UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 13, 2025

Albanian Language Media:

CEC announces online registration of voters with special needs (media)
Different expectations from the February 9 elections (media)
Kurti: We increased participation of women in state administration (media)
“Djuric interferes in Kosovo elections, calls on Serbs to vote Serbian List” (media)
Lajcak: This week’s focus on meeting of Missing Persons commission (media)
Maqedonci and Jashari in US, meetings also at State Department (RTK)
Osmani congratulates Milanovic on reelection as Croatian President (media)

Serbian Language Media:

Serbian FM says talks started with US on NIS (RTS, N1, Kosovo Online)
UNS: Constitutional Court removed Cyrillic inscription from its name, thus violated Constitution (Radio KIM, media)
Serbian Democracy, Serbian People’s Movement filed appeal against composition of polling committees (Alternativna.com, media)
Former members of Brezovica Ski Center Management Board request annulment of selection, claim new board is ‘illegal, biased and political’ (KoSSev, media)
Poland's MFA: Opportunities for Kosovo progress in the EU are limited (Kosovo Online)
"Greater Albania" flag flown at Self-Determination rally in Mitrovica South (Kosovo Online, media)
Protest in front of Constitutional Court in Belgrade (N1)

Opinion:

The EU keeps on improvising with Kosovo (Koha)
Election campaign in Kosovo - Serbian parties fighting for votes, but also with imposed procedures (RTS)

International Media:

Elections 2025: The election campaign begins (Kosovo 2.0)
Trump’s annexation remarks risk reigniting Balkan border disputes (intellinews.com)

Albanian Language Media

CEC announces online registration of voters with special needs (media)

The Central Election Commission announced it is registering the voters with special needs, who cannot go to the polling station on election day. According to the CEC announcement, in order to enable voting by persons registered as voters with special needs, the CEC will deploy mobile teams in every municipality of Kosovo, on February 9, 2025. “The registration process of these voters began on January 4 and will end on February 5, 2025,” the announcement reads.

Different expectations from the February 9 elections (media)

The residents of Kosovo express their readiness to vote in the first regular parliamentary elections since the declaration of independence. Their expectations remain divided, although they express skepticism about the promises of the political parties, which according to them, often seem far from reality. 2 million 75 thousand 868 residents have the right to vote in the regular parliamentary elections of February 9 inside and outside Kosovo. “Promises are always written promises, I can say freely, if 50 percent are fulfilled it is a success, however, they cannot be trusted.”

Regardless, they consider that it is the duty of every resident to go out and vote. “The program is a piece of paper; the practice is different. We talk more and when we come to government, we still do what we can, because we are not responsible.

Another resident said that he does not expect anything new from the elections “the same, like this and the previous ones, they will sit in the same chair.” Another resident said that they promise everything, “when you stop and think where can all those (promised) increases come from. I don't believe them, but it is an electoral race, all kinds of promises are allowed”. However, he added that he is still looking forward to it.

Kurti: We increased participation of women in state administration (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post today that women contribute to “our development and social progress and at the same time they benefit from that development and progress. During our governance, we increased the participation of women in state administration and now they make up almost half of the staff (namely 46 percent), while their representation in boards and independent institutions is at an all-time high”.

“Djuric interferes in Kosovo elections, calls on Serbs to vote Serbian List” (media)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric called on Serbs in Kosovo to find strength within themselves and “maintain unity” and, as he puts it, to understand the importance of being “united against Kurti’s regime.” He said he sincerely hopes that the “violation of the rights of the Serbian people” in Kosovo will stop. “It is significant and I call on our compatriots to find strength within themselves and maintain unity and understand the importance of being uniquely represented against Kurti’s regime. Serbian List represents a tool for the fight for collective Serbian rights in Kosovo because with its help, we will show that Serbia and Serbs are not retreating,” Djuric said.

