UNMIK Headlines 17 May
Jahjaga opposite Nikolic at the UN Security Council (Tribuna)
The UN Security Council is expected to meet on the 27th of this month and discuss the most recent report of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Kosovo, reports the paper on page two. This time, Kosovo and Serbia will be represented at the level of presidents. The news was confirmed by the spokesperson for the Kosovo President Jahjaga, Arber Vllahiu.
Ban in his report noted there are still challenges in full implementation of Brussels agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, particularly with regards to the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities. However, he stressed that these should not undermine the progress made since the beginning of the dialogue.
Parties present list of candidates for MPs (dailies)
Papers report that political parties in Kosovo respected the Central Election Commission deadline for submitting their lists of proposed candidates for MPs. While the other parties presented their lists earlier, PDK and Vetevendosje submitted theirs three minutes before midnight.
Tribuna has published the lists of all main parties but those of PDK and Vetevendosje are said to be still unofficial. Top five people in the LDK list include the leader Isa Mustafa, Sabri Hamiti, Vjosa Osmani, Ismet Beqiri and Kujtim Shala. PDK is led by Hashim Thaci followed by Kadri Veseli, Vlora Citaku, Enver Hoxhaj, Margarita Kadriu. Ramush Haradinaj tops the AAK list and is followed by Blerim Shala, Melihate Termkolli, Nexhat Daci and Ardian Gjini. Initiative for Kosovo includes Fatmir Limaj, Jakup Krasniqi, Valdete Bajrami, Bilall Sherifi and Zafir Berisha. The unofficial list of Vetevendosje includes Albin Kurti, Liburn Aliu, Glauk Konjufca, Naser Berisha and Visar Ymeri.
8 June elections, in accordance to western standards (Tribuna)
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci commended institutions responsible for organising elections for their intensive work and pledged to ensure upcoming elections are held in a fair, free and democratic spirit. In the meeting of the government, Thaci also expressed appreciation to the EU and the US for supporting elections process in Kosovo.
German media: Von der Leyen decided not to meet Thaci (Koha Ditore)
Munich-based paper Suddeutsche Zeitung has extensively covered the visit of the German Defence Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, to Kosovo and described reasons why she refused to meet Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. The paper said that being that Kosovo is ahead of elections, there was fear that if the German minister was to meet Thaci, he could use it as marketing for his election campaign. Von der Leyen was however interested in meeting the Kosovo Security Force Minister Agim Ceku but the paper alleges that the Kosovo side told the German delegation that they either meet both Ceku and Thaci or none. “Von der Leyen decided not to meet any of them”, the paper said.
Government pays for friendship with US (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports on the front page that the Government of Kosovo has paid over one million US dollars to two US lobbying companies, “Podesta Group” and “Patton Boggs”. The companies were commissioned to assist in strengthening relations between Kosovo and the US and “Podesta Group” was specifically tasked with maintaining contacts with members of the US Congress as well with making efforts to increase the number of recognitions for Kosovo’s independence. The paper claims that the leading people in this company also lobbied in Kosovo to ensure that the contract for construction of the highway is awarded to the US company “Bechtel”.