• Thaci hails initiative for Pristina-Belgrade railway line (media)
• Osmani: There will be meetings with LVV over the weekend (Kosovapress)
• Shala: Assembly speaker post standing between LDK- LVV deal (Klan)
• LVV: Calls for Konjufca's resignation, unreasonable (Zeri)

 Kosovo Media Highlights

Thaci hails initiative for Pristina-Belgrade railway line (media)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci has hailed announcement by the U.S. envoy Richard Grenell that a new railway line will soon connect Pristina and Belgrade saying it is another important step towards full normalisation of relations.

On Twitter Thaci went on to thank the U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Envoy Richard Grenell “for their commitment to building peace and prosperity in the region.”

Yesterday, Grenell said the two parties have agreed in principle to establish a railway line and that the details of the agreement would be worked out at the level of experts.

Osmani: There will be meetings with LVV over the weekend (Kosovapress)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) Vjosa Osmani said in an interview that meetings with representatives of the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) will take place over the weekend.

"I believe that the next meeting will take place very soon. Naturally, I hope the final rapprochement will happen at this time," she said adding that the next couple of days should be used effectively. "Everything will depend on what will be discussed in these two-three days," said Osmani.

"We would like to make sure that the LDK-LVV agreement is reached in the next days so as to have enough time to meet and make necessary coordination with minorities. In this case with non-Serb minorities which require time and it would not be honest on our part to postpone things until the 15th day," Osmani noted.

Shala: Assembly speaker post standing between LDK- LVV deal (Klan)

Kujtim Shala, senior official of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said that the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) made a mistake by putting forward candidate for the post of Assembly speaker.

"Vetevendosje candidate was voted without an agreement in place but we did commit to vote in favour if they proposed a candidate. Vetevendosje Movement should not have put forward a candidate, they should have waited," Shala said.

He said that this post has blocked the negotiations process. "Giving up the post of speaker is what is standing between us. There is no sense to not reach agreement after three months of negotiations."

Shala said there is hope the agreement will be reached. "This is what we are working for and will meet in the coming days to close the agreement and resolve remaining issues."

LVV: Calls for Konjufca's resignation, unreasonable (Zeri)

MP from the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), Arberie Nagavci, said there calls for Assembly Speaker Glauk Konjufca stepping down from his recently-elected post are unreasonable and unacceptable.

"Any request for going back is a violation of the principle of democracy, undermines the will of MPs and strikes a blow to efforts to change the governance for which we were voted by the country's citizens. Therefore, request for Assembly speaker to resign is unjust and unacceptable. There is no serious or principled reason why such a request should be considered," she said.