• EU to lift all measures, Kosovo expected to get millions of euros in early 2026 (RFE)
• Hamza welcomes lifting of EU measures on Kosovo (Nacionale)
• Rama speaks of coordination with Osmani in unblocking EU funds (Express)
• Reuten on lifting of measures: Major EU policy fail finally corrected (AP)
• Hamza’s first pledges: Increased salaries and pensions, lower taxes (Nacionale)
• Rama visits Thaci in the Hague, “theatre of shame of international justice” (Express)
• Prosecution indicts Ramadan Morina of war crimes against civilians (Indeksonline)
• Northern municipalities withdraw from Association of Kosovo Municipalities (RFE)
• Hargreaves meets newly-elected mayors of Mitrovica North and Zvecan (media)
• Pensioners are no longer required to prove they are alive in order to receive pensions (RFE)
• Hungary’s Orban: Serbia is key to region, Brussels’ treatment is unfair, shameful (N1)
• Vucic meets with Georgia's Kavelashvili in Belgrade (Tanjug)

EU to lift all measures, Kosovo expected to get millions of euros in early 2026 (RFE)

The news website reports today that the European Union has decided to lift all penalty measures on Kosovo by the end of January next year, enabling Kosovo to benefit millions of euros in financial assistance starting in January. The decision was made after the peaceful transfer of power in the mainly Serb-inhabited north of Kosovo, as earlier tensions there had forced the European bloc to impose penalty measures in the summer of 2023.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani was the first to announce on Wednesday that the EU had decided to lift all measures by the end of January, after the EU – Western Balkans Summit in Brussels. “After intensive talks with our partners, the decision has been made to remove all measures toward Kosovo, with a large part of them being removed today, and the remainder at the end of January,” Osmani said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on X: “Good news for Kosovo! The transfer of local governance in the north after the recent local elections was peaceful. Thanks to this, I am glad to announce that we are moving forward to lift the measures on Kosovo. We are programming €216 million of financial assistance. And we intend to release €205 million early next year”.

Hamza welcomes lifting of EU measures on Kosovo (Nacionale)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and candidate for Prime Minister, Bedri Hamza, welcomed the start of lifting of EU measures on Kosovo calling it good news and a fair decision. “Our citizens should not be punished for the mistakes of this government. I thank our European partners for keeping their promise. Now a new chapter must be opened with the EU, based on reforms, European integration and economic development. Together with the allies, Kosovo will move forward!” Hamza said in a Facebook post.

Rama speaks of coordination with Osmani in unblocking EU funds (Express)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said today that the EU – Western Balkans Summit on Wednesday was encouraging and successful for both Albania and Kosovo. “For the sake of the truth, I must say that the President of Kosovo was excellent. She was excellent with convincing words but also as a result of an insisting job and good coordination we had in the last couple of weeks, without wanting to claim any credit, she has managed to unblock all the funds that were blocked for some time by the European Union,” Rama said in a video post.

Reuten on lifting of measures: Major EU policy fail finally corrected (AP)

Dutch member of the European Parliament, Thijs Reuten, welcomed in a post on X on Wednesday the start of lifting the restrictive measures against Kosovo. “Major EU policy fail finally corrected. Now it is important to give new energy to Kosovo’s EU membership path by processing their application,” he argued.

Hamza’s first pledges: Increased salaries and pensions, lower taxes (Nacionale)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and candidate for Prime Minister in the December 28 parliamentary elections, Bedri Hamza, in a video post on Facebook post today presented his first five pledges for the people of Kosovo, aimed at “making lives easier and improving the well-being of every citizen of Kosovo”. He said that they would increase by 50 percent the salaries of all workers in the public sector, and all pensions, including social assistance, by 50 percent. “We will lower the tax on salaries, so that every worker can get more money at the end of the month. We will lower the VAT on essential products and we will introduce a zero tariff on most of them, leading to lower prices. We will remove the VAT on electricity in order to have lower and affordable bills,” Hamza said.

Rama visits Thaci in the Hague, “theatre of shame of international justice” (Express)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama visited today former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci who is standing trial at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in the Hague. Rama referred to the court “as the building where the theatre of the shame of international justice is being played”. “I don’t know what else to say about this outrageous injustice in the heart of democratic Europe, with the blessing of European countries and the US and with funds of European and American taxpayers, against a European people that liberated itself from a national-socialist regime, but Europe too from the dark stain of apartheid in its very heart for decades in a row. Blessed be the Republic of Kosovo, the Kosovo Liberation Army and its people who were arrested without trial, for over five years now, in the heart of Europe of freedom, democracy and state of law,” Rama said.

