- Veseli to Quint: EU should stop Serbia’s attempts for colonisation and punish Serbian war criminals (KTV)
- Pacolli: We will resume dialogue, when dirty Serbian diplomacy stops undermining Kosovo’s statehood (KTV)
- Hoxhaj: Serbia manipulating facts, churches and mosques belong to Kosovo (RTK)
- Civil society calls for punishment and investigation of parties that violate law (KTV)
News
Veseli to Quint: EU should stop Serbia’s attempts for colonisation and punish Serbian war criminals
(KTV)
The Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli has responded to the letter of Quint states on Tuesday, saying that he welcomes support of Western states for the dialogue, but asking for the EU to prevent Serbian attempts for destructiveness in Kosovo.
On a Facebook status, Veseli admitted that Kosovo reached its independence, being beside a strong alliance with the West.
“We should protect interests of Kosovo, but we will not be able to do so without our strategic partners. Therefore, we welcome the efforts of the US, the EU, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy for development of the dialogue. However, we call on the EU to prevent financing of parallel structures in Kosovo by the Serbian Government, to stop the colonising Serbian projects through construction of neighbourhoods in the north, to allow reconstruction of burnt houses where Albanians lived before 2001, and to punish Serbian criminals and rapists for the crimes committed against innocent Albanians both during and after the war in Kosovo,” Veseli wrote.
He added that one of the topics that citizens will have to choose in the early elections, expected to be held at the end of September or at the beginning of October, is whether Kosovo wants to continue its special relations with our international allies, or rather to treat them as enemies and to try to survive alone.
Pacolli: We will resume dialogue, when dirty Serbian diplomacy stops undermining Kosovo’s statehood
(KTV)
Kosovo’s ousting Deputy Prime Minister Behgjet Pacolli said that Kosovo’s foreign policy since the beginning of 1990s has always been in coordination and in line with the position of strategic partners, such as the US, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
Responding to the QUINT States that on Tuesday called for continuation of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Pacolli said that they welcomed the commitment of all Quint countries for normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
However, he added that despite Kosovo’s continuous commitment to continuing the dialogue and its willingness to resume the talks, it was Serbia that left its seat empty and continuously provoked incidents and aggression against Kosovo.
Pacolli also mentioned the statement of the Head of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Marko djuric, who said that Serbia would continue protecting interests, referring to the QUINT request, which called for Serbia to stop lobbying for revocations of Kosovo’s independence recognitions.
“Marko djuric’s statement today once again proves Serbia’s reluctance to normalise relations with Kosovo. For two years, Kosovo fought an unprecedented diplomatic battle with Belgrade, as the dirty Serbia diplomacy aimed to undermine Kosovo’s statehood internationally. The tariff has been Kosovo’s sovereign instrument to react to this Belgrade provoked aggression, and today Serbia still does not show willingness to end it,” Pacolli wrote.
He said that Kosovo was willing for dialogue, but the conditions are clear: as two independent and sovereign states that aim mutual recognition and establishment of diplomatic relations.
Hoxhaj: Serbia manipulating facts, churches and mosques belong to Kosovo
(RTK)
Kosovo’s acting Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj has reacted to statements of the Serbian Minister of Culture Vladan Vukosalevic, who called provocation a liturgy which was recently held at a Catholic church in Novo Brdo/Novobërdë.
On a Facebook post, he called ridiculous the statement of Vukosavlevic for appropriation of the Serbian church in Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, reminding on him that Serbian politics in its games towards Albanians has often manipulated the facts.
“Serbia’s obsession to appropriate everything made it guilty for so many wars and conflicts in the Balkans! Serbian politics in its games towards Kosovo Albanians, has often involved even the people of science, by manipulating facts.
Obviously, in the 14th and 15th century, which is the time since the Novo Brdo/Novobërdë Church has existed, one could not talk about consolidated nations, and so its appropriation as a Serbian one is ridiculous!
Churches, mosques, other facilities of Cultural, historic, and religious heritage of Kosovo, belong to Kosovo and to its citizens!
Politicising culture, science, and history today is a ridiculous and absurd game which Serbia is playing! Kosovo is a fait accompli!” Hoxhaj posted on Facebook.
Civil society calls for punishment and investigation of parties that violate law
(KTV)
A great deal of pressure had been put for auditing finances of political parties in Kosovo, and lately, the reports for 2017 have been published also on the website of the Central Election Commission (CEC).
In that year, political parties in Kosovo had higher expenses, given that two types of elections took place.
The reports identified a wide range of violations by the political entities, which has been published in a summary by the Group for Legal and Political Studies.
The bigger political entities failed to justify the high amounts, including AAK with over 200,000 euro, LDK with over 185,000 euro, and PDK with 150,000 euro.
In addition, hundreds and thousands of euros that were presented as commitments by PDK, Vetëvendosje Movement, and AAK, failed to be confirmed.
CEC did not respond to the KTV’s query, whether annual reports for political entities for 2017 have been analysed, and whether it is expected that any of them will be punished as provided by the applicable legislation.
For most of the violations found by the Auditor, Law on Financing Political Entities provides a wide range of punitive measures that may start with the amount of 10 per cent of the funds that the entities receive from the budget in the previous year.
Not only that the Group for Legal and Political Studies urged CEC to fine the entities, but it also urged the State Prosecution Office to deal with some of the findings.
