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)

   

Albanian Language Media  

  Kryeziu: Agreement with Serbia can be reached within government’s mandate (Klan)

The spokesman of the government of Kosovo Perparim Kryeziu stated that the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia can be reached within the mandate of this government.

He stated that this agreement should end with mutual recognition and should be for the benefit of the citizens.

"We are ready to participate in the meetings, invitations from the mediator within this process. It is not something that depends on the Republic of Kosovo. However, Prime Minister Kurti has stated that a legally binding agreement can occur during his term, which coincides with the mandate of the President of the United States of America and the mandate of the European Union administration," Kryeziu stated.

"We are ready to participate but always maintain our principles in an agreement which must end with mutual recognition and with an agreement which is first of all, for the benefit of the citizens."

He stressed that previous governments have shown frivolity in the dialogue process with Serbia.

"We have taken the dialogue seriously, saying that the necessary preparation is needed. The approach of previous governments has never been enough, they have stated that it is their priority, but with the lack of preparations, they have shown a kind of lack of seriousness towards a topic which is yet very important. And this government, based on these premises, has built a clear position and approach regarding the dialogue, and this will continue in the coming years as well."

The executive spokesman added that there can be no one ethnic Association in a society which is multiethnic.

"The intensity of the negotiation process with Serbia is not determined only by Kosovo. Topics that will be discussed during this process must be agreed by both parties. As far as the Association of Municipalities is concerned, in a society that has a multiethnic character at its pillar and for which there is an interpretation of the Constitutional Court, there can be no mono-ethnic Association.”

Venice Commission to present its opinion on Vetting process in March (RTK)

The Venice Commission is expected to give its opinion regarding the Vetting process in Kosovo during March 2022.

This was announced by the Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu in her last press conference for this year, where she also mentioned some of the work and achievements of the ministry she leads during 2021.

"We are waiting for the opinion of the Venice Commission on vetting in the justice system, and according to the information we have received, they will give us their opinion on this issue in March 2022. Once we receive that opinion, we will see the recommendations and we will continue applying them," Haxhiu said.

Speaking about the relations with the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, Haxhiu stressed that the relations between them are not as they seem.

"Our relations with the Prosecutorial Council are not as they seem. I rather believe that the justice reforms that have started from the Ministry of Justice are the reason. I think they should not see these reforms as an obstacle. Their absence, especially in the issue of Vetting, they consider that there should be no vetting, but the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo have decided about it," Haxhiu.

Musliu files lawsuit against Minister Peci (RTK)

Ganimete Musliu, MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has submitted a lawsuit against the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Faton Peci.

On this occasion, she said that the minister lied to the farmers and that the time when the MPs are accused and attacked by anyone is over.

She added that she will continue to work as an MP in raising issues in the interest of the citizens of the country and will not allow anyone to hinder her work or that of the party she represents.

"I have just submitted the lawsuit to the Basic Court. Faton Peci will face me in court for his low slander in order to damage my image as an MP and representative of the people in the Assembly," she said.

Musliu's lawsuit against Peci comes after a verbal clash in the Committee for Environment, Food, Agriculture, Planning and Development.

Jeffrey Hovenier sworn in as the new US Ambassador to Kosovo (Telegrafi)

Jeffrey Hovenier has been sworn in before the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Victoria Nuland.

“On Tuesday, Jeffrey Hovenier was sworn in by Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo. We look forward to his arrival!” the U.S. Embassy to Kosovo informed through a post on Twitter.

Families of the missing gather in Prishtina (media)

Relatives of the missing and non-governmental organizations have gathered at the memorial to the missing in the capital's square with cradles and banners.

"May God punish them because justice is delayed" says one of the banners.

They are conducting this activity as a symbol of dissatisfaction that the fate of many of their family members continues to remain unknown even this year.

Chairman of the Government Committee for Missing Persons Andin Hoti and Kushtrim Gara from the Government Committee for Missing Persons are also participating in this activity. 

