• Osmani: Kosovo will move forward unwavering on its Euro-Atlantic path (media)
• US Embassy congratulates Kosovo on joining the Board of Peace (media)
• Authorities carry out action in Malisheva over suspected vote tampering (media)
• An American volunteer who inspired many in a Kosovo village (Prishtina Insight)
• Scanner to reduce congestion at Merdare, single cargo crossing remains a problem (Kosovo Online)
• Truck drivers stage third-day blockade at borders amid EU EES dispute (Kossev)
• European Commission on why Serbia excluded from €171 million project cycle (N1)
• From Georgia to Serbia, surveillance is being weaponized against dissent (BIRN)

Osmani: Kosovo will move forward unwavering on its Euro-Atlantic path (media)

Most news websites cover a Facebook post by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani about the annual reception for the diplomatic corps in Kosovo. “Kosovo will continue to move forward on its Euro-Atlantic path and build strong partnerships across the globe. Last week, during the annual reception for the diplomatic corps, I expressed the gratitude of our people to our international partners for their continued support and friendship,” Osmani said.

US Embassy congratulates Kosovo on joining the Board of Peace (media)

The United States Embassy in Kosovo shared a post on X by the Board of Peace today in which it said that it welcomes Kosovo “as a founding member of our growing international organization”.

Authorities carry out action in Malisheva over suspected vote tampering (media)

Law enforcement authorities are carrying out an action in the municipality of Malisheva – as part of an investigation into possible vote tampering in the December 28 parliamentary elections. 

Spokesperson for the Basic Prosecution in Gjakova, Drin Domi, told Radio Free Europe that suspects are being questioned over doubts that they falsified votes for candidates for MPs within the political parties. He did not say how many people were being questioned or who they may be and did not disclose further details about the action. “For the time being this is all I can say. We will disclose more details this afternoon,” Domi said.

Ekonomia Online meanwhile reports that around 50 election commissioners from Malisheva are being questioned at the police station in Gjakova as part of today’s operation.

An American volunteer who inspired many in a Kosovo village (Prishtina Insight)

Noah Natale Schwab was stationed in a Kosovo town for more than two years as part of the American Peace Corps. He sat with Prishtina Insight at the end of his mission and reflected on the experience he gained.

Everyone knows Noah Natale Schwab in the multiethnic village of Dubravë, not more than four kilometers away from the center of Kosovo’s southeastern town of Ferizaj. His students used to call him “teacher,” while the local community referred to him as mësuesi i anglishtes—the English teacher.

“It was a wonderful experience, because nearly all of the children attended the English courses regularly, with only occasional absences,” Schwab, an American Peace Corps volunteer in Ferizaj, told Prishtina Insight. 

“During our work, we focused on developing [the student’s] English-speaking skills,” he added.

The long-haired man from Florida, US, is known even to drivers from the surrounding villages, as he regularly walked from Ferizaj to Dubrave and back.

Sitting at one of cafés in the center of the city on a frosty January day, Schwab reflects on his walks to Dubrave and back, in a city that is constantly crowded with cars.

“I like walking—not only to Dubravë and back—I walked around the city as well for my personal and professional activities,” he said. 

Nevertheless, his Ferizaj routine came to an end last weekend as he flew back home after nearly two years of volunteer work for the American NGO.

Read more at: https://shorturl.fm/VN5iU

Scanner to reduce congestion at Merdare, single cargo crossing remains a problem (Kosovo Online)

Sasa Sekulic, President of the Association of Serbian Businesspeople from Gracanica, told Kosovo Online that the launch of a scanner at the Merdare border crossing—donated by the United States—is good news, as it will reduce the inspection time for a single truck to around ten minutes. However, he stressed that this does not mean the problems for goods coming from Serbia are over.

Sekulic emphasized that he expects congestion at Merdare to decrease but noted that the key issue remains the fact that imports from Serbia are still allowed through only one crossing. “We expect the crowds to be smaller, but since Merdare will continue to be the only crossing point for importing goods coming from central Serbia, the question is how much the congestion will be reduced. The time required to inspect one truck will be about ten minutes. The only good thing is that there will no longer be customs inspections at the terminal. The paperwork process with freight forwarders will be shorter,” he said.

