- Haradinaj and Thaçi clash regarding Radoicic (KTV)
- Radoicic: I met both Thaçi and Haradinaj (Klan Kosova)
- Sir Alan Duncan says change of borders risks stability in Kosovo and the region (GazetaExpress)
- Haradinaj pleased with Great Britain’s opposition to change of borders (Klan Kosova)
- Forty-four MPs call an extraordinary session, only 20 took part (KTV)
- Kosovo Army defends territory, can be deployed in the north, says ex-commander (GazetaExpress)
- Surroi: Tariff should be revoked as a political act, as it was initially imposed (KTV’s summary of Rubikon show)
News
Haradinaj and Thaçi clash regarding Radoicic
(KTV)
“… for partition of Kosovo and exaggerations of such topics, and those who speak today are the ones who helped Slobodan Milosevic, are friends of Radoicic, whom I have expelled from Kosovo,” President Hashim Thaçi stated few days ago in Tirana, Albania.
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said he has not followed the recent statements of President Thaçi, like the one above, but after Tuesday’s meeting of the Government he went on with accusations against him.
Haradinaj said he met Milan Radoicic for two hours at the Office of President Thaçi, without specifying the time when this meeting took place.
The Head of Kosovo Government said they made courageous decisions, but which jeopardized relations with the international community.
Haradinaj repeated his known views on the tariff and Dialogue with Serbia.
After the Government meeting, Haradinaj stressed that the Dialogue Platform will soon be proceeded for voting in the Assembly.
Haradinaj added that he met with the Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli regarding this matter on Tuesday and discussed the possibility of calling an extraordinary session about it.
Radoicic: I met both Thaçi and Haradinaj
(Klan Kosova)
Ramush Haradinaj was not the only institutional leader that he met with. In an exclusive pronouncement over the phone for Klan Kosova, deputy chairman of Srpska Lista Milan Radoicic said that in addition to the Prime Minister he met and discussed with other senior officials in Prishtinë/Pristina, including the President Hashim Thaçi.
“This is what I will tell you. I met both of them. I also met some others and each and every one of them promised palaces and cities to Serbs to be on the other side and not with the others, but we cannot step over the vital interests of Serbs,” Radoicic confirmed to Klan Kosova what Ramush Haradinaj stated earlier during Tuesday.
In this telephone conversation Radoicic was reluctant to provide many details about the meeting with the two state leaders of Kosovo, but he only said in Albanian that he also met with others, in addition to Thaçi and Haradinaj.
“I met with all those who are in power,” Radoicic stated.
Office of the President still has not made a pronouncement regarding allegations that he met with Radoicic.
Sir Alan Duncan says change of borders risks stability in Kosovo and the region
(GazetaExpress)
Sir Alan Duncan, the British Minister of State for Europe and the Americas, said a Kosovo-Serbia agreement based on border changes risks endangering stability in Kosovo, Serbia and setting a precedent that could be exploited by other countries in the region and elsewhere.
In a debate on Kosovo in the British Parliament today, the UK Foreign Office minister Sir Alan Duncan, drew attention to the challenges and opportunities for Kosovo as it marked eleven years of independence.
Speaking on the subject of Borders, Sir Alan said that “a Dialogue Agreement based on border changes risks endangering stability in Kosovo, Serbia and beyond [and] risks setting a precedent that could be unhelpfully exploited by third parties in the region and elsewhere.”
He welcomed the creation of Kosovo’s State Delegation and emphasised that progress on negotiations requires all sides to “respect Kosovo’s democratic right to determine how, and by whom, the country is represented.”
Acknowledging the current frictions between the Governments of Kosovo and Serbia, Sir Alan urged both sides to de-escalate tensions and return to negotiations; in respect of Kosovo’s tariffs, he emphasised that “with our international partners we have asked Kosovo’s government to set out the steps it intends to take to suspend the tariffs and enable a return to the Dialogue.”
Haradinaj pleased with Great Britain’s opposition to change of borders
(Klan Kosova)
Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj thanked Great Britain for their approach to the idea of border changing, Klan Kosova portal reported.
“Grateful and thankful for the consistent approach of the Government of Great Britain to the warmongering and destabilizing idea of changing the Kosovo border with Serbia as part of a comprehensive agreement with the neighbouring state,” Haradinaj wrote on Facebook.
“In today’s debate on Kosovo in the British Parliament, Minister for Europe Sir Alan Duncan described the debate on border changes as extremely dangerous for the Balkans, which would be used as a precedent by third parties.”
“Borders in the Balkans are not perfect. Their movement is very sensitive and dangerous. I repeat that Kosovo is interested in agreement with Serbia, which will result in mutual recognition within the current borders of 17 February 2008,” Haradinaj concluded.
