• COVID – 19: 311 new cases, 10 deaths (media)
• Quint: CEC to ensure transparent process free from political interference (media)
• Orlando: Future of the country depends on free and fair elections (media)
• ECAP to decide today on the complaints of political parties (media)
• Kurti: Things will be different with the Biden administration (media)
• LDK’s Hoti presents government plan: €6 billion for investments (media)
• Haradinaj: We will create 30,000 new jobs (media)
• LDK’s Haziri on possible coalition with PDK (media)
• Haxhiu: With PDK in power, we will vaccinate all citizens in six months (media)
• Impact, fairness of Kosovo pre-election ‘transfer window’ questioned (BIRN)
• Political parties hide pre-campaign expenses (Koha)
• “Cooperation with Biden administration will bring results in Balkans” (media)
• Lajcak welcomes France’s support in the dialogue process (media)
• Serbia’s ethnic Albanians fear Belgrade silently deleting addresses (BIRN)

COVID – 19: 311 new cases, 10 deaths (media)

311 new cases of COVID – 19 and ten deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 128 persons have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 6,257 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

Quint: CEC to ensure transparent process free from political interference (media)

All media cover a statement from the Heads of Mission of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in Kosovo, after their meeting on Monday with Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Valdete Daka. The statement notes:

On January 25, the Quint Ambassadors met with the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) to express our continued commitment to free, fair, safe, and peaceful elections on February 14, and to share our election monitoring plans. While the pandemic has created additional challenges, we are confident of CEC’s capability to oversee the elections. We continue to call on Kosovo’s authorities to implement the recommendations made in the European Union Election Mission’s report on the October 6, 2019 elections.

We stressed that the CEC must ensure the electoral process is transparent and free from political interference. Pre-electoral procedures, including the certification of candidates, are still in progress. At this moment, we believe that the people of Kosovo deserve calm and maturity from all sides. It is important that legal decisions are respected, and avenues for appeal are pursued without interference. We urge everyone to refrain from inflammatory and speculative personal attacks.

We encourage all parties and candidates to engage in a fair competition across Kosovo, while abiding by COVID-19 measures throughout the campaign. As they weigh up their choices, the people of Kosovo deserve to hear detailed policy proposals from their politicians, with arguments made in a spirit of informed debate.

To ensure a successful election, it is also up to the people of Kosovo to turn out to vote and to do so safely, also following all COVID-19 measures. Our governments are committed to continuing our support for efforts to build a secure, prosperous, democratic Kosovo for all citizens, and to working closely with any government that is formed through free elections in accordance with the constitution.

Orlando: Future of the country depends on free and fair elections (media)

Italian Ambassador to Kosovo, Nicola Orlando, retweeted the statements of the heads of mission in Kosovo, on Monday with the following message: “the future of the country depends on free and fair elections. The people of Kosovo deserve them.”

ECAP to decide today on the complaints of political parties (media)

The Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) will decide today on the complaints filed by nine political parties about the certification of their lists of candidates for MPs. In the event that the parties will not be satisfied with the ECAP decisions, they can complain to the Supreme Court of Kosovo as the final instance for appeals before the February parliamentary elections. Parties can also appeal with the Constitutional Court but legal commentators in Prishtina argue that this body would hardly make a decision within the timeline of the election process.

Citing unnamed sources, Koha reports that CEC Chairwoman Valdete Daka has proposed to ECAP to partially approve Vetevendosje’s list of candidates for MPs, without Albin Kurti and other persons in the list that were convicted.

Kurti: Things will be different with the Biden administration (media)

Vetevendosje Movement (VV) leader and candidate for Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said during an online discussion with the Woodrow Wilson Center on Monday that U.S. Presidet Joe Biden is very familiar with the history of Kosovo and the Western Balkans and that this will be very important for resolving problems in the region.

“I know that in politics finances are very important, but so is history. I fear that the previous administration gave more importance to finances than history,” he said.

