Albanian Language Media:

• Stano confirms meeting on dinar issue on February 27 (media)
• Municipal elections in north flowing according to administrative instructions (ekonomia)
• Tahiri: We do not vote on international agreements, we aim to send country to elections (media)
• Krasniqi asks Szunyog and Guerot to lift sanctioning measures (Albanian Post)
• ​Lawyer Arsic contests CBK Regulation in Constitutional Court (Koha)
• Second meeting of Partnership Council between Kosovo and United Kingdom, held (Klan)
• “Share the Equality” awareness campaign advocating employment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, launched (Reporteri)
• Bujar Osmani, DUI’s candidate for president of North Macedonia (media)

Serbian Language Media:

• Lines of people to withdraw dinars in Kosovo also today; all categories affected (RTS)
• Radojevic: Tens of thousands of people left without wages, pensions (Tanjug)
• Stano on planned meeting in Brussels, Bislimi’s remarks (Kosovo Online, RFE)
• Andric Rakic: If Pristina continues to refuse talks, Kosovo will be discussed more often in Security Council (Kosovo Online)
• Hasani: Serbian lawyers right about the abolition of the dinar issue, but the Constitutional Court not the place for such an appeal (Kosovo Online)
• Dacic receives new Portuguese ambassador (Tanjug)

International:

• Kosovo’s Serbs hit by lines, limited withdrawals after currency ban (AFP)

Albanian Language Media  

Stano confirms meeting on dinar issue on February 27 (media)

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, has confirmed that the European emissary for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has planned to hold a meeting between Kosovo and Serbia on February 27 in Brussels, where the issue of the dinar would be discussed.

The invitation that Lajcak has sent to Pristina and Belgrade, according to Stano, followed the meetings that the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, held in Munich with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, where he discussed precisely the decision of the CBK. Stano underlined that the invitation letter from Miroslav Lajçak did not specify who should represent Kosovo and Serbia, because this matter was left to the parties.

“In other words, the EU is trying to help find a solution to a problem created by an uncoordinated decision by one side, which was not communicated in advance to the affected population. We hope that Mr. Bislimi would appreciate the effort instead of inappropriately and baselessly accusing EU officials. Such behavior is unacceptable”, Stano said in a written statement sent to the media.

Municipal elections in north flowing according to administrative instructions (ekonomia)

More than a month has passed since the collection of signatures for the dismissal of four Albanian mayors in the northern municipalities. In the CEC, they say that they are working intensively in the process of verifying the signatures. According to the current mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, irregularities were identified during the petition process. “Yes, there were irregularities, the place where they collected the signatures was not foreseen there, so it was not in order, while the CEC will decide on other issues. I might run again, I do not decide this issue myself. party bodies do”, Atiq said.

The Minister of Local Government Elbert Krasniqi said that everything is going according to the administrative instructions and that this issue is already in the hands of the CEC “No, there is no delay in the process, it is already in the hands of the CEC, everything is going according to the administrative instructions, we cannot make such claims about a delay because the CEC decides now, the signatures are being verified”

The former vice president of the Constitutional Court, Kadri Kryeziu, considers that the issue of the petition for the dismissal of the mayors in the northern municipalities, is a waste of time, since according to him, the main element is missing, which is the reason for the dismissal. “Perhaps it is being delayed on purpose, but what I can say is that 90% it will fail because there must be a reason to dismiss the mayors, they do not have a reason because the mayors have not violated the law or the constitution, so there is no reason, and I think that it will fail”, Kryeziu said.

In case that the CEC verifies the legitimacy of the petition, a vote for the dismissal of the mayors in the north has to be organized, where 50 percent plus one vote of the citizens is required. After that, President Vjosa Osmani has a legal deadline of 30-45 days to announce early elections in the four northern municipalities.

Tahiri: We do not vote on international agreements, we aim to send country to elections (media)

The head of MPs of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Abelard Tahiri, has stated that they will not vote on international agreements with the sole purpose of obstructing the majority and sending the country to extraordinary elections. “You know that for a period or rather from June of last year, the PDK parliamentary group does not even vote for an international agreement. No law has been voted within the Assembly with the sole purpose of not creating conditions for further work and for the country to go to extraordinary elections. You know that it makes no sense to make a quorum and vote on international agreements when our country is under sanctions”, Tahiri said.

He said that Kosovo needs a new government “so that we can get the country out of this isolation”. “When we are under constant threat of a suspension of the partnership with the USA, what is the point when we are isolating ourselves internationally and continue to act like everything is normal here and vote for international agreements. In every action, every effort we make in the Assembly of Kosovo is to put the country in extraordinary elections in order to get it out of international isolation and international sanctions. The country needs a new prime minister, a new government, and without a doubt it will come from the PDK in order to bring the country out of this isolation and give it a development”, he said.

Krasniqi asks Szunyog and Guerot to lift sanctioning measures (Albanian Post)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, met today wit the head of the European Union Office Tomas Szunyog, and the ambassador of France, Olivier Guerot. He reportedly requested from them to help Kosovo in removing the sanctioning measures of the European Union imposed on Kosovo.

