UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, December 30, 2025

Kosovo’s Kurti returns to premiership with “a lot of work ahead” (BIRN)
US Embassy: Look forward to working with new govt on joint priorities (Klan Kosova)
German embassy hopes new institutions and govt to be formed swiftly (Klan Kosova)
Rexhepi: I am happy with VV victory; we will be part of Kurti 3 govt (Front Online)
Elections in Kosovo trigger clashes on X over dialogue with Serbia (AP)
SL won 95 percent of votes of Serb parties in Mitrovica North (Kosovo Online)
Three Balkan countries launch joint production of a military vehicle (Sarajevo Times)
Kosovo pension savings trust investment return up 28% YTD (SeeNews)
Energy Regulatory Office reduces heating tariffs in Pristina and Gjakova (RFE)
Special prosecution indicts a person for war crimes against civilians in ‘98/99 (media)
Kosovo institutional and political leaders’ messages on KLA Veterans Day (media)
How student protesters spurned Serbia’s “demonized” civil society (BIRN)
Retribution: Serbia’s ruling party hits dissenters where it hurts – at work (BIRN)

Kosovo’s Kurti returns to premiership with “a lot of work ahead” (BIRN)

Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje is on the way to forming a new government after the weekend’s elections – with a lot of catching-up to do after ten months of political stalemate meant little progress was made and much-needed EU funds were lost.

“A lot of work is ahead of us. Today’s result made it clear to us that we have to move ahead without any delays. Institutions will be created as soon as the election results are certified,” Albin Kurti said on Sunday during his first appearance before the media after the polls closed.

Kurti, the longtime leader of Vetevendosje and Kosovo’s incumbent prime minister, was making the comments as the latest results issued by the Central Election Commission suggested he will be in a position to pledge decisive action once the vote-counting procedures are completed. It was a very different scenario to February’s polls, which didn’t deliver a decisive result and left the country in limbo for ten months.

One hour later, Kurti and his Vetevendosje officials went to Pristina’s main square to celebrate with their jubilant supporters as if it was a landslide victory.

The preliminary results open the way for him to be reconfirmed for a third term as prime minister. With 56 MPs in the 120-seat parliament already secured for Vetevendosje, he must now wait for the counting of around 70,000 ballots from the diaspora, plus conditional votes, to see if his party will take another seat and make it easier for him to secure the minimum majority of 61 seats with the support of minority communities’ representatives, who have 20 seats set aside for them.

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

US Embassy: Look forward to working with new govt on joint priorities (Klan Kosova)

A spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Pristina told the news website today that after the December 28 parliamentary elections they are looking forward to working with the new government “on joint priorities of peace in the region, stability, and mutual economic prosperity”.

German embassy hopes new institutions and govt will be formed swiftly (Klan Kosova)

The German Embassy in Pristina said in a statement today that after the regular and calm elections, “we look forward to cooperating with the new institutions and government, which we hope will be formed in a swift and constructive manner”.

Rexhepi: I am happy with VV victory; we will be part of Kurti 3 govt (Front Online)

Emilja Rexhepi, former deputy speaker of the Kosovo Assembly and representative of the Bosniak community in Kosovo, said they will continue their cooperation with VV leader Albin Kurti. “We have been permanent partners in the coalition since the formation of the Kurti 1 government and we will continue together in the Kurti 3 government. We will absolutely be a part of it,” she said in an interview with the news website.

Rexhepi also said she is happy with the grand victory of the Vetevendosje Movement, “and that there is not much room for individuals to condition us about the formation of institutions”.

Elections in Kosovo trigger clashes on X over dialogue with Serbia (AP)

The news website reports that political advisor to Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Jeton Zulfaj, reacted to a post on X by former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt who said that “prospects for progress in Serbia-Kosovo normalization look bleak with Kurti blocking implementation of the Ohrid agreement”. Zulfaj said in his reaction: “Small correction, Carl Bildt, it’s the Brussels Agreement. Ohrid was just an annex. Also, progress on Kosovo-Serbia normalization is blocked by Serbia's terrorist attacks (Banjskë & Iber-Lepenc canal). Let’s not fall for ‘Serbian World’, akin to Russia’s ‘Russky Mir’, propaganda”.

Former Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati too reacted to Bildt’s post saying “it is a public known fact that the president of Serbia refused to sign the agreement/annex. Normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo depends mostly on Serbia accepting the reality with its neighbors, choosing the European Union and a democratic path, instead of acting as a spoiler of regional stability”.

SL won 95 percent of votes of Serb parties in Mitrovica North (Kosovo Online)

The Central Election Commission has announced the results of the elections from all 22 polling stations in the municipality of Mitrovica North, according to which the Serbian List won 5,214 votes in this municipality, or 95.06 percent of the votes received by Serb parties. The Serb community has 10 seats in the Kosovo Assembly. According to data published on the CEC's website, Serb parties in the municipality of North Mitrovica received a total of 5,485 votes, of which 5,214 went to the Serb List. The Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival received 204 votes, or 3.72 percent, while the Kosovo Alliance won 67 votes, or 1.22 percent of the votes for Serb parties. Of the candidates for deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo, the first is the leader of the Serbian List, Zlatan Elek, with 3,650 votes, followed by Igor Simic with 3,159 votes and Nemanja Bisevac with 2,891 votes. On the list of the party For Freedom, Justice and Survival, Nenad Rasic has the most votes (126), while on the list of the Kosovo Alliance, Goran Marinkovic (39) won the most votes. The three Albanian parties with the most votes are Vetevendosje (1,063), DPK (252) and LDK (51). The Bosniak minority political party, the New Democratic Party, won 76 votes.