Commenting on the September 4 agreement signed in Washington, Kurti said he prefers to read it from the end. “At the end of the text of the agreement … is Kosovo’s recognition by Israel. And this is the part that I like the most and it is the final point, this is why I read it from the end,” he said.

Kurti said the content of an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is more important than the timeline or the speed with which it is reached. “We should not have talks that include maps and the old idea of territorial exchange … We need to talk about people, citizens of the community as main beneficiaries and not about politicians,” he added.

LDK’s Hoti presents government plan: €6 billion for investments (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate for Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti, presented on Monday the government plan of his party for the February parliamentary elections. He outlined several priorities and pledged €6 billion for investments in the next seven years. “Part of these investments is also the EU plan for the Western Balkans, with €700 million only for Kosovo, and this includes projects in the infrastructure, highways, railways, internet access, central heating in different cities of Kosovo, and in the energy sector,” Hoti said.

Haradinaj: We will create 30,000 new jobs (media)

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader and candidate for Kosovo President, Ramush Haradinaj, said on Monday during a visit to Prizren that if the AAK comes to power, they will create 30,000 new jobs.

“Businesses in Kosovo need the support of the state in the crisis which we are going through. The Alliance has a clear and achievable plan: the €1 billion plan to aid the businesses and citizens and the plan for economic growth. We will create 30,000 new jobs every year starting from 2022,” Haradinaj said.

LDK’s Haziri on possible coalition with PDK (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) deputy leader Lutfi Haziri said on Monday that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) should remain in the opposition after the February parliamentary elections. “February 14 is the day when it will be decided who will cooperate with whom in Kosovo. No one can function alone,” he said.

Asked if the LDK can enter into a coalition with the PDK, Haziri said: “I don’t believe there will be a need to form a coalition with the PDK for another election process”.

Haxhiu: With PDK in power, we will vaccinate all citizens in six months (media)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) candidate for MP, Bekim Haxhiu, said on Monday that the last two governments have failed to manage the COVID – 19 pandemic. He argued that with the PDK in power, this party will increase the number of tests and will vaccinate all citizens of Kosovo in six months.

Impact, fairness of Kosovo pre-election ‘transfer window’ questioned (BIRN)

Ahead of elections, political parties in Kosovo have a habit of unveiling big-name recruits to their lists of MP candidates. But there are question marks over the impact and the fairness of the practice.

With a snap election just weeks away, the political ‘transfer window’ is well and truly open in Kosovo.

Journalists, analysts, actors, academics and, of course, perennial political defectors feature among candidates for parliament as political parties try to reap the benefits of a well-known name or revered life-story.

The interim leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, Enver Hoxhaj, has unveiled a new name every day for the past two weeks, most notably Rashit Qalaj, who was dismissed as director of the Kosovo police force by outgoing Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

Hoti’s tenure lasted barely six months before the Constitutional Court ruled in December that his government was illegitimate, having been voted into office by a parliament that included an MP who had previously been convicted of corruption. A snap election will be held on February 14.

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/3iQYG0n

Political parties hide pre-campaign expenses (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page this morning that in the absence of legislation that regulates the pre-campaign activities, political parties do not report on expenses organised for the February parliamentary elections. Parties in the ruling coalition, according to the paper, have put in the service of their campaigns even the decisions of the government. While parties do not reveal the expenses of the pre-campaign period, or the expenses they will make during the campaign, representatives of civil society argue parties are benefiting from the situation.

“Cooperation with Biden administration will bring results in Balkans” (media)

European Union High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said on Monday that cooperation between the EU and the Biden administration will bring results in the Balkans.

“The EU is ready to renew the strategic partnership with new President, Joseph Biden, in order to achieve results in safeguarding peace and security in the Western Balkans,” he said. “There is no doubt that the United States play a crucial role in safeguarding peace and security, in Europe too, and this is the reason why we need to work together in many countries of our continent.”

Borrell also said that the EU – US alliance is crucial not only for security and prosperity in both sides of the Atlantic but also for maintaining a world order based on democracy and the state of law.

