• Osmani: We have full faith in the Trump administration (RTK)
• Kurti: Four recognitions within a year (media)
• Hargreaves: As always impressed with calm professionalism of CEC staff (media)
• ECAP fines Serbian List with €20,000 for violating code of ethics and conduct (media)
• Bajrami: LDK will restore institutional stability; we won’t accept coalition with VV (AP)
• “Campaign is more moderate, parties leaving room for cooperation” (Indeksonline)
• Elections in Kosovo: how to represent the diaspora? (OBCT)
• Can December elections break political stalemate in Kosovo? (Swiss Info)
• COMKFOR: Security situation in Kosovo is quiet, but still fragile (RTK2)
• Police operation in Leposavic; weapons, ammunition and military gear seized (Kallxo)
• Kosovo’s First Gentleman invites Kushner to invest in Pristina (AP)

Osmani: We have full faith in the Trump administration (RTK)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Monday that Kosovo has full faith in the Trump administration. “We just finished an excellent meeting with Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Landau. This is our second meeting this year and we are grateful for the time they dedicate to the Republic of Kosovo, so we could discuss a number of issues, including our close cooperation on topics of peace and security and also economic cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration for our country’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” she told reporters after meeting US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Washington.

Osmani said she conveyed the appreciation of the people of Kosovo for the NDAA signed by President Trump and which includes Kosovo too. “It protects Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. It makes clear that the dialogue with Serbia must be based on mutual recognition, it supports our membership in NATO and also highlights strategic investments in the economy. We also discussed a number of other issues for which we need to have full and continous coordination with the United States, as our most important strategic ally, and at the same time, the steps and actions that we need to undertake in order to resume the strategic dialogue with the United States,” she said.

Kurti: Four recognitions within a year (media)

Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti said in a Facebook post today that four recognitions of Kosovo have happened this year and that the last time this happened was over a decade ago. “These recognitions become even more important by the fact that they happened after a time when there was more talk about the risk of so-called derecognitions than about the possibility of new recognitions,” Kurti said.

Hargreaves: As always impressed with calm professionalism of CEC staff (media)

British Ambassador to Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, visited the Central Election Commission (CEC) this morning and said that as always he was impressed with the calm professionalism of the CEC staff. “Thanks to [CEC chairman] Kreshnik Radoniqi and his team for their untiring efforts to ensure that the upcoming general election is carried out smoothly and in line with Kosovo’s laws and procedures,” Hargreaves said in a Facebook post.

ECAP fines Serbian List with €20,000 for violating code of ethics and conduct (media)

Most news websites report that Kosovo’s Elections Appeals and Complaints Panel (ECAP) has fined the Serbian List with €20,000 for violating the code of ethics and conduct during the election campaign for the December 28 parliamentary elections. 

The decision came after a complaint filed by a Kosovo Serb political party – the Kosovo Alliance – which claimed that in the municipality of Leposavic, in different locations, the Serbian List had placed propaganda material. ECAP said in its ruling that “the political party – the Serbian List – was informed about the obligations and responsibilities during the election campaign, therefore, placing promotional material during the election campaign without permits from the competent authorities, constitutes a violation of the election legislation, violations which are sanctioned by legal provisions of the Law on General Elections”.

Bajrami: LDK will restore institutional stability; we won’t accept coalition with VV (AP)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and candidate for MP, Hykmete Bajrami, said in an interview with the news website today that the LDK aims to win way more votes than it did in the February parliamentary elections, “and to restore the trust of the people of Kosovo, because the country needs institutional stability”.

Bajrami said that the LDK has three top priorities if it wins the December 28 parliamentary elections. “Our priorities are, immediately after the elections, to give stability to the country, which means forming the government – a coalition that enables the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo to elect the President too, because the deadline for elections is exceptionally close. To complete the election of members of the Constitutional Court and to immediately start completing boards and appointing chief executive officers in all agencies, because around 70 percent of them are with acting heads and with expired deadlines and they’re not able to take any decisions. We also need to invest funds in the economy and complete infrastructure projects because none of them have been completed even though they were started five years ago. In the first days of our government, we will increase salaries in the public sector and pensions,” she said.

Bajrami said that the LDK would maintain its red lines toward the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement. “Not only because of their insulting language, but also because they have polarized society and captured the state, by using it completely for their party’s interests,” she argued. “Our position toward the Vetevendosje Movement has not changed, because nothing has changed in their approach. We are seeing new scandals every day.”

“Campaign is more moderate, parties leaving room for cooperation” (Indeksonline)

Political commentator Albert Krasniqi, in an interview with the news website, argues that the campaign for the December 28 parliamentary elections is characterized by a moderate language by the political parties, compared to the campaign for the February parliamentary elections which included harsh and polarizing rhetoric. “One of the reasons why the parties are more careful with their language this time is that they are leaving room for cooperation to form the institutions after the elections … Now they are aware that they need partners in governance, and it seems that this has influenced the way they are campaigning and the language they are using,” he said. 

Elections in Kosovo: how to represent the diaspora? (OBCT)

Kosovo’s diaspora abroad is, according to the World Bank 2024 country report, among the largest in the world, numbering between 700,000 and 900,000 people, and it continues to play a crucial role in the country’s economy, particularly through remittances sent to family members.