Three Balkan countries launch joint production of a military vehicle (Sarajevo Times)

Croatia, Albania, and Kosovo are starting a joint project in the field of the defense industry, which includes the production of the armored military vehicle “Shota,” it has been confirmed following recent statements by officials and a signed cooperation agreement.

This is the first regional project of its kind in which three Balkan countries are pooling capacities in the development and production of military equipment, with the aim of strengthening domestic industry and reducing dependence on imports.

Production of “Shota” expands to Kosovo

The acting Minister of Defense of Kosovo, Ejup Maqedonci, confirmed that it is planned for the armored vehicle “Shota,” which was developed in Albania, to also be produced in Kosovo.

As he stated, this is part of a broader defense cooperation agreement between Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia, signed in March of this year, which envisages joint projects in the field of the military industry, training, and capacity development.

What is “Shota”?

“Shota” is an armored military vehicle of the MRAP type (mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle), designed for: transporting soldiers in high-risk zones; protection against mines and explosive devices; operations in tactical and peacekeeping missions.

The vehicle was developed by an Albanian company, and production expansion is now planned through regional cooperation, including Kosovo.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/5yx1v

Kosovo pension savings trust investment return up 28% YTD (SeeNews)

Kosovo Pension Savings Trust (Trusti), the state-owned private pension funds management entity of Kosovo, said on Monday its investment return rose to 312 million euro ($367 million) in the January 1- December 24 period, from 244 million euro a year earlier.

New contributions collected during 2025 amounted to 354 million euro, marking 12% increase compared with the previous year, Trusti said in a press release.

Since its establishment in 2001, Trusti’s cumulative gross investment return has reached around 1.3 billion euro.

Trusti's assets under its management reached 3 billion euro ($3.31 billion) at the end of August, according to the latest available data.

Energy Regulatory Office reduces heating tariffs in Pristina and Gjakova (RFE)

The Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) has decided today to reduce the price of heating from public enterprises for consumers in Pristina and Gjakova. The ERO told the news website that it has reduced the price of metered heating by 3.8 percent for Termokos customers in the capital, while by 5 percent for those in Gjakova. The ERO approved the decision on this reduction during a meeting on Tuesday. The price so far for metered heating was 76 cents per kilowatt per month, set last year. With the new price, consumers in Prishtina will now pay 73 cents per kilowatt per month, while those in Gjakova will pay 72 cents. Termokos has about 25,000 customers in the capital with 227,154 inhabitants. The heating season from Termokos usually starts on October 15 and continues until April 15.

Special prosecution indicts a person for war crimes against civilians in ‘98/99 (media)

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo has filed an indictment today against S.A. for war crimes against civilians in the village of Llashtice in the municipality of Gjilan in 1998-1999. The accused is charged with taking part in the killing of 13 Albanian civilians and the wounding of four others.

Kosovo institutional and political leaders’ messages on KLA Veterans Day (media)

Most news websites cover statements and messages by Kosovo’s institutional and political leaders on the occasion of the KLA Veterans Day. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in a Facebook post that the veterans are proof that freedom is not granted but won with courage and sacrifice. “Their path toward freedom was crowned with dignity and victory,” she said. PDK leader Bedri Hamza thanked the veterans saying that “Kosovo is free because you never gave up”. AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj said in a social media post that “since the first attack on the Jashari family, which triggered the general mobilization for freedom and independence, our path became a path of sacrifice, determination and resistance. Together we defeated the enemy, and we brought freedom to our country alongside our allies”. Leader of the organization of KLA War Veterans, Hysni Gucati, criticized the institutions for failing to adopt a law on the values of war. He also said that this day is not complete because the former KLA leaders are being held in detention in the Hague for over five years now.

How student protesters spurned Serbia’s “demonized” civil society (BIRN)

In Serbia, 2025 was the year when protesting students rejected collaboration with the country’s civil society NGOs - but at what cost?

Twenty-one-year-old Jovana Pongracic is a third-year student of political sciences at the University of Belgrade. She’s also a board member of the National Youth Council of Serbia, KOMS, a non-governmental organisation working to protect the interests of young people.

Never before had she perceived her years of activism as in conflict with her identity as a student. And then Serbia’s students rose up against the country’s ruling elite, its corruption, nepotism and chronic mismanagement.

Just days into 2025, as students moved to the vanguard of popular protests over the fatal collapse of an outdoor canopy at a newly renovated railway station in northern Serbia, they took what many saw as an extraordinary decision - to spurn any association with or support from Serbian civil society.

Pongracic said she understood why: for decades, NGOs in Serbia have been demonised by those in power as a fifth column, funded by the West to subvert the Serbian nation and state.

Some students had bought into the portrayal; others, probably, feared alienating large parts of Serbian society if seen to collaborate too closely with such organisations, whether they shared their values or not. To do so would be to give the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, another stick to stick to beat them with.

“Many students fear that if they associate with the NGO sector, their struggle will be delegitimised and reduced to a narrative of political instrumentalisation,” Pongracic told BIRN.