• Haxhiu on President issue: Parties to withdraw from blocking positions (Koha)
• Rasic: No one wants new elections (RTK2)
• Osmani posts video of meetings with people: “Thank you for your trust and love” (media)
• “KSF engagement in Gaza a strategic message in international relations” (Kosovo Online)
• Simic on attempts to integrate Serbian-run health and education into Kosovo system (RTS)
• NATO SG Rutte to visit North Macedonia on Tuesday (media)
• Balkan govts scramble to safeguard citizens in Middle East conflict zone (BIRN)

• Rama, Vucic offer to forego veto rights in move to speed up EU integration (SeeNews)

   

Haxhiu on President issue: Parties to withdraw from blocking positions (Koha)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu said today that on the issue of the President, political parties must withdraw from blocking positions that offer no solutions. “The goal is to find a figure that can secure the votes. I don’t preempt the positions of political parties but for me blocking positions are not welcome,” she said.

“The election of the President is an important moment and the process of his or her election needs to reflect responsibility, maturity and a spirit of cooperation. After the constitution of the Assembly and the formation of the government, the country needs political stability and full focus on priorities that affect the lives of the people. This is not the time for clashes or unrealistic requests that shift the process away from its core. The Constitution says that there need to be 80 votes in the first and the second round, while in the third round there can be 61 votes in favor. This means that the spirit is clearly about consensus. I welcome the meetings between political parties,” she said.

Rasic: No one wants new elections (RTK2)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rasic, said that today compromises are inevitable for the election of the President and that no one wants new elections. “At this point, no political party benefits from tensions or debates about new elections. Experienced politicians understand that we need to talk about candidates now. It is necessary to assume responsibility and to conclude this process in the Assembly,” he said in an interview with RTK2.

Rasic said he expects there will be two candidates, or even more, proposed by different political parties. “There are some potential candidates, although their candidates have not been made public, and this expected to happen in the next days, because the deadline for the election of the President ends on Wednesday,” he said.

Osmani posts video of meetings with people: “Thank you for your trust and love” (media)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani posted a video on Facebook of her meetings with the people thanking them for their “trust and love”. “Your support and voice are the force that have led me and will continue to lead me in every step,” Osmani said.

“KSF engagement in Gaza a strategic message in international relations” (Kosovo Online)

Director of the Kosovo Center for Security Studies, Mentor Vrajolli, believes that participation in peacekeeping missions is necessary for Kosovo, while the head of the Octopus Institute, Arben Fetoshi, views the announced engagement of the Kosovo Security Force in Gaza as a strategic message in the context of current geopolitical developments.

Vrajolli says that Kosovo should reciprocate to the international community through participation in peacekeeping missions. “It is extremely important that Kosovo is not only a consumer, but also an exporter of security. We must bear in mind that the KFOR mission, in addition to being a military mission, is also a political mission, and it must be viewed from that perspective. However, Kosovo must offer something in return. I think more than 25 years have passed since the NATO mission has been present in Kosovo, and in order to reduce the financial burden that Western countries bear, Kosovo should be ready as soon as possible to reciprocate this goodwill through participation in peacekeeping missions,” Vrajolli said.

Director of the Octopus Institute, Arben Fetoshi, assessed that the involvement of the Kosovo Security Force in the mission in Gaza is not only confirmation of its capacity to contribute, but also a very important strategic message in the context of international relations and ongoing geopolitical conflicts in the world. “Cooperation, coordination and specific circumstances characterize Kosovo, which is still not a member of NATO but operates within the framework of the Alliance. Of course, the specific circumstances related to the fact that the conflict with Serbia remains unresolved make the stabilizing role of KFOR in emergency situations necessary. The presence of NATO forces in Kosovo has been an important factor for peace, development and the consolidation of the statehood of the Republic of Kosovo, but not in the sense of rivalry, especially considering that the development of the Kosovo Security Force has been supported through a program within the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance as a defensive force,” Fetoshi said.

