• Kurti for TRT: Association only after mutual recognition (media) 
• Osmani: It is dangerous to have a neighbor like Serbia (media) 
• Türkiye ready to make contribution to Kosovo, Serbia dialogue process: President (Anadolu Agency) 
• Lajcak to stay in Kosovo today; will meet Kurti and Bislimi (Klan)
• Kurti discusses EU proposal with Albanian and Bosnian reps in Serbia (RFE) 
• Rasic: Some Serbs who resigned from administration want to return (RTK) 
• Molliqaj: Mono-ethnicity for Association was launched by govt (Klan) 
• Hoti: We’ve never had such unfavorable position in relations with US (Sinjali) 
• Underdogs from Kosovo Take E-Sports World by Storm (BIRN) 
• Ten girls, one stage and desire to make things better (Kosovo 2.0) 
• Brnabic: Kurti weakens position every time he says "no" to Association (Express) 
• Serbian parliament adopts govt report on negotiations with Kosovo (RFE) 

Kurti for TRT: Association only after mutual recognition (media)

All media cover an interview that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti gave to TRT highlighting his remarks that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities can be discussed only after mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia. Kurti said U.S envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar “is obviously very active and very involved and I welcome that. I met him several times. We have to be careful and we have to be fair. And what I am laying out as principles, as conditions, for any kind of Association, are not my arbitrary stances or my personal thinking. The will of the people in Kosova, constitutionality and lawfulness are those which made me say that first we need mutual recognition and only then any kind of Association. And let us not forget our bitter experience from Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Watch full interview at: https://bit.ly/3HsvR76

Osmani: It is dangerous to have a neighbor like Serbia (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with Croatian newspaper Vecernji List said that it is dangerous to have a neighbor like Serbia. According to her, NATO and the Kosovo army will prevent the scenarios of the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic.

Osmani also spoke about the relations between Kosovo and Croatia. "I am very proud of my relations with Croatia. As president, I am actively involved in cooperation with all institutions in Croatia to unite our countries and people, to remove any obstacles in the way of our cooperation, to do everything for the good of our people."

Osmani also spoke to the Croatian media about the talks with Serbia and the provocations of the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, and why she opposes the establishment of the Association, media report.

 Osmani also rejected any possibility of the division of Kosovo, arguing that it would open Pandora's box.

Türkiye ready to make contribution to Kosovo, Serbia dialogue process: President (Anadolu Agency)

Türkiye is ready to lend support to the dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia for regional peace if requested, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

"Türkiye is ready to provide all kinds of support for the peace and stability of our region and to make the necessary contribution if requested by the parties," Erdogan said at a news conference with Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Istanbul.

"We hope that the dialogue process with Serbia will result in a way that ensures the region's lasting peace and stability," he said.

Türkiye continued joint efforts to ensure that Kosovo reaches the position it deserves in the international arena, Erdogan said, adding: "In this regard, we support Kosovo's vision to join NATO, the Council of Europe, and the EU."

Besides political relations, Erdogan said they discussed what Türkiye and Kosovo can do in the fields of economy, trade, energy, defense industry and the fight against terrorism.

Referring to the group behind the 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye, Erdogan said: "I asked my dear friend to make additional efforts to increase our solidarity against Fetullah Terrorist Organization's (FETO) activities in Kosovo."

Read more at: http://bit.ly/3wVZFUP  

Lajcak to stay in Kosovo today; will meet Kurti and Bislimi (Klan)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, is expected to visit Kosovo on February 6. In a statement to Klan Kosova, spokesperson of the European Union for foreign policy, Peter Stano said that it is an integral part of any EU special representative to meet partners and that he does not comment on such visits.

"It is an integral part of the work of any EU Special Representative to meet partners and visit the capitals in the region for which the EU Special Representative is responsible. We usually neither make specific announcements about such work visits nor comment on them,” he said.

Kosovo government spokesman Perparim Kryeziu told Klan Kosova that "Prime Minister Kurti together with Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi are expected to hold a working lunch with the emissary Lajcak."  

Kurti discusses EU proposal with Albanian and Bosnian reps in Serbia (RFE) 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti discussed on Monday the EU proposal for the normalisation of Kosovo-Serbia relations, with representatives of Albanians and Bosnians in the Parliament of Serbia. Kurti, together with Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Hajrulla Ceku, hosted in a meeting the Albanian MP Shaip Kamberi, SDA Sanxhak leader Sulejman Ugljanin, and two Bosnian MPs Enis Imamovic and Selma Kucevic.

Kurti’s office said in a press release that “different communities, without any differences, must be treated according to universal principles and in full harmony with EU standards” and that the rights of non-majority communities in Kosovo and Serbia reflect our democracy and development as a society.

The four visiting officials said they are not satisfied with the status of Albanians and Bosniaks in Serbia in general, and highlighted specifically the situation in the municipalities of Novi Pazar, Tutin and Sjenica in Sandjak, and in Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac. “They also asked for reciprocity in rights with Serbs in the Republic of Kosovo,” the press release notes.

Imamovic said that “after a failed attempt to talk with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the Parliament of Serbia and to learn from him about the content of the European proposal” they discussed the issue with Kurti.

