• Kurti: We want to achieve normalization of relations with Serbia (media)
• Chollet to visit Kosovo today; will meet Osmani and Kurti (media)
• Lajcak meets with Varhelyi, Escobar, discuss about dialogue (RTK)
• Hovenier: U.S. is committed to a sustainable partnership with Kosovo (RTK)
• Kosovo: More pressure on Serbia to accept French-German proposal (AA)
• The real face of Serbia: A Response to Djuric (Prishtina Insight)
• Minuto-Rizzo: Historic engagement of NATO in Balkans will continue (EWB)
• Hungary to veto Kosovo's applications to EU bodies: Foreign minister (AA)
• Opposition parties reacts to LVV’s video (Kallxo)
• Rasic doesn’t believe he said youths in Shterpce were shot to be killed (Klan)
• Kosovo Awaits Supply of Material for Personal Documents (Prishtina Insight)
• Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Kosovo (Borgen Magazine)

Kurti: We want to achieve normalization of relations with Serbia (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Tuesday that Kosovo wants to achieve normalization of relations with Serbia, but that the latter, according to him, is moving increasingly away from normality.

Kurti also said that Serbia rejected what is known as the French-German plan at a time when according to him, everyone should have taken it into consideration and that the Kosovo government considered it a good basis for discussion.

Chollet to visit Kosovo today; will meet Osmani and Kurti (media)

Counselor to the U.S. State Department, Derek Chollet, will visit Kosovo today and is scheduled to meet with President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that “Chollet will meet with government officials, other political leaders, and civil society to discuss U.S. efforts to help advance Kosovo’s and Euro-Atlantic integration, including through the EU-facilitated Dialogue to achieve a comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, centered on mutual recognition. On 12 January, Counselor Chollet will continue to Belgrade, Serbia, where he will discuss energy security, regional economic integration, and progress towards Serbia’s goal of EU accession with Serbian government leadership.  He will also discuss Serbia’s role in strengthening regional peace and security and its continued engagement with the EU-facilitated Dialogue to normalize relations with Kosovo.”

Lajcak meets with Varhelyi, Escobar, discuss about dialogue (RTK)

The EU's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has met with the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Oliver Varhely. Lajcak wrote on Twitter that he talked with Varhelyi about the dialogue.

“Good to meet Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi today. It was useful to discuss the Dialogue in the broader regional context and the European Union's goals for 2023," Lajcak wrote on Twitter.

Lajcak also met with the U.S. Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar.

"We planned the next steps in Dialog together with my American colleague and friend, DAS Escobar. We expect to continue our close cooperation in 2023," Lajcak tweeted.

Hovenier: U.S. is committed to a sustainable partnership with Kosovo (RTK)

Jeff Hovenier, on the first anniversary of receiving his credentials as the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, said he is proud to be part of the decades-long U.S. effort to support Kosovo.

"Proud to be a part of U.S. efforts over decades to support Kosovo, but particularly as the U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo - now for a full year. My team and I remain committed to advancing our shared priorities and to supporting the enduring partnership between Kosovo and the United States," Hovenier wrote.

Kosovo: More pressure on Serbia to accept French-German proposal (AA)

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Tuesday that Serbia should be pressured to accept a German-French proposal to normalize relations.

The proposal is thought to be a way of speeding up Serbia's EU membership process in exchange for its recognition of Kosovo.

Kurti said Serbia is the one rejecting the proposal.

"We saw the European Union plan supported by France, Germany, and the USA as a good basis for the continuation of the negotiations. At the same time Serbia rejected the plan at the National Security Council," Kurti told reporters after meeting mayors in Pristina.

US Undersecretary of State Derek Chollet is expected to visit Serbia and Kosovo later this week.

Chollet will support a comprehensive agreement that needs to be reached on normalizing relations, according to media reports.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3Gz2jUT

The real face of Serbia: A Response to Djuric (Prishtina Insight)

Opinion piece by Mimoza Kusari, head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group.

No doubt Marko Djuric makes deliberately wrong and misleading assessments on the situation in the Republic of Kosova. No one expects anything different considering he is an ambassador from Serbia, an autocratic state, that discriminates against minorities in his own country, and manipulative towards the Serbian minority in Kosova.

The Ambassador of Serbia to the USA, judges the institutional reaction in Kosova for the attack in Shtërpce, without taking into consideration the quick police reaction and the condemnation from all political leaders, including the Prime Minister. Also, he did this after the attacker was surrendered, arrested and taken into custody immediately by the Kosovo Police.

But he forgets that condemning and taking measures toward those who violate freedom of others, is quite an unknown concept to Serbia’s representative, where fighting crime and punishment are not the state’s practice. In Serbia we see the contrary happen, honoring and glorifying criminals is institutionalized practice as proven so far.

Djuric claims that Kosova is trying to “capitalize” on Ukraine, ignoring the tragedy and the fact that the whole world condemns the atrocities committed by Putin. It would have been wiser if he joined the democratic world and called Russia for what it is, a terrorist state.

Read full piece at: https://bit.ly/3k5zyaX

Minuto-Rizzo: Historic engagement of NATO in Balkans will continue (EWB)

The recent security developments in Europe have had a strong influence on the Western Balkans as well and NATO has been devoting more attention to the region in it’s strategic documents. NATO has been present in the Western Balkans for a long time now, it recognizes security challenges countries in the region are facing and has been active in addressing the security major issues in the Western Balkans. The conference Balkan and Black Sea Perspectives 2022: Supporting the transition organized by NATO Foundation on 7 December once again reaffirmed the interest of the Alliance for this region.

