The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) parliamentary group chiefs called on their opposition colleagues not to ratify the border-demarcation agreement with Montenegro. Pal Lekaj from AAK said that all the MPs should say no to demarcation, for they have a duty to protect the interests of  the citizens. He said there will be no more teargas in the Assembly, since according to him, the gas has already shown its results and there is no need to be used again.

Kosovo Assembly Deputy Speaker and senior member of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Xhavit Haliti, told Radio Free Europe that the issue of border-demarcation with Montenegro remains a problem because there are two sides of the story. “On one hand we have the government saying everything is okay, and on the other hand we have opposition parties saying that Kosovo is losing territory with this agreement.

Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli said in today’s plenary session that the agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro will soon be brought to the Assembly for ratification. However, he suggested that a debate with MPs and civil society takes place beforehand. “I believe they are ready to join a round table before the issue comes to the Kosovo Assembly,” said Veseli.

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli said on Wednesday that there will be full transparency in the border-demarcation process with Montenegro. He further added that any decision taken by the Assembly will be in the interest of all citizens. “We should believe that any decision taken in the Kosovo Assembly will be in the interest of the Kosovo citizens,” Veseli said.

The Kosovo Assembly presidency decided to schedule the next plenary session on Thursday but the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro will not be on the agenda, said Assembly President Kadri Veseli. Asked by reporters to comment on the recent action by Vetëvendosje MPs who set up a Kosovo sign at the border with Montenegro, Veseli said no one should take actions that could impair neighbourly relations with Montenegro. “Not an inch of our country’s land will be given to another country”, declared Veseli at the end of the Assembly presidency’s meeting.

After Isa Mustafa’s statement on his Facebook page that Vetevendosje could cause incidents with a NATO country, Montenegro, and that Kosovo is losing its chance to travel without visas, Vetevendosje spokesperson, Frashër Krasniqi said that the danger for further tensioning of the relations between Kosovo and Montenegro comes due to the loss of 8000 hectares of Kosovo’s land. “But to Isa Mustafa, the territory and sovereignty of the Republic is not important, therefore he makes such absurd statements.

 Five MPs of the Vetevendosje movement, Albin Kurti, Fisnik Ismaili, Donika Kadaj-Bujupi and Ismajl Kurteshi, established today the logo of the Republic of Kosovo, near the border with Montenegro.

Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Bekim Çollaku, said on Tuesday that the border-demarcation process with Montenegro cannot return to point zero. He said the ratification of this agreement remains a criteria for visa liberalisation and that Kosovo must not waste time in this regard. Çollaku also called for political consensus among all parties, because any delay, he said, will have consequences.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group chief, Adem Grabovci, told the news site his party has not yet decided whether it will vote in favor of the border-demarcation agreement with Montenegro. However, Grabovci called on the government to send the agreement to the Kosovo Assembly as soon as possible. “The government should not delay the demarcation issue and the MPs should be well informed on this issue before being put to a vote,” he said.

The Presidency of the Assembly of Kosovo decided to hold the next Assembly session on Thursday, 16 June, at 10:00 hours. The issue of the demarcation of the border with Montenegro was not even mentioned at the meeting. Discussions and voting on the extension of the EULEX’s mandate for two additional years, did not make the 17 points of Thursday’s agenda. However, the President of the Assembly, Kadri Veseli,  said that he believes that there will be a decision and agreement among the parties very soon.