UNMIK Headlines 28 October
The list of voters inflated by half a million (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that almost one-third of Kosovars included in the voters list are either not in Kosovo or are dead. The list has been swollen-up by half a million voters. The data has been extracted by comparing voters list with central registry of civil status and periodical publications of Agency of Statistics.
According to the last population census two years ago, Kosovo had 1.1 million residents over the age of 18. This number is higher when added 68,000 new voters and 52,000 voters from the north that were not included in the population census.
The citizens in the north were not enumerated in the population census but the number of voters was taken from the final list of voters, according to which in the north there are 52,144 voters.
The overall list contains 1.7 million voters divided in 38 municipalities, with a growth of 11.72 percent higher than in the last elections.
Daka: No more compromises (Tribuna)
Head of Central Election Commission Valdete Daka said that there will be no more compromises regarding election material for local elections of 3 November. “We have technically prepared all the material and there will be no more changes”, she said. Daka said a huge compromise was made to ensure Serb participation in local elections and that will be the last.
Daka’s reaction comes after Serb Civic Initiative candidate for Mitrovica, Krstimir Pantic, said that he will call on the citizens to boycott elections unless the election material is not neutral.
Vulin to decide about visits of Kosovo officials to Preshevo Valley (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that the request of three ministers of Kosovo Government to visit Preshevo Valley has not been approved yet and that it is up to the Serbian minister without portfolio Aleksandar Vulin to decide on the matter.
Kosovo authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Vulin for unauthorized entry to Kosovo while Belgrade officials said that they will request EU to allow their visits to Kosovo on the last week of election campaign. Kosovo Government did comment on whether there will be reciprocity with visits.
Rexhepi: Vulin will be arrested (Zëri)
Zëri reports that Kosovo Interior Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, expressed determination for Aleksandar Vulin, minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia, to be arrested as soon as he meets Kosovo Police. He said that Vulin is now fully aware at what awaits him if he enters the territory of Kosovo. Security experts say Kosovo needs to act as a state in the case where the evidence that Vulin entered Kosovo illegally is clear.
Regarding the visit of Serb Deputy Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic, to Kosovo, Minister Rexhepi said that no one has forbidden to him to come to Kosovo. Rexhepi also said that he will not comment of the statements of Vulin.
Ismajli: Serbia cannot impose connection to gas pipeline (Koha Ditore)
Kosovo Minister for Economic Development Fadil Ismajli said the Government will carry out a feasibility study into which gas pipeline to connect to but seemed to imply that a preferential one would be the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline that goes through Albania. He also said the Government of Kosovo is against Serbia’s idea for building a gas line from Nis to Pristina and that the project has now been dropped. “Serbia or anyone else for that matter cannot tell us to which gas pipeline to connect to”, said Ismajli.
Davutoglu: Erdogan was misunderstood (dailies)
Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu said that the statements of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Kosovo have been misunderstood. “Those words have been misunderstood. There are only few words that have been extracted from a long speech and have been put in the context that we don’t like. We want good relations with Serbia. Turkey keeps equal distance with all Balkan states,” said Davutoglu to the Turkish state television TRT.
Lama joins LDK (dailies)
Former Vetëvendosje MP Alma Lama has decided to join the Democratic League of Kosovo saying that she shares the same concepts with the largest opposition party. “I opted for LDK because we share the same concepts and the same vision, to have the current government end as soon as possible and to have people interested in the fate of the country, not the personal one, lead the country”, said Lama.