COVID-19: 53 new cases, no deaths (media)

53 new cases with COVID-19 were confirmed in the last 24 hours in Kosovo, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Five persons recovered from the virus during this time. 

There are 419 active cases with COVID-19 in Kosovo.    

Serbian Language Media

  Vucic talks about economic success, referendum, Kosovo issue in his annual address (media, B92)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in his annual address yesterday afternoon presented Serbia's development plans for next year and announced new investment and development projects.

"I will start with children, with young people," Vucic said.

"The coronavirus has been present in our country since March 2020, for almost two years. We have lost many wonderful people. Directly or indirectly because of the coronavirus. There is no one in Serbia who has not lost someone of his own and there is no one who does not know someone who has lost someone of his own”, he said.

"People were dying in large numbers, there were those from cardiovascular diseases, children were born a little less than in previous years, that is a consequence of coronavirus and many other things", he said. "We will change the laws in which we will introduce measures for the protection of women, we will do that with the non-governmental sector", he added.

He also spoke about fighting peer violence and announced a new financial aid for young people aged 16 to 30 who will receive 100 EUR in February.

"I invite people to take part in the referendum"

Speaking about the upcoming referendum on constitutional amendments due on January 17, Vucic said that he calls on people to participate in the referendum.

“(…) It is not a party and political referendum. I know how many problems we have because of that referendum and in my party because they do not want the state to be deprived of its competencies", he said.

As he said, regardless of who is in power, we can always be proud of the independent prosecutor's office, that is the essence of the referendum.

On Albin Kurti and elections in Kosovo

"It is very devastating for me that they do not allow either Veljko Odalovic or (Petar) Petkovic to enter Kosovo and Metohija, because they are behaving in such a way as to provoke an incident and then seek support", Vucic noted.

"There will be no referendum in Serbian communities, and I will ask the international organizations to answer whether they will support if Serbs refuse to participate in the elections in Kosovo and Metohija", he said.

When asked by journalists about obstetric violence, he said that one should not speak in such a general way, but that such crimes require specific names and surnames and that such people must be arrested.

He called on all citizens who have experienced this to report it and will see the quick reaction of the competent authorities.

Expectations about Kosovo and Metohija in 2022 and the situation in the region

“Of course, I am afraid because when you have politicians who do not behave rationally and responsibly, I am worried about the fact that they do not have eight to ten hours a day and I expect there will be political turbulence. We do not have much choice, we are cornered. We should be a factor of stability and peace, but I'm not sure we can expect that from them", he explained.

"Pristina and Zagreb have already established a completely visible pact, from the media to the military-police, it is not a secret. Because there is no Serbia that would be small enough for them without being great", Vucic said.

"I have never responded to the accusations from Sarajevo. I want to inform every Bosniak from the territory of BiH that there are no secret indictments", he said.

"I call on Bosniaks to come to Serbia, there are no secret indictments, don't let them lie to you. We have done everything we need to do to stabilize and preserve peace," he said.

About Godfrey's statement on Serbia's armament

"I have great respect for U.S. Ambassador Godfrey, so I was surprised by this statement. Everyone is arming themselves as much as they can. Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, everyone is arming themselves... But I wonder if the U.S. Ambassador asked how Serbia would react when the USA donated weapons to Croatia? How come they didn't wonder when the Germans sold 16 howitzers to Croats? Our army is growing", Vucic said.

He added Serbia had not violated any agreement and that by strengthening the army he was working on its strength, but not endangering others. 

In his TV Prva appearance, Ambassador Godfrey among others said if he would be Serbia’s neighbour he would ask himself why Serbia was spending money on arms instead of infrastructure or the energy sector. 

Godfrey: US-Serbia security cooperation at highest level (Tanjug)

US Ambassador to Serbia Anthony Godfrey said the US-Serbia security cooperation is at the highest level and that Washington has no problems with Serbia's latest acquisition of Russian-made arms, Tanjug news agency reports.

