Albanian Language Media: 

• Citaku: Opposition will lead new government; all PDK MPs are loyal (Nacionale)

• Coalitions still up in the air, eyes on the diaspora votes (RFE)

• Hooper: Kosovo must convince U.S. to continue supporting its sovereignty (RFE)

• FBI without comment on terrorist attack on Iber Lepenci water canal (Nacionale)

• Haradinaj wants justice and accountability from the Specialist Chambers (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Vucic speaks with Peach, Dodik's sentencing the most important topic discussed (Tanjug, media)

• Dacic: Council voiced concern over situation in R Srpska, crisis biggest since war (Tanjug, media)
• Germany: The ZSO, which we insist on, will provide the conditions for the functioning of Serbian healthcare, education and social services in Kosovo (KoSSev)
• Incident of Church Break-In Near Gnjilane Clarified by Raška-Prizren Eparchy: Not St. Nicholas Church (KoSSev)
• Lawyer Filipovic: Detention ordered for the arrested person on war crimes charges; we believe that it is a case of identity replacement (KoSSev, KiM radio)
• CRTA: Police left our office, took over 8,500 copies of documents (N1)

International Media: 

• Condemnations of police raid on Serbian CSOs: “Government continues repression of civil society” (EWB)

Albanian Language Media 

Citaku: Opposition will lead new government; all PDK MPs are loyal (Nacionale)

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Vlora Citaku, in an interview with the news website on Wednesday, said she was confident that the opposition will form the new government of Kosovo, and that the PDK is ready to assume the responsibility to form the new government. 

Citaku said the PDK will respect all constitutional and legal procedures in the process. “We have made a good reading of the election process and certainly there are rules and procedures in place. It is up to the first party to try and form the new government, but we are certain that the next government of the Republic of Kosovo will be led by the parties that have been in the opposition,” she argued.

Citaku also said that cooperation with Kurti’s Vetevendosje Movement is not possible because of major differences. “This is not a stubborn rejection, but we are simply very different, and we don’t see any possibility of a coalition government with the Vetevendosje Movement,” she said.

Coalitions still up in the air, eyes on the diaspora votes (RFE)

With no political party being able to form a government on its own, options for possible coalitions in Kosovo are still uncertain, the news website reports. The votes of the diaspora – which have started being counted on Wednesday – could hold the key. The conditional votes and the votes of people with disabilities have yet to be counted too. 

Political commentators argue that in light of fast geopolitical developments in the world, it is imperative for Kosovo to have stable institutions as soon as possible. “The constitution of institutions based on the results of the February 9 elections is needed both for Kosovo’s interests in terms of European integration but also in terms of the challenges awaiting Kosovo in the economic and political sphere,” Besar Gergi, from the Group for Legal and Political Studies in Pristina, said. 

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday that it is the hands of his party – the Vetevendosje Movement – as “clear winner of the elections” to form the new institutions. The preliminary results showed that Vetevendosje has 40 percent of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo with around 22 percent, the Democratic League of Kosovo with around 17 percent, and the AAK-NISMA coalition with around 7 percent. These figures show that no single political party has enough votes to form the majority in the 120-seats Assembly of Kosovo. 

NISMA leader Fatmir Limaj set no red lines for possible coalitions, be it with Kurti’s Vetevendosje Movement or parties that have been in the opposition. “Whoever invites me to the table I will go, for Kosovo,” Limaj said in a recent interview. 

Neither NISMA nor Vetevendosje officials responded to questions from the news website if they were holding discussions on a possible coalition agreement.

Bekim Salihu from the Institute for Advanced Studies told Radio Free Europe that the final results of the February 9 elections will be determined by the votes from the diaspora. 

