• Kurti’s six conditions for the Association (media)
• Kurti travels to Turkey, will meet President Erdogan today (media)
• Pristina University students to march against Association on Feb 15 (media)
• Kosovo court shortens jail terms for witness tampering (AFP)
• Lajcak meets Sarrazin, coordinate for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (RTK)
• Kosovo govt makes two decisions on expropriations in the north (Koha)
• Kosovo’s postwar wealth vanishes under water in floods (Prishtina Insight)
• Vucic presents 10-point plan including Kosovo (Albanian Daily News)
• Serbian Parliamentarians Clash in Tense Debate on Kosovo (BIRN)

Kurti’s six conditions for the Association (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Thursday that the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities can be considered under several conditions, among which is that it needs to be in compliance with the Constitution and the laws of Kosovo. He argued that the association cannot be monoethnic. “It must change its name; it cannot have any public or executive powers and it must serve only the horizontal cooperation between the municipalities, according to the Constitution and the Law on Local Self-Government,” he said.

Kurti also said that “the rights of national minorities and the respective protection mechanisms must include the principle of reciprocity between the two countries, and take into account European standards and models”.

The fourth condition, according to Kurti, is that before the association is formed, “Serbia’s illegal structures in the north must be dissolved and all illegal arms must be handed over”.

“The Association is part of a final agreement [with Serbia] and is implemented only after mutual recognition,” is the fifth condition according to the Kosovo Prime Minister.

As the sixth condition, Kurti said that “Serbian President [Aleksandar Vucic] must withdraw the letters sent to the five EU member states and to others not to accept Kosovo’s application for membership in the European Union”.

“The six conditions that I have set are political conditions and are based on the democratic, universal and European aspects of governance and policymaking,” he said.

Kurti travels to Turkey, will meet President Erdogan today (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will travel to Turkey today where he will be hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, several news websites report citing an article by Anadolu Agency. A statement issued by Erdogan’s office notes that the two leaders “will discuss various aspects of Turkey-Kosovo relations and potential steps which would further deepen mutual cooperation”.

Pristina University students to march against Association on Feb 15 (media)

The Student Parliament of the University of Pristina said in a statement on Thursday that on February 15 students will hold a march against the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. The motto of the protest is “Together against the Association” and the date of the protest corresponds to the 53^rd anniversary of the establishment of the University. According to the Student Parliament, “the Association of Serb-majority municipalities does not mean more rights for the Serb community, but greater influence by Serbia in the territory of Kosovo”.

Kosovo court shortens jail terms for witness tampering (AFP)

A special Kosovo court reduced the prison sentences on Thursday of two former rebels convicted of intimidating witnesses to war crimes during the 1990s independence conflict with Serbia.

Appeals judges in The Hague shaved three months off the jail terms given to Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj in May 2022, shortening their sentences to four years and three months each.

Gucati, the head of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans association, and his deputy Haradinaj, were found guilty last year of revealing the names of hundreds of witnesses whom they branded "traitors, spies and collaborators".

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers court on Thursday upheld their convictions on three counts of intimidation and violating the tribunal's secrecy, but acquitted them on appeal on two counts of obstructing officials.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3l5WEPk

Lajcak meets Sarrazin, coordinate for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue (RTK)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, met with the German envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin. Lajcak wrote on a Twitter post that he had “an important discussion … about state of play and next steps in the Dialogue. Grateful for strong and vocal German support to my work and full commitment to our joint efforts”.

Kosovo govt makes two decisions on expropriations in the north (Koha)

The Kosovo government made two decisions on Thursday related to the expropriation of properties in the north of Kosovo. The first decision authorises the Ministry of Environment to carry out preparatory work to determine the suitability of properties for the implementation of “Infrastructural Public Interest Projects” in Leposavic. The second decision is about a ‘further review of the request with self-initiative for expropriation of real estates for public interest in this municipality.

The news website reports that residents of the village of Dren in the municipality of Leposavic protested on Thursday against the government’s decision on the expropriation of properties of public interest. The works on widening the road have stopped and the Serbian List has sent a letter to international embassies and missions in Kosovo about the issue.

Kosovo’s postwar wealth vanishes under water in floods (Prishtina Insight)

Floods have caused huge damage in Skenderaj, Mitrovica and the Dukagjin region to property and assets created since the end of the war, and residents are waiting for help to return to their homes at least in spring.

The small attic at the top of their house in Llaushë village in Skenderaj had become a shelter for the three small children of the Geci family.

The house’s iron doors and surrounding high wall failed to stop the rush of water that flooded the yard and the floor of the Geci’s house.

The father of the children and head of the family, Agron Geci, in order to save his two daughters and son from the water that had flooded the floor, placed them in a small corner in the attic.

“What I have been investing in for 20 years was demolished in one day

The Geci family is just one of the families whose house and furniture were damaged by recent floods in Kosovo.

Families affected by the floods have placed all their furniture in the yard. Electronic devices have stopped working because of the water. Floors have been removed because they were completely destroyed.

For Geci, the first day of the flood was a horror he had never seen before. Together with his wife, children and his mother, they were trapped inside until, a few hours later, they were pulled out of the living room window with an excavator.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Ycidfk

Vucic presents 10-point plan including Kosovo (Albanian Daily News)

President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, presented a 10-point plan to the Serbian Parliament, some of which included Kosovo. In the plan presented by Vucic, it was stated that Serbia would work for peace and stability in the region and would insist on the formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, Albanian Daily News reports.

On Thursday, in Serbia, a special session was held in the Parliament, where the report on the negotiations with Kosovo was discussed. Vucic also spoke about the Franco-German plan, saying that its fourth point, which states that "Serbia will not oppose Kosovo's membership in any international organization", is the most difficult.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3HW208U

Serbian Parliamentarians Clash in Tense Debate on Kosovo (BIRN)

Members of the Serbian parliament, from both the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, and opposition, came into physical conflict during a debate about the former province of Kosovo and a European proposal to resolve Serbia-Kosovo relations.

MPs confronted each other during President Aleksandar Vucic’s response to an MP’s speech. Some opposition MPs approached Vucic, claiming their procedural rights were being violated, after which ruling party MPs approached the opposition, with both sides yelling at each other as Vucic was trying to speak.

During Vucic’s speech, some opposition MPs were holding up banners reading: “No to capitulation“, “Treason”, and “Vucic, you betrayed Kosovo“, referring to his meetings about the so-called Franco German proposal for future relations with Kosovo.

Another read: “You will be held responsible“, with a photo of Oliver Ivanovic, a murdered Kosovo Serb politician who opposed the Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party Srpska lista.

Officially, the only item on the agenda was a report on the negotiations process “with the provisional institutions of self-government in Pristina“, as Serbia refers to the government of Kosovo, which it does not recognise.

The atmosphere then worsened during the discussion about the so-called Franco-German plan.

The opposition accused Vucic of negotiating about a plan that has not been made public, and attcked him for negotiating at all.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3jowFlN