• COVID – 19: 462 new cases, 12 deaths (media)
• Hoti: We’re preparing necessary measures for New Year holidays (media)
• No mass vaccination in Kosovo until 2022, according to The Economist (RTK)
• Serbian Police arrests two Kosovars, suspected of entering Serbia (media)
• Podujeva Mayor calls for release of persons arrested by Serbian Police (media)
• Abrashi: If no agreement on President, new elections in January (Kosovapress)
• Tahiri: New elections in Kosovo will be held on February 28 (media)
• No consensus on a candidate for Kosovo President post (Deutsche Welle)
• Osmani: I will run with my own list in new parliamentary elections (media)
• Palokaj: With this pace, the dialogue won’t end even in 2031 (Koha)

COVID – 19: 462 new cases, 12 deaths (media)

462 new cases of COVID – 19 and 12 deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 536 people have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 13,431 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Hoti: We’re preparing necessary measures for New Year holidays (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said on Sunday that as a result of measures introduced by the government, the number of active cases of COVID – 19 in the last two weeks has dropped by 15 percent. He said state institutions will continue to closely monitor the situation and the implementation of measures aimed at preventing the further spread of the virus.

Hoti said the healthcare institutions will maintain a high level of mobilisation and that they are preparing the necessary measures for New Year holidays when there is more movement of citizens, including visits from the diaspora.

Hoti also said that Kosovo’s authorities are working hard to secure vaccines against the virus initially for 20 percent of the population. “The Minister of Health is in contact with the company that has produced the vaccine, and we are also working with partner countries seeking direct support from them,” he added.

No mass vaccination in Kosovo until 2022, according to The Economist (RTK)

Europe is preparing for mass vaccinations against COVID -19. But Kosovo is far from this situation. Only in April 2022 until 2023, Kosovo is expected to have vaccines against COVID – 19 and conduct a mass vaccination of its citizens. The same goes for other countries in the Balkans, according to a report by The Economist.

The report notes that rich countries will have access to the vaccines earlier than other countries. The last countries that are expected to have the vaccines are mainly Balkans countries, including Kosovo.

Serbian Police arrests two Kosovars, suspected of entering Serbia (media)

All news websites report that Serbian Police arrested two Kosovars on Sunday afternoon. According to some media, the two persons are believed to have lost their way in the fog and entered Serbia’s territory. Upon receiving the information, Kosovo Police contacted Serbian authorities who confirmed the arrests and did not reveal further any details.

Podujeva Mayor calls for release of persons arrested by Serbian Police (media)

Podujeva Mayor Shpejtim Bulliqi called for the release of two Kosovo nationals who were arrested by Serbian Police on Sunday, saying that the arrests were unacceptable.

Bulliqi said in a Facebook post that the two persons, one of them a member of the Podujeva municipal assembly, were in the territory of the municipality of Podujeva.

Abrashi: If no agreement on President, new elections in January (Kosovapress)

Arban Abrashi, Kosovo’s Minister of Infrastructure and a senior member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said in an interview with the news agency that the September 4 agreement for economic normalisation with Serbia reached in Washington, will be implemented even after changes in the U.S. administration. Abrashi said that for the construction of the Peace highway, they have already filed an official request for funding with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and that it is expected to begin next spring.

Abrashi also said that if an agreement on the post of Kosovo President is not reached soon, Kosovo will go to early parliamentary elections in January.

“Party leader Mustafa has made it clear that if a solution is not found soon, in early January we need to prepare or move toward elections, because they need to be held soon so that the country is not left without a President,” he said.

Tahiri: New elections in Kosovo will be held on February 28 (media)

Political commentator Ramush Tahiri said in an interview with Ekonomia Online that that the post of Kosovo President will be the main reason for Kosovo to go to early parliamentary elections which according to him will be held on February 28. Tahiri said he doesn’t believe that even after new elections, there will be a required quorum of 80 votes in the Assembly to elect a new President.

No consensus on a candidate for Kosovo President post (Deutsche Welle)

The news agency reported on Sunday that there is no political readiness to join a roundtable called by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to discuss possible solutions for the post of Kosovo President. All parliamentary parties so far have said they will not vote for the candidates of other parties, although no candidates have been announced yet, except for the candidacy of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj.

Osmani: I will run with my own list in new parliamentary elections (media)

Kosovo Acting President Vjosa Osmani said in an interview with RTK that she will run with her own list in the new parliamentary elections and that she will not cooperate with her former party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

Osmani made a series of accusations against the LDK saying that it is dismissive and that it is holding on to power with force. “I will not cooperate with parties that have contributed to the seizing of the state or with those that have helped those that seized the state to remain in power,” she was quoted as saying.

Osman argued that she represents the LDK electorate “and not the current leadership that hides under the logo of the LDK”.

Commenting on the developments with the Specialist Chambers, Osman said political statements about judicial matters have a negative impact on the trials of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Palokaj: With this pace, the dialogue won’t end even in 2031 (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argues in an opinion piece that Germany and France were the only hope that EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak could be successful in reaching an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia “in a matter of months”.

“However, it seems that these countries supported Lajcak just so they can avoid responsibility for the issue. With this pace, the dialogue will not only fail to conclude in 2021, but it will hardly have any success until 2031. This is why the European Union have changed their words. They no longer say that they seek ‘a quick agreement’ but that ‘there will be no artificial timelines’ and that the dialogue ‘is a long road with many obstacles’,” Palokaj writes.