UNMIK Media Observer, Afternoon Edition, January 23, 2026

EEAS on first trilateral meeting of Joint Commission on Missing Persons (media)
Police and prosecution launch operation to apprehend vote manipulators (media)
Gervalla meets Fidan within framework of 2nd Balkan Peace Platform (media)
Abdixhiku hails Kosovo joining Board of Peace, “a historical fact” (media)
SBASHK reacts against lecture on Special Court in high school in Pristina (media)
War Veterans: Special court is using schools for campaign against KLA (EO)
Hargreaves meets mayors of Leposavic and Zubin Potok (media)
Serb civil society warns of risks from planned enforcement of laws on foreigners and vehicles (Kossev)
Decathlon to shortly open store in Kosovo (SeeNews)

EEAS on first trilateral meeting of Joint Commission on Missing Persons (media)

The EU External Action Service said in a press release today that on 22 January, the Chief Negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia, together with the EUSR, convened, for the first time in a trilateral format, the Joint Commission on Missing Persons. The establishment of this Commission was agreed by the President of Serbia and the Prime Minister of Kosovo in their Declaration on Missing Persons on 2 May 2023 during a High-Level Meeting facilitated by the HR/VP.

The objective of the Joint Commission is to oversee the implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons, which aims to contribute to shedding light on the fate of the remaining missing persons, which includes persons forcibly disappeared, provide closure to their families and foster lasting reconciliation and peace. In accordance with the agreed Terms of Reference, The Joint Commission shall support the ICRC-chaired Working Group on Missing Persons efforts by facilitating the Parties’ implementation activities, resolution of any disagreements and by reviewing progress.

The EU Facilitator, Kosovo, Serbia or the ICRC may each refer to the Joint Commission any issue relating to the implementation, application and interpretation of the Declaration on Missing Persons, as well as any disputed issue arising within the ICRC-chaired Working Group, including the issue of reviewing and updating the Terms of Reference and General Framework of the ICRC-chaired Working Group on Missing Persons, should the latter fail to reach consensus on this matter. The Joint Commission shall deliberate on issues within its mandate under the agreed Terms of Reference. Any decision on disputed issues referred to the Joint Commission by the ICRC chaired Working Group will be referred back to the ICRC-led Working Group for adoption and implementation.

The EU attaches great expectations to the Joint Commission making a significant contribution to clarifying the fate of the missing and to helping close a painful chapter for the families, who have waited far too long for answers.

On 17 December 2024, the Chief Negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia agreed in Brussels on the Terms of Reference for the Joint Commission on Missing Persons to be established under the Declaration on Missing Persons agreed by President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo on 2 May 2023.

Police and prosecution launch operation to apprehend vote manipulators (media)

All news websites are reporting today about an operation by Kosovo Police and the Basic Prosecution in Prizren aimed at apprehending people involved in the manipulation of votes from the December 28 parliamentary elections. Several commissioners have been stopped and many other officials are expected to be interviewed in the process.

Several news websites report that among those stopped is the son of Nait Hasani, a candidate of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) for MP. His son reportedly worked as an election commissioner.

Kallxo reports that commissioners of five different parties in Prizren are being interviewed.

A police spokesperson for the Prizren region said that over 100 officials engaged by the Central Election Commission (CEC) were summoned for interviews by judicial bodies. “You will be informed about the details of this operation later in the day,” the spokesperson said.

Gervalla meets Fidan within framework of 2nd Balkan Peace Platform (media)

Most news websites report that Kosovo caretaker Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla met with her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Istanbul within the framework of the 2nd Balkan Peace Platform. She said that Kosovo “through its engagement in this platform, reaffirms its strategic orientation towards Euro-Atlantic integration, including membership in the European Union and NATO, as well as its commitment to sustainable peace, good neighborly relations, and regional stability. I also highlighted the importance of deepening cooperation in the field of security and joint efforts for a safer region”.

Gervalla also said that she thanked Fidan for the invitation, “underlining the excellent relations and enduring partnership between Kosovo and Turkey, as well as Turkey’s role in advancing dialogue, peace, and stability in the region and beyond”.

