Headlines - 24.02.2016

Thaci: Assembly Presidency will decide on election of president (dailies)

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Hashim Thaci, held a meeting with the PDK parliamentary group on Tuesday to discuss further steps on the election of the president. “We discussed further steps on the election of the president. The Assembly Presidency will decide the date when to call the session. The process will be transparent for us and also for the international community,” Thaci said. According to him, this week the Assembly will call the session for the presidential election. With regards to the opposition’s protest, Thaci said Kosovo is a democratic country and everyone has the right to protest or celebrate. "I believe this time the celebration will be bigger than the protest,” Thaci said.

LDK present their own candidate for president (Zeri)

The paper reports in a front-page story that the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) is planning to present their own candidate on the day when the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Hashim Thaci is expected to be elected president of Kosovo. This candidate will not endanger Thaci, but instead would ensure a quorum of 80 MPs in the session. This is considered to be a means of persuading LDK “dissidents” to remain in the session. In addition, this will meet the requirement according to which there must be more than one candidate to elect a president.

Petrovic: No decision made on presidential candidate (Koha Ditore)

Head of the Serbian List parliamentary group Slobodan Petrovic said they have taken no decision on a possible candidate for the president of Kosovo from their political party. Petrovic said the coalition agreement between the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Serbian List stipulating that the only candidate for president is Hashim Thaci needs to be respected. “We as a coalition have not yet held a meeting to find a common stance on this,” said Petrovic.

Zbogar: Tear gas in Assembly unacceptable for EU (Koha Ditore)

The head of the EU Office in Kosovo and Special Representative Samuel Zbogar said in an interview for KTV that the EU countries will think twice when deciding whether to grant visa liberalization for Kosovo if the opposition continues to release tear gas in the Assembly. He said the tear gas is a red line for the international community in Kosovo. Zbogar added that the EU is not insisting on the Kosovo Assembly immediately approving border demarcation agreement with Montenegro because of the current political situation but when it comes to the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, this mechanism needs to be established as it was agreed by the two parties in Brussels.

Kurti: Kosovo urgently needs elections (Kosova Sot)

Former Vetevendosje leader and MP Albin Kurti told the media yesterday that Kosovo urgently needs to head to early elections to end the governance by Isa Mustafa and Hashim Thaci. He said in no democratic country is the opposition excluded as is the case of Kosovo. This, according to Kurti, means that Kosovo is run by a totalitarian regime.

Ymeri: Serbian List must be declared illegal (Koha)

In an interview for KTV on Tuesday, Vetevendosje leader Visar Ymeri said that the Central Election Committee or the Constitutional Court of Kosovo should declare the Serbian List as illegal. Ymeri argued that the List does not represent the interests of Kosovo and that its members work for Belgrade. “They are Belgrade’s representatives in Kosovo … The List must be declared illegal. Our institutions should not have a minister that represents Belgrade. The identification of political parties should not be done on an ethnic basis. Serbia has done this intentionally in order to weaken the political landscape in Kosovo,” he added. In the same interview, Ymeri said that on Wednesday opposition MPs will try to go to the Assembly to prevent the resumption of the session that was interrupted last Friday.

Minister’s car set on fire last night in Pristina (media)

Several news sites are reporting that the family vehicle of the Kosovo Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Memli Krasniqi, was attacked with Molotov cocktail late last night in Pristina. The vehicle was completely burnt while no one was injured in the incident. The attack happened by two unidentified persons near Krasniqi’s apartment. Kosovo Police have launched an investigation into the case.

Kosovo government warns with reciprocity measures against Serbia (Koha)

In one of its front-page stories, the paper reports that the Kosovo Government could introduce reciprocity measures against Serbia by the first half of March. The government in Pristina has arguments for two barriers and it plans to discuss them at the CEFTA meeting in Brussels on 3 March. The first barrier is related to the problems that Kosovar oil product importers face with Serbian authorities, and in another case Serbian authorities blocked a Kosovo drinks company from exporting their goods into Serbia.