• COVID-19: 271 new cases, 12 deaths (media)
• Travel restrictions tightened (Prishtina Insight)
• Osmani concludes consultations with political parties (media)
• Hoti: LDK is a favourite to win upcoming elections (media)
• Mustafa: We will not make pre-election coalition with any of the parties (RTK)
• Enver Hoxhaj announced PDK's candidate for prime minister (media)
• Hoxhaj: PDK is competing for the first place (T7/RTK)
• Poll projects Vetevendosje winning elections (Klan)
• Challenging path in formation of new Assembly, Government (Koha)
• Tahiri urges political parties to adopt 2021 budget (media)
• Von Cramon: Bringing down Kurti-led government was a mistake (DW)
• Petkovic attacks von Cramon for saying Serbia will recognise Kosovo (Express)
• Dacic: Osmani ten times worse than Citaku (Koha)
• GLPS survey indicates half of Kosovo citizens ready to migrate (media)

COVID-19: 271 new cases, 12 deaths (media)

271 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed of 1,066 tests carried out in the last 24 hours, Kosovo's National Institute for Public Health said.

Meanwhile, 12 deaths and 417 recoveries have been reported over the same time period.

There are currently 11,807 active cases of coronavirus in Kosovo.

Travel restrictions tightened (Prishtina Insight)

New measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus that entered into force at 05:00 on Wednesday require all Kosovo citizens to present a certificate confirming a negative PCR test, no less than 72 hours old, on entry to the country. Those that fail to provide a negative test will be required to self-isolate for seven days, with the only exceptions applying to citizens that left the country in the previous 24 hours.

BIRN sources at the National Centre for Border Management told Prishtina Insight on Wednesday that the measures had already started to be applied, adding that citizens of all countries are required to produce a negative PCR test, with the exception of Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro.

The Centre stated that due to principles of reciprocity being applied, Serbian, Albanian and North Macedonian citizens do not require any test to enter Kosovo, while Montenegrin citizens are required to provide a serological test.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health also took the decision to suspend all flights between the UK and Prishtina International Airport, following the announcement of a new strain of coronavirus in Britain. The decision also states that all citizens arriving from the UK by land should self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.

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Osmani concludes consultations with political parties (media)

Acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani concluded the consultations with political parties represented at the Assembly of Kosovo following the decision of the Constitutional Court declaring the election of the current Government unlawful.

"After the conclusion of the round of meetings and substantive discussions with all political entities, Acting President Osmani stressed that once the parties receive the full Judgment of the Constitutional Court, the date of the extraordinary elections will be set immediately. The Acting President will also be holding meetings with the CEC and other relevant institutions in order to organize the elections in accordance with the highest standards," a statement issued by the presidency states.

Hoti: LDK is a favourite to win upcoming elections (media)

Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti said that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will emerge as winner in upcoming parliamentary elections.

"If you look at the actions we have taken during the 6-7 months at the head of the government, we are the main favourite to win these elections. You know in what state we found the country: completely blocked, with international sanctions. We have completely opened it, we have managed the pandemic, we are among the 3-4 countries that have managed it the best," Hoti said yesterday at the opening of an exhibition in Pristina.

Mustafa: We will not make pre-election coalition with any of the parties (RTK)

Isa Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), told RTK that his political party will not go for pre-election coalition with any of the political parties. He however left open the option of competing together with some smaller political entity.

“We have not decided yet within the structures of LDK, but we will soon organize a meeting of the leadership. I think that we will compete alone. We remain open to some smaller entity. But we will not make pre-election coalition with any of the political parties,” Mustafa said.

He further expressed disbelief about the recent polls of the Vetevendosje Movement.

“The decision of the Constitutional Court as unexpected. It took a role that it does not have, because it announced elections. This is not done by it. However, we have decided to respect this decision,” Mustafa said.

Enver Hoxhaj announced PDK's candidate for prime minister (media)

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has announced that its acting leader Enver Hoxhaj will be the party's candidate for prime minister in forthcoming early elections.

PDK General Secretary Uran Ismaili, who made the announcement, said that in addition to his academic career, Hoxhaj has a broad institutional and political experience and has accompanied Hashim Thaci and Kadri Veseli in the journey to realise the aspirations of citizens of Kosovo for independence and state-building.

