• President’s Office silent about Osmani’s claim of secret Thaçi-Vucic meeting (KTV)
• Lack of unity even within State Delegation (KTV)
• Grasso on Albanian KFOR soldiers in the north: We did not want to provoke KFOR is conducting reconnaissance activities throughout Kosovo (KoSSev)
• KFOR: Situation in north under control, no evidence of unrests (All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)
• State unable to prevent Serbian Sun Valley project in Zvecan/Zveçan  (KTV)

News

President’s Office silent about Osmani’s claim of secret Thaçi-Vucic meeting

(KTV)

Presidents Thaçi and Vucic have often met in Brussels and in various forums, but according to LDK MP Vjosa Osmani, the presidents have met secretly, as well.

MP Osmani said that those were confirmed reports, adding that the meetings happened in Rome, Italy.

According to Osmani, Thaçi is alone in the border changing idea, although initially he had presented it at the decision-making centres as an idea that enjoys support of the majority.

Nevertheless, Osmani warns that this idea is not completely dead.

Imer Mushkolaj, analyst, also believes it was not by accident that President Thaçi initiated the border changing topic, but it had been a previous agreement on the issue.

On the other hand, President Thaçi’s Information Office has kept silent, not responding to the questions of KTV about this topic.

Speaking to an Albanian television station at the end of January, Thaçi refuted that such meetings had happened.

This Friday, President Thaçi will speak about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue in the United Kingdom, but this time, Chatham House Institute has not invited his Serbian counterpart Vucic.

Lack of unity even within State Delegation

(KTV)

Over the last days, the Kosovo State Delegation for Negotiations with Serbia has been criticised also for including in its composition incompetent persons, who are mostly considered as close persons to the two co-chairs Limaj and Ahmeti, and their political parties respectively.

Visar Ymeri, a member of the State delegation and vice chairman of PSD, stated to Radio Free Europe that relations of the Delegation with the Kosovo institutions were regulated with the Law on the Kosovo Delegation in Dialogue with Serbia, which was adopted two months ago by the Kosovo Assembly.

Ymeri said that the State Delegation will coordinate with President Thaçi on certain issues emerging in the dialogue process, but according to him, the State Delegation is responsible to run the dialogue.

“…We will be coordinating about the meetings, and about decision-making we will consult other instances; however, it is an exclusive responsibility of the State Delegation to run this dialogue process with Serbia, and to agree on the final deal,” Ymeri said.

But according to civil society members, there are still a lot of unclear issues in this process.

Jeta Krasniqi of the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI) stated to Radio Free Europe that there was lack of unity even within the State Delegation. She added that the Delegation has not been transparent, since it has not reported to the Kosovo Assembly on the meetings that have taken place in Brussels so far.

“…We saw at the last phase or last meeting when the two co-chairs of the Delegation were in Brussels, other Delegation members reacted to the visit and to the meetings the chairs had. In other words, it seems that there are different positions even within the Delegation,” Krasniqi highlighted.

Talking about appointments of some persons from Nisma and PSD as members of the Team’s Administrative Office, she said that such appointments damage the dialogue process and Kosovo’s interest. In her view, pursuant to the Constitution, the appointed persons should come from the state institutions, and they should have a high expertise.

But PSD MP Visar Ymeri said that those persons would deal with administrative work only, and that the Negotiating Team is mandatory in the Assembly.

“Currently it the Delegation has nine members, and it shall have twelve in total. We are expecting another three members to be appointed or voted; one of them shall be a representative of Bosniak community or of other communities in Kosovo, one member from civil society, and another representative of the opposition,” Ymeri said.

Grasso on Albanian KFOR soldiers in the North: We did not want to provoke. KFOR is conducting reconnaissance activities throughout Kosovo

(KoSSev)

A group of soldiers from different NATO member states, which are part of the KFOR mission, as well as four Albanian soldiers, visited North Mitrovica today. They walked from the main bridge at the Ibar River to the monument to Knez Lazar, located in the city center, where they were photographed.

This scene caused numerous negative reactions on social networks, with political parties also reacting and claiming that it was a provocation.

KFOR, however, stated that the visit was not meant to be a provocation and reminded that Albania is a member of NATO for 10 years now, adding that the group of soldiers was made up of members of different nations.

„A group of NATO soldiers, accompanied by KFOR, is conducting reconnaissance activities in Kosovo. The activity consists of visits to various places in Kosovo, including Mitrovica and other locations in the north,“ KFOR spokesperson Vincenzo Grasso told KoSSev.