Northern municipalities withdraw from Association of Kosovo Municipalities (RFE)

The Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo – Mitrovica North, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok – have withdrawn today from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, saying that they want to be part of a separate association of Serb-majority municipalities. The decision comes after the Serbian List – the biggest party of Kosovo Serbs supported by Belgrade – reclaimed power in the four northern municipalities after the October local elections. The newly-elected mayors had said early this month that they would review the decisions made by the former Albanian mayors of the municipalities. Mitrovica North Mayor Milan Radojevic justified the decision to withdraw from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities saying that it was never the wish of the Serb population in the municipality to be part of that body and that the earlier decision was politically motivated. The four northern municipalities were led by Albanian mayors from May 2023 to October 2025, after Serbian List representatives had resigned in November 2022, as part of a joint initiative of Serbs

Prosecution indicts Ramadan Morina of war crimes against civilians (Indeksonline)

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed an indictment against Ramadan Morina under the suspicion of committing war crimes against civilians. The indictment notes that on March 31, 1999, in the village of Burim in the municipality of Malisheva, together with members of Serbian police and army, Morina took part in the killing of 34 Albanian civilians. Morina is also suspected of taking part in the destruction of property, mass expulsion of civilians and looting the wealth of around 1,000 persons.

Hargreaves meets newly-elected mayors of Mitrovica North and Zvecan (media)

British Ambassador to Kosovo, Jonathan Hagreaves, met on Wednesday with the mayor of Mitrovica North, Milan Radojevic, and the mayor of Zvecan, Dragisa Milovic. He said that their peaceful elections were a welcome development in Kosovo’s democracy. “It was good to meet them today to discuss their priorities and the importance of providing a safe and prosperous environment for all their citizens,” he said in a Facebook post.

Pensioners are no longer required to prove they are alive in order to receive pensions (RFE)

The Supreme Court of Kosovo has declared unlawful and repealed articles of an administrative instruction which obliged pensioners to appear at the pension department that they are alive or else face the loss of their pensions. The court said it accepted the request by a plaintiff against the Ministry of Finance and Transfers, the Department of Pensions. The court said in its ruling that the paragraphs of the administrative instruction on procedures of notification, suspension and payment and return of funds in cases of misuses of pensions, were not in compliance with the law. The court also said that it is up to the Ministry to monitor and to identify if a pensioner has passed away. “The first responsibility for verifying the pensioner’s life status lies with the public body itself and not with the citizen. This provision creates the obligation for the Ministry to use every administrative mechanism and any official source of information before undertaking restrictive measures against the pensioner. The law has provided for a mechanism that is based on active verification by the Ministry and not on a disproportionate burden on the pensioner,” the ruling notes.

Hungary’s Orban: Serbia is key to region, Brussels’ treatment is unfair, shameful (N1)

Upon his arrival at the EU-Western Balkans Summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Serbia is a key country in the region, describing Brussels’ attitude toward Serbia as unfair and shameful.

“Serbia is a key country, and the entire EU enlargement process has been a complete failure over the past four years. Serbia has not moved an inch while, at the same time, the Western Balkans is an economic gold reserve for the EU”, Orban told reporters, commenting on the absence of Serbia’s representatives at the Summit.

He also emphasized that Serbia is crucial for the European Union’s defence against migration. Orban asserted that nothing can be accomplished in the region without Serbia. “We are behaving in an unacceptable manner. We must first deal with Serbia, find solutions to the problems, and only then continue with the others. What we are doing now is the opposite. It is bad, unfair and shameful”, he said.

Vucic meets with Georgia's Kavelashvili in Belgrade (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Thursday with Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili, who is on an official visit to Serbia. The tete-a-tete meeting at the Palace of Serbia began shortly after 10 am and will be followed by a plenary meeting of Serbian and Georgian delegations headed by Vucic and Kavelashvili.

The two presidents are due to hold a press conference at 11.45 am. Earlier, Kavelashvili was given a ceremonial welcome outside the Palace of Serbia. On Wednesday evening, the Georgian president was greeted by Serbian FM Marko Djuric at the Nikola Tesla Airport.

Djuric said he believed Kavelashvili's visit would lend an additional impetus to strengthening the ties between the two countries, which established diplomatic relations 30 years ago.