Thaci: Every country in the region has a Mitrovica (Zeri)
The Principal Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said on Thursday for Al Jazeera that the statement of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was misinterpreted and that the will of Albanians is European integration. He said that Serbia’s dream of dividing Kosovo is over forever and added that each country in the region has a Mitrovica and that this city is symbol of division on an ethnic basis. “The idea of the Greater Albania is created in Serbia and is not related to Albanians at all,” said Thaci.
Preteni: Judiciary, inefficient in combating corruption (Koha)
In a front-page interview for the paper, Hasan Preteni, the head of the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency, said that it is illusionary to think that the judiciary, which fails to punish high-level corruption, will issue high sentences for officials that do not declare the origin of their wealth. According to Preteni, the number of state officials that do not declare their wealth has gone up this year. Preteni also said that the biggest flaw of the judicial system is the hesitation of prosecutors to file indictments against what he called “the big fish”. “Evidence of this is the fact that so far only one senior official has been arrested on corruption charges,” he added.
Haliti criticizes PM Mustafa and KSF Commander Rama (Epoka)
Xhavit Haliti, the Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly and deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), criticized on Thursday what he called “immature statements” by Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Kosovo Security Force (KSF) commander Rrahman Rama, about the future operations of the Kosovo Armed Forces in the north. “I have heard two statements, which in my opinion were immature. A statement by the Prime Minister who said that the Kosovo Armed Forces will not operate in the north, and a statement by the KSF Commander who said that they will not ask for anyone’s permission to operate in the south or north. It is not up to the [KSF] commander to make political statements, because he must keep in mind that he answers to the commander-in-chief and that is the President,” Haliti said.
Vlora Citaku, the new Kosovo Ambassador in the U.S. (Zeri)
Based on Klan Kosova sources this daily reports that the former Minister of European Integrations, Vlora Citaku, will take over the duties of the Kosovo Ambassador to the U.S. from the 1 August. According to these sources, both parties of the coalition government agreed that Citaku should succeed the current Ambassador to the U.S., Akan Ismajli. Contacted by Klan Kosova, the President’s Spokesperson, Arber Vllahiu, said that the Presidency has not received any proposal yet. Citaku is currently Kosovo’s Consul General in New York.
Maric returns to work (Zeri)
The Minister of the Local Government, Lubomir Maric, returned to his duties after almost two months, when the Serbian List withdrew from the institutions due to the dismissal of the Minister Aleksandar Jablanovic. Maric participated in the inter-ministerial meeting for Brezovica project as the Minister of Local Government. Deputy Minister for European Integrations, Ramadan Ilazi, said at this meeting that he had not expected Maric to be present.
Gashi: Only in mafia states are bank accounts kept secret (RTK)
Astrit Gashi, chairman of the board of Gazeta Blic news site that published the financial transactions of prosecutor Aleksander Lumezi, said on Thursday that only in mafia states or Soviet countries, are the bank transactions of a candidate for the post of chief prosecutor kept secret. Gashi’s reaction came after the statement of Dardan Nuhiu, the head of the Kosovo Financial Intelligence Unit, who denied having threatened Gashi for publishing the transactions. Associations of reporters and public personalities have reacted in Gashi’s support.
