Headlines - 27.06.2017

• Thaci: People have decided who has mandate to form government (media)
• Election Commission to certify election results this week (media)
• Kurti wants fundamental changes to dialogue with Serbia (Koha)
• Kurti: Association/Community will divide Kosovo (Zeri)
• Lekaj: Haradinaj has 61 MPs to form new government (Epoka e Re)
• Dacic: Dialogue with Pristina will be held at level of presidents (media)
• Kosovo delegation at Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (media)

Thaci: People have decided who has mandate to form government (media)

Kosovo’s President Hashim Thaci said in an interview to RTK that the new Assembly and government will be formed in the first ten days of July. “We need to wait for the certification of election results. The people of Kosovo, through their free votes, have decided who has the mandate to form a new government … The new institutions I hope will be credible, stable, multi-ethnic and certainly with a clear Euro-Atlantic orientation,” Thaci said. He also ruled out a possible political deadlock. “Under no circumstance. I hope we will have wisdom and flexibility, and communication in the political landscape so that we can form the new institutions as soon as possible,” he added.

Election Commission to certify election results this week (media)

Several news websites report that Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) is expected to certify the results of the 11 June parliamentary elections this week. “We believe the CEC will announce the final results this week,” a spokesman for the institution was quoted as saying.

Kurti wants fundamental changes to dialogue with Serbia (Koha)

Vetevendosje’s candidate for Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, announced on Monday a new platform for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. In a Facebook post, Kurti presented the platform of general principles of dialogue consisting of nine points through which Kurti would change the approach toward the process of talks if he were to lead a new government. Kurti’s first point foresees the start of a new dialogue with all national minorities in Kosovo, including Kosovo Serbs. The second point notes that the Brussels dialogue should not be resumed blindly. Kurti suggests a parliamentary investigation into all agreements reached with Serbia so far and that the First Agreement of Principles signed in April 2013 should be sent to the Venice Commission. The third point of Kurti’s platform calls for “a clear and accurate definition of normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia”. In point four, Kurti suggests changes to the premises of dialogue, arguing that so far Kosovo has been a topic of dialogue rather than a party in dialogue. In point five, Kurti talks about the need to combat organized crime and corruption on both sides of the Ibar River and that no dialogue should pardon or ignore the crimes that were committed in the north. In point six, Kurti argues that the normalization of the state of Kosovo would create conditions for progress in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue at the level of good neighborly relations. In point seven, Kurti suggests that Kosovo and Albania must take advantage of the Berlin Process not only as a chance to apply for development projects but also as an opportunity to prevent Serbia’s membership in the EU before Kosovo. In point eight, Kurti says that Kosovo will build a new relation vis-à-vis Serbia depending on the quality of constitutional amendments that Belgrade will make. In point nine, Kurti argues that dialogue with Serbia so far was privatized and personalized by Kosovo’s political leaders. He also said that in the future if he is to lead a new government, the Kosovo Assembly, society and different apolitical institutions will all be involved in the internal dialogue on talks with Serbia.

Kurti: Association/Community will divide Kosovo (Zeri)

Vetevendosje’s candidate for Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, said in an interview to Vecernje Novosti that the implementation of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will divide Kosovo into Kosovar and Serb entities. “The Association would result in the federalization of Kosovo into the Kosovar and Serb entities, whereby Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state. In this way, Kosovo would turn into another Bosnia,” Kurti said.

Lekaj: Haradinaj has 61 MPs to form new government (Epoka e Re)

Pal Lekaj, deputy leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said in an interview to the paper that Ramush Haradinaj, the candidate for Prime Minister from the PAN coalition, has already secured 61 votes to form a new government. “Ramush Haradinaj enjoys the support of many MPs from the LDK and AKR and other political parties,” Lekaj said. He added that the new Assembly and government will be formed shortly after the certification of election results.

Dacic: Dialogue with Pristina will be held at level of presidents (media)

Serbia’s acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, said he expects dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo to resume at the level of presidents, after the formation of new governments in Belgrade and Pristina. “I don’t believe I will take part [in the talks], this is a matter of the format which to be honest is mainly determined by the function that Hashim Thaci holds,” Dacic told reporters in Belgrade. “It makes more sense for this dialogue to continue at the level of presidents”.

Kosovo delegation at Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly session (media)

Most media report that a delegation of the Kosovo Assembly, led by Deputy President Xhavit Haliti, has attended a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. “This is the first time that a Kosovo Assembly delegation is allowed to sit at the plenary hall of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Kosovo has also secured an office for the first time within an international institution,” a Kosovo Assembly press release said. “Kosovo will continue efforts to become an equal member in the Council of Europe and the European Union. A Council of Europe rapporteur for Kosovo is expected to be appointed in June. If this happens, Kosovo will continue to be a permanent topic of debate at the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and we will have an even better opportunity to present our democratic achievements."