Albanian Language Media:

• Osmani and Hovenier discuss transition plan for CBK regulation (RTK)
• Kurti met Ambassador Al Dosari, discussed Kosovo-Qatar cooperation (media)
• Kurti's adviser to Stano: Implementation of Basic Agreement, priority (RTK)
• Lajcak in Rome, talks about dialogue (RTK)
• Maqedonci: Attack in Banjska, also influenced by Russian secret service (Klan)
• Government to prepare citizens for protection and security (A2 CNN)
• Qerkini: Specialized Chambers, the only that keeps most of sessions closed (RTK)
• PIPOS poll: LVV 40.9%, close race between LDK and PDK for second place (Klan)
• LVV MP Rrahmani did not vote draft law on reproductive health (media)
• Tahiri: LVV coordinated and in direct connection with Radoicic (Reporteri)

Serbian Language Media:

• Queues at Jarinje crossing point yesterday evening (KoSSev)
• After CBK’s decision: In search for dinar (Radio kontakt plus, Radio KIM)
• Maliqi: CBK decision without coordination with partners – a mistake (Kosovo Online)
• EU calls for respecting IMC independence, elimination of politically motivated interference (KoSSev)
• Vucic, Chinese Ambassador discuss strong momentum in bilateral ties (Tanjug)
• Vucevic with AIPAC representatives: Irrational decisions by Pristina worsen security situation (Kosovo Online)

International Media: 

• Former Kosovo Guerrilla Officer Bolsters Defence Case in Hague Trial (Balkan Insight)

Albanian Language Media

Osmani and Hovenier discuss transition plan for CBK regulation (RTK)

The transition plan for the implementation of the new regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo was the topic of Thursday’s meeting that President Vjosa Osmani had with the US ambassador, Jeffrey Hovenier.

According to the announcement of the Presidency, Osmani and Hovenier discussed "the latest developments in the country with a special focus on the proposals that provide sustainable solutions for the transition plan for the implementation of the regulation of CBK".

"Discussing various aspects of bilateral cooperation, President Osmani reiterated her deep gratitude for the permanent support of the USA for the sovereignty, constitutionality and territorial integrity of Kosovo", the announcement of the Presidency states. Among other things, the meeting also discussed cooperation in terms of the international agenda in the coming months, as well as cooperation in the field of defense.

Kurti met Ambassador Al Dosari, discussed Kosovo-Qatar cooperation (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, received in a meeting the non-resident Ambassador of the State of Qatar in Kosovo, Jabor Ali Hussein Al Hawashela Al Dosari. They discussed bilateral relations and the possibilities to deepen them.

The announcement of the prime minister's office, noted that Al Dosari emphasized his and the State of Qatar's readiness and willingness to deepen cooperation with Kosovo, especially in the economic field. He expressed interest in the renewable energy auctions that have begun to take place in Kosovo and assessed that they are a good competitive opportunity for Qatari businesses.

Another topic of discussion was the Sovereign Fund, given that Qatar has its own sovereign fund.

"Ambassador Al Dosari emphasized that Qatar sees Kosovo as a promising country for investments and rich cooperation in the interest of both parties and their businesses," the media release states.

Kurti's adviser to Stano: Implementation of Basic Agreement, priority (RTK) 

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, has confirmed that the European emissary for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has planned to hold a meeting between Kosovo and Serbia on February 27 in Brussels, where the issue of the dinar would be discussed. 

However, Jeton Zulfaj, Prime Minister Kurti's political advisor, told Info Plus on RTK that the Basic Agreement should have been a matter of the meeting in Brussels, since on February 27 it will be one year since the agreement was negotiated between the two countries. "Serbia has deposited in the EU the letter of Prime Minister Bernabic, where she says that the agreements are not applicable", he said. 

Zulfaj said that Stano should deal with Serbia, which is a blocking party. He said that the Prime Minister of Kosovo has never refused meetings with the European Union. Regarding the approach that Kosovo has shown, towards the dialogue, Zulfaj said that Kosovo has always been ready to be a constructive party in this process. 

Lajcak in Rome, talks about dialogue (RTK) 

The EU representative for  the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, is visiting Rome, Italy. In a post on platform X he has announced that the issue of Kosovo-Serbia negotiations was part of the discussion in several meetings.

