• COVID – 19: 169 new cases, 7 new deaths (media)
• EU calls on Kosovo, Serbia to cooperate on vaccination (RFE)
• Albania to donate 1,900 vaccines for doctors in Kosovo (Gazeta Express)
• “COVID destroyed Kosovo’s economy; recovery will take 2 years” (media)
• Osmani: LDK presidency must leave before we can talk about my return (media)
• Kuci: Press release by SPO for Thaci was purely political (media)
• Serbia-affiliated power company eyes supplying north Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

COVID – 19: 169 new cases, 7 new deaths (media)

169 new cases of COVID – 19 and seven deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 313 persons have recovered from the virus during this period. There are 8,540 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

EU calls on Kosovo, Serbia to cooperate on vaccination (RFE)

The European Union has called on Kosovo and Serbia to cooperate on the vaccination against COVID – 19, the news website reported on Monday. The EU however did not comment directly on Kosovo’s criticism against “the illegal distribution of vaccine doses from Serbia”. A spokesman for the EU told Radio Free Europe: “We are following the developments and the reports related to the distribution of the vaccines. The authorities in Serbia and Kosovo must cooperate closely in line with relevant arrangements from the dialogue on the movement of goods ad the certification of pharmaceutical products”.

Albania to donate 1,900 vaccines for doctors in Kosovo (Gazeta Express)

Albania will receive a contingent of anti-COVID vaccines in the third week of January and Prime Minister Edi Rama has promised to send some vaccines to Kosovo too. Citing sources in the Ministry of Health, the news website reports that Kosovo and Albanian authorities have already exchanged information about the number of doctors that will get the vaccine in Kosovo.

“An amount of anti-COVID vaccines has already been saved for doctors in Kosovo that are directly involved in treating patients with COVID – 19,” the source said.

Around 1,900 doctors in Kosovo will reportedly get the vaccines from Albania.

“COVID destroyed Kosovo’s economy; recovery will take 2 years” (media)

Agim Shahini, President of the Alliances of Businesses in Kosovo, said in an interview with Klan Kosova that Kosovo’s economy has been devastated by the coronavirus and that the economic recovery will take two years. “According to our estimates, Kosovo lost over €1.5 billion from the situation with the coronavirus. We also lost over 50 percent of foreign investments and we also lost on remittances,” he added.

Osmani: LDK presidency must leave before we can talk about my return (media)

Acting President of Kosovo and former LDK candidate for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, said in an interview with Kallxo on Monday that the current presidency of the LDK must leave “and then we can talk about my return to the LDK”.

Commenting on her new political initiative and the people that are expected to join her, Osmani said, “my door is open to those people in the LDK who believe that their values and potential must not be misused”. “Everyone in the LDK should think whether or not they want to continue to be part of a political concept that extremely misuses the trust of the voters,” she added.

Kuci: Press release by SPO for Thaci was purely political (media)

Hajredin Kuci, Kosovo’s former Minister of Justice, said in an interview with T7 on Monday that the press release issued by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office for the indictment against Hashim Thaci was purely political because at the time Thaci was traveling to Washington to attend the meeting initiated by the Trump administration. “It was a purely political press release and it produced a political effect,” he added.

Serbia-affiliated power company eyes supplying north Kosovo (Balkan Insight)

A company in North Mitrovica is competing to supply energy to four Serb-run municipalities in northern Kosovo – but its application may be delayed by Kosovo’s political confusion.

The Kosovo Energy Regulatory Office, ERO, confirmed on Monday that after analysing an application from Drustvo Elektrosever to supply power to Serb-run northern Kosovo, a commission will submit the final decision to the board.

“The review of an application may last up to 60 days since the day when the application is considered complete,” ERO cautioned BIRN.

Drustvo Elektrosever registered with the Kosovo business registry in November 2018 and has listed trading energy as its primary activity and maintenance of energy equipment as the second.

Its sole owner is Serbia’s state-run energy company Elektroprivreda Srbije, EPS, while Executive Director Boban Novakovic has been named as the authorised person.

Serbia and Kosovo made an initial agreement on energy supplies in 2015 as part of EU-mediated talks to normalise relations.

But this was then blocked by Serbia because the agreement stipulated that Serbian-controlled companies offering power supplies would have to register with Kosovo’s ERO.

Serbia demurred, refusing to accept any symbol of the statehood of its former province whose independence it does not recognise.

Because of this, it was agreed that the Kosovo operator KOSTT would be recognised as a supplier for the entire territory of Kosovo while Serbia’s EMS would provide support for the Kosovo operator to become a member of the European network.

The final review of Elektrosever’s application may be delayed, however, as the ERO board is currently not functioning; it has only two members out of the five that are needed.

This also comes at a time when the Kosovo parliament, which must vote for any new members, is about to dissolve before the country heads into snap elections.

The application comes two weeks after the electricity network system operator KOSTT started to operate independently across the country as part of a new energy bloc including neighbouring Albania.

The move has given KOSTT independence from the Serbian operator EMS, which up to now was distributing electricity to Serb-dominated municipalities in northern Kosovo.