• The West does not speak with one voice on Kosovo’s borders (Koha)
• Petritsch: Time for final decision with cosmetic border correction (media)
• Limaj: Thaci’s idea for border correction is anti-constitutional (media)
• Albanian FM comments on Kosovo – Serbia “border adjustment” (media)
• Kurti: Thaci is making damaging deals with Serbia (Indeksonline)
• Bahtiri warns with anti-Haradinaj protests in September (media)

The West does not speak with one voice on Kosovo’s borders (Koha)

Kosovo and Serbia Presidents, Hashim Thaci and Aleksandar Vucic, have now secured the public support of the Trump administration to reach any agreement in the final phase of dialogue, including an agreement on “correction” of borders between Kosovo and Serbia, the paper reports on its front page. Leading EU member states meanwhile insist that borders cannot be touched. John Bolton, National-Security Advisor at The White House, said on Friday that the U.S. supports any solution that is agreed upon by the parties. During a press conference in Kyiv, Bolton was asked to comment on the idea of exchanging territories between Kosovo and Serbia. “I think there are new signs that both governments very quietly may be willing to negotiate on this territorial exchange. Our policy, the U.S. policy, is that if the two parties can work it out between themselves and reach agreement, we don’t exclude territorial adjustments. It’s really not for us to say. We would not stand in the way, and I don’t think anybody in Europe would stand in the way if the two parties to the dispute reached a mutually satisfactory settlement,” Bolton said. “We’re ready from a distance or up close to help out,” Bolton added. “We don’t think we’re going to solve it for them. We think they’ve got to solve it for themselves.”

Petritsch: Time for final decision with cosmetic border correction (media)

The former European Union’s special envoy for Kosovo, Wolfgang Petritsch, said on Friday that the time has come for a final decision in the Pristina – Belgrade dialogue and that a cosmetic correction of borders is needed. In an interview to N1, Petritsch said it was very important for Belgrade and Pristina to propose a final solution. “I don’t believe dialogue can continue without making decisions. This would lead us to an infinite frozen conflict … If the solution and the proposal are unsuccessful, I fear this will be a defeat for everyone – Aleksandar Vucic, Hashim Thaci and Federica Mogherini. If a solution is not reached now, a long time will pass until a new solution is found. This is not an ideal solution, but politics and real life are never perfect”. Petritsch also said that if a solution is a result of compromise and supported by both sides, then the international community too would accept it.

Limaj: Thaci’s idea for border correction is anti-constitutional (media)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Fatmir Limaj, said on Friday that President Hashim Thaci’s statement on border correction with Serbia is Thaci’s personal initiative and that he does not support it. “We believe the President is taking an individual position without any consultation … We also believe that his position is in opposition with the Constitution … It should be clear to everyone that there will not be a Republika Srpska in Kosovo. Everyone should know this: we don’t have a mandate to create Republika Srpska in Kosovo,” Limaj said. “I know that there is talk about division but there is another objective. There will be no Republika Srpska in Kosovo. This would destroy our country,” Limaj said in an interview to RTK.

Albanian FM comments on Kosovo – Serbia “border adjustment” (media)

Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, in an interview to Panorama, was asked to comment on ideas for border adjustments and the exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia. Bushati said: “We encourage dialogue and a legally-binding agreement that respects Kosovo’s territorial integrity, the unitary form of the state, its multiethnic character, as foreseen in the Constitution of Kosovo, and the protection of rights of Albanians living in Presevo Valley … One also needs to take into account that what has already been established through the Ahtisaari Package and embodies in the Constitution of Kosovo cannot be changed through a new agreement. The U.S. EU and NATO have made great investments in promoting multiethnicity in the Balkans and making sure that there are open societies. This remains a difficult, but not an impossible, challenge. Our region has undergone major changes in the last decades as a result of the transforming power of the EU. Abandoning this course would cost Albanians and the whole region”.

Kurti: Thaci is making damaging deals with Serbia (Indeksonline)

Vetevendosje leader, Albin Kurti, and senior officials of this party met today in Pristina with a delegation of the Social-Democratic Party from the German Bundestag, the news website reports. Vetevendosje issued a press release quoting Kurti as saying that dialogue between presidents Thaci and Vucic on border adjustments and exchange of territories is unfair, damaging and poses a threat for the future. The press release further noted that Kurti and the head of the delegation from Germany “agreed that the attempted deal between the two presidents derives from the autocratic character of their regimes and that it goes against democracy”.

Bahtiri warns with anti-Haradinaj protests in September (media)

Mitrovica South Mayor, Agim Bahtiri, said on Friday that if the Haradinaj-led government does not reject initiatives for border changes, “Kosovo risks entering a dead-end road in the next couple of months and the government could suffer from mass protests which I will strongly support”. “I appeal to the Kosovo Assembly to hold an urgent meeting and to make a decision to stop negotiations in Brussels for the exchange of territories. If the issue of border changes and exchange of territories is opened in Brussels, the people of Mitrovica will not stand by as spectators while their territory is divided, they will react in radical fashion and make their way to Pristina,” Bahtiri said.