Special court clashes Kosovo and EU (Koha Ditore)
The Kosovo technical team, set up by President Atifete Jahjaga and chaired by the Minister of Justice Hajredin Kuci, finalized a report for the establishment of a special court which will deal with war crimes allegations. According to this report, the legislation proposed by the EU for establishing the court violates Kosovo’s constitution. The technical team is also reported to have detected a clause which allegedly extends the mandate of the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) for as long as the special court will be operational. The technical team prepared proposals for certain changes and, among other things, requested for the mandate of the special court to be four years and the accused to serve their sentence in Kosovo. Furthermore, two terms were requested to be removed from this legislative package: ‘genocide’ and ‘Dick Marty’. This was done to preserve the image of Kosovo. The report also requests protecting the functionality of the Constitutional Court.
Assembly not to discuss special court in upcoming session (Koha Ditore)
Members of the Kosovo Assembly will not be discussing the draft law on establishment of the special court in the upcoming session on Thursday. The Assembly’s presidency decided to call a plenary session on Thursday and also discuss appointment of members to the Kosovo Judicial Council, the Kosovo Judicial Institute and the setting up of an ad-hoc commission to select members to the independent supervising council for the Kosovo civil service.
Lunacek asks for Kosovo’s recognition at EP (Koha Ditore)
The European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday debated on the report on Kosovo and Serbia authored by Ulrike Lunacek, Rapporteur for Kosovo. European Parliament discussed Lunacek’s request for five EU member states to recognize Kosovo as a state. The EP criticized Kosovo for the small number of women in the government of Kosovo and expressed concern on the issue of irregular migration. EP also called for thorough investigation on EULEX corruption allegations. The European Parliament and stressed that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) would help Kosovo’s development. Lunacek said that the report has included calls for Kosovo to be represented more on the international scene, including sports and cultural events.
Thaci: Free movement cannot be denied to Kosovo forever (Zeri)
Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, told the Austrian newspaper Tiroler Tageszeitung that Kosovo is in the process of completing the fulfillment of the visa liberalization criteria. Despite the migration of the people of Kosovo, Thaci insisted that visa liberalization should happen soon. “The right to free movement cannot be denied forever to Kosovo people,” he said. Thaci also spoke about the achievements of Kosovo and the priorities of the government.
Former MUP officers seek integration within Kosovo Police (Epoka e Re)
Dozens of former members of the Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) protested yesterday in Mitrovica North demanding integration in the Kosovo Police (KP). Protesters claimed that based on the Brussels agreement reached between Pristina and Belgrade, their employment with MUP was terminated but they were not subsequently hired by the KP. Protesters said they will wait until 1 March for their demands to be met and if not, they will undertake more radical action.
EULEX’s internal report on corruption to be published in March (Zeri)
The head of EULEX, Gabriele Meucci, told Radio Dukagjini that nobody in Kosovo likes EULEX, especially the politicians. Politicians see the EU mission as directly undermining Kosovo’s sovereignty, said Meucci adding that the report on the investigations of allegations of corruption within EULEX will be published next month. Meucci, also said the special court will be a Kosovo court, because the decision on its establishment will be taken by the Assembly of Kosovo.
