• Kurti waiting for KFOR to remove the barricades (RFE)
• Association, Kurti: Serbia will raise it as an issue within the dialogue (Klan)
• Serbia seeks return of its troops to Kosovo as tensions soar (Associated Press)
• Kurti: We expect Kosovo to enter the EU within 9 years (euronews.al)
• Von Cramon: EU integration also depends on dialogue with Serbia (Klan)
• KFOR’s statement on request for return of Serbian troops? (Albanian Post)
• Rama: Kosovo was freed from Belgrade once and for all (media)
• Former Kosovo Serb police officer arrested, suspected of war crimes (KP)
• Osmani meets Hovenier, discuss latest developments (media)
• Trajkovic sent to Serbian Interior Ministry, warns she isn’t feeling well (Klan)
• Kosovo formally applies to join EU (Reuters)
• Poll: Vetevendosje leads with 42.6%, followed by LDK and PDK (media)
• North Kosovo: What are the tensions with ethnic Serbs about? (DW)
• Tensions in north Kosovo – whose agenda does the flare-up serve? (Al Jazeera)

Kurti waiting for KFOR to remove the barricades (RFE)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Thursday that he is still waiting for KFOR to remove the barricades in the north of Kosovo.

"It would be best if they were removed by those who placed them, but those who placed those barricades also placed themselves in the barricades, even with weapons. These are not civilian barricades and, on the other hand, we have given the time requested by KFOR for them to remove these barricades, and our Minister of Internal Affairs is waiting," Kurti said in an interview for ATV.

He said that the barricades in the north of Kosovo cannot remain there, "not only because they violate the law and free movement, but at the same time also because the Serb citizens themselves are the most blocked".

Association, Kurti: Serbia will raise it as an issue within the dialogue (Klan)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Serbia should make the issue of the Association of Serbian Municipalities part of the dialogue.

"Our relations with Serbia are not normal. This relationship is normalized with mutual recognition and dialogue in Brussels. I am ready, active, creative, dedicated, which cannot be said for our neighbor, who sends letters up and down for the return of the Serbian army to Kosovo. I believe they should change."

"The association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is an agreement that was made in 2013, then, when it was made concrete in 2015, it did not pass the test of the Constitutional Court. Guess what, 33 agreements have been made in Brussels, Serbia insists on that agreement that has not passed the test of the Constitutional Court. I do not deny that, within the dialogue, Serbia will raise the issue of the Association as a model to solve the issues of the rights of national minorities. Let him do it in the framework of the dialogue that we have to develop in Brussels," Kurti said.

Serbia seeks return of its troops to Kosovo as tensions soar (Associated Press)

Serbia on Thursday formally demanded that its security forces return to the breakaway former Serbian province of Kosovo, despite warnings from the West that such calls are unlikely to be accepted and only add to tensions in that part of the Balkans.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state RTS television that the government asked the commander of NATO-led peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo since 1999, when the Western alliance pushed out Serb troops from the region, to allow the return of up to 1,000 Serbian army and police officers to the Serb-populated north of the country.

“The request says that a certain number of (Serbian troops), from one hundred to up to 1,000, return to Kosovo,” Vucic said.

He said that despite the fact that it is “almost certain that this will not be granted,” the request will be put on the record.

Serbian officials claim a United Nations resolution that formally ended the Kosovo war allows for Serbian troops to return to Kosovo. NATO bombed Serbia to stop the war, end its bloody crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and civilians and order its troops out of Kosovo.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3YpzNNL

Kurti: We expect Kosovo to enter the EU within 9 years (euronews.al)

Prime Minister Albin Kurti submitted on Thursday the application for Kosovo’s membership in the European Union.

In a press conference together with the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Mikulash Bek, Kurti said that he is aware that the road towards the full membership of Kosovo in the EU is long.

He also added that he expects Kosovo to be part of the EU after 9 years, and he also brought examples of other countries.

