Albanian Language Media: 

• Kosovo President Osmani’s speech at National Prayer Breakfast (media)
• Kurti: Our relations with the U.S. have never been better (media)
• Rohde, Taylor hand over servers, equipment to Election Commission (media)
• FAZ: Grenell is interfering in Kosovo elections (media)
• Terras: EU measures against Kosovo, very negative effect on dialogue (AP)
• Sorensen speaks separately with Bislimi and Petkovic (media)
• Kurti sends condolences to Swedish people after tragic school shooting (media)
• Barbano attends conference on EU – NATO partnership (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Djuric: We cannot afford divisions in Kosovo, Serbs under great pressure (Euronews in Serbian, Kosovo Online)
• Sorensen spoke separately with Petkovic and Bislimi (media, social media)
• Witnesses: We did not see Kostic and Milovic at place of our relative’s murder (Radio KIM, KoSSev)
• Albanian and KLA flags in a playground in Serb-populated part of Orahovac (RTS, Radio kontakt plus)
• Arsenijevic: Pristina simulates dialogue, no progress without international engagement (Kosovo Online)
• Rasic: Who prime minister is should not concern us; time for Serbs to return to police and judiciary (Kosovo Online)
• Stojanovic: Renewal of dialogue depends on international community, important to form Community of Serbian  Municipalities (Kosovo Online)
• Serbian Government increases budget for higher education (BETA, N1)

Opinon: 

• Body cameras can reduce the rising allegations of police abuse in North Kosovo (Sbunker)

Albanian Language Media 

Kosovo President Osmani’s speech at National Prayer Breakfast (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in her speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., that “Kosovo’s journey to freedom was shaped by faith, resilience, and the unwavering support of allies like the U.S. From a child of war to a leader, I stood on that stage to say: Thank you for choosing humanity. Kosovo will always stand for justice, dignity, and freedom”.

Osmani’s full speech at: https://shorturl.at/fCmCK

Kurti: Our relations with the U.S. have never been better (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti reacted on Thursday to a statement by U.S. presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, who said that Kurti does not have good relations with Washington. According to Kurti, relations with the U.S. have never been better. “What can I do? You know very well that my whole life I was an activist and not an analyst. We have these [TV] studios that analyze what one person said and why he looked at them like that. Our relations [with the U.S.] have never been better. We are buying Black Hawk helicopters, after buying the Javelin system. We got the biggest grant from the U.S. during our mandate. We have advanced our relations with the U.S. in that they are no longer only diplomatic, but also in terms of defense, development and energy. Sometimes there is criticism and remarks, but we need to move forward,” Kurti said in an interview with a local TV station in Istog.

Rohde, Taylor hand over servers, equipment to Election Commission (media)

German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said in a post on X on Thursday that together with OSCE Acting Head of Mission, Connie Taylor, they “handed over servers and other equipment, worth €140K EUR, to Kosovo’s Central Election Commission, ahead of the upcoming elections”. “This support will ensure smooth electoral processes in Kosovo. Thanks, Chairman Radoniqi, for welcoming us!” he said.

FAZ: Grenell is interfering in Kosovo elections (media)

Several news websites reported on Thursday an article by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung highlighting its remark that U.S. presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, is directly interfering in the Kosovo elections by criticizing Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. FAZ notes that on February 3, Grenell said that the Trump administration would engage in the Balkans, that Washington needs “trustworthy partners” and that the Kurti-led government and his party are not. “The Kurti government was not trustworthy during Trump’s first term, nor during Biden’s term,” he said. “The international community is united against Kurti”.

In January, Grenell had criticized Kurti was sending Kosovo-US relations to a low point. And shortly before the elections he says that “Kurti has opposed every American idea”.

While Kurti said during the election campaign that he has had good relations with the U.S, Grenell called this a lie. “Don’t be fooled,” he said.

According to FAZ, Grenell wants Kurti to be in the opposition after the elections because he wants an obedient Prime Minister. 

Terras: EU measures against Kosovo, very negative effect on dialogue (AP)

European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Riho Terras, in an interview with the Albanian Post, said that the EU’s penalty measures against Kosovo have had a very negative effect on the continuation of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. “What I concluded from my fact-finding mission is that the penalty measures by the EU Council had a very negative effect on the continuation of the dialogue, because the Kosovar side felt it was being treated unfairly – and I think the same,” he said. “We need to pressure the member states to lift the measures … I hope the situation after the elections will contribute to the process of dialogue because the region is in great need to move forward”.

