· Elections on 6 October, 29 September an option (Klan Kosova)
· Vetëvendosje: Nominating candidate for PM easy, if we agree with LDK on platform (KTV)
· Pacolli: Pompeo encouraged Serbia to resume dialogue with Kosovo (RTK)
· Vucic: Unacceptable that Albanians win everything, and Serbia recognises Kosovo (KTV)
· US and Russia court Serbia as pact with Kosovo remains distant prospect(KTV)
· MFA appoints six career ambassadors (KTV)
News
Elections on 6 October, 29 September an option
(Klan Kosova)
Most probably, early elections in Kosovo will be held on 6th October. According to Klan Kosova sources, this is the day when, most likely, new elections will be held and that becomes necessary after the expected dissolution of the Assembly, scheduled to happen on Thursday.
Another day mentioned is 29th September, but it is less likely that elections will be held on the last Sunday of September.
Point 2, Article 66 of the Kosovo Constitution says that in case the Assembly is dissolved, new elections shall be held no later than forty-five days after the dissolution.
Both 6th October and 29th September are within the period provided by law, if sixth legislature dissolves itself on Thursday.
Calling the elections is in the powers of the President. It is expected that Hashim Thaçi will announce the Election Day this Friday.
Klan Kosova also learned that the election campaign will last 10 days. If the elections will take place on 6th October, political entities will be entitled to run a legal election campaign from 24th September until 4th October. On the next day, on 5th October, election silence period will begin, which will last also on Sunday until 19:00hrs, when, pursuant to the law, polling stations shall be closed.
Vetëvendosje: Nominating candidate for PM easy, if we agree with LDK on platform
(KTV)
Few days have remained for LDK to decide whether it will enter a pre-election coalition with Vetëvendosje.
Despite statements of the LDK and Vetëvendosje officials that they will not give up the Prime Minister’s post, Vetëvendosje MP Albulena Haxhiu thinks that nomination of the candidate is easier, if the two parties reach an agreement on the government platform.
Haxhiu says that LDK has time until next week to take a decision on this matter.
On the other hand, Avdullah Hoti of LDK stated that it would be the leading structures of LDK that will decide about a possible coalition with Vetëvendosje and about the candidate for Prime Minister.
Since the resignation of Prime Minister Haradinaj, LDK and Vetëvendosje have started negotiations for cooperation.
On Thursday, commencing at 10:00hrs, it is expected that Kosovo MPs will vote in favour of dissolution of the Assembly, which implies entering early elections.
Pacolli: Pompeo encouraged Serbia to resume dialogue with Kosovo
(RTK)
Kosovo’s outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Behgjet Pacolli, made a statement following the meeting of the US State Secretary Mike Pompeo and the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Tuesday in New York.
On a Facebook post, Minister Pacolli wrote that the US State Secretary Mike Pompeo encouraged Serbia to focus on resumption of negotiations with Kosovo on a comprehensive normalisation agreement centred on mutual recognition.
“Secretary Pompeo emphasised that they should avoid provocations that hinder the normalisation process, and they should engage in the spirit of the necessary compromise and flexibility to ensure an agreement and to unblock the potential of both countries,” he wrote.
Pacolli expressed his gratitude to the Secretary Pompeo for his principled position in support to Kosovo, saying that at the meetings they had in the recent months, he had expressed his strong support for recognition of Kosovo.
Vucic: Unacceptable that Albanians win everything, and we recognise Kosovo
(KTV)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated that the possibility of Kosovo Albanians to win everything and Serbia nothing, was out of question, saying that neither he as the President nor the Serbian Parliament is willing to accept it. He said that he stated this stance also to the US officials at the meetings he had with them in New York.
“However, we are willing for dialogue, so that we can begin the talks as soon as possible, in order to prevent any possibility for destabilisation,” Vucic stated to the Serbian Public Television, Koha.net reported.
According to Vucic, the fact that the US officials call for mutual recognition is not quite new, as it was expected. “But we had put the calls of great powers somewhere under the rug, so to speak, and we tried to enjoy our dreams and myths. Our ears are often too soft to hear all what they think about Serbia, and in relation to Prishtinë/Pristina,” he added.
“The essence lies in the section about mutual recognition, because I can see that many people in our country who contributed to creating conditions for making the decision on Kosovo’s independence, both people in Prishtinë/Pristina and amongst the international community, have found some big news there. This is not a totally new stance of the US, because it has recognised Kosovo’s independence back in 2008,” Vucic explained.
“America is a great power, and regardless of what we speak, regardless of the government, we will not change their decision,” he highlighted.
Talking about the tariff, Vucic said that Kosovo would not lift it until the end of November, or beginning of December.
