• COVID-19: 500 new cases, 9 deaths (media)
• PM Hoti asks intelligence chief Gashi to step down (media)
• Osmani comments on decision to relieve of duty KIA chief (media)
• Former KIA chief addresses attempts to obtain classified documents claims (media)
• Peci reacts to Gashi's statement on attempts to open safe in President's Office (media)
• “The red line on talks with Serbia”, acting President Vjosa Osmani on Euronews Albania
• Hoti: Missing persons, priority issue in dialogue with Serbia (media)
• LDK adds budget to the anticipated meeting of political parties (Koha)
• Hoxhaj: LVV to make serious invitation to bring down government (media)
• Haxhiu: No need to experiment by making Haradinaj president (Telegrafi)
• Jashari: Our family ready to take presidential responsibilities (Klan)
• Constitutional Court decides on LVV's complaint against Thaci (media)
• Health Minister calls for measures to be taken after BIRN investigation (Prishtina Insight)

COVID-19: 500 new cases, 9 deaths (media)

500 new cases of COVID-19 and 9 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 596 persons have recovered from the virus during this time.

There are 12,679 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

PM Hoti asks intelligence chief Gashi to step down (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti has asked Kreshnik Gashi, head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), to step down from his post.

"The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Avdullah Hoti, asked Mr. Kreshnik Gashi to release the duty of director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA)," the Government of Kosovo said in a press statement.

Koha reports that the decision has been result of coordination between Hoti and the acting President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani and comes in face of allegations that a KIA officer tried to obtain confidential documents from the president's office soon after Osmani took the post. "There was coordination and full agreement between the acting president, Dr. Vjosa Osmani, and Prime Minister Hoti for relieving of duty the KIA director," media advisor to Osmani, Bekim Kupina, told Koha.

Gashi was appointed to the post in 2019 by then prime minister Ramush Haradinaj.

Osmani comments on decision to relieve of duty KIA chief (media)

Acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, currently on an official visit to Albania, commented in an interview with a TV station in Tirana on the Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti's request to ask the head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency Kreshnik Gashi to release the post. She said she was aware of why Gashi was asked to step down.

"Yes, I know the reasons but being that this is a sensitive process I don't think it is right for me to speak in details but it was a process that was discussed and coordinated earlier," she said. "I had a conversation today with Kosovo's prime minister and of course I gave my consent for such a process and I requested as soon as possible, urgently even, to move forward with appointment of a new head that is based on the principles of professionalism, has no political ties and someone that has integrity."

Former KIA chief addresses attempts to obtain classified documents claims (media)

Driton Gashi, former head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA) who was dismissed from the post after the deportation of six Turkish nationals from Kosovo in 2018, has commented on allegations that a KIA officer tried to obtain confidential information from a safe in the Kosovo President's Office.

Gashi, who was present at the time of the alleged incident as part of then President Thaci's staff, said there were no attempts to open the safe. He said Vjosa Osmani's chief of staff, Faton Peci, was also present. "The idea that the safe was opened and there was abuse of authorisations, is a lie," he told Klan Kosova.

Peci reacts to Gashi's statement on attempts to open safe in President's Office (media)

Faton Peci, chief of staff to acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani, reacted to the statement of former Kosovo Intelligence Agency head and at the time of the alleged incident secretary to then president Hashim Thaci, Driton Gashi, that an intelligence officer that visited the office soon after Osmani took power did not try to obtain classified information stored in a safe.

Peci said that he had reported the incident to the police. He said that on the day of the incident he received a message from Gashi saying that EULEX was about to search the office of the president and that as a result of this, Osmani and her staff moved to the Assembly offices. "As we were discussing in the Assembly, the President told me I was responsible at the Presidency and I was to go and see what is happening there and whether the EULEX operation announced by Gashi was underway. When I arrived there, Mr. Gashi was near the security safe holding a phone and trying to open the safe," he said.

Peci said Gashi did not have a mandate to call KIA officers to take any document contained in the president's office safe. "When I asked on whose authorisations they undertook such an action, he told me he would not allow EULEX to get hold of those documents." Meanwhile, he said, Osmani told him there was no information that EULEX was going to raid the premises.

“The red line on talks with Serbia”, acting President Vjosa Osmani on Euronews Albania

The acting President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, spoke extensively about the dialogue process with Serbia during an exclusive interview with Ilva Tare on Euronews Albania. She reiterated that Kosovo “has never refused the process”, even though Serbia has not apologized for crimes committed during the war.

She said that Kosovo is sitting at the roundtable of discussions, but added that this is only happening under certain conditions and by outlining several key points, which must be considered as “red lines”.

“We don’t refuse the dialogue, but we demand that it takes place in compliance to several conditions and principles. It is completely healthy for any state, even when it is negotiating under trade or economic terms, to draw a red line over matters that cannot be crossed over ahead of the negotiations”, she said.

According to Osmani, Kosovo needs “internal unity” when facing Serbia in the dialogue process set to continue in Brussels.

“Before any of us goes to Brussels, we need to have a unified internal approach, so that we know what is the borderline that can’t be crossed over. And of course, that limit must be accepted by everyone in the assembly, because agreements signed in Brussels are not just souvenirs that we get to keep in our pockets, but in order to be ratified they need a two third majority voting, or else the process will linger, and that suits Serbia well”, Osmani said.

Osmani said that in the last ten years, dialogue with Serbia has “slipped into topics of internal affairs”.

See more at: https://bit.ly/3mwVcjO

Hoti: Missing persons, priority issue in dialogue with Serbia (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti held a meeting yesterday with forensic experts who were involved in the exhumation of the mass grave site in Kizevak, Serbia.