Sekulic also said that cargo screening through scanners will increase the flow of goods from Serbia, while expressing hope that the Jarinje and Bela Zemlja crossings will also be equipped with scanners. “I think this will increase imports from Serbia, although Kosovo ended last year with nearly seven billion euros in imports, which is a record. We expect two more crossings, Jarinje and Bela Zemlja, to receive scanners as well, so that the flow of goods can be faster, allowing both entry procedures and paperwork, as well as unloading, to be completed within the same day,” he said.

Truck drivers stage third-day blockade at borders amid EU EES dispute (Kossev)

Truck drivers  from the region have been blocking cargo border terminals for the third consecutive day in protest against the new Entry/Exit System (EES) for entering and exiting the European Union, as well as what they describe as an inadequate response by the European Commission and Schengen countries regarding the treatment of professional drivers and restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area.

In addition to borders across the region, the administrative crossings of Jarinje, Brnjak, and Merdare are also blocked, FoNet reports, citing RTS.

The Head of the Regional Cooperation Center of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), Aleksandar Radovanovic, told the outlet that the longer the blockades last, the more severe the consequences will be.

According to PKS data, the region is losing €100 million per day solely due to unexported goods. The most affected sectors are expected to be the automotive industry, the chemical and rubber industries, and agriculture, which is a major production sector in Serbia.

Radovanovic warned that there is a serious risk of losing part of the European market and that an economic collapse could occur if supply chains are disrupted and if goods cannot be imported and exported.

According to him, this is not only an issue for the transport sector, but for the entire regional economy. “This issue requires an urgent solution. An exemption from the EES system would, for now, meet the needs for the economy to function normally and would enable the transport of goods from this market to the EU market,” Radovanovic said.

European Commission on why Serbia excluded from €171 million project cycle (N1)

The European Commission on Tuesday announced €171 million in support to boost infrastructure development and private sector growth across the Western Balkans. The funds are earmarked for four countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and North Macedonia. European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier explained to N1 why Serbia was not among them. “No Reform Growth Facility (RGF) projects were approved for Serbia, as no RGF funds were available at the time when the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) approval process was initiated. Now that Serbia has received additional RGF funding from the payment of the 1st installment, projects submitted by Serbia and positively screened by the Commission will be able to be submitted for the approval of the WBIF Board,” Mercier explained to N1. He recalled that two projects in Serbia's clean energy sector were approved at the previous WBIF Operational Board meeting in April 2025, totaling 41 million euro - the Potpec Hydropower Plant and the Novi Sad Solar Thermal Plant - and noted that the source of those funds was RGF pre-financing.

From Georgia to Serbia, surveillance is being weaponized against dissent (BIRN)

As they veer from the path of European Union integration, governments in Georgia and Serbia have both wielded invasive surveillance technology against pro-democracy protesters.

Almost every evening since November 2024, Giorgi Chanturia has walked from the headquarters of Georgia’s public broadcaster to the parliament, megaphone in hand. It’s a walk that is proving extremely expensive.

Chanturia, 36, is one of thousands of Georgians who have taken to the streets almost daily since the government in the South Caucasus country suspended talks on joining the European Union after EU parliamentarians rejected the results of Georgia’s October 2024 general election, won by the ruling Georgian Dream.

Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and pepper spray; more than 400 people were detained, but the protests continued, demanding new elections and the release of political prisoners.

The authorities didn’t respond only with force, however. They deployed ‘Big Brother’ too, in the form of 30 Chinese-made cameras equipped with facial recognition software, bought in December 2024 for roughly 85,000 lari, or 27,000 euros. Besides recognising faces, the cameras can also discern gender and age, analyse emotions from facial expressions, and upload high-resolution photographs. 

“We saw workers installing new cameras right in front of us,” said Chanturia, an active member of the Movement for Social Democracy, a pro-democracy political movement that emerged from the protests. “And then, the next day, those new cameras were also watching.”

Read more at: https://shorturl.fm/FHXOp