The formation of the special court and its departments is underway, while the European Union has yet to decide about the seats of the specialist chambers and the office of the specialist prosecution. EU officials in Pristina told the news site that they are finalizing agreements with the country host where the special court will be based. This will then be followed by the selection of judges and the recruitment of staff.
Kosovo’s Justice Minister, Hajredin Kuci, said that that further procedures for the establishment of the special court are not the competence of local institutions. Kuci explained that after adopting the laws for the special court in the Assembly yesterday, the local institutions have no power over the procedures by which special court shall be established. "The procedure of establishing special court is not in our competency, but the EU’s,” Kuci said.
Several news sites report that around 50 war veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) are protesting in front of the Kosovo government building in Pristina. Gazeta Blic reports that some war veterans threw bottles at Deputy Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and called him “thief” as he was entering the government premises. Indeksonline reports that some war veterans are inciting others to start a riot and a war veteran was reportedly heard telling others to fetch gasoline “in order to set the government building on fire”.
The news site reports that the opposition parties, with the initiative of the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) are planning to block the work of the Kosovo Assembly in the session when they are expected to vote for the constitutional amendments that enable the establishment of the special court. "The goal is that the opposition MPs to physically block the entrance of the hall where the session is expected to take place, and not allow the MPs to enter the session,” said a senior official of one of the opposition parties who preferred to remain anonymous.
Kosovo government will allocate additional funds to engage international consultants that would help Kosovo to join international organizations. At the government meeting held today, it was announced that this project, initiated by the British Council, aims to provide lobbying for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU and joining the Council of Europe and UNESCO.
An unnamed source within the Kosovo government told the news site that the Kosovo Assembly will vote next Monday or Wednesday on the constitutional amendments that make way to the formation of the special court. According to the source, the government will submit the constitutional amendments to the Assembly this week.
The Gracanica-based European Movement of Serbs in Kosovo, led by Rada Trajkovic, issued a communiqué on Monday arguing that Kosovo cannot become a member of the UNESCO without the help of Serbs. The communiqué recalls that Articles 17 and 18 of the Constitution of Kosovo note that membership of international organizations requires 2/3 of votes of assembly members.
KFOR Commander Francesco Paolo Figliuolo told a press conference today that Kosovo, same as other countries, is faced with the threat of possible terror attacks, but that local institutions have been successful in addressing such threats. “I am aware that even more can be done, but we are on the right track and this is a result of good cooperation between all institutions that are handling this problem,” Figliuolo said.
Sources reported that Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, will pay an unannounced visit to Kosovo today and meet Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci. The visit will be brief, said the sources. According to Koha, Rama and Mustafa are expected to discuss relations between Kosovo and Albania and the situation in the region. Rama is also expected to brief Mustafa on the recent visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Tirana.
The Vice President of the European Parliament and Rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, today called on the ruling-coalition parties in Kosovo to resubmit to the Assembly the constitutional amendments that enable the establishment of the special court. Lunacek said that the government of Kosovo must try the second chance to pass these constitutional amendments. According to her, the establishment of the special court would allow Kosovo to continue its European path, proving a clean past.