Lajcak: This week’s focus on meeting of Missing Persons commission (media)

EU special representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a Facebook post today that his first mission of the year took him to the United States where in Washington he engaged in detailed discussions with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Jim O’Brien, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Balkans, Sasha Kasanof. “Together, we delved into the geopolitical challenges and opportunities facing the region, emphasizing the importance of continued cooperation and the need to advance in the Normalisation Dialogue. In addition, I had the opportunity to brief U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma ahead of his visit to the region,” he wrote.

Lajcak also said that during his stay in New York he had “substantive discussions with 🇺🇳 leadership”. “A detailed exchange with UN Secretary-General António Guterres allowed us to exchange on regional dynamics, while my meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo reinforced the need for well-coordinated multilateral efforts to support the Western Balkans on its path to European integration”.

“Back in Brussels, this week’s focus will be on Missing Persons with the very first meeting of the Joint Commission coming up”.

Maqedonci and Jashari in US, meetings also at State Department (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense Ejup Maqedonci, together with the Commander of the Kosovo Security Force, Bashkim Jashari, have traveled to the United States where they are expected to hold high-level meetings. As announced by the ministry, the two leaders of the Ministry of Defense and the Kosovo Army will hold meetings at the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the U.S. Senate and other institutions. "These meetings are taking place within the framework of strengthening relations between the Republic of Kosovo and the US in the field of defense and security," the announcement says.

Osmani congratulates Milanovic on reelection as Croatian President (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani congratulated Zoran Milanovic on his reelection as President of Croatia. “As a steadfast supporter of the people of Kosovo and our country’s rightful place in the Euro-Atlantic family of nations, I look forward to continuing our strong cooperation. Together, we will further strengthen the robust partnership between Kosovo and Croatia,” Osmani wrote in a post on X.

Serbian Language Media

Serbian FM says talks started with US on NIS (RTS, N1, Kosovo Online)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric said Monday that Belgrade has started talks with Washington about the US treasury sanctions on the Russian majority owner of the country’s oil industry (NIS).

The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Russian energy industry companies, including Gazprom Neft which has a majority stake in the NIS.

Djuric told RTS that Serbia will insist on respect of principles and fair talks.

“Our government has already started technical negotiations with American partners, and we are working to find the best solutions for the state”, he said. Djuric said that official Belgrade is introducing measures to ensure regular supplies. “There will be no shocks on the fuel market”, he said.

Djuric added that the establishing of a strategic dialogue with the US is an important step in strengthening relations and does not upset Serbia’s relations with other international partners. “This is exceptionally important for Seria’s international position”, he said, noting that cooperation will include defense and security and foreign policy issues that Belgrade and Washington do not agree on.

Djuric called on Serbs in Kosovo to find strength in themselves and preserve unity and, as he said, understand the importance of being "uniquely represented towards Kurti's regime", reported Kosovo Online.

He said he sincerely hoped that the trampling of the rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo would stop.

"It is significant, and I call on our compatriots to find strength in themselves and preserve unity and understand the importance of being uniquely represented towards Kurti's regime. The Serbian List is a tool for the fight for collective Serbian rights in Kosovo, because with it we will show that Serbia and the Serbs are not backing down", Djuric told RTS.

UNS: Constitutional Court removed Cyrillic inscription from its name, thus violated Constitution (Radio KIM, media)

Kosovo Constitutional Court, the final instance to interpret the Constitution, has replaced its official name in Serbian, previously written in Cyrillic alphabet, with a Latin script, and thus violated its own highest legal act, Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS) said, Radio KIM reported.

Instead of ensuring the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, the Constitutional Court by such decision has violated the act determining the structure of power, rights and obligations of people, UNS added.

The official name of the Constitutional Court, in addition to Albanian and English, also included the Serbian language version, written in Cyrillic alphabet. This inscription has been changed with Latin script in 2023.