Forty-four MPs call an extraordinary session, only 20 took part
(KTV)
Over forty opposition MPs called for an extraordinary session regarding 500,000 euros allocated by the Government for the 11th anniversary of independence, but this Tuesday in the Kosovo Assembly there were not even 20 MPs in the chamber.
Even those few MPs were only from the opposition, while there were only two from the ruling parties.
No matter that there were only a few MPs in the chamber; the Assembly Speaker opened the proceedings of the session, while initiators themselves called for its postponement.
Driton Selmanaj of LDK said that the greatest honour that can be done to the fallen is to discuss the funds being abused by the Government, as it is the recent case with those on the independence anniversary.
Selmanaj stressed that this date, which happened to be on the same day with start of KLA Epopee, was not deliberately scheduled for the session.
In the meantime, at the request of the opposition it is expected that the extraordinary session scheduled for Wednesday with regard to blocking of the Central Election Commission by President Hashim Thaçi will be postponed for March 13.
The Assembly Presidency is expected to decide on both these sessions.
Kosovo Army defends territory, can be deployed in the north, says ex-commander
(GazetaExpress)
Former commander of the Kosovo Security Force, KSF, Kadri Kastrati, says its troops are tasked to defend country’s territory and can be deployed in northern part of the country inhabited by Serbs.
Kastrati says the Kosovo’s Parliament vote on transition of the lightly-armed KSF into full-fledged army, its troops can be deployed all over the territory of Kosovo. His statements came after the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, stated last month that the KSF cannot enter the northern part of the country without NATO’s consent. But Kastrati said that Kosovo Army is created to defend sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo. “This means that if borders are threatened the army has the right to act based on its competencies and duties and defend borders of Kosovo,” Kastrati said.
According to Kastrati statements of Serbian officials alleging that the KSF has no right to be deployed in the north, are not just. “The Belgrade cannot talk on behalf of the state of Kosovo. We are a sovereign country and take independent decisions. The Kosovo Army has not been formed to attack its citizens, but it is tasked to defend the lives and properties of citizens of Kosovo. Those living in northern part of Kosovo, including Serbs and other communities, are citizens of Kosovo and the Army is obliged to defend them,” Kastrati said.
Surroi: Tariff should be revoked as a political act, as it was initially imposed
(KTV’s summary of Rubikon show)
Writer and publicist Veton Surroi said that without reaching a consensus among the political parties in Kosovo for Dialogue with Serbia, the right result will hardly be achieved.
According to him, there are obvious differences in the parties’ positions on Dialogue, but he said that there is also a difference in the positions of Kosovo’s international partners.
“There are obvious differences. It is a process that has no transatlantic agreement yet. There is a move in the QUINT capitals to achieve full agreement and this will take time. Maybe weeks, or even months! But the key message is that as a transatlantic consensus will be reached, there also needs to be Kosovo consensus. We have several levels in the country, with the President talking about the territory and the Prime Minister that has taken the process of the tariff, as well as the Negotiation Team that will soon approve a law, and on the fourth level – LDK and Vetëvendosje, who are not part of the Team. But in case no consensus will be reached between the parties, Kosovo will find it difficult to achieve the right result in Dialogue,” he told KTV Rubikon show.
He qualified the letter of US President Donald Trump as an encouraging step, saying that he indicated what should be the framework of the negotiating process.
Surroi said that Kosovo needs a comprehensive agreement with Serbia and, according to him; this can only be achieved if all the issues between the two countries are opened at the table of talks.
According to him, Leposavic or Zubin Potok is not the problem of Serbia and Kosovo.
“Kosovo needs a comprehensive agreement and which brings peace. This is achieved if all the issues are opened on the table. The open issue between the two countries is neither Leposavic nor Zubin Potok because Serbia has neither fought for Leposavic nor for Zubin Potok. Serbia does not consider Leposavic and Zubin Potok as part of its myth. There’s nothing from it in there. Issues should be tackled as real problems and find a solution for them,” he said.
He then said that Kosovo should create its own identity as other countries of the former Yugoslavia did, but added that this is not possible because, according to him, “Kosovo has entered directly into the captured state, while other states have taken care of the identity of their statehood.”
According to Surroi, the tariff on Serbian goods has given a practical effect so far.
He said that with the tariff, Kosovo has drawn attention with a sort of integrity.
Surroi believes that the tariff on Serbian goods should be revoked as a political act, as it was initially imposed.
He told KTV Rubikon that American persistence on revocation of the tariff should be seen as an encouragement rather than a threat.
“The tariff was imposed as a political act and it should be revoked or suspended as a political act. This act should be part of a change, and this change is not yet here,” he ended.