Those in the diaspora who are citizens of Kosovo also have the right to vote in Kosovo’s elections, both local and national. According to the World Bank, the development impact might be beyond remittances mainly when diaspora communities engage in the local economy through different business channels.

However, when the time comes for them to exercise the right to vote, the political climate inside Kosovo often becomes heated and polarized. What begins with political parties soon moves to television studios where the debate focuses on whether the diaspora should vote at all.

On one side stands the largest political party, Vetëvendosje, which receives the most support from diaspora voters. On the other are political parties that, while working to strengthen their bases in major cities, criticize Vetëvendosje for what they describe as the strumentalization of Kosovars living abroad.

However, is the debate over the diaspora’s legitimacy and right to vote the only option left, or are there other alternatives that could contribute to a fair representation of the diaspora’s needs in parliament?

Enver Robelli, foreign policy editor for the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, suggests that Kosovo follow the Croatian model, which gives three to six parliamentary seats to the diaspora, ensuring their voice is well represented.

“The diaspora has its own specific problems. These problems need to be articulated within the Parliament of Kosovo and other relevant institutions. I believe this is best achieved if the diaspora, as in the case of Croatia, is declared a special electoral district, allowing people with voting rights to elect three to five representatives of the diaspora to the Parliament of Kosovo. These MPs would then focus on addressing the specific needs of the diaspora,” Robelli told OBCT.

Currently, diaspora voting is regulated by Kosovo’s Law on General Elections, adopted by the Assembly in 2023. Article 96 specifically outlines the special registration process for diaspora voters.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/qK3YY

Can December elections break political stalemate in Kosovo? (Swiss Info)

Kosovo voted on February 9, 2025, and for the first time in the history of the young democratic state, Kosovans abroad were allowed to cast their votes at diplomatic missions. Thousands of people in Switzerland also went to the polls that day: almost 4,000 people registered to cast their votes in person at the embassy in Bern and at consulates in Zurich and Geneva.

One of them was Sabahet Meta. Having fulfilled his civic duty, he left the Bern embassy on that chilly February morning full of hope. “How far we’ve already come,” he declared, referring to his country of origin.

But as 2025 draws to a close, his euphoria is no longer evident. And the same must be said for many Kosovans in Switzerland and living around the world. Their homeland is in the grip of an institutional crisis.

Kosovo has not had a new government since the parliamentary elections ten months ago. It took almost 60 attempts to elect a new speaker of parliament alone. As a result, parliament has been unable to operate correctly for over six months. At the end of October 2025, the formation of a government failed, and new elections are scheduled on December 28.

The political deadlock could be extremely costly. Kosovo is dependent on funding from the European Union to drive forward economic development and structural reforms.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/2pMqX

COMKFOR: Security situation in Kosovo is quiet, but still fragile (RTK2)

Commander of the NATO-led KFOR mission, Major General Ozkan Ulutas, in an interview with RTK2, said that the security situation in Kosovo is currently quiet, but also fragile. He said the main priority of KFOR is to secure a safe environment and freedom of movement in line with the mandate from the United Nations.

Ulutas said that after the violent events in 2023, NATO deployed 1,000 additional troops to Kosovo and that KFOR currently has 5,000 troops and is vigilant, ready and well-prepared to react. KFOR maintains a visible and flexible presence throughout Kosovo, including the Serb-majority municipalities in the north. Additional personnel have been temporarily deployed on the main bridge over the Iber River and near the Decani monastery, which Ulutas said is practice of common practice and testing procedures to maintain high operational standards.

Ulutas said that KFOR cooperates closely with the Kosovo Police and the EULEX mission, as well as with the international community, including UNMIK and the diplomatic corps, in the interest of all communities in Kosovo.

Ulutas also said that sustainable stability in the region cannot be achieved with military means but only through political paths. NATO, through KFOR, contributes to security, but the path toward long-term peace lies in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. “Decades of hard-won peace must not be put at risk,” he said, adding that KFOR’s presence creates room for political dialogue and that both Kosovo and Serbia are expected to engage in the implementation of existing agreements and show readiness for compromise.

Police operation in Leposavic; weapons, ammunition and military gear seized (Kallxo)

Kosovo Police said today that two cases have been initiated at the police station in Leposavic for possession of weapons, ammunition and military equipment. During a patrol in the village of Rvatska on December 19, police units found in an uninhabited house a hunting rifle, a carabiner, an AK47, 240 bullets and a pair of binoculars, which were all seized. Three days later, police found other weapons in a nearby facility. No arrests related to the case have been made yet. In another case, on December 20, police arrested a person in the village of Veacev, the municipality of Leposavic, after they found in his house a hunting rifle, a semiautomatic weapon, a hand grenade, two RPGs, bullets of various calibers, and different military equipment. The suspect was later released in regular procedure.

Kosovo’s First Gentleman invites Kushner to invest in Pristina (AP)

Kosovo’s First Gentleman, Prindon Sadriu, said in a post on X that Jared Kushner should invest in Pristina after withdrawing from the project to build a Trump Hotel in Belgrade. “Withdrawing from the Belgrade Trump Hotel project reinforces an important truth: meaningful projects are meant to unite, not divide. Relocating this vision to Prishtina—and transforming the Grand Hotel into a Trump Hotel—would revitalize a prime location and unite people,” Sadriu said.