Albanian Language Media:

• COVID-19: 519 new cases, 14 deaths (media)
• Kosovo applies to obtain COVID-19 vaccine (media)
• Kosovo Government allocates €200,000 for KLA war associations (media)
• Working group to lay foundation for war crimes research institute (media)
• Trade unions claim economic recovery law is discriminatory for certain sectors (Koha)
• Constitutional Court to meet in coming days to deliberate on Arifi case (Kosovapress)
• Kosovo's foreign ministry not informed of Petkovic's visit to north (Zeri)
• ECAP fines Serbian List for electoral silence violation (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• 15 new cases of Covid-19, two recoveries and one death registered in Serbian areas in Kosovo (KoSSev)
• Office for KiM Director visits North Kosovo, sends message of Serbia’s support and peace with Albanian neighbors (KoSSev)
• Despite about a hundred infected health workers, there is plenty of us, we are motivated to work, says Dr Elek (KoSSev)
• Trendafilova: The court’s mandate to provide justice; we do not deal with politics (Kontakt plus radio, Politika, N1)
• CPT: Gazeta Metro and RTK published inaccurate and dangerous information about our work (Radio KIM)
• Kosovo embassies get a shipment of KLA flags (KoSSev, N1)
• EUCO unlikely to adopt EU ministers’ conclusions on Western Balkans enlargement? (N1)

Opinion:

• How do we judge women who kill their abusive partners? (Kosovo 2.0)

 Humanitarian/Development:

• Behind bars in the home (Prishtina Insight)
• Kon: It is unlikely there won't be any measures for New Year holidays (B92)

   

Albanian Language Media 

  COVID-19: 519 new cases, 14 deaths (media)

519 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths have been recorded over the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 

926 patients have recovered from the virus during this time.

Kosovo applies to obtain COVID-19 vaccine (media)

Kosovo's Minister of Health Armend Zemaj has signed today the official application for obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine.

"I have signed today the official application for securing the anti COVID-19 vaccine with the global alliance GAVI-COVAX, while the application for technical assistance relating to these vaccines was submitted days ago through the team of experts," Zemaj wrote on social media.

Zemaj said Kosovo will also pursue other ways to increase the number of vaccine doses, beyond the 360,000 expected to be provided free of charge from COVAX. 

Kosovo Government allocates €200,000 for KLA war associations (media)

The Government of Kosovo in its routine meeting today decided to allocate €203,000 for KLA war veterans associations.

Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Skender Recica said these funds will be provided through the economic recovery law. He also said that the support for war veterans needs to be institutionalised and that as of next year this category will be covered by Kosovo's annual budget.

"The decision aims to provide financial support for these categories due to the emergency situation caused by COVID-19 and also the difficult condition in which they function and exercise their duties," Recica said in presenting the request before the cabinet members who unanimously endorsed it.

Working group to lay foundation for war crimes research institute (media)

Kosovo's Government has approved the request of Minister of Justice Selim Selimi to set up a working group that will be responsible for laying the groundwork for establishment of an institute for researching war crimes committed in Kosovo.

In presenting the proposal, Selimi said: "Based on the importance the documentation of war crimes carried, establishment of a mechanism to tackle this issue is one of my priorities as Justice Minister and as a result of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo."

Trade unions claim economic recovery law is discriminatory for certain sectors (Koha)

Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo (BSPK) said in a statement that the recently adopted economic recovery law is discriminatory for certain sectors.

 "BSPK considers that according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO - C100) adopted in Prague in 1951 which regulated salary equality, the Law on Economic Recovery, namely the pension trust package, is very discriminatory for some sectors. Although a delayed infusion for our fragile economy, we hope the future packages will not contain such discriminations in order for citizens to be able to benefit equally."

