The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, was fined with € 3300 for inclusion of children in the election campaign.

The decision for the fine was made by the Election Complains and Appeals Panel (ECAP), based on the complaint submitted by BIRN and Internews Kosova.

According to ECAP, Mustafa violated election code with his posting of a photo with children carrying T-shirts with slogan of the Democratic League of Kosovo, on his Facebook profile on 17 October.

The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, pursuant to the constitutional and legal powers, in accordance with the proposal of the Prosecutorial Council, has appointed today, by decree, 40 judges and 13 new state prosecutors from the non-majority community.

President Thaçi, after the oath ceremony, congratulated all the new prosecutors and judges, providing them support in their daily work.

Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, met today in Brussels with the EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, to discuss the integrating agenda of Kosovo.

Minister Hoxha stressed progress made in many fields, starting from the rule of law, economic development and good neighborly relations.

Hoxha requested from Hahn support, especially on economic development respectively help for new entrepreneurs that would impact increase of working places.

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, said today that international observers will be observing election process, as well as counting of votes.

“I am very glad to be here today, to in a way start my day as observer of local elections here in Kosovo. The United States of America believe that Kosovo has a tremendous opportunity today to demonstrate commitment to democracy by participating in free, credible and peaceful, elections.” He said international observers, increase peoples’ trust in elections.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, met today the chief of the European Union Election Observation Mission, Alojz Peterle, and discussed preparations for Sunday’s local elections.  Thaci commended the EU’s readiness to monitor the elections which he said he believed would take place in a democratic manner.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced a new time for the swearing-in ceremony for judges and prosecutors set to work in the north Mitrovica court as part of the agreement on justice between Pristina and Belgrade. The ceremony is now set to take place on Tuesday, 24 October.

European Commission has expressed regret over delays in implementation of the justice agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels. “Pristina has met all obligations relating to implementation of the justice agreement. Integration of staff is important as it contributes to the rule of law in Kosovo,” said European Commission spokesperson, Maja Kocijancic. She said progress of both sides on European integration is linked to progress in the dialogue for normalization of relations.

Chief of the EU Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, met today with representatives of the parliamentarian group of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

Apostolova said that she was interested to know what is the position of LDK as opposition party at the Assembly, on treating significant issues for fulfillment of visa liberalization criteria.

The Kosovo-based GAP Institute presented today the results of a poll carried out in all 38 municipalities in Kosovo on the expectations of the people regarding local elections set to take place on 22 October. The findings indicate that over 70 percent of people interviewed believe that local elections will bring about a positive change in their respective municipalities while only 7 percent are completely convinced no change will occur.

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, met over the weekend in separate meetings representatives of association for protection of victims of sexual violence during the conflict and members of the government’s commission for verification and recognition of status of victims of sexual violence during the conflict. In the meetings, Haradinaj expressed the readiness of his government in fulfilling all duties in order to move forward the process of verification and recognition of the status of victims.