Jahjaga criticizes Kosovo institutions

(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV)

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, who is on a two-day visit in Malta, criticized Kosovo institutions for failing to do anything for the survivors of the wartime sexual violence.

“Kosovo moved on to rebuild the future, but left the victims of this horrendous crime to battle the shame, the isolation and the social exclusion without the proper institutional and social response,” Jahjaga stated.

Jahjaga emphasized that 17 years after the war there is not a single person convicted for the horrible crime they have committed, but she underlined that Kosovo institutions are more than ever determined to uphold the institutional and social obligations and seek justice for all survivors.

Jahjaga made these comments during a speech she had in the forum “Sexual Violence in Conflict and beyond” that is taking place in Malta.

Stojanovic and Rakic attend SPP meeting in north

(RTK2, Klan Kosova)

Kosovo law is invalid in north of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica.  Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimi Stojanovic and mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Goran Rakic, remove their official vehicle registration plates while travelling in this area.

These two officials, who are paid by Kosovo’s budget, attended an electoral meeting of Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) in north.

Irrespective to the fact that Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade, have not yet officially agreed if Serbia’s elections will be held in Kosovo’s territory, Serbian Progressive Party (SPP) headed by Serbia’s  current Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, on Monday held an electoral meeting with women fourm in north of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë, Klan Kosova reported.

Kosovo Police escorted SPP senior officials, despite that there is no public permission for this.

Mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North municipality, Goran Rakic, which functions within Kosovo system, urged participants of this gathering to vote for Vucic’s party.

“With your continued engagement, you are helping out Serbia to be a modern and powerful state. We thank you for this. Long live Serbia. Together we can achieve everything’, Rakic, said.

This statement was applauded by ministers of Kosovo government, too.

Marko Djuric, Director of Serbia’s Office for Kosovo addressing to participants said that a strong Government in Serbia will better defend Serbs in Kosovo. He also called on participants to vote for SPP on April 24.

On the other hand, Serbia’s European Integration Minister, Aleksandara Joksimovic, said that Serbia will never give up Kosovo in Brussels talks.

Head of Municipal Administration in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Adrijana Hodzic attended this gathering, too. She told Klan Kosova that she was a guest of one of the organizers.

Opposition parties do not expect positive verdict from Constitutional Court

(KTV)

A month has passed since opposition parties filed the request in the Constitutional Court for interpretation about the legality of Hashim Thaçi’s election as President, while the Constitutional Court has not issued a verdict in relation to this case so far.

However, through an email the Constitutional Court confirmed to KTV that this case is being handled with priority.

“Constitutional Court is treating the case with priority. The decision will be taken within the legal deadlines and in compliance with the Constitution of Kosovo…” reads the reply of the Constitutional Court.

But opposition parties say that the decision is more or less known. According to them the Court will reject the request.

The three opposition parties requested from the Constitutional Court to put interim measure on this case.

Haradinaj: No division within opposition parties

(RTK1)

In an interview for Kosovapress, AAK chairperson, Ramush Haradinaj said that there are differences between opposition parties regarding the ways of protests. However, he emphasized that the opposition remains united in the topics that they have agreed and that they strongly continue to oppose.

Haradinaj did not revealed who of the opposition partners asked for annulment of the protests, while he emphasized that AAK was in favor of holding the protest.  He denied allegations that the protest was annulled due to the fear of low number of protestors.

Stojanovic denounces reciprocity measures to Serbia

(RTK2, Klan Kosova)

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic opposed the reciprocity measure that Kosovo has applied to Serbia’s transporters. He said that the practice of taking bad decisions, without informing the Serb ministers in Kosovo government is continuing.

Stojanovic considers this decision as a reaction to the pressure of some extremist opposition parties in Kosovo that are against everything which is Serbian.

According to him, this decision of Kosovo Government will serve no good to the normalisation of relations between Prishtinë/ Pristina and Belgrade.

Border demarcation experts visit Podgorica

(RTK1)

The international experts for verification of the border demarcation between Kosovo and Montenegro are visiting Podgorica after Prishtinë/Pristina. They are collecting information from the Montenegrin side regarding the border demarcation issue with Kosovo. On the other hand, Vetëvendosje Movement says that they will not meet with this commission as they do not have any local expert.

In the meantime, Murat Meha, head of the Kosovo governmental commission on demarcation with Montenegro, expressed confident that the final result of this commission will be the same as the result of the governmental commission.

Idrizi: Kosovo justice system faces numerous issues

(RTK1)

In an interview for RTK1, the chairperson of Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), Nehat Idrizi, stated that Kosovo justice system faces numerous issues.  He does not deny the opportunity for political influence in justice but emphasizes that there are no reported cases.

Idrizi said that the lack of certain laws makes even more difficult the fight against corruption and confiscation of illegal assets. As additional challenges for the justice system, the newly elected KJC chairperson considers also the lack of cadres, the low number of judges, backlog and the integration of the northern part.