Abdixhiku hails Kosovo joining Board of Peace, “a historical fact” (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku welcomed on Thursday Kosovo joining the Board of Peace led by US President Donald Trump. “For a country that has gone from war to freedom, thanks also to international intervention, our presence on roundtables where global peace is discussed, is both proof and responsibility. Proof of our success, and responsibility for our role as a young state. It is a sign that Kosovo is not seen only as a beneficiary of peace but also as part of it. In an ever fragile world, every joint step with the US is a step that strengthens our national security, deepens our strategic alliances and puts Kosovo where it belongs, on the side of peace and righteous alliances,” Abdixhiku said in a Facebook post.

SBASHK reacts against lecture on Special Court in high school in Pristina (media)

The Union of Education, Science and Culture (SBASHK) reacted to a lecture that representatives of the Specialist Chambers and the Youth Initiative for Human Rights (YIHR) gave at the Xhevdet Doda High School. “SBASHK finds it unacceptable for educational institutions to be used for promoting a biased narrative with the aim of convincing students that the Special Court represents justice,” the reaction notes. SBASHK said that “freedom fighters and allies of NATO, who fought for the basic rights of the people of Kosovo, have been held in detention for over five years” and that “it is unjust and morally unacceptable to use the premises” of the high school for “activities that promote equalization between the victim and the aggressor”.

SBASHK also called on the Ministry of Education, the Municipal Education Department in Pristina and the management of the high school to take concrete measures about the case and make sure that schools are not turned into premises to promote ideologies that “can damage the historical truth and the dignity of the liberation war of the people of Kosovo”.

War Veterans: Special court is using schools for campaign against KLA (EO)

The organization of KLA War Veterans expressed concern today that lectures about the Specialist Chambers in public schools in Kosovo could be an attempt to influence the public and students against the KLA and its former leaders who are standing trial in the Hague.

KLA War Veterans leader Hysni Gucati said in an interview with the news website that he was surprised by a lecture about the Specialist Chambers in one of the high schools in Pristina. “We were honestly surprised and we did not expect that a court that is biased, and you know that we have never recognized this court, goes and campaigns in schools. This is the first time this is happening. I don’t know if the school principal accepted the representatives of the court to go and campaign in the school. We don’t know if they campaigned against the KLA and against those who are in the Hague … or if they are preparing the ground to convince the public, by going to schools and trying to turn children against the KLA,” he argued.

Gucati called on schools not to accept such activities and said that municipal authorities must take measures against heads of educational institutions that have allowed such lectures.

Hargreaves meets mayors of Leposavic and Zubin Potok (media)

UK Ambassador to Kosovo Jonathan Hargreaves said in a Facebook post he had “engaging meetings with the Mayor of Leposavic, Zoran Todic and the Mayor of Zubin Potok, Milos Perovic”. “I expressed my support for their role in delivering services for their communities. We discussed the importance of dialogue and shared strategies between local and central authorities to do this,” Hargreaves said.

Serb civil society warns of risks from planned enforcement of laws on foreigners and vehicles (Kossev)

Several Serbian civil society organizations operating in Kosovo have held a consultative meeting this week with representatives of diplomatic missions, warning of potential negative consequences stemming from the planned enforcement of Kosovo’s Law on Foreigners and regulations governing vehicles with Serbian license plates.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the New Social Initiative, NGOs CASA and AKTIV, as well as the Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER), the organizations said in a joint statement.

According to them, they informed members of the international diplomatic community about the risks that a rigid and insufficiently prepared implementation of this legal framework could pose to the everyday life of the Serbian community in Kosovo. These risks, they warned, could particularly affect the functioning of essential services of existential importance, including healthcare and education.

During the meeting, the organizations emphasized the need for stronger engagement by the international community and insisted on broad consultations with the Serbian community before any further steps are taken.

“Civil society organizations stressed the need for greater involvement of the international community in ensuring a comprehensive and responsible approach to this issue, as well as their insistence on wide and inclusive consultations with the Serbian community — involving relevant political representatives, civil society and the academic community — as a prerequisite for any further action related to this legal framework,” the statement reads.