"From the two Governments, Hoti and Kurti, we have seen successive failures in relation to the pandemic, the economy, as well as towards Serbia, the consequences of which we have suffered as a society. The year 2020, without any doubt, was a tough one for our economy. Thousands of workers lost their jobs, thousands of entrepreneurs remained without support," he said adding that 2020 was also a degrading year for the state agenda of Kosovo as both two last governments, led by Albin Kurti and Avdullah Hoti later, blamed every failure on the pandemic.

Hoxhaj: PDK is competing for the first place (T7/RTK)

Enver Hoxhaj, candidate for the Prime Minister of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) told T7 broadcaster that his political party will be competing to win the elections. He said that they will soon announce their political program and added further that the situation is not the same as in 2019 and 2014. According to Hoxhaj polls show that PDK stands in a very good position.

He further criticised the Vetevendosje Movement decision not to vote the budget, saying that this is endangering national security.

“Vetevendosje colleagues have poor imagination,” he said, adding that if the budget is not voted people will remain without salaries, public order is endangered. 3PDK will vote the budget,” he said.

Poll projects Vetevendosje winning elections (Klan)

The findings of a poll carried out by the Pristina-based research and consulting firm “UBO Consulting” last week projecting that Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) stands to win new elections were presented exclusively in Klan Kosova's Rubikon show last night.

The poll results indicated that in the new Assembly of Kosovo, LVV would win 55 seats, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) would get 19 MPs, followed by the Deomcratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 18, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) with 8 seats.

If elections were to be held this week, 46.2 percent of people would vote for LVV, 16 percent for PDK, 14.9 for LDK and 7 percent for AAK. The Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) is not projected to win enough votes to pass the 5 percent threshhold to get seats in the Assembly.

The most preferred candidate for prime minister of Kosovo is Albin Kurti with an approval rating of 44 percent, followed by Avdullah Hoti with 12 percent, Vjosa Osmani and Enver Hoxhaj are each projected to get 11 percent, Ramush Haradinaj 6 percent, and Behgjet Pacollli, Fatmir Limaj, Isa Mustafa, and Mimoza Kusari-Lila each have 1 percent.

57.3 percent of people interviewed said they would go out to vote if elections were to be held this week, compared to 22.6 percent who said maybe they would vote, and 7.3 percent definitely would not. 2.7 percent did not answer to the question.

40.1 percent of respondents said they were not happy with the work of the current government, 28.4 percent said they were very unhappy while 18.3 percent said they were pleased with the work of the Hoti-led government.

The poll covers the period between 14-21 December and is said to reflect the demographic, gender, ethnic, and urban structure of Kosovo.

Challenging path in formation of new Assembly, Government (Koha)

Koha writes on the front page that possible delays in the formation of the new Assembly and Government following the early elections, add to this the vacant post of Kosovo president, can lead Kosovo into an institutional crisis.

It adds that the acting president Vjosa Osmani cannot continue to exercise the post more than six months and analysts consider that the Constitutional Court should have been more expedient in announcing its verdict on the legality of the Avdullah Hoti's Government in order for other institutions to be able to meet constitutional timelines for formation of new Assembly and Government.

Tahiri urges political parties to adopt 2021 budget (media)

Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Tahiri has urged political parties represented at the Assembly to endorse the 2021 budget.

"Considering the fact that we did not reach full inter-party consensus on voting the recovery law, the voting of the 2021 budget is the best opportunity for parliamentary groups to speak in one voice for the general public interest," Tahiri wrote on social media. He said political parties need to demonstrate that the institutional and public agenda is a priority for all and not just for a simple majority.

Acting Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has meanwhile underlined on several occasions now that the budget for next year should be voted by the Assembly before the decision to dissolve it as per the ruling of the Constitutional Court.

Von Cramon: Bringing down Kurti-led government was a mistake (DW)

Viola von Cramon, European Parliament's rapporteur for Kosovo, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle in Albanian that Kosovo will be facing major challenges in the coming year and that new elections ought to bring about political stability that would ensure progress on the long list of reforms.

