Kosovo wants continuation of co-operation with the OSCE
(KTV)
Chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on European Integration, Njomëza Emini, met on Wednesday with the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Jean-Claude Schlumberger, the online version of this TV broadcaster reported.
At the beginning of the meeting, Emini welcomed the co-operation so far with the OSCE and invited Ambassador Schlumberger to continue further with this co-operation, particularly in the European integration aspect of Kosovo. She presented some of the key points of the work-plan of the Committee on European Integration and briefed Schlumberger on next activities.
Schlumberger welcomed the invitation to continue with the co-operation and showed the OSCE’s readiness to assist, highlighting that gender equality and rights of the communities are among the points they are focused in 2016.
Delawie: Political violence made Kosovo’s admission in UNESCO impossible
(RTKLive)
The United States Ambassador in Kosovo, Greg Delawie, said that political violence in the Assembly over the past months has made Kosovo’s admission in UNESCO and its full participation in international institutions impossible, while it also had economic costs for Kosovo.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe, Ambassador Delawie said that fabrication of contradictions regarding demarcation of the border with Montenegro are creating a political instability, and expressed his disappointment with, as he said, people that are using this issue for internal political benefit.
He said that the idea of establishment the Association of Serb majority municipalities is to help promote removal of parallel structures to enable joint work within Kosovo’s constitutional structures.
Ambassador Delawie said that examples of corruption, in any field, harm the population and Kosovo’s future.
Electro-Serbia damages graveyards of Albanians in the north
(KTV)
About 13 graves in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, mainly of Albanians, but also of other communities, have been damaged after cutting of some trees, KTV reported.
Kosovo Police started investigating the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (Electro-Serbia) for this damage. Kosovo Police Deputy Commander in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Besim Hoti, said that the case is being investigated as property damage.
However, to representatives of Albanians and Bosniaks in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, this act is an institutional vandalism. Furthermore, they say that the damage was done by one of the companies owned by the municipality mayor, Goran Rakic.
Officials of the Islamic Community of Kosovo stress that access to these graveyards in the north is becoming harder each day on. But, Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north mayor Goran Rakic said over the phone that he has apologized for this situation and has called for a joint visit to estimate the damages.
Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north mayor said that the municipality he leads will repair the damages and that perpetrators of this act will be identified. He denied having relations with any one of the companies that damaged graveyards of Albanians and other communities.
Montenegro sends a note protest to Kosovo
(KTV)
Montenegrin Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration has sent a note protest to Prishtinë/Pristina about placement of the Albanian flag and the table with inscriptions “Republic of Kosovo” and “Welcome” by MPs of the opposition party Vetëvendosje in the territory of Montenegro to show where the actual border is.
On Tuesday, Montenegrin police removed the flag and the table placed between the border crossing points Kullë and Savine Vode.
“With this act, it is being attempted to break up the very good existing relations between Montenegro and Kosovo. We expect from the Kosovo side to take measures for identification and prevention of similar activities in the future because with these acts it is being tried to dispute the Agreement reached in Vienna in 2015 regarding demarcation,” the note protest states.
Vetëvendosje Movement spokesperson, Frashër Krasniqi, reacted immediately after this news. He said that Montenegro takes over 8.000 hectares of land to Kosovo with this agreement and accused Montenegro of symbolic aggression.
Rasic: Association’s statute will be done by Brussels
(RTK2)
Nenad Rasic, Srpska List member at the Assembly of Kosovo, said that experts who are well-acquainted with Kosovo’s legal system will work on the statute of future Association of Serb majority municipalities.
“I believe that the Association’s statute will be done by Brussels, namely by certain experts who consider themselves to be experts of mathematics, but above all, their representatives will work on the ground,” Rasic stated.
However, he said that someone in Brussels cannot know as much as representatives of their organizations which function in Kosovo do.
He did not exclude the possibility that a large corpus of institutional representatives and nongovernmental organizations, which collaborate closely with the EU institutions, will work on the Association’s statute.
Slobodan Gavric sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment
(All monitored broadcasters, KTV)
Prishtinë/Pristina Basic Court sentenced Slobodan Gavric, who was caught in Prishtinë/Pristina with about 12 kilograms of explosive, to 13 years of imprisonment. According to the Court, Gavric’s intention was to detonate the explosive considering this as act against Kosovo’s constitutional order.
The Court also decided to confiscate the explosive and the vehicle that Gavric used to enter Kosovo.
By not denying the responsibility of their client for the offence of explosive transfer and trade, Gavric’s defence considered Court’s decision as influenced by the climate in the world with constant terrorist attacks. Gavric’s defence announced that they will appeal the decision.