Rasic: Some Serbs who resigned from administration want to return (RTK) 

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic, said in an interview with RTK, that some Serbs from the north of Kosovo who resigned their positions in the administration in November last year, are ready to return to Kosovo’s institutions. Rasic argued that their readiness should be met with understanding that the decision to approve their resignations should be revoked. He also said he knows that “their decision was politically motivated, but we should understand that it was a very difficult and emotionally charged moment for them”.

Molliqaj: Mono-ethnicity for Association was launched by govt (Klan) 

Leader of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) Dardan Molliqaj through a post on Facebook, said that the notion of mono-ethnicity was launched by the government to appear to have improved the Association's statute.

He said that the final version is known, because according to him it will not be 'mono' and that according to him, the Association is already harmful, in each version.

"For or against the Association, let's be together! This notion of mono-ethnicity was launched by the government to make it appear that they improved the Association's statute, and the final version, as you know, will not be MONO. It was never meant to be. Not even when it was opposed with protests and actions within the Assembly. The association is already harmful, in either version. And as such absolutely unacceptable".

"The strategy is this: invent the problem, fight it and announce the success. All this figment of the (dangerous) imagination. The main war the government has, is with its supporters. It has the duty to answer the difficult question: how to appear principled and right, without being so. This goes beyond the topic of association. Their political status is in question," Molliqaj said.

Furthermore, Molliqaj in his writing said that the organization for a more equal society should overcome the conflict about the association.

"Therefore, organizing for a more equal society must overcome the conflict around the association. Both those who are against and those who are in favor have strong reasons to unite. All of us who can't stand being governed by dogmatic, authoritarian political models should be organized in opposition," Molliqaj wrote further.  

Hoti: We’ve never had such unfavorable position in relations with US (Sinjali)  

Former Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said in an interview for the Voice of America, during his visit to Washington that never in its history has Kosovo been in a more unfavorable position in the dialogue with Serbia and relations with the United States.

When asked about the Association of Municipalities with a Serb majority, Hoti said that in 2015, a safeguard was put in place, stating that the Statute of the Association must receive the consent of the Constitutional Court before being decreed by the government of Kosovo.

Thus, he said, ‘are the continuous declarations of our partners in the United States of America in particular, regarding the Association that it will not be a structure outside the Constitution of Kosovo.’

"The association has become part of the constitutional order of Kosovo, it is the responsibility of the bearers of the institutions to make sure that these international obligations that Kosovo has taken over, made part of the constitutional order, to implement them in close coordination with international partners to ensure that they are implemented within the constitution of Kosovo," Hoti said.

Asked if the U.S. guarantee that this Association will not be an arrangement like "Republika Srpska" is not enough, Hoti said ‘Washington requested in 1999 that we sign the Rambouillet agreement, with the promise that Serbia will be bombed. An American president in Tirana said that enough is enough and Kosovo must become independent and Kosovo has become independent.’

"The partnership we have with the United States is existential, it is not just a diplomatic partnership as we can have with many other countries around the world that have recognized us, but it is an existential partnership. Close relations with the United States are at the core of the very existence of the state of Kosovo," he said.

Underdogs from Kosovo Take E-Sports World by Storm (BIRN) 

A group of youngsters from Kosovo with no money or no big organization behind them have made their country proud, unexpectedly putting their team among world’s greatest.

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

Ten girls, one stage and desire to make things better (Kosovo 2.0) 

You can’t because you’re a girl.

“My name is Ana Petrov. I’m 23 and in the final year of my master’s studies in architecture. I’m one of those who was told that architecture isn’t for women.”

“My name is Sara Gajović. I’m 25 and come from Kraljevo. I’m a professor of French language and literature. I’m one of those who were told that they can’t work in mountain search and rescue because it’s cold and I’m a girl.”

“My name is Ana Ninković and I’m 26. I graduated as a professor of Serbian literature and language. I wasn’t told what I could or couldn’t do.”

These are three of the 10 devojčica, “little girls,” from the theatrical play of the same name. Produced by the Belgrade-based Reflektor Theater, the play marks the theater’s 10th anniversary. The theater started off with a play called “Muškarčine” (“Macho Men”) and caps off 10 years with “Devojčica.” There is some poetic justice in this because in this period much changed, or at least started to. The MeToo movement has emboldened girls and women who more and more are demanding their rights in the streets.

“Everything happened as it should,” said Milena Minja Bogavac, playwright and director of the plays “Muškarčine” and “Devojčice.”

Read more at: https://bit.ly/40qRbmt

Brnabic: Kurti weakens position every time he says "no" to Association (Express) 

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Sunday that Serbia's insistence on the formation of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority strengthens Belgrade's position in the dialogue, while according to her, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, weakens the position of Kosovo every time he says "no," Serbian media report.

Brnabic commented on Kurti's statement that the Association will be established only after reaching an agreement on mutual recognition.

"Aleksandar Vucic won the Association with all powers with the Brussels Agreement and now you can see how smart this policy is in the long run," Brnabic told TV Prva.

Serbian parliament adopts govt report on negotiations with Kosovo (RFE) 

The Serbian parliament on February 3 adopted the government's report on negotiations with Kosovo. The vote was 154-23 while nine members did not vote. The parliament discussed the report during a two-day session that began after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic received the European Union's proposal for normalizing relations with Kosovo. The proposal, which has not been fully released, has the backing of the United States and the European Union. Vucic discussed some of the provisions of the proposal on February 2 and warned that Serbia could become isolated if it rejects the proposal.