- CEC decision: Voting in elections only with Kosovo documents (RTK2)
- MFA bans entrance to officials from Belgrade (KTV)
- Serb List in Kosovo: “When Serbia is calling-give your vote”; Kosovo IDs a must (N1)
- Special Prosecution Office is aware who gave footage of Ivanovic’s murder to Trajkovic (KTV)
- Ivanovic: Djuric was carrier of the wild campaign against Oliver (RTKLive)
- Women’s Network: Judiciary failed to protect gender equality (KTV)
- Haradinaj says “Yes” to national unification, calls Kurti a cheater (Summary of T7 Pressing show)
- Osmani: US will not request to move forward with idea of territory exchange (Summary of Klan Kosova’s Electoral Zone show)
News
CEC decision: Voting in elections only with Kosovo documents
(RTK2)
Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kosovo, Valdete Daka, said on Thursday that at the election on Sunday, October 6th, citizens will only be able to vote with Kosovo identification documents.
This is the response to a statement made by the Director of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, who told RTS that “polling station committees in Serb-majority areas will certainly recognise all documents, while we will of course report attempts to discriminate and prevent this to the international organizations, and I think it is important that the OSCE plays its part”.
CEC member from Vetëvendosje Movement, Adnan Rustemi, told Gazetablic.com portal that Belgrade, through Srpska Lista, “exerts pressure and it blackmails” Serbs living in Kosovo and Serb political entities running in the October 6th elections.
“They called on the security institutions in Kosovo to be more active and create a good environment for all political parties to conduct their electoral activities in a democratic spirit. Serb community should be immune to these attempts by Belgrade,” said Rustemi, stressing that the CEC will be ready for every possible situation.
The CEC chairwoman said that the CEC’s decisions are obligatory for everyone and that “all commissioners who will not follow the instructions on the use of identification documents will suffer legal consequences.”
MFA bans entrance to officials from Belgrade
(KTV)
The Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to ban Serbian officials from Belgrade from entering Kosovo, to campaign for the Serb parties and supporting any of them.
According to the advisor to the incumbent Kosovo Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jetlir Zyberaj, the decision was made after threats that are being made by Belgrade to the Serb community in Kosovo, TV Arta reports.
“Belgrade officials cannot and will not be allowed to campaign in the Kosovo elections. Nor will Belgrade’s threats against Kosovo Serb community be tolerated. Belgrade knows the reality in Kosovo and it must act in line with it, respecting the Constitution and laws of Kosovo,” said Zyberaj.
Serb List in Kosovo: “When Serbia is calling–give your vote”; Kosovo IDs a must
(N1)
Serb List, a Kosovo Serb party backed by Belgrade, held on Wednesday its final convention ahead of Sunday’s elections, under the “When Serbia is calling – give your vote,” slogan, adding that party was “the only guarantor of the survival of the Serbs in Kosovo,” the Beta news agency reported.
The party’s candidates called on people gathered to encircle number 135 on the ballot paper.
Saying the links with Serbia “cannot be broken,” and that without help from Belgrade “there would not be wages in education, health service and other institutions” in Kosovo, the Serb List added that Serbia financed 350 projects in the north.
The convention ended with the message from Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic who called on local Serbs to turn out en masse on Sunday and vote for Serb List.
Vucic earlier said he would go to the northern part of the divided town of Mitrovica, but Pristina authorities banned any Belgrade official from campaigning there. They turn back three of them who tried to cross to Kosovo despite the ban.
Kosovo Central Election Commission (CIK) confirmed on Thursday that only people with Kosovo’s IDs would be allowed to vote on Sunday. Earlier Belgrade told those without such documents to try to cast ballots anyway.
“Turn out in the highest possible number, because we vote for our survival in Kosovo and Metohija (still official name Belgrade uses for its former province), our hearthstone, for salaries in schools and hospitals from Serbia. They (the Albanians) will deprive us of all of that if the Serb List’s voice isn’t heard. Serbia is calling, and I beg of you to show the responsibility and seriousness,” Vucic told Kosovo Serbs.
Besides Serb List, the Serb opposition coalition “Freedom” also takes part in the early general elections in Kosovo, as the primary opponent to the Belgrade-supported party.