Sorensen speaks separately with Bislimi and Petkovic (media)

New EU special representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Peter Sorensen, said on Thursday he spoke separately with Kosovo and Serbia chief negotiators. “Spoke separately with the two Chief negotiators of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi and Serbia Petar Petkovic. Appreciated the very good conversations and welcomed their invitations to visit Kosovo and Serbia soon,” Sorensen said in a post on X. 

Kurti sends condolences to Swedish people after tragic school shooting (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti sent condolences to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the people of Sweden in the wake of the tragic school shooting. “Our thoughts are with all those affected by this act of violence,” he said in a post on X.

Barbano attends conference on EU – NATO partnership (media)

Head of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Giovanni Pietro Barbano, said in a post on X on Thursday “engaging discussion at the EU Ambassadors Conference 2025 on the EU and NATO partnership for a new era of defence and security. EULEX and KFOR are a clear example of complementing civilian-military efforts for security on the ground”.

Serbian Language Media  

Djuric: We cannot afford divisions in Kosovo, Serbs under great pressure (Euronews in Serbian, Kosovo Online)

Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric urged Serbs in Kosovo to be, as he said, strong and united this Sunday, February 9, and support the Serbian List at the polls. He also said Serbs in Kosovo cannot afford to be divided into parties, as “they are fighting against discrimination comparable to apartheid”, Kosovo Online portal reported.

"I call on Serbs to support the Serbian List, and I say this openly because I am rooting for Serbs to secure all 10 parliamentary mandates united around one party, the Serbian List, which gathers the largest number of our citizens in Kosovo and Metohija, regardless of ideological beliefs. We cannot afford to divide into parties in Kosovo and Metohija, just like in South Africa during apartheid, when the African National Congress fought against discrimination of black Africans by the then authorities", Djuric told Euronews Serbia.

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

Sorensen spoke separately with Petkovic and Bislimi (media, social media)

New EU Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina talks Peter Sorensen spoke separately yesterday with Belgrade and Pristina chief negotiators, Petar Petkovic and Besnik Bislimi, Kosovo Online portal reported.

“Spoke separately with the two Chief negotiators of Kosovo @BislimiBesnik and Serbia @Petkovic Petar today. Appreciated the very good conversations and welcomed their invitations to visit Kosovo and Serbia soon”, Sorensen wrote in a post on X social platform on Thursday. 

Witnesses: We did not see Kostic and Milovic at place of our relative’s murder (Radio KIM, KoSSev)

The first affected witnesses testified in a hearing yesterday in the case against Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic, accused of allegedly committing war crimes against civilian population in Vucitrn municipality, Radio KIM reported.

The witness of the prosecution, from Albanian family Daku, stated that parapolice patrol evicted him and other family members from a family home in May 1999. He also said they killed his nephew who was 45 years old. As the witness said in a place where the murder occurred, he did not see defendants Zoran Kostic and Dragan Milovic among present Serbian police officers. The witness also said he did not see Zoran Kostic in any other situation during the conflict in 1999.

Second witness of the prosecution, also from Daku family, said he realized already in a preliminary hearing that Dragan Milovic and Zoran Kostic have nothing to do with their case. As he said they only have names similar to the names of police officers they saw on a critical day.

Although in his first statement given to Kosovo police the name of Zoran Kostic, reserve police officer from Priluzje was mentioned, the witness in a hearing yesterday said he did not say so and that a police officer could write anything during the investigation, reiterating that it was not his statement.

Defense lawyer of Zoran Kostic, Predrag Miljkovic said the witnesses in a hearing yesterday were very sincere, and mentioned the crucial thing “{...} that they do not know either Milovic or Kostic, did not see them during the war, and what is the most important they (Milovic and Kostic) did nothing bad to them on May 22, the witnesses testify about {...}”. He added Milovic and Kostic did not undertake any incriminating acts during this period and those witnesses have explained that in a very convincing manner. Two more affected witnesses are expected to be interviewed during the next hearing. There are in total 10 witnesses in this process.

Dragan Milovic and Zoran Kostic were arrested on September 20, 2023 and the indictment against them was raised only in May last year. Late Ilija Elezovic, was among defendants in this case as well. He suffered from terminal illness, spent one month in detention upon arrest and was released afterwards pending trial. He passed away in February 2024.

