Electronic media in Pristina reported that Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Branimir Stojanović, has returned to the Government of Kosovo, and that he spends his working day in the building of the government in Pristina.
Pristina Lajmi.net, distancing, on the other hand, states that "it is unknown whether his return to the office means the interruption of the boycott of the Serbian List."
The Serbian List has frozen its work in Kosovo institutions, because the Assembly at the request of the government, without consultation with them, adopted a law on Trepča.
Statement by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, in which he says that the Serbs would soon return to the Kosovo institutions, a representative of the Serbian List Nenad Rašić assessed as degrading and inappropriate.
Ever since the endorsement of the Law on Trepca, the Serbian List has boycotted works of the government of Kosovo. Today, Deputy Minister from the Serbian List, Branimir Stojanović, was seen at the Kosovo government building, however this does not have to do with their return at the works of the government.
Deputy-Minister for Local Government, Bajram Gecaj told Indeksoline that the government does not have any official indication for some kind of “freezing” of the functions by the Serbian List.
Kosovo Government officials insist that there will be no delays in resubmitting the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro to the Assembly. The ratification process will also require the votes of the MPs from the Serbian List which is at present boycotting Kosovo institutions. The bill requires at least 80 votes in favour to be passed and the ruling coalition faces the prospect of having 11 votes less from the members of the Serbian List. This means that the ruling coalition currently can only muster 73 votes in favour.
Days after the Serbian List announced it was suspending its participation in Kosovo institutions, the government of Kosovo has decided to invite the party to join the discussion table and express their concerns. Advisor to PM Isa Mustafa, Bajram Gecaj, told the news website that the government has sent invitation to the Serbian List to discuss their demands and their return to institutional life. “They said they would come”, said Gecaj adding that he hoped the meeting will take place in the coming days.
The government of Kosovo considers that Serbia’s reactions with regards to the Trepça Law are vain and pointless. To the authorities in Pristina, claims of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić that he will annul Pristina’s decisions related to Trepça, do not have any judicial or practical impact.
The Government of Serbia has announced that it has decided to annul all legal consequences of the Kosovo authorities’ actions related to Trepça status.
Kosovo Assembly MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Vjosa Osmani, advised the government to breach the coalition with the Serbian List and replace it with the other Serb party Serbian Liberal Party (SLS), which currently has five MPs at the Assembly.
The news website notes that opposition parties in Kosovo and political analysts have continuously criticised the position of the Serbian List vis-à-vis the state and institutions of Kosovo, some even arguing that parties that don’t recognise Kosovo’s independence should not be part of the central government.
Faton Abdullahu, spokesperson of the Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, considers that lack of voting the demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro impedes strengthening of the peace in the region. “It also means a new, unexpected obstacle on increase of the Euro Atlantic security in the region. By refusing to vote the demarcation, the problem would unavoidably pass where it is not, and where it does not suit us to be – at the inter-state dimension and as consequence, problem of the region as well.
Despite the continuous statements of the government officials that they have the votes of the Serbian List for the agreement on demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro, representatives of this party state the opposite. Nenad Rasić, Kosovo MP from the Serbian List, said that Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s claims and those of the government spokesperson Faton Abdullahu that the Serbian List would vote the demarcation, are not true. “This is not true,” Rasić said not wanting to comment the matter further.