• COVID-19: 10 new cases, no deaths (media)
• Kurti against ethnically-based Association, Quint ambassadors visit Bislimi (Koha)
• Association is putting Kurti in a difficult position, analysts argue (Telegrafi)
• Mounting pressure on the Association/Community (Radio Free Europe)
• Osmani demands Kosovo’s recognition by participating states at SEECP (media)
• Osmani demanded footnote to be removed from SEECP statement (Koha)
• Marred by tensions, Kosovo–Serbia dialogue awaits new momentum (BIRN)
• PDK MP: LDK has not given signatures to send Osmani to court yet (T7)
• Kurz: Kosovo, Serbia must find way to an agreement (media)

COVID-19: 10 new cases, no deaths (media)

Kosovo recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours. 12 persons recovered from the virus during this time. There are 191 active cases of COVID-19.

Kurti against ethnically-based Association, Quint ambassadors visit Bislimi (Koha)

The daily reports on its front page that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has ruled out the possibility of an ethnically-based Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities arguing that it would be against the Constitution of Kosovo. Kurti’s remarks came one day after US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, said that Kosovo must meet its obligations about this mechanism.

Meanwhile, Kurti’s deputy on the dialogue with Serbia, Besnik Bislimi, met with the Quint ambassadors and the EU Head of Office on Thursday. An advisor for Bislimi told the paper: “the Quint ambassadors and the EU Head of Office were informed about the process of the dialogue. There were no discussions about the Association”.

Civil society representatives meanwhile argue that the Kurti-led government must make it clear which agreements reached in Brussels will be reviewed and if any procedures for their annulment will be initiated.

Association is putting Kurti in a difficult position, analysts argue (Telegrafi)

A statement by the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities must be implemented in Kosovo has brought back the public’s attention to this sensitive topic. Kosnett said on Wednesday that the US believe that Kosovo is obliged to form the Association/Community, while Prime Minister Kurti said in a reaction that Kosovo cannot have an Association on ethnic basis.

Imer Mushkolaj, political commentator, said in a debate on TV Dukagjini on Thursday that opposition parties don’t have the right to oppose the formation of the Association. “LDK and PDK must ask Albin Kurti to form the Association, because they themselves have signed the agreement on the Association,” he argued. Mushkolaj also said it would be wrong to readdress the issue in Brussels. “The Association is our obligation. Kurti knew that the dialogue will be a priority, including the Association. He has a hot potato in his hands,” he said.

Xhevdet Pozhari, political analyst, argued that Kurti should not support the formation of the Association. “He should stay true to the principles he has proclaimed so far. Let’s not forget that the Association was one of the reasons for the fall of the first government led by Kurti and the people know the positions about the Association,” he said.

Visar Ymeri, former MP, said the 2013 version of the Association cannot be contested because it was voted as an international agreement. “When international agreements are voted, they don’t take into account the constitution. Serbia however has not implemented some parts of it, so this is why we have the right to annul it … The question however is whether or not we are ready to go into the dialogue to make compromises in return for a recognition from Serbia,” he added.

Mounting pressure on the Association/Community (Radio Free Europe)

Ever since he took office for the second time as Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti has called negotiations with Serbia as a new beginning of the dialogue. The US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, however says that “the story does not begin with the Kurti government”. Kosnett made it clear to Kurti on Wednesday that the US believe that Kosovo has an obligation to form the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.

One day later, Kosovo PM Albin Kurti said that Kosovo can not have an association on ethnic grounds. According to him, demands for a monoethnic association are not coming from ordinary people, but from politicians of the northern neighbor.

“I do not think it is possible in the legal and constitutional order of Kosovo, to have an association on ethnic grounds. There may be an association of municipalities on a developmental basis, there may be on a geographical basis. But an association on ethnic grounds can not pass, neither in terms of the spirit nor the letter of the Constitution of Kosovo. “Practically, such a thing was said by the ruling of the Constitutional Court, published on December 23, 2015,” Kurti told Kosovapress.

On Wednesday, the US Ambassador to Pristina, Philip Kosnett, said that “we believe that countries have an obligation to respect the agreements and obligations previously undertaken.”

"I know some people have said that 'we have made a lot of compromises, it's up to someone else to make a compromise'. "This is not a very productive way to move forward," Kosnett told Radio Contact Plus.

Edita Tahiri, former Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo and chief negotiator in talks with Serbia, told the news agency that in relation to his voters, Kurti must not implement the Association. “Kurti and Vetevendosje have been against the Association. Politically, Kurti must oppose the Association, because he has created a cause from the Association and has won votes on this issue,” she said.

She said that the attempt to return the implementation process of the Association to Brussels is worrying, because according to her, this is a violation of the agreement for the Association/Community.