Krasniqi announced the meeting through an article on the social network “Facebook”.

“I expressed my concern to the European diplomats regarding the difficult political and economic situation in which the country is. First of all, I asked them to help in removing the EU sanctions against the Republic of Kosovo. Our citizens should not suffer the consequences of an irresponsible and uncooperative government”, Krasniqi wrote on Facebook.

​ Lawyer Arsic contests CBK Regulation in Constitutional Court (Koha)

Lawyer Vasilije Arsiq has requested the suspension of the Regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, arguing that several articles of the Constitution have been violated. In an answer to the news website, the Constitutional Court said that on February 20, it accepted “only the request form” submitted by the lawyer, who disputes the constitutionality of Article 35 of the CBK Regulation on cash operations.

“The contested articles are: 7 [Values], 11 [Currency], 22 [Direct Implementation of International Agreements and Instruments], 23 [Human Dignity], 24 [Equality before the Law], 25 [Right to Life], 46 [Property Protection], 49 [Right to Work and Exercise the Profession], 51 [Health and Social Protection], 57 [General Principles], 58 [State Responsibilities] and 59 [Rights of Communities and Their Members] of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo”, says the answer of the Constitution.

Second meeting of Partnership Council between Kosovo and United Kingdom, held (Klan)

The Second meeting of the Partnership Council between Kosovo and the United Kingdom was held. The Kosovo delegation was composed of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade.

In the press release, it is announced that the main topics of the meeting were bilateral cooperation in the field of economy, defense, security, justice, and the support of the United Kingdom in international organizations, with special emphasis on the Council of Europe.

“In this meeting, the importance of increasing economic cooperation and commercial exchange between the two countries was emphasized, a topic to which British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron has given priority after his visit to the Republic of Kosovo and the meetings he had with the heads of state “.

“Share the Equality” awareness campaign advocating employment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians, launched (Reporteri)

With the motto “Equal employment and without discrimination”, the Office for Good Governance – Office of the Prime Minister in cooperation and support of the organization Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians in Kosovo, launched the awareness campaign to encourage and promote the employment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo.

The main goal of the campaign is to advocate that the employment of members of these communities becomes possible as provided by the Constitution of Kosovo and the laws in force.

“Be part of this campaign to promote the employment of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo.

During the coming weeks and months, ‘Share the Equality’ will involve central institutions, municipalities, foreign organizations, embassies and civil society activists to advocate together for equal employment and without discrimination”, the announcement states.

Bujar Osmani, DUI’s candidate for president of North Macedonia (media)

Media widely reported that the chairman of the Democratic Union for Integration, (Albanian political party in North Macedonia) Ali Ahmeti, has presented Bujar Osmani as the candidate for president in the presidential elections expected to be held in May.

Albanians will have two candidates for president: Osmani from DUI and Arben Taravari from the opposition. He needs 10,000 signatures to make his candidacy official. The deadline opens on February 23.

Serbian Language Media

Lines of people to withdraw dinars in Kosovo also today; all categories affected (RTS)

Lines of people of different social categories are still standing in front of the Post Office and Postal Savings Bank (Postanska stedionica) in North Mitrovica, waiting for the payment of dinars to meet basic needs and obligations, reported RTS.

They point out that they are in trouble because of Pristina’s decision to cancel dinar payments, because in the last few days they have received payments of social assistance, child allowance, and salaries from central Serbia, but that they cannot get the money.

In the branches of the Post Office and Postal Savings Bank in the north of Kosovo, a maximum of 10,000 dinars (approx. 85 euro) could be withdrawn, that are paid from the bank money stock. 

In Serbian areas south of the Ibar, there are no dinars for days, which forces citizens to go to Kursumlija, Vranje or Bujanovac for money.

Educational workers were paid their salaries from central Serbia yesterday, but they could not withdraw them.

From Pristina, they announced ten measures for the transitional period, but they have not announced them yet. Pristina’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, announced yesterday that he will not go to the meeting next week in Brussels, scheduled by Miroslav Lajcak, on the topic of regulating dinar payment transactions.

Bislimi claimed that the dinar issue is not the topic of meetings in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, recalled RTS.

Radojevic: Tens of thousands of people left without wages, pensions (Tanjug)

Former Mitrovica North mayor and Serbian List member, Milan Radojevic said today that because of decisions of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti tens of thousands of people are left without their earned wages, pensions, allowances, including the financial aid from the Serbian budget for medical treatment of those ill and socially vulnerable people, Tanjug news agency reports.

“Still the most endangered are thousands of people who receive the allowances directly from the Post Office and there is no other possibility or ways for them to receive that money”, he said in a post on Facebook.

According to him, thousands of people are left without pensions, hundreds of persons with disabilities, beneficiaries of financial aid and care for the ill or disabled, and those vulnerable are also left without possibility to receive their allowances.

Stano on planned meeting in Brussels, Bislimi’s remarks (Kosovo Online, RFE)

EU Spokesperson Peter Stano confirmed that EU Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina talks Miroslav Lajcak planned to organize a round of meeting next week to discuss Kosovo Central Bank decision to abolish dinar in payment transactions, Radio Free Europe in Serbian reported.

