Headlines - 04.12.2017

• Border commission: 2015 agreement not in favour of Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
• Vetevendosje set to oppose border demarcation agreement (Zeri/Gazeta Blic)
• Justice not yet being served by Mitrovica basic court (Zeri)
• Delawie: More to be done for judges in the north to start sharing justice (Lajmi)
• Establishment of Association/Community has no specific timeframe (RFE/dailies)
• Dacic: Serbia did not lift arrest warrant for Haradinaj (RTK)
• Lawyer: Interpol’s decisions are final (Indeksonline)
• Istog revote to take place on 17 December (Klan Kosova)
• EULEX judges and staff are moving to the Special Court (Lajmi)
• Three Kosovo officials under investigation for “happy fire” (Bota Sot)

 Kosovo Media Highlights

Border commission: 2015 agreement not in favour of Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Kosovo government’s border demarcation commission has concluded that the 2015 agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro is not favourable for Kosovo, the paper reports on the front page. The report, expected to be presented to the government today, claims that the 2015 agreement did not take into consideration documents favoruable to Kosovo. Head of the commission, Shpejtim Bulliqi, told the paper that their work consisted only in assessing the current version of the agreement. “We believe that the documents attached to the report and the analysis will prove that the agreement of 25 August 2015 is not in Kosovo’s favour,” Bulliqi said.

Vetevendosje set to oppose border demarcation agreement (Zeri/Gazeta Blic)

Vetevendosje’s MP, Rexhep Selimi, said the party continues to oppose the current border demarcation agreement with Montenegro but ruled out the use of teargas as a way of opposing it at the Assembly. “We have sophisticated our means and we now have 32 MPs compared to 16 in the previous mandate,” Selimi said adding that their votes will present enough opposition.

Justice not yet being served by Mitrovica basic court (Zeri)

The paper reports that a month since the basic court in Mitrovica officially became functional, its judges and prosecutors have not yet been assigned cases to work on. President of the court, Nikola Kabasic, said the reason behind this is related to the goal to identify all pending cases, put them into one pool and then assign them to relevant judges and prosecutors. “We need to see what will be sent to Serbia and what will remain here,” Kabasic said.

Delawie: More to be done for judges in the north to start sharing justice (Lajmi)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Greg Delawie, assessed as a success integration of the justice system in the north of Kosovo. However, he said a lot remains to be done for the judges in the north to start sharing justice. 3I know that it required time to reach this, but a lot remains to be done,” Delawie said. He made these comments at the seventh annual conference of the judiciary of Kosovo.

Establishment of Association/Community has no specific timeframe (RFE/dailies)

Radio Free Europe reported that despite the insistence of the Serbian List on establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, the government of Kosovo maintains that the move has no specific timeframe and that it is not an urgent matter.  Furthermore, stressed government officials, the establishment of the Association/Community needs to be preceded by the drafting of its statute and crosscheck it with the Constitution of Kosovo.

Dacic: Serbia did not lift arrest warrant for Haradinaj (RTK)

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, said Serbia did not lift the arrest warrant or the indictment against the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj. He said the arrest warrant was lifted with the request of UNMIK. Speaking to the media in Belgrade, Dacic said “lifting the arrest warrant would mean that we have given up pursuit, but we did not do this.” 

Lawyer: Interpol’s decisions are final (Indeksonline)

Kosovo lawyer, Tome Gashi, spoke to Indeksonline news website about the recent decision by Interpol to remove from its wanted list a group of persons from Kosovo, including Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj. Gashi said the decision is final and cannot be amended to reintroduce the group. He also said that all arrest warrants issued by Serbia to Interpol against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighters could have been removed way back, in 1999, “if our officials had the will or put pressure on UNMIK.” However, he said Kosovo needs to identify other people who are also unjustly put on Interpol’s wanted list by Serbia. “There were around 160 persons that had been issued with international arrest warrants by Serbia,” Gashi said.

Istog revote to take place on 17 December (Klan Kosova)

Klan Kosova reports that the revote for mayoral elections in the municipality of Istog will take place on 17 December while the election campaign for this round will be open from 11 to 15 December.

EULEX judges and staff are moving to the Special Court (Lajmi)

Lawyer and judicial expert Arianit Koci said that the Special Court which is expected to start with its work in January of the next year and it is expected to have a part of UNMIK and EULEX staff. “Many judges and supporting staff of EULEX have moved or are gradually moving to the Special Court. Be as it may, I trust the Special Court and I believe that it will fulfill its mission,” Koci said.

Three Kosovo officials under investigation for “happy fire” (Bota Sot)

The paper reports that the outgoing mayor of Skenderaj/Srbica Sami Lushtaku, Minister of Diaspora Dardan Gashi, and an unnamed advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Limaj, are being investigated by the prosecution after a video surfaced of them firing shots in the air during a party to celebrate Limaj’s acquittal in the village of Banja, Malisheva/Malisevo municipality.