EULEX with a political mission (Tribuna)
A confidential strategy for restructuring of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo notes that a new EU mission will have competencies in implementation of agreements reached in Brussels and this paper is expected to be discussed in talks between the Government of Kosovo and EU. Once these discussions end, the future of the mission that is to replace EULEX will be more clearly defined.
The strategy, which the paper claims to possess, also says that the new EU mission will have exclusive competencies in the ongoing high-profile cases but that new cases will be initiated following request from Kosovo authorities.
The mission is also expected to enjoy additional competencies in the municipalities north of River Ibri.
Kosovo Government officials did not wish to comment on the paper those in the EU said empowerment of the mission in the field of implementation of agreements was discussed in Brussels during Kosovo-Serbia talks.
Thaçi, alone against Serbia (Zëri)
Kosovo delegation in Brussels talks is expected to be represented only by officials from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) as those from the Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK) have announced they will not be involved in the teams.
AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj said that talks have become a process that is being abused and that not only will the party recall its representative in the negotiating team, Blerim Shala, but will demand Kosovo leaves talks altogether.
Hospital in the north not part of Brussels dialogue (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports that the hospital in north Mitrovica is not integrated into the Kosovo healthcare system and there is no strategy to integrate it. Kosovo Government officials say the issue is not likely to be discussed in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue in Brussels while healthcare officials say the problem requires a political solution.
“Hospital in the north of Mitrovica shares the fate of other institutions in that part of Kosovo. Its fate is linked to political issues with the north of Kosovo”, said Faik Hoti from the Ministry of Health.
At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi said the issue has not been addressed during negotiations and added that he didn’t believe it would ever be in the agenda of talks. He noted that the issue of the hospital and other health services in the north will be resolved by Kosovo institutions.
Election reform waits for the leaders (Koha Ditore)
Finalisation of election reform continues to depend on political leaders as the commission tasked with concluding the process is waiting for resolution of several issues before it can resume work. Member of the commission from PDK, Halit Krasniqi, said there is not much work left to be done to round up the process and noted that one of the pressing matters includes Assembly’s decision to extend the mandate for the commission.
Land given to the monastery during repressive regime (Tribuna)
Historians from Deçan have written a letter to the Kosovo Academy of Arts and Science and Institute of History in Pristina asking them to give a view on the decision of the special chamber of the Kosovo Supreme Court in 2012 to give socially-owned property to the Orthodox Monastery of Deçan. They argued that if the land is given to the Monastery, it will block economic development of Deçan and the construction of the Deçan-Plava road.
Historians also claimed that the original decision to give away the land to the Monastery was taken back in 1993 when Belgrade had introduced repressive measures in Kosovo.
