OSCE Mission in Kosovo concludes Apprenticeship Programme
(RTK2)
The OSCE 2016 Apprenticeship Programme, which lasted for three months, successfully concluded on Tuesday in Prishtinë/Pristina, where certificates were also awarded to the apprentices.
Young people from different communities were involved in the OSCE Apprenticeship Programme, who were mainly placed in the Ministry of Justice, Culture, Youth and Sports; Ministry of Trade and Industry; Ministry of Local Government Administration; Ministry of Public Administration; the Ombudsperson Institution; and the Office of the Language Commissioner.
“I was an apprentice in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, unit for quality of infrastructure. There, I mainly translated European Union legislation,” said Meriton Morina from Gjilan/Gnjilane.
“Here I learned many things on how to accept a new case, who deals with these cases, how the parties are treated, and how they are accepted by the institutions, what are the complaints they can file, what is the key function of the institution, and at the end of it, we also wrote letters for those that filed the complaints,” said Marigona Kelmendi, another apprentice from Mitrovicë/Mitrovica.
Thirty young people took part in this programme.
Ambassador Jan Braathu, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, said that with this programme apprentices were given the opportunity to get to know the work in public institutions.
“The Apprenticeship Programme is an effort to facilitate the transition process from the school or faculty in the labour market, but it also provides the opportunity to empower young people,” Ambassador Braathu said.
From the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) said that young people are the top priority in Kosovo.
“Young people in Kosovo, irrespective of their ethnic background, religion, colour of skin, should work together in order for this multi-ethnic society to progress, and by doing so Kosovo will become part of Europe,” stated Xhevat Bajrami, Director of MCYS Youth Department.
On the other hand, representatives of the institutions said they are happy with the apprentice done.
There were no Serbs among the apprentices, because, as the OSCE representatives say, Serb students did not take the necessary testing.
PM Mustafa feeble toward Srpska List
(KTV)
There has been two months since one Deputy Prime Minister and two Ministers from Srpska List are boycotting their work in coalition with LDK and PDK.
Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic, Minister of Local Government, Ljubomir Maric and Minister for Communities Dalibor Jevtic have suspended their work since the Government brought the Law on Trepça in front of the cabinet.
However, throughout this time they have continued to show their loyalty to the Serbian Government by taking part in most of the meetings that Marko Djuric had in Kosovo.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, admitted that ministers of the Government he leads have not responded to his invitation to meet.
“I think that the Government is working normally. It is normally carrying out its duties without any obstacle. I also expect that Srpska List will return soon and Serb ministers will continue their work. Although they are saying that they have frozen their activity, their ministries are working. They are still present there, but they are not taking part in Government’s meetings,” Mustafa said.
Besides this, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of European Integration are continuing to remain without ministers, while Mustafa said they are looking for a minister for the latter ministry.
These actions, for civil society, show the feebleness that Prime Minister has toward the coalition partner – Srpska List.
KohaVision asked the Ministry of Finance if they have paid Serb ministers, but they did not respond.
Reforms affect the system, threshold, zones and lists
(KTV)
The need for election reform in Kosovo is real, experts say. According to them, political entities should follow examples of countries that have high level of democracy before entering reforms, online version of KTV reported.
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Central Elections Commission, Mazllum Baraliu, says that in order for election reforms to happen, changes in legislation, election system and the electoral process are needed.
“Kosovo would certainly need to have a code, where it would include the legal substance, so the provisions of the law on general elections, the one on local elections and regulations of the Central Elections Commission, which are many and different,” Baraliu said.
Further, Baraliu underlines that initiative recently taken by President Hashim Thaçi for reforms is positive; however, he adds that opposition and other relevant entities would need to be involved in it, in order for the reform to consequently come out as a result of discussion and comprehensive analysis.
On the other hand, political analyst Arben Qirezi says that modifications in the current legislation on elections would need to be done prior to next elections, in case there is political consent about it.
But, according to him, such a reform will take a lot of time to implement. Qirezi also believes that reform can be done only if there is an inclusiveness of all the stakeholders.
The other political analyst, Blerim Burjani, says that besides legal reforms there is also need for depoliticization of respective bodies, namely polling stations’ committees, Municipal Elections Commissions, and the Central Elections Commission.
In the content aspect, Burjani believes that reforms should affect the electoral system in increasing election threshold and in moving from one electoral zone to 6 or 7 zones. The fate of closing or opening of election lists will also remain to be discussed, he ended.
Jablanovic: We will not stop cooperation with KFOR
(KTV, RTK2)
Leposavic/Leposavic Mayor Dragan Jablanovic rejected interruption of cooperation with KFOR and stressed that this is not at the interest of Serbs in Kosovo north.
Jablanovic added that he refused to participate in the bridge opening ceremony in Zvecan/Zveçan municipality due to the unannounced participation of Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.
When the invitation for participation in the bridge opening ceremony in municipality of Zvecan/Zveçan was handed over to Leposavic/Leposaviq Mayor, Dragan Jablanovic, he was told that only KFOR representatives will be present in the ceremony, but not also PM Mustafa and several ministers of Kosovo Government.
With regard to announcement of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north mayor, Goran Rakic, for interruption of cooperation by Serb mayors with KFOR, Jablanovic said he was not consulted and that this is not the first time that Rakic is issuing announcements on behalf of all mayors.
Jablanovic added that interruption of cooperation with KFOR is not at the interest of Serbs, and he will not take part in this.
