• U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to visit Kosovo today (RTK)
• Haradinaj: Serbia’s recognition cannot come by giving away lands (media)
• Limaj: Vucic with war-inducing rhetoric just like his chief, Milosevic (RTK)
• Hoxhaj is not surprised with Serbia’s reactions towards the platform (RTK)
• Pacolli: Tax is not something powerful that we have in our hands (RTK)

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State to visit Kosovo today (RTK)

The U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale is expected to visit Kosovo today.

RTK reports that his visit, which started yesterday in Belgrade, intends to urge parties to resume with the dialogue and it is expected to be determinant on the epilogue of the100-percent tax imposed by Kosovo authorities to the products from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said on Friday that he welcomes Hale’s visit and added that Kosovo has taken the dialogue seriously, especially after the endorsement of the dialogue platform  at the Assembly.

The senior U.S. official Hale called from Belgrade on Kosovo authorities to suspend the tax and also urged both parties “to stop provoking each other and resume talks amid at normalizing relations.”

 Haradinaj: Serbia’s recognition cannot come by giving away lands (media)

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj visited on Friday Suhareka.

“I was told not to rush because I need to go to Brussels, discuss with Europe and Serbia about some issues of my country. So, we, for such a small army of our country have to go and ask Serbia, while Serbia goes to by arms in Moscow without asking us about anything. I asked some foreigners that tell me not to rush, is it normal, we, a victim population not to have the right to defend ourselves?” he said during his speech there.

He also said that he told international friends that everything is in order and that there is no need for fear. He added that recognition by Serbia cannot be achieved by giving land away.

 Limaj: Vucic with war-inducing rhetoric just like his chief, Milosevic (RTK)

Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo and co-head of the state delegation for dialogue with Serbia took to Facebook to write that Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic is continuing with war-inducing rhetoric of frightening Serb citizens and blaming the entire world, just like his chief, Slobodan Milosevic.

“It appears that he is preparing to destablise the region, always using our Serb co-citizens in Kosovo, who are under pressure to serve his political intentions,” Limaj wrote.

Hoxhaj is not surprised with Serbia’s reactions towards the platform (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister who also leads with the Commission for the Dialogue Platform said he is not surprised with Serbia’s reactions towards the endorsed Kosovo Platform for the Dialogue with Serbia.

“Disappointed but not surprised,” he wrote on his Twitter account and added that “this is a transparent document of peace which is in line with our constitutional order as well as international practices of peaceful resolution of disputes. Serbia is not walking the walk. It does not have a platform.”

Pacolli: Tax is not something powerful that we have in our hands (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Behgjet Pacolli told RTK that the 100-percent imposed tax on Serbian products was necessary and just. “As such, it played its role and drew attention of the international specter. It certainly had its strong supporters and opponents. From my experience and numerous meetings, I consider that tax was necessary and it played its role in favor of Kosovo. But we have reached a momentum, when we have to act in favor of Kosovo’s interest. This tax should not be banalized. Tax is not something extremely powerful that we have in our hands,” he said.

Pacolli added that with tax, Kosovo proved to be a state that does not yield. He said Serbia used tax to play the role of a victim.