“The EU is the destination we aim for and the destiny we embrace. The EU represents the hard work we want to enjoy. From the moment when the application is submitted to the acceptance, different deadlines are needed for different countries. Sweden and Finland 3 years, Malta 14 years, an average of 9 years. It is real for Kosovo to also have to wait for this average time”.

Von Cramon: EU integration also depends on dialogue with Serbia (Klan)

European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon, said that Kosovo's application for membership in the European Union is an important step, but added that integration into the bloc also depends on the dialogue with Serbia.

"It is essential that the entire Western Balkans join the EU. The pace of Kosovo's integration into the EU will depend on its commitment to the adoption of the necessary reforms and the successful conclusion of the dialogue with Serbia, led by the European Union," she wrote on Twitter.

KFOR’s statement on request for return of Serbian troops? (Albanian Post)

The peacekeeping mission of NATO in Kosovo (KFOR) has not been able to deny it, nor to affirm that Serbia has officially addressed a request for the return of 1,000 Serbian troops to Kosovo.

In an answer to the Albanian Post, KFOR's spokesperson, Vincenzo Grasso, announced that "the Commander of KFOR remains in close contact with all his counterparts, including representatives of institutions in Kosovo and Security Organizations in Kosovo and with the Chief of the Armed Forces of Serbia," avoiding the AP's question regarding Serbia's warnings that it will present an official request for the return of Serbian personnel to Kosovo.

KFOR has said that their mission for the defense of Kosovo is clear and that they continue the daily implementation of the mandate, based on Resolution 1244 of the United Nations Security Council.

"KFOR remains extremely alert and fully capable of implementing its UN mandate to ensure a safe environment and freedom of movement for all communities living in Kosovo."

"This includes extended patrols in the north of Kosovo, in close coordination with the Kosovo Police and EULEX," it is said in the response.

Rama: Kosovo was freed from Belgrade once and for all (media)

On the occasion of the end of the year holidays, Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama told diplomatic representatives accredited in Tirana that Serbia's request to NATO to send Serbian troops to the north of Kosovo to protect the ethnic Serbs, is another special piece of political rhetoric, completely surreal.

"It is not a good end of the year for the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia. The increase in tensions in the north of Kosovo not only does not help, it is deeply disturbing," he said. According to him, it is unbelievable that we have to constantly deal with the appearance of barricades, setbacks in the normalization process, and US and EU firefighting teams running to save the dialogue machinery from the flames of heavy political rhetoric.

"Recently, we heard about requests made to NATO to send Serbian troops to the north of Kosovo, to protect the ethnic Serbs. I understand that this may be another special piece of political rhetoric, but it is as surreal as it would be if Kosovo asked NATO to send Albanian troops to southern Serbia to protect the ethnic Albanians," Rama said.

"We have entered the third decade since Kosovo was freed once and for all from Belgrade. It will never again be under the law of Belgrade. We need only three things: Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. The rest is just bad politics. I know very well that this is easier said than done, but any short cut that is taken beyond the difficult, even painful dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, leads to a very dangerous territory, not only for them, but for the whole region," he said adding that “we did not choose to live in this noisy neighborhood of Europe, which is called the Balkans.”

"But also, we have no doubt that building bridges of cooperation with Serbia is not only the right thing to do, but it is something that serves our interests as a country and as a nation, and this promotes peace in a region where the ghosts of the past are ready to declare war on our common future" Rama said.

Former Kosovo Serb police officer arrested, suspected of war crimes (KP)

A former Kosovo Serb police officer was arrested on Thursday evening in his house in Mitrovica North. Unnamed sources told the news agency that he was arrested on the suspicion of having committed war crimes in the region of Vushtrri. The same sources said that the suspect used to serve in the Kosovo Police from 2013 until his resignation recently.