"Prime Minister Hoti stressed that shedding light on the fate of the missing is a priority of the work of the Government of Kosovo and one of the main topics in the process of dialogue with Serbia. He offered the unreserved support of the Government for the work of forensic medicine experts and the Government Commission for Missing Persons, on whose shoulders falls the whole burden of shedding light on the fate of the missing from the recent war in Kosovo," a press release issued by the Government of Kosovo states.

LDK adds budget to the anticipated meeting of political parties (Koha)

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) plans to add the issue of next year's budget to the meeting of political parties which the party is expected to call to discuss the post of Kosovo's president. Without specifying if this meeting will take place before the end of this year, LDK leader Isa Mustafa said they are in contact with all parties, except the Vetevendosje Movement.

"I am in contact with all, except Mr. Kurti. We are making efforts to create a climate of understanding and trust for meetings not only on the issue of the president but on other vital issues such as the pandemic, budget and dialogue. I am convinced there is constructiveness with the majority of political parties to find a solution at the right time because most of them are preoccupied with vital problems of citizens and not vote counting," Mustafa told Koha. 

Hoxhaj: LVV to make serious invitation to bring down government (media)

Enver Hoxhaj, acting leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) should make a serious invitation to his party if it wants to bring to successful conclusion a motion of no confidence against Avdullah Hoti-led government.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with trade unions representatives, Hoxhaj said: “If Vetevendosje is interested to end this government, they need to make us a serious invitation. They are the ones that launched the motion, let them make the call to meet up. If the PDK had initiated the motion, it would invite Vetevendosje. Our position is crystal clear.”

On the issue of the future president of Kosovo, Hoxhaj said they are ready to discuss it but only if a meeting is called by the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Isa Mustafa and not Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti. “Only Mr. Mustafa is partner for us, we are the opposition, they are the government. Our approach is clear, we don’t want the country to remain without a head of state, we want Kosovo to have a president and we are ready to give our votes but the president should be selected by the Democratic Party of Kosovo.”

Haxhiu: No need to experiment by making Haradinaj president (Telegrafi)

Albulena Haxhiu from the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) commented on the issue of Kosovo president reiterating the position that the candidate for the post should be a unifying figure, and not necessarily a political one and that it should be decided after elections.

In an interview with Telegrafi, Haxhiu said: "I hope Kosovo will not have the fate of having once again a president like Hashim Thaci who was a divisive figure and never represented the unity of the people but had one foot in the PDK and the other in the presidency," she said.

"We have maintained that the president should be a unifying figure, it doesn't necessarily have to be someone from political parties. I don't think Ramush Haradinaj is the right candidate for president and I don't understand his ambition to become one. He was prime minister for two years, he showed us the way he governs with one of his first decisions being to increase his own salary," Haxhiu said adding: "We don't need to experiment by making Haradinaj president."

Haxhiu also spoke about the no-confidence motion against the government saying that LVV cannot formally submit it without 40 signatures of MPs, and that they need nine more. She said the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) wants to have a meeting with LVV to discuss post-election scenarios and the possibility of the two parties cooperating at that stage. "This speaks more about the lack of seriousness and will to bring down the current government because the polls suggest PDK stands to get less votes than in October 2019 elections." Haxhiu noted that the results of recent mayoral elections in Podujeve sent a clear message to other political parties.

Jashari: Our family ready to take presidential responsibilities (Klan)

Bekim Jashari, mayor of Skenderaj and member of KLA commander Adem Jashari's family, that the family is ready to take on the responsibly of the president's post if political parties agree to such an idea.

He said Murat Jashari would be best suited for the post is parties reach consensus on the issue and that the family has shown it can and knows not to avoid responsibilities at crucial moments. "The issue of the president was discussed but not directly in whether you would take the post but I raised it and as family we have shown in these twenty years that we are of Jashari's bloodline, we have shown we have courage, can and know in certain moments not to shy away from responsibility," he said in an interview with TV Dukagjini.

Constitutional Court decides on LVV's complaint against Thaci (media)

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo has ruled that it will halt the process involving Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) complaint against then president of Kosovo Hashim Thaci for his statement at the early stages of the pandemic that the citizens were not obliged to follow the health measures taken by the government of Kosovo which at the time was led by Albin Kurti.

The Court said the decision to halt the process has to do with Thaci's resignation from the president's post.

Health Minister calls for measures to be taken after BIRN investigation (Prishtina Insight)

BIRN has obtained a letter in which Minister of Health Armend Zemaj calls for measures to be taken following our investigation exposing a lack of security at the clinics housing COVID-19 patients at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, UCCK.

The letter was sent by Zemaj to the board and acting director of the Hospital and University Clinical Service of Kosovo, and demands responsibility be taken by the management of the hospital.

“There has been a failure of organisation in the work at the clinics and an inadequate management of the situation which we are in,” the letter states. “The directors of the clinics, as well as the heads of the respective units are responsible for the organisation, planning and management of those clinics.”

In an interview with BIRN on November 16, Zemaj stated that there was “no chance” that anyone that had not tested positive for COVID-19 could enter clinics in which COVID-19 patients were being treated. The minister added that Kosovo Police officers had been deployed and were operating a zero tolerance policy regarding entry.

However, on December 8, BIRN Kosovo Director Jeta Xharra and a camera crew, none of whom had authorisation, encountered no police and were easily able to enter multiple clinics at UCCK housing patients with COVID-19.

See more at: https://bit.ly/37qED4O