• U.S. government does not support any party or candidate (media)
• LDK reacts to reports U.S. lends out support to PDK (media)
• Heldt: We do not support any entity or candidate in elections (RTK)
• Finnish FM to Dacic: Lobbying against Kosovo, unacceptable (RTK)
• Haradinaj: U.S. doesn’t want servility, but leaders that protect their people and country (media)
• Rasic: Kosovo Serb population is more than afraid, Vucic is threatening them (RTK)
• Tahiri: Agreement with Serbia at the UN, dangerous for Kosovo (Bota Sot)
• 117,000 Serbs eligible to vote in Kosovo elections (Zeri)
• Court rejects Ombudsperson’s request to review election lists (Koha)

U.S. government does not support any party or candidate (media)

The U.S. Embassy in Pristina has issued a statement saying the U.S. government “does not endorse or support any political party or candidates” running in 6 October elections in Kosovo.

“We respect the right and responsibility of the voters of Kosovo to choose their future,” the Embassy said at the end of the statement to which it attached the link of the Quint statement of 30 August reconfirming that any suggestion that the governments of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States “support a particular party or candidate in the election is incorrect.”

Koha Ditore writes that the U.S. Embassy’s reaction comes after the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) put up posters showing its leader Kadri Veseli next to the U.S. President Donald Trump and following the involvement of the former acting U.S. attorney general Matthew Whitaker in the PDK’s election campaign.

LDK reacts to reports U.S. lends out support to PDK (media)

Several media outlets reported yesterday about the visit of Matthew Whitaker, former Acting U.S. Attorney General described as a trusted aide of U.S. President Donald Trump, to Kosovo to support the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Kadri Veseli’s initiative for the fight against corruption and strengthening Kosovo’s partnership with the United States.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) slammed such reports with the party leader Isa Mustafa saying at a rally in Pristina yesterday that PDK and its leader Kadri Veseli are abusing the figure of the U.S. President.

“If someone gave an example of how to build partnership with EU and the U.S., it was the LDK. This partnership was not built by those appearing in photos and abusing the figure of the U.S. President, so much so that it prompted the reaction of the U.S. Embassy to state they respect the will of the citizens of Kosovo,” Mustafa said.

LDK’s campaign manager Lutfi Haziri also reacted. “They are creating such fake news claiming President Trump sent someone from Washington to Pristina today which is a pure lie,” he said.

Heldt: We do not support any entity or candidate in elections (RTK)

Germany’s Ambassador to Kosovo Christian Heldt supported the statement of the U.S. Ambassador Philip Kosnett, that they do not support any candidate or political party in the 6 October elections.

“Seems difficult for some to understand that we stick to positions and understanding of how democracy works. Thank you for recalling what we already jointly laid out a month ago, USA Embassy in Kosovo. Still a good read,” Heldt wrote on his Twitter account.

Finnish FM to Dacic: Lobbying against Kosovo, unacceptable (RTK)

After his visit to Kosovo, Finland’s Foreign Minister Peka Havisto travelled to Belgrade, where he met with his counterpart, Ivica Dacic.

Havisto reportedly said that to Finland, Serbia’s lobbying against Kosovo is unacceptable as this does not contribute to the resumption of the dialogue. He added that Kosovo’s decision to impose tariff on Serbian goods also made the dialogue stagnate. He expressed Finland’s readiness to help Pristina and Belgrade return at the table of discussions for normalization of relations. He said that a good will of all parties is required for this to happen.

He said he left the message for lifting of the tariff in Pristina, while in Belgrade he will leave the message that lobbing for withdrawal of the recognition of Kosovo is unacceptable. He expressed hope that the dialogue will soon resume and stressed that the EU will be able to help the parties in this process.

Dacic on the other hand said Serbia wants reach of an agreement acceptable for both parties.

Haradinaj: U.S. doesn’t want servility, but leaders that protect their people and country (media)

Kosovo’s outgoing Prime Minister and AAK-PSD candidate for Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, said on Tuesday that the United States of America are allies of Kosovo and not allies of politicians. “They said that I ruined relations with the U.S., but I was there on the first day of the campaign. The U.S. is an ally of Kosovo, not an ally of the politicians. If we know how to work for the good of our people, even if they don’t agree, they do not obstruct you. They don’t appreciate servility … If they see that you don’t protect the interests of your people, they don’t trust you,” Haradinaj said.

Rasic: Kosovo Serb population is more than afraid, Vucic is threatening them (RTK)

The candidate for the Prime Minister of Kosovo from the “Sloboda” Serb coalition political parties expressed his concerns about the pressure of Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic on Kosovo Serbs to vote the Serbian List.

He called Vucic “an ordinary liar” as he just yesterday threatened health care and education employees that their salaries will be stopped if the Serbian List does not win.

Rasic said this does not happen anywhere else in Europe and added that Serbian List does not represent interests of the population but those of Vucic.

“It is a terrible situation. I have only one preoccupation: for the elections to end without incidents. It is well known what price Oliver Ivanovic had to pay,” he said and added that people are very scared.

Tahiri: Agreement with Serbia at the UN, dangerous for Kosovo (Bota Sot)

Political analyst, Ramush Tahiri, spoke to Bota Sot about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and commented on the idea proposed by Norbert Gerwald Hofer, leader of the Freedom Party of Austria, of an agreement being found in the margins of the UN. Tahiri said the dialogue should be facilitated by the EU. He said the UN could also facilitate the process but in this case Kosovo would have to be represented as a fully-fledged state. “The mediation can be done by the UN or any other international mechanism that considers it has competencies and whose role would have to be agreed by the parties,” Tahiri said.

117,000 Serbs eligible to vote in Kosovo elections (Zeri)

Dusan Radakovic from the Democracy in Action NGO coalition tasked with monitoring elections said that there are around 117,000 Serb voters registered with the Central Election Commission (CEC) of which 58,000 are in the north of Kosovo.

Radakovic said there will be a total of 86 polling centres opened in the north of Kosovo. He explained that all who were equipped in the past with UNMIK ID cards or Kosovo IDs are eligible to vote on 6 October.

Court rejects Ombudsperson’s request to review election lists (Koha)

Kosovo’s Ombudsperson Hilmi Jashari last week sued the Central Election Commission (CEC) for not upholding the Law on Gender Equality regarding women’s participation in election lists.

Koha reports that the Ombudsperson’s request to the court asking it to temporarily suspend the election process so as to verify lists of candidates and make sure they are in line with the provisions of the Law on Gender Equality was rejected.

CEC meanwhile maintained that in certifying election lists it was guided by provisions from the Law on General Election.