Constitutional Court to meet in coming days to deliberate on Arifi case (Kosovapress)

Constitutional Court judges are expected to meet in the coming days to rule on the validity of the vote in favour of Avdullah Hoti's government cast by Etem Arifi, MP from the Ashkali Party for Integration, who continued to serve his term as an M despite being convicted of fraud.

Constitutional Court spokesperson Veton Dula said that the parties have one more day to submit written arguments presented at a hearing last week.

"Following the public hearing session held on Wednesday, 2 December 2020, the parties involved in this case have until today, 7 December 2020, time to present their written arguments. The review session will be held in the coming days," he said.

The Vetevendosje Movement has questioned the validity of Arifi's vote in favor of Hoti-led government arguing that that his vote is invalid, and as a result so is the government of Kosovo.

Kosovo's foreign ministry not informed of Petkovic's visit to north (Zeri)

Zeri quotes Belgrade media reporting that the head of Serbia's Government Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, is on a two-day visit to the north of Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware of the visit. "We do not have any information about Petkovic's visit to Kosovo," the information office within the ministry said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla said no Serb official will be allowed to visit Kosovo without apologising for crimes the Serbian forces committed in Kosovo.

ECAP fines Serbian List for electoral silence violation (media)

Elections Complaint and Appeals Panel (ECAP) has fined the Serbian List for breaching the electoral silence period ahead of mayoral elections in Mitrovica North on 29 November.

ECAP stipulated in its ruling that the fine of 20,000 euros has to  be paid within a two-week period.

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Serbian List Goran Rakic together with MP Igor Simic were accused of breaking the electoral code by giving a press conference and calling on citizens to vote for the party's candidate, Milan Radojevic.

The complaint was presented to ECAP by the Vetevendosje Movement.

   

Serbian Language Media

  15 new cases of Covid-19, two recoveries and one death registered in Serbian areas in Kosovo (KoSSev)

15 new cases of Covid-19 infection, two recoveries and one death were registered in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo, the Crisis Committee of Mitrovica North announced, KoSSev portal reports today.

Out of 39 tested samples, 15 were positive on Covid-19, including 13 in northern and 2 in central Kosovo.

New cases were registered as follows; nine in Zvecan, four in Mitrovica North, and one each in Gorazdevac and Strpce.

Recovered people are from Mitrovica North.

Deceased person was from Mitrovica North as well.

Since June 18, a new rise in the number of infected people has been registered in the Serbian areas in Kosovo. Since that day a total of 1.325 persons have recovered. At the same time, there are 1.329 active cases of Covid-19.

A total of 70 persons are hospitalized. 68 are staying at the Clinical Health Center in Mitrovica North, and two patients are in Nis. A total of 1.259 people are staying in-house isolation.

Up to date, a total of 62 people have died in the Serb-populated areas in Kosovo due to Covid-19.

Office for KiM Director visits North Kosovo, sends message of Serbia’s support and peace with Albanian neighbors (KoSSev)

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija Director Petar Petkovic is on his two-day visit to the north of Kosovo. He started the visit in front of the North Mitrovica Hospital this morning, KoSSev portal reports.

He was welcomed by the director of the hospital, Dr. Zlatan Elek, along with a larger group of health workers.

“Our message from here from Kosovska Mitrovica is that we want to build a future, peace and harmony, as it is the only way we can survive and stay in our centuries-old space, and that, living in peace with our Albanian neighbors, we can build peace and prosperity in the entire Western Balkans. We are deeply convinced that the historical reconciliation of Serbs and Albanians is the key to stability in the region“, Petkovic said.

After the meeting with Elek, he visited the recently opened PCR laboratory, announcing new types of support in the fight against Covid-19.

Petkovic continues to visit institutions in the course of the day.

He also met with the newly elected mayor and leaders of the Serbian List Milan Radojevic, Goran Rakic and the president of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Kosovska Mitrovica, Aleksandar Spirić.

He will meet the rector of the University of Pristina in Mitrovica, followed by a visit to the seven-member Nedeljkovic family supported by the municipality and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

A visit to the Serbian Orthodox Church Banjska Monastery is planned, as well as a stay in the municipality of Zubin Potok.

