Headlines - 22.10.2013

Ashton believes in successful elections in Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Facilitator of talks between Kosovo and Serbia, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, has expressed her belief that local elections of 3 November in Kosovo will be successful. “We want local elections of 3 November to be held successfully, for people to go out to vote and shape their future,” said Ashton in Luxemburg. In a press conference in Luxemburg, Ashton has praised Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaçi and Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, as she said, for their efforts to overcome challenges for holding of elections. She said that she believes that elections would be successful, because everybody who is involved in this process want that elections to be successful.

Thaçi rejects Edita, hails Dacic’s messages (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that a political slap for Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri came on Monday from her boss, Hashim Thaçi, when he evaluated entirely different the visit and the statements of Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic, on Saturday in Gracanica.

Unlike Tahiri, Prime Minister Thaçi liked very much the statements made by his counterpart Dacic in Gracanica. Thaçi especially praised the fact that Dacic called on Kosovo Serbs to take part in local elections of 3 November this way rejecting unambiguously the evaluations made for the visit of Dacic by DPM Tahiri who is also the head of the team in dialogue with Serbia.  The paper notes that the invitation of Prime minister of Serbia, Ivica Dacic to the supporters of the Serb List, to take over the governance and to work for Serbia was understood by Prime Minister Thaçi as an invitation to the Serbs to be part of Kosovo institutions.

Assembly deadlock could lead to early elections (Koha Ditore)

After the Assembly presidency failed to reach agreement on the upcoming session, Speaker Jakup Krasniqi said he would call a consultative meeting with heads of parliamentary groups to discuss a way out of the deadlock created as a result of major disagreements between the two largest parties, Democratic Party of Kosovo and Democratic League of Kosovo on the issue of Kosovo Post and Telecom privatisation.

According to representatives from opposition parties, the blocking of the Assembly’s work and the loss of votes on the part of the ruling coalition could very well lead to early elections. “What is happening now shows the powerlessness of the ruling coalition which no longer has necessary numbers at the Assembly. This also goes to show that they came to power through abused votes and will not be able to see through their mandate,” said head of LDK parliamentary group, Ismet Beqiri.

Krasniqi against entrance of Serbian officials to Kosovo (dailies)

Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi did not wish to comment on the recent visit of Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic to Kosovo saying that Assembly is not the institution that decides who enters and who exits Kosovo. “Questions on this issue should be addressed to the Government”, said Krasniqi. However, he added that he would support a possible motion for banning Serbian officials entering Kosovo. “You are aware that I did not vote for the agreement and I would support a motion”, said Krasniqi further.

Gashi: UNMIK, destructive towards Kosovo (dailies)

Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Dardan Gashi asked the UNDP to make UNMIK “give up its destructive approach towards Kosovo by blocking its membership in many international conventions”. “Apart from direct obstruction, UNMIK is also blocking participation of delegations from the state of Kosovo to international conferences,” alleged Gashi in a meeting with UNDP’s new representative to Kosovo, Andrew Russell.

Kosovo ministers to visit Presevo Valley (Tribuna)

Kosovo Government ministers who are not wanted by Serbian authorities will start submitting requests for visits to Presevo Valley. In their requests to the EU office in Pristina, Kosovo ministers will include visits to Albanian schools in Presevo Valley and meetings with citizens there. The EU office in Pristina will then send the requests to the EU office in Belgrade and they will forward them to the Government of Serbia.

Senior Kosovo Government officials told the paper that the goal is to test Belgrade’s readiness to accept Kosovo officials the same way that Kosovo will accept Serbian officials during the election campaign.

The same source said the Kosovo Government does not expect its requests to be rejected and that if Belgrade decides not to allow such visits, Pristina will respond in same fashion.

“We don’t think they will reject our requests. If they do, our next action is well known,” a Kosovo official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the paper.

Sources said that at the last meeting in Brussels, Thaci said that if Dacic visits Kosovo, then the head of the Kosovo Government should be allowed to visit Presevo Valley.

Serbia requested to remove symbols in the voting areas (Koha Ditore)

The northern municipalities are more filled with leaflets calling for boycott than with those calling for participation in Kosovo local elections. Kosovo Government officials have requested from Brussels to make more pressure on Serbia to create an election environment in that part. The concerns from the Government are also leaflets that call for the boycott of elections. Unable to act, Kosovo Government expects from Brussels more pressure over official Belgrade. “We have requested from EU and OSCE to make pressure to other side in order that the schools in the north not to carry flags from another state. “We expect that the issue of emblems of Serbia in the north to be solved and security level to rise,” said coordinator from the office of Prime minister, Dardan Marmullakaj.

Heinz: Serbia is not asked to recognize Kosovo soon (Tribuna)

Germany’s ambassador to Belgrade, Wilhelm Heinz, said Serbia is not asked to recognize Kosovo now, but that its relations with Pristina will be important during negotiations for membership in the European Union.

“We know that for the time being Serbia is not ready to recognize Kosovo, but we appreciate its efforts to normalize relations. This will certainly lead to the start of negotiations with the EU in January,” Heinz said.