European Western Balkans (EWB) talked to Ambassador Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, President of the NATO Foundation and a former Deputy Secretary General and acting Secretary General of NATO, who shared his insight about the topics discussed at the conference, such as regional integration perspectives, the role of international community in addressing the grey areas in the region and consolidation of fragile democracies.

Read full interview at: https://bit.ly/3XpX8Ob

Hungary to veto Kosovo's applications to EU bodies: Foreign minister (AA)

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto​​​​​​​ said Tuesday that his country will vote against Kosovo’s membership to European bodies.

Hungary’s position is that admitting Kosovo into certain European organizations would jeopardize the reaching of a compromise, he said.

"The premature admission of Kosovo by various European entities may jeopardize the search for reconciliation. Therefore, if there is a vote on whether to accept Kosovo as a member of the Council of Europe, the government will vote no," Szijjarto said after meeting Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in Budapest.

Szijjarto said Hungary supports a peaceful solution and reconciliation through dialogue.

Kosovo submitted a signed application in December to the Czech Republic, which presided over the European Union at that time.

Spain, Slovakia, Greek Cypriot administration, Romania and Greece are EU member countries that do not recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/3GU0of3

Opposition parties reacts to LVV’s video (Kallxo)

The Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) published a video on Tuesday promoting what it calls the successes of the Kurti government, showing that "What is there and what is not there these 2 years?".

MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and former Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti, reacted by calling the behavior of the party in power "political fascism". "The behavior of the party in power, with video montages full of slander, is political fascism — hating the other just because he belongs to another political group. The end of every kind of fascism is known," he said.

Hoti also said that Vetevendosje is inciting political hatred at the time when the delegation of Kosovo's main partners lands in Pristina. "Slanderous propaganda and deception are no longer working. You have already reached the end," he wrote on Facebook.

Head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Abelard Tahiri, too reacted to the published video.  "You must be in a very miserable political situation like the Vetevendosje Movement and Prime Minister Albin Kurti are today, that after two years of government, instead of presenting the results of their work, the only thing they have produced are propaganda videos attacking the political opponents with accusations and counter-accusations" Tahiri wrote.

"This is a symptom that Kurti's power has fallen into a miserable, depressing and hopeless state. Misery for them, and disaster for the country," he added.

Rasic doesn’t believe he said youths in Shterpce were shot to be killed (Klan)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rasic, while giving an interview to the Serbian media Nova.ra, was quoted as saying that the young people in Shterpce were shot with the intention to be killed. However, in a debate in Klan Kosova on Tuesday, Rasic denied he had made such remarks, saying that journalists are using the information partially. "It's good when information is being used from one side to the other, but the information is only partially used by journalists, this has not happened. But I am happy that the police intervened in time and quickly and this is now with the competent bodies, in the court," Rasic said.

Asked about the statements given to the Serbian media, Rasic said that he does not believe that he stated what was quoted in the media. "I don't believe that I said it like that, I said it earlier, I really believe that it is not correct to comment when such a case has received the judicial epilogue," Rasic added.

He also said that the establishment of the Association does not endanger the sovereignty of Kosovo, as the agreement is expected to be in harmony with the laws and the Constitution of Kosovo.

Kosovo Awaits Supply of Material for Personal Documents (Prishtina Insight)

Kosovo finally expects to be supplied with material for personal documents after citizens were unable for months to obtain new passports, driving licenses and identity cards.

At the end of January, it is expected that Kosovo will finally be supplied with material for passports, driving licenses and identity cards, the Ministry of Interior told BIRN.

For months, citizens of Kosovo have not been able to obtain passports, driving licenses and identity cards due to the lack of material, causing serious problems with travel.

Recently, the Minister of Interior, Xhelal Sveçla, asked Germany to allow the entry of Kosovo citizens whose passports have expired.

The head of the branch of the Democratic League of Kosovo LDK in Ferizaj, Visar Azemi, told a press conference that the lack of passports was making life difficult for citizens.

“Freedom of travel is a basic right and not a luxury. At a time when we are mobilizing for liberalization today [with the EU], our country does not have passports,” he said.

“For this, citizens cannot travel for family or business reasons, nor can students travel. The lack of passports has also harmed our citizens who live abroad, they are being threatened with having to stay in the countries where they are living,” he added.

Agron Demi, a public policy pundit, proposed that, considering the lack of paper, the state might issue passports with 60 pages instead of 15.

“Taking into account that Kosovar passports are filled very quickly with one-week visas, that the state administration has not been able to provide paper for printing passports for many years, as well as taking into account the cost of issuing a passports and lost opportunities, why doesn’t the state issue passports with around 60 pages, instead of the current passport with 15 pages?” he asked.

Impact of COVID-19 on Poverty in Kosovo (Borgen Magazine)

Kosovo has been coping with the diverse ramifications of the pandemic since March 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kosovo has been intense, as the pandemic is still affecting businesses, households, people’s everyday lives and their physical and mental health. While central and health care institutions were trying to handle the crisis, the emergency measures taken by the Kosovo government significantly affected people and businesses across the country.

Affecting Employment

Kosovo is one of the poorest places in Europe, with almost one-quarter of the population living under the poverty line. The pandemic caused an unprecedented rise in job losses. The youth unemployment rate rose to 48.6% overall in 2021 and 53.5% for women. As a result of the crisis, adolescent girls were at a higher risk of mental and reproductive health concerns, as well as unequal gender roles at home.

U.N. Women Kosovo, UNDP and UNFPA Kosovo organized a nationwide survey to evaluate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19. Together, these agencies have a sustainable goal of fighting global poverty, achieving gender equality, promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth. Over 1400 adults were interviewed. According to the data gathered, the biggest losses were in remittance-generated income, farming, and family businesses. The lockdown measures particularly affected self-employed women and men. Around 62% of the population experienced a reduction in paid work hours.