Visit of US General cancelled due to tariff
(KTV)
Resistance to rescind the tariff has caused the cancellation of the visit of Iowa National Guard Commander Major General Timothy Orr. As Koha.net learned, the US Embassy officials have informed the KSF Commander General Rrahman Rama that the visit of General Orr, scheduled for 16-18 February, on the 11th anniversary of declaration of independence of Kosovo – has been cancelled.
An informative letter that General Rama sent to Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi on Friday said that at the meeting that the KSF commander had that day with the US military attaché, Major General Christopher Connor, he was notified of the cancellation of Major General Orr’s visit, and that the cancellation happened “as a result of expressing dissatisfaction with the decision taken by the Government of Kosovo.”
Also, according to General Rama’s information, “Major Connor warned that the training, educational programs, and military visits will be cancelled in the coming days in case the Government of Kosovo does not reflect on its decision.”
The letter and its contents were confirmed by the Office of Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi.
“Yes, General Rama has sent a letter informing President Thaçi that the US has cancelled General Orr’s visit while it is also considering some other measures. This move is said to have been undertaken due to non-continuation of the dialogue with Serbia,” Ardian Arifaj, adviser to President Thaçi, told Koha.net.
According to sources, the same information was also received by Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. But Office of the Prime Minister did not give any answer regarding the letter and its content.
On the other hand, Deputy Minister of KSF, Burim Ramadani, contacted by Koha.net, said he has no knowledge about this letter and cancellation of the visit of Major General Orr.
Koha.net portal has also tried to contact General Rrahman Rama and the US Embassy in Prishtinë/Pristina, but this was impossible on Sunday.
Kosovo political spectrum at a crossroads for dialogue
(KTV)
The Kosovo Negotiating Team representative say they have been working in the platform on the final phase of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which is happening in Brussels, facilitated by the EU.
One of the Negotiating Team chairs, Fatmir Limaj, who is also Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, told Radio Free Europe that the platform on talks would be completed next week, and then it will be submitted to the Kosovo Assembly.
“If we fail to unify the political spectrum in Kosovo, at least we need to unify our positions, and we are working hard in drafting and completing the platform on the dialogue, and I hope that the platform will reflect joint positions of the Kosovo political spectrum, which would convey a message, so that Kosovo can finally have an official position with regard to the dialogue with Serbia,” Limaj said.
Limaj said that the opposition political parties would be called to contribute to this process, and they will be briefed on the meetings that took place in Brussels and the work done.
“Position of the Republic of Kosovo, or our platform, is focussed on preserving sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of Kosovo. The fundamental documents that made Kosovo’s independence to happen, the independence declaration, the Ahtisaari Settlement, ruling of the International Court of Justice, and so on. In other words, the entire platform has been built in the spirit of Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo,” Limaj added.
Discussion of petition for unification of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica not accepted
(KTV)
Almost a month ago, Mayor of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica Agim Bahtiri submitted to the Assembly a petition with about 17,000 signatures of citizens for unification of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South with Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North, but it has not yet been reviewed at the Petitions Committee in the Assembly.
Members of this Committee say that this issue goes beyond the capacities of the commission, since the topic is more serious than that.
Lirie Kajtazi of LDK said that in most of the cases petitions have served as a means of daily politics and did not have the adequate approach.
She said that those who lead petitions, after achieving a political effect of the subject, even themselves forget about them.
Meanwhile, Teuta Haxhiu said she was interested in knowing the fate of this petition, while the administration told her that it was sent to the Government for an opinion.
She hopes that the inner feeling for the united Mitrovicë/Mitrovica is not euphoria.
KTV asked the Kosovo Government whether the petition is in government for an opinion, but they said that this issue belongs to the Assembly only.
Mayor of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, is confident that Mitrovicë/Mitrovica will be unified within this year.
He was even harsher in his recent statements, saying that there will be war in case Mitrovicë/Mitrovica will be touched.
For the unification of this town, President Bahtiri enjoys the support of President Hashim Thaçi and Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli.
Bieber thinks Germany has been excluded from secrete talks on border changing
(KTV)
Florian Bieber, professor of Graz University, thinks that discussions behind closed doors are happening about changing Kosovo borders.
According to him, the border change is supported by some Western countries, but not by Germany, which has not been included in those discussions.
In an interview with FoNet news agency, Bieber said it was a big problem that Germany has been excluded from the border changing story, saying that no negotiations where Germany is excluded can bring about any successful outcome.
He stated that Kosovo is the main reason why the European Commission looks at the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic between the fingers, because in the EU they still believe that Vucic will resolve this problem.
Talking about the ongoing protests in Serbia, he said that those protests represent a problem to some of the EU members, because they shift attention from the biggest issue, which is Kosovo.
According to Bieber’s interpretation, the recent statement of Thaçi about a slight correction is convenient to Russia in its thesis on backstage talks.
He warns that border changing opens rather than closes problems.
“Even territory exchange does not resolve the problems of Serbs who will remain in Kosovo,” Bieber says.
Vucic says Albanians want his failure
(KTV)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has tried to turn the protest of Kosovo Serbs into an argument for Serbians in Serbia. Referring to the Kosovo media reports about the protest in north, Vucic said it is enough to see who is looking forward to his failure.
He made these comments in his visit to Vrsac, Serbia, where he told journalists that he found interesting what Rada Trajkovic said that “the protests cannot be hidden up to London”.
“Where is London? There were only 19 persons in Gracanica/Graçanicë, five of them were also in the protest in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë, where 19,000 Serbs live,” Vucic said.
He added that Albanians are against him and they rejoice for his failure, since, according to him, as the Serbian leader he is protecting interests of Serbs in Kosovo, which makes him more successful.
On Saturday evening, protests were held in Belgrade and in other towns in Serbia, where protesters have accused Vucic of violating democratic freedoms, media control, and of attacking his political opponents.
Kosovar citizen kept in detention in Belgrade, accused of war crimes
(KTV)
Kosovo citizen Ramadan Maloku, who was arrested in October 2018, will face war crime accusations at the end of February by the War Crimes Prosecution in Belgrade.
KTV contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which confirmed that they have been monitoring the trial proceeding. The Ministry officials called on Belgrade to stop what they called scandalous behaviours in contradiction with the Brussels agreements.
KTV also contacted Ramadan Maloku’s family, who said that despite their efforts, none of the institutions provided them assistance.