“Greetings from the capital of Italy – Rome! I traveled here today for a series of meetings with our Italian partners. We discussed the latest developments in the Dialogue on normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, wider regional issues, and next steps in the coming months. Today, I met with the Diplomatic Advisor to Italy’s PM Fabrizio Saggio, the Deputy Secretary-General at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Carlo Lo Cascio and Adriatic and Balkans Director Andrea Cascone. I'm grateful for Italy's continuous support and close coordination in our shared efforts. From Rome, I'll head to Malta for another series of important consultations tomorrow.

Earlier this week, while still in Brussels, I welcomed Dora Bakoyannis, Rapporteur for the Political Affairs Committee of PACE, to our headquarters. We exchanged updates on our respective files. I briefed her on the state of play in the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and she informed me about her work in the past months.

The most intense part of the last week was undoubtedly last weekend’s annual Munich Security Conference.  I participated in multiple events focused on the Western Balkans, including a public panel discussion on the future of the Western Balkans, where I emphasized the urgent need to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. This normalization is fundamental for the region's stability, economic development, and progress towards the European Union,” reads a part of Lajcak’s post.

Maqedonci: Attack in Banjska, also influenced by Russian secret service (Klan) 

Kosovo Minister of Defense Ejup Macedonci has said that in the attack in Banjska of Zvecan on September 24, 2023, Serbia tried to annex a part of the Kosovar territory with the influence of the Russian secret service.Maqedonci, who participated in the Balkan Summit on Disinformation, said that the war in Ukraine has also affected the Western Balkans region.

"On September 24 of last year, an armed and uniformed group, supported by the security structures of Serbia, attempted a land grab, that is, a partial invasion of a part of the territory of our country, and I assess that this was not done by chance, it was done with the influence that the Russian secret service has in Serbian society but also in the institutions of the Republic of Serbia", Maqedonci emphasized.

Government to prepare citizens for protection and security (A2 CNN) 

Kosovo’s Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, has said that they are developing a much bigger concept than mandatory military service in order to prepare citizens to react and for a "comprehensive defense".

"We are building the concept of comprehensive protection, which means giving the role to each citizen in terms of protection, security and civil emergencies. Soon this concept will become public and we will have the road ahead of us through which we will engage all citizens on the issue of defense and security", said Maqedonci.

Serbia recently returned the mandatory military service, but Maqedonci says that their concept is not to oppose anyone.

"We actually did not build this concept to oppose anyone, we built this concept to oppose the challenges and dangers of the time. This concept was needed even earlier. We consider that citizens, institutions and every individual should know their role in terms of protection and security, but also in terms of civil protection", he emphasized.

Days ago, Serbia also presented the Russian anti-drone system, which Maqedonci said increases the threat to the entire region. 

"This extraordinary militarization of Serbia poses a threat not only to Kosovo, but to the entire region, and adding to this that all these systems that Serbia buys are systems from China and Russia, this risk increases and shows the influence that these two countries which have autocratic regimes have in the Republic of Serbia".

The Maqedonci said that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is delaying the conclusion of the dialogue with Kosovo as he is waiting for the outcome of the war in Ukraine in order to benefit more.

Qerkini: Specialized Chambers, the only court that keeps most of sessions closed (RTK)

Artan Qerkini, lawyer licensed by the Specialized Chambers of The Hague, told RTK that the Special Prosecutor's Office in The Hague never managed to respect the deadlines. 

"The Special Prosecutor's Office in The Hague has not respected its deadlines, usually the deadlines have been extended and it has not been able to complete its work within the deadlines. The trial in the name of the people means that the public is convinced of the evidence and the punishment", said Qerkini. Further, he said that the Special Court is the only court in the world that holds most of its sessions closed.

"This is not in the spirit of criminal law, that for those accused of war crimes, the public should know about everything, because transparency helps a fair trial. This is another balance that the court had to find, from the principle of publicity that is protected by the constitution, and the protection of witnesses, the court did not find the right balance, because from a statistical point of view, about 75% of the testimonies were conducted behind closed doors. If 50% were transparent and 50% were closed, there would be equality at least in statistical terms ", said Qerkini.

He said that this process is dragging too much, especially in the preparatory phase. “We do not have a very clear overview of the fact that the hearings are closed, we cannot say that we have information, when the hearings are closed, if the hearings were public, each citizen would create his own impression of whether the accusations were proven or not. No, with this pace of closed sessions it is difficult to assess the process as a whole", Qerkini said.

