Kosovo Assembly vice president from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Kujtim Shala, said there is no official announcement on when the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro will be put to vote. Shala’s comment follows reports from certain media claiming the border demarcation issue would be voted by Assembly MPs on Tuesday, Wednesday or even Friday.
Vetevendosje leader, Albin Kurti, has written an open letter to Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, proposing his idea of the way forward on the issue of border demarcation with Montenegro. Kurti says in the letter that it is well known that border demarcation with Montenegro is not the last visa liberalisation condition and that Kosovo has to implement another very important one: fight crime and corruption.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said today that discussions are underway to determine the date for the Assembly session where border demarcation agreement with Montenegro would be put to vote. However, he admitted that the coalition parties have not yet managed to secure eighty votes required for the ratification of the agreement. “It is not an easy process. I believe we are at the final stage of preparations.
The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, said that the ratification of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro is closer than ever thanks to the “hard work across party lines”. “It is time to bring it across the finish line this week,” Delawie told Kosovo MPs through Twitter.
Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, said in a press conference today that the party will head to internal elections this year. He said PDK elections process will begin in the coming days and weeks and will conclude late in the year. Hoxhaj said that at the end of the process, PDK will be “reconfirmed as the party of change, hope and trust." He said the party chairmanship also discussed the recent political developments, in light of yesterday's events at the Assembly regarding the border demarcation vote.
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.
Political analyst, Artan Muhaxhiri, commented on latest developments at the Kosovo Assembly regardign the border demarcation vote saying that the essence of all that is going on is that the ruling parties do not have enough votes to pass the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. “There are no 80 votes and this is the problem. Politicians are making legal acrobatics,” Muhaxhiri told Klan Kosova.
Kosovo’s Foreign Minister and leader of the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), Behgjet Pacolli, said that the Assembly of Kosovo will ratify the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro but expressed dilemma on whether the Assembly session can continue at the time when the visit of senior EU officials to Kosovo is underway.
Head of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group, Avdullah Hoti, called on Vetevendosje to change its position on border demarcation with Montenegro and vote in support of the agreement. “LDK is pleased with the consensus. We invite Vetevendosje to join this cause so that we can close this very important issue,” Hoti said.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, addressed reporters shortly after the Assembly went on break to give time to relevant committee to harmonise the text of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro. Haradinaj said that a group of MPs are currently in Podgorica and that this could delay the voting process.