Headlines - 16.01.2014

Quint states against elections without reform (Koha Ditore)

Majority of Quint states are positioned against organizing early national elections without prior conclusion of the election reform. This determination was presented to the political leaders of Kosovo. A diplomatic source told this daily on Wednesday that Kosovo leadership has been reminded about the earlier expressed position of the representatives of these influential countries. This happened only a day after the Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and the leaders of opposition parties Isa Mustafa and Ramush Haradinaj, brought to the table the scenario of elections without reform.  ”Each Kosovo leader should take very seriously the position expressed in time by Quint states, in relation to the election reform. Without a true reform, it cannot be gone to elections,” said this source. “The U.S. have sponsored the agreement for election reform and they are guarantees of this reform,” added the source. 

Kurti and Pacolli ignored (Zëri)

Leaders of New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), Behgjet Pacolli, and of Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti, were not invited to the meeting of political leaders where they discussed early national elections and reserved seats for communities at the Kosovo Assembly. Officials at the Vetëvendosje say the meeting, hosted by German ambassador Peter Blomeyer, was informal, uninstitutional, and will have no political weight. Nevertheless, they added, it was yet another attempt at sidelining institutions and taking decisions in the restaurant tables. At the same time, AKR officials said the party is comfortable in running for elections whenever they take place. 

Blomeyer: EULEX will not stay forever in Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Peter Blomeyer, stated that dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia should not be limited only between the Governments of Kosovo and Serbia, because the impact on building the permanent peace between Kosovo and Serbia is reached only by broadening it. He made this statement on Wednesday, at the panel of discussions on “Germany’s Foreign Policy towards Kosovo: What is the position of German state towards the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, future EULEX mandate and process of Kosovo’s European integration,” organized by the Group for Judicial and Political Studies and Pristina Council for Foreign Relations. “Today we can read in the papers that the dialogue has failed, it did not flow as expected, etc. But this is a mistake, because the dialogue is not defined with Governments and politicians, but with all actors of the society, starting also from you, media, culture, science, schools, universities, in order to become clear that Germany supports this dialogue.

The German Ambassador stated that his and the international community’s position is to extend another mandate of the reserved seats for the minorities at the Assembly of Kosovo, because this would impact integration of the north of Kosovo. 

Plan for implementation of telecom agreement (Tribuna)

European Union has managed to sit down Kosovo and Serbia delegations and launch preparatory stage for implementation of telecom agreement the parties reached back in September. Yesterday, the delegations discussed drafting a plan for implementation of the agreement. Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and chief negotiator, Edita Tahiri, said implementation paves the way for Kosovo to get an international dial code. 

EU officials told the paper that parties were given the rest of the week to send final comments on the plan and if there are no major differences between the two sides, implementation could begin as early as next week.

Thaçi and Dacic to meet again after January (Tribuna)

The upcoming meeting between Kosovo and Serbia prime ministers will not be their last as the two officials are expected to continue meeting in the future. Bekim Çollaku, advisor to Kosovo PM Hashim Thaçi, said the political processes that the two countries are going through may have an impact on the dynamics of talks. “I can say that this meeting is not expected to be the last”, he said. Çollaku stressed that there can be no divided justice system for northern municipalities and that a division on ethnic basis would not only be unacceptable but would be a step back and in conflict to the Kosovo laws. 

Cliff: Absence of rule of law is weakening Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ian Cliff, said that the failure to adequately address rule of law could slow down Kosovo’s EU integration process. “There is still a perception that absence of rule of law is weakening Kosovo”, he said adding that it is in the interest of Kosovo to continue work on strengthening rule of law and local institutions.

Cliff also said that decision to repeat elections in North Mitrovica will affect the process of north’s integration but not the establishment of Association of Serb Municipalities. He stressed the view that it would not be good for Kosovo’s image to head to general elections without concluding election reform. “Early elections without election reform would be a bad message for Kosovo”, Cliff is quoted. The British ambassador made the comments in a visit to the offices of Koha Ditore.

Work for OSCE again (Epoka e Re)

OSCE mission in Kosovo appears to be ready for another process of “facilitation,” of local elections in Kosovo. Officials of this mission stated on Wednesday for lajmi.net, that they are following the developments in the municipality of northern Mitrovica, which will have another round of election for the mayor, after mayor Krstimir Pantic refused to sign the pledge declaration which carried Kosovo’s state symbols. “We are following all the developments that are happening these last days and we are ready to help on implementation of Brussels agreement,” stated the spokesperson of this mission, Nikola Goan. However, it is still not clear if there is a need for Kosovo institutions to make a new invitation to the mission.