• Kurti: If there is no agreement with LDK, we will go to new elections (RTK)
• VV: Either government with LDK or we go to new elections (Koha)
• Murati: Drop the conditions, let us start working (Klan Kosova)
• Haradinaj: New elections not the right move (Zeri)
• UNMIK chief expresses concern over attempts to distort painful events (media)
• U.S. Embassy reacts to Vucic’s statements on Recak (media)
• LVV's Svecla slammed for sitting next to Djuric in Tirana conference (media)
• Visa liberalisation for Kosovo not on the agenda (Koha)

Kurti: If there is no agreement with LDK, we will go to new elections (RTK)

Albin Kurti, leader of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), said on Saturday that if an agreement for a coalition government with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) cannot be reached, then they will decide to go to new parliamentary elections. He said that this would suit his political party as support for his entity has grown after the October 6 parliamentary elections. He however added that this is not the intention of LVV. “I am led by general interest, state interest which requires governing leadership by LVV and LDK as soon as possible,” Kurti said.

Kurti said no specific names were discussed in the meeting with LDK leader Isa Mustafa when the post of the President is concerned and added that “the country has many names”. He argued that they should discuss “a strategy of an early president”. Kurti also said that it is important to first fill the posts of the Prime Minister, Assembly Speaker, 12 Ministers, before discussing the issue of the President.

VV: Either government with LDK or we go to new elections (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that following a week of mutual accusations, the Vetevendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo are expected to resume meetings at the level of party leaders this week. Both parties however maintain their positions on the post of Kosovo President, which is the key condition of the LDK for a coalition agreement. The Vetevendosje Movement has ruled out the possibility of forming a government with other parties, saying that they will either form a government with the LDK or go to new elections.

Political commentators meanwhile do not believe that new parliamentary elections could produce different results. Krenar Shala, political analyst, told the paper on Sunday: “First, I think that a coalition agreement is inevitable because apart from the Vetevendosje Movement, no other party is ready to go to new elections. Second, I think that the people gave their verdict on October 6 and it is not fair from the political parties to fail in implementing this verdict”. Shala also said that in the event of new elections, the voters would punish the LDK and the other political parties. “The Vetevendosje Movement would get greater support. The reason is in the fact that the offer of the VV seems very fair as they insist that the post of [Kosovo] President should be left to a person from civil society, because this post cannot be part of deals. The post of President should be above the parties and a unifying post. The people support the VV position on the post of President, this is why I think that in the event of new elections they would give even greater support to the party that won the highest number of votes in the last elections,” he added.

Murati: Drop the conditions, let us start working (Klan Kosova)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) candidate for MP, Hekuran Murati, took to Facebook on Sunday to argue that the new government of Kosovo should have been formed by now, the news website reports. “We are entering 2020 without an adopted budget. The new government should have been formed by now and we should have started working on resolving the numerous emergent problems that await us. Instead an unreal problem has been imposed on us, and it prevents the formation of the government – the post of President, something that will happen only in 2021. Drop the conditions, let us start working,” Murati wrote on his post.

Haradinaj: New elections not the right move (Zeri)

Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo and leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj said that it would be wrong to head to fresh elections and called for the creation of the new government as soon as possible.

“I think it is better for Kosovo if new institutions, new government, are formed. Let it be seen how good they are at governing; it is easy to speak from the opposition but let’s see those that criticised us acting from the other spectrum,” Haradinaj said in a press conference in reference to Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) which has not yet reached a coalition agreement for forming the new government.

“Whoever is the official nominee should tread with caution because the inability to form institutions will be attributed to it,” he added.

Haradinaj also spoke about statements from Serbian officials denying war crimes in Kosovo. “It is not normal [and] I think Kosovo Serb citizens should be careful not to stoop to this level. I would urge them not to get involved in this discussion as it carries legal repercussions,” he said.

UNMIK chief expresses concern over attempts to distort painful events (media)

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMIK, Zahir Tanin, has reiterated the need to balance freedom of expression with political responsibility in face of statements from Serbian officials denying the Recak massacre of 1999 which prompted NATO airstrikes on Serbian targets.

In a statement, SRSG Tanin expressed serious concern over attempts “to distort painful historical events.”

“He also emphasizes in the strongest terms the imperative need for an independent judiciary free from political and/or ethnic bias. He recalls the paramount importance of the right to freedom of opinion and expression as set forth in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and notes that this powerful right should not be counter to the political responsibility of officials to pursue discourse that furthers mutual trust and respect,” the statement reads.

U.S. Embassy reacts to Vucic’s statements on Recak (media)

The U.S. Embassy has reacted to the statement of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic who called the Recak massacre a fabrication.

“The incendiary rhetoric and historical revisionism we have seen recently with regard to the events of 1999 are unacceptable.  We also caution against selective prosecution of speech on the basis of political orientation or community.  Freedom of speech has long been a bedrock principle of democracy. The events of this week pose another reminder of how important it is for Kosovo and Serbia to return to the table and refocus their energies on the future by normalizing relations,” the Embassy said in a statement.

LVV's Svecla slammed for sitting next to Djuric in Tirana conference (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) member of presidency, Xhelal Svecla, has been a target of criticism after a picture of him sitting next to the head of the Serbian Government's director for Kosovo Marko Djuric during a conference in Tirana was published by online media.

LVV denied its official meeting Djuric. "This was not a meeting between Xhelal Svecla and Marko Djuric, but a participation at an international conference along with all political parties of the region on the topic of regional cooperation," said LVV spokesperson Arlind Manxhuka who added that at the same table there were also other officials from different parties of Kosovo and the region.

Svecla meanwhile said on Facebook that LVV doesn't function by boycotting discussions and that the sitting arrangement was decided by the conference’s hosts. "Our position is to take part in any discussion and present our positions and prevent agreements in the detriment of Kosovo, unlike our predecessors," he wrote.

The media however report that Arban Abrashi from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was also sitting at the same table with Svecla and Djuric. Abrashi said that they were attending a regional conference, supported by the German Foreign Ministry and organised by CIG.

The two-day conference in Tirana was organised by the Council for Inclusive Governance (CIG), an international non-governmental institution which promotes inclusive and responsive governance and facilitates constructive dialogue as a means of fostering interparty cooperation, interethnic accord, and interstate collaboration.

Visa liberalisation for Kosovo not on the agenda (Koha)

The paper reports in one of its front-page stories that the attention of the European Union on the Western Balkans is focused on two issues: efforts to reach a compromise on launching membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia and the resumption of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. Diplomatic sources in Brussels told the paper that visa liberalisation for Kosovo is not on the agenda. “If Germany is really interested and determined, the issue [of visa liberalisation] could be included on the agenda and advanced. But this won’t be easy especially given the great opposition from France,” an unnamed EU diplomat is quoted as saying.