He also confirmed that the EU invited Belgrade and Pristina to talk about the dinar issue in a meeting on February 27.

“We usually do not comment on exchanges with our partners. However, in a letter of invitation by EU Special Envoy Lajcak it was not specified who should represent Kosovo, and who should represent Serbia, we leave that to parties to decide upon”, Stano said.  

He also explained the invitation was sent after the meetings EU High Representative Josep Borrell had with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti last week in Munich, where as he said, the issue of dinar was discussed.

“In other words, the EU is trying to help in finding a solution to the problem that was created by an uncoordinated decision of one side, and which was not communicated in advance to the affected population. We hope that Mr. Bislimi will appreciate efforts instead of inappropriately and baselessly accusing EU officials. Such behavior is unacceptable”, Stano said.

Bislimi said on Wednesday that he rejected an invitation from Brussels to talk about the dinar issue as it is not a topic in a dialogue and accused the EU Special Envoy of violating principles of the dialogue.

Andric Rakic: If Pristina continues to refuse talks, Kosovo will be discussed more often in Security Council (Kosovo Online)

New Social Initiative Program Manager Milica Andric Rakic commenting on what could be possible topic of the next Belgrade-Pristina dialogue round – abolishment of dinars or talks about proposed draft statute of Community of Serbian Municipalities – told Kosovo Online portal that in essence these two topics are interconnected, but looks as if Kosovo wants to treat them differently.

“One of the ways to resolve the issue of dinar without serious consequences for Serbian and other communities dependent upon the Serbian budget is to establish a Community of Serbian Municipalities. The point is to establish an institution that would be recognized by both Serbia and Kosovo, so Serbia can continue unobstructed financing, by which problem of financing of Serbian areas in Kosovo by Serbia would have been resolved”, Andric-Rakic said, adding that these are not necessary separate topics, although calculations of Pristina authorities could presumably be different.

“That by abolishing dinars they can abolish Serbian institutions in Kosovo without establishing a Community of Serbian Municipalities and without them being transformed into a Community of Serbian Municipalities”, she said.

She also said that for the time being there are no announcements that Pristina is ready to discuss it in the dialogue.

“We heard Albin Kurti said he will go to Brussels only to sign the agreement and that they should call him only when there is something to be signed. It is possible that Besnik Bislimi will go, but at that level between Bislimi and Petar Petkovic little can be resolved, in fact for the last two years nothing has been solved at that level. However, if Pristina continues refusing those meetings, Kosovo will be more and more discussed at the Security Council, and I assume at a certain point they would make a calculation that is not much politically conducive to Kosovo interests”, she added.

Hasani: Serbian lawyers right about the abolition of the dinar issue, but the Constitutional Court not the place for such an appeal (Kosovo Online)

Former President of the Constitutional Court Enver Hasani assessed that Serbian lawyers were right and that the currency issue could not be regulated by a Regulation, but also pointed out that the Constitutional Court was not the right place for the appeal filed seeking a review of the constitutionality of the Central Bank’s decision, but rather that it should be the subject of regular court proceedings before the administrative departments of the Basic Court in Pristina.

Commenting on the explanation of lawyer Vasilije Arsic that the currency issue could not be regulated by regulations but by a law that did not exist, Hasani said that the Serbian lawyer was correct.

“The Serbian lawyer is right regarding the fact that the implementing norm of Article 11.1 of the Constitution of Kosovo can never be a sub-legal act, such as the CBK Regulation,” Hasani stated.

He said, however, that it was unlikely that the Constitutional Court would declare the CBK decision unconstitutional.

Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/4vkztrkf

Dacic receives new Portuguese ambassador (Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic received a courtesy visit from Portugal’s newly-appointed ambassador to Serbia, Jose Rui Baptista Borges Velez Caroco, on Wednesday.

In an open and cordial discussion, the parties agreed that bilateral relations were good and friendly and that there was space and mutual readiness to advance them further as well as to step up bilateral political dialogue at all levels. Dacic thanked Portugal for its continued support for Serbia’s European integration and noted the importance of understanding the position of Serbia in the process, especially when it comes to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The parties agreed there were numerous opportunities to further strengthen all forms of cooperation of significance to both sides, in particular, in the economy, tourism, the renewable energy sector, education and cultural cooperation.

International 

Kosovo’s Serbs hit by lines, limited withdrawals after currency ban (AFP)

Long lines snaked around banks in northern Kosovo on Wednesday, as ethnic Serbs waited to receive salaries and pensions in limited tranches following a government regulation targeting Serbia’s dinar currency.

The disruption comes weeks after a new rule entered into force in Kosovo on February 1 that made the euro the only legal currency for payments in commercial transactions and effectively banned the use of the dinar.

On Wednesday, Kosovo’s Serbs working for government institutions in Serbia and pensioners were set to receive salaries in northern Kosovo, where many in the community are dependent on the payments.

Worries have been mounting for days over fears that cash was running short in the area, following the blocking of two deliveries of dinars after officials stopped cars transporting the currency at the border.

Read more at: rb.gy/14w06v