Kosovo Government ignores Belgrade’s ultimatums

(KTV)

Kosovo Government does not plan to take into consideration the ultimatums of the Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic issued during the meeting he had with Srpska List representatives on Monday.

Faton Abdullahu, advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister, considered these ultimatums as unserious and harmful for the Serb community in Kosovo.

“Such ultimatums are unserious, harmful for European integration processes and for the Serb community in Kosovo.  Nevertheless, Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa will decide, in compliance with laws and agreements, what will happen with the Association of Serb Majority Municipalities and with other processes in Kosovo,” said Abdullahu in a written response to KTV.

Abdullahu refused to comment the other ultimatum that by 31 December the dismissed Minister, Ljubomir Maric should be returned to the position of Local Government Administration Minister.

Despite Prishtinë/Pristina statements, Serb officials on Tuesday continued to insist that if Prishtinë/Pristina does not establish the Association of Serb Majority Municipalities, they will establish it by themselves. This was stated by the Mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north, Goran Rakic.

But Kosovo Minister for Dialogue, Edita Tahiri insisted that the Association will not be established until full implementation of all Brussels Agreements and after the removal of the wall in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north.

Representatives of civil society consider that Kosovo Government should always ignore such ultimatums from Belgrade.

Following the recent divisions, Srpska List tried to overcome its issues through a meeting with the Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, who called upon them to remain united, KTV concluded.

No Assembly session on Wednesday

(Klan Kosova)

The planned plenary session of Kosovo Assembly for Wednesday will not take place. AAK caucus leader, Pal Lekaj as the initiator of the resolution for the removal of the wall in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë north confirmed the postponement.

“Caucus leaders meet on Tuesday and agreed to postpone the plenary session about the resolution,” said Lekaj, adding that this session will be held on Thursday or Friday. He did not reveal the reasons behind this postponement.

Hyseni commends Kosovo Police

(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV)

Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs, Skender Hyseni, in the year-end conference, commended the work of Kosovo Police.  According to Minister Hyseni, Kosovo Police is the finest force in Balkan and the most trained. Hyseni said that no individual will be allowed to ruin the positive image of Kosovo Police.

Moreover, Hyseni said that Kosovo Police carried out over 900 different operations, including some complex ones during 2016.

He stressed that Police achieved to target over 30 criminal groups and filed over 1,000 criminal reports.  According to Hyseni, Forensic Agency provided its forensic expertise in over 4,500 cases and accredited, in compliance with standards, over 50 labs.

Concerning the fight against terrorism, Minister Hyseni said that 33 terrorism suspects have been arrested and 38 criminal reports have been filed against 78 individuals.

PTK demands release of its assets by Post of Serbia

(KTV)

Since the end of conflict, Post of Serbia continues to function in Serb majority resided areas without any obstacles, by constructing new buildings or by using assets of the Post of Kosovo (PTK) and so far no actions have been taken to release those assets, KTV reported.

In the main office in Gracanica/Graçanicë, that covers the vast majority of territory, Post of Serbia provides a big number of services. Besides the mail, Serbs and members of other communities receive their pensions from Serbia.  According to PTK information there are 21 postal offices that continue to be used by the Post of Serbia.

PTK Chief Executive, Sejdi Hoxha, said that he requested from the institutions assistance to return these assets to PTK but so far no actions have been taken.  According to him, around 20 % of post market in Kosovo is not under the control of PTK.

On the other hand, Kosovo Minister for Dialogue, Edita Tahiri continues to insist that the assets that are being used by the Post of Serbia will be returned to PTK. She said that employees working in the Post of Serbia should be integrated into Post of Telecom.

No progress marked during 2016 in shedding light on the fate of missing persons

(All monitored broadcasters, KTV)

Governmental Commission for Missing Persons presented its annual work report.  Despite the work done, Commission representatives emphasized that unfortunately they failed to fulfil expectations in shedding light on the fate missing persons.

Prenk Gjetaj, chairperson of this Commission stated that during 2016, over 20 excavations in 16 locations were carried out.

Bajram Qerkini, representative of the families of missing persons, irritated with the non-efficiency of the Governmental Commission, emphasized that families of missing persons have remained hostage of internationals who are being assisted by local institutions and, according to him, have played games with excavations of wrong locations.

But Gjetaj, on the other hand, expressed his distress for not being able to do much on the issue, as, according to him, they have little power in hands.

EU Office in Kosovo has recently called upon all to stop political games and work jointly in shedding light on the fate missing persons.  1.600 persons are considered as missing since the end of conflict.

KSF and Kosovo Police most trusted institutions

(TV21)

Kosovo Security Force (KSF) continues to be the most trusted institution by citizens followed by Kosovo Police. The last survey of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED) shows that Kosovo citizens have the lowest level of trust in the Prime Minister, President, Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA) and the Ministry of Interior Affairs.

Serbs from the north, on the other hand, consider Kosovo Police as the most trusted institution before KSF.

Kosovo Court sentences Serbian Minister Aleksandar Vulin

(KTV)

Basic Court in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica issued a fine to the Serbian Minister of Labour, Aleksandar Vulin, the online version of KTV reported.

Serbian news agency ‘Tanjug’ reports that the Basic Court in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica issued a fine to Vulin for the criminal offence – ‘Illegally crossing of the border or boundary crossing points according to Article 146, Paragraph 1 of Kosovo Criminal Code”.

This decision was taken on 19 January of 2016 in the absence of the defendant.

The justification of the decision reads that on 15 February 2014, Aleksandar Vulin crossed the border at a location where there is no boundary crossing point and through illegal routes entered Kosovo’s territory from Serbia, despite that fact that Kosovo had rejected his request for visit.