UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, February 4, 2022

COVID-19: 2,110 new cases, five deaths (media)
Kosovo expected to ease COVID-19 measures for visitors (media)
Kurti: Kosovo the only country in the region not to have used Russian, Chinese vaccines (media)
EU envoy in Serbia-Kosovo talks optimistic of progress soon (AP)
Serbia Demands Association of Municipalities and Elections in Kosovo in Meetings with EU, US Envoys (Exit)
Reeker: U.S. continues to support Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity (Koha/Klan)
Ambassador Hovenier reaffirms U.S. support for Kosovo Security Force (media)
Osmani: Ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the north continued post-war (media)
Dardan Molliqaj released from detention (media)
Radojicic narrowly avoids arrest at Bernjak border crossing (Kallxo)
Kosovo arrests, then releases, cameraman recording company eviction (BIRN)
FAZ reporter: According to a German diplomat, Rugova had no substantial objection to partition of northern Kosovo (Express)
Teachers' trade union reacts to payment of Serb officials who did not show up for work (media)

COVID-19: 2,110 new cases, five deaths (media)

2,110 new cases of COVID-19 and five deaths have been recorded in Kosovo in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said in its daily report. 3,772 persons recovered during this time.

There are 30,871 active cases of COVID-19 in Kosovo.

Kosovo expected to ease COVID-19 measures for visitors (media)

Kosovo’s Committee for managing of COVID-19 pandemic convened Thursday and proposed the Government to approve easing COVID-19 measures including withdrawal of decision to demand three COVID-19 vaccine doses or two doses together with a negative PCR test for foreigners entering Kosovo. Under the new proposal as of 5 February all persons entering Kosovo will have to present evidence of full vaccination (in two doses) of COVID-19 or evidence of one dose plus a PCR test.

Following the surge of COVID-19 infections caused by new Omicron variant the Government in January approved stricter measures obliging every individual entering Kosovo to possess proof of three vaccine doses.

Minister of Health Rifat Latifi addressing the media after Committee’s meeting said the proposal is expected to be approved by Government on Friday and will enter into force on Saturday, 5 February 2022. Minister Latifi said the Committee has also proposed the curfew to be moved from 24:00 until 05:00, and cafes and restaurants will be allowed to work until 23:00. Gyms would open for work too.

Kurti: Kosovo the only country in the region not to have used Russian, Chinese vaccines (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said in a meeting with the director of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Marta Onorato that in all the region, Kosovo is the only one that did not accept any COVID-19 vaccines from either Russia or China. He said Kosovo only administered vaccines approved by the FDA and EMA.

"He underlined the administration of over 1.6 million vaccines and the vaccination of about 60 percent of the population over the age of 16 with two doses of vaccine, while vaccination continues with the boosting dose," a press release issued by the Prime Minister's Office said.

In the meeting, Kurti spoke about reforms in the field of justice, fight against crime and stressed the positive impact these developments had in increasing the citizens' trust in institutions.

EU envoy in Serbia-Kosovo talks optimistic of progress soon (AP)

The European Union envoy in talks on normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo said Thursday he is “rather optimistic” that the next top-level meeting in the stalled EU-facilitated negotiations would result in some progress.

Miroslav Lajcak did not specify when the meeting between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo — following two others that produced no breakthrough — could take place. But he said diplomatic efforts are underway to make sure that the future encounter in Brussels between Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti provides results.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have been told they must find common ground in order to move forward in their bids to join the 27-nation EU.

The focus of their dispute is Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, after a bloody conflict in 1998-99 that killed around 13,000 people and triggered a NATO intervention. Belgrade refuses to recognize its former province’s independence.

“The question is when, certainly not if, the meeting will happen,” Lajcak said at a joint press conference with Gabriel Escobar, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Balkans at the State Department. “As soon as we have clear understanding of what will be the outcome, and we are quite close to it, we will invite (the) parties to Brussels.”

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

Serbia Demands Association of Municipalities and Elections in Kosovo in Meetings with EU, US Envoys (Exit)

The leaders of Serbia have demanded the EU and US envoys for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to pressure Kosovo to establish an association of Serb-only municipalities and to allow for Serbian elections to take place in the country.

Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar, respectively the EU and US envoys for the dialogue, are visiting Belgrade following their visit in Prishtina. This is a fresh attempt to restart the dialogue between the two countries which has stalled since July 2021. They met with President Aleksandar Vucic, Speaker of Parliament Ivica Dacic, and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

In a press statement, Vucic praised the EU for “ensuring an atmosphere of neutrality” in the dialogue, and slammed Kosovo’s alleged “unilateral provocations and unrealistic expectations from the dialogue mediators.”

Dacic and Brnabic asked the envoys to influence Kosovo to allow the establishment of an association of Serb-only municipalities and for Serbia’s elections to take place in the country.

Serbs in Kosovo comprise the largest of the seven ethnic minorities representing somewhere between 1.5 and 7.8 percent of the total population.

The association is a very controversial issue in Kosovo. Two agreements for its establishment were signed in 2013 and 2015 between Kosovo and Serbia under the EU’s facilitation. However, in 2015 the Constitutional Court deemed them in breach of the constitution.

