• Haradinaj returns to Kosovo, vows to continue work (media)
• Haradinaj calls government meeting, PDK ministers to boycott it (media)
• President Thaci to begin consultations with political parties next week (Epoka)
• Thaci keeps delaying, Haradinaj assembles fallen government (Koha)
• Limaj: No elections without parliament being dissolved (T7/Telegrafi)
• “Pacolli to succeed Haradinaj as Kosovo PM” (Klan Kosova)
• Kosovo on verge of elections, CEC still incomplete (Zeri)
• Haxhiu: Thaci’s “constitutional experts” unacceptable (Bota Sot)
• “Some from opposition might want to become part of puppet government” (RTK)
• Kosovo’s prime minister faces war-crimes allegations (The Economist)
• Serbia to request extradition of former KLA fighter, Tomor Morina (Kallxo)

Haradinaj returns to Kosovo, vows to continue work (media)

The outgoing Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, returned from The Hague where he was interviewed by the Specialist Chambers. On return he said he will continue his work as his legal obligations to the Specialist Chambers are completed.

“No one can question my innocence. I am assuming my duties in Kosovo. My decision for resignation and my latest actions are a message that any abuse that maty come towards Kosovo will not waver us from our sovereign right. No one can touch Kosovo borders. A Dodik Republic cannot be imposed on Kosovo. Yes to our market for recognition and to tax until recognition. Yes to dialogue without conditions, immediately,” Haradinaj wrote on Facebook.

In his post Haradinaj also commented on claims that him continuing with the duties of the prime minister is unconstitutional. “As a government in resignation, as I have mentioned in my resignation decision, I will perform my duties, I shall not leave a vacuum, because Kosovo cannot bear the consequences of a governing vacuum. With all due respect to them, sides who think differently, I invite them to address the Constitutional Court. Whatever the decision of the Constitutional Court is, I will respect it.”

Haradinaj calls government meeting, PDK ministers to boycott it (media)

Outgoing Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, has called for today a meeting of the government which ministers from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, according to Zeri, are expected to boycott.  Some of the PDK ministers said they would not be attending the meeting as they are not in Kosovo, namely the Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri and European Integration Minister Dhurata Hoxha. At the same time, Minister of Trade and Industry Endrit Shala from the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) has said he plans to attend today’s meeting.

Legal experts meanwhile note that the government of Kosovo, following Haradinaj’s resignation, has no authority to take any decisions. Gzim Shala from the Kosovo Institute for Justice said once a prime minister resigns, his post remains vacant until a new candidate is elected. He also said that there is still no legislation in Kosovo that clarifies the competencies of the government in case the president or prime minister resign or are dismissed. He said however that as per usual practice in the democratic countries, once a prime minister resigns the government is left with limited powers.

Chairperson of the Kosovo Assembly’s legislation commission and Vetevendosje MP, Albulena Haxhiu, said Haradinaj’s decision to call a meeting of the government is “scandalous”. “This government has fallen with Haradinaj’s resignation. This is abuse as constitutional violation,” she said.

President Thaci to begin consultations with political parties next week (Epoka)

The Office of the President of Kosovo has issued a press release on Thursday saying inform that consultations with the political parties on further steps to overcome the situation created after Ramush Haradinaj’s resignation from the post of the Prime Minister, will start next following week. The statement notes: “The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, following the resignation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, will undertake all the necessary activities in conformity with the competencies prescribed by the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. The constitutional mandate of the President of the Republic of Kosovo is inviolable in securing of the respect for the principle of the division of powers and for the securing of the safety of the legal and constitutional orders of our country. Furthermore, based upon the constitutional competencies, President of the Republic of Kosovo represents the unity of the people and is the guarantor of the democratic functioning of the state institutions. For this reason, every single step undertaken by the president will be in conformity solely with the interests of the citizens and the interests of the state. President of the Republic of Kosovo assures all citizens that every single act of his will be in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and commencing next week he will undertake consultations with political parties  coalitions towards carrying out the further steps which leads to the overcoming of the situation created by the Prime Minister’s resignation.”

Thaci keeps delaying, Haradinaj assembles fallen government (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that “one week since the resignation of Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj the situation has not changed, and institutions are going about their work as if nothing happened”. “After a one week of political silence, President Thaci said on Thursday that he will start consultations with political parties next Thursday. The President thus ignores calls to announce early elections as soon as possible, and he indirectly confirms claims of a plan to form a new government without going to new elections. Meanwhile, the Office of former Prime Minister Haradinaj confirmed reports that Haradinaj will assemble the fallen government today. Haradinaj seems to be completely ignoring calls from opposition parties and the assessments of legal experts who argue that after his irrevocable resignation, Haradinaj and his government must cease their government activities,” the paper adds.

