Mogherini: Agreements to be finalized in coming days (dailies)
The Prime Ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Isa Mustafa and Aleksandar Vucic, continued their talks in Brussels on Tuesday, focusing on unresolved issues such as energy, telecoms, the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and freedom of movement. During the meeting, they only reached an agreement for the mutual recognition of vehicle insurance policies. Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, said through a press release that progress has been reached on all issues. “Our teams will continue to work on these four issues during the following hours and we will meet again in the following days to finalize the agreements,” Mogherini said. Several dailies note that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa did not talk to the media after meeting his Serbian counterpart. Koha Ditore’s Brussels-based correspondent reports that the next round of talks between Mustafa and Vucic would be held next Monday. Meanwhile, the technical groups of both sides have been tasked with preparing the agreements that are expected to be signed next week. An unnamed diplomatic source told Koha Ditore that representatives of the United States were present at the meeting between Mustafa and Vucic.
Thaci: Association in accordance with Kosovo’s Constitution (Indeksonline)
Kosovo’s Principal Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Hashim Thaci, told the news site on Tuesday that the latest round of talks in Brussels was difficult but also successful for the Kosovo delegation. “We can say we have cemented our position that the Association [of Serb-majority municipalities) should be established in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, the Law on Local Self-Government of the Republic of Kosovo and other European local government documents,” he said. Thaci also said that on the energy issue, the delegation from Pristina made it clear that no one would be allowed to contest Kosovo’s properties.
Tahiri: Serbia committed genocide in Kosovo (Zeri)
Kosovo’s minister without portfolio Edita Tahiri blamed Belgrade for delays in implementation of agreements for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. She said this was because Kosovo-Serbia relations are being built after Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo. “Sometimes it is not good to mention this but I will say that Serbia committed genocide in Kosovo,” Tahiri said.
Civil society and media representatives write open letter to PM Mustafa (Zeri)
A group of journalists, publicists and civil society representatives have written an open letter to Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa asking him not to vote on the draft law for establishment of specialized chambers which stipulates that the possible indictees would enjoy financial support from the Kosovo institutions. “We believe the war for liberation of Kosovo had a noble and fair cause and as a result was pure and legitimate. Alleged crimes are crimes of individuals which means not of the people and not of Kosovo,” wrote the undersigned group. They further claim that as the specialized chambers are set to function through EU funds, so should the defence of the indictees.
Great Britain to help resolve fate of missing persons (Kosova Sot)
The British Ambassador in Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, has expressed his readiness to assist in the process of shedding light on the fate of the missing persons from the Kosovo conflict. O’Connell assessed the process as very difficult and sensitive. He discussed these issues during a meeting with the head of the government commission for the missing, Prenk Gjetaj. “We should deal with the damages caused by the war in order to have a brighter future for Kosovo,” O’Connell said.
EULEX chief’s mandate extended (Koha)
The mandate of the head of the European Union’s Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) Gabrielle Meucci has been extended for another year. The paper recalls that Meucci himself referred to EULEX as “an experimental mission”.
Kosovo, model of fund misuse (Zeri)
According to recently published research led by the Kosovo Open Society Foundation (KFOS) and Riinvest Institute, Kosovo failed to make use of investment opportunities in developing its public assets. Head of Riinvest, Lumir Abdixhiku, said major projects like the concession of the Pristina Airport, privatization of the Kosovo Electricity Distribution (KEDS), and contract for the Pristina-Skopje motorway construction have been characterized by a lack of transparency and have raised suspicions of misuse of funds and of poor management.
