• Statements on 24^th anniversary of the Recak massacre (media)
• Dendias and Kurti discuss latest developments in north of Kosovo (RTK)
• PM Kurti appoints two more deputy ministers from communities (RTK)
• MFA: There was no vote against and no failure to join CoE (RTK)
• Slovenian Foreign Minister Fajon to visit Kosovo today (media)
• Lajcak will visit Pristina this week (media)
• "Vucic is preparing for unpopular step, Kurti must accept Association, USA can depose him if he refuses" (Zeri)
• Kosovo debunks Serbian claims about derecognitions (BIRN)
• Idea for a joint opposition front, impossible for now (Koha)
• Military observation trenches in the north (media)
• Kosovo ends 2022 with record inflation (Prishtina Insight)

Statements on 24^th anniversary of the Recak massacre (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on the 24^th anniversary of the Recak massacre, that those who deny the genocide, dream of repeating it. He said that the massacre of Recak provoked the biggest reactions in the world. “These are the images broadcast by the world media, shown again, returning to the images with which the world knows us as a country of victims where Serbia committed crimes and genocide. The massacre of Recak is one of 400 massacres. This massacre, although it is one of them, is the war crime that has provoked the most reactions. Witnessed by many local and international media, the massacre of Recak turned into one of the most indisputable arguments,” Kurti said.

He added that Ambassador William Walker did not speak with a diplomatic language, but with a humanitarian one, which, Serbia claimed “tried to blur the truth”. “Three years ago, the president of Serbia stated that the massacre in Recak is fabrication and forgery. Two years later, the head of intelligence of the Serbian state, on the day of universal rights on December 10, repeats what Vucic says. Those who deny the genocide, dream of its repetition,” Kurti said.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said in a Twitter post that “24 years ago, 45 innocent women, men & children were deliberately & mercilessly massacred in Reçak by Milosevic’s genocidal regime. The barbaric acts in Reçak & all around Kosovo, brought the democratic world together to put an end to these crimes. Today we honor their memory.”

U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo tweeted on Sunday “We believe that all people, regardless of ethnicity or religion, deserve the dignity of living in freedom and security. “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”– Dr. Martin Luther King. To this tweet, Hovenier retweeted his statement from the last year: “Humbled to represent the American people to honor and remember those who lost their lives in Recak 23 years ago. Let no one forget or deny what happened: the brutal murder of defenseless civilians.”

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo said in a statement on Sunday: “On this day, 24 years ago, 45 civilians - including children - were found murdered in Recak. Their lives are a sad reminder to us at the beginning of every year of the need to learn from the past and make sure it is never repeated again. We will never forget!”

The EU Office in Kosovo issued a statement saying: “Today marks the 24^th anniversary of the Recak/Račak massacre. We remember and honour the victims and share their families' inconsolable grief and heartache. The past cannot be undone but the future shall bring justice, closure & relief.”

Dendias and Kurti discuss latest developments in north of Kosovo (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti received a call from the Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias. Dendias, through a post on Twitter, announced that he and Prime Minister Kurti talked about the developments in Kosovo. "The discussion was focused on the recent developments in the north of Kosovo and on the Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue," Dendias wrote.

PM Kurti appoints two more deputy ministers from communities (RTK)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti appointed on Saturday two new deputy ministers from the communities in the government of Kosovo. Nenad Stanojevic is appointed Deputy Minister for Economy, while Lazar Radulovic is appointed Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Kurti congratulated the two deputy ministers on their new institutional duties and responsibilities in Kosovo.

According to the announcement of the Prime Minister’s office, the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Faton Peci, as well as the Minister of Communities and Return, Nenad Rashic, were also present at the meeting.

MFA: There was no vote against and no failure to join CoE (RTK)

A press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora notes that the membership of Kosovo in the Council of Europe has not been voted against and has not failed. “On the contrary, since May 12, 2022, significant progress has been made throughout the membership process."

"In this first stage of the decision in the Committee of Ministers, there is no definition of standards for the beginning of membership. Consequently, any possible conditionality at this stage would be against the Statute of the Council of Europe, the membership practices, and the values of the organization," clarifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The process of membership in the Council of Europe is irreversible and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora will commit itself to the first phase being passed as soon as possible," says the press release.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Fajon to visit Kosovo today (media)

Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tanja Fajon, will visit Kosovo today. This was announced in a press release issued by the Presidency of Kosovo. According to the announcement, the meeting President Vjosa Osmani and Fajon will be held from 11:00 in the president's office. Tanja Fajon used to be a rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament.

Lajcak will visit Pristina this week (media)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, will visit Pristina this week. His visit comes at a time when the European plan for the normalisation of relations has become more dynamic and so have calls for the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. Koha asked EU officials to confirm the news of Lajcak’s visit, but they said the date would be announced in due time.

"Vucic is preparing for unpopular step, Kurti must accept Association, USA can depose him if he refuses" (Zeri)

Timothy Less, a former diplomat and now a researcher at the Center for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, has said that there is great international pressure to reach an agreement that includes the creation of an Association of Serb-majority municipalities in exchange for recognition of Kosovo from Serbia. He sees that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is getting ready to take an unpopular step. And if Serbia is ready for this, Less says that the agreement will depend on the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, who would be able to accept the Association only with "extreme reluctance". Refusal would create big problems, he predicts. In that case, Less says that Kosovo's application for EU membership would be rejected and that the US could try to engineer the overthrow of the government, as in 2020. Serbia wants something like Republika Srpska in Bosnia, which Kosovo wants to avoid.

