Headlines - 02.03.2016

EU: Kosovo has met its obligation to establish special court (Koha)

European Union officials said on Tuesday that Kosovo has met all obligations and has completed all procedures for the formation of the special court that will address war crimes allegations in Kosovo. “We welcome Kosovo’s steps in finalizing the necessary legal framework for the formation of the specialist chambers and the special prosecutor’s office,” said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for the EU External Action Service. “Even though the Netherlands has to ratify the agreements for the host country, last week the President of Kosovo made a major and crucial step and we would like to thank all Kosovo authorities for their responsibility in the process”. Kocijancic also said that the EU would “continue to provide assistance in the formation of the specialist chambers and the special prosecutor’s office, including funding, and will cooperate with Kosovo and with the Netherlands in making all the necessary arrangements so that the court can become operational in 2016 as planned”.

Netherlands won’t be responsible for special court’s cost and prisoners (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that according to the agreement on the headquarters of the special court that will address war crimes allegations in Kosovo, the Netherlands will not have any responsibilities in terms of financial expenses. The agreement further provides that those found guilty of crimes will not serve their sentences in the Netherlands but in a different country chosen by the special court.

Government reshuffle (Koha)

Citing unnamed sources in the ruling coalition, the paper reports that former Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj is most likely to return to this post now that Hashim Thaci has been elected President of Kosovo. “A final decision has yet to be made, but there is agreement for Enver Hoxhaj to return at the helm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the source said. According to the paper, there are rumours that Bekim Collaku, Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration, could join Thaci’s new office, and that Petrit Selimi, current Deputy Foreign Minister, could become the new Minister for Integration. Selimi was also rumoured to be taking the Ministry of Culture.

Mustafa: Rugova was also elected by PDK votes (Epoka e Re)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, told the paper on Tuesday that no president of Kosovo was elected with the votes of a single political party. He said that Ibrahim Rugova was also elected thank to the votes from the other political parties, including the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). According to Mustafa, the vote for president on 26 February was also a vote of trust for the government. Asked about the broken glasses at the offices of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Mustafa said that this was revenge on LDK MPs who are defending the institutions and state of Kosovo. “I do not see any political crisis. I only see violent, illegal and anti-constitutional actions by the opposition,” Mustafa said.

Ymeri: We are determined in our cause (Epoka e Re)

The leader of the Vetevendosje movement, Visar Ymeri, told Voice of America on Tuesday that that the cause of the united opposition is great and important for Kosovo. “We will be determined in our cause of preventing another Bosnia in Kosovo and opposing the minimizing of Kosovo’s territorial integrity,” Ymeri said. He also said that the manner of the election of Hashim Thaci for the president of Kosovo is unacceptable. “Therefore, we consider that the masquerade that we saw on Friday, during what is being called the process of the election of the president, was made by a crippled legitimacy, and on the other hand, the process itself was easily contested,” Ymeri said.

Thaci’s message to Britain: Don’t Balkanize Europe (Politico.eu/media)

Several media cover an interview that Kosovo’s President-elect Hashim Thaci gave to Politico.eu, highlighting his message to Britain that its departure from the European Union could trigger “a chain reaction” with potentially dangerous consequences for the Balkans. Kosovo isn’t even in formal talks to join the EU — five EU nations don’t recognize it as an independent country — but Thaçi sees a possible Brexit as a threat to his country of 1.8 million.

Another EU crisis, the fracturing of the bloc’s Schengen zone under pressure from thousands of migrants, also complicates his call for removing borders. Thaçi, Kosovo’s outgoing foreign minister and a two-term former prime minister elected president on February 26, warned that without the attraction of EU integration, the Balkans could see renewed conflict.

Getting a reluctant EU to open its doors to one of Europe’s poorest countries, which has an unemployment rate of about 40 percent, would be even more difficult without the backing of Britain, historically a strong advocate of the EU’s eastward expansion and a close ally of Kosovo. The U.K. was a leading player in the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia that paved the way for Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008.

“I still don’t believe that Britain will exit the EU,” Thaçi said. “I very well understand internal political developments [in Britain], but the EU without Britain would lose its meaning. It can cause a chain reaction within the EU. That’s the softest way of putting it.”

Tahiri: Ban is ignoring justice for women raped during the war (media)

Kosovo’s Minister for Dialogue, Edita Tahiri, said today that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is ignoring calls for justice for Kosovo women raped by Serbian troops during the 1998-1999 war. Tahiri said Ban completely ignored her letter in September 2015 asking for a meeting to discuss the issue of rape victims during the Kosovo war and the petition signed by Kosovo citizens seeking international justice on the matter. “It has been seven months and we have yet to receive a reply from him,” Tahiri said.

Tahiri said she discussed the matter with the UN Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura at a meeting in 2014. Tahiri said after the completion of the petition in Kosovo, she wrote to Bangura asking for a meeting with the UN Secretary General and wanted to present him with the petition. However, in a late reply, Bangura had suggested that the petition should be submitted to UNMIK. “Being that UNMIK is not competent on the matter and being that the petition was address to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, we wrote to him directly but we have yet to receive a reply,” Tahiri said.

Tahiri added that the UN and Ban constantly reiterate the urgent need for justice for women raped in conflicts and that a series of resolutions were adopted on the matter, but that this commitment has yet to be implemented in practice.

Tahiri said the UN Secretary General gives quarterly reports to the Security Council about the situation in Kosovo and that “he has continuously ignored the calls for justice for women raped during the war in Kosovo ... the last time he did this was during yesterday’s session on Kosovo at the United Nations Security Council”.

Tahiri also said Kosovo institutions would step up measures to raise awareness in the international community over the injustice by the UN toward rape victims of the Kosovo war, for ignoring justice and for leaving Serbian criminals unpunished.

Plans underway for establishing another Serb-majority municipality (Zeri)

The Serb community in Kosovo is seeking ways to create a new municipality as the Serbian List MP Nenad Rasic told Radio Free Europe that talks are already underway regarding the issue. The plan is for four villages – Prilluzhe, Plemetin, Babin Most and Grace – to join up and create a new Serb-majority municipality. Rasic however denied that the new municipality was a condition the Serbian List put forth in exchange for voting Hashim Thaci president of Kosovo. Rasic said the idea is not new and that it could be easily achieved if there is good will.

Jahjaga decrees procurement law, part of visa liberalization criteria (RTK)

President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga decreed the law on public procurement, part of the visa liberalization roadmap criteria. Jahjaga said the law ensures transparency and helps the fight against organised crime and corruption.

Truck with documents from Palace of Justice stopped at the border (Kallxo)

The news site reports that a truck full of documents from the Palace of Justice was stopped at one of the border-crossing points as it was trying to leave Kosovo. Imer Beka, chief prosecutor of the Basic Prosecution in Pristina, confirmed the information. “Police and Customs informed us that a truck with Bulgarian license plates was stopped at one of the border-crossing points and that it was transporting documents from the Palace of Justice. For reasons that are not known to us the material was being sent to Bulgaria,” Beka said. He added that police are now investigating the case and that he suspects that the documents inside the truck were related to the construction of the Palace of Justice and the on-going malfunctions inside the building.