Institutions agree about further support for Kosovo youth

(Klan Kosova)

Local and international institutions agreed for more support for Kosovo youth. Furthermore, in a meeting where the plans for their support were prepared, it was said that they will be supported not in order for them not to flee Kosovo.

More work is being demanded for Kosovo youth. Minister of culture, youth and sports, Kujtim Shala together with several international representatives, held a coordination meeting for them. The aim of the meeting was to make concrete the plans for supporting Kosovo youth.

Minister Shala said that Government of Kosovo is vitally interested to promote and increase participation of youth in decision-making.

Kosovo youth also remain the main focus of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

“The OSCE has shown a long-standing commitment to support the youth, and it will continue its engagement in empowerment of Kosovar youth. We are also interested on youth inclusion in decision-making process at both the central and local government,” stated the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Jean-Claude Schlumberger.

A request by the local institutions also came out of this meeting.

“I emphasize that youth voices in Kosovo have not been satisfactorily heard; therefore I call for joint engagement in order for young people to be able to have room for work and not to leave their country,” said the head of UNICEF office in Kosovo, Mrs. Laila Omar Gad.

A pilot project that will enable youth employment was promised at the end of this meeting.

Acting Chief State Prosecutor apologizes for his accusations

(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV)

Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) will continue its work irrespective to the suspension that was made on Monday by the Acting Chief State Prosecutor Sylë Hoxha.

Furthermore, Hoxha sought apology in front of media on Tuesday to anyone that felt offended by numerous accusations that he addressed to KPC members a day earlier.

In a joint statement issued by the KPC it was called on Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga to take her decision about the Chief State Prosecutor at the earliest time possible.

In the meantime, the KPC member Sevdije Morina issued a statement regarding accusations that the Acting Chief State Prosecutor made about her.

“The statement that I attentively listened to made me feel very bad, as it revealed the level of the Acting Chief State Prosecutor. I do not want to humiliate myself by responding to all of his accusations,” Morina stated.

Wilkinson: EULEX had political agenda to prosecute ‘big fish’

(KTV)

“There was a political agenda in EULEX to prosecute ‘big fish’ without looking at the facts,” the former investigator of the EULEX Mission Troy Wilkinson said.

Talking to KTV’s Rubicon show, Wilkinson said that this happened with the Ministry of Transport and Post Telecommunication (MTPT) case.

According to him, only a day before the search Limaj was included in the suspects’ list without facts, with the only justification that he would make news and the impression that EULEX was working would be made.

Wilkinson said that this Mission has many deficiencies and that he would like to be able to tell everything to Brussels, but, according to him, they do not want to hear to what he has to say.

Speaking from Las Vegas, Wilkinson accused EULEX officials of receiving hefty salaries for not doing anything.

Amendment of Criminal Code aims to grant amnesty to officials that conceal their property

(KTV)

Amendment of Kosovo Criminal Code, respectively the Article 437, which regulates the issue of failure to report or falsely reporting property, revenue/income, gifts, other material benefits, is being seen as amnesty for officials that falsely report their property.

By this draft law proposed by the Ministry of Justice, the officials that unintentionally do not report their property are not legally prosecuted, KTV reported.

However, according to Albulena Haxhiu, Chairperson of the Kosovo Assembly’s Committee on Legislation, Mandates and Immunities, this proposal is in contradiction with the laws and it will serve only those that have become rich overnight. Therefore, the Commission will not support this amendment.

The three civil society organizations, Çohu, Kosovo Democratic Institute, and FOL Movement are also against this intervention in the Criminal Code.

In an e-mail response, Ministry of Justice justified this amendment with the aim to avoid a deficiency that was noted in the meantime in the applicable Criminal Code.

Court dismisses request for gender quota in Government

(Klan Kosova)

Kosovo Constitutional Court has given an unpleasant response for the female part of the political spectrum. It did not support their request that the Government should have a set gender quota.

It is only up to the Prime Minister, or the party leaders, to give their say about this matter. No one else can decide if the governing cabinet will have more women than it has now.

MP Alma Lame became nervous why the Constitutional Court responded negatively to 55 MPs to their request that neither gender should be represented in less than 40% in ministerial and deputy-ministerial positions in the Government.

“I am not surprised by the Constitutional Court. This is not the first illogical decision that this Court takes,” Lame said.

She considers that this decision is also in contradiction Kosovo Constitution that has gender equality as its basic principle. Lame considers Court’s decision inhuman and political.

The PDK MP Blerta Deliu also considers this decision unacceptable.

The women MP do not even think of stopping. They pledged that they will also to send this issue to Venice Commission for revision.

LGBT community members feel discriminated

(TV21, Klan Kosova)

She is no different from others, but her sexual orientation makes her feel discriminated in Kosovar society. Furthermore, she considers that even politicians do not treat her equally to other citizens.

A member of the LGBT community said that they are fed up of trying to understand if they are somewhere mentioned in the speeches made by politicians.

Myrvete Bajrami, LGBT community member criticized politicians too, during a conference that discussed the position of LGBT community vis-a-vis the political parties.

Bajrami asked the political parties if they will ever start to discuss the issue in public, and come out saying that they particularly stand for the rights of the Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community and not state that they stand behind the marginalized groups in general.

PDK representative Ardian Arifaj said in this conference that he has worked for the interests of this community. Nonetheless, he added that lot more needs to be done.

Whereas, Vetëvendosje representative spoke little about the topic he had been invited.

Ministers and representatives of other political parties were invited to the conference organized by the “Centre for Development of Civil Society Groups”, but they did not attend it.