• Kurti meets new U.S. Ambassador: We will stand in unshakable alliance (media) • Hovenier's mission in Kosovo, to complete unfinished business (Koha) • Kurti: We will take Kosovo Telecom out of the crisis and put it on the development tracks (media) • European Parliament President David Sassoli dies at 65 (media) • Can Serbs from Kosovo vote in Serbia's referendum? (RFE) • Specialist Chambers confirm Kadri Veseli was granted custodial visit to Kosovo (Express) • Under tight security measures, Veseli concludes visit to Kosovo (media) • COVID-19: 236 new cases, no deaths (media) • Great Britain’s Special Envoy, Stuart Peach: We support ‘Open Balkan’ (euronews.al) • Kosovo protesters urge Serbia to free war crimes defendant (BIRN) • ‘Active Citizens’ Charge Officials With Destroying Mirusha Waterfall (BIRN)

• New U.S. Ambassador arrives in Kosovo (media) • Rizvanolli on action in Leposavic: We saved over €50,000 per month (RTK) • Finance minister on crypto ban: One man’s gain is everyone else’s burden (euronews.al) • Kosovo Police Seize Crypto-Mining Equipment After Govt Ban (BIRN) • Focus on final settlement overshadows implementation of other agreements (Koha) • Minister Haxhiu sees undoing of Specialist Chambers as "impossible" (EO/media) • Gervalla: Unlawful decisions taken in last years to be invalidated (media) • Abrashi: Declaration of UNMIK officials “persona non grata” is inapplicable (Koha) • Haradinaj to Kurti: Weren’t you the government of hope? (media) • Meir: Turkey’s influence hinders Kosovo’s EU integration process (Lajmi) • Police Errors Blamed for Woman’s Murder by Husband (BIRN) • Mothers’ Stories Highlight Tragedy of Kosovo’s Disappeared (BIRN) • Serbia's back-door bid to embed Chinese snooping tools in Kosovo (RFE) • COVID-19: 304 new cases, no deaths (media) • Kosovo braces for new wave of COVID-19 as it records over 1,000 cases in nine days (Express)

• Some anti COVID measures will become stricter, Health Minister says (KTV) • Kosovo reports over 100 new cases with COVID-19 on Wednesday (Express) • Escobar expected to visit Kosovo in January (Albanian Post) • Hasani: Kosovo Serbs cannot be part of Vucic’s referendum (media) • “Kosovo violated international relations by expelling Russian UN staff” (Telegrafi) • Kosovo’s energy crisis halts cryptocurrency production (Prishtina Insight) • Kosovo experts question legality of cryptocurrency mining ban (BIRN) • U.S. imposes new sanctions on Bosnian Serb leader Dodik (Reuters) • Osmani on sanctions on Dodik: A decisive and much-needed decision (media) • Why Serbia’s President is a threat to Europe (foreignpolicy.com) • A hotbed of cloak-and-dagger skullduggery in the Hague (nationalinterest.org)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 5, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • LDK, PDK reach co-governance agreement in Prishtina municipality (Telegrafi) • Haxhiu: We won’t give up on vetting process (Kosovapress) • Kraja: Kosovo made concessions to Serbia; Association biggest blow (media) • Hoti: Serbia trying to remove Albanians from Presevo Valley (media) • Another false alarm for explosive device at Prishtina bus station (media) • Prime Minister and Health Minister on pandemic: We must not relax (media) • COVID-19: 107 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Covid-19: 36 new cases, two deaths registered in Serbian areas (KoSSev) • “Kosovo can go to Olympic games, but Kosovo Serbs can’t take part in referendum” (Radio KIM) • Serbian Patriarch expresses respect to health care staff in Christmas message (FoNet, N1) • Surlic: International community views status of K. Serbs and ZSO only through prism of whether Kosovo will achieve independence (KoSSev) • 20 US military police officers to deploy to Kosovo (KoSSev, AP) International: • Montenegro Leads Region in Sudden Surge in COVID-19 Cases (Balkan Insight) Humanitarian/Development: • KFOR donates medical equipment to health house in Vidanje returnee village (KoSSev)

