• CEC: We aim to announce final election results as soon as possible (media)
• Cakolli: According to current results, Rasic will win a seat in the Assembly (Express)
• Daci remembered as “leader that left indelible trace in institution building” (Koha)
• Central Bank chief warns of losses from Kosovo’s non-membership in SEPA (EO) 
• Muhaxheri: Sorensen lacks power to create conditions to resume dialogue (Kosovo Online)

CEC: We aim to announce final election results as soon as possible (media)

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission is continuing to count the votes from the December 28 parliamentary elections and aims to announce the final results as soon as possible, CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi told a press conference today. 

Elezi said that around 58,000 people from Kosovo living abroad registered to vote by mail, and that the process of withdrawing ballots from postal boxes is not complete yet, so it is not known how many voters abroad exercised their right to vote.

Elezi also said that the vote count for MP candidates is continuing in the municipalities of Pristina, Peja, Prizren, Podujeva, Gjilan and Ferizaj.

Cakolli: According to current results, Rasic will win a seat in the Assembly (Express)

Eugon Cakolli from the Kosovo Democratic Institute told the news website today that based on the results of the snap parliamentary elections so far, Nenad Rasic will win a seat in the new Kosovo Assembly. He also said that the situation is similar to that after the February parliamentary elections when Rasic managed to win a seat and that the Serbian List will have nine seats. “For now, Rasic has a seat, and it is practically impossible for him to lose it,” he said.

Daci remembered as “leader that left indelible trace in institution building” (Koha)

Former Kosovo Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci, who passed away on January 1, is being remembered by leaders today “as a statesman that left an indelible trace in building democratic institutions in Kosovo”. At a commemorative meeting in the Assembly today, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said that Daci was “part of a category of people for which history speaks with outstanding respect”. “A dedicated statesman and intellectual … He left indelible traces in building democratic institutions and developing scientific thoughts. She also said that Daci had chosen the path of wisdom as a politician and that he did not see politics as a clash. “His contribution was quiet but profound,” she said.

Assembly Speaker Dimal Basha said that Daci was a visionary and “one of the founding figures of institutional security and the democratic orientation of Kosovo”. 

Caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Daci, with his calmness and wisdom, served “as the opposite of political polarizations”. 

Central Bank chief warns of losses from Kosovo’s non-membership in SEPA (EO) 

Kosovo Central Bank Governor Ahmet Ismaili, in an interview with the news website, said that people and businesses in Kosovo are losing around €55 million yearly from high costs of international transfers because Kosovo has not yet joined the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). He said that these losses are unnecessary because the Central Bank has met all technical and legal requirements to apply for SEPA membership, but that three laws that were adopted by the Kosovo Assembly have been sent for review at the Constitutional Court and a ruling has not been announced yet. He said that this has prevented the final application for membership although preparations were completed in record time and with the support from the World Bank. 

Muhaxheri: Sorensen lacks power to create conditions to resume dialogue (Kosovo Online)

Pristina-based political commentator Artan Muhaxheri told Kosovo Online that the EU Special Envoy for the Belgrade–Pristina dialogue, Peter Sorensen, does not have the power to create conditions for the continuation of the dialogue because he is merely a mediator, and that pressure on Kosovo and Serbian leaders can be exerted only by the main stakeholders located in Washington, Brussels, Paris, and London. “The international community has done this before in various ways and can do so again if it wants to improve and accelerate the dialogue and achieve important practical results,” Muhaxheri believes.

Muhaxheri argued that 2025 was a lost year for the dialogue, and nothing important happened in that process. “I do not see how this will change in the coming year, because the dialogue has always been the result of strong pressure from the United States and the EU, and now that pressure is lacking, both toward Kosovo and toward Serbia, so there is no willingness among Kosovo and Serbian leaders to continue the dialogue. I do not even see how it will develop with the carrot-and-stick strategy. If the existing approach continues, nothing important will happen in 2026 either,” he emphasized.

Muhaxheri also said that a major change and significant incentives for both Kosovo and Serbia are necessary, so that they would have much to gain or lose, depending on whether they are constructive or destructive in the dialogue.