- U.S. Embassy issues statement about Grenell’s visit to Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade (KTV)
- EU’s message: New Kosovo Government to be in line with the Constitution (GazetaExpress)
- CEC begins recount at 314 polling stations, 10 to be completely recounted (KTV)
- PSD might remain without any MP, blames coalition with AAK (KTV)
- Serbia’s FM: Important OSCE support of Media Strategy and electoral process (N1)
- Osmani expects agreement with VV to be finalized in November
(KTV’s summary of Rubicon show)
News
U.S. Embassy issues statement about Grenell’s visit to Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade
(KTV)
The Embassy of the United States of America to Prishtinë/Pristina issued a statement regarding the initial meetings in Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade by the Special Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations Ambassador Richard Grenell.
“In his first official visit to Kosovo and Serbia on October 9-10, Ambassador Richard Grenell met in Pristina with Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, as well as with party leaders Albin Kurti, Isa Mustafa, Vjosa Osmani, Kadri Veseli, and Ramush Haradinaj, and in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic,” the U.S. Embassy statement reads.
According to the U.S. Embassy statement, Ambassador Grenell started both days by first meeting with leaders of the business community.
“It is the strong belief of the Trump Administration that economic development, job creation for young people, and increased commerce opportunities are a key part of ensuring a durable peace. The goal is to bring our partners in Serbia and Kosovo together for a comprehensive solution to resolve points of conflict in the region. Both sides will need to work closely and quickly, with an eye toward the future,” the statement ends.
EU’s message: New Kosovo Government to be in line with the Constitution
(GazetaExpress)
After Kosovo parties who won Sunday’s election started on Thursday coalition talks, the likely new prime minister and leader of Vetevendosje, Albin Kurti, stated that there will be no ministers of the Srpska List in his cabinet. Following his statement, the European Union in an answer to Gazeta Express said they expect the work for forming the new government to be in line with the Constitution of Kosovo.
Kurti addressing media after meeting the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, said that as prime minister of Kosovo he will fulfil the constitutional obligation to have a Serbian minister in his cabinet, reiterating that he will find someone out of Srpska Lista, a political entity which won all reserved seats in Kosovo Parliament.
“Our Constitution obliges us to have a Serbian minister if we have 12 ministries, and we will respect the Constitution of Kosovo, but we are not intending to run after the Srpska Lista, without meeting with other Serbs outside Srpska List who ran in the elections and faced injustice which was reported also by international observers. We will not make third or fourth step without takin the first one by consulting Kosovo Serbs who accept the Republic and recognise independence of our country,” Kurti stated.
Deputy Head of Srpska List, Dalibor Jevtic, said forming new Government of Kosovo without them is impossible. He told Serbian state broadcaster RTS that Srpska List won all reserved seats in Kosovo Parliament and this leaves no room for Albanian leaders “to bargain” with interests of Serbian citizens in Kosovo.
The EU Commission spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic, in an answer to Gazeta Express, said the European Union looks forward to the formation of a new government as soon as the relevant procedures are completed.
“This is important so that Kosovo can swiftly resume work on reforms in support of economic and social development as well as rule of law, on the implementation of the EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Agreement and on the EU-facilitated Dialogue with Belgrade. We expect all political actors to remain committed to these processes, which are key for Kosovo’s future, for progress on its European path, and most importantly for the benefit of the people of Kosovo and of the whole region,” it is written in the answer.
Asked to comment Kurti’s statements, the EU spokeswoman Kocijancic said: “We expect the work for forming the new government to be in line with the Constitution of Kosovo.”
CEC begins recount at 314 polling stations, 10 to be completely recounted
(KTV)
Ballots of 314 polling stations have started to be recounted at the Count and Results Centre.
This is happening since there was data mismatch between numbers of the parties and the columns to which the votes were transferred after counting.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has justified the ballot recount of those polling stations, saying that it has happened due to a technical error in printing out of ballots.
The number of polling stations to be recounted is as follows: in Prishtinë/Pristina 46, in Prizren 26, in Pejë/Pec and Podujevë/Podujevo 17 each, and a few in some other municipalities.
