(10 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pristina, Kosovo – 10 February 2025
1. Various of Europe House office
2. Set up shot of Ambassador Aivo Orav, Head of the EU Office in Kosovo
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Aivo Orav, Head of the EU Office in Kosovo:
"The elections took place yesterday and, of course, today there are lot of speculations – who will form the government and when the government will be formed. Of course, we hope that this process will be very smooth and the new government will be formed rather sooner than later. And we would be happy to work with the new government whenever it’s established."
4. EU flags
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Aivo Orav, Head of the EU Office in Kosovo:
"Today, also yesterday we were talking about a lot of percentages, 15, 40 and other numbers, but there is one very important number. It’s 92. It’s 92%. So this is the support what we have from the citizens of Kosovo. They support the membership of the European Union and they associate the European Union with human rights, with rule of law, and with a better life. To get it, the new government has to work very, very actively, hard homework is needed to be done. Reforms have to be done to meet the expectations of those 92% of the population of Kosovo."
6. Cutaway of hands
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Aivo Orav,Head of the EU Office in Kosovo:
"Normalization of relations is a must for Kosovo and for Serbia. It has to be done. And so far, there have been some successes, like just to mention Ohrid agreement, IDs, license plates. But of course, there is still quite a long way to go, and I hope very much that the new Kosovo government will engage very constructively."
8. EU flag
9. Pristina’s “Mother Teresa “ boulevard
10 Kosovo flag
11. Exterior of Kosovo government building
STORYLINE:
The European Union expects Kosovo to form the new Cabinet "rather sooner than later" after the parliamentary election.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party won most seats in the weekend parliamentary election, but was left without a majority in the house, forcing it to look for an ally to form the next government, according to preliminary results released Monday.
EU Ambassador to Pristina Aivo Orav said he hoped the process of forming a new government will be “smooth.”
He said that the new government should meet the expectations of the population, most of whom support Kosovo’s desire to join the 27-nation bloc.
“They associate the European Union with human rights, with rule of law and with a better life. To get that, the new government has to work very, very actively. Hard homework is needed to be done. Reforms have to be done,” he told The Associated Press.
“Normalization of the relations is a must for Kosovo and for Serbia,” he added.
The vote on Sunday was key in determining who will lead Kosovo as talks on normalizing ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign funding for one of Europe’s poorest countries is in question.
The election marked the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament completed a full four-year mandate.
It was the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day NATO air campaign.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence.
The new 120-seat parliament reserves 20 seats for minorities regardless of election results, 10 of them for the Serb minority.
AP video shot by Florent Bajrami
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