UNS lawyer, Gordana Konstantinovic said it remains questionable “how the Constitutional Court will treat violations of the Law on Use of Language, removal of road signs in Cyrillic and a kind of linguistic genocide that is being carried out against the Serbian language and the Cyrillic alphabet". The position of Serbian language and Cyrillic alphabet in Kosovo indicates, she added, “the continuous harassment of the Serbian community and the conscious unwillingness of the institutions to apply the Constitution and the laws they adopted”.

"This change of name speaks best of the fate of the Serbian community in Kosovo", she said. Konstantinovic also assessed a worrying lack of reactions from the international community on these issues, and it was under their auspices and support that a legal framework in Kosovo had been formulated.

Serbian Democracy, Serbian People’s Movement filed appeal against composition of polling committees (Alternativna.com, media)

Serbian Democracy has filed an appeal to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ICAP) over unequal representation of the party's representatives in polling committees. They noted that Serbian Democracy has members in the polling committees in only four out of 10 Serb majority municipalities, and no member seat had been allocated to them in Zubin Potok, Zvecan, Strpce, Novo Brdo, Klokot and Partes. The party argued lack of their representation may impair the legitimacy of the electoral process and requested the decision be amended so they have members in the polling committees in all ten Serb-majority municipalities.

“Under the pretext of diminishing influence and malfeasance of Serbian List, a distribution was made that involves electoral engineering in favor of (Albin) Kurti’s proxy, respectively the party lead by Nenad Rasic. We are seeking fair and transparent elections, and not representatives imposed upon us all the time”, Serbian Democracy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Serbian People’s Movement has also filed an appeal over allocation of seats at polling committees, noting that the party was allocated insufficient number of members, which represents violation of fair and democratic elections principles.

The Serbian People’s Movement noted that some political parties received preferential treatment and have more representatives, which opens the room for malfeasance and vote manipulation.

Former members of Brezovica Ski Center Management Board request annulment of selection, claim new board is ‘illegal, biased and political’ (KoSSev, media)

“It is regrettable that scoring political points has become priority and comes ahead of goals for development of ski center as the great touristic potential, which officials do not know how to use for rights purposes, but only for electoral races”, some members of the dissolved Brezovica Ski Centre Management Board and candidates who were not selected for the new board said, KoSSev portal reported.

Strpce Municipality in a public statement last week condemned the appointment of the new board and opposed its selection, claiming it was done “as per instruction of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic”. The Municipality also said the previous board was changed because they opposed giving for lease several objects in the territory of Strpce municipality. Municipality also accused the Kosovo Privatization Agency (KAP) for appointing the board, as they said, in an illegal manner, contrary to the interests of people and local self-governance, adding it was about political process.

KAP claimed laws and procedures were respected and selected candidates were appointed as per recommendation of the Employment Commission. They confirmed 38 candidates applied and the new seven-member board consists of 4 Albanians and 3 Serbs. KAP also confirmed that some members of the previous board filed appeals over selection and they will be considered over the next day.

Bojan Tomic and Filjko Jovanovic, two members of the former board, dismissed claims of KAP that the selection process was in line with the laws and procedures, by saying the process was illegal, biased and politically influenced. They also requested the process be run again and qualifications of candidates properly tested.

As one of the pieces of evidence for politicization of the process they claimed was the fact that Kosovo Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic started his official pre-electoral campaign in front of the Narcis Hotel. They also said selection of candidates was done without a written test, in order to make sure no written evidence of knowledge and quality of candidates exists. As they said they were given only 5 minutes for verbal questions during the selection process and no adequate questions were asked.

They said the Labor Inspectorate as well as Agency and Commission which, as they claimed, made concessions and was biased towards candidates directly nominated by a political official – his own political activities, in family relations with his advisor for protocol - should deal in details about qualifications, experiences and capabilities of the candidates. It was also said that one of the members of Inex Board is father in law to the adviser, and father of a MP candidate of Nenad Rasic’s Freedom, Justice and Survival Party.

