As of July 5, the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office have been fully judicially operational and at any moment now we can expect to read about potential indictments and trial dates. There was an initial false-start, in which the Rules of Procedure and Evidence were found to be inconsistent with the Constitution, but these rules have now been revised and found to be compliant.
Almost two weeks ago, a very unfortunate event happened in the city of Gjilan/Gnjilane. An elderly man passed away as a result of his weak health, high temperatures and lack of people willing to stop and help him.
Shkelzen Gashi, one of Vetevendosje co-founders, alongside Albin Kurti, speaks about its growth during elections, its past mistakes and their being ill prepared to govern, reports Kosovo 2.O.
In late 2004, a donkey was brought before Kosovo’s government building, and on it a banner reading “vote for me.” Three youngsters were leading the compliant donkey closer and closer to the building. There they would later express their severe opposition towards local politicians, as well as the first articulated form of opposition against the international community stationed in Kosovo.
New report suggests some progress from previous years.
The U.S. State Department released its 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report this week, which indicates that Kosovo has a long way to go to tackle the phenomenon. As with last year, Kosovo has been categorized as a Tier 2 country, meaning it has “not fully met Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards” but is “making significant efforts” to do so.
Abit Hoxha, a journalism researcher, writes in an op-ed that media ownership in Kosovo is still “very fluid” in terms of who owns what and how this translates into influence on journalism. On one hand, you have the economic ownership whereby “business owners attempts to utilize media, not only as a business in itself but also as a means to protect their businesses from media” and on the other, there’s the political ownership where political parties own or control certain media outlets as a way to gain power.
KOSOVO 2.0 has published an opinion piece by Eraldin Fazliu who notes that after weeks of tense relations between Kosovo and Serbia, both parties will today sit down in Brussels to continue the EU-mediated dialogue process. Discussions will take place at the highest level, with presidents Hashim Thaci and Tomislav Nikolic joining prime ministers Isa Mustafa and Aleksandar Vucic in today’s meeting.
Though rhetoric has been positive, little benefit has been felt by Kosovo’s vulnerable communities this year.