Von Cramon said she believed that the fall of the government of Kosovo led by Albin Kurti was a huge mistake. "Many in the West commented on like this at the time and we all criticized it for not being a good idea to overthrow a government during a pandemic, which by then had done a good job and many people were satisfied. It seemed from the beginning that it would be difficult to find a majority to change the government or elect a new prime minister. The Constitutional Court confirmed what many people said from the start, that this election was unconstitutional, even under the circumstances that persons who had been convicted were allowed to vote. I did not make this statement before, because in the beginning it is good for the courts to have their say. It is unfortunate for me that the Constitutional Court took so long."

She said that organising elections during a pandemic will not be an easy task. "To do all this during a pandemic, at a time when the economic situation is difficult, and in a situation where everyone expects results from Kosovo in terms of dialogue, from a political point of view is not easy, this is clear," von Cramon argued.

"I hope that these elections will bring enough stability so that we would not have new elections every year, and that the long-awaited reforms will begin; reforms related to the electoral law, reforms in the judiciary, those related to the fight against corruption. So this list of reforms that needs to be implemented, this is what is urgent. We need stable relations, we do not need authoritarian situation like in Serbia, but relations where people understand that there is governing. That they feel represented in foreign policy and understand that reforms in the country have begun."

Von Cramon said that Serbia will recognise Kosovo but that it is unclear what form the mutual recognition will have and that this of course needs to be negotiated. "The Serbian president knows that only through a mutual recognition with Kosovo there is a path to EU. He has a huge interest to have Serbia integrate in the EU."

Petkovic attacks von Cramon for saying Serbia will recognise Kosovo (Express)

Petar Petkovic, Director of the Office for Kosovo at Serbian government, complained about the statement of the German EU MP Viola Von Cramon that the Serbian President is aware that at the end of the dialogue process, Serbia will recognise the independence of Kosovo.

Petkovic said Von Cramon is a direct promoter of Kosovo’s independence and that she speaks only what politicians in Prishtina want to hear.

Petkovic ignored the part of the interview where Von Cramon criticized the institutions of Kosovo.

Petkovic told Serbian media that different from Von Cramon’s claims, Serbia does not calculate with the issue of the Kosovo status, because different from what she represents, Serbia’s position is based on the international right as well as on European values.

“Once again, sincerely disappointed, I conclude that it is a major damage also for the European Parliament and people of Kosovo and Metohija that a position with so much responsibility and benefiting potential is held by a person who is not prepared to commence her duty sincerely and in accordance with European values,” Petkovic is quoted as saying.

Dacic: Osmani ten times worse than Citaku (Koha)

Serbia's Assembly Speaker Ivica Dacic has insulted the acting President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani as well as Kosovo’s Ambassador to the U.S. Vlora Citaku, Koha reports.

In an interview with the Belgrade-based TV Happy, Dacic said that Osmani is against everything. "We have Vjosa Osmani in Kosovo who is against everything when it comes to Serbia," said Dacic, as the show's moderators reminded him of his arguments at the UN Security Council with Kosovo’s ambassador Vlora Citaku. "Vjosa is ten times worse than Vlora Citaku", he added.

Dacic also spoke about the elections in Kosovo saying that there is a practice that whenever an agreement with Serbia is close to being reached, elections are announced in Kosovo. "Until yesterday, the news was the summit that would be organised by the President of France Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but in the evening the Constitutional Court came out and brought down the Government. This practice exists since I was a participant in the dialogue."

GLPS survey indicates half of Kosovo citizens ready to migrate (media)

The Kosovo-based Group for Legal and Political Studies think tank presented results of a survey indicating that of over 1,000 persons interviewed, 48.4 percent of them said they would be ready to migrate to another country. The COVID-19 pandemic has also impacted in the readiness of the citizens to leave Kosovo.

The main reason for the citizens wanting to leave is the feeling of hopelessness in the economic opportunities, including the political and social situation. According to the survey, 19.1 percent of respondents have experienced a change in their work situation since the outset of the pandemic, 58.8 percent have not received salaries during this time, while 20.9 percent had their salaries lowered. Meanwhile, 16 percent said they lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic and only 18.7 percent said they benefitted from the emergency recovery package.