Poland's MFA: Opportunities for Kosovo progress in the EU are limited (Kosovo Online)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland pointed out in relation to Kosovo application for EU membership, that progress in the dialogue with Serbia, fulfilling the obligations from the agreements reached, as well as avoiding actions that could lead to tensions, would contribute to the resolution of that issue, but that the possibility for progress was small, reported Kosovo Online, citing Klan Kosova.

"There are no criteria per se for Kosovo application to progress, although progress in dialogue may help your case to some extent. Bearing that in mind, relations with Belgrade need to be improved, several key conditions mentioned in this year's European Commission report on Kosovo need to be met, including all the Brussels agreements plus the Ohrid annex. Avoiding any provocative actions that lead to tension and violence, as well as unilateral decisions by any side that affect stability and security on the ground, could also be beneficial," the response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw stated.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they hope that progress would be possible in connection with Kosovo's request for EU membership, but added that it would depend on many factors, regardless of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU.

"With that in mind, unfortunately, the possibilities and prospects for the Kosovo application to move forward, at least for now, seem quite limited. As you are fully aware, the fact that five EU member states do not recognize Kosovo also does not help your European aspirations," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland stated.

"Greater Albania" flag flown at Self-Determination rally in Mitrovica South (Kosovo Online, media)

The prime minister candidate in upcoming elections and current Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti told a pre-election rally in "Minatori" sports hall in Mitrovica South “that the power of just law will prevail” in every corner of Kosovo, Kosovo Online portal reported citing Pristina-based Reporteri.

During the rally he also spoke of achievements made during his tenure and criticized previous governments. He claimed that his government is three times greater in economic growth than previous governments, and four times in employment.

Kosovo Online also reported that during the Self-Determination rally in Mitrovica South, Albanian flags could be seen, but also the flag of "Greater Albania”.

Protest in front of Constitutional Court in Belgrade (N1)

University students in Belgrade and Nis staged parallel gatherings on Sunday, continuing the protests launched over the deaths of 15 people in the collapse of a concrete awning at Novi Sad Railway Station on November 1.

The gathering in Belgrade was held in front of the Serbian Constitutional Court, starting with what has become the traditional 15 minutes of silence for the victims of the Novi Sad tragedy and continuing with a reading of cases of violations of the constitution by the authorities. That was followed by whistling, shouting, and banging while a group of students stood in front of the court building with white blindfolds to show that justice should be blind to any influence.

In the southern city of Nis, students blocked two major intersections, stood in silence, and then marched to the Nis University headquarters.

Assessments of the size of the crowd varied from the Archive of Public Gatherings NGO saying 28,000 people were present and President Aleksandar Vucic telling the pro-regime TV Pink that there were 13,000. “There were more than 12,000 people at the protest, the highest estimate being 13,700. That is a respectable number. They voiced some of their views and that is that,” Vucic said in a live appearance on TV Pink’s main evening news.

Opinion

The EU keeps on improvising with Kosovo (Koha)

Opinion piece by Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj.

More than two years have passed since Kosovo formally applied for membership in the European Union and not a single step has been made to review its request. Countries presiding over the EU have changed, their duty was to include this request in their procedures, but none of them made this step. Sweden and Belgium, countries that recognize Kosovo’s independence, have not done this and neither has Spain, which is a non-recognizing country. And there is very little chance that there will be any movement in this regard during the Polish presidency.

Kosovo was so ignored after it submitted its request, that sometimes one can even hear the opinion that perhaps it was not the right time for Kosovo to submit its bid. And really in Brussels they were not certain if it was a good decision by Kosovo in December 2022 at the end of the presidency of the Czech Republic, to apply formally for EU membership.

Kosovo not only made the right step by applying, but one can argue that it was even late to do so. Because even before it submitted its membership bid, questions if Kosovo can get the candidate status were answered with “we cannot answer hypothetical questions”. But those that had the leading role in EU structures were not in favor of Kosovo. Former EU Foreign Policy and Security Chief, Josep Borrell, and the envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, were openly against Kosovo as a state. Slightly less openly but very much engaged against Kosovo was former Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, to the extent that at the beginning of their mandates, former EU spokesperson had clearly said that for the EU Kosovo “is not a state” and that since it is not treated as a state it cannot apply for EU membership.

