Headlines - 18.03.2014

“Lockerbie” a model for the Tribunal (Tribuna)

Sources of this newspaper informed that a case that was treated by the international justice body more than a decade ago could serve as an example for Kosovo. According to them, the manner of judging the suspects for the airplane crash in Lockerbie, Scotland could be used to allow the court to treat former KLA members. According to the European diplomats, the Lockerbie case would not harm the image of Kosovo but it would enable an independent and complete trial based on the findings of the investigations on the alleged crimes mentioned in Dick Marty’s report. A terrorist action in 1988 brought down the airplane which was flying from Frankfurt to the U.S., through Great Britain. The crime was not trialed for 11 years.

Borchardt: Those who committed crimes should be punished (Botapress)

In a visit to Gjakova/Djakovica, head of EULEX Bernd Borchardt is reported to have admitted that the establishment of the tribunal for war crimes in Kosovo is a complex issue. He said there are serious allegations in Kosovo which need to be resolved. “If there are people responsible for these allegations, they have to be found and of course punished,” Borchardt said.

Mustafa: There is no need for a tribunal (Epoka e Re)

Democratic League of Kosovo leader Isa Mustafa, in an interview for the paper, said that he believed the “KLA war” was clean and the Kosovo side committed to not being aggressive against anyone. “We don’t need to put the KLA in front of a tribunal or establish a special tribunal for the people who took part in the KLA war,” he said. Mustafa noted that Kosovo has its own justice institutions and, above all, EULEX is still present on the ground. “I think these bodies are sufficient to treat all suspected cases,” Mustafa is quoted.

Speaking about the upcoming elections, Mustafa rejected the possibility of LDK entering a coalition with PDK as this would not be a functional formula. He said PDK should bear the consequences of its six-year governance and reiterated that, if it wins the elections, LDK will not put the post of prime minister as a coalition bargaining tool.

Opposition accuses Government for allowing sovereignty breach (Koha)

During the meeting of the Kosovo Assembly presidency, the head of LDK, Ismet Beqiri, said that Sunday’s parliamentary elections of Serbia in Kosovo represent a breach of sovereignty and that the Government of Kosovo demonstrated irresponsibility in the face of this situation. “We are aware that it is not able to act accordingly, but even the statements were irresponsible,” said Beqiri. He said that the term used by the Government in reference to polling centres made no sense. “You know it constantly changed positions until at the end it came up with a very interesting notion claiming this would be collecting votes. This makes no sense and is an attempt to avoid responsibility,” added Beqiri.

AAK deputy leader Ahmet Isufi echoed Beqiri’s views, stressing that Serbia violated the Constitution of Kosovo by holding elections in its territory while PDK’s Adem Grabovci dismissed claims that Kosovo’s sovereignty was breached. “We have respected and acted in accordance to the Constitution and laws of Kosovo,” he said.

Fear from Vucic’s victory (Koha Ditore)

In the front page Koha Ditore, reports detail the convincing victory of Progressive Party in the elections in Serbia that brought back the fear in Kosovo that Belgrade will increase its ambitions towards Kosovo. The opposite is expected from the north inhabited mainly by Serbs.

Aleksandar Vucic’s party received almost half of the votes from the Serb electoral body, including the majority of votes of Serbs in Kosovo. His political party emerged from the Radical Party of the infamous politician, Vojislav Seselj, which Vucic joined in 1993. At the age of 24, he became secretary of the party and, after Seselj went on trial for war crimes, he and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic established the new party, but remained loyal to a nationalistic discourse.

Kosovo lawyer Azem Vllasi, expert on political developments in Serbia, talked about the reflection of this development in the relations between Kosovo and Serbia. “The fact that Vucic’s party was strengthened in the new elections, will increase their ambitions towards Kosovo to adopt a more populist, nationalistic stance,” said Vllasi.

Meanwhile, analyst Branislav Krstic called on Belgrade to use this in the governance to completely change its policy towards Kosovo. He said that Serbs living in the north need to have a clear message. “It is time for Belgrade to inform Serbs what the reality of negotiations in Brussels is the reality of the future of Serbs in Kosovo – as citisens of Serbia or as citisens of Kosovo. The new leadership in this aspect should have a serious reflection. It should say that Albanians are not minorities in Serbia and that Kosovo Serbs are not part of Serbia,” said Krstic.

Thaçi does not trust Petrovic any more (Tribuna)

A senior Government official told this daily that the relations between Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and Deputy Prime Minister Slobodan Petrovic have become distant. The same source told this daily that this happened after Petrovic got very close to Thaçi’s rivals in Brussels, respectively after he reached an agreement to support his party’s votes, that of Serbia deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic during Serbia’s Parliamentary elections. These developments are weakening the sustainability of the current Government and deepening the crisis at the Assembly.

Northerners a term for 30 days to improve statutes (dailies)

Ministry of Local Governance gave a term of 30 days to northern municipalities inhabited with majority of Serbs to make changes in municipal statutes. The approved statutes on the 13 March legal deadline were in contradiction with the Kosovo Constitution and with the law for local governance. Except that it had avoided symbols and the inscription “Republic of Kosovo”, their reference is UNSC resolution 1244 and the Brussels agreement.

Pristina gives in to Bogovac (Zeri)

The General Directorate of Kosovo Police in Pristina has given in to tremendous pressure and threats coming from Serbs in Zubin Potok who blocked the regional highway on Monday demanding Jugoslav Bogovac, deputy commander of the police station in Zubin Potok, return to work. Reliable sources told the paper that the General Directorate annulled Bogovac’s suspension. The latter was suspended after masked men stormed the police station in Zubin Potok and helped a suspect flee.