In an interview with Deutsche Welle, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said that Belgrade should be pressured to stop undermining Kosovo’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “Seeing Brussels silence, Belgrade gets more encouraged to proceed with its plans to annex the northern part of Kosovo and join it to Serbia,” said Thaci adding that such a scenario will not unfold as Kosovo will use its constitutional and legal power to prevent it.
The President of the Assembly of Kosovo Kadri Veseli, told the Austrian prestigious newspaper “Die Presse” that what is happening in northern Kosovo reminds him on the operations at Crimea peninsula, prior to being annexed by Russia.
Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Lutfi Haziri shared on his Facebook page a photo from the meeting of the EPP (European People’s Party) Political Assembly in Brussels where he said he stressed that the Serbian train, the Mitrovica North wall and Serbia’s arrest warrants represent “provocations for conflict.”
According to a website of the Israeli military intelligence DEBKA File, the Russian train with slogans against Kosovo might try to enter Kosovo again. The website, notes that in this case, Kosovo will seek help, but it should not expect support from some European country, not even from Germany.
Deputy Leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Haki Rugova, said that continuous provocations from the Serbian state could be avoided only by political wisdom and cooperation between the government and opposition. He said that support of the international friends is also required. He praised PM Mustafa for managing the situation with the train from Serbia.
Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has decided to dismiss Marko Djuric as head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, reports the news website quoting a source from the Serbian List. “The decision will be made public in the coming days,” said the source adding that the reason behind Vucic’s dismissal of Djuric has to do with the design of the Serbian train that was bound for Kosovo.
Head of the Vetëvednosje parliamentary group, Glauk Konjufca, said today at the Assembly session that government of Kosovo and Serbia are orchestrating spectacles, by stopping a train and not removing a wall. He added that situation in the north cannot improve by demolition of the wall or by stopping Serbian trains, but by dissolving of the parallel structures.
The head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group Pal Lekaj said today at the Assembly session that the situation in the Balkans and Kosovo is not calm. Commenting on the actions of Kosovo institutions to prevent the Belgrade-Mitrovica train from reaching its destination, Lekaj said that the government should show the same determination with regards to the Mitrovica North wall instead of fighting for who will take more credit for sending the Kosovo Police units to the north.
Sources from NATO Headquarters said that the Brussels Agreement of 2013, mentioned these days by Serbia, does not include Kosovo police forces.
These sources, Serbian media report, claim that “Kosovo authorities do not have to seek KFOR’s permission to send their police forces anywhere in Kosovo.”
KFOR Commander Giovanni Fungo, was asked in a written interview of the paper, to comment the war-inducing comments of the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, who threatened to send the army to Kosovo. Fungo said that the force that he commands, is the only army that can act in Kosovo. He added that this was also decided by the Kumanovo agreement, signed between NATO and Serbia in 1999. He also stressed that during the tensions of the last weekend, KFOR was in the state of alert.