The Enlargement Commissioner, knowing that the Council does not do that, said that “the European Commission stands ready to draft an opinion on Kosovo too if it gets that mandate from the Council”. The European Commission continues to refer to Kosovo’s case formally and it does not make any effort to influence member countries in Kosovo’s favor.

The fact that Kosovo has not been recognized as a state by five EU members is still mentioned as one of the obstacles why the EU has not reviewed Kosovo’s application. In fact, this is the only reason. Because including an application in the procedures should not depend on any criteria that is not geographical. The request should be included in the procedures. The Council should mandate the European Commission to draft an opinion, and then based on the assessments it would be seen if Kosovo meets the objective conditions and criteria. This was done for all European countries that have the candidate status today. In fact, Kosovo is the only state in Europe, which has applied for EU membership and does not have the candidate status. It would be a great irresponsibility by the Government of Kosovo not to submit the membership bid to the EU at a time when the candidate status was quickly given to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, countries whose territory is occupied. They deserved the [candidate] status because of their political and strategic orientation, but it is excessive to think that they are so ahead of Kosovo in meeting the objective criteria. If one carefully reads the annual Progress report on Kosovo and compares it with the reports for other countries in the region, it is seen that in several areas, despite delays, Kosovo fares much better than neighboring countries. And this is the assessment of the European Commission. So, it is not about the criteria or Kosovo’s concrete progress, but solely about the fact that Kosovo has not been recognized by all member states. In the EU, even by countries that have recognized Kosovo, there has been a single effort to overcome this obstacle, at least the first step. There are legal experts in the EU who think that non-recognizing countries can give their approval for the first step, to give the European Commission the mandate to draft an opinion on Kosovo’s candidacy.

Kosovo has done good by applying for EU membership. In doing so, it has shifted the responsibility to the EU to say if Kosovo can be included in the enlargement process or not. For the time being, the EU is proving that Kosovo is not a formal part of the enlargement process. Everything else that is said is mere improvisation by the European Union. It would be more right if the request is discussed and voted at the Council and to see where the problem lies. At least Kosovo would know where it stands. It is naïve for the EU to think that Serbia will accept the reality that Kosovo exists as a state, and that after this the five [non-recognizing] countries would change their position too. It would be more realistic for everyone in the EU to recognize Kosovo and then for Serbia to understand that it has no room not to recognize it. This was the mistake that was made at the start of the highly unsuccessful dialogue in Brussels. Serbia has successfully used the dialogue against Kosovo, by creating the impression that “it is constructive in the dialogue” and at the same time making maximal efforts to obstruct Kosovo’s progress toward the EU. One can also talk about Kosovo’s conduct in the dialogue and its own responsibility. But for the first step in the enlargement process it is an illusion to think that progress in the dialogue is a condition for this, because participating in the dialogue has helped Serbia advance in the EU membership process.

Election campaign in Kosovo - Serbian parties fighting for votes, but also with imposed procedures (RTS)

In the Serbian areas in Kosovo, there will be an unusual crowd for the next month. Connoisseurs of the situation expect a dynamic campaign both in the north and in the south, since six lists with Serbs are competing. At the beginning of the election race, they criticized the lack of clear measures for a better position of the Serbian community and frequent mutual accusations.

"Several Serbian parties, in addition to the Serbian List, have so far criticized the electoral process. They filed appeals against the decisions on the composition of the electoral commissions. This shows that some kind of coordination between Serbian parties is needed, at least to protect the electoral process and the rights guaranteed to Serbs and during the campaign. However, this cannot be seen, that some kind of dialogue between Serbian parties is established, at least in relation to respecting the procedural aspects of the election," said political scientist Ognjen Gogic.

