Kosovo Police (KP) has arrested today three persons suspected of involvement in smuggling of migrants. KP spokesperson Daut Hoxha said the suspects, arrested in the region of Pristina and Gjakova/Djakovica, are also believed to have been involved in forging of documents, smuggling of narcotics and unauthorized possession of ammunition.
The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Xhavit Haliti, today proposed that Kosovo’s Interior Minister, Skender Hyseni, shall report to the Assembly on the armed incident that happened in Kumanovo, FYROM, a few months ago where allegedly several Kosovo citizens were involved. Meanwhile, the Vetevendosje Movement MP, Ilir Deda, expressed his concern over the security situation in Kosovo. Deda said it is not a good image for Kosovo that some people forcibly removed fences at the government building.
Municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica, in cooperation with the European Commission and UNHCR, will start construction of 12 houses for displaced persons from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. The municipality has already allocated land for construction of a total of 48 houses whereas 12 will be constructed in the project’s first stage. Municipality of Gjakova/Djakovica is one of the first municipalities in Kosovo to successfully carry out the process of return of the displaced persons.
An organization called “Active students” informs that on its initiation of activities at six Pristina high schools, by setting fabric billboards against the Association of the municipalities with Serb majority, signed in Brussels between the Pristina and Belgrade governments.
“Active students” inform that the activities have been initiated at “Sami Frasheri”(social sciences), “Sami Frasheri” (natural sciences), Xhevdet Doda”, “Medial School Ali Sokoli”, “28 Netori” and “Agriculture School”, high schools.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, said he would inform the MPs about four agreements signed yesterday in Brussels with Belgrade in the first Kosovo Assembly autumn session. “These are landmark agreements on the path to strengthening our country and partnership with the EU and the US,” wrote Mustafa on his Facebook page.
The residents of Peja/Pec will protest tomorrow against Kosovo governemnt signing the agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro. Former Mayor of Peja, Ali Lajci, who is one of the organizers of this protest, told KosovaPress that the protest will start at 12:00 and will last for one hour. Lajci also called on the people from different places in Kosovo to join the protest.
Kosovo minister without portfolio and chief negotiator in talks with Belgrade, Edita Tahiri, announced that the new round of talks will take place on 24 and 25 August in Brussels and will tackle Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Iber bridge barricade and obstacles Serbia is presenting to implementation of agreement on energy. Tahiri said agreement of 13 April 2013 stipulates that Serbia should not hinder Kosovo in international integration and, as a result, in international institutions such as UNESCO.
A 20 year-old woman was wounded last night at a Leposaviq bar, sources said. Unidentified persons are reported to have fired at the victim from a moving vehicle. The motive behind the attack is not known while the victim is being treated at the Mitrovica north hospital and is in a stable condition. Sources also said that the bar where the attack happened is owned by one of the alleged drug dealers in the north. Also last night in Leposaviq, a major fight broke out between several people which left a brother of a Kosovo Police officer seriously injured.
Kosovo Justice Institute think tank presented today the findings of a report on Kosovo institutions’ fight of corruption. The report states that although the fight of corruption remains a priority of all Kosovo institutions, the reality is that this remains mainly on paper. KJI director Betim Musliu said Kosovo is still not successfully fighting corruption and while there is immense pressure on institutions to produce tangible results, these results are very few.
The Pristina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) condemned today the violence against the Egyptian community in the city of Peja/Pec. “Several days ago, some individuals in Peja set on fire some construction material in an attempt to prevent the return of Egyptians to their properties. This constitutes a violation of one of the most basic human rights which is the unimpeded, unconditional and sustainable return of all persons who for some reason were forced to leave.