UNMIK Headlines 29 August
Footnote, likely solution for voting ballots (Koha)
Different options are being discussed for the design of voting ballots for the November 3 local elections. After Tuesday’s meeting between Kosovo and Serbia prime ministers, sources told the paper that the denomination “Republic of Kosovo” is not expected to be included in the voting ballots.
Sources said Brussels officials requested this. Sources, who are close to Kosovo’s negotiating team, said in addition to removing the logo, the Kosovar delegation proposed the inclusion of the footnote that does not preempt Kosovo’s status.
“The November 3 local elections will have different voting ballots from other elections organized so far,” the source said.
While Kosovo Government officials keep insisting that the final decision on the voting ballot is up to the Central Election Committee, members of the CEC on the other hand say that the government has already stepped up political pressure on them to remove the logo.
Çeku: Brussels to be the “capital” of Kosovo and Serbia (Tribuna)
Kosovo’s Security Force Minister Agim Çeku said on Wednesday in Montenegro that it is good that Serbia has turned to the future and said he hopes Belgrade and Pristina will help one another in their path toward EU integration. Çeku said he hopes Brussels will become the “capital” of the whole region and that Serbia and Kosovo will not block each other in their European path. Çeku also said it is a matter of time before the Montenegrin minority is recognized by the Constitution of Kosovo.
Romania softens positions on Kosovo (Zëri)
In his annual meeting with the diplomatic corps, Romanian President Traian Basescu said Romania’s position vis-à-vis Kosovo’s independence is becoming more flexible. Basescu said the Kosovo issue is very sensitive and that Romania has a clear position on Kosovo and “we should not mix up our principles”. “I must say that we are not a super power that can find explanations for everything. We are a country that upholds international law. Witnessing relations between Belgrade and Pristina, Romania will maintain a more flexible position on the Kosovo issue,” Basescu added.
PDK’s Musmurati: We will win Pristina (Lajm)
In an interview for the paper, Basri Musmurati, secretary of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said the PDK would win even more municipalities in the upcoming November local elections. According to Musmurati, in addition to the municipalities it currently governs, the PDK will also come out triumphantly in the municipalities of Suhareka, Rahovec, Kamenica and Pristina.
Witness: I will tell about murders, kidnapping and extortion (Koha)
The paper reports in one of the front-page stories that Shkumbin Mehmeti, former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is in jail since March 2004. He claims that he knows about at least six murders, three of which were politically motivated, and says he provided this evidence to prosecutors.
Mehmeti says he requests from EULEX to convict him for contributing to the murder of two police officers, but not to serve 30 years in prison on murder charges. Mehmeti was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of an UNMIK police officer and a Kosovo police officer in a fire exchange near Podujevo. He claims he only participated in the crime but was not the main perpetrator. According to Mehmeti, the key person responsible for the crime was Agron Sylejmani, who was killed in the incident, and others who according to Mehmeti were released after the intervention of then-UNMIK deputy chief Steven Schook and LPK leader Ibrahim Kelmendi.
In a separate box within the same article, the paper notes that former UNMIK deputy chief Steven Schook, who is now advisor to AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj, denied having intervened for anyone’s release and that he does not know the people mentioned by Mehmeti. “I have absolutely no information about this incident. I was never involved in this case and I never had the power to interfere in such matters,” Schook told the paper.
UNMIK’s injustice brought him €119,000 (Tribuna)
The paper reports that ten years after he was charged for terrorism, Afrim Zeqiri from Gjilan won his case and got material compensation. Zeqiri was accused by the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) for the murder of three Serbs in Cërnicë, near Gjilan, in 2002. He was charged with terrorism and his case was even mentioned at the United Nations Security Council. For 617 days spent in prison, Zeqiri asked for €420,000 compensation, but received €119,000. His attorneys now say they will take the case to the Strasbourg Court.