According to Gogic, Albin Kurti will be in the center of the campaign for the upcoming elections of the Serbian parties, but also of the Albanian opposition. The central place will be the north of Kosovo.

The promenade in North Mitrovica has become a favorite destination of Pristina officials. There is hardly a day that one of them does not come to the north of Kosovo.

The north of Kosovo is the main topic of Kurti's campaign

More and more frequent guests are also Albanians who live south of the Ibar and spend their time in the newly opened Albanian bars in the northern part of the city. At the bottom of the pedestrian zone this winter, they organized a series of holiday events.

"The north of Kosovo has become the main topic on which Albin Kurti nationalistically homogenizes Albanians, and it is actually a topic to which the Albanian opposition has no answer. The Albanian opposition cannot criticize these measures, so as not to be recognized as pro-Serbian," said Gogic.

Milica Andric Rakic from the New Social Initiative from North Mitrovica believes that the Kosovo opposition focuses mostly on what they see as the failure of Kosovo's foreign policy.

"Increasing isolation of the official Kosovo government, EU punitive measures and the impossibility of Kosovo joining the Council of Europe or securing new recognitions in the last four years. One part of the focus of the opposition is the lack of economic growth and the last few weeks - the energy crisis," Andric Rakic pointed out.

Expected tensions in the campaign

The crisis caused by the explosion on the Ibar-Lepenac canal further damaged the relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

They are accompanied by frequent arrests of Serbs and the shutting down of Serbian institutions. "We can also expect tensions and frequent visits by Kosovo officials and some kind of resistance from the local community in the north to such things. There is nothing positive to expect from this campaign except tensions and tension," said Andric Rakic.

Regular parliamentary elections in Kosovo are set for February 9. Local ones in all 38 municipalities are expected in the fall. The participation of Serbs in them would mean a return to the institutions and the takeover of the northern municipalities, which are now headed by Albanians.

International

Elections 2025: The election campaign begins (Kosovo 2.0)

Citizens of Kosovo will vote on February 9.

Kosovo’s citizens will head to the polls on February 9 to elect 120 representatives for the Kosovo Assembly. The election campaign officially begins on January 11, and will continue until polling stations open on February 9 at 7 a.m..

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), 2,075,868 citizens are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections. Among them, 1,970,944 reside in Kosovo, while 104,924 registered voters live abroad. For these voters, postal voting began on January 9.

A total of 28 political entities, comprising 1,280 candidates, will participate in the elections. These entities include 19 political parties, five coalitions, two civic initiatives and one independent candidate.

Citizens will cast their votes for one political entity and up to 10 candidates from a given list. In previous elections, voters were limited to selecting a maximum of five candidates.

How did they perform in the 2021 elections?

In the general elections held on February 14, 2021, Vetëvendosje (VV) achieved a decisive victory, securing 50.2% of the vote. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) followed in second place with 17%, while the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) ranked third with 12.7%. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) received 7.12% of the vote. The Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) did not surpass the 5% threshold required for representation in the Kosovo Assembly.

The 2021 election results represented the weakest performances for PDK and LDK since Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Both parties entered this election cycle with restructured leadership and significant changes.

After the Kosovo Specialist Chambers filed indictments against two prominent PDK leaders, Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli, the party held internal elections and elected Memli Krasniqi as its new leader. Additionally, just a few months before the elections, PDK broke a long-standing tradition of political parties in Kosovo by nominating Bedri Hamza as its candidate for prime minister — a position typically reserved for the party leader.

LDK undertook internal reforms by electing Lumir Abdixhiku as chairman and introduced new figures from various public sectors to enhance its membership and strengthen the party.

Meanwhile, VV is seeking a second term under the leadership of the current prime minister, Albin Kurti.

AAK and NISMA are participating in these elections as a coalition, joined by the E-30 and Conservative parties. Ramush Haradinaj serves as the coalition’s list holder and candidate for prime minister.

These elections mark the first regular electoral process following the completion of a full mandate by the Kurti-led government.