In an appearance on Prva TV on Wednesday, Godfrey said the US acknowledged Serbia's military neutrality.

If Serbia wants to be a partner of Russia, we accept that as Serbia's decision, but we also want it to be a partner of the US, he said, confirming that Washington's bilateral security cooperation with Belgrade was at the highest level.

Godfrey said Serbia was also purchasing arms and military equipment from France, the US and other countries.

Godfrey said the US did not see Serbia as a threat but that he was wondering how neighbouring countries saw Serbia and whether they were asking questions about Belgrade's objectives and why it was spending money on arms, rather than on infrastructure or the energy sector.

These are times to invest in infrastructure and we are proud of Serbia's cooperation with the US in that field, he said.

He said the US was also pleased with a recent joint exercise of Serbian and US paratrooper units, but noted that he believed the priority was for Serbia to be a strong economic partner to its neighbors.

Dacic: February 15 deadline for dissolution of parliament (Tanjug)

Serbian Parliament Speaker Ivica Dacic on Wednesday said the parliament must be dissolved 45 days before parliamentary elections and this meant that, if next year's parliamentary elections were to be held on April 3, the deadline for dissolving the parliament and calling the elections was February 15, Tanjug news agency reports.

At a press conference in the parliament building, Dacic said this was a prerogative of the president of Serbia and that he, as parliament speaker, had the authority to call elections for the Belgrade city assembly and the councils of other local authorities.

Dacic said he also had the power to call presidential elections, noting that this may be done no later than 90 days before the expiry of his term.

Minister: Rio Tinto has no right to lithium exploitation in Serbia (N1)

Zorana Mihajlovic, Energy and Mining Minister said late on Wednesday that Serbia did not have any contract with Rio Tinto except a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding from 2017. “(Rio Tinto) has no right to lithium exploitation,“ Mihajlovic told Insajder TV channel in an interview, N1 reports. 

She added there was a study on lithium reserves showing how much of that chemical element Serbia had. Mihajlovic also said that all the Anglo-Australian company had invested so far was its business risk and that Serbia would make no decision before the environmental studies were done.

Earlier, Prime Minister Ana Brnbabic also said that Serbia did not sign any binding agreement with Rio Tinto but that the state had obligations toward the company. She did not explain what those obligations were based on. 

Environmentalist protests across the country forced the authorities to withdraw one and amend the other law, which the activists said were tailored to fit Rio Tinto. President Aleksandar Vucic later said that Rio Tinto would not move out from Serbia, causing environmentalists' outrage. They announced new roadblocks after the New Year.

Spain on Kosovo independence: An act contrary to international law (Kosovo-online)

The stance of Spain regarding Kosovo independence remains unchanged, and the approach to Serbia and Kosovo will be very constructive, the Spanish Government said, Kosovo-online portal reports citing Pristina-based Gazeta Express.

The portal further added, the Spanish Government made no response regarding announcements of opening the trade and culture office in Pristina.

“To respond to your concrete question, the press office of the Spanish diplomacy has nothing to say on this issue”, Patricia Tortosa said.

She also underlined that the stance of Spain regarding Kosovo remains unchanged.

“Spain remains at its stance not to recognize the unilateral declaration of independence that Pristina adopted in 2008. Spain considers it a unilateral and illegal act”, she added.

Tortosa also noted the stance of official Madrid is in line with international law and its basic principles, which demonstrates that declaration of independence was an act contrary to the international law.

She added that nevertheless the approach of Spain towards Kosovo and Serbia will be very constructive.

“In any case, our approach is very constructive and we are aware of the importance of maintaining contacts with both sides, and it is required for them to accept the inevitability of an agreement that respects international law, even with difficult tasks that will entail it”, she said. 

