- Haradinaj won’t give up Dukagjini highway, even if Government coalition is broken (KTV)
- Veseli: Haradinaj speaks with US as he does with Serbia (RTK)
- Haradinaj: Dialogue with Serbia should resume until mutual recognition (RTK)
- Orthodox cemeteries desecrated, Albanians react (Klan Kosova)
- Kosnett reacts to desecration of Serb graves in Lipjan/Lipljane (KTV)
- Hoxhaj: Serbia is militarising, it is a threat for the region (RTK)
- LDK to elect its new leader on August 3 (KTV)
News
Haradinaj won’t give up Dukagjini highway, even if Government coalition is broken
(KTV)
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj will not give up the Dukagjini highway, although this may be the project that will break the Government coalition, leading the country to elections.
At a press conference, Haradinaj said that the highway is vital and in the interest of Kosovo.
Despite saying that elections are healthy, Prime Minister Haradinaj is convinced that Nisma will not betray him.
On the other hand, Nisma MP Zafir Berisha said on KTV Interactive show that the highway may be the breaking point between his party and AAK.
However, opposition parties do not consider the discussion amongst the coalition as dangerous for the Government.
According to Driton Selmanaj of LDK, the whole discussion is happening for partisan reasons.
Selmanaj says that both sides are trying to steal as much as possible from the Dukagjini highway project.
The Dukagjini highway will be about 91 kilometres long; it begins in Istog/Istok, passes through Pejë/Pec, Deçan/Decane, Junik, Gjakovë/Djakovica, Rahovec/Orahovac, and ends in Prizren, where it is connected to Ibrahim Rugova highway. It is estimated that the project will cost around 1 billion euro to Kosovo taxpayers.
Veseli: Haradinaj speaks with US as he does with Serbia
(RTK)
The Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli said in an interview with the Voice of America that his country does not make with Serbia any agreement that undermines its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said that Serbia intends to create situations so that it could benefit from them.
Veseli said he supports the idea of a temporary suspension of the tariff against Serbian goods to open way to resumption of talks, if that would be necessary. But, according to him, such a suspension cannot be eternal.
“It is not good that the EU and the US encourage Serbia by putting unilateral pressure only on Kosovo about the tariff issue, whereas Serbia has imposed a tariff on us for 20 years,” he stressed.
According to Veseli, the solution for resumption of talks with Serbia is mutual recognition. He added that everybody should help Serbia to accept the reality.
Asked if different approaches to the dialogue with Serbia have affected relations within the Government coalition, Veseli answered:
“We have the coalition, but we also have our conceptual differences, in terms of how I see the tariff and the dialogue issue. And there is some pragmatism where I defend my interest, not allowing that the manner of communication with Serbia be replicated with the US and the EU. This is the difference between me and Prime Minister Haradinaj, who should make this difference. When I talk about Serbia, I impose even a 1000 percent tariff against it, but when we talk with the US and with the EU, we should be pragmatic; we should be a little bit wiser. This is the difference. This has been my clear position since the beginning, it is transparent: Kosovo has the legitimate right to make its decisions, be it tariff, or protection of sovereignty or territorial and institutional integrity. But we should know… our people know that populism is opium that at a certain moment does favour to certain politicians. In a long-term period, we should be wise, and we have no other way without the US and the EU, we cannot succeed in our goal.”
Veseli does not believe that the opposition parties have the option to lead the country to early elections.
Veseli concluded by saying that he will push PDK members with filed charges to quit the party posts.
Haradinaj: Dialogue with Serbia should resume until mutual recognition
(RTK)
The Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has welcomed the election of Ursula von der Leyen, current German Defence Minister, at the position of the European Commission President.
Haradinaj expressed his belief that under her leadership, the European Commission will turn Kosovo to a full EU integration dynamics.
He highlighted that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia should resume without conditions, until an agreement on mutual recognition in the existing borders is reached.
Orthodox cemeteries desecrated, Albanians react
(Klan Kosova)
Showing video footage of desecrated gravestones, Klan Kosova reported that this is the state that someone left Orthodox cemeteries of Lipjan/Lipljane. Their desecration was noted on Saturday, while Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted on Tuesday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls upon rule of law institutions to do their best and bring the authors of this criminal incident before the court. Cohabitation, inter-ethnic harmony and relations are sacred for the Republic of Kosovo,” reaction of the Ministry reads.
However, Serb residents of this area do not know who damaged gravestones of their predecessors.
“On Saturday I was told that the cemeteries were damaged. We went there, called the inspectors, Police. We also told them that we haven’t seen anyone, therefore we do not have any suspect,” a local Serb said.
Orthodox Church priest in Lipjan/Lipljane, Srdjan Stankovic, spoke about the case behind cameras. He said that this incident should not take political connotation.
Albanians also expressed their remorse for the gravestones of their neighbours.
“We have no problems at all with them. They have their own business, we have our own,” the Albanian resident said.
The desecration of cemeteries was also condemned by the Municipality of Lipjan/Lipljane.
“The Municipality of Lipjan/Lipljane will look into the amount of damage of these cemeteries and it will also look into the possibility of renovating them,” a representative of this Municipality said.
Kosovo Police is carrying out necessary investigations to identify the perpetrators.
Kosnett reacts to desecration of Serb graves in Lipjan/Lipljane
(KTV)
The US Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett reacted on Tuesday to desecration of Orthodox graves in Lipjan/Lipljane, calling for swift response by justice.
“How does Kosovo respond to shameful desecration of Lipjan/Lipljan graves? Safe religious expression requires inter-community respect and swift justice,” Kosnett posted on Twitter, speaking about commencing of the Ministerial meeting for Religious Freedoms, taking place in Washington.
Hoxhaj: Serbia is militarising, it is a threat for the region
(RTK)
Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Enver Hoxhaj made a statement regarding the recent agreements made by Serbia with France for the purchase of weapons and missile systems.
on a Twitter post, DPM Hoxhaj said that Serbia continues to claiming militarily neutrality, but it keeps showing the opposite.
Raising some questions, he also said that Serbia’s militarization is a new threat to the region.
“Serbia continues claiming military neutrality, but keeps showing the opposite. Who is threatening Serbia so much that it needs to purchase new weapons from France and others and increase its air defense system? Militarization of Serbia is a new threat for the region,” Hoxhaj wrote on Twitter.
LDK to elect its new leader on August 3
(KTV)
LDK has scheduled its Convention, which will be held on 3rd August this year.
This was decided on Tuesday at the meeting of the LDK Chairmanship, chaired by the LDK leader Isa Mustafa.
“At the meeting, it was decided that tentatively the LDK Convention will be held on 3rd August 2019. In the meantime, all LDK bodies will complete the necessary preparations for a smooth Convention,” the LDK’s statement says.
“The LDK Convention will have a solemn character, where performance of LDK will be reconfirmed, as well as its political power and its strong 30-year bond with the people of Kosovo,” LDK added.
