Headlines - 23.07.2015 Thaci: Special court to be voted before holidays (Epoka e Re) Hashim Thaci, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), told Kosovo Assembly deputies after a meeting with his party that the special court has to be voted before they go on holidays. He said that PDK’s political position on this issue is clear and added that deputies of this party are obliged to respect this position. Thaci said that he hopes for the special court process to conclude very soon.  Yazdgerdi: Special court must be established by Kosovo institutions (Bota) The Director of the Office of South Central European Affairs of the US State Department, Thomas K. Yazdgerdi said on Wednesday that the US insists that Kosovo establishes special court as soon as possible.  “We urge the Kosovo leadership to establish special court through the Kosovo institutions and we believe that this will happen. Otherwise, the issue will go the United Nations Security Council, and that would not be good for Kosovo," said Yazdgerdi after a meeting with the Mayor of Gjilan, Lutfi Haziri.  Vetevendosje fails to pass resolution on EULEX (dailies) The Kosovo Assembly on Wednesday discussed the work of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX).  Vetevendosje MP, Albulena Haxhiu, proposed a draft resolution through which the Kosovo Assembly invites President Atifete Jahjaga to ask from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, to start investigation on any case where there are corruption allegations involving EULEX officials.  This motion couldn’t be put to vote because the MPs of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) left the Assembly room. This draft resolution is expected to be put to vote today. The opposition parties have harshly criticized EULEX, saying that it has failed to fight corruption and organized crime.  EULEX reacts to opposition’s motion (Koha Ditore) While the Kosovo opposition representatives were criticizing the work of EULEX in the Assembly, the EU rule of law mission issued a statement addressing those concerns. EULEX said that there are new cases the mission is working on as the 2014 laws stipulate that in extraordinary circumstances a case is assigned to an EULEX prosecutor by a joint decision of the Chief State Prosecutor and the Chief EULEX Prosecutor. “In accordance with these laws, since April 2014 a total of 46 such requests were filed. Out of these, EULEX prosecutors have been assigned to 38 new cases,” the statement reads. In addition, EULEX recalled that it still retains executive competencies in the north of Kosovo and explained that with regards to the alleged shooting that led to the death of a young man in the village of Suhodoll near Mitrovica, autopsy reports were not released to the public out of respect for the families of victims and in line with the prosecutorial practice in Kosovo. However, the competent EULEX prosecutor authorized the release of the following information: that there was no shooting involved and that the victim had no gunshot wounds. Poll: Dramatic decline of PDK (Kosova Sot) Kosovo-based think tank FOL published yesterday outcome of a recent poll on the popularity of political parties. The poll was conducted in 38 municipalities with a total of 1,000 respondents and covers the period between 10 and 28 May. According to the results, 18.7 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), 17.7 percent support the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), 16.6 would vote for Vetevendosje and 4.2 percent for the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK). Compared to the results of last elections, the PDK is in the decline as is AAK while the LDK and, particularly Vetevendosje, have increased support. Hyseni: Kosovo, a place of origin for extremists  (Zeri) Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, in an interview with the paper said that Kosovo is a place of origin for a relatively large number of participants in the extremist group ISIS in Syria. According to him, around 300 citizens from Kosovo have been identified as participants in foreign wars, while more than 40 of them are believed to have been killed until now. "For a country like Kosovo, this is a large number of participants," Hyseni said, adding that Kosovo has made the biggest progress in the region when it comes to addressing the issue of extremism.  AAK: Our people are not involved in FYROM events (Epoka e Re) The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) rebutted on Wednesday the reporting of certain Serbian media that some of the individuals involved in the recent events in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are close to this party. AAK said in a press release that such tendencies are an orchestrated campaign against the leader of the party, Ramush Haradinaj and against Kosovo in general. It further states: “The public in Serbia and FYROM should know that AAK and its people were not and will not be involved in the developments in FYROM. We are aware that those who spread such disinformation, stand themselves behind these developments and allegations that AAK and its leader have created some kind of military camps in Likove, are intended to harm Kosovo and AAK, at the time of important developments”.  US Congressman Engel calls Sudetic a slanderer (RTKlive) The US Congressman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the US House of Representatives Eliot Engel refuted the recent article of politico.eu, written by Chuck Sudetic. Engel said he recently visited Kosovo and in his meetings with the leadership they agreed that “while difficult, Kosovo needs to create the Special Court so that the nation can put to rest allegations from the past”. This reality on the ground stands in sharp contrast to Sudetic’s opinion article which, said Engel, is based on anonymous sniping, unsupported rumors, and outright falsehoods. Furthermore, “it is a transparent attempt to vilify certain Kosovar leaders and derail the nation as it seeks to strengthen the rule of law. Many of the charges in this article, such as drug trafficking, have been debunked again and again, including by the CIA in a January 2000 public report. Justice will be done in the courts, not through smear campaigns”, said Engel. Jevtic expresses concern over incidents involving returnees (Kosova Sot) Minister for Communities and Returns Dalibor Jevtic has expressed concern over the recent incidents against Serb returnees in several Kosovo municipalities. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa responded by saying that the government is committed to ensuring the rule of law is functioning in all parts of Kosovo. He said perpetrators of all crimes should be brought to justice.