Both organisations have complained of being “persecuted” and exchanged bitter comments.
Special Prosecution Office is aware who gave footage of Ivanovic’s murder to Trajkovic
(KTV)
Only a few days after Serb politician Rada Trajkovic stated to Serbian media that a person had provided her with recording and footage of the moment of the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, Trajkovic was invited for interview by the Special Prosecution Office.
On Wednesday, Trajkovic at the Prosecution Office gave her statement and provided the information that she possesses regarding the murder, which occurred in January this year.
Besides her, another witness has been interviewed up to now, KTV reported.
According to Sylë Hoxha, the Prosecution Office is aware of the person’s identity and location, and that it has already taken actions in relation to this case.
Amongst persons who are being investigated by the Prosecution is an official of SDP, who is believed to have been close to security cameras at the political party, and it is alleged that the cameras did not work exactly at the moment when Oliver Ivanovic was murdered.
On the other hand, one of the suspects, namely deputy chairman of Srpska Lista Milan Radoicic, remains out of reach to the Kosovo Prosecution Office, which has already issued international arrest warrant for him.
Oliver Ivanovic was murdered as he was entering premises of his party SDP in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, with six bullets, on 16th January 2018.
Ivanovic: Djuric was carrier of the wild campaign against Oliver
(RTKLive)
Oliver Ivanovic’s nephew Aleksandar Ivanovic, told Serbian broadcaster N1 that head of the Office for Kosovo at the Serbian government Marko Djuric, was one of the main carriers of the wild campaign against the late Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic.
He recalled Oliver Ivanovic’s statements that showed his fear that he could be killed.
Aleksandar Ivanovic spoke also about the wild campaign of Serbian broadcasters, where some senior Serbian officials called not to vote Oliver Ivanovic as he is against Serbia’s interests.
He also mentioned an interview on N1 two months before Ivanovic was killed, saying “they are doing everything; they simply have not shot me yet.”
Women’s Network: Judiciary failed to protect gender equality
(KTV)
Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) in a statement to the media said that it has been informed about the Prishtinë/Pristina Basic Court decision in relation to the proposal for temporary measure, which was presented in the Ombudsperson’s lawsuit against the Central Election Commission (CEC), concerning unequal representation of women on election lists.
According to KWN, temporary measure aimed to suspend legal effects of election lists’ certification, which did not ensure equal gender representation, required by the Law on Gender Equality, passed by the Kosovo Assembly in June 2015.
KWN says that the Court decision found the Ombudsperson’s claim ungrounded and not urgent, although national elections are about to take place and that as a consequence of the institutional inaction, women will not be represented equally.
KWN believes that the Court’s justification to rejecting Ombudsperson’s claim and saying that Ombudsperson should have provided evidence on which entities/individuals have not been included in the election list, is a legal nonsense that moves beyond the claim, given that the Ombudsperson’s claim clearly proved that there is group discrimination, as the case is about the opportunity for equal representation pursuant to the Law on Gender Equality.
KWN says that non-recognition of the relevant legislation, principles of the Law against Discrimination and Law on Gender Equality by the Court is concerning, as this decision has removed the lawsuit for discriminated groups from practical implementation, thus violating principles of the relevant legislation and by not allowing using the right to appeal the decision.
Haradinaj says “Yes” to national unification, calls Kurti a cheater
(Summary of T7 Pressing show)
On Thursday evening the T7 Pressing show separately hosted two nominees for Prime Minister, namely Albin Kurti from Vetëvendosje Movement and the AAK-PSD nominee Ramush Haradinaj.
Kurti initially spoke about his arrest by the Serbian forces in April 1999. At that time, Kurti was arrested on charges of endangering the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. Throughout the trial he had refused to recognize the judicial system of Yugoslavia, saying that that court did not belong to his people who now had their own independent state.
“I never thought I would ever get out of jail,” Kurti said.
“When I was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, I didn’t think I would come out alive,” Kurti said.
Kurti also says that all Albanian prisoners were mistreated by Serbian forces.
