• Haradinaj speaks about his relations with Thaçi and Veseli (KTV)
• PM complains, says that AAK people were discriminated for many years in employment (KTV)
• Analysts sceptical about Kosovo-Serbian agreement in 2019 (KTV)
• Opposition admits it doesn’t have sufficient votes for no-confidence motion (RTK1)
• Kosnett: Constitution and Assembly are to blame why Auditor’s findings are disregarded (Klan Kosova & KTV)
• Serbia ruled by mafia (GazetaExpress)
• The draft of the Kosovo Law on Higher Education classifies the Serbian University in North Mitrovica as a Kosovan institution (Kossev)

Haradinaj speaks about his relations with Thaçi and Veseli

(KTV)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj said on Tuesday that he had no special meeting with President Hashim Thaçi and Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli, but he admitted that he met them at various events.

He made these comments at the press conference following the Kosovo Government’s meeting, while answering the question about his relations with Thaçi and Veseli after meeting with the US Under Secretary for Political Affairs, David Hale.

“I lead a government of coalition, and we do meet up. I did not have a meeting, but we meet up at various events. We see each other. I work with the President and the Kosovo Assembly Speaker. It is good that I have had occasion to say it several times, it is good that Kosovo has managed to have a Platform on Dialogue voted in the Assembly, and it is good that Kosovo is consolidated in terms of dialogue,” Haradinaj said.

PM complains, says that AAK people were discriminated for many years in employment

(KTV)

Employments based on political affiliations, which has been extensively covered by KTV, was the prevailing topic after Tuesday’s meeting of Kosovo Government.

Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj did not amnesty even himself when he was asked about the tendency of young people to leave the country.

Regarding employment of people of his party, he said they were constantly discriminated against when it came to employment in the public sector, while he reacted against those who, according to him, have created this situation and are now criticizing the Government.

He said that now that they are in power, it is not good to abuse with it, while he mentioned his office as a place where no employments based on political affiliations happen.

Haradinaj qualified border changing and the tariff as old topics, adding that the two states need a more concrete process on their path to the EU.

Analysts sceptical about Kosovo-Serbian agreement in 2019

(KTV)

Kosovo and Serbian authorities continue expressing their willingness for dialogue between the two countries, as a process that would enable reaching a comprehensive agreement; however, political analysts in Kosovo and Serbia believe that the extreme positions of the sides and political scenes in the two countries strengthen dilemmas if a possible agreement can be reached within 2019.

Currently, according to them, many EU and US officials consider this year a suitable moment and as a chance for reaching a Kosovo-Serbia agreement; however, analysts have different views regarding the likelihood that it will happen.

Political expert Ramush Tahiri told Radio Free Europe that a prerequisite to reaching a comprehensive agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is dialogue, which has presently stagnated, due to introduction by the Kosovo Government of 100 percent tariff on Serbian products. He is very sceptical that the tariff will be presently suspended by the Kosovo Government. But according to him, in case that happens, the path for dialogue and the opportunity for an agreement between the sides will be opened.

But Dusan Janjic, Director of Forum for Ethnic Relations in Belgrade, has a different opinion. Talking to Radio Free Europe, he pointed out that currently there are three narrations about the possibilities of reaching a comprehensive agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

Serbian authorities have refused to go back to the dialogue, unless the tariff on their products is revoked.

Kosovo Government has persisted on its decision, despite the continuous calls by the EU and US for suspending the tariff.

The United States expect Kosovo and Serbia to reach a comprehensive agreement within 2019, which it would end with mutual recognitions.

Opposition admits it doesn’t have sufficient votes for no-confidence motion

(RTK1)

Role of the opposition in Kosovo is the topic that was discussed on Tuesday on RTK3’s INFO3 show. The studio guests were PSD MP Besa Baftiu and Vetëvendosje MP Sali Zyba.

MP Zyba said that Vetëvendosje as an opposition party with its activities keeps advocating for protection of citizens’ interests. With regard to collaboration amongst opposition parties, Zyba said that the fact that PSD has chosen a different way of work in the Kosovo Assembly has separated PSD from joint stances of the opposition.

“If PSD would not vote the budget, the Government would fall. PSD voted for the benefit of Government, and that prolonged the Government’s mandate,” he said.

Nevertheless, Zyba says that collaboration amongst opposition parties is still possible, in order for them to overthrow the Government.

According to Zyba, PSD has turned to a crutch of the current Government. “This party has had an impact on voting some harmful laws, such as the one on the Dialogue, and thus it is prolonging this Government’s life,” he added.

Zyba stated that opposition parties still have not got the sufficient number of votes for a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister.

MP Besa Baftiu, on the other hand, said that PSD has had a constructive role in the Kosovo Assembly. She thinks that had the opposition parties been unified, it would be easier to influence in taking decisions in citizens’ interests, knowing that the opposition has more MPs than the governing parties, without Serb MPs.

Baftiu refuted the accusations of Vetëvendosje that PSD has become a crutch of the Government. According to her, PSD made possible dismissal of Minister Rikalo, which had been also requested by opposition parties that were absent when the voting for dismissal took place.

“We will be in continuous control of the Government coalition,” Baftiu said.

