US, Germany fighting for every vote in Kosovo’s UNESCO bid (Zeri)
In the General Conference of UNESCO today from 11.30, in Paris, is expected to be voted on Kosovo’s membership in this organization. The paper reports that this process was followed by a fierce diplomatic fight between the United States, Germany and UK who are lobbying for Kosovo’s membership and Serbia and Russia on the other side trying to prevent it. Kosovo Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi, said that the lobbying is still continuing in order not to leave Kosovo isolated in the fields of education, science and culture. Out of 195 member states, Kosovo needs to secure at least 130 votes in order to gain membership in this organization.
Possible scenarios of UNESCO vote (Epoka e Re)
The Tirana-based Top Channel television reported on the possible scenarios ahead of the actual process of voting at the UNESCO General Conference on Kosovo’s acceptance to the organization. The first option is to open a debate on whether Kosovo’s membership should be voted today or rescheduled for another time. The second scenario involves a motion for closing the debate and moving on to the voting process whereby not all countries wishing to speak will be able to do so. Either way, there will be a narrow result of votes from countries that support Kosovo’s membership and those who oppose it.
Thaci: Serbia is running racist campaign against Kosovo in UNESCO (Zeri)
Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, said yesterday that Serbia is running an aggressive and racist campaign to prevent Kosovo’s membership of the UNESCO. “Serbia’s attitude in relation to Kosovo’s membership are also against Resolution 1244 and against the agreements reached in Brussels for the normalization of relations, even against good neighborly relations between Kosovo and Serbia. It is a statement rather low, aggressive statement, a racist attitude of Serbia against citizens of Kosovo,” Thaci said.
Veseli wants special Assembly session on topics raised by opposition (Koha)
Citing unnamed sources, the paper reports on its front page that Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli plans to send public invitations to leaders of political parties to hold a special session of the Assembly that would discuss the topics raised by the opposition – the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. Opposition representatives, on the other hand, argue that Veseli is trying to create the impression that everything is normal. They are adamant not to allow the Assembly to resume its work normally, until their demands are met.
Ban condemns violence in Kosovo Assembly (RTK)
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his quarterly report on Kosovo condemned the recent opposition violence in the Kosovo Assembly. SG Ban called on all political leaders to refrain from actions that are not compatible to principles of a civilized and democratic society. He said such acts diminish the trust of the people in the Kosovo institutions as well as Kosovo’s image in the world. With regards to the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, Ban commended the continuous progress stressing that the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities is a crucial step towards full implementation of the landmark agreement for normalization of relations. He further encouraged all leaders in Pristina and Belgrade to support finalization of the statute of the Association/Community in accordance to the previously agreed timeframe.
Opposition warns for escalation of situation (Zeri)
The Kosovo Assembly Presidency is expected to meet today to decide whether the next Assembly session will be on Thursday or Friday. But representatives of the opposition are confident that there will be no session and said they would do everything to prevent it. According to the opposition, the Assembly blockade will continue until the withdrawal of the agreements on Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities and the border demarcation with Montenegro. They even warned that there is also the possibility of escalation of the situation.
AAK: We will not permit session on budget (Kosova Sot)
Ramush Haradinaj’s Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) along with the other two opposition parties, Vetevendosje and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), announced that they will continue blocking Assembly sessions meaning they will try and prevent the voting of the next year’s budget.
Veseli: There is no petition in the Assembly (Zeri)
The President of the Kosovo Assembly, Kadri Veseli, said yesterday that no petition has been formally sent in the address of the Assembly. He guaranteed that when a petition arrives in the Assembly, he will accept it. “Every petition that is coming in the Kosovo Assembly on the day or night that it is announced, I will accept it. Until now there was no petition addressed to the Assembly,” Veseli told journalists who asked him about the 200 thousand signatures collected by the opposition objecting the agreement on Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities and border demarcation with Montenegro.
MP receives threatening message after conflict with PDK in Prizren (Koha)
In a front-page story, the paper reports that Emilija Rexhepi, the chairwoman of the New Democratic Party and member of the Kosovo Assembly, said on Sunday she believes that a conflict with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in Prizren led to unknown persons abducting her daughter for several minutes and then releasing her. Rexhepi said: “Two persons abducted my daughter and then set her free, so that she could pass on their message to me ‘your mother should be careful with her actions’ … It is no coincidence that this happened only one day after our party clashed with the Mayor [of Prizren] and the PDK leadership in Prizren”. Kosovo Police officials in Prizren confirmed the incident and qualified it as “intimidation” and not “abduction”. The paper also notes that Rexhepi’s party is a partner in the ruling coalition in Prizren.
