Fund for the north can have up to €90 million (Koha)

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi briefed President Atifete Jahjaga and diplomatic representatives in Pristina about the latest round of dialogue with Serbia, Koha Ditore reports on the front page. Thaçi did not say on Wednesday if all customs taxes collected at Jarinje and Bërnjak border crossings will be distributed to the fond for the economic development of the north. He only said that the taxes would be initially poured in the state budget.

The paper notes that the latest agreement between Kosovo and Serbia did not specify the percentage of customs revenues in Jarinje and Bërnjak that need to be distributed to the development fund for the north. As a result, the agreement has been met with different interpretations in Pristina and Belgrade. The sum that will be poured in the fund can range from €6 million to 90 million.

Government to cover expenses for repairing cemeteries (dailies)

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi has decided that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo will cover all expenses to repair cemeteries of the Serb community that have been damaged over the last couple of days. Groups of unidentified persons damaged several Serb graves in reaction to the removal of the UCPMB monument in Presevo Valley. Kosovo Police has already launched investigations into the desecration of the graves.

Kosovo MPs welcome resolution adopted by Council of Europe (Koha)

Members of the Kosovo Parliament have welcomed the latest resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe which paves way for direct relations with the Council of Europe.

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi and the heads of the two biggest parliamentary groups, Adem Grabovci (PDK) and Ismet Beqiri (LDK), said the resolution represents Kosovo’s biggest advancement in strengthening relations with the Council of Europe.

“This resolution sets new relations between the Kosovo Assembly and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and this is a positive step. On other issues, they have expressed their opinion and there’s nothing we can do about this,” Krasniqi was quoted as saying.

ICO never had an office in the north (Koha)

In a book about the work of the International Civilian Office in Kosovo, one of its teams that concluded the supervision process of independence of Kosovo describes the four-year work carried out by International Civilian Representative Pieter Feith and his office.

The book reveals many unpleasant situations of diplomatic disagreements over developments in Kosovo and also speaks about the clashes between the US representation in Kosovo and European officials on the number of new municipalities that were created in 2009 and on the view of the US diplomacy that ICO should have ended its mission much earlier.

“The US representative wanted a 50 percent smaller ICO as, according to him, it was time for Kosovo to deal with European perspective while the fact that the reality in the north could not be changed before ICO ended its mission became clear with the referendum of the Serbs in the north.

Lavrov: Investigations going slowly (Express)

Speaking about results of Russian diplomacy, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about investigations into allegations by the former Council of Europe rapporteur Dick Marty on organ trafficking in Kosovo and accused the EU of having an unconstructive approach to the process of investigations. Lavrov said Moscow will support Serbia’s request for inclusion of the UN in investigations. He said “unfortunately, the EU has usurped investigations which are stalling”.

Lunacek: The north and Preshevo Valley to have same treatment (dailies)

European Parliament rapporteur for Kosovo Ulrike Lunacek is quoted as saying that Albanians in Preshevo Valley should enjoy the same rights that Serbs in the north will have. Lunacek told Radio Dukagjini that this would also be in accordance to European principles. “In many EU countries we have minorities who have equal rights in the entire European family,” she said. Lunacek also spoke about the possible meeting between Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Kosovo’s Atifete Jahjaga noting that this would be a signal that Serbia is moving towards recognition of Kosovo.

Limaj is accused with fake text messages! (Zëri)

Zëri reports on the front page that text messages which served to raise a lawsuit against former Transport Minister Fatmir Limaj are completely false. Almost the entire lawsuit against the deputy leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), was raised based on several text messages that EULEX claims were exchanged between Limaj’s chief of staff and a local construction company. The history of telephone calls and text messages secured in the PTK proves that the messages are false. The paper further quotes Limaj’s attorney, Tomë Gashi, as saying that the text messages are not genuine and that they were intentionally falsified to discredit Limaj. “The second lawsuit against Limaj clearly shows EULEX’s goal to ruin his good reputation and to damage his credibility,” Gashi said.