With a football in her hands, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Ulrike Lunacek, congratulated Kosovo on its admission into FIFA and UEFA, football's main international bodies, before going to say that now it's up to Kosovo if it wishes to secure visa liberalisation with the EU.
Augustin Palokaj writes in his weekly column for the paper that while the news of visa liberalization for Kosovo is good, it should be received with caution as it is difficult to give an exact estimate of when the visa regime will actually be lifted. According to Palokaj, on one hand, there is no predictability and stability within the EU on anything and on the other hand, apart from the 90 criteria that Kosovo had to fulfill from the visa liberalization roadmap, two adEUditional ones were added to the list by the European Commission.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that the fight against corruption and ratification of the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, are two conditions that Kosovo needs to meet in order to get visa liberalization. “I want to thank the Assembly because we have stepped up certain processes to meet the criteria. The European Commission made a historic decision. There are two more conditions that we need to meet. We must ratify the border agreement with Montenegro.
Opposition parties seem likely to stand firm in their determination to oppose the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro despite the European Commission's (EC) position that its ratification is a condition for visa liberalization. Vetevendosje MP, Albulena Haxhiu, said that this condition is unjust and added that such a demand was not imposed on other countries of the region before granting their visa liberalization. “We are not ready to make compromises with our territory”, said Haxhiu.
Kosovo Justice Minister Hajredin Kuci said on Monday that the Kosovo - Montenegro border had never been decided by Albanians. “Determination of the border with Montenegro has always been a problem. We have two choices, the first is revision of the agreement on border-demarcation with Montenegro, or the case to be resolved by arbitration,” Kuci said. He made these comments during the conference “Borders in international law - contesting and acknowledgement” that was organized by the Faculty of Law in Pristina.
The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said in an interview for RTK, that he had addressed President Jahjaga regarding the demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro, convinced that there were violations during the process. According to him, “an urgent international investigation should take place.”
Head of the Vetevendosje parliamentary group, Glauk Konjuvca, held today a press conference regarding the findings of the international commission for demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro. He said that the commission used Murat Meha’s material, and added that the findings are the same as those of the Kosovo state Commission. “We have announced on 15 March that if this commission uses Murat Meha’s material, of course the results would be the same.
Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa said that the opposition parties have no reason to protest over border demarcation agreement with Montenegro following the findings of the ad-hoc commission that there were no irregularities in the process. Mustafa said the border demarcation agreement can now go to the Assembly of Kosovo for ratification.
The Embassy of the United States has issued a statement welcoming the findings of the ad-hoc commission set up by President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga to review the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro which confirmed that the process was in line with international norms. “We concur with the Commission’s call for the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Montenegro to take steps to improve border management and strengthen cooperation.
The three international experts, Fletcher Burton, Herbert Wilmes and Fred Newton will make public today their report on the borderline between Kosovo and Montenegro. The Office of the President of Kosovo, informed that the findings of the three-member team will be made public today at 17:30 hours at a press conference. The President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, will also participate at the press conference.