• COVID – 19: 267 new cases, one death (media)
• Kurti-Osmani: February 14 elections are a referendum (RTK)
• Haradinaj says EU could lead to national unification of Albanians (Koha)
• Krasniqi: We will call Kurti to a debate again (media)
• Parties meet minimum requirements of gender representation (Koha)
• “Trans-Atlantic cooperation will yield tangible results in dialogue” (media)
• Hoxhaj: With €1 billion fund we will empower women in the economy (media)
• Supreme Court rejects complaints about verification of diaspora voters (Koha)
• Lladrovci sues Kajtazi for defamation (media)
• “Art must aid post-conflict reconciliation” (Balkan Insight)

COVID – 19: 267 new cases, one death (media)

267 new cases of COVID – 19 and one death from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 163 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 5,715 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Kurti-Osmani: February 14 elections are a referendum (RTK)

The candidate for prime minister of Kosovo from the Vetevendosje Movement Albin Kurti and his coalition partner Vjosa Osmani who is running for the post of president held an online discussion on the inclusion of the Diaspora in processes in Kosovo.

Recognising the support of Diaspora, Kurti said that the third decade for Kosovo will be characterised by the fight against corruption. "After the first decade which was that of the liberation and reconstruction of the country, we had the second decade which was that of independence and the recognitions we received. Now we must move on to the third decade, which must be that of justice and development, which means the fight against corruption and the employment opportunities of people, especially the youth and women, and the economic development of our country," Kurti said.

He said that under a Vetevendosje-led government, the Diaspora will be enabled to participate in the democratic life in Kosovo without having to vote by mail or hop on the planes and pay expensive tickets to be able to vote. "We want to enable them to vote at our embassies... Once we return, one of the first draft laws we will sponsor is precisely changing of the law in order to allow our Diaspora to vote."

Osmani said that the participation of the members of Diaspora in Kosovo elections is crucial. “We call this election process a referendum because we believe that we will not determine the fate of individual politicians but the fate of the country where we are bringing up our children," she said.

"The active participation of all our citizens, including our Diaspora, not only in elections, but in all aspects of life, increases equality, commitment and this is very important not only for the citizens who live here but for each member of our Diaspora, so I hope that together we understand that through these elections we jointly decide on our common destiny," Osmani added.

Haradinaj says EU could lead to national unification of Albanians (Koha)

Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) Ramush Haradinaj presented the party's programme ahead of parliamentary elections saying their goal is to win. He mentioned the formation of the Kosovo army as one of the major achievements of his tenure as prime minister.

Haradinaj also said that his party has planned to allocate 1 billion euro for post-Covid recovery of Kosovo. "This includes the plan for economic development in the four coming years.

At the same time, Haradinaj said the European Union is creating roads that lead towards national unification of Albanians in the region. He said if the EU keeps Kosovo "hanging", this would pave way for unification referendum with Albania.

"If in four or five years Kosovo is not at NATO's doorstep and if there is no visa liberalisation from the EU, no recognition from the EU five and they keep us hanging like now, if we are not close to UN gates, what happens then? Will we then accept what they tried to convince me that Kosovo is weak, frail, cannot have an army, energy independence, law on Trepca, that we should discuss partition with Serbia in order to win independence," he said.

"We will not accept to remain a frozen conflict nor will we agree to partition but we'll be heading to a referendum for national unification with Albania," Haradinaj continued.

Krasniqi: We will call Kurti to a debate again (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) senior member Memli Krasniqi said in a debate on T7 on Monday evening that they will send another invitation to Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader Albin Kurti to a public debate. Kurti had rejected PDK leader Enver Hoxhaj’s first invitation to a debate, saying that he doesn’t have to take part in the debate, because the PDK and LDK were fighting for the second place. Krasniqi said: “We will invite Kurti a debate again … Without Avdullah Hoti. He can be there if wants, but I don’t think he should be there. Most candidates are old. We don’t mind but we don’t think they can offer anything new. The people want a debate between Hoxhaj and Kurti.”

Parties meet minimum requirements of gender representation (Koha)

33.5 percent of the 1,081 candidates running for election presented by the 28 tickets are women, the Central Election Commission said. With 362 women running in these elections, political parties have met the minimum requirement for gender electoral quota of 30 percent.

The Vetevendosje Movement (VV) has the highest number of women running for election: 41. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) follows with 34 women candidates while the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) each have 33 women in their tickets, which is precisely what the quota is. The entity led by Adriana Hodzic meanwhile has six women out of 14 candidates which translates into 42.9 percent.

