Kosovo Assembly deputies are discussing today the issue of the emigration and some other laws, however the deputies of the Serbian List are not participating at the session. The leaders of this List, traveled today to Belgrade to meet the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, after the dismissal of Aleksandar Jablanovic from the post of the Minister of Communities and Returnes, at the Government of Kosovo.

Former journalist and self-professed agent of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, Bojan Bozovic, announced in his Facebook post that he will join the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in the coming days. He said membership to the party would enable him to contribute to the welfare of Serb and Albanian people in the north of Kosovo.

Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa has officially appointed Petrit Selimi as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ramadan Ilazi as Deputy Minister of European Integration and Agim Krasniqi as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance. The first two deputy prime ministers are members of Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) while the third comes from the Isa Mustafa’s Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Other deputy ministers, around fifty of them, are expected to be appointed in the coming days.

A Kosovo-wide strike of the education sector has been announced for tomorrow, head of the education trade unions Rrahman Jashari confirmed. He said that all primary and secondary schools, including the University of Pristina, will observe the strike as a sign of protest over the failure of the Kosovo government to implement the entire Collective Contract. Teachers are demanding a meal allowance and an increase of salaries by 0.5 percent for each year in service.

Tirana based opinion writer for this news portal,  Mero Baze, writes that Kosovo faced on Tuesday one of the most violent days since June 1999. Protest, called by the opposition parties, escalated with violent actions against the police, state institutions and private businesses, after a climate of depression, economic stalemate and a six-month political crisis.

The Basic Court in Pristina has extended the detention measure for Slobodan Gavric, a Serbian national, was caught with 13 kilograms of explosive in Pristina last month. A prosecutor told Pristina-based TV station Rrokum that Gavric will remain in detention for another two months. The Special Prosecution of Kosovo is charging Gavric for attempting to execute a terrorist act.

Healthcare workers have announced a one-day strike for 30 January demanding implementation of the Collective Contract. Head of healthcare trade union, Xhemajl Selmanaj, said the strike will be observed throughout the territory of Kosovo but will exclude emergency rooms and basic health services.  He said the obligations from the Collective Contract should be transferred from one government to the next and not be suspended as stated by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Arban Abrashi.

Kosovo Assembly’s Deputy Speaker, Xhavit Haliti, said today after the meeting of the Chairmanship that under normal conditions, and after such statement, Jablanovic would not have been showing up at work. He said that “Jablanovic made a serious mistake. He did not insult only the mothers from Gjakova, but all citizens.

I understand concerns of the citizens; however, Kosovo is in an irreversible process, while it is well-known what Jablanovic’s interests are.”

The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Angelika Viets said on Tuesday that European Union (EU) integration should be the goal of Kosovo and Serbia. Viets said it is especially important to discuss Chapter 35 as it is considered as a framework between political dialogue and acceptance for negotiations, but also is a way of checking that progress.  Vjosa Osmani, MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said that the role of Germany has been instrumental in the integration of international organizations.

The General Council of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) decided that AAK will launch internal party elections on 21 March. Ramush Haradinaj, the leader of AAK  announced that the internal elections will have far-reaching reforms of the party and “all those who eventually are involved in racketeering will have no place in this party”.