CEC has not commented on whether the recount of 314 polling stations could change the election result.
The recount process of 314 polling stations is expected to be completed within five days.
Meanwhile, counting of over 20,000 conditional ballots and those from diaspora has not started yet.
On the other hand, the leader of Nisma Fatmir Limaj has reacted to the CEC’s decision for partial recount of ballot boxes.
Limaj said that the decision for partial recount is insufficient to correct the distorted result.
Referring to the error on forms, which has been admitted by CEC, Limaj has requested a total ballot recount.
PSD might remain without any MP, blames coalition with AAK
(KTV)
Ballot recount of last Sunday’s elections has not finished yet. However, based on the ballots counted so far, it seems that PSD risks remaining without any MP.
Natyra Kuçi is the only PSD candidate who is still in the race to get a seat in the Assembly.
The poor election result made the PSD’s Executive Committee to convene.
According to Kuçi, it was the coalition with AAK that damaged the party.
Rasim Alijaj, analyst, believes that being not represented in the Assembly may lead to closing down of the party.
On the other hand, citizens say that PSD did not perform well in governing Prishtinë/Pristina, which made them not to vote for this political entity.
In the October 6th elections, PSD ran together with AAK, a coalition which, according to preliminary results, has won about 11.5 per cent of the vote.
Serbia’s FM: Important OSCE support of Media Strategy and electoral process
(N1)
Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, said the OSCE support to Serbia and that his country was satisfied with the cooperation with the organisation, especially regarding the Media Strategy and the improvement of the electoral process, the Beta news agency reported on Thursday.
After meeting the OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Dacic said he was happy with the cooperation with OSCE in Kosovo as well.
Greminger said Serbia had an essential role in promoting the economic cooperation in the region.
“Dacic and I had an open and sincere meeting. We talked about the OSCE activities in Serbia. I’m glad to see Serbia as a loyal and active partner to our organisation,” he said, adding OSCE would continue its support of the reforms in Serbia in the area such as the independent judiciary.
Osmani expects agreement with VV to be finalized in November
(KTV’s summary of Rubicon show)
In an interview with KTV Rubicon show on Thursday evening, LDK nominee for Prime Minister Vjosa Osmani said they expected to win over 200,000 votes, but the image of LDK had been damaged by several incidents that occurred at some of the sub-branches.
“Once we entered the election process, everything had some influence. The difference with Vetëvendosje was only 1 per cent. Then, in the election process, everything changed. Of course, we need to check where we went wrong,” she said, reiterating that she enjoyed maximal support from her party.
She said that her hands are not tied up, and she was never influenced by other individuals in the party.
Osmani also talked about the videos that have been recently shared on social networks, where she speaks against Isa Mustafa, and Lutfi Haziri speaks against her.
“Everything was a fabrication. Those were narratives of our political opponents that damaged us to some extent. On a video where Haziri spoke against, the opposite was true, as the video was edited,” she said, adding that LDK has not taken those things seriously.
Osmani underlined that there was no competition between her and Haziri in the race for Prime Minister, but that there were only discussions.
“After our comprehensive discussion, I received the support,” she said.
Osmani justified the loss of LDK’s candidate Lutfi Haziri in Gjilan/Gnjilane, versus Vetëvendosje. There, LDK is behind Vetëvendosje with 13 per cent, or about 5,600 votes.
Osmani stressed that Lutfi Haziri was engaged Kosovo-wide, not only in Gjilan/Gnjilane.
“That is why he was handicapped, because he could not deal only with Gjilan/Gnjilane, but he was Kosovo-wide as the election campaign manager, at our request,” she said.
“I am not justifying him, but no-one can point at anyone for not working properly and sufficiently. I would like to thank all those who worked day and night, and who unreservedly supported me,” she added.
According to Osmani, people vote differently at the local and differently at the central level.
Nevertheless, according to her, it is important that LDK has grown to about 25 per cent compared to the previous general elections.
