- Committee’s resolution will call for Serbia to admit that it committed genocide (KTV)
- Veseli calls on friendly countries to draft resolution to recognise Serbia as crime inflictor (KTV)
- O’Connell: Agreement with Serbia shouldn’t be quick, but good (KTV)
- Djuric: No meeting between Kosovo and Serbia delegations in Berlin (Klan Kosova)
- Srpska Lista, Vetëvendosje and PDK will take part in early elections in north (KTV & RTK)
- Veseli to Prosecutors: File charges against corrupt officials (Most monitored broadcasters, Klan Kosova)
- Haradinaj considers Kosovo’s ranking as 75th for freedom of speech encouraging (KTV)
- Thaçi: No dialogue with Serbian side in Berlin (Klan Kosova’s summary of Zona e Debatit show)
News
Committee’s resolution will call for Serbia to admit that it committed genocide (KTV)
Only three days after the Kosovo Assembly gave green light, Provisional Committee for compilation of Draft Resolution for Genocide and Crimes committed in Kosovo, convened on Thursday.
At the meeting, the Committee worked in a draft, a copy of which has been seen by KTV. The draft reminds on the international conventions for genocide, facing them with facts of Serbian crimes in Kosovo.
Some of the facts mentioned in the draft are killings of over 13,000 civilians, victims of sexual violence, deportation of more than one million Albanians from their homes, and over 1,600 persons who are still missing.
The Resolution, which is still at its initial phase, has proposed 15th January as the memory day for the genocide against Albanians.
It is expected that the Resolution will come up with some of the following requests: Serbia to admit that it committed genocide in Kosovo and punish perpetrators, to shed light on the missing persons, and to heal the damage that it caused.
In addition, the Committee will work in amending the legislation, in order to make denial and justification of genocide punishable.
Veseli calls on friendly countries to draft resolution to recognise Serbia as crime inflictor
(KTV)
On Thursday, the Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli announced that he has prepared a letter to parliaments of friendly countries, asking for them to draft resolutions that would formally recognise the role of the Serbian state as an inflictor of crimes against humanity.
According to him, such a resolution would remember painful events for the people of Kosovo, would honour the large number of civilian victims, and would strongly condemn any attempt to deny or change that dark and painful part of the modern European history.
Sources of Koha.net inside the Office of the Assembly Speaker, said that Veseli’s letter is an announcement for the request that Veseli made a few days ago for establishment of an international tribunal for Serbian crimes.
O’Connell: Agreement with Serbia shouldn’t be quick but good
(KTV)
The British Ambassador to Kosovo Ruairi O’Connell visited Mitrovicë/Mitrovica on Thursday, on which occasion he talked to citizens and youngsters from both sides of the town, so that he could closely get to know about their issues and challenges.
In the north he stayed at the premises of NGO Activ, and in the south he stayed at the premises of RTV Mitrovica, where he discussed with pupils and students of different fields.
Ambassador O’Connell emphasised that communication between citizens of the south and north of the city is necessary for peace.
According to him, there is no reason for citizens of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica to feel tense; adding that calls for decreasing tension should come both from leaders and from citizens.
In regard to the meeting between the delegations of Kosovo and Serbia on 29th April in Berlin, the British Ambassador said that it is a very important initiative in the process which has been undertaken by the German and French governments.
He said that he does not expect a final agreement immediately, but added that it might happen this year.
In his view, what is important is that the agreement be good, not quick. He says that the agreement should strengthen stability, be in the interest of both sides, and enjoy support of citizens.
Djuric: No meeting between Kosovo and Serbia delegations in Berlin
(Klan Kosova)
Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Marko Djuric, said that there will be no bilateral meeting between the Kosovo and Serbia delegations in Berlin, Klan Kosova reported.
“This will be a meeting of state representatives; we also say of the territories, while in the informal part of the meeting, during dinner, there will be talks on topics such as the resolution of Kosovo issue, the Prespa Agreement… However, there will not be any plenary meeting of President Vucic with representatives of Prishtinë/Pristina, because our President was clear when he said that there will be no continuation of talks until the tariff on Serbian goods will be revoked,” Djuric told Radio Vojvodina.
He also said that Belgrade’s support for the Srpska Lista, which is taking part in local elections in the four municipalities of the North, does not imply compromising with Prishtinë/Pristina and beginning of unblocking of relations.
