Early elections without bringing down the Government (Koha Ditore)
The Constitution of Kosovo stresses that there are two ways to decide on early elections: by dismissing two thirds of the votes of all deputies in the Assembly, which is then decreed by the President; or to pass a successful motion of no confidence for the Government, after which the Assembly could be dismissed by the President. Kosovo Prime Minister Thaçi and LDK leader Isa Mustafa decided on the first option. Next week, they will draft the agenda from now until the elections.
Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi, who is also deputy head of PDK, spoke about this initiative: “We have an agreement with LDK and some other parties to dismiss the Assembly using two thirds of the votes of deputies. This would save political consensus, and no party would feel like a winner or a loser, or a part of someone else’s game,” said Kuçi.
Kosovo policemen suspected of leaking information to Serbian MUP (dailies)
Two Kosovo police officers were arrested for suspicion of leaking sensitive information to Serbian MUP. Two of those arrested are sergeants and hold high level positions at the police station in Shterpce/Strpce. One of them is head of operations, while the other is head of investigations. Except for firearms, police confiscated files from the illegal parallel court in Shtërpcë/Strpce. Police authorities exposed a significant amount of weapons found, which include: two AK 47, six different guns, three hand grenades, 20,000 Euros, some Serbian dinars, bullet cartridges, and a number of documents released from the Serb illegal parallel court in Shterpce/Strpce.
Kosovo army to be fully operational after 2019 (Koha Ditore)
Following the decision of the Government, the Kosovo Security Force has been transformed into the Kosovo Armed Forces, while the Ministry for the Kosovo Security Force will be transformed into the Kosovo Defense Ministry. The Kosovo Armed Forces will have five thousand active soldiers and three thousand in reserve, which will be reached in three phases. It will be fully operational after 2019. The Kosovo army will need a yearly budget of €65 million.
Kosovo made progress after 19 April 2013 (Epoka e Re)
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the international community – EULEX and UNMIK – will continue to be present in Kosovo. In an exclusive interview for “Presheva Jone” news agency, Ban said that more needs to be done to build trust, to encourage reconciliation and to encourage decisions on differences between Pristina and Belgrade. “Kosovo has made progress since 19 April last year,” said Ban.
“Ever since its deployment in 1999, the role of UNMIK was crucial in encouraging democracy and reconciliation, as well as preserving peace and stability in the region. With limited exceptions and despite the important challenges, the situation has been calm. During the period of the interim administration, but also after its reconfiguration, UNMIK created conditions for people in Kosovo, to live a normal life and to start building a better future. However, the work of the international community, including UNMIK, is not finished. More needs to be done to increase trust, to encourage reconciliation and to encourage decisions on differences between Pristina and Belgrade, and also between communities, in order to support long term economic development and prosperity of the region,” Ban stated.
Putin: Crimea, like Kosovo, has the right for self-determination (Koha)
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday compared the situation in Crimea, Ukraine, with that in Kosovo. He said citisens of this peninsula should be allowed to decide their own fate, just as Albanians were allowed to in Kosovo. “We are not considering the possibility of annexing Crimea,” he said. “This depends on the people who live in a certain territory; if they can exercise their free will and determine their future. For instance, Albanians in Kosovo were allowed self-determination, which, according to a UN documentation is a right. However, we will never induce it, and we will never support such trends. Only people who live in a certain territory have the right to decide for their future,” said Putin at a press conference.
Serbs protest in front of municipality building against arrests (Koha)
Citisens from Shterpce/Strpce – mainly relatives of those arrested – protested on Tuesday afternoon demanding the immediate release of the six Serbs arrested by Kosovo police. Municipal advisors of Shterpce/Strpce from the “Srpska” list joined the protesters, stating that this gathering was not planned and request clarifications about what is happening to their relatives. Nenad Filipovic, from “Srpska”, said that “these people have no idea why people close to them were arrested.” Gathered protesters accused municipal and central authorities for violating human rights. “What kind of democracy is this? Everything Serbian is being ruined; Serbs are being arrested…” one of the louder protesters was shouting.
Kosovo is not polluted with depleted uranium (Koha Ditore)
The news that circulated in Serbian media, and was later picked up by news agencies, that Kosovo soil contains high levels of depleted uranium, contradicts a UN Environment Program report published in Switzerland in 2011. This report stressed that after analyzing areas in Kosovo that were bombed by NATO during the conflict, no contamination by depleted uranium was detected on the surface. The report says that the amount of pollution caused by depleted uranium is too low to create any radioactive or chemical danger.