Osmani meets Hovenier, discuss latest developments (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani met on Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Jeff Hovenier to discuss latest developments and Kosovo’s application to become a member of the European Union. “ … This is an important step for Kosovo to fulfill its vision for integration in Euro-Atlantic structures,” Osmani is quoted as saying in a press release issued by her office.

Osmani and Hovenier also discussed the situation in the north of Kosovo. Osmani stressed the commitment of Kosovo’s institutions for regular and continuous coordination with the United States and other allies.

Trajkovic sent to Serbian Interior Ministry, warns she isn’t feeling well (Klan)

Kosovo Serb politician Rada Trajkovic has warned again that she is detained and does not feel well at all after being stopped by the Serbian police at the border point in the direction of Serbia.

She has demanded an account of who will be responsible for her health condition, due to the lack of therapy, and that she has already been sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia.

"Mr. Bratislav Gasic, please answer?" Trajkovic asked.

"I'm still in detention and I don't feel well. With my request to the police for confirmation of the duration and reason for the detention, as well as who will be responsible for the deterioration of my health condition due to the lack of therapy, I was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia," she writes a tweet on Twitter.

Kosovo formally applies to join EU (Reuters)

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti submitted a bid for Kosovo to join the European Union on Thursday, launching a process that could take years, if not decades, and is dependent on it normalising relations with neighbouring Serbia.

Kurti presented the application in Prague to the Czech Republic, holders of the EU's rotating presidency.

"We want no back door, no fast-track. We want to build the EU in our country with our people," Kurti said after handing the application to Czech European Affairs Minister Mikulas Bek.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3hvd02y

Poll: Vetevendosje leads with 42.6%, followed by LDK and PDK (media)

The results of a quarterly poll conducted by OMNIBUS Consulting and TV Dukagjini, published on Thursday, showed that if national elections were to be held on Sunday the Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement would win with 42.6 percent, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 19.8 percent, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with 19 percent, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with 7.3 percent. Around 50 percent of respondents said they would take part in the elections, 31.9 percent said maybe they would take part, 3.8 percent said they would probably not vote, while 7.4 percent said they would not vote.

North Kosovo: What are the tensions with ethnic Serbs about? (DW)

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo are once again in the headlines. The center of the conflict between the ethnic Serb minority and the ethnic Albanian majority of  Kosovo is the area north of the Ibar river.

North Kosovo is divided into four municipalities, whose population is almost exclusively ethnic Serb, with close ties to Serbia. Most do not recognize that Kosovo is a state. However, they have 10 guaranteed seats in Kosovo's parliament and two minister seats in the government in Pristina.

Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, the Kosovar government has never had full control in the north of the country — this means that the area north of the Ibar river, which has a population of about 60,000, is effectively a lawless zone and thus perfect for criminals and smugglers.

Without exception, the leading Serbian politicians in the area are loyal to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

The ethnic Serbs of Kosovo distrust the government in Pristina, which is underpinned by the fact that special police units are regularly sent into the northern area, allegedly to fight crime.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3uUY2Gg

Tensions in north Kosovo – whose agenda does the flare-up serve? (Al Jazeera)

Ethnic fractures in the Western Balkans, including in Kosovo’s Serb-populated area, create trouble for the EU and US.

Tensions in Serb-populated northern Kosovo – a flashpoint in the Western Balkans for decades – have risen in recent weeks.

On December 10, a stun grenade was thrown at a reconnaissance patrol from the European Union’s rule of law mission in Kosovo.

There have also been exchanges of fire between the local police and unknown groups.

The EU has warned that failure to resolve such friction risks bringing Serbia and Kosovo back to their violent past.

Many ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo are angry about the arrest of a former Serb policeman accused of playing a role in attacks against Kosovo police.

He was one of about 600 Kosovo Serbs who resigned from the police force last month in protest of Pristina, declaring that members of Kosovo’s Serb minority would need to exchange Serbian licence tags predating the war with Republic of Kosovo ones.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3jbSa8A