• Haziri: LDK does not accept initiation of Government overthrowing with Srpska Lista votes (KTV)
• LDK eliminates Borovci and Abrashi from election competition (KTV)
• PDK regrets the incident in civil society’s action (RTK)
• US Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott warned on Monday that the status quo in the Balkans is not sustainable (Kossev)
• EU’s Hahn: Political compromise in Western Balkans must be rewarded (N1)
• Apostolova concerned by appointment of certain persons as heads of public enterprises (KTV)
• Police: Gathering in Petric not allowed for safety reasons (RTK2)
• Kosnett calls for engagement on shedding light on missing persons’ fate (RTK)

News

Haziri: LDK does not accept initiation of Government overthrowing with Srpska Lista votes

(KTV)

LDK deputy chairman Lutfi Haziri said that this political entity does not accept initiation of the Government overthrowing with votes of Srpska Lista.

“Until today we have not accepted votes of Srpska Lista for overthrowing Government. We do not have those votes in our motion. LDK, Vetëvendosje and PSD have representatives of the Albanian political majority in the Assembly and are already part of the motion. We also have to work with other major political groups to reach a voting on motion,” Haziri highlighted in an interview with the public broadcaster.

He explained why LDK does not rely on the support of Srpska Lista.

“We cannot allow political centres coming out of Kosovo to direct the building and collapsing of governments,” he said.

 LDK eliminates Borovci and Abrashi from election competition

(KTV)

LDK has been alarmed by tensions that were followed by fight amongst LDK members at third branch in Mati neighbourhood; therefore, the LDK chairmanship held an extraordinary meeting on Monday.

The LDK leader Isa Mustafa held a meeting with the chairmanship to discuss the situation in the internal elections, given that for some time, such problems have happened in many municipalities in Kosovo.

Similar clashes had happened also in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and Ferizaj/Urosevac, but the LDK people accused SHIK (Kosovo Intelligence Service) structures of interference.

On Monday again, LDK said that the Sunday incidents in Mati were caused by people of some other party.

At the extraordinary meeting on Monday, LDK decided that Arban Abrashi and Hazir Borovci, who were split into two groups struggling to take the LDK third branch, will be eliminated from the competition, in order to restore normality in the internal elections.

Hazir Borovci said that this was a normal competition that happens in a big house, thus referring to LDK.

However, analysts think that the situation in LDK is a consequence of a harsh competition for the LDK leader.

Moreover, this situation weakens the intention of overthrowing PAN, while they consider as non-democratic exclusion from the competition of Abrashi and Borovci.

PDK regrets the incident in civil society’s action

(RTK)

 The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), in a press release, provided an explanation about the action of some civil society activists in the PDK yard.

PDK regretted the incident that happened in its yard.

The press release states that members of PDK security responded pursuant to their duty, since they had not previously been informed of such an activity, thus creating a misunderstanding that the crowd gathered in front of the headquarters had other intentions and not carrying out of an activity by the civil society.

 Apostolova concerned by appointment of certain persons as heads of public enterprises

(KTV)

Head of the EU Office in Kosovo Nataliya Apostolova said she was concerned about appointments at the Kosovo Property Comparison and Verification Agency.

At the ‘Ethics in the Public Administration’ discussion, organised by FOL, Apostolova said that the public administration reform, despite being painful, is very necessary.

“The decision on increasing salaries to advisors of ministers and to the rest was a surprise. This decision has disturbed financial stability of the Kosovo budget. We have been concerned by certain appointments. You know what I am talking about, heads of the agencies that deal with property, those persons should have credibility,” Apostolova said.

Apostolova stated that by the public administration reform they intend a number of well-paid responsible representatives.

On the other hand, Minister of Public Administration Mahir Yagcilar said that Kosovo needs to be prepared for administrative reform, like in the EU Member Countries.

He added that ethics in public administration is a key pillar in the Strategy for Modernisation of Public Administration 2015-2020, and a key priority in the relations between Kosovo and the EU.

Yagcilar presented findings of the report on disciplinary measures in civil service during 2018.

Regarding central government, he said that last year 43 cases of disciplinary measures happened against civil servants for violation of ethics and the anticorruption legislation.

Yagcilar explained that in 33 cases serious violations were involved and 10 cases involved slight violations.

Regarding municipalities, he said that in 2018, 39 cases of disciplinary measures were taken against civil servants for violation of ethics and of the anticorruption legislation.

 US Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott warned on Monday that the status quo in the Balkans is not sustainable

(Kossev)

 There will be no better time than the present to negotiate an agreement the ambassador wrote on his Twitter account over a retweet of State Department official Matthew Palmer’s speech at a gathering in Pristina on June 12.

The people who believe that better conditions will come to negotiate a more favourable agreement have to realize that there is no better moment than the present, the Tweet said.

The ambassador wrote that political leaders have to leave their national rhetoric and historic revisionism aside. “Those things demean the memory of the victims, reopen the wounds of survivors and prevent progress towards a transparent, democratic and responsible governance,” Scott tweeted.

EU’s Hahn: Political compromise in Western Balkans must be rewarded

(N1)

Political agreement in the Western Balkans should be rewarded, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn said on Monday and called on the bloc’s foreign ministers to start accession talks with North Macedonia, the FoNet news agency reported.

Hahn added the move would be an essential signal to the whole region.

“If the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue (on the normalisation of relations) resumes, they have to see if investments into searching for a political compromise will be rewarded. Otherwise, they don’t have a motive. The EU Council should understand the importance of such a signal for the region,” Hahn said, as quoted by Factor website.

Earlier, Frederica Mogherini, the EU High Representative, also called on the bloc’s minister to agree on opening the negotiations with Skopje and Tirana.

Ahead of the EU ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, Hahn reiterated that North Macedonia did everything that was expected from it and warned that any delay in setting the starting date for the talks bore the specific risk.

He stressed that if a country put considerable efforts in its European perspective and its leaders showed courage in reaching a compromise and were left without recognition, the EU would not lose only its credibility, but also its influence in the Western Balkans region.

Police: Gathering in Petric not allowed for safety reasons

(RTK2)

Kosovo Police did not allow Serbs in Petric near Klinë/Klina to hold a litany, Radio Kosovska Mitrovica reported.

Head of the Provisional Authority of the Municipality of Klinë/Klina, Bozidar Sarkovic, told Radio Kosovska Mitrovica that despite the request and informing the Police, UNMIK, KFOR, OSCE, he received a call from an inspector who told him that the gathering was forbidden.

Sarkovic said that about 30 Serbs gathered to hold a litany to mark the holiday in the village they used to live in.

Kosovo Police told RTK2 that the citizens wanted to gather in the churchyard, without any announcement or request for security from the police.

“Kosovo Police did not allow the gathering for safety of the citizens, because the churchyard was not under control, it was covered with bushes and grass, so the ban on gathering happened solely for the purpose of citizens’ safety,” the Police said in a statement.

 Kosnett calls for engagement on shedding light on missing persons’ fate

(RTK)

In an announcement posted on its official Facebook page, the United States Embassy in Kosovo explained that the US Ambassador Philip Kosnett met with Kosovo missing persons’ officials today to congratulate them on the work done so far regarding their mission.

“Ambassador Kosnett met with Kosovo missing persons’ officials today to congratulate them on past progress. They have closed over 70% of missing persons’ cases – a huge achievement. In his meeting he urged continued commitment to the ICRC-chaired working group in order to bring closure to those still waiting,” Ambassador Kosnett stated.

Otherwise, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 1653 persons have been identified as missing in Kosovo.