UNMIK Headlines 21 August
President Jahjaga signs laws on Special Court (dailies)
Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga yesterday signed the Law on Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office and the Law on the Legal Protection and Financial Support for the potential indicted persons by the Specialist Chambers. Jahjaga signed the laws on the last day of the eight-day deadline, before they would enter into force automatically or return to the Assembly.
Constitutional Court does not suspend special court’s establishment (Koha)
The paper writes on the front page that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has indirectly suggested that the establishment of the special court should not be suspended despite of the opposition’s request to review the legality of the constitutional amendments paving way for the court’s creation. The paper also claims that the Constitutional Court has given Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga the go-ahead to sign the two amendments. Furthermore, a source told the paper that there are ongoing negotiations with a possible host country for the court’s headquarters and other processes such as recruitment of staff and drafting of the court’s statute are also well underway.
Kerry supports Kosovo’s bid to join UNESCO (Kosova Sot)
US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to write a letter to UNESCO asking it to consider Kosovo’s application to join. The letter is then to be followed with coordinated sponsoring by six leading countries to push forward Kosovo’s bid to gain UNESCO membership.
UN Security Council to discuss Kosovo today (Tribuna)
The recent report of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the situation in Kosovo is scheduled to be discussed at the Security Council later today. Kosovo will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci but it is not clear what his speech will be focusing on. Thaci’s advisor Ardian Arifaj only said the presentation will be part of a regular report.
New US Ambassador arrives in Kosovo (dailies)
The new US Ambassador, Greg Delawie, has arrived in Kosovo on Thursday. In his Twitter account, Delawie wrote that it feels great to be in Kosovo to serve as a diplomat. “Continuance and building of relations with Kosovo, the youngest democracy in Europe, will be one of my key priorities,” stated Delawie. Today in the afternoon, Delawie will hand the credential papers to the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga. After this, he will also meet Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa.
Millions of euros for Association/Community (Zeri)
The paper reports that more than 15 million euros that were collected from Serbia and Customs Points in northern Kosovo will be transferred to the Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which is expected to be established by 25 August. According to the paper, these revenues make the Association/Community more powerful and quite independent from the Kosovo institutions. The Association/Community will have four sources of revenues: the government of Kosovo, Serbian Government, EU, and Kosovo Customs.
Government to discuss Armed Forces in a roundtable (Zeri)
The paper on its front page reports that the government of Kosovo is planning to organize a roundtable in order to persuade the Serbian List to support the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) into Kosovo Armed Forces (KAF). The government spokesperson, Arban Abrashi, confirmed that the government is preparing a roundtable to discuss the modalities of the KSF transformation into KAF. Meanwhile, representatives of the opposition say that the government should not compromise with Serbia on this issue.
Limaj to face court again for “Klecka” case (RTK)
The spokesperson of the Court for Appeals, Arber Jashari, told Rrokum TV that Fatmir Limaj, leader of the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), together with nine of his former fellow fighter, will be facing court for the third time regarding the “Klecka” case on 18 November. Two international and one local judge are members of the panel that will deal with the case. Prosecutor Maurizio Salustro appealed at the Court of Appeals regarding this case, and the court decided to engage one of its panels to deal with it instead of sending the case for a retrial.