“According to our calculations, we have had growth of over 50,000 votes. Taking out AKR and Alternativa with whom we ran together in the previous elections, it implies that this time we have had a growth of about 25 per cent. We ran alone, and that was a good decision. It was very important for us to weigh our own forces,” Osmani highlighted.
Vjosa Osmani stated that according to the election results announced so far, she has won around 85 or 90 per cent of the votes that LDK won as a party. However, she said that the number of the votes she has won will be confirmed only after certification of the election results.
“So far, the record of votes for a woman has been 65,000, which I won. I still don’t know the number of votes, but based on what I can see, my vote is around 85, or 90 per cent of the LDK vote,” Osmani said.
According to her, LDK won about 200,000 votes, thanks to the great job of the LDK team with its engines, which are its branches and sub-branches.
Vjosa Osmani of LDK, who on Thursday agreed on principle with Albin Kurti of Vetëvendosje Movement to enter a coalition that would form next government, told KTV’s Rubicon show that they are still waiting for the remainder of ballots to be counted, when everything between them should be clear.
“We expected to be far ahead, but now we should wait for the final result which will show the position of these two parties,” she said.
Osmani, who was LDK’s nominee for Prime Minister, said that after all ballots are counted, they will try to reach an agreement with Vetëvendosje.
Talking about her meeting with Kurti on Thursday, Osmani said that nothing concrete has been decided, and they have only reached the agreement with VV to negotiate.
“We agreed to try and reach an agreement. At the meeting, both our sides showed good will for cooperation and negotiation. However, we have not achieved anything so far. All we have reached is the agreement to negotiate,” Osmani explained.
She said that LDK does not see any other government partner.
“If we fail to reach anything between us, of course the opposition is an option. Meanwhile, there is full willingness for reaching an agreement, but I cannot tell what the final result will be, because it is early and we are waiting for the final results,” she added.
According to her, presently there is good will for co-governance. She is optimistic that nothing will go wrong on the way, but she emphasised that VV must know that when they sit to negotiate, they will sit as equals.
Osmani said that they cannot enter a government coalition, if they have opposite ideas.
“We can’t have two parallel governments. We aim to form the government as soon as possible, but one should not have the illusion that this is something simple,” she said.
LDK nominee for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, commented on a statement made by her husband, Prindon Sadriu, shortly after the announcement of the preliminary election result who accused Vetëvendosje exponent Agim Bahtiri of backing a portal that fabricated fake news to attack Osmani.
“Prindon talked about the attacks that were made on our family. This does not have to do with LDK. He spoke at a moment when our children’s lives were in danger. He wrote that when some people came into our backyard and scared our children,” Osmani said.
She said that ad-hoc portals and websites created spread untruths, “as if we are spies of Serbia, of Russia, as if Vjosa is a Hague witness and she has gathered evidence against the KLA.”
Vjosa Osmani said they will look how many votes she and Albin Kurti got in order to reach a final co-government agreement with VV.
Unwilling to comment a lot, she left the issue of Prime Minister’s post open saying that it is important to know first the votes of the candidates for Prime Minister, in this case herself and Kurti.
Osmani said she will not prejudge, but it is important to know how many votes candidates for Prime Minister have, that is she and Kurti from Vetëvendosje, how many votes the party she comes from has, and how many VV has, same as how many mandates they have.
“One cannot rule if he has only 30 MPs,” she said.
“Do not let me be misunderstood that there is no will; on the contrary there is goodwill among us,” she said.
Osmani says if the result changes, “I am the only LDK candidate for Prime Minister.”
“VV should have one thing clear, in case an agreement is reached between us, we will never work behind their back. It is important that they act the same,” she said.
Osmani added that out of the 21 ministries that were so far, in Thursday’s meeting with Kurti it was discussed which ministries could be reduced and merged.
“At least 30 percent of them will be with women,” she underlined.
Osmani said she would not be part of the government by all means. She said she had not made any decision so far about this and she will look into it in the coming days.
According to Osmani, there are many areas that LDK does not give up, but said it is too early to discuss them.
“If there is a reduction to 12 ministries there will be more departments,” she said.
Vjosa Osmani of LDK said that together with Vetëvendosje Movement they will get 61 or more MPs.