The Kosovo Centre for Gender Studies said it was concerned with the low representation of women in the party election tickets. "The lack of providing equal opportunities for candidacy for women as for men is an indicator that political parties still do not have the political will to promote gender equality. This low percentage of women in the electoral lists, which will also reflect on the composition of the legislature, apart from maintaining the excluding mentality and practices of women in politics, has a negative impact on the policy-making process," the organisation said in a statement.

Hoxhaj: With €1 billion fund we will empower women in the economy (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Acting Leader and candidate for Prime Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said on Monday that the PDK will use a part of its €1 billion fund to economically empower women in Kosovo. Hoxhaj said in a Faccebook post that strengthening the role of women in society is key for a developed society and that the PDK is moving in this direction. “The PDK in government and I as Prime Minister will also focus on creating special policies to provide tax aid for private businesses that employ women and for businesses founded and led by women,” he added.

Supreme Court rejects complaints about verification of diaspora voters (Koha)

The daily paper reports on its front page this morning that the Supreme Court of Kosovo has rejected as inadmissible a complaint by Germin against the decision of the Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) about the verification of registration applications of voters from the diaspora. The non-governmental organisation had disputed the decision according to which the diaspora voters were to be verified through telephone calls. After the court said the complaint is inadmissible, Germin said it would take the issue to the Constitutional Court.

“Trans-Atlantic cooperation will yield tangible results in dialogue” (media)

Kosovo's outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla held a video conference with Council of Europe rapporteur for Kosovo Peter Beyer who is also Coordinator for Trans-Atlantic Cooperation with Germany's Foreign Ministry.

Haradinaj-Stublla briefed Beyer on the political situation in Kosovo ahead of extraordinary elections as well as the process of dialogue with Serbia. "I expressed concern over Serbia's entirely aggressive approach which continues with threatening, chauvinist, and racial allegations against Kosovo by violating every agreement signed until now, most recently that of Washington, and making unacceptable actions such as groundless arrest and detention of Kosovo citizens," Haradinaj-Stublla said.

She said there was agreement with Beyer that coordination between the U.S. and the EU on the issue of dialogue will revive the process and bring about tangible results that go beyond mere signing of agreements.

Lladrovci sues Kajtazi for defamation (media)

Several news websites reported on Monday that Drenas Mayor Ramiz Lladrovci sued reporter Vehbi Kajtazi for defamation on Monday after the latter recently tweeted that Lladrovci was one of those that sent former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci for the disappearance/murder of Bejhadin Hallaqi. Lladrovci has asked for compensation in the amount of €100,000 which he said would be donated to organisations working on strengthening the rule of law.

“Art must aid post-conflict reconciliation” (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo playwright and theatre director Enver Petrovci’s latest production looks at the issue of children born to parents with different ethnic backgrounds before the collapse of Yugoslavia, and their struggle to deal with post-war realities.

It was 1989 when theatre director and playwright Enver Petrovci locked himself in his apartment in Belgrade and started putting ink on paper for a play that would then go on to gather dust for many years to come.

The play would only be performed in a theatre around three decades later, long after Petrovci left the Serbian capital, and after the wars that devastated the region in the 1990s.

Entitled ‘Creoles of the Balkans’, the play explores the experience of children who were born of mixed ethnic backgrounds in the Balkans, a place where nationalism, ethnic divisions and hatred are deeply rooted.

In Petrovci’s play, a young ‘creole’ called Hekuran, who has an Albanian father and a Serb mother, is being questioned by a police inspector who is also from a mixed family.

After he is released, the plot relocates to a basement where Hekuran is working with a group involved in subversive activities against the Yugoslav regime. But because of his ethnically mixed origin, he is perceived as a ‘spy’ in the eyes of the group.

“I felt the regime was collapsing, I saw it in how people kept communicating between them,” said Petrovci, who is now 66, recalling the period in which he started writing the play, not long before the Yugoslav wars began.

“I had friends who had parents of mixed ethnicities and they were most careful ones. Those who were nationalists started to talk openly about their views, they were liberated,” he told BIRN in an interview in Pristina.

Petrovci said that people with mixed ethnic backgrounds were privileged during the reign of Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito, but the situation began to reverse itself after Tito died in 1980 and the foundations of the Yugoslav federation began to be shaken by the rise of nationalism.

“It was most difficult for those who had parents of mixed ethnicities to go through this time. They suffered most,” he said.

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