Albanian and KLA flags in a playground in Serb-populated part of Orahovac (RTS, Radio kontakt plus)

A group of Albanian young men walked yesterday across the Serb-populated part of Orahovac, carrying Albanian and KLA flags, RTS reported. After that they hung the flags on the fence of a sports playground used by children from remaining Serbian families in Orahovac, the eyewitnesses told RTS.

The playground is the only place where Serbian children and young people gather and play, RTS also said. The remaining Serbs in Orahovac perceived the display of the Albanian and KLA flags as provocation.   

Arsenijevic: Pristina simulates dialogue, no progress without international engagement (Kosovo Online)

The dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is at a deadlock, and without stronger international engagement, there will be no progress, said Aleksandar Arsenijevic, leader of Serbian Democracy (SD) and a candidate in the upcoming elections. He added security of Serbs in Kosovo is weakening, and the solution lies in returning Serbian personnel to police and judicial institutions.

In an interview with Kosovo Online, Arsenijevic emphasized that Pristina is only simulating dialogue, and when there is no real dialogue, a crisis emerges on the ground.

He also said formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) would improve the protection of the Serbian population and stressed that a special law should be introduced to facilitate the return of Serbs to Kosovo institutions.

Read the full interview at: https://shorturl.at/9NMRP

Rasic: Who prime minister is should not concern us; time for Serbs to return to police and judiciary (Kosovo Online)

Nenad Rasic, a candidate of For Freedom, Justice, and Survival (SDP) party and its leader, expects efforts will intensify after elections to achieve more concrete results in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. He emphasized it is time for Serbs to return to the police and judiciary because, without Serbian representatives, the security of Serbs will not be at adequate level.

In an interview with Kosovo Online, Rasic stated that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina still exists and he expects concrete steps regarding the Association of Serbian Municipalities (CSM) after the February 9 elections.

He added that the return of Serbs to Kosovo institutions is always timely, but it will take a long time to restore the situation to what it was before Serbs withdrew from certain institutions in the north.

Read the full interview at: https://shorturl.at/PLYrS

Stojanovic: Renewal of dialogue depends on international community, important to form Community of Serbian  Municipalities (Kosovo Online)

Branimir Stojanovic, a candidate of the Serbian People's Movement (SNP) in the parliamentary elections, emphasized that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will only make sense if previous agreements are first implemented and the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) is formed. He also said renewal of dialogue depends on the international community.

According to him, Serbian MPs must return to the Kosovo Parliament to fight for Serbian interests.

In an interview with Kosovo Online, Stojanovic stressed that, regarding security of Serbs, an operational plan must exist at the level of local self-governments.

Read the full interview at: https://shorturl.at/MIMyS

Serbian Government increases budget for higher education (BETA, N1)

In a meeting on Thursday, the Serbian Government adopted a decision providing funds in the amount of 12.01 billion dinars (1 euro – 117 dinars) for higher education and student standards, N1 reported.

This means that the budget for education is increased by 20 percent, which fulfils the fourth students’ demand, the Serbian Government said in a press release. Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali explained that this creates financial conditions to reduce tuition fees for students by 50 percent, which was exactly one of the demands. The press release quoted him as saying that the Government has now completed all that it can do on its part.

Opinion 

Body cameras can reduce the rising allegations of police abuse in North Kosovo (Sbunker)

By Bronwyn Jones

Policing in northern Kosovo has become a contentious issue since Kosovo Serb police officers collectively resigned in November 2022 in protest of the Kosovo government’s refusal to implement the Association/Community of Serb-Majority Municipalities.

In response, Kosovo authorities filled these vacancies primarily with Kosovo Albanian officers. In an emailed statement, the police stated that “anyone who has resigned cannot return to the force” and that “no exceptions will be made.”

Kosovo is currently in violation of Article 128, Paragraph 2 of its Constitution, which states: “Ethnic composition of the police within a municipality shall reflect the ethnic composition of the population within the respective municipality to the highest extent possible.”

Allegations of police misconduct and abuse are increasingly surfacing, further widening the gap between the Kosovo Serb community and the Kosovo Police. To address concerns regarding human rights violations and build public trust, the Kosovo Police should require the use of body cameras.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/oe7df