See at: https://bit.ly/2JVurrY Despite about a hundred infected health workers, there is plenty of us, we are motivated to work, says Dr Elek (KoSSev)

The director of the North Mitrovica Hospital Center, Dr. Zlatan Elek assessed the current health situation in the Serb-majority areas as ''quite complicated and worrying''. Elek, however, also stressed that the situation was under control. A total of 161 patients are currently hospitalized in the North Mitrovica Hospital Center, 68 of which are COVID-19 patients, reported portal KoSSev. 

Elek’s announcements arrive during the first official visit to Kosovo of the newly appointed head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic. Petkovic started his official two-day stay by visiting the hospital center.

Since the last coronavirus update, one patient died and out of a total of 39 tested samples, 15 patients tested positive for coronavirus in the Kosovo Serb-majority municipalities.

A total of 62 patients have died so far.

There is no need to panic, the situation is under control – Elek emphasized.

The recently opened PCR laboratory has made it possible to perform coronavirus testing in North Mitrovica and to do it much faster and with a larger scope.

The very same day the patient was examined, he is tested, and the test results arrive quickly. The patient is hospitalized if necessary, Elek explained.

Although about one hundred health workers are currently infected with the coronavirus, including doctors and technical staff, the hospital center is not understaffed, he added.

According to Elek, health workers in Kosovo Serb communities are especially motivated by satisfactory earnings, which have increased as much as 60% in the past two years.

Also, the hiring process of new medical staff is underway. According to the head of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic, job openings for 70 doctors and 200 nurses, as well as for 45 doctors and over 83 nurses subsequently, have been approved in Serb-majority areas. A new staff nurse vacancy (for a total of 38 nurses) has now been announced.

Elek also revealed that new emergency vehicles would be procured.

''Today’s visit instills additional confidence that Serbia will remain with us and that it is with us,'' Elek said after welcoming Petkovic, adding that this is also backed up by the fact Petkovic chose the hospital center as the first stop of his first official visit in the capacity of the new head of the Kosovo Office.

On the other hand, Petkovic underlined: ''Indeed, if someone can be called a hero in the 21st century – it would be you. That is why you have my deep respect. The state of Serbia will know to repay you for everything you have done and are doing.''

See at: https://bit.ly/2VKzcHt Trendafilova: The court’s mandate to provide justice; we do not deal with politics (Kontakt plus radio, Politika, N1)

The President of the Specialized Chambers in The Hague Ekaterina Trendafilova said for the Belgrade daily Politika that it would be ensured the justice was served, and that the issue of recognizing Kosovo and Kosovo relations with Serbia, i.e. the United States, did not fall within the mandate of this court, Kontakt plus radio quoted. 

"These are exclusively political issues that have nothing to do with us as a judicial institution … I believe that the work of the Chamber, decisions, orders and judgments will speak for themselves. The public will be able to conclude for themselves whether this court fulfilled its role, entrusted by the mandate," stated Trendafilova.

According to her, the mandate of this court was to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice and that justice was served in accordance with the highest standards, the court's mandate, legal regulations and relevant international standards, after a thorough analysis of the evidence presented.

She told the daily that the Specialized Chambers were not a political body, and that the court function without anyone's political or any other influence and interference, and that judges were guided only by the law.

Asked at what stage of preparations for the two indictments against former KLA members, seven of whom were in custody, Trendafilova said that the pre-trial judge would make sure that the case get ready for trial within a reasonable time, but that it's difficult to tell for how long the previous procedure may take.

Trendafilova, who will remain at the helm of this court for the next four years, pointed out that the safety of victims and witnesses was of the utmost importance, and that a specialized service in this court, was tasked to provide protection and support before, during and after the trial but added that the activities of that service were strictly confidential.

