Hoti: If PAN has 61 MPs, LDK will remain in opposition
(RTK)
Avdullah Hoti of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has once again made it clear that they will not enter PAN coalition if PDK is part of it.
“We are 29 MPs that do not move. In Vetëvendosje also say that the majority are not in favour of a coalition with PAN,” he said on Thursday evening in “Interview with Blerim” in Radio Television of Kosovo.
He said that they will discuss with Vetëvendosje to reach agreement on governance when their time comes in the second round and establish Government of Kosovo.
According to him, PAN together with minorities has 59 MPs. Hoti said that democracy is the source of majority.
“Country institutions cannot be established by the minority. If they managed to have 61 votes, we will be in opposition,” Hoti said.
Hoti, who is caretaker Minister of Finance, said that the tendency to establish Government of Kosovo through smuggling is not to the service of Kosovo.
Local authorities responsible for failure of projects in north
(RTK)
Decision to cancel the project for construction of the University and Cultural Centre in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north has been taken by the European Union institutions in Brussels, and this decision has nothing to do with revitalization of the main bridge over Ibër River in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, Head of the European Union Office in Kosovo Nataliya Apostolova stated on Thursday.
Last week, the European Union cancelled projects estimated to 7.8 million euros because the municipal authorities in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north did not remove illegally constructed facilities in vicinity of the area where constructions were supposed to begin, which was necessary for access to construction sites.
In an interview with a group of journalists, Apostolova said that the Mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north Goran Rakic had previously promised to resolve the issue. According to her, the decision to cancel the projects was not easy and it followed a serious talks. However, according to Apostolova, the EU has certain procedures, especially when it comes to the money of European Union citizens.
On the other hand, the Mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë municipality, Goran Rakic, earlier said that cancellation of projects happened because the EU Special Representative in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, asked the Municipality to make possible continuation of revitalization of the main bridge over the Ibër River, “without any guarantee for preservation of citizens’ safety”.
However, Apostolova also said that this decision has no interrelation with revitalization of the bridge, as Rakic had said.
“There is no relation between these two projects with the bridge. There is no political influence behind this cancellation,” Apostolova stressed.
PDK-VV clashes shifted to employments
(KTV)
Allegations of the PDK Prishtinë/Pristina Branch have continued against what they called employments of Vetëvendosje militants at the Public Housing Enterprise and in the Municipality of Prishtinë/Pristina.
Bujar Cakolli, the PDK Prishtinë/Pristina Branch secretary, presented names of those that have been employed at the Prishtinë/Pristina Public Housing Enterprise.
The Prishtinë/Pristina mayor Shpend Ahmeti reacted to PDK through a Facebook response.
Ahmeti wrote that differently from its founders, the new PDK generation has not been grown through sacrifice or national activism, but only through servility to Kadri Veseli.
“They are the generation of slanderers, fog makers, and of portals that spread fake news. The good thing is that Kadri brought almost everybody into surface, so now they have to prove themselves. They do not have consistence or voters; that is why they are not accountable to the public but only to the boss, competing who is slandering more and who is playing more dirty games. They all wish to become little SHIKs (members of former National Intelligence Service). Kadri is destroying PDK, just like he nearly destroyed Kosovo. We stopped and we will continue stopping him to accomplish the latter, whereas it seems that there is no salvation for the former,” Ahmeti wrote.
Cakolli again called Dardan Molliqaj as chief gangster, who, according to him, together with Shpend Ahmeti, employed VV activists.
The PDK Prishtinë/Pristina stated that the Municipality of Prishtinë/Pristina and the Public Housing Enterprise have been turned into a cradle of VV militants’ employment.
Minister Ahmetaj: Kosovo cannot absorb all EU funds
(Klan Kosova)
Besides political issues, the EU and Kosovo officials also reached a range of other agreements. One of them, namely Kosovo’s access to EU through four programmes, was signed in December 2016, and it shall enter into force at the beginning of 2018. The four programmes are Erasmus Plus (dedicated to education, science, and youth), KOSMET (dealing with small and medium size enterprises), Europe for Youngsters (belonging to civil society), and Europe for Citizens (belonging to culture and youth).
Caretaker Minister of EU Integration Mimoza Ahmetaj said that participation in those EU programmes has been the goal of Kosovo since 2009. Explaining why Kosovo benefitted only four out of 17 programmes offered by the EU, Minister Ahmetaj said that that this was new experience for Kosovo, and that the country still has not established all the institutions that would be capable of absorbing those funds.
Ahmetaj stated that communication with the EU committees has already started, and she added that the amount of those programmes is not known yet.
Minister Ahmetaj said she was happy with the progress reached so far in implementation of the Stabilisation-Association Agreement (SAA) reached between Kosovo and the EU.
None of political parties paid fines
(TV21)
None of the political parties that took part in the June 11 general elections in Kosovo has paid fines imposed by the Elections Complaints and Appeals Commission (ECAP). ECAP has fined political entities with 348,000 euro in total.
The ECAP Secretariat Chief Executive Officer Mulë Desku said that only a small amount of the imposed fines has been paid so far.