Kurti also talked about the statements made by Florin Krasniqi on the same show on Wednesday evening. VV’s nominee for Prime Minister said he doesn’t understand how Krasniqi was attacking him now just before the elections.
“I really esteem Florin. But I esteem him for his past. Now I can’t understand how he left all his businesses in America to come and attack Vetëvendosje Movement just before the elections,”Kurti said.
On the same note, Kurti said that they never received any money from Devolli brothers.
He responded to a statement by his rival, Vjosa Osmani, who compared him to the former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Kurti says he has never been compared to communist revolutionaries, not even at the time of President Ibrahim Rugova.
Vetvendosje leader described his meetings with Rugova during 1997. He says that Rugova did not compare him to the former Latin American communist leaders, as Osmani did.
“In 1997 I was twice in meetings with the former president, Dr Ibrahim Rugova. We disagreed with him, but we agreed with his intentions. Despite the disagreements, he has called me neither Fidel Castro nor anything else. What Vjosa has said is ignoble,” Kurti said.
Kurti, among other things, spoke about the statement of Ramush Haradinaj, who called him a cheater.
“The person who was the leader against demarcation signed it as soon as he came to power,” Kurti said.
“This is more or less like the story of Richard III, who sold his kingdom for a horse and then the horse ran away. Haradinaj passed demarcation only for a seat. He also resigned two years after this,” Kurti underlined.
Kurti says he knows the reason why opponents call him a cheater.
“If I were like them, they wouldn’t attack me. If I was bad, they would support me. But they know I am different and I do not become part of their calculations, therefore they attack me,” Kurti continued.
In the second part of the show, Ramush Haradinaj said he does not trust Albin Kurti. Furthermore, Haradinaj did not hesitate to call Kurti a cheater again.
“I assure you that Kurti is a cheater, I cannot trust him,” Haradinaj said.
He recalled a time when Kurti disagreed with Kosovo’s national football team and its flag.
However, Haradinaj admitted that Kurti has recently evolved.
“Now we see that he has evolved,” Haradinaj added.
Haradinaj also spoke about the Movement that Kurti heads.
“The approach of the Vetëvendosje Movement is communist,” Haradinaj said.
He also mentioned the LDK’s nominee for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani.
“Vjosa has brought freshness in these elections. But to be real those things she is promising are not realistic. She is saying that she will de-capture the state, while LDK itself is part of the state capture,” he added.
Among other things Haradinaj also talked about the issue of the nation.
When asked if he was in favour of national unification, he simple answered: “Yes”.
He also said that he considers the nation more important than religion, even though he also considers the latter important.
Osmani: US will not request to move forward with idea of territory exchange
(Summary of Klan Kosova’s Electoral Zone show)
The LDK’s nominee for Prime Minister Vjosa Osmani said that their election campaign has been excellent.
She said that she will take her own decisions as Prime Minister.
“I will take my decisions autonomously. Our constituents do not question this, because I have convinced them throughout my career. Decisions are autonomous, always in the interest of citizens, by representing their interests,” she said.
“I represent the largest party in the country, and we take decisions together. I do not take decisions that are not in the interest of citizens. I am not the party leader, but this should not be viewed as an obstacle; on the contrary, it is very positive. We have the leader who supports us unconditionally, we have the Executive Committee, and above all, we have citizens that support us currently,” Osmani added.
“At some point, even at Vetëvendosje someone was the party leader and someone else was the nominee for Prime Minister; however, we are building our own model, the model that works,” Osmani highlighted.
Vjosa Osmani is deeply convinced that the US has never and will never request implementation of the idea of territory exchange between Kosovo and Serbia.
“I am convinced that the US will not request to move forward with the idea of territory exchange or with other dangerous ideas that are dangerous not only for Kosovo, but for the regional stability as well,” she said.
“Even in the last two years, it was not the US that requested for the border issue to be included in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. This has been proved by statements of the White House, Department of State, and the US Embassy in Kosovo, which is the only representative and voice of that country in Kosovo,” Osmani stressed.
“Regardless the attempts of some people for moving forward this idea with the justification that it is allegedly pushed by the US, I am convinced that they will not come up with such an idea, but of course they will ask for sides to be flexible in this process,” she added.