Less also argues that it is impossible to say for sure whether Serbia and Kosovo will reach an agreement this year, but it shows what the parties want and how things can move.

"We know what they want - in the case of Serbia, to establish the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM) without recognizing Kosovo; and in the case of Kosovo, recognition by Serbia without establishing the Association. We know that there is great diplomatic pressure on Serbia and Kosovo to agree to an agreement that includes the establishment of an Association in exchange for Serbia's recognition of Kosovo, practically in the short term and formally in the longer term. And we know that the West has influence on both sides, more clearly its power to grant or withhold EU membership," said Less.

He sees a possibility for Serbia to accept an agreement that is based on the idea of Serbia recognizing Kosovo and mentions some signs that, according to him, the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, has given that "he is preparing to take an unpopular step".

"That being said in recent days the government in Serbia has signaled its readiness to reach an agreement based on the idea of recognition in exchange for autonomy for the north of Kosovo. Vucic has spoken of his inability to stand up to the Great Powers and of his willingness to reach a compromise on the condition that it is not a humiliation for Serbia. He has publicly speculated about changing the Constitution of Serbia. He has also announced that he will not run for office again, a sign that he is preparing to take an unpopular step. Meanwhile, Brnabic has repeated that she wants Serbia to join the EU, for which the prerequisite is the recognition of Kosovo," Less said.

Kosovo debunks Serbian claims about derecognitions (BIRN)

Kosovo diplomatic missions have been debunking Serbia's latest claims about recent derecognitions of Kosovo's independence, sharing photos of its diplomats meeting high officials and diplomats of these countries.

On January 5, President Aleksandar Vucic claimed that nine countries – Somalia, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Eswatini [former Swaziland], Libya, Guinea, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and the Maldives – no longer recognized the former Serbian province's statehood.

Kosovo diplomats have dismissed the claims about at least five of these countries.

On January 12, the Ambassador to Britain, Ilir Kapiti, met in London with the High Commissioner of Eswatini, Thandazile P. Mbuyisa. "We are looking forward to strengthening our relations Eswatini & Kosovo by exploring economic opportunities," Kapiti wrote on Twitter.

Blerim Reka, mission head at the Consulate in New York, on Facebook on Thursday confirmed continued relations with the Maldives, also debunking Vucic's claims. "Reconfirmation of excellent bilateral relations. No change in diplomatic relations, established since 2009," Reka wrote.

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

Idea for a joint opposition front, impossible for now (Koha)

The daily reports that an idea proposed by PDK MP Xhavit Haliti for opposition parties to be organised in a joint front is not being supported by his colleagues from the opposition. Koha contacted officials of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) to comment on the idea, but they were not available for comment. Meanwhile, representatives of the Haradinaj-led Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) said that given the current political circumstances, the opposition parties must engage in more concrete and genuine cooperation. “However, it doesn’t seem that there is any interest or readiness to create an opposition front or bloc. The opposition continues to be divided, whereas it should be more coordinated, in my opinion,” AAK secretary general Muharrem Nitaj told the daily.

Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lumir Abdixhiku, was one of the first to reject the idea. He argued that Kosovo needs a more powerful LDK and not a united opposition. “We are different parties. The LDK has no ties with the PDK and AAK, and let alone the other non-parliamentary parties,” he said.

Military observation trenches in the north (media)

The news websites report that beyond the barricades and trucks that stayed for weeks along the road in Mitrovica North, other preparations to face the situation were made.

Based on an RTK report, Zeri claims that canals were also opened and protective walls using sacks were built, ‘which show that certain structures were ready for resistance to the state of Kosovo.’

RTK brought images of the trenches that were opened near the village of Leshak in Leposaviq from where every movement on the road can be observed.

RTK learns that the channel was opened by the structures in the north during the time when several barricades were being placed in the northern part of Kosovo.  The sacks that were placed in front of the canal were covered with sticks and thorns so that no one would notice them.

Kosovo ends 2022 with record inflation (Prishtina Insight)

The end of 2022 found consumers in Kosovo paying significantly more in prices according to the latest data of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics.

Kosovo ended 2022 with an inflation rate of 11.6 per cent according to the data of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, KAS.

Flour, bread, beef and chicken, eggs and cooking oil are just some of the basic products whose average price increased markedly.

In December 2021, according to the average price list issued by KAS, a kilo of wheat flour cost 0.65 euros.

In December 2022, it cost 0.83 euros, an increase of 15 cent compared to December 2021 and 33 cents more compared to December 2020.

Citizens bought one kilo of beef for 7.98 euros in December 2021. In the same month of 2022 the price had increased by 1.96 euros.

In December 2020, citizens could buy 30 eggs for 3.01 euros. In the same month of 2022, the price was 4.25 euros.

A litre of cooking oil in December 2020 cost 1.15 euros, in December 2021, the price was 1.69 euros, while in December 2022 it was 2.19 euros.

Safet Gerxhaliu, an economic expert, said 2022 has been one of the most difficult years for Kosovo, as the country has gone from one crisis to another.

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