PIPOS poll: LVV 40.9%, close race between LDK and PDK for second place (Klan) 

In the latest measurements of public opinion, carried out by PIPOS, it appears that 40.9% of citizens would vote for the Vetevendosje Movement if the parliamentary elections were held on Sunday. According to the survey published by Klan Kosova, LDK and PDK would hold a close race for second place.

According to the PIPOS survey, the second party is the LDK with 21.5% and the third is the PDK with 20.4%. The AAK-NISMA coalition would receive 9% of the votes of the Kosovar electorate. The Guxo List of Donika Gervalla and Faton Peci, according to this poll, would not cross the threshold. 

4.6% of respondents declared themselves undecided in this survey, while, 2% stated that they would not vote at all.

LVV MP Rrahmani did not vote draft law on reproductive health (media)

The Assembly of Kosovo failed to vote in the second reading of the draft law on reproductive health, after the plenary session of February 22, due to the non-participation in the vote of the MP Eman Rrahmani, who comes from the ruling party, Vetevendosje Movement. The vote on this legislation was postponed to another session.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, said that an MP from the parliamentary majority is deliberately not voting in order to make it impossible to proceed with the law. Konjufca said that they will not judge the MPsfor voting or not voting this draft law. "We try it the third time and if it doesn't work, we leave it here, there is nothing special, it has happened to us many times", Konjufca said.

The MPs of the opposition parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo did not participate in the vote.

In October last year, after many efforts, the Assembly managed to approve this draft law in the first reading with 63 votes for, one against and four abstentions.

Tahiri: LVV coordinated and in direct connection with Radoicic, they are those who insulted KLA veterans (Reporteri) 

The head of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Abelard Tahiri, made it clear on the T7 that his party will not vote in the Assembly of Kosovo any document that contains Resolution 1244.He said that if such a thing happens, they have no choice but to close the party. 

"Hashim Thaci, then as leader of the PDK, being in the opposition, did not vote for the constitutional framework, at that time, imagine, prior to  declaration of independence. And imagine today, his party to turn back, and vote on a document that has also the Resolution 1244, this is nonsense, history does not forgive it to us, we need to shut the party down, no reason for us to stay anymore. To see such a document that also has Resolution 1244, and to vote for it, we only have to shut it down, we do not deserve to continue. We do not vote on any document that contains Resolution 1244", Tahiri said. 

Answering in the remark that that Serbian List and PDK are blocking Vetting, Tahiri said that LVV cannot make this comparison since they are the ones with Radoicic, that have direct connections and coordinate with him, and according to him, they are the ones who insulted veterans.

Serbian Language Media 

Queues at Jarinje crossing point yesterday evening (KoSSev)

KoSSev portal reported last night that longer waiting periods were observed at Jarinje crossing point and drivers had to wait to enter Kosovo from the direction of central Serbia for up to one hour.

The queues at Jarinje crossing point are followed by testimonies of the citizens, mainly those living south of the Ibar River, that they had to travel to central Serbia in order to withdraw social remittances, wages and pensions because of the situation created after Kosovo Central Bank decision came into force and established practise to transport the money from Belgrade to Kosovo has been halted. 

After CBK’s decision: In search for dinar (Radio kontakt plus, Radio KIM)

Following the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) decision on payment transactions, citizens in northern Kosovo face long queues in front of Serbian bank offices. Those who manage to get dinars, do so in limited amounts, from 5.000 to 10.000 (approximately 42 to 85 euros). The situation is more difficult in the Serbian areas south of the Ibar River, where it is not possible to withdraw even this amount, Radio kontakt plus wrote yesterday evening. Citizens face the challenge of finding the money in different ways – some go to central Serbia, by sending money, withdrawing euros or simply enduring.

Aleksandar Rapajic from Advocacy Centre for Democratic Culture (ACDC) said numerous families are affected by CBK’s decision, given that many receive funds from Serbia. He also assessed the decision as systematic pressure against the Serbian community in Kosovo.

Miodrag Milicevic from NGO Aktiv does not believe that Kosovo Government or other responsible institutions did not look into possibilities of negative effects this decision will have on the Serbian community.  He said even if dinars are converted to euros, citizens would again bear costs, respectively consequences.