She said that Serbia, like Brussels and the US, should be persuaded in this process based on arguments.
“First of all, with the power of arguments we should persuade Brussels, the US, and finally also Serbia that we will have the dialogue with. We should never forget the context of the Kosovo-Serbia relations, because over the last seven years, the reason why we entered this process was forgotten.
“The key purpose why the dialogue began was to discuss practical issues dealing with lives of citizens in both countries. However, on the way, it went completely off track,” she explained.
Osmani called President Hashim Thaçi an ally of Serbia, who promoted and pushed this idea forward.
“Unfortunately, we have reached a point where Serbia has found an ally in Kosovo, the President of Kosovo, who allowed Kosovo’s statehood to be questioned, by allowing for the border issue to be presented at the table,” she said.
“From now onwards, Kosovo will be represented by its woman Prime Minister, but this does not imply that we will not attempt to build a national consensus on such a vital issue and process for the country,” Osmani said.
She reemphasised her conviction that the US will not request for territory exchange to be included in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
“I am convinced that it will not be requested, but even if it will be requested, Kosovo can accept only those plans or ideas that are in the interest of statehood, protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that above all are in the interest of regional stability,” Osmani concluded.
Talking about her plans about the dialogue with Serbia and her conditions to the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Vjosa Omani said:
“I have dealt with this process for a long time. I understand that the compromise for Kosovo was concluded with the Ahtisaari Settlement. The other compromise is that we are sitting with Serbia, in spite of the fact that it still has not apologized for the crimes committed against Albanians in Kosovo and it still has not paid war reparations.”
“There are stories that each of us remembers. I was 16-years-old during the war, and when we sit at the table with Vucic, I will be the only member that has lost family members, the only one who has missing family members, the only one whose flat was burnt during the war, the only one that I saw with my own eyes persons I grew up with as they were being killed,” she added.
“When we sit in that room and when I speak about missing persons, I will speak like every mother of Gjakovë/Djakovica and Kosovo would. I will speak on their behalf. My task is to protect interests of Kosovo, not what the Serbian President wants me to speak,” Osmani emphasised.
“In every dialogue process, consent of both sides is needed so that a certain topic is set on the table. They will never have my and my government’s consent to discuss other topics,” Osmani stated.
Osmani said they will make coalition with the parties that accept the pillars of their platform. But she once again emphasized the red line they have towards PDK.
But Osmani said they are open to other parties with the same criteria.
“We will not limit ourselves to Vetëvendosje. We have a red line, but this platform will be offered to other parties, but these pillars are non-negotiable.”
LDK nominee for Prime Minister said that one should not hurry to reach an agreement with Serbia, since, according to her; quality of the agreement is the most important.
“We must make sure that the agreement is truly final and applicable, which has the consent of Kosovo citizens, and which does not affect internal regulation,” Osmani said.
“We must necessarily look at the context of Kosovo-Serbia relations, not only from 2011. We cannot forget that there was a terrible war and Serbia still has not apologized for the victims, rapes … The human context cannot be left out in this dialogue.”
“When we ask what will Serbia gain, we should go back to 2010 and the goal that the dialogue had. The goal was that both sides to benefit on their path to EU. This is the biggest benefit and there can be no other benefit than the EU integration.”
Osmani said the conditions for talks with Serbia are clear.
“We do not allow border issues to be a topic of dialogue. We have made painful compromises with Ahtisaari’s Settlement. We cannot afford to go beyond that because Kosovo would become dysfunctional.”
Osmani said that 23 points of the Constitutional Court verdict apply for the Association of Serb Majority Municipalities.
LDK’s nominee for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, said that with her government in the next mandate, the European Union will no longer have any reason to hinder visa liberalization for Kosovars.
Osmani explained how she views possible governance with the two parties that have cooler relations with the US – Vetëvendosje and AAK – with whom they can have a coalition if LDK wins.
“We will help those parties understand first and foremost that this permanent friendship and this strategic partnership with the US is existential to the being of Kosovo state.”
“We will help them that together with us to open the doors, not only in Washington, Brussels, but elsewhere – in Berlin in particular,” Osmani ended.
