Vetevendosje announced preliminary results of party elections that took place between 21 and 22 February. According to the results, Visar Ymeri received over 96 percent of votes, making him the new Vetevendosje leader. Official results are expected to be announced on Sunday at the meeting of Vetevendosje’s general council.
Adriatik Kelmendi, editor in chief of the Kohavision (KTV) broadcaster, considers that the independence day of Kosovo should be celebrated, especially at the times when the morale of the population is low. According to him, 17 February represents the most significant date for Albanians ever since the independence of Albania, being that it represents liberation from Serbia. Kelmendi further writes how the United States celebrated the Independence Day even in the most difficult times.
Minister of Trade and Industry Hykmete Bajrami presented today Kosovo government’s economic agenda and stressed that the ministry she leads is preparing a fund of 15 million euros to support private sector in Kosovo. She said that the dialogue with private businesses will soon be institutionalized through the establishment of the national council for economic development.
Koha claims to have secured the content of the constitutional amendment set to pave way for the establishment of the special court. The text of the amendment says that Kosovo can establish special chambers and prosecution within its judicial order that will address allegations contained in the Council of Europe’s report. These chambers will have full legal competencies to enter obligatory agreements necessary for the functioning, integrity, independence and security of cases that the court will address as well as the cooperation, assistance and protection of witnesses.
Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Bekim Collaku, received today a delegation of Baden-Württemberg region of Germany, headed by ministers Silke Krebs and Peter Friedrich, and accompanied by German Ambassador in Pristina, Angelika Viets.The ministers discussed the latest developments in Kosovo, the European agenda and the issue of irregular migration of people of Kosovo in Germany.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo on Thursday presented a report on illegal re-occupation of properties under the administration of the Kosovo Property Agency (KPA). The report assesses the response of Kosovo institutions to these cases and gives recommendations on ways to enhance the institutional response when re-occupation occurs. According to this report, in which are included only cases submitted to KPA and not north of Kosovo, 95 percent of re-occupations are made by members of the Albanian community that have reoccupied the properties of Serbs.
Koha Ditore’s publisher, Falka Surroi, criticizes Kosovo political leaders engaged in the dialogue with Serbia, for lack of transparency on the recently reached agreement on justice. According to her, point 9 of this agreement legalizes Serbia as a decision making party in Kosovo’s justice system. She claims that the agreement discriminates everyone in Kosovo but Serbs.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) on Tuesday announced Kosovo as a member of FINA with full rights. The decision taken by the FINA Bureau decision making-that means that swimmers Kosovo will be eligible to compete in the inaugural European Games in Baku and try to qualify in next year's Olympics in Rio de Janerio. The paper writes that Kosovo also was allowed to compete in this year's FINA World Championship in Kazan, although according to the paper, the host country, Russia, strongly opposes Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
Domestic violence is a persistent problem in the Kosovo society and only in 2014, 1,200 such cases have been recorded and women were victims in all of them. Kosovo Police (KP) officials said the exact figures of the domestic violence cases are not known because many cases are not reported at all. Tahire Haxholli from the KP’s domestic violence unit told Radio Free Europe that the number of reported cases has increased. She said that there were 100 more cases of domestic violence reported in 2014 than the previous year and she attributed this to the increase of awareness.
Kosovo Minister of Internal Affairs Skender Hyseni, on Monday traveled for a several-days official visit to the United States of America. Hyseni will attend the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. The purpose of the Summit, which brings together key stakeholders from around the world, is developing an action agenda to address violent extremism. During his stay in Washington, Hyseni will also have separate series of meetings at the US State Department, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).