Tahiri said that the implementation process is not done in Brussels, as the Serbian side and the European Union are insisting, because the agreement stipulates that the drafting of the statute of this Association should be done in Kosovo.

"Kosovo has an international obligation to implement the Association, based on the Brussels agreement and what is important is that the Association has no executive powers and must take into account the instructions given by the Constitutional Court. So, these two documents, the agreement and the decision of the Constitutional Court, constitute the basis for drafting the statute of the Association,” Tahiri argued.

Osmani demands Kosovo’s recognition by participating states at SEECP (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani participated on Thursday in the annual summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP). In her speech before the representatives of the member countries of this forum, President Osmani spoke about the challenges of the region, the EU integration process, as well as about the opportunities for regional cooperation. In particular, she spoke about the role that the Republic of Kosovo is playing in establishing and maintaining peace and stability in the region.

Thanking this year’s organizer, Turkey, for organizing this year’s summit, President Osmani expressed her happiness that last year, as a host country, Kosovo managed to organize the SEECP summit, despite the extraordinary challenges it faced because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking about the importance of regional cooperation, she stressed that cooperation is necessary, but should be developed by respecting each other.

“Regional cooperation is necessary, but also possible”, she said, “if it is based on recognizing and respecting the other”.

According to her, the region has made great, decades-long efforts to build a better future for all in the region. “We must continue these efforts. We have similar challenges, but we can contribute to creating a safer environment and increasing security and stability in the region,” she said.

She once again called on countries that have not yet recognized Kosovo’s independence to recognize it as soon as possible, because it is an irreversible reality, as well as to fully respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The Republic of Kosovo has created a clear belief that Euro-Atlantic integration is the goal of its citizens, but we want to ensure that this process will be accelerated, to guarantee peace and stability in the region, but also to increase the well-being of the citizens of the region,” Osmani said. “Our future is in the European Union and NATO”, she stressed. “Euro-Atlantic integration is not just an alternative for us, it presents the only way ahead.”

Osmani also said: “But our commitment to integration must be recognized by the European Union. As we are moving rapidly towards the integration of our country, fulfilling all the requirements placed on us, the European Union must appreciate the commitment of the citizens of Kosovo and keep the promise for visa liberalization for the citizens of our country, but also for faster integration of all countries of the region in the EU.”

Osmani demanded footnote to be removed from SEECP statement (Koha)

Citing an unnamed source, the news website reported on Thursday evening that Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani demanded that the footnote referring to Kosovo be removed from the final version of a statement from the meeting of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) that was held in Istanbul. The source thus refuted allegations by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic who earlier claimed that Osmani agreed to the statement with the footnote. The source said: “President Osmani voted for the conclusions on the condition that the footnote be removed. A written request was submitted to the chair of the meeting.”

Marred by tensions, Kosovo–Serbia dialogue awaits new momentum (BIRN)

As the fraught dialogue restarted on Tuesday with a meeting between Kosovo’s Albin Kurti and Serbia’s Aleksandar Vucic, two former coordinators from both sides recap the mistakes made so far and the challenges ahead.

It was not the most auspicious get-together. When Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti finally met Serbia’s President, Aleksandar Vucic, on Tuesday in Brussels, the European Union envoy on the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, conceded that it had been difficult.

“It was not an easy meeting, but it was important that it happened,” Lajcak said after the meeting.

His restrained tone reflected the widely differing views of Vucic and Kurti on the meeting, which clearly did not go smoothly.

Read full article at: https://bit.ly/3iNlu35

PDK MP: LDK has not given signatures to send Osmani to court yet (T7)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) MP Eliza Hoxha said on Thursday evening that this party is collecting signatures from MPs to send to the Constitutional Court a decision by Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani to dismiss Valdete Daka from the post of Central Election Commission (CEC) chief. She said that LDK MPs have not yet given their signatures.

“So far there is an agreement between the PDK and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo … I read today that the LDK said it was waiting for the reaction of the People’s Attorney. This has nothing to do with Vjosa [Osmani] as a person but with her as the President of Kosovo and if she has violated the Constitution of Kosovo, and whether she has become an instrument in the hands of [Prime Minister] Albin Kurti. Both of them [Osmani and Kurti] praised the election process so I don’t know why they removed Daka from her position,” Hoxha said in an interview with T7.

Kurz: Kosovo, Serbia must find way to an agreement (media)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in an interview with Belgrade-based Tanjug news agency that the meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels on Tuesday was important. “These kinds of meetings are not simple and we are well aware of that. There has been limited progress so far and this is why such meetings are important. I am hoping for real progress in the future as this would benefit the peoples of the whole region,” he said.

Kurz said that both Kosovo and Serbia must find a way toward an agreement and that the only solution is the one where the two parties try to come closer.