UNMIK Headlines 15 August
Thaci assures the UN: Special court in January (Zeri)
Despite difficulties in the creation of new Kosovo institutions, the special court will be put in place by January, at the latest, reports the paper. Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said the political stalemate will not affect the establishment of the court. “Assembly of Kosovo has approved the creation of the special court and Kosovo will act on its obligations and requests from the international community. I have complete confidence that the Kosovo political spectrum will be unified in this direction”, said Thaci in an interview for Deutsche Welle. However, Lirie Kajtazi from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said the establishment of the special court could be delayed because of the lack of progress in forming of new institutions. At the same time, political analysts believe Kosovo institutions will complete their tasks on setting up the special court by early next year. “I think the establishment of this Court will be a priority for the new government, regardless of which political parties will be in power”, said publicist Halil Matoshi.
Thaci: Kosovo has no room for extremism (Tribuna)
Acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said Kosovo was and will remain a place that fostered religious tolerance and civilized dialogue while the recent arrests of persons suspected of terrorism are based on facts. “Kosovo is a new European country which will continue the battle for good and against evil in eternal good relations with US”, said Thaci in an interview for Deutsche Welle. He announced that he will be travelling to Berlin on 28 August on the invitation of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take part in a Balkans conference.
Parties don’t want broad-based government with PDK (Koha)
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said in an interview for Deutsche Welle on Thursday that after the ruling of the Constitutional Court he would engage for a broad-based coalition government. However, political parties are already saying NO to the PDK leader’s idea. Vjosa Osmani, member of the presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said “there is no need for a broad-based coalition, because the LDK-AAK-NISMA coalition has enough votes and it will form the government. The PDK is dreaming, but sooner or later it will wake up. A co-government with the PDK cannot be positive for Kosovo given the bad governance by the PDK in the last two mandates”. Avni Arifi, member of the chairmanship of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said a broad-based government will be formed but without the PDK. Xhevat Bislimi, senior member of the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA), said if his party wanted to govern with the PDK they would not have parted ways in the first place. “The group led by Hashim [Thaci] and Kadri [Veseli] is the reason why we left PDK. We will not accept a proposal from the PDK for a joint government,” Bislimi added.
Organized crime mentioned in Ban Ki-moon’s report (Zeri)
The paper reports on the front page that the report on Kosovo by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in addition to the two key topics, dialogue with Serbia and the establishment of the special court, also includes a chapter on crimes, prostitution and drugs in Kosovo. The report notes that Kosovo needs to establish its institutions as soon as possible in order to address outstanding challenges.
Stojanovic: Serbian List to support majority (Lajm)
Branimir Stojanovic, mayor of Gracanica municipality and senior official of the Serbian List, said on Thursday that “the Serbian List will fight for the rights of the Serb community in Kosovo, for the establishment of the special court so that those who committed crimes against Serbs and Albanians can be brought to justice, and for the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the establishment of the Association of Serb majority municipalities”. Stojanovic said the Serbian List would not determine the formation of the new government and added that the list supported LDK leader Isa Mustafa. He also said they would support anyone that has the majority to form the new government. Stojanovic said the Serbian List would not be a destabilizing factor and that it would maintain ties with Belgrade.
Head of Kosovo Islamic Community, Ternava, under investigation (Bota Sot)
Naim Ternava, the head of the Islamic Community of Kosovo (BIK), is reportedly under investigation by Kosovo Police for accepting funds from suspicious organizations and for appointing suspected imams. Sources told KTV that police are facing difficulties with the investigation because BIK officials are not complying with the procedures. BIK representatives said they would comment on the matter on Friday.