Jahjaga: We have to solve our problems on our own (Zeri)
In a visit to Gjilan/Gnjilane, President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga said that the solution to the current political crisis lies with the local leadership and not the international community. She stressed the solution needs to be found inside the Kosovo institutions.
LDK MP Salihaj: Two recent agreements must be reviewed (KTV)
The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) MP, Adem Salihaj, told KTV the two recent agreements reached with Serbia and Montenegro must be reviewed. “The Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities contained many elements that would create autonomy for it. The Association/Community is foreseen to have autonomy in education, health, spatial planning, employment, police, prosecution, judiciary … This was confirmed by the President of Serbia who said this was Serbia’s project. That is why the agreement must be reviewed,” Salihaj said. According to him, even the agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro should be reviewed by a group of experts from Kosovo and not internationals.
Civil society: Elections are the only solution (Epoka e Re)
Representatives of civil society organizations said during the round table “Changes in Kosovo, roundtable with civil society”, held on Monday in Pristina, that early general elections are the best solution to overcome the current political crisis. They also argued that dialogue among the political parties should begin prior to new elections, in order to set the date and to decide on the further course of action.
Hoyt Yee will not arrive tomorrow in Kosovo (Epoka e Re)
The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Hoyt Yee, has cancelled his visit to Kosovo initially scheduled for 26 January. Sources within the Kosovo government said the visit was cancelled due to bad weather conditions in the United States. The paper further reports that Yee’s name was mentioned as a possible mediator for the political crisis in Kosovo, and it was also said that he would join Mustafa in the meetings with the EU representatives and the Serbian delegation in Brussels.
Former French intelligence chief claims they recruited Thaci (dailies)
In a special documentary aired by Canal +, the former French intelligence official Pierre Siramy claims that the present Kosovo Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci was recruited by their agents during the Kosovo conflict and that Paris supplied weapons to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Women from Kosovo running ISIS camps (Zeri)
In a front-page feature story, the paper reports that there are around 42 women from Kosovo that have joined the ranks of the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Syria with some of them holding senior positions and even running ISIS women’s camps. One of the women, originally from a village near Mitrovica, is considered to be one of the main recruiters of women from Kosovo, Albania, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Kosovo ratifies agreements of the former Yugoslavia (Koha)
The paper notes on its front page that through the Declaration of Independence in 2008, Kosovo took over the obligations deriving from treaties signed by the former Yugoslavia. Kosovo’s authorities have ratified several such treaties and the most recent ones were in December last year. Local experts on international law meanwhile argue that Kosovo should not blindly ratify all agreements signed by the former Yugoslavia. Qerim Qerimi, a professor of law at Pristina University, told the paper on Monday that Kosovo’s authorities can review the treaties on the basis of mutual negotiations.