• Kosovo bans cryptocurrency mining in efforts to save energy (media) • Pristina’s actions against UN mission member should be met with response — Russia’s MFA (TASS) • Haradinaj accuses Kurti of "corruption" and "extreme leftism" (media) • Weber: Demonstration of force may happen again in the north (lajmi.net/media) • Xhaferi: "Open Balkan" incomplete without all Western Balkans countries (Kosovapress/media) • COVID-19: 108 new cases, no deaths (media) • Kosovo sees surge in COVID-19 cases (Express) • Deputy Minister: Kosovo about to enter a new wave of COVID-19 infections (Telegrafi)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 4, 2022 Albanian Language Media: • “France has changed approach”; optimism for visa liberalisation (Kosovapress) • Will Biden launch an offensive in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue this year (Gazeta Express) • Joseph: Rama’s rapprochement with Vucic is not healthy (Radio Free Europe) • Thaci and others are held in detention on assumptions, attorney says (Kosovapress) • COVID-19: 108 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Covid-19: 25 new cases registered in Serbian areas (Radio KIM) • Petkovic reacts to Pristina’s decision to declare UNMIK official “persona non grata” (B92, social media) • Moscow reacts to Pristina's move (media) • Trajkovic: Albanian political elite in Kosovo admitted return of expelled Serbs is politically conditioned (Kosovo-online) • Schieb: Serbia–Germany relations aim at providing support for EU integration (N1) • Chen Bo: Great results of cooperation between China and Serbia in 2021 (N1) • EU Office condemned recent desecration of cemetery in Kisnica (Radio KIM) • Two anti-coronavirus shots needed to enter Kosovo as of January 3 (Radio KIM) • Server: Pristina also responsible for issue of missing persons (Kosovo-online) • Kosovo police members received letter of reprimand for detaining KoSSev’s editor last year (KoSSev)

• Stoltenberg: Tensions increased in Kosovo and B&H; NATO promotes stability (Telegrafi) • Kosovo declares UNMIK staff a “persona non grata” (media) • UN: "Persona non grata" doctrine not applicable to UN personnel (media) • Hasani: UNMIK personnel cannot be declared "persona non grata" (Koha) • Kosovo has high expectations of Albania joining UN Security Council (Klan) • Serwer: I do not expect a Kosovo-Serbia agreement this year (Kosovo Online, media) • Kosovo Surveillance Build-up Raises Privacy Concerns (BIRN) • Serbia praises another arms shipment from Russia (AP) • World Athletics confident Kosovo will participate in Serbian event with no issues (Exit.al) • COVID-19: 38 new cases, no deaths (media) • New COVID-19 restrictions come into force in Kosovo (Exit.al) • Pandemic forces 3,000 firms out of business, additional relief packages needed (euronews.al)

• Kurti and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donfried talk about Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (media) • President Osmani decreed the Law on the Budget of Kosovo for 2022 (media) • Dialogue, the biggest challenge for the Kurti Government in 2022 (Koha) • Kurti meets Kosovo’s Security Council (media) • Osmani and Kurti meet heads of security institutions (media) • OSCE Condemns Desecration of Serb Gravestones in Kosovo (BIRN) • Chinese cameras from the American black list, through Serbia in Kosovo (RFE) • Enlargement crisis and its consequences: Key events in the Western Balkans in 2021 (EWB) • COVID-19: 53 new cases, no deaths (media)

UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 30, 2021 Albanian Language Media: • Kryeziu: Agreement with Serbia can be reached within government’s mandate (Klan) • Venice Commission to present its opinion on Vetting process in March (RTK) • Musliu files lawsuit against Minister Peci (RTK) • Jeffrey Hovenier sworn in as the new US Ambassador to Kosovo (Telegrafi) • Families of the missing gather in Prishtina (media) • COVID-19: 53 new cases, no deaths (media) Serbian Language Media: • Vucic talks about economic success, referendum, Kosovo issue in his annual address (media, B92) • Godfrey: US-Serbia security cooperation at highest level (Tanjug) • Dacic: February 15 deadline for dissolution of parliament (Tanjug) • Minister: Rio Tinto has no right to lithium exploitation in Serbia (N1) • Spain on Kosovo independence: An act contrary to international law (Kosovo-online) • Simic on election of Judicial Council members: Rights of Serbs ought to be respected (Kosovo-online) • OSCE Mission condemned desecration of Serbian cemetery in Kisnica (Kosovo-online) International: • Rocketing Real Estate Prices in the Balkans Stir Suspicion (Balkan Insight)