Hooper: Kosovo must convince U.S. to continue supporting its sovereignty (RFE)

Former U.S. diplomat, James Hooper, said in an interview with the news website on Wednesday, that the first thing that the Kosovo government needs to do is repair relations with the United States. If this doesn’t happen, he argues, there could be a risk for the U.S. to engage in efforts to reach an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. “… Because, you see, the United States is not helping Ukraine. Now that they are engaged there [in resolving the conflict] they have sided with the autocrat, on the side of Russia, and not on the side of the true democracy,” he said.

The news website notes that the U.S. have on several occasions warned the Kurti-led government over some of its actions – which they said were uncoordinated – in the Serb-majority northern part of Kosovo. U.S. officials said that the actions were questioning the partnership between the U.S. and Kosovo. Hooper meanwhile said that “Kosovo needs to communicate better with Washingotn and not lecture Washington … it is very dangerous for Kosovo when the Americans see it as a problem”.

FBI doesn’t comment on terrorist attack on Iber Lepenci water canal (Nacionale)

“We don’t agree to comment,” representatives of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) said when asked by the news website to comment on the terrorist attack on the Iber Lepenci water canal in the north of Kosovo, and their assistance to Kosovo’s authorities with the investigations. Nacionale also notes that according to the Kosovo government the terrorist attack traces all the way to the leader of the group that carried out the attack against Kosovo Police in Banjska, Milan Radoicic. 

Haradinaj wants justice and accountability from the Specialist Chambers (media)

Several news websites cover a Facebook post by Daut Haradinaj, senior member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), who said that “I don’t know what the fate is of this legislative of Kosovo, but I know I will do everything in my capacities as an MP to set in motion a mechanism that will shed light on this process [the proceedings at the Specialist Chambers of Kosovo in the Hague], and ask accountability for its entire course”. He also said that “we never feared justice, but rather injustice. Therefore, we all need to raise our voices, without any differences, and demand justice”.

Serbian Language Media  

Vucic speaks with Peach, Dodik's sentencing the most important topic discussed (Tanjug, media)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic spoke by phone with the UK's special Western Balkans envoy Stuart Peach on Wednesday, with the sentencing of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik as the most important topic discussed.

In an Instagram post, Vucic wrote that they had exchanged views on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska following a first-instance ruling in the Dodik case.

"Lord Peach noted that the UK is watching closely a Serbian police action against individual NGOs, to which I replied that there is no action by the Serbian police, but a request from the prosecutor's office to the Serbian police to gather information about financial frauds by individual agencies and organisations," Vucic added.

He noted that Serbia was fully committed to rule of law and would, accordingly, continue its true and substantial fight against corruption and crime in its territory.

Dacic: Council voiced concern over situation in R Srpska, crisis biggest since war (Tanjug, media)

Speaking after an urgent session of Serbia's National Security Council, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday evening the Council had voiced great concern over the situation in Republika Srpska following the sentencing of its president, Milorad Dodik, and that it had noted that the current crisis was the biggest since the end of the 1990s war.

This is a result of an all-out attack by Sarajevo and some Western powers on Republika Srpska and on the foundations of the Dayton Agreement, Dacic said at a press conference.

This is also a desire to redefine Republika Srpska and have it disappear, Dacic said, adding that the desire was aimed against the vital interests of the Serbs - the interests of not only Republika Srpska but Serbia as well.

Dacic said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was on its way to the Belgrade airport for a trip to Banjaluka.

"He will speak with Milorad Dodik. It is clear to all of you that Serbia is in a difficult situation, as are Republika Srpska and the Serbs as a whole," Dacic told reporters.

Germany: The ZSO, which we insist on, will provide the conditions for the functioning of Serbian healthcare, education and social services in Kosovo (KoSSev)

KoSSev addressed the German Embassy in Kosovo after the statement of their spokesman, Christian Bocher, given to certain media in connection with their position on the closing of the Serbian Centers for Social Work in the North of Kosovo last week.

In the submitted answer, the accent is placed, that is, it is reminded that the German embassy has repeatedly appealed to the Kosovo authorities to take steps towards the formation of the Community of Municipalities with a Serbian majority.

