UNMIK Headlines 2 August
Post-election coalition reaffirms ‘red lines’ towards PDK (Koha Ditore)
Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Kadri Veseli, said on Friday that a certain part of the political spectrum in Kosovo is risking missing the last opportunity to demonstrate political and constitutional responsibility towards voters and Kosovo’s European perspective. Attempts to gain power without guaranteeing broad-based and sustainable governance with more than 80 MPs, according to Veseli, will put Kosovo into an institutional crisis. However, representatives of the post-election coalition consisting of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) ruled out any possibility of joining a government alongside the PDK and said that calls for a comprehensive government with more than 80 MPs are absurd.
Special Court depending on the future of PDK (Tribuna)
On the front page, the paper reports that the creation of the Special Court could be put under question if the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is left in the opposition as the party MPs will vote on their own free will on constitutional changes required to be approved by the Assembly of Kosovo before the Special Court can be put in place. “As a ruling party, we were forced to support a process that was not popular at all, but if the PDK is to remain in the opposition, none of our MPs will any longer feel obliged to vote for constitutional and legal amendments”, the paper quotes a senior PDK official.
Concerns over religious extremism bring together leaders (Koha Ditore)
President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, called a meeting on Friday with acting Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, and officials from the security sector to discuss measures against religious extremism. Jahjaga stressed the necessity of inter-institutional cooperation in order to fight religious extremism that is threatening security and stability in Kosovo.
LISBA fails to gather enough supporters to the Gaza protest (Zeri)
Islamic Movement (LISBA) led by Fuad Ramiqi gathered less than one hundred people to protest yesterday in Pristina in support of the Palestinian population in the Gaza strip. The failure of the protest, according to the paper, is seen as a lack of support for the organizers of the protest because of their religious character.
KP to provide security for the court in the north (dailies)
Kosovo Police (KP) has taken on the responsibility for providing security to the courthouse in north Mitrovica. KP Deputy Commander for Mitrovica region, Besim Hoti, said the move is part of the transfer of competencies from EULEX to the Kosovo Police.