UNMIK Headlines 18 June
Thaçi-Dacic meeting, crucial for the date of Serbia (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that the Office of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, has confirmed that on Thursday evening prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Thaçi and Ivica Dacic will meet in Brussels.
According to Ashton’s spokesman, Maja Kocijancic, the prime ministers will be discussing about the progress in the implementation of the April agreement based on the plan which has been approved last month from both parties. Now again there is a situation where on Thursday evening in a working dinner, Prime Ministers, Thaçi and Dacic would have to “make another historic step” with implementation of the agreement, as well as with achievement of the agreement on telecom and energy. This progress would help the Baroness Ashton and the European Commission to immediately report on the progress in the normalization of relations and for specific results in the implementation of the agreement.
Only after this, on Friday, the EU member representatives will start drafting conclusions of European Council which will be discussed by EU ministers on 25 June in Luxemburg and finally decision for the date for Serbia will be taken by the EU heads of the states on 28 June in the Brussels Summit.
Talks reach a dead-end (Zëri)
The first day of the fourth round of talks on implementation of agreement for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia ended yesterday without any concrete results. The lack of progress in these talks threatens stalling the two countries’ EU integrations process, stresses the paper.
Head of the Kosovo delegation and Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri said the parties continue to have different stances and even added that the Serb delegation presented new demands which, according to her, are unacceptable and in complete conflict to Kosovo’s constitutionality. Tahiri did not rule out the possibility for these issues to be discussed at a higher political level between prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia.
“The Serb side insists on licensing of a mobile operator which we refused today again because it is not in accordance to the laws of our state and telecommunications aspects”, said Tahiri.
“Ambassadors” assume their duties (Koha Ditore)
Liaison officials of Pristina and Belgrade have assumed their specific duties, this way functionalizing the agreement achieved last December between Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaçi, and Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic. In Pristina arrived the envoy of Serbia, Dejan Pavicevic who told reports outside the European Commission building in Pristina, where he is going to have his offices, that his work is not in the function of an ambassador, because Serbia does not recognize Kosovo. Pavicevic emphasized that his task is to “facilitate communication, implementation of agreement from Brussels and help in normalizing of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.”
Vetëvendosje announces protest (Lajm)
The paper reports on the front page that the Vetëvendosje Movement is strongly rejecting the adoption by the Kosovo Parliament of the plan for the implementation of the Kosovo-Serbia agreement. Vetëvendosje said whenever Parliament would meet to adopt the plan, it would strongly reject the session and called on the people to join its protest to prevent the ratification of the agreement.
Vulin: UNMIK will not cut down presence in the north (Zëri)
Head of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Aleksandar Vulin assured Serbs in the north of Kosovo that UNMIK will not cut down its presence though this has been demanded by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi at the UN Security Council. Vulin is quoted as saying to the local Serb media in Mitrovica that he has informed UNMIK of concern that Serb community has and was assured that there will be no downsizing of UNMIK in the north. “Our position is that UNMIK is irreplaceable in these areas and the only international organization that Serbs trust the most”, said Vulin.
Vetëvendosje rejects claims that US has conditioned its cooperation (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that the deputy head of Vetëvendosje movement, Shpend Ahmeti, has responded with a letter to an American diplomat, Edward Joseph, who said that the US has placed five conditions on Vetëvendosje if they want to ensure cooperation with the US. In the letter, Ahmeti provides five answers and claims Joseph’s statements do not represent the US official stance.
“We have duly noted your five points which you more or less argued during the SAIS debate. In my memo, I have tried to summarize our arguments that we also made during the debate. The explanation will hopefully explain why some of the premises you make are unacceptable to us,” writes Ahmeti in the letter. “For your information, your memo was presented in some of the local media (close to government) in Kosovo as the official position of US government, which they would not say even when members of government would speak”, says Ahmeti in the letter.
Kosovo and Lichtenstein, agreement for re-recognition (dailies)
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Bajram Rexhepi and Deputy Prime Minister of Lichtenstein Participate, who is also Minister of Internal Affairs, Justice and Economy, Thomas Zweiefelhofer, signed on Monday the agreement for re-recognition between the two countries. This agreement was signed during the official visit of Minister Rexhepi at this country, informed through a press release the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Both parties concluded that they do not have asylum seekers for now, however the agreement will serve as legal basis for the future and it will contribute on fulfillment of the criteria for EU visa liberalization.
Pacolli seeks recognition from Thailand (Epoka e Re)
Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Behxhet Pacolli met on Monday in Pristina with a delegation from the government of Thailand. Pacolli said Kosovo wants to have diplomatic relations with Thailand and called on the latter to recognize Kosovo’s independence. “I strongly believe that your country’s decision to recognize Kosovo would contribute to peace and stability in the region,” Pacolli said. “We have already joined many international organizations and we are on the way of integrating in the United Nations.”