The Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly today did not include on the agenda of 21 May the constitutional amendments required for the establishment of the special court that will address war crimes allegations. Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli told reporters after the meeting that additional consultations were needed to reach a consensus among the parliamentary parties. “The most important thing is to have international partnership and a national consensus,” Veseli said. “Allow me to reiterate that Kosovo’s economic development should be our priority.

The paper’s columnist Enver Robelli writes that almost for 25 years as an independent country, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has held more or less a racist attitude towards the Albanians.“Today in Skopje rules a Prime Minister suspected of various crimes against Albanians. For Albanians it is terrible that their political leaders have turned into Gruevski’s servants for years,” Robelli writes.

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, writes in an opinion piece that the Albanian politicians in Tirana, Pristina, Skopje or somewhere else are behaving more like analysts than like leaders. Palokaj writes that when serious problems and crises occur, when people want to hear their stances as leaders, they either remain silent, or expect international reactions to decide what line to follow. “The situation in the Balkans is still fragile and quite serious.

Vetevendosje MP Albin Kurti writes in an opinion piece that similar to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and to the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, the Special Court will not answer to the people of Kosovo either. “The question is: why should we legitimize something that will not answer to us? This time, they want us as an independent state, to agree to have a judiciary that will be independent from us? It doesn’t get any more absurd than this”.

KTV editor-in-chief Adriatik Kelmendi writes that, “being that Albania is a member of NATO, and the territory of Kosovo is guaranteed by the presence of NATO troops on the ground, the weakest link is the third country with the biggest Albanian population – the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). This is why there is an attempt to trigger conflicts with the involvement of Albanians in FYROM, which would then trigger reactions from Albanians in Kosovo and Albania and consequently the governments of the latter two countries”.

Political analyst Halil Matoshi argues in an opinion piece that “the wounds of Kumanovo can slowly heal if the civic opposition [in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] is truly engaged for a state of the citizens and blasts away the discrimination of Albanians by asking for their help and loyalty for a truly modern state. If the opposition prefers the dominating and ultranationalist approach against Albanians, then the Macedonians will sign by themselves the division of the state, and the end of their country”.

Publicist Enver Robelli argues in his opinion piece that the outbreak of violence between Albanians and Macedonians is primarily in the interest of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. “Being uninterruptedly in power since 2006, Gruevski has managed to bring under his full control the state, the most important sectors of the economy, to intimidate and make his servants the majority of the media and to practically suspend the activities of the opposition,” Robelli writes.

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj notes in his opinion piece that “the European Union and NATO have invested so much energy and attention to the ‘name issue’ that for years they have ignored the real and increasing problems in Macedonia”. According to Palokaj, “NATO and the EU have proved powerless vis-à-vis an irrational Greek blockade, and at the same time they have kept silent over the degradation of democracy and the corruption in Macedonia”. “Now we have the latest case in Kumanovo, and no one knows what has happened exactly.

Ismet Hajrullahu, writes in his opinion piece that falling of the current government during these few months on the political field as well as on the economic and social ones is obvious. He considers that it is not a coincidence that the image of Kosovo in the world is falling. There are many reasons, he notes, the most important one being massive emigration of the people as a result of the worsening of life conditions and lack of perspective.