“Trepça,” a public enterprise in February (dailies)

The paper reports on the front page that Minister for Economic Development, Fadil Ismajli, stated that the Government has passed the concept-document on amendment of the Law on public enterprises, where “Trepça” is also included. He believes that the Law will pass the Assembly of Kosovo within February and “Trepça” will be ranked among public enterprises. “This was the fastest possible way to draw in principal “Trepça” from the KPA competencies, because it does not have capacity to treat “Trepça” as a complex,” said Ismajli.

Zëri reports on the front page that British Ambassador in Kosovo, Ian Cliff, supports change of property for Trepça. It would have been good according to him if Trepça was put under the Ministry of Economic Development. 

Serbia aims general elections in Kosovo as in 2012 (Koha Ditore)

General Secretary of the Government of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, stated on Thursday that general elections of Serbia will be organized in Kosovo in the same manner as in 2012. He added that in principal, the agreement on this was reached with Brussels. Speaking for the Serbian broadcaster RTS, Odalovic recalled that election in 2012 in Kosovo took place with the help of OSCE mission, which completed the entire election procedure at 90 percent of polling stations. 

Government without position on Serbian elections in Kosovo (Lajm)

The Government of Kosovo has yet to announce its position on who will organize Serbia’s parliamentary elections in Kosovo, the paper reports on page four. Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci told Radio Kosova that the government will soon announce its position on the matter. Meanwhile, the OSCE mission in Pristina said that if requested it is ready to facilitate the organization of elections.

Pacolli: Minorities could provoke political crisis (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo Principal Deputy Prime Minister Behxhet Pacolli does not believe that minorities would leave the institutions of Kosovo, despite the warnings of the Minister of Social Welfare, Nenad Rasic, who stated that this would happen if their request for the reserved seats at the Assembly is rejected. Pacolli admitted that this could provoke political crisis on the country. However, he expressed conviction that approval of reserved seats for the minorities for another mandate, would not cause a problem for Kosovo. “I would invite all parties in Kosovo to be constructive towards the problem, as far as I am concerned another mandate with 20 reserved seats at the Assembly, would not cause trouble,” he said. 

Integration, a joint agenda (Tribuna)

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga met on Thursday in Pristina with European Union’s Special Representative Samuel Zbogar to discuss the conclusion of local elections, the consolidation of newly-elected authorities, negotiations for the Stabilization/Association Agreement and dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. Jahjaga expressed the commitment of Kosovo institutions to meet all requirements deriving from SAA negotiations by spring and for visa liberalization. She said the European agenda unites all communities in Kosovo and that the entire political landscape is united in its efforts to conclude reforms and pave way to Kosovo’s integration in the European Union. Jahjaga also said that extraordinary elections in northern Mitrovica on February 23^rd need to be fair and democratic.

Kurti: Republic of Kosovo, a republic of the minority (Zeri)

Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti said on Thursday, on the eve of the sixth anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, that the Republic of Kosovo has turned into a republic of the minority and not of the majority. “As such the republic will not survive. Therefore, this requires a transformation of the state of Kosovo,” Kurti was quoted as saying. 

War Veterans want names of those working for Serbian Secret Service (dailies)

The War Veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) said on Thursday that everyone with information about people who used to work or are still working for Serbia’s secret services should make their names public. “We as an organization encourage and hail Mehmet Loci, Fadil Kajtazi and Fatmir Callakaj for their readiness and courage to declare on such a sensitive issue. We call on the abovementioned and all others that may have information and arguments on who used to work and is still working for Serbian secret services, to make public their names and aliases for the sake of shedding light on this bitter truth,” the war veterans said in their reaction.

Survivor says Ivanovic is responsible for the massacre (Koha)

In one of the front-page stories, the paper runs an interview with Isa Mustafa, who survived the massacre of April 14^th 1999 in northern Mitrovica when Serb police officers executed over 20 Albanian civilians. Mustafa says he can barely wait to face Oliver Ivanovic in court and that there he will testify that Ivanovic had run the operation. Mustafa says Ivanovic was wearing a blue police uniform and that on one the fateful night one of the Serbs asked him “chief, what are we going to do with them” to which Ivanovic reportedly replied “execute the orders we have received”. Ivanovic was arrested earlier in the week on charges of war crimes and murder committed after the war.

Four candidates for mayor of northern Mitrovica (Koha)

Four candidates from northern Mitrovica – two Albanians and two Serbs – have applied with the Central Election Committee to be certified for the extraordinary elections on February 23^rd. The PDK candidate is Florent Azemi, LDK’s candidate is Musa Miftari, the Serbian Civic List’s Goran Radic and the Civic Initiative SDP will run with Oliver Ivanovic in the elections.