Opposition parties to protest today (dailies)
The Vetevendosje Movement, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) organized a protest to be held today at 14:00hrs. The representatives of the three opposition parties said that the protest will be peaceful and democratic, while they said that statement of the Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci that the protest will be violent, is paranoid. Visar Ymeri, the leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, said on Friday that the demands of the protesters against the state capture are legitimate and reasonable.
EU: In case of Thaci’s visit, Belgrade to respect Brussels Agreement (dailies)
The European Union Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Maja Kocijancic, said on Friday that if Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci visits Belgrade, the EU expects Belgrade to follow procedures set in Brussels Agreement. “During the dialogue for normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade, the parties have agreed to have visits by Serbian and Kosovo officials, which is foreseen to be resolved through liaison officers,” said Kocijancic. The paper writes that EU officials have said that the EU is neither the initiator nor the organizer of this meeting. While a few days ago, the Serbian prosecutor for war crimes, Vladimir Vukcevic, said that the warrant for Thaci’s arrest in Serbia is still in force and that he could be arrested if he showed up in Belgrade.
Special court to be voted in May (Zeri)
The paper on its front page writes that Kosovo Assembly is expected to vote for the establishment of special court sometime in the first part of May. According to Zeri, the establishment of special court which will address war crimes allegations, will be the most important challenge of the ruling coalition. It is also expected that the Serbian List to be returned to the Assembly by that time, in order to guarantee the necessary votes for the establishment of this court. Kosovo’s President, Atifete Jahjaga, on Friday started meetings with the heads of the parliamentary groups, in order to convince them that Kosovo needs to establish the special court, because it is an international obligation. However, representatives of opposition parties have made it clear that they will not support this process, since, according to them, the establishment of the special court is unfair for Kosovo.
Kurti: I am not anti-American (Zeri)
The former leader of the Vetevendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, told Zeri that not being servile to the internationals does not mean that one is against them. He said that there is no political party in Kosovo that has the program closest to the idea and policies of the US President Barak Obama rather than the Vetevendosje Movement. According to him, Vetevendosje is against religious extremism, but is not Islamophobic. Kurti said that the greatest risk for Kosovo is Serbia and high-level corruption. He also spoke about the internationals’ approach in relation to Serbia, and said that “it is terrible how internationals care a lot for Serbia and not at all for Kosovo.”
