Reopening of Mitrovica Bridge postponed to May (BIRN)
Mitrovica South Mayor Agim Bahtiri told BIRN that due partly to increased political tensions in the northern part of Kosovo, the reopening of the bridge that links the Albanian and the Serb-inhabited parts of the divided city of Mitrovica has been postponed to May. “Problems that arose from the construction of the wall have resulted […]
Read More →NATO, US warn Kosovo against move to form army (ABC News)
NATO and the United States warned Wednesday they could scale back cooperation with Kosovo’s security services if the government goes ahead with plans to transform its lightly-armed security force into an army without the required constitutional changes. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he told Kosovo’s leaders by telephone “that unilateral steps such as these […]
Read More →US, NATO Condemn Kosovo’s Plans to Turn Security Force Into Regular Army (VOA)
The United States said Wednesday that it was “concerned” by Kosovo’s plans to convert its security force into a regular army without a constitutional amendment — a move sure to infuriate Serbia. “We support the gradual transparent transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into a multiethnic force in line with NATO standards,” a statement from […]
Read More →Thaci: ‘No Turning Back’ On Kosovo Army Despite NATO, U.S. Warnings (RFE)
Kosovar President Hashim Thaci says there is “no turning back” from his plan to transform the Balkan country’s lightly armed security force into a national army, brushing off strongly voiced concern from NATO and the United States. The security force “will be transformed into a Kosovo army,” Thaci told RFE/RL on March 8, seeming to […]
Read More →OSCE Broadcast 8 March
• Thaçi: International partners are not opposing KSF’s transformation process (All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
• Srpska List against KSF’s transformation (RTK1&RTK2)
• Speaker Veseli calls on Srpska List to return (RTK2)
• Kosovo Serb representatives informed EC representative on their situation (Most monitored broadcasters, RTK2)
• Opposition parties do not change their mind on Demarcation (Most monitored broadcasters, Klan Kosova&KTV)
• Women’s Day marked with protests (All monitored broadcasters, KTV)
• Assembly session postponed with request of Women Caucus (KTV)
• Lumezi assigns a prosecutor to deal with cases of journalists (TV21)
Headlines 9 March
• Despite reproaches, Thaci doesn’t backtrack on KSF initiative (dailies)
• Selimi: Vetevendosje supports change of KSF mission (Klan Kosova)
• Lekaj: There is no state without an army, let us move forward (Lajmi)
• Simic: We will use all political means to oppose Kosovo army (Koha)
• Tahiri: We will not discuss Kosovo’s airspace with Serbia (RTK)
• Border demarcation could be sent to Assembly in two weeks’ time (Koha)
• AAK: Report on Kosovo’s territory, collection of fairytales (Klan Kosova)