Trendafilova said that anyone who believes that he or she personally suffered physical, mental or material damage as a direct consequence of a criminal act from the indictment, can file an application for recognition of the status of a victim who participates in the procedure.

According to her, a person who wants to obtain the status of a victim and meets the conditions, should file in the application on the website of this court and submit it to any secure portal via the website or email, reported Kontakt plus radio. 

CPT: Gazeta Metro and RTK published inaccurate and dangerous information about our work (Radio KIM)

Non-governmental organization Center for Peace and Tolerance (CPT) based in Gracanica, reacted to the article published on the web portal of the Kosovo public broadcaster RTK under the headline “Gracanica finances NGO that collects information against KLA”, initially published by the Gazeta Metro portal, in which, as CPT said “inaccurate claims and information relating to the work and activities of this organization” were voiced Radio KIM reports.

The CPT said in a statement the article was published without any prior verification of the information at the registry of non-governmental organization and investigative work as well as using a principle of the right of other side to provide response, “while the organization is directly linked with alleged activities of gathering evidence against the KLA”.

“Namely, Mr. Zoran Andjelkovic as a guest speaker for TV Pink morning program said the following – I call on all family members of Belacevac miners (in June 1998 nine Serb miners were kidnapped, their whereabouts still remain unknown), family, friends, each of them to give the statement. If they do not want to give the statement to the official bodies, they can do so at the Center for Peace and Tolerance, 72 Knez Viseslav Street (…)”.

The CPT further said the portal Gazeta Metro “without prior verification of the information linked the organization headed by Andjelkovic with the seat in Belgrade, with an organization Center for Peace and Tolerance Pristina, registered in Kosovo and in line with the Kosovo laws, whose founders, members of the Steering Board, members of the Assembly and authorized person have residence in the territory of Kosovo, and the seat of the organization is in Gracanica, at Milos Obilic Street.   

“From what was said above, one could clearly make the conclusion that the Center for Peace and Tolerance in Belgrade and the Center for Peace and Tolerance in Pritina are two completely different legal entities, registered in the two different legal systems. Insolence, uninformedness, and unprofessionalism brought the public to misconception with a dangerous tendency to damage the reputation of the 18-year long work of the civil organization from the non-majority community”.

CPT also said that a member of the organization Stefan Filipovic without arguments was presented “as an analyst in the Russian propaganda media Sputnik, which is also inaccurate information”.

“Filipovic was only one of the interlocutors of this media. At the same article, the right to privacy of CPT member Stefan Filipovic was infringed, with tendentious interpretation of his private stances voiced on social media, this violating, among others, Press Code of the Kosovo Press Council”, CPT further said.

At the end, CPT requested Gazeta Metro and RTK to correct inaccuracies in the article, publish the rebuttal of the previous article, and extend public apology to Stefan Filipovic over inconveniences he was exposed to.

Kosovo embassies get a shipment of KLA flags (KoSSev, N1)

A contingent of flags with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) logo was delivered to Kosovo diplomatic and consular missions, KosSev portal reports on Sunday, adding that in addition to receiving this shipment, mission officials said they have not received any instructions on how to proceed nor information on what purpose they will be used for.

The Office of Prime Minister Hoti is not aware of this situation either, which followed a few weeks after the confirmation of indictments against former high-ranking KLA leaders, portal added, citing Pristina-based Koha.

According to the portal, Koha has been trying to get the answer from the Kosovo Foreign Ministry on the purpose of the flags but they received no answer.

The Foreign Ministry's action came weeks after indictments were filed against former senior KLA leaders suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity. After the activation of the Special Court, a campaign called "Freedom has a name" began.

See at: https://bit.ly/36ML7e1 EUCO unlikely to adopt EU ministers’ conclusions on Western Balkans enlargement? (N1)

It is doubtful that the European Union Council (EUCO) will adopt the European Union’s ministers conclusions about the Western Balkans enlargement at its meeting on Tuesday, N1 has unofficially learned on Monday.

