Sources reported that Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, will pay an unannounced visit to Kosovo today and meet Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci. The visit will be brief, said the sources. According to Koha, Rama and Mustafa are expected to discuss relations between Kosovo and Albania and the situation in the region. Rama is also expected to brief Mustafa on the recent visit of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Tirana.

Kosovo MPs will vote on significant tax reforms on Thursday, expected to lessen the burden on the poorest members of society as well as boosting businesses and investors.

The Kosovo government is pushing for significant tax reform, aimed at stimulating investment, as well as lowering VAT on basic consumer goods, aimed at the helping the poor.

MPs in the assembly are due to vote on the changes on Thursday.

Kosovo's government has drafted a national development strategy for 2016-2021. This strategy will be a guide to the priorities which will be economic growth and strengthening of the private sector. Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa said that the strategy is very important, and that it would be implemented in the coming period.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today at the fifth meeting of the dialogue on the Stabilization/Association Agreement (SAA) that the SAA is the foundation of Kosovo’s path toward European Union integration, economic development, the rule of law and poverty alleviation. Mustafa said that public administration reforms are among the priorities of the Kosovo government and that the latter is also drafting a national strategy for economic development.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that the constitutional amendments that enable the establishment of the special court will soon be sent again to the Assembly. He said that it is the free will of the MPs to vote however they prefer, but called on them to vote in favor for the establishment of special court. Mustafa said Kosovo should be ready to fulfill its international obligations and that he would try to cooperate with the opposition on this issue.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that it is the duty of the Kosovo institutions to shed light on killings that took place after the conflict. During the commemoration of the 17^th anniversary of the Battle for Logja, Mustafa said that the killing of Tahir Zemaj, a Kosovo Liberation Army commander who participated in the Battle for Logja, after the war was absurd. “This was a cowardly act and it caused outrage in Kosovo and the United States of America. It is our obligation to shed light on all the killings that happened after the war in Kosovo,” Mustafa added.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) issued a communiqué today calling on the Kosovo Assembly to establish the Kosovo Armed Forces as soon as possible. The AAK said that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Kosovo Security Force Minister Haki Demolli should provide direct explanations as to why they are not submitting the draft law on the Armed Forces to the Assembly. The AAK communiqué also argued that the Kosovo government led by Prime Minister Mustafa and his deputy Hashim Thaci is ignoring the key sector of security and defence.

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa met today with United States Congressman Elliot Engel in Pristina and discussed on-going processes in Kosovo, reforms being made by the Kosovo government, the implementation of international obligations and Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic prospects. Mustafa thanked Engel and the United States administration for their continuous support for Kosovo. Mustafa and Engel also discussed on the creation of the specialist chambers and their importance for Kosovo.

In an interview for Deutsche Welle in Albanian Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa said that his official visit to Germany was very important because Germany is a powerful country that has invested a great deal in Kosovo. “Germany is a country that has supported us a lot in the process of dialogue with Serbia by setting certain principles and asking for implementation of agreements reached in Brussels”.

The meeting between the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa in Berlin, is over. Merkel and Mustafa discussed the bilateral relations, situation in Kosovo, Kosovo’s relations with the EU as well as the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade.