• Kurti calls for full implementation of Brussels agreement and Ohrid annex (media)
• COMKFOR Ulutas meets Sorensen, supports EU-facilitated dialogue (media)
• Ins and Outs: Kosovo’s new parliament takes shape (PI)
• Vote recount delays certification of Kosovo election result (BIRN)
• US administration suspends immigrant visas from 75 countries (media)
• Bajrami calls for Abdixhiku’s resignation as LDK leader (media)
• Strict enforcement of law on traffic and law on foreigners in Kosovo begins (RFE)
• Serbian List calls for suspension of implementation of two laws (Kosovo Online)
• PDK accuses Kurti-led government of energy crisis (Telegrafi)

Kurti calls for full implementation of Brussels agreement and Ohrid annex (media)

Kosovo caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti met on Wednesday with EU Special Representative for Dialogue, Peter Sorensen, and said that the December 28 parliamentary elections produced a new democratic legitimacy which guarantees political predictability and institutional stability in Kosovo. He said that the high legitimacy directly deriving from the will of the people ensures fair, credible and principled representation of Kosovo in dialogue and according to him the same cannot be said for Serbia.

Kurti expressed Kosovo’s readiness for full normalization of relations with Serbia and a constructive dialogue in Brussels, “highlighting the importance of withdrawing the letter of former Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic to the European External Action Service (EEAS), the handing over of chief terrorist Milan Radoicic, for which there is a 160-page indictment by the Prosecution of Kosovo, and signing the Basic Agreement and the Implementation Annex as legal guarantees and faith for the road ahead. He also said that with the full implementation of the Brussels Basic Agreement and the Ohrid Implementation Annex, the dialogue will produce sustainable results”.

COMKFOR Ulutas meets Sorensen, supports EU-facilitated dialogue (media)

Commander of the NATO-led KFOR mission, Major General Ozkan Ulutas, hosted the European Union Special Representative for Dialogue, Peter Sorensen. “Major General Ulutas highlighted KFOR’s continued cooperation with the EU Rule of Law mission (EULEX) and support to the EU-facilitated dialogue for the normalisation of relations between Pristina and Belgrade, which is key to lasting security in Kosovo and to regional stability, for the benefit of all communities,” KFOR said in a Facebook post.

Ins and Outs: Kosovo’s new parliament takes shape (PI)

After the December 2025 snap elections, Kosovo is braced to inaugurate its new parliament, ending a year of institutional paralysis, with the new ruling party, Vetëvendosje Movement, able to form a government without needing to cooperate with the other big parties.

Kosovo is set to leave behind a wasted year as 2025 saw MPs lead the country into an institutional paralysis as they consistently failed to inaugurate a new parliament.

MPs were not able to form institutions deriving from the February 2025 elections, they only elected a Speaker of the Assembly in August, and they did not vote for a Vetëvendosje led government. This incompetence led to extraordinary elections on December 28, 2025. These second elections delivered the Vetëvendosje Movement an opportunity to form the government without needing to knock on other big parties’ doors for a coalition.

Following the announcement of the preliminary results by the CEC on Dec 28, 2025, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated that, “the sooner the election results are certified, the sooner the institutions will be formed” and the sooner we will be able to “cooperate on international agreements.”

Kurti was the candidate with the most votes nationwide, receiving 404,241 votes.

Vetëvendosje secured just over half of the vote with 486,994 votes—the highest number ever received by any party—translating into 57 seats in the 120-member Parliament. This is 9 more seats than in the February elections. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, came in second with 22 seats, losing two seats from February. The Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, came in third with 15 seats, losing 5 seats from the February elections.

On January 8, PDK tried to change the results by requesting the annulment of around 20,000 ballots sent by mail from the diaspora citing deadline violations. The Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, ECAP, overruled the request the next day because it was submitted after the legal deadline.

Read more at: https://shorturl.fm/dSrMQ

Vote recount delays certification of Kosovo election result (BIRN)

Hopes of a swift conclusion to Kosovo’s December 28 snap election took a blow on Tuesday after the Central Election Commission, CEC, said 36 per cent of 2,557 ballot boxes will undergo a recount over alleged irregularities in the first count.

Ten municipalities will undergo a full recount while 28 others will see up to 10 per cent of the boxes reopened for a review.

“This decision comes after findings from the vote verification of candidates for MPs from 33 different polling stations, where we have seen that the votes for the candidates counted in Municipal Counting Centres do not reflect the number of votes for the candidates in ballots,” Valmir Elezi, the CEC spokesperson, told BIRN on Wednesday.

“We plan to count an average of 80 ballot boxes during the day, so this process could take 12 to 14 days,” he added.

The decision is not expected to affect the final result in terms of party representation but might affect which MPs get seats. Election rules provide that besides choosing a party, a voter can pick up to ten party candidates in the ballot.

Democracy in Action, DiA, a local network of election observers, said on Tuesday that following the verification of 21 per cent of the candidates’ votes, they recorded “serious shortcomings, which undermine the credibility and integrity of the election results”.

The network has called for “a full recount” of all candidates’ votes, “to ensure the credibility of the process and public confidence in the election results”. They urged justice authorities to investigate all cases where there are suspicions of abuse in the counting process.

Read more at: https://shorturl.fm/k5Xzy

US administration suspends immigrant visas from 75 countries (media)

Most news websites reported on Wednesday that the US administration has indefinitely suspended immigrant visa processing from 75 countries, including Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. The US State Department said in a post on X that it will “pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people”.

Bajrami calls for Abdixhiku’s resignation as LDK leader (media)

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku said on Wednesday that he has offered his resignation as party leader and that the LDK assembly must decide on this. His statement came after LDK deputy leader and the second most voted member, Hykmete Bajrami, said that she had called for Abdixhiku’s resignation because of the party’s poor results in the December 28 parliamentary elections. She also said that she offered her irrevocable resignation as LDK deputy leader. “After the December 28 results, the leadership and bodies of the party have lost their legitimacy and that is why internal elections are needed. Internal elections are necessary and no other process saves us from the current situation,” she argued.

Strict enforcement of law on traffic and law on foreigners in Kosovo begins (RFE)

The news website reports this morning that starting from midnight the strict enforcement begins of the law on traffic, according to which vehicles with foreign license plates cannot travel in Kosovo for more than three months or based on an authorization. This was confirmed to the news website by Kosovo Police Deputy Director for the north, Veton Elshani. At the same time, the strict enforcement of the law on foreigners and their personal documents begins. It provides that all those that do not possess Kosovo-issued documents, must apply for permits within 72 hours.

The news website notes that these measures will mainly affect members of the Serb community in Kosovo who have so far used vehicles with license plates of Serbian cities with an authorization or did not have Kosovo-issued documents.

The enforcement of the two laws was scheduled to begin on November 1 last year, but the Kosovo Ministry of Interior Affairs delayed it until January 15, 2026, to enable an information campaign. The measures are being criticized by the Serb community, the civil sector and political representatives.

Kosovo Police said that driving vehicles with foreign license plates with an authorization is in opposition with the law on traffic. The practice has been tolerated so far to give people time to change their license plates. Elshani said that starting from January 15, police will enforce the law on the ground and that driving vehicles with an authorization is allowed only in emergency cases.

The law on foreigners could affect members of the Serb community that don’t have Kosovo documents but who live, work or study in Kosovo. Elshani however said the law will not be strictly enforced for those living in Kosovo and who for some reason don’t have Kosovo documents. “We will not expel these people. We will not separate mothers from children or fathers from their children,” he said, adding that the law will be enforced only for those coming to Kosovo for tourism, work or studies.

Serbian List calls for suspension of implementation of two laws (Kosovo Online)

The Serbian List said on Wednesday evening that it is calling on the authorities in Pristina to suspend the implementation of the new regulations — the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles — and, in line with the needs of citizens, to find an appropriate model in order to avoid the devastating effect that their implementation would have on the lives of the Serbian people, their families, and institutions, in accordance with the 2022 dialogue agreement.

As of tomorrow, the implementation of the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles begins in Kosovo. In its statement, the Serbian List notes that its representatives, bearing in mind the situation surrounding the decision of Kosovo institutions to implement new regulations that endanger the freedom of movement of the Serbian people, as well as issues related to the use of vehicles with authorizations and the registration of residence of persons, have held dozens of meetings with international representatives—from Pristina as well as from the United States of America, the European Union, and other Western countries—since the announcement of the application of these rules.

At all meetings, the statement adds, they pointed to the danger of implementing these rules, which would practically paralyze the life of the Serbian people, especially in the north of Kosovo, as well as Serbian health and educational institutions.

They note that at all meetings they encountered understanding for their positions and for the problems that would arise for the Serbian people due to the implementation of these measures, but that despite all efforts they did not receive a response to their requests.

Read more at: https://shorturl.fm/R9IKn

PDK accuses Kurti-led government of energy crisis (Telegrafi)

Senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Arben Mustafa said on Wednesday that the energy crisis in Kosovo and frequent power cuts over the last couple of days are a result of the mismanagement of the energy sector by the Kurti-led government. he told a press conference in Pristina that the crisis is not accidental and that “it is a direct result of five-year irresponsible and vision-less management”.

Mustafa also said that once the new Assembly is constituted, the PDK will call for the formation of a new parliamentary committee with a clear and comprehensive mandate to investigate “all affairs and suspected abuses and mismanagement in the energy sector in the last couple of years”.