The Kosovo government says they will stick to the court ruling and not allow the formation of an association with executive powers that would rival the central government.

Similarly, they say they won’t allow Serbia’s April 2022 elections to take place in their country. Ethnic Albanians living in Serbia do not vote within Serbia during the Kosovo elections.

However, these two stipulations remain Serbia’s conditions to return to the dialogue table with Kosovo.

After meeting with Lajcak and Escobar, Speaker of Parliament Ivica Dacic echoed Vucic’s vows, reiterating in a TV interview that Serbia will never recognize Kosovo, “directly or indirectly.”

Meanwhile, the two envoys stressed the joint EU-US vision for the dialogue, which should lead to a comprehensive final agreement and the implementation of all previously signed agreements, including that on the association.

As he did in Prishtina, Lajcak said that Serbia’s elections should in principle be allowed to take place in Kosovo as well.

The Kosovo government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti has attempted to establish reciprocity measures in relations with Serbia since it came to power last year.

They want the dialogue to result in Serbia recognizing Kosovo.

Reeker: U.S. continues to support Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity (Koha/Klan)

Kosovo's Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ilir Kapiti met with the U.S. Charge d'Affaires Philip Reeker.

"Glad to be able to meet with Kosovo Ambassador Ilir Kapiti to discuss how the U.S. can continue to support Kosovo’s sovereignty & territorial integrity," Reeker tweeted after the meeting.

Ambassador Hovenier reaffirms U.S. support for Kosovo Security Force (media)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, met with the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) Commander, Lieutenant General Bashkim Jashari, to whom he reaffirmed the U.S. support for the KSF.

“Constructive meeting with KSF’s Lt. Gen. Jashari. Reaffirmed U.S. support for the KSF’s further development as a NATO-interoperable, multi-ethnic, and effective territorial defense force that recruits and retains diverse, multi-ethnic talent, including women and minorities,” Hovenier wrote on Twitter.

Osmani: Ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the north continued post-war (media)

Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo, commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the killing of 10 Albanians in Mitrovica.

"Mitrovica will never forget the horror of 3-4 February 2000 when 10 of its citizens were killed, amongst whom elderly, women and children. The memory of them will remain in our conscience up until the authors, part of criminal gangs incited by Serbia, appear before justice. 25 persons wounded in that night and 1,664 families with almost 12,000 members expelled from that area are evidence of that terrible night when they suffered only because they were Albanians but also evidence that ethnic cleansing of Albanians in the north of the country continued after the war too," Osmani said on Facebook.

Dardan Molliqaj released from detention (media)

The chairman of the Socialist Democratic Party (PSD), Dardan Molliqaj, has been released from detention. He was arrested on Tuesday evening shortly before his expected appearance on the Pressing show on T7.

He was wanted by the police on suspicion of assaulting a police officer on 29 January during a protest to the electricity price increase. The extra-parliamentary opposition party PSD and Molliqaj had complained that the arrest was politically motivated and that Molliqaj was not shown an arrest warrant. Adem Megjuani, PSD activist, was also arrested a day before Molliqaj on the same charges. Both were detained for 48 hours. Molliqaj’s arrest provoked reactions. The LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku said that the Kurti government was using its power for political revenge.

Radojicic narrowly avoids arrest at Bernjak border crossing (Kallxo)

Milan Radojicic, deputy leader of the Serbian List wanted by Kosovo authorities in connection to the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, is reported to have avoided arrest by going back to Serbia after he was told by the Kosovo Police at the border crossing point to wait while they ran a verification on him.

Radojicic was travelling from Serbia into Kosovo through the Bernjak border crossing point when the Kosovo Police told him to park on the side after his name appeared on the wanted list. His documents remained with the police.

Kallxo quotes sources saying that an investigation is underway to determine how the police did not manage to apprehend Radojicic.

Kosovo arrests, then releases, cameraman recording company eviction (BIRN)

Kosovo police have been criticised for detaining a cameraman on Thursday for recording the eviction from its premises of a company put under administration by the privatisation agency.

Kosovo Police apprehended, then released, a cameraman in the southern town of Suhareke/Suva Reka filming the eviction of a privatised company put under administration by the Kosovo Privatisation Agency, KPA.

“I insisted on recording the event but the police considered that I was hindering their work. I told them: ‘I am not hindering you,’” Albion Selitaj, a cameraman for the news portal Ekonomia Online told BIRN after he was released, less than two hours after he was apprehended.

“The only word I said to them was: ‘Don’t touch my camera’, but they pushed me and then I got arrested. Police were dealing with us, not with the issue they came to deal with,” he added.

Selitaj said that unlike the officers during his arrest, the police in Suhareke/Suva Reka police station “behaved in a correct way”.

Kosovo Police spokesperson Vesel Gashi confirmed that Selitaj was apprehended “for obstructing officials performing their duties, despite being warned [not to]”.

“Under Prosecutor’s order, he was released and the case now goes through regular procedures,” Gashi said.

Condemning the arrest, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, AJK, said the police behaved in an “unprofessional way”.