosovo institutions. He said that Spain wants to be more involved in the region and a strategy of continuing to ignore Kosovo altogether, would be lame. He added tat some compromise needs to be made.

Gonzalez-Barba said that Spain's decision "will be made quickly and will be made public", implying that a diplomatic step is inevitable.

"We want the decision to be understood by Serbia, our main partner in the Western Balkans" he added.

"We want to contribute to the efforts of all member states and the envoy of the High Representative - former Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak - to reach an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and we hope that our efforts will be recognized and appreciated by the countries of the Balkans," he concluded.

The integration of the north remains on paper (Koha Ditore)

The integration of the northern part of Kosovo remains a challenge for every government that comes to power, the daily reports on page five. Although the ruling party, the Vetevendosje Movement (VV), promoted the idea of dialogue with the Serbs in the north, this has yet to happen.

Former VV leader Visar Ymeri said the idea for a dialogue with the northern Serbs must be maintained and implemented but not through force. “I think the idea must be implemented because there is an outstanding problem of non-integration of the northern Serbs in Kosovo’s political institutional life and I think that this cannot be solved with force, but through dialogue and talks,” he said.

Minister: Boycott bars and restaurants that don’t serve communities (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Local Government, Elbert Krasniqi, took to Facebook to react to reports that some bars and restaurants have refused to serve members of the RAE community.

“It is a shame that gastronomy facilities in different cities of Kosovo and different ways are refusing to serve members of the communities and differentiate! I was informed about such a case in the city of Gjakova yesterday. Gjakova is one of the cities known for coexistence and cases like this must not be allowed to happen. We all must boycott bars and restaurants that make such differentiations. We must not support people with racist positions in their development,” the Minister wrote.

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, too reacted to the reports, saying that the refusal to serve members of the communities is unacceptable and punishable. “This must not happen. Equality and not discrimination!” Haxhiu wrote in a Facebook post.

Two Serbian List officials risks decertification (Koha)

This week is expected to be decisive for two candidates of the Serbian List - Ivan Todosijevic and Sasa Milosevic - after the Central Elections Commission (CEC) was asked to decertify the two officials, Todosijevic on the grounds that he has been issued with a final court verdict while Milosevic is said to hold leading posts with parallel structures in Kosovo, Koha reports.

The issue was raised at the meeting by the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) member Sami Kurteshi who argued that it is CEC's task to decertify the two candidates.

COVID-19: 7 new cases, no deaths (media)

Seven new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 33 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 326 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.

As COVID wave strikes Balkans, infections in Kosovo drop (BIRN)

As COVID-19 infections skyrocket across much of Europe and the Balkans, bringing new talk of lockdowns, Kosovo is proving the exception to the rule.

As the number of COVID-19 infections soars in some Balkan countries, figures from Kosovo authorities show a drastic decrease in numbers.

Kosovo authorities registered only 11 new COVID on Thursday, far less than in the rest of the region. Montenegro, a country with almost half the population of Kosovo, reported 409 new cases. Albania reported 549 new cases, North Macedonia 493 and Serbia 3,219.

On Friday, Kosovo confirmed only seven new cases, 26 recoveries and one COVID-19-related death, with only 380 active cases all over the country.

Salih Ahmeti, a Kosovo-based epidemiologist, told BIRN that Kosovo benefits from a relatively young population and a reasonably high rate of immunization.

“We have a very young population and a considerable number of the citizens either have developed natural immunity or got immunity from the vaccine,” Ahmeti said.

In an interview for Radio Free Europe this week, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that 64 per cent of the population over the age of 16 had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. On November 2, Kosovo approved vaccination from the age of 12.

Ahmeti said the last COVID-19 wave in Kosovo in August and early September was mainly a result of the large diaspora visiting the old country, and because many Kosovars went on holiday to the coasts of the region and there showed a “low level of respecting [safety] measures”.

In August, BIRN reported that around 1 million people traveled to Kosovo from July to the beginning of August alone.