Lajcak welcomes France’s support in the dialogue process (media)

European Union Special Representative for the Belgrade – Prishtina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak tweeted on Monday: “Great to start my week in Paris! It was a good opportunity to exchange views on the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and the year ahead. I am very happy about the strong support of my French interlocutors.”

Serbia’s ethnic Albanians fear Belgrade silently deleting addresses (BIRN)

Ethnic Albanian activists and other researchers are alarmed at what they say is a Serbian government policy of quietly rendering the addresses of minority Albanians inactive – with victims only receiving information unofficially and orally, making the policy hard to track and identify.

Experts and citizens are voicing concern that the addresses of minority ethnic Albanians in Serbia are being made quietly inactive by the Serbian authorities, without the subjects being informed.

Flora Ferati Sachsenmaier, a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Germany has investigated the issue of addresses of ethnic Albanians in Serbia being made “passive”, in collaboration with the Albanian Forum for Economic Development in Serbia, AFEDS.

She told BIRN that most of the affected individuals have only received about their vanished addresses orally, accusing Serbia of discrimination. “The core of this discriminatory policy towards Albanians is the concealment of traces,” she told BIRN.

“Any institution or individual who intends to register the cases of Albanians in Serbia, based on legal acts or decisions issued by the police, will be able to tell only a small part of the truth about the passivity of Albanians there,” Ferati Sachsenmaier said.

The office in Medvedja in southern Serbia of the National Council of Albanians said in January that every ethnic Albanian citizen who fears their address has been made inactive should submit “a copy of the legal act (decision or notification) by the relevant body (police station).”

The Council was established based on Serbian law, one of several formed to represent the interests of Serbia’s ethnic minorities. Its leaders are elected by direct vote every four years.

Current leader Ragmi Mustafa, told BIRN that the council has been dealing with the issue of silently deactivated addresses since 2012.

Based on official data alone, in the last three years alone, “1,700 Albanian settlements in Medvedja have been made inactive and 560 in Bujanovac with no accurate data for Presevo”, he said.

But data provided to BIRN by Ferati Sachsenmaier from the AFEDS questionnaires and research said the problem was bigger. “Since 2015, the Serbian authorities have made inactive the addresses of 4,000 Albanians in Medvedja and around 2,000 Albanians in Bujanovac”, it says.

Serbia has long had an interest in reducing the size of the Albanian ethnic minority in Serbia, partly to quash any potential claims by mainly ethnic Albanian Kosovo to ther southern part of its territory.

In July 2020, Serbian President Alexandar Vucic told public broadcaster RTS that only “300 Albanians really live there” – in Medvedja  not 4,000, as had been claimed.

Citizens and experts are concerned the ongoing process of deleting addresses will lead to the realization of his claims.

Ferati Sachsenmaier noted the example of 480 ethnic Albanians, initially identified by AFEDS, whose addresses had been made inactive by the Serbian authorities.

Only 20 of these had been notified of official decisions by the state authorities. She warned of moves to “legitimize the official version of the Serbian authorities” concerning the number of ethnic Albanians in Serbia.

Mustafa agrees that the number of inactive addresses he can provide is probably far below reality, due to the lack of hard data. However, he said the National Council still depends on the submission of official documentation to identify such cases.

Noting that “oral explanation” makes it impossible to track legal procedures, Mustafa pointed out that “every citizen has the right to use the Law on Access to Information of Public Importance. Every institution is obliged to respond according to the laws in force” and if this does not happen, the Council will provide legal assistance”.

Mustafa said that while they will “initially treat the case within the legal system in Serbia”, they are not afraid to go “to the Strasbourg court” and present the matter “before the international community”.

Several ethnic Albanians said in their answers to the AFEDS questionnaires, some of which BIRN has seen, that they requested official information from the authorities, and even tried to appeal the decision that made their address inactive – but without results.

Haki Emini, ethnic Albanian human rights activist from Medvedja with temporary residence in Switzerland, voiced his own experience of requesting information from the Serbian authorities about the process of his address becoming inactive via a public letter published by Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia in July 2020. This was also without any results.