Srpska Lista, Vetëvendosje and PDK will take part in early elections in north
(KTV & RTK)
Vetëvendosje Movement has submitted to the Central Elections Commission (CEC) the application for participation in mayoral elections in the north.
The deadline to apply for certification for extraordinary elections is on Thursday at 00:00hrs.
In addition to the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), now Vetëvendosje Movement has also applied at the CEC for participation in the extraordinary elections in the four northern municipalities.
This was confirmed by CEC spokesman Valmir Elezi to Lajmi.net portal.
“At 19:00hrs, we received another application for certification for participation in these elections. Vetëvendosje Movement has submitted an application for mayoral elections in these four municipalities,” Elezi told Lajmi.net.
Late on Thursday, KTV portal reported that Srpska Lista became the third political party which applied to be certified for participation in this election process.
Their application reached CEC a few hours before the end of the deadline.
CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi told Koha.net that in addition to PDK and VV, they also received application for participation in these elections by Srpska Lista.
Veseli to Prosecutors: File charges against corrupt officials
(Most monitored broadcasters, Klan Kosova)
There are plenty of corruption cases in politics. With this conclusion in mind, Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli addressed the judiciary with a request. He urged prosecutors and judges to investigate this phenomenon.
“There is the opportunity, there is courage and there are so-called heroes who will come out in Kosovo and file indictments for high profile persons, including the political ones,” Veseli said.
Veseli addressed this request at the conference on commercial justice, in the framework of the functional review process of rule of law sector.
He mentioned the harm that is being caused to Kosovo, as a result of non-implementation of law.
“Prosperity should be provided to young people, so that they do not leave Kosovo. People are leaving Kosovo today not only because of extreme poverty,” he stressed.
In the meantime, Minister of Justice Abelard Tahiri addressed the need for establishment of the Commercial Court.
Haradinaj considers Kosovo’s ranking as 75th for freedom of speech encouraging
(KTV)
Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj considers the report of “Reporters Without Borders” organization, which ranked Kosovo 75th out of 180 countries in the world regarding the freedom of the press for 2019, as encouraging.
Haradinaj, on a Facebook post, said that free media are the backbone of a democratic society and Kosovo is demonstrating progress in this regard.
According to him, a landscape of solid and pluralistic media implies that our democracy is getting stronger and mature in the right direction.
Thaçi: No dialogue with Serbian side in Berlin
(Klan Kosova’s summary of Zona e Debatit show)
President Thaçi said that at the Berlin summit there will be no dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
“I believe that the interest of Germany and France for unification of the European future of the Western Balkans countries has increased… It will be a normal meeting, a meeting which might open up opportunities, but it might be disappointing, as well. It will end with a comprehensive statement,” Thaçi said.
Thaçi stated that no process in the Balkans has been carried out without the United States.
“Neither will it be carried out in the future, because the EU Member States have a lot of differences amongst themselves,” he said.
“Germany and France are strategic partners of Kosovo and of the Balkans, one should look at the positive side, too,” Thaçi added.
President Hashim Thaçi stated that during the Berlin summit he will seek from Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron to liberalise visa regime for Kosovars, and convince Serbia to recognise Kosovo.
“There will be no dialogue, negotiations and confrontation with Serbian representatives in Berlin. What I expect from this summit is the confirmation by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron that they will support Kosovo in visa liberalization,” he stressed.
Thaçi stated on Klan Kosova’s Zona e Debatit show that if these requests are not met, the summit will be a complete fiasco. He stressed that he is not optimistic about developments that might come out of this summit.
Thaci said that there can be no final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia without America and the United Kingdom.
“Without the main players, America and the United Kingdom, there is no final agreement. I reemphasise that the US role is irreplaceable.”
Kosovo has full confidence and guarantees only when the United States are present and supportive. This meeting in Berlin is also welcome in the US and us as Kosovo and Western Balkans should make use of it,” Thaçi stated.
He highlighted that there will be no dual sovereignty in Kosovo or Association of Serb Majority Municipalities with executive powers, as Serbs wish.
“The Association, I say it once again, for as long as I will be the President, it will not contain neither executive nor non-executive elements. It will have none. They [Serbs] will take part in the institutional life of Kosovo, but they will not build mono-ethnic institutions,” he ended.