“Those who gain prestige and votes by Albanians in Kosovo are those that say the worst words about Serbia and about the Serbian President, and often also about the Serbian people; therefore, it is an illusion to expect any of them under these conditions to call for something rational and normal, namely to lift the tariff as an anti-civilised measure,” Vucic said.
However, he said that it is possible with a strong US pressure.
“When we talked to the EU, the EU people consulted the Americans, although Americans were not sitting at the table,” Vucic said, implying that the US has a strong influence regarding Kosovo.
He added that Serbia would not change the format of the dialogue.
US and Russia court Serbia as pact with Kosovo remains distant prospect
(KTV)
Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic has played down prospects for a swift resumption of EU-brokered talks with Kosovo, as the United States and Russia court Belgrade amid a battle for influence in the Balkans.
Mr Vucic flew to New York for lunch with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, as Washington and the European Union urged Serbia and Kosovo to make compromises that would help break a nine-month impasse in efforts to normalise their relations, Irish Times reported.
“Secretary Pompeo praised the strong US-Serbia relationship . . . and discussed the shared bilateral vision of a stable, secure, and prosperous western Balkans region, and continued US support for Serbia’s goal of integration into the European Union,” state department spokesman Morgan Ortagus said on Tuesday.
Resuming negotiations
Mr Pompeo also “encouraged Serbia to focus on this strategic goal by accelerating domestic reforms and resuming negotiations with Kosovo on a comprehensive normalisation agreement centred on mutual recognition”.
The US, Germany, France, Britain and Italy last week jointly urged Kosovo to lift a 100 per cent tax on Serbian imports and called on Belgrade to stop lobbying countries to scrap their recognition of Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence.
Mr Vucic said that on Serbia’s opposition to the tariff imposed last November “there is no doubt that we have American support, because they, like us, think it is important to continue the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, so that we can preserve peace”.
“I believe America wants to be involved even more strongly in different ways to solve problems in our region,” he added.
Mr Vucic warned on Wednesday, however, that talks could probably resume “in early December at best” due to snap parliamentary elections that Kosovo is expected to hold in October.
The outgoing Kosovo government of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj – whose resignation last month set the stage for early elections – says the tax should remain until Serbia accepts the sovereignty of its former province; Belgrade, meanwhile, vows to keep lobbying against recognition and Pristina’s membership of international organisations.
Balanced policy
Russia is the biggest supporter of Serbia’s position and, while Belgrade struggles towards EU accession, Moscow is strengthening its relationship with one of its last Balkan allies.
“A free trade deal between Serbia and the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to be signed on October 25th,” Russia’s ambassador to Belgrade, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, said on Tuesday in reference to a bloc of five former Soviet states dominated by Moscow.
He said the move resulted from Serbia’s “balanced policy” between east and west and would “mark an entirely new phase for Belgrade in its presence in the Eurasian space,” which could make it a future “link” between the EU and the Russian-led bloc.
Serbia is the only Balkan state that is not a member or would-be member of NATO, and Russia is supplying its military with tanks, fighter jets and helicopters.
In neighbouring Bosnia, talks to form a government 10 months after elections failed again this week, when Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik opposed a plan to move the multi-ethnic country towards membership of NATO.
MFA appoints six career ambassadors
(KTV)
One day before the Assembly is expected to be dissolved; outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Behgjet Pacolli has appointed six new career ambassadors.
The appointed ambassadors are as follows: Ilir Dugolli, Ambassador to Turkey; Frymëzim Isufaj, Ambassador to the United Kingdom; Lulzim Mjeku, Ambassador to the Saudi Arabia; Lendita Haxhitasimi, Ambassador to Italy, Lulzim Pllana, Ambassador to Austria; and Adriatik Kryeziu, Ambassador to Canada.
In a written response to Kohavision, the MFA Media Office said that the appointment of 60 per cent of career ambassadors, even beyond the law requirement, has been Pacolli’s promise; whereas, it addressed criticism to other ministries for political appointments.
“This promise of Minister Pacolli is being fulfilled at the time when the majority of the Government is criticised by Western countries for political appointments, whereas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is giving an example of how civil servants who have professional training, can take the lead of representing Kosovo abroad,” the MFA response said.
Despite these statements, two days ago, Behgjet Pacolli sent to the Assembly Foreign Affairs chairperson Vjosa Osmani, the name of PDK MP Nait Hasani, as a nominee for Kosovo’s ambassador to Albania.
In the document, which KTV got hold of, Pacolli requests from Osmani to continue with the procedures of appointment of Hasani as Head of Kosovo’s diplomatic mission to Albania, stating that he meets the requirements.
The resignation of Prime Minister Haradinaj and scheduling the session for dissolution of the Assembly has not halted Government officials from taking such decisions, which has been criticised by political experts and by political parties, such as LDK.