Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said today that youth unemployment is a problem Kosovo needs to resolve. “Many young people in Kosovo don’t believe they can get a job based on their skills but rather based on connections or other ways [including] being close to ruling parties or through acquaintances or even bribery,” Haradinaj said at the launch of an action plan aimed at youth employment, sponsored by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. Haradinaj said this perception amongst the youth needs to be tackled and changed.

Head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group, Ahmet Isufi, said today that the text of the consensus agreement between a number of parliamentary parties on border demarcation should be left unchanged. "The order and the items have been changed. Symbolism matters sometimes and the text therefore needs to remain as it was," Isufi said.

Head of the EU Office in Kosovo and Special Representative, Nataliya Apostolova, said that support for communities is a precondition for European integration. In her remarks at a conference on the inclusion of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities into the Kosovo society, Apostolova said that while integration of communities contributes to European integration, the reality on the ground is “bitter” as these communities experience discrimination and poverty.

The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, hosted today a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro, Dusko Markovic. He expressed appreciation for Montenegro’s support and PM’s visit on the verge of the tenth jubilee of independence.

Thaci and Markovic discussed bilateral relations, current political situation in the region as well as European perspective.

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, has decided to temporarily suspend decision to increase salaries for himself and his cabinet pending a decision by the Constitutional Court. In a Facebook post, Haradinaj said the opinion of the Anti-Corruption Agency against the move was politically motivated but that he has nevertheless decided to freeze its implementation. Haradinaj’s move follows the request of 30 MPs who addressed the Constitutional Court asking it to review the legality of the pay raise decision.

Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) MP, Haxhi Shala, said in an interview to RTK that his party will not support initiative for abrogation of the law on specialist chambers. Shala said the party MPs signed the initiative at its outset thinking it was part of the petition launched by KLA associations to amend the existing law. “We support amending the law so that it investigates all those who committed crimes in Kosovo but not abrogating it,” Shala said.

Kosovo has today officially taken over chairmanship over the Central Europe Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and Kosovo’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Bajram Hasani, said on the occasion that Kosovo will play a constructive role during this period. “As minister of the Kosovo government and chairperson of CEFTA we will make utmost effort to fulfill our obligations, achieve our objectives and, most importantly, focus on implementation of agreements reaches so far and those to be reached in the future,” Hasani said.

Head of Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) national council and party co-founder, Jakup Krasniqi, said in a Facebook post that now is not the right time to oppose the specialist chambers. Instead, now is the time to confront “Zeus’ lightning bolts” no matter how scorching they are.

European Union welcomes the readiness of President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic to continue dialogue for normalisation of relations, said EU foreign policy spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic, in reference to the recent telephone conversation between Thaci and Vucic. Kocijancic added that efforts are underway to set the date for the next meeting of the technical dialogue after the previous one failed to take place following the killing of Kosovo Serb political leader, Oliver Ivanovic.

Kosovo investigators have taken for examination the recordings of the security cameras that were in the street where the attack on the Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic occurred.

Two from the cameras, were placed on the SDP headquarters, where the former Kosovo official was heading to at the time he was gunned down by six bullets on his chest with a “Zastava” gun, by a still not identified person.