Simic on election of Judicial Council members: Rights of Serbs ought to be respected (Kosovo-online)

Serbian List caucus chief in Kosovo Assembly Igor Simic said yesterday Serbian List MPs did not vote for the election of Serbian members of the Judicial Council due to the lack of possibility to know whether Serbian candidates for the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) received support from those MPs and other minority communities, as foreseen by Constitution, Kosovo-online portal reports.

Simic cited Article 108 of the constitution which defines the election of members of the Judicial Council, which stipulates that “two (2) members shall be elected by the deputies of the Assembly holding reserved or guaranteed seats for the Kosovo Serb community and at least one of the two must be a judge”.

“If all ballots are the same colour, how will the commission determine whether the candidates of the Serbian community have the majority of votes of Serbian MPs, which is a condition for their election according to the Constitution. No way to know. The situation is the same for the election of members of the Judicial Council from other non-Serb communities. It is required that these candidates have the support of the majority of other non-majority MPs who do not belong to either the Serbian or Albanian community”, Simic explained.

He underlined if the procedure that was carried out continues, it would be a blatant violation of the Constitution.

“I repeat, if we all vote with the same ballots, the commission could not determine whether the Serbian community candidates have the support of Serbian MPs. That would be an illegal election of those members of both the Serb and other non-majority communities. That is why we demand the Constitution to be respected, to either have another box for the votes of Serb community MPs and a box for MPs from other communities, or that 10 ballots are printed in other colours to know whether these candidates received the support of Serb deputies or not”, Simic added.

He once again called on the leaders of the Kosovo Assembly to respect the rights of Serbs, which are guaranteed by the Kosovo constitution.

“Respect the Constitution, respect our rights and what is written. We are not asking for more, but not less than what belongs to us”, Simic concluded.

Yesterday, Kosovo online cited Pristina-based Klan Kosova and published that AoK Speaker Glauk Konjufca, has scheduled consultations of the heads of the parliamentary groups until they receive a clarification from the legal office regarding the dispute over the procedure for the election of Serbian members of Kosovo Judicial Council. The media stated that the Serbian List disputed the manner in which two Serb members were elected to the KJC.

OSCE Mission condemned desecration of Serbian cemetery in Kisnica (Kosovo-online)

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo condemned desecration of the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in Kisnica village, near Gracanica, in which seven tombstones were damaged, Kosovo-online portal reports.

“The OSCE Mission in Kosovo condemns the vandalism of the Serbian Orthodox cemetery in the village of Kišnica/Kishnicë in Gračanica/Graçanicë Municipality, in which seven tombstones were damaged by unknown perpetrators. Incidents like this cause distress among local communities and require the active response of institutions to provide reassurance to the public and prevent such cases from reoccurring. The Mission joins the call of the Kosovo Police asking anyone with information about this incident to come forward to help resolve this case and commends police for responding by sending regional investigative and forensic units to the cemetery. The Mission will support the Municipal Community Safety Council and the Local Public Safety Committee in addressing this case and assessing how better to protect local cemeteries”, Mission wrote on its official Facebook account. 

   

International

  Rocketing Real Estate Prices in the Balkans Stir Suspicion (Balkan Insight)

The rising cost of building materials and scarcity of labour are part of the reason why real estate prices have increased so much in the Balkans. But might there be other factors in play?

Be it a lack of skilled construction workers, disruption to supply chains, market speculation or the result of money laundering, real estate prices are skyrocketing in the Balkans. And apartments, old and new, are selling well regardless.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the average price of a newly-built apartment in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, has risen 17 per cent, to around 2,150 euros per square meter at the end of September, according to official statistics. Prices are even higher when it comes to new builds in the sought-after neighborhoods of Savski Venac, Stari Grad and Vracar as well as among the high-rises of New Belgrade.

In Croatia, a square meter of real estate in the capital, Zagreb, cost an average of 1,801 euros in the second quarter of 2021, according to official statistics, an increase of 6.5 per cent in 2020.

Read more at: https://cutt.ly/oUTeGDS