The government of Kosovo issued a press release today about the latest situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. “The Government of the Republic of Kosovo is closely following the latest developments in the Republic of Macedonia after the announcement of indictments in the Monstra case and the ensuing protests. Political dialogue between communities and the full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement is the only way to resolve open issues between communities in Macedonia.

Certification of election results could be done today once the legal timeframe for the Supreme Court to review all complaints ends, said the head of Central Election Commission (CEC), Valdete Daka.

The Supreme Court has not yet reached its decision on various complaints it has received and has a 72-hour period to do so. Daka said the CEC will certify election results as soon as the Court reviews all complaints.

For the first time, Kosovo took part in a conference that took place in UNESCO. Deputy Foreign Minister, Petrit Selimi, was one of the panelists along with the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, former President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, former Foreign Minister of Turkey, Yasar Yakis, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Commission of Lithuania, Emanuelis Zingeris, and other leaders in a conference on cultural heritage and education.

Albanian representatives in the municipal assembly of Mitrovica north reacted today against media reports according to which they did not reject the decision to build a promenade near the Iber/Ibar Bridge. Emir Azemi, deputy chairman of the municipal assembly, told Kosovapress that these reports were not true. He also said that Albanian representatives had asked for the barricade on Iber/Ibar Bridge to be removed.

Around 20 Serbs blocked the construction of six Albanian houses in Kroi i Vitakut, in northern Mitrovica, this morning. The construction company began its work at 08:00 but two hours later a group of around 20 Serbs blocked the road with their vehicles thus preventing construction trucks to reach the neighborhood. Nazmi Ismajli, who represents the residents of Kroi i Vitakut, confirmed to Kosovapress the halt of construction. “20 people led by Dragoljub, who is from this village, have blocked the road and stopped the construction of our houses.

Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti, in an interview for Kosovapress, said the only question not included in the long list of queries that President Atifete Jahjaga sent to the Constitutional Court was “who is she really”. “The President prepared a long questionnaire that resembled a reporter sending questions for an interview to the president of the Constitutional Court. If someone reads those questions it will be hard to believe that they are coming from the president of a state.

A report published by the Kosovo Women’s Network found that in the period between 2011 and 2013, the majority of social service beneficiaries were men with 62-65 percent.

According to the researches of the report, the budget of the Ministry for Labour and Social Welfare is not always allocated based on the organigram and almost all decision-making posts are exercised by men.

Kadri Veseli, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said today his party is waiting for final election results before they proceed with forming the Thaci 3 government. Veseli made these remarks after meeting Anick Van Calster, Belgium’s ambassador to Bulgaria and accredited to Kosovo on non-residential basis. Veseli and Van Calster also talked about the situation in the northern part of Kosovo, with Veseli saying that there needs to be freedom of movement there.

The German Ambassador in Pristina, Peter Blomeyer, stated that “perhaps it could be said that flowers and pine trees are more beautiful than the ugly barricade.”

 “Anyhow, there was lack of communication…There should be discussions for a joint solution. Even though we have some pines over the bridge, they will not turn the world upside down. We have to find a solution to use the bridge,” said Blomeyer in an interview for RTK.

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga met today with a delegation of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, led by Ariel Dulitzky. The delegation is visiting Kosovo and the Balkans on a fact-finding mission related to missing persons. Jahjaga said the fate of over 1,700 missing persons needs to be resolved as quickly as possible, as this would help heal a grave wound in society and help families of missing persons to find peace. Jahjaga said this would also help foster peace and stability in the Balkans and create conditions for trust and reconciliation.