Headlines – 30.06.2015

EU: Pristina and Belgrade reach agreement on principle (Koha)

The office of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini issued a statement early this morning saying that Pristina and Belgrade have failed to reach a final political agreement but they did agree on principle on the issues relating to the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and telecomm. “After 16 hours of work we finalised the text of two agreements – on principles of the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo and on the implementation arrangements in the field of telecoms. Final political agreement however could not be reached”, the statement reads.

Seventeen-hour meeting without an agreement (Kosovapress)

Even after 17 hours of discussions, the Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa and that of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, did not reach any agreement from the four discussed. Mustafa stated that progress has been made on telecommunication and that they managed to agree on Kosovo’s international telephone prefix, but that the agreement was not signed because the international community wants the four issues under discussion to be signed as a package.

Serbs request executive competencies for the Association (Kosovapress)

Serbia has requested executive competencies for the association of the Serb municipalities in Kosovo; however, the Kosovo delegation did not accept this request. The Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa, stated that this is in contradiction with the Constitution of Kosovo. After finishing the meeting at 02:00 a.m. Mustafa spoke to the media about the issues that the delegations agreed and those that they did not. “We could say that we made major progress with respect to the details of the association. There are issues where we could not manage to agree, especially with respect to the nature of the association, whether or not it should have an executive character, which would be in contradiction with our laws and the Constitution. This concerns the demand to have civil servants in the association, which would then make it an executive body which we could not agree to,” said Mustafa.

New options for setting up special court (Koha)

Kosovo authorities are reportedly looking into new possibilities to establish the special court, including resubmitting the constitutional amendment to the Assembly or the setting up of the court without affecting the Constitution of Kosovo. As such a draft law would only require simple majority of MPs instead of the two-thirds needed to pass constitutional amendments. An option that is also being considered is to use the exchange of correspondence between President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga and the then EU High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton as the legal basis for establishment of specialist chambers. The exchange of correspondence has already been ratified by the Assembly in the form of an international agreement.

Special Court to be put to re-vote on 9 July (Zeri)

Quoting sources from the local TV station Rrokum, the paper reports that constitutional amendments paving way for establishment of specialist chambers are expected to be resubmitted to the Assembly in two weeks’ time. According to sources from the ruling coalition, the new session will be scheduled for 9 July on the argument that the correspondence exchange between President Atifete Jahjaga and the former EU High Representative Policy Catherine Ashton represents an international agreement and is obligatory for Kosovo.

Opposition wants local court on war crimes (Epoka e Re)

The opposition parties in Kosovo, the Vetevendosje Movement, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), have proposed the establishment of a local court that will address war crimes allegations. Ramush Haradinaj (AAK), Albulena Haxhiu (Vetevendosje) and Bilall Sherifi (NISMA) said on Monday that a local court on war crimes would not have a selective nature but rather address all crimes in order to ensure that justice is served for all victims. They also said that the establishment of such a court would mark the beginning of a new period in Kosovo’s legal system and the assumption of responsibilities as a sovereign and independent state.

Kosovo PM travels to Berlin, meet with Chancellor Merkel (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, will travel from Brussels to Berlin today where he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mustafa told RTK on Monday evening that the meeting with Merkel will focus on Kosovo’s signing the Stabilization/Association Agreement and the visa liberalization process. Mustafa said he would ask for Merkel’s support on both matters.

U.S. Congressman Engel visits Kosovo (Kosovapress)

United States Congressman, Elliot Engel, will begin his visit to Kosovo today and meet with President Atifete Jahjaga. Engel is expected to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi, Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic, Interior Minister Skender Hyseni, Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, Prime Minister Mustafa and Mitrovica South Mayor Agim Bahtiri.

Northern Serbs seek permanent solution to return of Albanians (Express)

The political representatives of Kosovo Serbs living in Mitrovica North have softened their position on the return of Albanians to their properties in the north, namely in the Kroi i Vitakut neighborhood. Mitrovica North Mayor, Goran Rakic, who visited Brussels last week together with his Mitrovica South counterpart Agim Bahtiri, told the news site on Monday that the Kosovo government’s inter-ministerial working group was working to find a permanent solution to the matter. “On Kroi i Vitakut, an inter-ministerial working group has been established. It includes the mayors of both municipalities and representatives of the citizens. We are seeking a permanent solution,” Rakic said. He said the northern Serbs would not impede the return of Albanians to the north. “I would however ask the media to give little publicity to this challenge so that we can the necessary room to work,” Rakic added.