UNMIK Headlines 3 August
Montenegro doesn’t intend to renegotiate border demarcation deal (Koha Ditore)
Nikollë Gegaj from Montenegro’s parliamentary commission on foreign policy told Radio Free Europe that authorities in Podgorica are not looking into the possibility of drawing a different border line with Kosovo. He said the border demarcation agreement has already been ratified by the Montenegrin parliament and it is expected that Kosovo will soon do the same on its part.
Veseli: I expect positive conclusions from demarcation debate (Zëri)
Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, said on Tuesday that the debate on border-demarcation with Montenegro to be held today will be comprehensive and will provide full transparency to help MPs have sufficient information on the issue. “I am happy for this consensus that we achieved to have a debate on this border-demarcation with Montenegro. On Wednesday there will be a massive participation in the debate, 16 non-governmental organizations and 28 embassies,” Veseli said. Meanwhile, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) MP, Shpejtim Bulliqi, who was the initiator of the debate, said that today’s debate will focus only on the arguments presented by experts from both sides.
Demarcation, not in arbitration (Zëri)
The Vetëvendosje Movement parliamentary group chief, Glauk Konjufca, told the paper the issue of border-demarcation with Montenegro doesn’t have to go to arbitration. According to him, there is a need to show to the government that it made mistakes while marking the border with Montenegro. He said that with the current agreement, Kosovo is giving part of its territory to Montenegro. Konjufca also said that Vetëvendosje will not accept the work of the government’s commission for border-demarcation. He also said there will be no teargas during today’s debate on border-demarcation with Montenegro.
Haradinaj: Experts to prove that demarcation was wrong (Epoka e Re)
The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, during an interview with the paper said that the debate on border-demarcation with Montenegro to be held today will prove that this process has been done wrongly. He said independent experts will shed light on this process and will prove that the current agreement is not right and therefore has to be annulled. According to Haradinaj, with the vote against demarcation, Kosovo would remove an obstacle to the internal processes, as well as the external ones. He said that if an amicable solution cannot be found through dialogue with Montenegro, then this issue may as well end up in arbitration.
Vetëvendosje: Thaçi-Veseli, pillars of crime in Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
In a press conference yesterday, Vetëvendosje officials accused the President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Kadri Veseli of being the main pillars of organised crime and corruption in Kosovo. Vetëvendosje said the recent publication of fragments of PDK senior official Adem Grabovci’s recorded phone conversations prove what the movement has been claiming all along: that Kosovo has been captured by political mafia. The wiretapped conversations, according to Vetëvendosje’s Glauk Konjufca, also prove that Kosovo leaders have no legitimacy to take vital decisions for Kosovo.
Rasić: Association/Community cannot be established this year (Epoka e Re)
The Serbian List MP, Nenad Rasić, said on Tuesday that it is difficult to expect that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will be established during this year. For this, he blamed the international community and said that the internationals should strengthen their role in the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. He also said that there are many technical problems but also a lack of initiative to work on this issue.
Kosovo prosecution indicts a man for trying to join ISIS (Koha Ditore)
Kosovo Special Prosecution has filed an indictment against a man on charges he wanted to join the Islamic State group in Syria. The man in question was travelling together with his fiancée when caught and sent back to Kosovo by Turkish authorities at the Istanbul Airport.