Aleksandar Arsenijevic from Serbian Democracy recalled that they attempted to open an account in a Kosovo bank based on the working contract from Serbian institutions, but that was not possible. He also noted the high commissions in cases of citizens having a foreign currency card from a Serbian bank and wanting to withdraw money from a Kosovo bank ATM, adding the CBK’s decision also encroaches on the issue of integration of health and education systems, which should have been dealt with by the Community of Serbian Municipalities.

Despite criticism from the international community, the regulation is being implemented on the ground, while the hope is vested in a request filed to the Kosovo Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the CBK’s decision. Lawyer Dragutin Nenezic, one of the four members of the team which filed the request, said the currency issue should be regulated by the law, warning that the regulation violates the basic human rights of the beneficiaries of the Republic of Serbia budget funds. 

Maliqi: CBK decision without coordination with partners – a mistake (Kosovo Online)

Political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi believes that the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) to prohibit use of dinar, without coordination with international partners, is a mistake, Kosovo Online portal reports.

"I see the CBK decision to ban dinar, without coordination, as a mistake. But, mistakes are repeated. And, two years ago, we had the same issue with license plates. Even if a decision was made, it should have been harmonized in terms of deadlines, and groundwork should have been prepared... This is also a kind of provocation, where Kosovo or the Kosovo Government have lost the credits received after the Banjska (armed incident)", Maliqi said for Gazeta Blic.

"(Albin) Kurti came to power with rhetoric against the establishment of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities. Now he is in a position where he has accepted the Ohrid Agreement, so he has to work on everything he opposes, and a new agreement has not been made. The agreement on Community dates back to the time of (Hashim) Thaci and (Isa) Mustafa, so he is preparing for elections and I don't know if he has an accurate calculation", Maliqi added. 

EU calls for respecting IMC independence, elimination of politically motivated interference (KoSSev)

The EU Office in Pristina has called yesterday for respecting the independence of the Media Commission (IMC), but also for elimination of politically motivated interference in its work, KoSSev portal reported. This message was sent following the meeting of EU representatives with the IMC Chairman.

"In a meeting with Independent Media Commission (IMC) Chairman, Head of the EU Rule of Law and Legal Affairs Department emphasized that independence of IMC will always be respected, that any politically motivated interference will be eliminated and that members of IMC will be free to perform their duties", the European Union said.

The call of the European Union to respect independence of IMC, but also to eliminate politically motivated interference, was preceded by criticism of the IMC by the ruling party because of the decision of IMC to reinstate Arena sport programmes earlier this month.

The Arena sport programmes were suspended in October last year, because of airing the spot glorifying Serbs who were killed in Banjska armed incident, the portal added. 

Vucic, Chinese Ambassador discuss strong momentum in bilateral ties (Tanjug)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Chinese Ambassador to Belgrade Li Ming on Thursday to discuss a strong momentum in China-Serbian relations and an upcoming visit to Serbia by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tanjug news agency reports.

A post on Vucic’s official Instagram account after the meeting included a photo of him having lunch with Ambassador Li and Serbian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Jelena Tanaskovic, Finance Minister Sinisa Mali and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic.

"We discussed the strong momentum in the relations between our two countries and the upcoming visit by a great friend of Serbia - President Xi - and, of course, tried local wines", Vucic wrote in a post.

Vucevic with AIPAC representatives: Irrational decisions by Pristina worsen security situation (Kosovo Online)

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Milos Vucevic, emphasized yesterday during a meeting with representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that security situation in Kosovo was complex, and its deterioration was contributed by numerous, as he said, irrational decisions of Pristina authorities and their constant resort to mechanisms of force.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/doEJT

International Media

Former Kosovo Guerrilla Officer Bolsters Defence Case in Hague Trial (Balkan Insight)

Former Kosovo Liberation Army officer Hajrush Kurtaj told the trial of former President Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants in The Hague that his descriptions of the guerrilla force’s command structure were not accurate, bolstering the defense case.

Former KLA officer Hajrush Kurtaj told the war crimes and crimes against humanity trial of Hashim Thaci and his three co-defendants at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers this week that he exaggerated the descriptions in his books and made assumptions about the KLA’s structure.

Showing that the KLA had a strong command structure, with the defendants at the top and therefore responsible for crimes committed by lower-level-fighters, is key to the prosecution’s case.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/ahiqJ