Otadzbina: Before Vucic’s regime KFOR did not dare to irritate Serbs in this way

The National Movement of Serbs from Kosovo „Otadzbina“ was the first one to react to the information that a group of Albanian soldiers took a walk today in North Mitrovica. This movement stated that this only shows „the misery and inability of Vucic’s regime to protect Serbs in Kosovo“.

Otadzbina wrote in a statement that the Albanians could not take a walk in the northern part of the city without KFOR’s permission and that „before Vucic’s regime, KFOR did not dare to irritate Serbs in this way.“

„After this provocation, we assume that the president of Serbia will raise the army combat readiness for the umpteenth time. He will hold a session of the National Security Council, again for the umpteenth time, and this will end there. In other words, he is just blowing hot air,“ Otadzbina underlined.

In addition to Otazbina, numerous citizens reacted on social networks, criticizing the visit of KFOR soldiers and placing the blame for it on both the local and the central government in Belgrade.

Srpska Lista: A series of strange events

According to official information on NATO’s website, Albania is one of the nations participating in the KFOR mission. Out of 3,525 soldiers in KFOR, 29 are Albanian.

Srpska Lista also reacted, stating that „a series of strange events are currently happening in the north of Kosovo and Metohija“.

The largest Kosovo Serb party also said that „provocations and walks by members of the Albanian army in the center of Kosovska Mitrovica“ followed the warnings of the British embassy and the drawing of KLA graffiti.

Srpska Lista agree that this series of events caused worry among the citizens, and they asked the KFOR commander „whether he has information about any possible incidents in the north of Kosovo, which the British and the Germans are warning about and also what are the soldiers of Albania doing on the streets of Serb cities in the north, when it is well known that the Albanian army is not part of the KFOR Mission?”

KFOR: situation in north under control, no evidence of unrest

(All monitored broadcasters, RTK1)

In a statement to the media, the KFOR Media Office confirms that the situation in the north, as well as all over Kosovo, is absolutely under control and there is no sign or evidence of possible unrest or violence.

“Notwithstanding the numerous appeals to refrain from spreading irresponsible speculations, unfortunately fabricated rumours continue circulating on the media and causing unfounded concerns among the population. In a statement to the media, the KFOR Staff Media Office confirms that the situation in the north, as well as all over Kosovo, is absolutely under control and there is no sign or evidence of possible unrest or violence,” the statement says.

According to KFOR, there is no reason to be worried and nothing to be afraid of. KFOR explained that in those days a group of NATO Officers, escorted by KFOR, is conducting a reconnaissance activity in Kosovo.

The statement adds that those Officers are from different NATO Nations, including Albania, and that the activity consists in a visit to different places in Kosovo, including Mitrovica and other locations in the North.

“This is not a provocation, but it is a joint NATO activity, and the presence of 4 Albanian Officers should not surprise anybody since Albania has been a NATO member for 10 years now. Moreover, it should be well known that Albania is also contributing to KFOR mission,” the statement continues.

According to the statement, KFOR continues to be impartially committed to its UN mandate in order to protect all people in Kosovo and when KFOR exercises and moves around Kosovo everybody must feel safer.

State unable to prevent Sun Valley Serbian project in Zvecan/Zveçan

(KTV)

About 1,500 Serbs are expected to be accommodated to about 300 houses in Zvecan/Zveçan.

Seemingly, Kosovo institutions have kneeled down to the Serbian state, which is investing in construction of the Sun Valley project in Zvecan/Zveçan. Despite the order issued by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environment to stop construction of those residential buildings, the work continued on Thursday as well, KTV reported.Representatives of Albanians in Kosovo north consider the Serbia’s project concerning.

Inspectorate of the Ministry of Environment only once inspected this location, in 2016.

Since the Municipality of Zvecan/Zveçan and its Department of Urbanism disregarded the Inspectorate by not providing them documents, the Inspectorate requested to halt the work.

Given that the work was not halted, the Ministry of Environment sent the minor offence case to the Mitrovica/Mitrovicë Basic Court.

But in fact, the Ministry did not sue the Municipality of Zvecan/Zveçan, but it only filed a minor offence claim at the Mitrovica/Mitrovicë Basic Court.

The case judge Nurije Shala said that this case met statute of limitation in December last year, because representatives of the Municipality of Zvecan/Zveçan and the Director of urbanism Nadica Hristov refused the Court summons.

“The file cases do not contain any decision to order halting of the work. But even if the Court had made the decision, and even if the parties had attended, the highest punishment would be only a fine and the work could not be halted, because it is not under responsibilities of the Minor Offence Department,” Shala said.

Minister Matoshi says that for security reasons, inspectors of the Ministry have encountered difficulties in inspecting the work at Sun Valley.