The Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE adopted in Brussels, the preliminary draft resolution "The situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council of Europe." The report deals with the issues related to the respect for human rights, rule of law, the position of minorities in Kosovo and democracy.

Interview: Momir Stojanovic, president of the Committee for the control of the security services of the National Assembly of Serbia

In recent months we have been faced with unexpectedly large number of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. How does all this reflect on Serbia and its security?

“I believe that Kosovo will use possible membership in Interpol simply to raise false indictments against citizens of Serbia who are in high positions, in order to politically balance indictments against their politicians,” said Darko Trifunovic, secretary of the Institute for Security Studies.   He illustrated this thesis by the example of Momir Stojanovic, former head of the VBA (Military Security Agency), and current MP in the parliament, against whom Interpol issued an arrest warrant in February this year.

Kosovo’s Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi had a meeting today with Austrian Ambassador to Kosovo, Johann Brieger and thanked him for his country’s strong support through increasing investment and lobbying for Kosovo’s recognition in the international arena. Selimi and Brieger discussed the agenda of the upcoming Berlin Process summit that will take place in Vienna on 27 August and the two agreed that strengthening of cooperation between the countries in the region and the EU are key to economic development.

Kosovo’s Minister for Interior Affairs, Skender Hyseni, is on a three-day visit to New York to meet the United Nations law enforcement representatives as well as permanent representative of different countries to the UN. Hyseni met Stefan Feller, the United Nations Police Advisor in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and briefed him on the content of Kosovo’s application for membership of Interpol. Hyseni highlighted strong arguments why Kosovo should join Interpol and called on UN agencies to support Kosovo’s bid.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, is visiting Austria and lobbying for faster admission of Kosovo to Interpol and Europol. According to a press release issued by the Interior Ministry, Hyseni has had an opportunity to meet counterparts from Austria, Hungary, and the Western Balkans countries and has also met Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock and Europol director Rob Wainwright.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, said Kosovo will submit application for Interpol membership this May. 190 countries are part of Interpol and Kosovo will need two-thirds of votes of the Interpol assembly members to be admitted to the organization.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, on Thursday met with France’s Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve. Hyseni and Cazeneuve discussed the rule of law situation in Kosovo and bilateral cooperation in combating organized crime and terrorism.  Hyseni asked for France's support for Kosovo's membership in international organizations, with particular emphasis on Kosovo's membership in Interpol.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, during an official visit to Italy, asked the country’s authorities to support Kosovo’s efforts in becoming a member of Interpol and Europol. Hyseni and his Italian counterpart, Angelino Alfano, discussed global terrorism and violent extremism and agreed to cooperate in fighting these negative phenomena which are not nationally confined. Hyseni also said in the meeting that Kosovo should not remain the only isolated country in the Balkans and that the visa liberalization would be of benefit not only to the people of Kosovo but the EU as well.

The warrant was issued for Stojanovic at the request of the UNMIK mission in Kosovo. Interpol office in Kosovo operates within UNMIK.

UNMIK is the only authorized mission that has the ability to, through international cooperation, claim people and exchange information with the countries and organizations that do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state. In this context, UNMIK has the role of intermediary that forwards requests for warrants from EULEX mission, but also from the Kosovo Police.