“I expressed my revolt with the fact that I did not go. What does it mean to stop cooperation with the international institution which takes care of our security? There is no need to stop cooperation. They did something good for Serb inhabitants by building the bridge,” Jablanovic ended.
RTK2 could not get a comment from Goran Rakic about this issue.
In the meantime, online version of KTV reported that representatives of Kosovo northern Serbs, including the Minister in Isa Mustafa’s Government, Ljubomir Maric, accused Dragan Jablanovic of leading an anti-Serbian policy and that ‘his task is to break the unity of Serb people’s in Kosovo north.’
Rakic denies building of a wall dividing Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north from the south
(Klan Kosova)
There are claims that a high wall is being built to physically divide northern part of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë town from the southern part. Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North Mayor, Goran Rakic, told Klan Kosova that no wall was being built there.
He said that nothing more or less than it was planned with the bridge refurbishment project, for which Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade agreed in Brussels, is happening. According to him, flattening of the pedestrian area is being done, where the vehicles will not be able to pass.
Five-day election campaign for run-off elections in Gllogovc/Glogovac
(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV)
The Central Election Commission (CEC) held its following meeting on Tuesday where it decided that election campaign for run-off elections in the municipality of Gllogovc/Glogovac will be five days.
The campaign will last from 12 to 16 December. The PDK candidate Ramiz Lladrovci and Nisma për Kosovën candidate, Isa Xhemajlaj, are the two candidates that will once again seek citizens’ vote in Gllogovc/Glogovac.
On Monday, CEC announced 18 December as the date for run-off elections in this municipality. CEC Chairperson, Valdete Daka, said that this date was set because the end of the month means many official holidays, and it is of interest to have as many international observers during this election process as possible.
International community is pushing Kosovo institutions to fight violent extremism
(Summary of KTV – Rubicon show)
To discuss situation in Kosovo related to violent extremism and what is Kosovo society and institutions doing to fight it, KTV Rubicon show hosted Vedat Sahiti of the Kosovo Islamic Community (KIC), Arbana Xharra – editor in chief of Zëri daily, and Florian Qehaja of Kosovo Centre for Security Studies.
At the beginning of this show, the documentary titled “Great Jihad” showing parents of three young men who joined the fights in the so-called Islamic State was aired. Naser Deva, father of Atdhe Deva, who joined ISIS, said he learned too late about this and he failed the test as a parent. He said that his son attended a mosque which was not under administration of KCI.
Deva said that he was told several times in Fuad Ramiqi’s Islamic Movement Unite (LISBA) that they know the location of his son, but they never told him other details. Furthermore, Deva said they did not respond to any of his requests, including the request to know if his son was a member of this political entity, but he never got a response from Fuad Ramiqi, Head of LISBA. Parents of those that joined ISIS blamed Kosovo institutions for the fate of their loved ones.
Vedat Sahiti said that Islamic Community has constantly addressed calls for closing down the spaces which were used as mosques. Unfortunately, KIC requests fell on deaf ears, Sahiti said in Rubicon show.
“We made calls for closing down the so-called mosques and stop their functioning, but, unfortunately we fell on deaf ears. Unfortunately, this is being demonstrated from this story and the eyewitnesses, and it were exactly these places where they got influenced. The biggest mistake was that they were allowed to function,” Sahiti underlined.
Sahiti said that there is only one more illegal space which is being used as a mosque, and it is located in Dragash/Dragas area.
On the other hand, Arbana Xharra spoke about the reasons that pushed Kosovars to leave for the war in Syria. She highlighted that except the economic conditions, the ideology was also the reason why many Kosovars, many women among them, left for Syria.
“Initially I believed it was because of economic conditions. It is for economic conditions, but also for ideological ones. Some of them are children who went to attend English language and computer courses after the war,” she said.
Xharra stressed that when they initially opposed this issue, they were qualified as islamophobes. According to her, women that are currently there consciously support the war in so-called Islamic State. Further, Xharra said that there also Albanians from Presevo Valley who have left for Syria.
Florian Qehaja of KCSS said he is optimistic about situation of violent extremism in Kosovo. Furthermore, he stressed that children have already been informed.
“When we compare the situation to earlier years, there is improvement, citizens’ awareness raising in particular. Now we see that children are already informed by the parents”, Qehaja said.
“We cannot fight extremism only in the political aspect,” he underlined.
Qehaja said that extremism has always existed, but it now has the religious element and all this came when there was an explosion of social networks.
Speaking in this debate on violent extremism, Arbana Xharra said that greater work with children is needed. According to Xharra, Kosovo institutions did not have the will to treat this issue, but there is a constant push from the international community about it.
“After the arrests, they have started to shave their beards and not to speak, because earlier they recorded themselves and appeared in YouTube. We should work with children,” Xharra said.
She said that the manner how religion should be taught in school must also be treated. According to her, children can be stopped from going to the mosque, but not also from the teaching in schools.
“You can stop imams in mosques, but you cannot stop social networks,” she warned.
Furthermore, Florian Qehaja of KCSS said that children in this case should be kept active at all time.
KIC advisor, Vedat Sahiti, also spoke about the manner how this Community is holding meetings with citizens to raise their awareness on preaching Islam. He said that meetings are currently being held in each town of Kosovo.
Meanwhile, Arbana Xharra proposed organisation of summer camps where religious tolerance would be taught. Finally, according to her, it must be demanded from politics to detach itself from the Islamic Community.
