UNMIK Headlines 14 December
Thaçi and Dacic fail to reach agreement on judiciary (dailies)
Papers report that prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Thaçi and Ivica Dacic, ended yesterday’s meeting in Brussels under the EU facilitation without reaching agreement on judiciary in the north of Kosovo as was expected. The sides remained firm on their previously-expressed stances and could not agree on where the seat of the basic court would be located.
Prime Minister Thaçi described the meeting as constructive and said there is understanding that there needs to be a unified justice system across Kosovo. He said it will be now up to the technical teams to work out on approximating stances on the issue.
At the same time, Serbian Prime Minister Dacic accused his Kosovo counterpart for not sticking to the views of the working groups. “Other proposals that came from Pristina practically imply inclusion of the north of Kosovo into an Albanian space where Albanians would make 60-70 percent of the population. This for us is simply unacceptable”, said Dacic.
Dacic said a compromise solution would be to have one Basic Court for the entire region of Mitrovica which would be split into two offices, one in the north and the other south of River Ibri.
First 16 members of MUP join Kosovo Police (Zëri)
The paper reports that the first group of members of Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP) joined the Kosovo Police as part of agreement between prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia. The first group consists of 16 members out of the total of 300 expected to be integrated into the Kosovo Police. Kosovo Interior Ministry issued a press release saying that job contracts were signed by 16 police officials who previously underwent a background check.
Human remains recovered at the Raska mass grave (dailies)
Forensic teams recovered yesterday remains of people believed to be victims from the Kosovo war in a location near Raska of Serbia. It is suspected that the site may be the burial site of 250-400 bodies. Forensic experts said the exhumations of bodies will continue in the coming days. Head of the Kosovo Government commission for missing persons, Prenk Gjetaj, said this is an important step in identification of persons considered missing.
Kosovo and Serbia reach agreement that removes business barriers (Tribuna)
Kosovo and Serbia chambers of commerce reached in Brussels two agreements with European counterpart associations which are expected to contribute to the strengthening of business community in the two countries. The signing ceremony was also attended by Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi and of Serbia Ivica Dacic as well as the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Catherine Ashton.
Head of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce Safet Gërxhaliu said that agreements will help in normalization of relations between the two countries. “The first has to do with arbitrage of disputed issues in the field of economy between the two countries. This will lead to the resolving of business barriers”, said Gërxhaliu on the occasion.
Fund for the north established (dailies)
EU office in Kosovo announced that the first meeting of the fund for the north took place yesterday. A statement issued by the office says the board of the fund consists of three members: Danijela Zubac from the northern municipalities, Besim Beqaj from Kosovo institutions and Samuel Zbogar, EU Special Representative to Kosovo. “EU Special Representative confirmed opening of a bank account in NLB Bank. In accordance to the agreement on customs, collection of taxes at Jarinje and Bërnjak crossings will begin on 14 December”, the statement reads.