Basketball camp for young people in Gërmia

(Kallxo.com)

The Junior Basketball Tournament organised by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo started on Monday.

Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Paivi Nikander, said that this organisation will gather young basketball players.

“Here I see the will of athletes, young sportsmen to gather, to train and spend time together, to communicate with each other, to learn and entertain together, which is not only a sign of love for the sport, but also of tolerance of being open,” she said.

She said that such activities lead to willingness for mutual cooperation between communities.

“I believe that joint engagement of all with the youth zeal and enthusiasm will lead toward a joint goal and pledge for a direct and sincere dialogue beyond any religious, community or language identity, which are elements of personal development, but also of development of the future of the place we live,” she added.

Dardan Sejdiu, Deputy Mayor of Prishtinë/Pristina, said this is the first time that such a camp is being held through which Gërmia Park is used at the interest of all Kosovo citizens.

“Only with this kind of work we can assure that each citizen of this country feels equal and not discriminated,” Sejdiu said.

Bekim Maxhuni, trainer in the camp, said they will try to use these days to teach good game techniques.

“We hope that we will use this training in the best way possible, because this is the first camp of this level which is being held in Kosovo,” he said.

This basketball camp will host 14 and 15 year-old basketball players in the first part that will last for 5 days, while the final competition will be held on 24 June. While the second group of 12 and 13-year olds will start from 25 June and it will last until 30 June.

Basketball players from Gjakovë/Djakovica, Strpce/Shtërpcë, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South, Prizren and Prishtinë/Pristina will take part in this camp.

Jevtic: Return is not colonization

(KTV)

Kosovo Serb officials have used the World Refugee Day to speak about, as they said, the big number of displaced Serbs from Kosovo.

Through a press release issued, Minister for Communities and Return Dalibor Jevtic, said that return is not and must not be called as ‘colonization.’ Jevtic said he is worried because returnees continue to be attacked and that they are received with threats when once in the year they want to visit their homes.

While the Serb leaders continue to complain about the big number of displaced Serbs, according to them, from Kosovo, on the other hand the Serbian state has intensified its efforts for return of Serbs in Kosovo.

Announcements of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning made few days about halting of works on construction of about 300 houses in “Sunny Valley” settlement in Zvecan/Zveçan did not work out.

On Sunday, several young Serbs voluntarily went to help construction of houses for return of Serbs. Except the students, several inhabitants of Zvecan/Zveçan also offered their help.

KTV asked explanations from the Ministry of Environment about this issue, but the Ministry did not provide any answer about the measures it will take to halt these works.

Return of Serbs was also discussed in Mushtisht village of Suharekë/Suva Reka on Sunday, when Serb officials took part in a liturgy on the occasion of Holy Trinity feast.

In the meantime, Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Branimir Stojanovic stressed that return will not be all that simple adding that it is good that displaced persons from Mushtisht have expressed desire to return . He is certain that new houses will be built for them.

Ferid Agani no longer a minister

(All monitored broadcasters, KTV)

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Ferid Agani, has been released from his tasks.

His request addressed few days ago to be released from tasks after the indictment filed against him on “Stent Affair” has been approved by the Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.

Otherwise, the hospital service has requested the list of names of doctors involved in this indictment from the prosecution so it can take future measures.

Civil society and associations of patient rights request suspension for the accused persons.

Assembly Committee members addressed criticism against CEC

(All monitored broadcasters, KTV)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) received serious criticism from MPs who are members of the Assembly Legislation Committee. They accused CEC of allowing Serb citizens to vote with Serbian documents in elections for the Mayor of Gracanica/Graçanicë in January 2015.

According to them, the election institution (CEC) ‘violated the Republic of Kosovo’ and allowed another state to interfere in country’s legislation.

However, Valdete Daka, who chairs the CEC, has justified this with the fact that Law on General Elections requires a valid identification document, without specifying where it was issued.

Kosovo is continuing to face with unclean lists with names of people who no longer live. MPs called on CEC to cooperate with municipalities to clean the election lists.

Daka was also criticized for non-auditing of political party financing as well as CEC’s indifference regarding Serbia’s elections which were held within the territory of Kosovo.

The CEC chairperson, Daka, said they did not take part in Serbian elections nor they had any influence on them. Regarding the non-auditing of political party financing, she said that this is a task of the Assembly of Kosovo for three years now.

Insufficient implementation of the Law on Civil Service

(RTK2)

Lack of implementation of Article 11 of the Law on Civil Service from 2010 related to employment of non-majority communities in public institutions was pointed out again during a public hearing in Prishtinë/Pristina.

The Law on Civil Service in Kosovo is being applied for six years, but it still has not reached full implementation of Article 11, which provides fair representation of non-majority communities in central and local level.

Related to this issue, Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) drafted a report which was presented at a public hearing organized by Kosovo Assembly Committee on Rights, Interests of Communities and Returns.

Committee chairperson Jasmina Zivkovic said that the recommendations from this meeting will be presented to the Assembly, which shall contribute to the issue related to employment of non-majority communities in Kosovo public institutions.

The report notes that members of Ashkali, Egyptian, Gorani and Roma communities have the lowest employment level while the Bosniak, Serbs and Turkish communities are better represented in public institutions. The Law does not specifically define the ways how to fill the reserved positions, which triggers unnecessary disagreements between communities.

Minister of Kosovo Public Administration, Mahir Yagcilar, expressed his concern that the set quote for employment of non-majority communities in public institutions has not been reached.

The report concludes that it is necessary to draft an action plan for implementation of the legal framework and to organize regular training of employees in central and local institutions in order to prevent discrimination in employment of non-majority communities.

Prizren municipal official sentenced to three years

(All monitored broadcasters, Klan Kosova)

Prizren Municipal Director of Education in Prizren, Nexhat Çoçaj, and two other defendants were found guilty by the Basic Court in Prizren on charges of misuse of funds.

Çoçaj was sentenced to three years of effective imprisonment, Bekim Thaçi to 14 months, while the third defendant, Bedri Çeku, to six months.

The three of them were accused of misuse of funds for the event dedicated to the KLA martyr, Remzi Ademaj, the online version of Klan Kosova reported.

50.000 Euros allocated for Prizren Historic Centre

(Klan Kosova)

Two weeks after the three-year-old girl Xheneta Gashi lost her life in Prizren from the collapse of an old building in Prizren Historic Centre, authorities have started applying measures to prevent potential repetition of such incidents.

Kosovo Ministry of Culture allocated 50.000 Euros to prevent the collapse of other old buildings in Prizren Historic Centre.

However, Prizren citizens and civil society consider these funds as delayed and insufficient, Klan Kosova reported.