The enlargement issue is on the meeting’s agenda under “all other topics”.

It has earlier been said that the enlargement would not be discussed at the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels on December 10 and 11.

The German EUCO Presidency said it was “frustrated” over the impossibility for North Macedonia’s progress within the negotiating process, what also blocked Albania.

The EU has recently said Serbia would not open a single negotiating chapter in the accession talks with the bloc due to the deteriorating of democracy in the country.

See at: https://bit.ly/2JTtyQy    

Opinion

  How do we judge women who kill their abusive partners? (Kosovo 2.0)

Suzana Zogiani-Sekiraqa, a 35-year-old from Prishtina, and a mother of two, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, for killing her husband in 2018 by hitting him with an ax up to 11 times in their apartment in Dole, France. She is currently serving her time in Kosovo’s women’s prison in Lipjan. 

Two weeks ago, she shared her story and spoke about her difficult life with her husband’s family in Kosovo and the troubled marriage that continued in France where they immigrated illegally. Providing her account of what led to such a violent crime, Suzana spoke out against the authorities for their disregard of the systemic violence she was subjected to by her husband, pleading for a less rigorous sentence, writes Shqipe Gjocaj. 

“Even Hitchcock would envy her for constructing such an imaginary screenplay,” reads part of the statement by the judicial panel of the Basic Court in Prishtina, referring to Suzana’s claim that she acted while in state of severe mental shock after — despite the abuse she was subjected to by her husband — witnessing him sexually abusing their son. 

 “A crime is a crime,” remains a common moral reasoning when intimate partner homicide happens. I heard this phrase countless times in 2017 while investigating the cases of women who kill their husbands or partners, and whether such crimes differ among the numerous cases of femicide we witness in Kosovo on a yearly basis. The research demonstrated to a great degree what studies related to intimate-partner homicide generally show. From the World Health Organization, academic literature to research data worldwide, numerous studies make a direct link between domestic violence and intimate partner homicide. 

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3os3gUz    

Humanitarian/Development

  Behind bars in the home (Prishtina Insight)

A black bullet-proof kitchen apron sits under a spotlight in the Qahili Gallery, a small exhibition space nestled in between Kosovo’s biggest shopping mall and the newly and roughly built Prishtina suburb of Veternik. 

In front of the apron, almost protecting it, sits its creator: Arianit Beqiri, a 24-year-old conceptual artist from Kosovo who is taking part in a debate on domestic violence. “Because our society has decided to keep women in the kitchen, we need to take them out of there, as a society,” he says. “Until we do, I want every woman to protect themselves and survive.”

Fittingly, Beqiri’s exhibition, Kitchen Recipes, was on display in the same week that Nuhi Mavroqani, a man from Kamenica, was sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife with a steel baton. It is an unprecedented sentence in a country where dozens of women have been killed by their partners and where, according to a UN report, one in five women experiences domestic violence. 

See more at: https://bit.ly/3mMOLKx Kon: It is unlikely there won't be any measures for New Year holidays (B92)

The endurance of the system is on the edge, epidemiologist and member of the Serbian Crisis Staff, Dr Predrag Kon said, B92 reports.

“We will see the results this week. In Belgrade, it can be seen that the number of newly infected is starting to decrease slightly, but it should be clear that it is still at a high level. A large number of Belgraders are being treated outside Belgrade, regardless of the COVID hospital in Batajnica being opened. The endurance of the system is at its limits", Kon added.

He also said that the preparations were needed for the arrival of Serbian people from abroad.

"They will have to be in quarantine and self-isolation. That will be discussed at the next meeting", he explained.

Kon also believes that closing the borders is difficult, but that the medical part of the Crisis Staff will not mind if it is a state measure. He also emphasizes that it is unlikely that there will be no measures for the New Year's holidays.

See at: https://bit.ly/3mXbune