• Modification or ‘sui generis’ adjustment of Kosovo’s borders (Koha)
• Merkel’s foreign policy advisors to visit Kosovo today (media)
• PDK has no answer to Haradinaj’s resistance to lift import tariff (Koha)
• Haliti: PDK could take Kosovo to new elections in two days (Zeri)
• Serbian List willing to help bring down Haradinaj government (media)
• Finland calls on Kosovo to rescind import tariff on Serbian goods (Zeri)
• Albanians in Zubin Potok don’t want to live in Serbia (Koha)
• Phillips: Russia would support a crippled Kosovo (Zeri)
• No recognition of Kosovo’s independence for one year (Zeri)

Modification or ‘sui generis’ adjustment of Kosovo’s borders (Koha)

The initiative to change Kosovo’s borders – as part of a future agreement between Kosovo and Serbia - is certainly not dead, although many European diplomats admit that it is a highly dangerous idea. It seems that the initial supporters of the idea, Kosovo and Serbia Presidents, Thaci and Vucic, EU High Representative Mogherini and her associates involved in dialogue, including Commissioner Hahn, were not expecting such firm resistance to the idea, both in Kosovo and within the European Union. Those that supported the idea for changing Kosovo’s borders, after being faced with great resistance even within the EU, have now reduced the options and are trying to sell the idea only as “border adjustment”. The idea, according to them, would be sui generis only for Kosovo’s case, and could not apply for other parts of the region, and it would not reduce the rights of Kosovo Serbs. In fact, Kosovo Serbs would get even greater rights than envisaged in the Ahtisaari Package, Koha Ditore reports on its front page. The paper cites unnamed European diplomats as saying that the immature idea was an effort to help Serbian President Vucic “so that he could get something, and that Serbia does not look like a loser”. All those that supported the idea from the EU are people that don’t have much experience in the Balkans and they believed that the two presidents “without any big problems” would secure support in their countries for the idea.

Merkel’s foreign policy advisors to visit Kosovo today (media)

Most news websites report that Jan Hecker and Matthias Luttenberg, foreign policy advisors to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, will visit Kosovo today. RTK notes that their visit comes two days after a visit by U.S. Under-Secretary of State, David Hale, who called on Kosovo’s leaders to speak in unison so that Pristina can have a strong position in talks with Serbia.

PDK has no answer to Haradinaj’s resistance to lift import tariff (Koha)

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) officials did not say if they would take any decisions on the import tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods, following increased international pressure, the paper reports on page three. Asked to comment on the issue, PDK parliamentary group chief, Memli Krasniqi, repeated the position of party leader Kadri Veseli that he would not allow Kosovo’s relations with the United States to be threatened as a result of the import tariff. Asked if the PDK would take any concrete action if Prime Minister Haradinaj refuses to lift the tariff, Krasniqi said: “I have no comment”.

Haliti: PDK could take Kosovo to new elections in two days (Zeri)

Xhavit Haliti, senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Vice President of the Kosovo Assembly, told the paper on Sunday that if new elections are in Kosovo’s interest, then his party could take Kosovo to elections in two days. Haliti added that despite disagreements among partners in the ruling coalition, especially with regards to the import tariff on Serbian goods, the coalition is functional and that it continuously discusses solutions on issues of capital interest.

Serbian List willing to help bring down Haradinaj government (media)

Several media report that Serbian List representatives said that if the opposition secures 51 votes, they too would vote in favor of ousting the Haradinaj-led government. Serbian List MP Igor Simic told Pink TV that they would return to government if the opposition secures enough signatures for ousting the current government. Meanwhile, Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group chief, Avdullah Hoti, said on Sunday that they will submit a motion to the Assembly when they secure 61 votes. Hoti however added that they would not accept conditions from anyone. Pal Lekaj, Minister for Infrastructure and senior member of Haradinaj’s Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said that if Serbian List MPs are waiting for an assembly session to oust the government, “they will have to wait until the end of the government’s mandate”. “I call on them to take their duties as MPs seriously and to stop making threats,” Lekaj added.

Finland calls on Kosovo to rescind import tariff on Serbian goods (Zeri)

Finish Ambassador to Kosovo, Pia Stjernvall, said on Sunday that the 100-percent import tariff on Serbia goods is not the right decision, the paper reports on page two. Stjernvall said her country is in favor of a free market and that she suggests Kosovo to act for the overall good.

Albanians in Zubin Potok don’t want to live in Serbia (Koha)

The paper reports in one of its front-page stories that Albanians living in northern Kosovo have expressed their concerns over the idea for border changes and that they find unacceptable swapping the three northern municipalities with three municipalities in Presevo Valley. Albanian representatives of the villages of Caber and Zubin Potok municipality told KTV on Sunday that they would like Presevo Valley to join Kosovo as long as it is exchanged with Leshak, but not with the three northern municipalities, which according to them were never part of Serbia. KTV also notes that there are nearly 1,500 Albanians living in the village of Caber in the north.

Phillips: Russia would support a crippled Kosovo (Zeri)

The paper quotes David L. Phillips, a former senior advisor to the U.S. State Department, as saying that Russia opposes any agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, except for a deal that would transform Kosovo into a crippled state through badly-concepted border adjustments. Phillips also said that “support for the idea for Kosovo’s partition would suit Russia’s strategic objectives because it would incite divisions within Kosovar society that could result in violence and discredit the Kosovo project”. “President Thaci was deceived by Vucic and Putin to think that border adjustment is a possible option. This is not the solution. A border adjustment would weaken Kosovo and create splits in Kosovar society,” he added.

No recognition of Kosovo’s independence for one year (Zeri)

The paper reports on its front page that it has been a year since Kosovo has not secured a new recognition of its independence. Serbia meanwhile is continuously announcing that countries are retracting their recognitions of Kosovo’s statehood. Opposition representatives and political commentators in Pristina argue that Kosovo’s diplomacy is very weak and unorganized, whereas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expects 19 new recognitions this year. The paper quotes Kosovo’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rejhan Vuniqi, as saying that they are working intensively on securing new recognitions. “But we are faced with problems and obstacles as a result of Serbia’s aggressive lobbying against Kosovo … Kosovo’s diplomacy and Foreign Minister Pacolli are lobbying more than ever before in world countries,” she added.