Kosovapress reports that the government of Kosovo has set the amount of the monthly payment the victims of sexual violence during conflict in Kosovo will receive at €230. Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Skender Recica, said the decision guarantees the start of a serious process to help victims of sexual violence. The government also established the secretariat of the commission for recognition and verification of the status of victims of sexual violence during conflict.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, said that the outgoing KFOR Commander, Major General Giovanni Fungo, is a proven friend of Kosovo and the region. “Time when Fungo served was very important for the country. We are grateful to all the soldiers serving with KFOR. KFOR preserves and builds peace,” Thaci said today during the COMKFOR change of command ceremony.  Thaci said the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is a multiethnic and professional force thanks to KFOR and NATO. “KSF is now ready to take on new competencies and a new mission,” Thaci noted.

Kosovo Security Force (KSF) remains one of the most trusted institutions in Kosovo, said panelists at a conference in Pristina today. KSF Minister, Rrustem Berisha, said the aim of the conference was to promote cooperation with partners and present KSF’s progress. “We also informed our partners of the steps we are taking leading to the political decision, transformation of KSF into Kosovo Armed Forces,” Berisha said.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, met in Pristina today Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zaharieva, and expressed appreciation for Bulgaria’s continuous support to Kosovo in the state-building process and membership in international organizations. “Bulgaria is Kosovo’s strategic partner,” Thaci said. He said that although Kosovo and Bulgaria enjoy good bilateral relations, “we now need a greater economic cooperation.”

Vjosa Osmani from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has been appointed chair of the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Osmani said foreign affairs require a great deal of cooperation between political parties and that she hoped this would be achieved during her tenure.

The leader of the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Ali Ahmeti, told Kosovapress that statements of senior politicians in Serbia to redesign borders of Kosovo, are dangerous and with a domino effect for Western Balkans. He added that these matters should be considered seriously and with a cold blood, because if borders start to change, then they would have a domino effect for the other countries as well.

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said today at the meeting of the Council for implementation of government strategy on cooperation with the civil society that if Kosovo does its homework and makes quick progress on implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), it could gain EU candidate status as well as visa liberalisation. “Implementation of SAA is the matter that brings visa liberalisation. We know liberalisation is also connected to border demarcation with Montenegro.

Kosovo-based non-governmental organization FOL, presented today statistics regarding court’s performance on addressing corruption cases covering the period between January and June 2017. Jeton Zylfaj, programme manager at FOL, said this period marked an increase of court performance by 120% but that there is still a backlog of cases which the court need to address.

A study carried out by the Kosovo-based Institute for Advanced Studies (GAP) found that women are underrepresented in leading posts of public enterprises, with only 15 percent of them being members of boards. “In 31 public enterprises we looked into, of 159 members of boards only 24 are women. Only five boards are chaired by women. We identified 5,000 posts in public enterprises where 85 percent of managerial posts are held by men,” said Jeton Mehmeti from GAP.

Serbian List MP, Igor Simic, said today that the Serbian List will vote in favour of PAN-AKR’s candidate for Assembly speaker but that with regards to the voting of the Kosovo government, it will need to first consult authorities in Belgrade. “We will decide after consultations with the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and director of office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric,” Simic said.