Limaj: No elections without parliament being dissolved (T7/Telegrafi)

Leader of the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA), Fatmir Limaj, said in an interview with T7 that “without an agreement of political parties, the parliament cannot be dissolved and there can be no elections.”

Limaj said the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, has no authority to dissolve the parliament and without this move, no future steps can be taken. “The dissolution of the parliament cannot be done without 80 votes, therefore a consensus between the parties on election date needs to be reached,” he argued.

“Pacolli to succeed Haradinaj as Kosovo PM” (Klan Kosova)

Ramush Haradinaj gave an irrevocable resignation from the post of Prime Minister and has no right to organize government meetings, but this does not mean that the government has fallen, the news website reports. “The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo foresees that the government is down only if the Parliament of Kosovo is dissolved and this has not happened yet, as the Assembly is still functional. Based on the highest legal act in the country after the irrevocable resignation of the prime minister, the burden of responsibility falls on the Principal Deputy Prime Minister. This means that Behgjet Pacolli should be exercising the position until the next decision of the President of the country, who is obliged to find a solution based on his Constitutional mandate,” the news website adds.

Kosovo on verge of elections, CEC still incomplete (Zeri)

The paper reports that the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has caught the Central Elections Commission (CEC) unprepared as it is still missing two members that are supposed to be appointed from the PAN coalition. CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi told the paper however that they will be able to carry out their duties if new elections are announced. “The Central Elections Commission has currently nine members, of eleven which is the number set out in the Constitution of Kosovo. Quorum necessary for holding elections and decision making is achievable,” he said.

Haxhiu: Thaci’s “constitutional experts” unacceptable (Bota Sot)

Kosovo Assembly MP from Vetevendosje Movement Albulena Haxhiu said dissolving of the Assembly is the right way towards the new elections, ‘without delays and obstructions from the President, the former government or satellites of the ruling coalition’. “Every attempt to delay, replace on the table of the President, or even these strange interpretations by Thaci’s ‘constitutional experts’ with Klan Kosova’s logo, is unacceptable,” Haxhiu was quoted as saying.

“Some from opposition might want to become part of puppet government” (RTK)

Muharrem Nitaj, Kosovo Assembly MP from the Alliance of the Future of Kosovo (AAK) reacted to claims by representatives of opposition parties who argue that after Haradina’s resignation of his post, there cannot be at outgoing government. He criticized opposition political parties which requested resignation of Haradinaj’s government for almost two years. “Now, found in front of such failure, they have started to act high and mighty how there cannot be a resigning government!!! Where did you hear that with resignation of dismissal of the government, a state stays without government?” Nitaj asked on his Facebook account. Nitaj also claimed that “some from the opposition might want to become part of a puppet government”.

Kosovo’s prime minister faces war-crimes allegations (The Economist)

Most local media cover an article that originally appeared in The Economist about outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. “Wounded and under fire in 1998, Ramush Haradinaj grabbed the only thing that came to hand with which to staunch the bleeding. It was a piece of cheese. The previous year his brother was killed by Serbian soldiers a couple of hundred meters away from him as they smuggled arms together over the mountains from Albania. Since that war Mr Haradinaj has translated his consummate skill at staying alive physically to staying alive politically. His latest such manoeuvre came on July 19th, when Mr Haradinaj resigned as prime minister of Kosovo, saying he is now a suspect in a war-crimes case. Bouncer, carpenter, guerrilla and politician, Mr Haradinaj has had a more colourful career than most. In a memoir he talked of his experiences as a Kosovo Albanian guerrilla fighting Serbia with relish. In one incident, when trapped Serbian policemen were calling for help, he said he “took care of them in a precise way, from a close distance.” Mr Haradinaj has been dogged by accusations that he and his men committed war crimes, murdering Serbs and Albanians regarded as collaborators or rivals. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

Full article at: https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/07/25/kosovos-prime-minister-faces-war-crimes-allegations

Serbia to request extradition of former KLA fighter, Tomor Morina (Kallxo)

Serbian Prosecution for War Crimes told BIRN that the former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Tomor Morina, detained by North Macedonian authorities, is suspected of being involved in war crimes against the civilian population in the region of Gjakova/Djakovica in the period between January and June 1999. The Serbian Ministry of Justice meanwhile said that it has been officially informed about Morina’s arrest by authorities in Skopje and that it will submit an extradition request.

Morina was arrested on Wednesday in North Macedonia on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia. Institutions in Kosovo have demanded his release with Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli saying that “Serbia’s political arrest of KLA freedom fighters have no meaning, or legal basis.”