Simic on attempts to integrate Serbian-run health and education into Kosovo system (RTS)

Member of the presidency of the Serbian List, Igor Simic, said today that “of the three pillars on which the survival of Serbs in Kosovo rests - education, health and SOC, an attempt to integrate two pillars - health and education into the Kosovo system in the manner in which Albin Kurti wants to is tantamount to embracing death for the Serbian people”. “That is absolutely unacceptable for us, because we know what it would imply, the persecution of the Serbian people, shutting down of vital institutions, the violation of human rights and an attack on the basic values of life,” Simic said in an interview with RTS.

NATO SG Rutte to visit North Macedonia on Tuesday (media)

Several news websites report that NATO Secretary General will visit Skopje, North Macedonia, tomorrow. He is scheduled to meet President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkkova, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, and Parliament Speaker Afrim Gashi. This will be Rutte’s first visit to Skopje as NATO SG.

Balkan govts scramble to safeguard citizens in Middle East conflict zone (BIRN)

Countries across the Balkans have been scrambling to evacuate citizens stranded in the Middle East after the US and Israel attacked Iran at the weekend – or working on plans to get their nationals out of the conflict zone as soon as they can.

The three land border crossings between Turkey and Iran remain open for Turkish citizens and third-country nationals who wish to flee, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Monday. However Turkish citizens living in Iran are being urged to stay indoors and avoid military zones amid the ongoing US-Israeli assault.

“Turkish citizens in Iran are advised to stay in safe areas, avoid military zones and buildings, refrain from going outside, and those planning to travel to Iran are advised to postpone their trips except in emergencies,” the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday said it had already evacuated most of its embassy staff in Iran and citizens who wished to leave. Bosnian citizens in other Middle Eastern countries, including United Arab emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, are being urged to contact diplomatic missions.

“The ministry will, if necessary, take all necessary measures for evacuation,” Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic said on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister of Croatia, Gordan Grlic Radman, said the evacuation of Croatian citizens from Iran has also taken place already. “We previously evacuated most of our citizens from Iran,” Grlic Radman said on Sunday.

“One person remained at the consulate [in Teheran] due to administrative and logistical functions, but also some football players who had their contracts with their club. There were two of them; they left Iran yesterday,” he added. “Croatian citizens, whether residents or tourists, who are currently in the United Arab Emirates, can rely on consular assistance.”

Fourteen citizens of Serbia reportedly remain in four cities in Iran. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Prva Television on Sunday that embassy staff will withdraw to Baku, Azerbaijan, but that the ambassador will go back to Tehran.

“We have a couple with a child there and we want to help that couple in every way. The procedure and situation are complicated, so we want to see how we can help those people,” Vucic said.

Read more at: https://shorturl.at/16XyI

Rama, Vucic offer to forego veto rights in move to speed up EU integration (SeeNews)

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama and Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic, in a co-authored article for German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), call for an acceleration of their countries' EU accession process, offering to give up veto and commissioner rights in a bid to ease member states' concerns about the bloc's ability to function effectively with more members.

The EU should pursue a phased integration of prepared candidate countries, with accelerated access to the bloc’s single market and the Schengen area, the two leaders argue in the article published on Saturday. In their view, this model would allow tangible benefits for citizens and would strengthen the EU’s economic and geopolitical position without burdening its decision-making architecture or altering its institutional balance.

"Such a step would neither entail veto rights nor additional commissioners, Members of the European Parliament, or changes to voting structures. We are convinced this would ease the concerns of those member states hesitant about broader enlargement - not least because it would make it significantly easier to present the process convincingly to their own publics," Rama and Vucic write in the article.

Rama and Vucic also argue that delaying enlargement until internal EU reforms are completed risks undermining the credibility of the accession process and weakening reform momentum in the Western Balkans.

"In parts of the Western Balkans, enthusiasm for the EU persists despite painful disappointments. Albanians are and remain optimistic. Serbs are more sceptical. Yet across the region there is common ground: people need to see that the process is credible and that membership is attainable within a reasonable timeframe," they write.

Read more at: https://shorter.me/jImFY