The President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci participated today at the ceremony of marking “The week for the rights of the victims of crime.” During his speech, Thaci requested from prosecutors and judges to take seriously their responsibilities.

After the first UN Security Council’s session presided by the Great Britain, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Karen Pierce, called on Pristina and Belgrade not to deal too much with the issues of tactics at the UN Security Council, and stressed that both parties should engage together with the EU High Representative to normalize relations, as the only way of advancing on European integration.

“I am sad to see the slanderous attacks on Father Sava,” USA Ambassador in Pristina, Greg Delawie wrote on his Twitter profile, KoSSev portal reported.

This message came after headlines appeared in the Kosovo media linking Abbot of Visoki Decani Monastery Sava Janjic with Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan in Pristina, with video recording showing Arkan, but not with Father Sava Janjic.

Leader of Vetevendosje, Albin Kurti, called for the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj saying he is not a genuine prime minister and has only been “rented out” to the post by President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci. “Thaci has rented out the prime minister. Haradinaj should resign and we should head to elections,” Kurti said. He said that if Haradinaj doesn’t resign, he should at least initiate a motion of no-confidence.

Head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group, Memli Krasniqi, said the roundtable between representatives of political parties hosted by Vetevendosje today is a “farce” and such forums are not the right place to decide elections date. “It is the Assembly that decides on when to head to elections,” Krasniqi said adding that while his party objects to the idea of organising early elections. He also said that if the opposition parties truly want elections, they need to take concrete actions and not remain only on rhetoric.

Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj said at the Vienna Economic Forum in Sofia that Kosovo is a very favourable market to accommodate foreign direct investments. “Kosovo is a small country with only 2 million inhabitants and we are among few countries to have spent the money from our budget for huge infrastructure projects. It is now time for new investment in many fields, especially in mining and telecom. We are open to all investors and this forum is a good opportunity to share these possibilities,” Haradinaj said.

Kosovo has lagged behind in joining United Nations specialized agencies, says the Pristina-based think tank Group for Legal and Political Studies. Of fifteen UN agencies, Kosovo has so far joined the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank back in 2009, but none since then. Albana Rexha, researcher with GLPS, said Kosovo’s membership in UN specialized agencies would strengthen Kosovo’s statehood and at the same time increase Kosovo’s presence in the international arena.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), assessed the platform for dialogue with Serbia, presented on Thursday by the government as poor and as a document which does not define issues to be discussed, principal or deadlines.

Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, commented on the recently-endorsed European Commission report on Kosovo saying it was “objective”. “It is very important that the EC considers Kosovo has made progress in many fields,” said Hoxha mentioning in this regard the ratification of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro and municipal and parliamentary elections which EC said were “well-administered”.

Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Abelard Tahiri, presented today new changes to Kosovo’s Criminal Code saying the document now provides clear definition of the rule of law and fight against corruption and organised crime, greater flexibility for independent law enforcement mechanisms as well as promotion and advancement of human rights notion. Tahiri said that provisions of the code dealing with corruption and organised crime also foresee higher sanctions.