UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, February 2, 2026

Haradinaj goes to US on official visit (media)
Lekaj: Haradinaj working to be opposition’s candidate for President (Kosovapress)
SL expects ECAP to overrule decision by Central Election Commission (Kossev)
SL files appeal at ECAP; OSCE says it will continue to monitor developments (media)
A legal dispute miscast as disenfranchisement (The Kosovo Dispatch)
North municipalities again vote to leave Kosovo municipalities association (Kossev)
Commerce Chamber warns of consequences from increased energy tariffs (media)
Jahjaga: Reports about my ‘link’ to Epstein files, ungrounded and untrue (media)
Serbian, Bosnian hauliers end blockade of EU borders (SeeNews)

Haradinaj goes to US on official visit (media)

Most news websites report that Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj has travelled on an official visit to Washington. A press release issued by the AAK notes that Haradinaj has been invited to the National Prayer Breakfast and will take part in the official activities and hold meetings with different political leaders.

During his stay in the US, Haradinaj will also hold meetings at the US Congress and other institutions in Washington, and give a speech in Capitol Hill, and discuss the strategic partnership between Kosovo and the United States and ways to strengthen bilateral relations.

Lekaj: Haradinaj working to be opposition’s candidate for President (Kosovapress)

Deputy leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) deputy leader Pal Lekaj said in an interview with the news agency that party leader Ramush Haradinaj was working to be a consensual candidate of the opposition for the post of Kosovo President. “Kosovo needs a consensual president and in this regard, we are willing to contribute, both with Haradinaj as a candidate and with an agreement over the president. I think now is the right time for the opposition to come together and decide on a consensual candidate and why shouldn’t Haradinaj be a candidate … Haradinaj is always in contact with PDK leader Bedri Hamza and LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku and I think that a conclusion will be reached gradually. But I still don’t have any accurate information about the stage of talks for the country’s president,” he said.

SL expects ECAP to overrule decision by Central Election Commission (Kossev)

The Serbian List said today that it expects the Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) to overrule a decision by the Central Election Commission to not announce the final results of this party in the December 28 parliamentary elections. “On behalf of the Serbian List, a complaint has been filed at the Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel against the unlawful, anti-Serbian and discriminatory decision of the Central Election Commission which refused to announce the final results of the Serbian List in the parliamentary elections. We expect the ECAP to decide in line with the law and protect the rights of the Serb people, the legality and the integrity of the election process,” the statement notes.

SL files appeal at ECAP; OSCE says it will continue to monitor developments (media)

The Serbian List filed its appeal to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, in response to the Central Election Commission failure last week to formally publish their votes received in the December 2025 election. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo said in a Facebook post today that it emphasizes the need for full compliance with, and respect for, international electoral standards, in particular the transparent and comprehensive publication of election results, as a means of ensuring legal certainty and equal treatment for all electoral contestants. It also said that it will continue to monitor developments closely.

A legal dispute miscast as disenfranchisement (The Kosovo Dispatch)

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission has decided, for now, not to publish the election results of the Serbian List. This step has been presented by Belgrade as a denial of political rights. It is not.

Under Kosovo’s electoral law, the commission’s decision is provisional, not final. It is subject to appeal before the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel and, ultimately, the Supreme Court. This is the normal legal sequence for contested electoral outcomes in Kosovo and has been used many times by parties representing all communities, including the Serbian List.

What Belgrade Claims

In a public statement, Марко Djuric described the commission’s move as a “serious blow” to the political rights of Kosovo’s Serbs and as proof of systematic discrimination. He further linked the decision to the European Union’s move to lift punitive measures on Pristina, suggesting that this demonstrated continued pressure on non-majority communities.

His account treats the commission’s decision as final. It is not.

He treats it as disenfranchisement. It is not.

What the Record Shows

Kosovo’s electoral practice tells a different story. The election commission is a politically composed body, and its votes can reflect political divisions. But that is precisely why Kosovo’s system includes judicial review.

When the commission has acted in ways that conflicted with electoral law, the appellate institutions have intervened. The Election Complaints and Appeals Panel and the Supreme Court have repeatedly annulled commission decisions and ruled in favor of the Serbian List when the law required it. This is not an exception; it is a pattern.

What is now being portrayed as repression follows a familiar legal path:

- A disputed administrative decision.

- An appeal.

- A binding judicial ruling.

That sequence is not evidence of discrimination. It is evidence of due process.

The Manufactured Link to Europe

The most troubling aspect of Mr. Djuric’s statement is his attempt to tie this provisional decision to the European Union’s move to ease measures on Kosovo. There is no legal or factual connection between the two. The commission acted under domestic electoral rules, and its decision is reviewable by independent legal bodies. Brussels did not order it, and it does not control the appeals process.

The purpose of the linkage appears political: to damage Kosovo’s standing just as Europe signals de-escalation. It reframes a routine legal procedure as an international grievance.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/60CtT

Commerce Chamber warns of consequences from increased energy tariffs (media)

Chairman of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, Lulzim Rafuna, expressed concerns over requests for increased energy tariffs saying that this would have direct consequences for businesses and the people. He said another increase would directly affect production costs, living standard and the buying power.

Rafuna recalls that people have already faced a 16.1 percent increase in April last year, while major businesses have been moved to the open energy market and where energy bills for some companies have gone up by 200 to 400 percent.

Rafuna also said that the Chamber of Commerce would wait for the final official decisions and then prepare a detailed analysis and call for the inclusion of the government and the Energy Regulatory Office on the matter.

Jahjaga: Reports about my ‘link’ to Epstein files, ungrounded and untrue (media)

Former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga reacted for the first time today to media reports that her name was mentioned in the released files related to Jeffrey Epstein. “Media reports about ‘my link’ with the Epstein file are completely ungrounded and untrue. As President of the Republic of Kosovo, I never had any meeting or any kind of contact with the person. The mentioning of my name by the media in the recently released document relates only to an electronic correspondence between third parties, which does not prove any meeting or personal relation with me. My name is not mentioned in any of the published documents,” Jahjaga said in a Facebook post.

Jahjaga also said that the email correspondence between third parties, the President of Kosovo is mentioned without specifying who it was. “Any different reporting is insinuating and deceives the public as can be easily noticed in the document,” she said.

Serbian, Bosnian hauliers end blockade of EU borders (SeeNews)

Hauliers from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday ended their five-day blockade of border crossings with European Union member states after the European Commission signalled it would address the truck drivers' concerns over the Schengen area's 90/180-day rule through a new visa strategy.

"The EU will work on the new visa strategy in which our drivers are recognised as a special group for whom 90 days of stay is not enough," Serbia's association of international road hauliers, MT, said in a press release.

Bosnian news outlet Nezavisne Novine quoted Igor Beben, president of the Association of Road Carriers of Bosnia's Serb Republic entity, as saying that transport companies from the country have unanimously decided to end the blockade.

On Monday, hauliers from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro blocked freight traffic at the borders with their EU neighbours in protest against the rule that limits the stay of non-EU nationals in the EU's Schengen area to 90 days within any 180-day period, which they alleged is discriminatory toward the hauliers from the countries of the Western Balkans. Hauliers from North Macedonia and Montenegro ended their blockade on Thursday.