UNMIK Headlines 31 October
Kosovo will not remain hostage to political disagreements (Tribuna)
In a front-page interview for the paper, the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, said that she expects leaders of political parties to soon find a solution for establishing new institutions. “I will not set timeframes because they are already defined in accordance to the budgetary needs and there is a set legal timeframe for organising elections”, said Jahjaga. She said she has repeatedly told the leaders that the solution is in their hands, but if they don’t shift their positions and move to a compromise solution, elections will be viewed as an option. “Of course, a last resort, but an option nevertheless because Kosovo cannot remain hostage to disagreements and interests of political party leaders”, stressed Jahjaga. She also said she will not be attending the meeting of the Trilateral Commission in Belgrade due to priorities related to the political circumstances in Kosovo. She referred to the current situation as being critical but not a crisis because Kosovo has the institutional maturity to function even without a parliament and government in place. Asked about the dialogue with Belgrade, President Jahjaga said the process should continue in the same format. “Dialogue should not be seen as a goal but as a tool to achieve the goal of normalizing relations between the two countries”.
Sahatqija: Never with the PDK (Zeri)
Teuta Sahatqija, deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), told the paper on Thursday that the LDK will never reach an agreement with Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). “Never with the PDK,” Sahatqija said when asked to comment on rumors of an eventual agreement between the two parties. Sahatqija also said parties of the coalition bloc will very soon find a solution and form new institutions without any help from the PDK.
Internationals will wait until 8 November before intervening (Bota Sot)
November 8 is the deadline when political parties in Kosovo must find a solution to break the political deadlock and form new institutions. Unidentified international sources told Gazeta Blic that, if by this date political leaders don’t find a solution, then international officials will intervene. A senior source from the coalition bloc confirmed the deadline to Gazeta Blic. “It’s true that internationals have given us a deadline of 8 November to find a solution. If a solution is not found, they will probably intervene,” the source added.
EULEX secrets in the hands of Serbian Intelligence Agency (Koha)
In the fifth part of a series of articles about alleged corruption in the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), the paper reports that secret EULEX information ended up in the offices of the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA). Prosecutor Maria Bamieh had informed the head of the EULEX justice component, Silvio Bonfigli, that sensitive information had been leaked from the mission, but investigations were not carried out because Bonfigli’s predecessor, Alberto Perduca, had said that “the Serbs might get angry”. The paper also learned that the secret information was given to one of the BIA agents who were arrested on 23 June 2009 while offering up to €100,000 to Serbs in exchange for false testimonies against the former Kosovo Liberation Army for organ harvesting. The information was allegedly leaked by a Serb staff member of EULEX who is currently a senior official of the Serbian List.
Florit: I met with intermediaries but didn’t take €300,000 (Zeri)
During a show on KTV on Thursday evening, former EULEX judge Francesco Florit said he was naïve to have met with intermediaries who allegedly offered him money in exchange for releasing several suspects who were investigated for corruption. Florit denied allegations that he had received €300,000 from the intermediaries. “I never took money in exchange for shutting down cases. This is a terrible accusation. I don’t recall mentioning money in any of my meetings with him [the intermediary] and I hope that all bank accounts will be investigated, because this will show that I never received the money. I have asked investigators to check my bank accounts,” Florit said.
Three Kosovo jihadists arrested for plotting attacks on KFOR (Tribuna)
A group of at least three persons from the Mitrovica region were arrested by the Kosovo Police on suspicion of planning an attack against a KFOR barrack in Kosovo. Gazeta Express reported that the arrested men are all veterans of the Syrian conflict and fought on the side of the Islamic group, ISIS. KFOR is reported to have raised its security level in light of these arrests.