By August 11, Kosovo had 3,489 active cases compared to only 166 it had around one month earlier, on July 3.

The Kosovo government imposed tougher COVID-19 measures on August 20 due to the sudden increase in cases and again on September 12, enforced for two weeks.

Ahmeti explained that Kosovo was now “in a mild period, which is in the nature of the virus”. However, he said that this lull should be “used to prepare for the possibilities of dealing with other waves in the coming weeks”.

Kosovo citizens can now get vaccines without arranging an appointment with the closest vaccination centre to where they live.

Serbian Albanian leaders deny deal over deleted addresses (BIRN)

Head of National Council of Albanians in Serbia rejects government minister's claim that the two sides had agreed that Serbia is not deleting addresses of Albanians from southern Serbia 'in an organised fashion'.

Ethnic Albanian representatives in Serbia told BIRN they have not reached any agreement with Serbia’s government on the alleged deletion of the addresses of ethnic Albanians in the south of the country, despite government officials’ claims.

“There is no agreement, nor an arrangement,” Ragmi Mustafi, head of the National Council of Albanians in Serbia, told BIRN.

On Wednesday, Gordana Comic, Serbian Minister of Human and Minority Rights, and Social Dialogue, told Bujanovacke, the local media outlet of the Albanian-majority municipality of Bujanovac in Serbia: “There is no organized deletion of addresses (so-called ‘passivation’ of residence) of Albanians in Serbia and there is nothing but the application of the Law on Residence”.

“We have agreed on that with the representatives of the National Council of Albanians,” Comic added.

Mustafi dismissed that idea of an agreement and told BIRN: “If such a thing is confirmed, I will resign.”

He said the National Council of Albanians had “offered free legal assistance” as soon as it gathered data on the phenomenon of deleting the addresses of ethnic Albanians in the three municipalities of Medvedja, Bujanovac, and Presevo, the so-called Presevo valley.

“The National Council of Albanians has already started the judicial process at the Belgrade Supreme Court on the case of the ‘passivation’ of the address of Safet Demiri from Medvedja … with the purpose of sending the case to the European Court of Human Rights,” Mustafi said.

BIRN previously reported that the addresses of thousands of ethnic Albanians from the Presevo valley, deemed no longer living at their registered addresses, were being classified as inactive.

Many ethnic Albanians have left the undeveloped border area in recent years, seeking better prospects in next-door Kosovo or elsewhere.

Experts and ethnic Albanian politicians say deleting their Serbian addresses is a violation of human rights and is done to artificially alter the local official ethnic makeup and its political representation.

The multi-ethnic border region two decades ago saw clashes between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serbian security forces in the aftermath of the war in nearby Kosovo.

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia has backed Albanian claims and called it “ethnic cleansing through administrative means”.

In May, Presevo mayor Ardita Sinani told BIRN that deleting ethnic Albanians addresses in Serbia was an “attempt at ethnic cleansing” and asked for the issue of ethnic Albanians in the three Serbian municipalities to be made part of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

In late March 2021, the Kosovo and Serbia rapporteurs for Brussels said the EU would investigate whether Serbia is classifying the addresses of ethnic Albanians in Serbia, living abroad, as “inactive”.

In December 2020, BIRN reported the case of an ethnic Albanian, Teuta Fazliu, from Bujanovac, who had taken her case to Serbia’s Administrative Court.

Fazliu told BIRN on Friday, almost one year later, that the case was still with the Administrative Court and, if the ruling went against her, she would send the case to the Constitutional Court, which determines whether there have been human rights violations.

“I will pursue the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights,” she vowed.

The Serbian government and the National Council of Albanians are still negotiating the issue of the deletion of the addresses, intermediated by OSCE mission in Serbia and, according to Mustafi, 23 foreign ambassadors, including the EU ambassador to Serbia.

BIRN contacted OSCE and EU missions in Serbia about Coci’s claims but did not receive a response by the time of publication.