However, she said that Srpska Lista votes will be important.
“Together with the minorities we will reach a stable government with two-thirds,” she said.
As a lawyer, she finds participation of Srpska Lista important.
“Let’s say that ministers do not necessarily have to be of Srpska Lista, but their vote should certainly be,” she said.
“It is important that we discuss with everyone, including the Srpska Lista. If the majority in the 10 seats of the Serb MPs are from them, we should have their votes in mind, this is what our Constitution says,” Osmani stressed.
Osmani also spoke about the contract with ContourGlobal, considering it dangerous and said it will not be supported.
“Tomorrow our two political parties will discuss the issue,” she announced.
Osmani talked about some points that her party shares with Vetëvendosje Movement and those that unite them.
She said all the disputable issues would be discussed in the coming days.
“Some points are symbolic and some are more substantial. For us, the Republic of Kosovo is a permanent project and we work for Kosovo to be a permanent project, not as a transitional step,” Osmani said, adding that this is an issue that LDK does not even think it should be included in the governing program.
“We have so much work to do to strengthen Kosovo’s statehood that this topic’s turn will never come up,” she stated.
She said she considers the issue of using the [Albanian currency] Lek in Kosovo as completely unnecessary.
“With Albania there is a lot of room for cooperation, of course with brotherly relations, as two independent states. Barriers to trade should be removed,” she said.
Talking about mandatory military service, she said they see this issue a little differently from Vetëvendosje.
“It is required that along the transformation of KSF into an Army, to also build full capacities, and then a mandatory three-month military service begins. This reduces the number of recruits and is financially more affordable. It also helps the younger generations to respect their state more, and to create a working habit”, Osmani said.
She said that LDK thinks the budget for the military should be kept at the level of NATO states.
“I think at this point we find a middle ground with VV. We are glad that the VV, as a leftist party, is thinking that there should be more budget and infrastructure for the army,” Osmani said.
According to Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo cannot reach a good final agreement with Serbia without the US support.
Following Wednesday’s meeting with the US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who is President Trump’s special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Osmani said that US support for Kosovo is good news.
LDK’s nominee for Prime Minister, Vjosa Osmani, qualified the idea of a Balkan Mini-Schengen a grave mistake, agreed by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Serbian President Alexander Vucic and North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Thursday.
“I think it’s unfortunate that such a thing happened. I do not know if Prime Minister Rama consulted with anyone in Kosovo before reaching such an agreement, but it is totally wrong,” Osmani said, given that Albania and Serbia do not meet anywhere except through Kosovo.
Osmani said that Kosovo’s goal so far has been for Kosovo to be accepted in all regional initiatives.
“Beyond that, we are seeing that not only is Serbia obstructing Kosovo, but Albania is ignoring it in this case. It is absolutely wrong for Albania to agree to reach an agreement in which Kosovo is not a party, as an independent state,” Osmani told KTV’s Rubicon show.
According to Vjosa Osmani, discussion on post-electoral coalition with VV will be finalized in November.
She said that after certification of results, she expects discussions to last no more than two to three weeks.
Osmani added that they see VV as the only alternative for co-government and that if this agreement fails, they are not afraid of elections.
“It’s good to try to reach a deal in record time. When the results will be certified it should not take us more than two to three weeks. If we will have a final result during October, then we would need to finalize discussions within November. We have the willingness to conclude discussions as soon as possible, after the results will be known. If VV is willing too, I don’t see that there can be big problems. We see no other governing partner, we only see VV. If VV fails to reach an agreement, we enter new elections. We are not afraid of elections. I hope that VV will show the same willingness to make this change that the citizens voted for,” she said.
Asked about Albin Kurti’s visit to the grave of late President Ibrahim Rugova, Vjosa Osmani said “Kurti must feel it to do so.”
“This is something that you have to feel. It is important to me that Mr. Kurti, same as every other politician and as the citizens know, is aware that President Rugova was the architect of the independent state,” Osmani said.
Osmani said she was pleased that Kurti visited the Museum of Independence, where the work that LDK and President Rugova did in building the foundations of the state is exhibited.