She believes that the boycott of Vetëvendosje and LDK as bigger parties is convenient to the Government coalition. According to her, those parties are not doing anything to submit motion of no-confidence to the Assembly.

Kosnett: Constitution and Assembly are to blame why Auditor’s findings are disregarded

(Klan Kosova & KTV)

The National Audit Office has established Anti-Fraud Unit.

But, it turned out that these institutions have not been cooperative with the National Audit Office. In addition, they have taken into the account only 1/3 of general recommendations of auditors for avoiding fraud within public institutions.

This was stated by the US Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett on Tuesday, when Anti-Fraud Unit was formally launched.

The Unit has been established with the support provided by USAID. Ambassador Kosnett said that the Unit conveys the message that any fraud or corruption occurring in Kosovo institutions will be combatted and pointed out.

Highlighting outcomes of the Unit, the US Ambassador stated that so far the Unit has detected 38 possible fraud cases, which, according to him, is a promising start that proves to citizens that the institutions have nothing to conceal.

Ambassador Kosnett’s remarks at the launch of Anti-Fraud Unit are available at: https://xk.usembassy.gov/ambassador-kosnetts-remarks-at-the-launch-of-anti-fraud-unit/

 Serbia ruled by mafia

(GazetaExpress)

Former member of Kosovo Parliament and politician, Rada Trajkovic, said that mafia rules not only Serb-controlled north of Kosovo but also Serbia.

Trajkovic, who is professor at the Medical Faculty in Mitrovica North, said recent protests of opposition in Serbia herald the end of reign of Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic.

Trajkovic in an interview with news agency KosovaPress said the mafia from the north has extended its control also in Serbia and is controlling the state.

“Unfortunately, the regime in Belgrade has captured all institutions and took all the powers in its hands. No institutions work properly in Serbia, therefore it is normal for the people to protest asking a country of rule of law and freedom,” Trajkovic told KosovaPress commenting on the ongoing protests in Belgrade against the Government of Serbia.

According to Trajkovic, continuous protests in Belgrade and other towns of Serbia, mark the beginning of the end of Vucic’s rule. “I think that mafia is ruling all over Balkans. But, the mafia from northern part of Kosovo has spread rapidly and is ruling all over Serbia,” Trajkovic stated.

The draft of the Kosovo Law on Higher Education classifies the Serbian University in North Mitrovica as a Kosovan institution

(Kossev)

The draft of the Kosovo Law on Higher Education classifies the University of North Mitrovica as a public Kosovo institution of higher education. The votes of at least four deputies representing the Serb community in the Kosovo Assembly are required in order for this law to be adopted. This draft, which was proposed in November of last year, was discussed in early March in the assembly education committee in Pristina, in which Srpska Lista MP, Verica Ceranic is also a member.

The University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in North Mitrovica is the only higher education institution in the Serbian language in Kosovo and it functions within the Serbian system. Most faculties of this institution were relocated to North Mitrovica in 2001.

The government in Pristina considers this institution illegal, and the new draft Law on Higher Education seeks to classify this higher education institution as an „autonomous public institution of higher education established by law no. 03/068 on education in the municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo and law no. 03 / L-040 on Local Self-Government“.

The draft law further stipulates that the statute, organization, and internal procedures of this institution function „in accordance with the central legislative framework of the Republic of Kosovo“.

Kosovo Minister of Education, Shuqyri Bytyqi told KTV that this draft law envisages a number of changes on which the quality of higher education, both public and private, will depend on.

Bytyqi added that he „will not give up on the University of North Mitrovica because it is unreasonable that an institution in Kosovo continues to function according to the Serbian curriculum“.

Due to the boycott of the MPs of Srpska Lista, however, the Kosovo Assembly cannot decide on the draft law on the higher education in the first reading, KTV reported.

The President of the Committee for Education within the Kosovo Assembly, Ismail Kurteshi told KTV that the committee passed this draft law to the Parliament a month ago, but that “this and many other laws remain on the sidelines due to the depravity of Serbian MPs.”

Kurteshi added that Serb MPs „are not ready to put the University of North Mitrovica under the administration of Kosovo institutions“.

Over 7,000 students at the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in North Mitrovica

According to the official information of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Serbia which KoSSev received earlier this month, the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in North Mitrovica has 7,354 students, as well as 829 teachers and 335 non-teaching staff.

Pristina’s plan on the integration of „the University of North Mitrovica“ exists since 2015

The Government of Kosovo adopted a document on „Procedure for Applying for Posts in the Institutions of the Republic of Kosovo for Members of Minority Communities with Degrees Issued by the University of North Mitrovica“ in 2015, which, as they explained at the time, was „a temporary-interim measure of integration by which the diplomas received by the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo will become valid for the purpose of applying for jobs in public institutions, and in the expectation of full integration of the University of North Mitrovica within the Kosovo legal framework.“The aim of this document was the integration of the University of Pristina with temporary headquarters in North Mitrovica into the Kosovo system of higher education.

The Student Parliament of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Pristina with a temporary headquarters in North Mitrovica then denied these allegations and condemned the statements of „political representatives of provisional institutions in Pristina who are announcing the integration of the University into the education system of the non-existent Republic of Kosovo“.