"Together with our partners, we have repeatedly appealed to the government of Kosovo to take the next steps towards the establishment of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority (ZSO) - a commitment that Kosovo took back in 2013, but which has yet to be implemented," said Christian Bocher in this response.

Germany, he added, is convinced that it is the ZSO that can provide the conditions for the functioning of these Serbian institutions in Kosovo.

"We are convinced that the ZSO will provide an appropriate institutional and legal framework for the efficient functioning of institutions financed by Serbia in the fields of social services, health and education".

In the end, Bocher repeated Germany's position - that any sudden closure of institutions of this type - is wrong, because it has a negative impact on citizens.

"The German embassy has repeatedly emphasized that the sudden closure of institutions that provide social services, health or education is wrong, because it would have a negative impact on Kosovo Serbs and other non-majority communities," said Bocher for KoSSev.

Incident of Church Break-In Near Gnjilane Clarified by Raška-Prizren Eparchy: Not St. Nicholas Church (KoSSev)

Authorities in Gnjilane confirmed today that a church had been broken into, with a small amount of money stolen. However, the Raska-Prizren Eparchy has refuted initial reports, stating that the break-in did not occur at St. Nicholas Church in Gnjilane, as originally believed.

According to church representatives, the targeted building was not the main church, but a chapel located a few kilometers away in the village of Pones.

“That church was not broken into; that information is incorrect. The break-in occurred at a church building within the cemetery in the village of Pones, 5-6 kilometers from Gnjilane, and money was taken from there,” Protojerej Zoran Kovacevic told KoSSev.

He further clarified that the affected building is under the jurisdiction of the Gnjilane Eparchy.

Lawyer Filipovic: Detention ordered for the arrested person on war crimes charges; we believe that it is a case of identity replacement (KoSSev, KiM radio)

The Basic Court in Pristina placed D. R. (75) from Djakovica in 30-day custody, who was arrested at Jarinje two days ago for alleged war crimes, reported KoSSev.

His lawyer, Jovana Filipovic said that the defence believed that it was a case of replacing identity.

" What is important to note is that Dragan often came to Kosovo, just like other people who were detained for the same crime they are charged with. Dragan was not previously threatened with any punishment or accusation for anything else. He even helped numerous Albanians who were expelled from their homeland in the period from 1998 to 1999. For this reason, we believe that there has been a change of identity here. We mentioned to the court all the important facts and circumstances that lead to the unequivocal conclusion that this Dragan Ristić is not the one they were looking for,” Filipovic told KiM radio. 

CRTA: Police left our office, took over 8,500 copies of documents (N1)

The Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA) said Wednesday that, after 28 hours, the police left its office, taking with them copies of over 8,500 pages of project documentation.

“We document everything in detail and according to the law (including project, donor, audit, and financial reports…). Perhaps no one expected us to have such extensive documentation,” CRTA said in a post on the X social media platform.

The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, Nenad Stefanovic, said Tuesday that the Prosecutor’s Office had ordered the police to seize from four NGOs in Serbia, for now, documents related to donations from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), procedures for spending of USAID funds, and whether there was an obligation to inform donors about the intended use of these funds.

Police have started collecting information on the operations of the CRTA, Civic Initiatives, Policy Center, and Trag Foundation.

 International Media 

Condemnations of police raid on Serbian CSOs: “Government continues repression of civil society” (EWB)

Members of the European Parliament, non-governmental organisations and opposition politicians strongly condemned yesterday’s police raid on the premises of several civil society organisations in Belgrade, which was launched to collect pieces of evidence of the alleged misuse of USAID’s funds. They pointed out in press releases and posts on X that such action is interpreted as a continuation of the repression of the Serbian authorities against the civil sector.

Following the order of the Higher Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, the police entered the premises of NGOs Civic Initiatives, CRTA, Trag Foundation, and the Center for Practical Policy on 25 February. The prosecution ordered that all documents regarding the donations from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) be taken from the NGOs.

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