Headlines - 13.09.2016

• Dačić: No conditions for return of Serbs to Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
• Mogherini: Kosovo, Serbia to implement agreements (Zëri)
• “Visa liberalisation after Kosovo fulfils all criteria” (Zëri)
• Border demarcation: Mustafa doesn’t want consensus but convincing (Koha)
• EU to reconsider lifting of visas for Kosovo in October (Klan Kosova)
• Tahiri insists agreement on license plates has been reached (Koha Ditore)
• Kosovo hopes to enhance relations with NATO (Koha Ditore)
• Nitaj: Prime Minister’s meeting with opposition should have a name (RTK)

Dačić: No conditions for return of Serbs to Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dačić, said in a meeting with the UN special rapporteur on internally displaced persons (IDPs), Chaloka Beyani, that there are no basic conditions in place for the return of Serbs to Kosovo. Beyani on his part stressed the need for finding a sustainable solution for the return of IDPs to Kosovo and added that more effort is required to provide security for the returnees.

Mogherini: Kosovo, Serbia to implement agreements (Zëri)

The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, met on Monday in Brussels with Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj. Mogherini and Hoxhaj discussed the importance of the implementation of the Association and Stabilisation Agreement (SAA) which entered into force in April this year. With regards to the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, Mogherini said that both parties should take the necessary steps without delay to implement the agreements reached. Hoxhaj also met the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, to discuss  implementation of the SAA. 

“Visa liberalisation after Kosovo fulfils all criteria” (Zëri)

The paper reports in a front-page story that the German Embassy in Kosovo has reiterated that Kosovo will be granted visa liberalisation only when it fulfils all the criteria set by the European Union.  The German embassy and the European Union Office in Kosovo say that apart from demarcation, Kosovo is also required to combat organized crime and corruption as a condition for liberalisation. For the German Embassy, the issue of demarcation was finally clarified through the international commission created by former President Atifete Jahjaga. On the other hand, the EU Office in Kosovo suggests that the solution of border issues for each country should be made at the earliest possible stage of the integration process. According to them, the border agreement was foreseen in the visa liberalisation roadmap. “At the time when the proposal for visa liberalisation will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council, Kosovo should have already ratified the agreement on demarcation with Montenegro and step up efforts in fighting organized crime and corruption,” reads a response sent by the EU Office. 

Border demarcation: Mustafa doesn’t want consensus but convincing (Koha)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, has not adopted a neutral position in the consultations he had over the last week with different stakeholders regarding the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, the paper reports on the front page. In fact, Mustafa is reported to have argued only in favour of the current version of the agreement and has not paid any consideration to the opposing views expressed to him by his interlocutors.

EU to reconsider lifting of visas for Kosovo in October (Klan Kosova)

The European Union plans to reconsider the lifting of the visa regime for Kosovo, Turkey, Ukraine and Georgia at a meeting of the interior ministers, which will be held on 13 and 14 October. The EU is developing a mechanism on liberalization of visas for these countries based on which the freedom of movement could be allowed, reports Klan Kosova based on the Russian news agency Tass.  

Tahiri insists agreement on license plates has been reached (Koha Ditore)

Kosovo’s Minister for Dialogue, Edita Tahiri, maintains that the agreement on the use of license plates has been reached between the representatives of Kosovo and Serbia in the recent round of the EU-facilitated dialogue in Brussels despite this being denied by both the EU and Serbian side. In a press release ahead of another round of talks, Tahiri reemphasized that the agreement on license plates has been achieved and is based on the principle of reciprocity and added that the topics that will be addressed in this week’s round of talks include freedom of movement and an international dial code for Kosovo.

Kosovo hopes to enhance relations with NATO (Koha Ditore)

Kosovo authorities hope that by the end of this year they will formalize a new relationship with NATO. In a meeting with NATO’s Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Wershbow, Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, is reported to have raised the need for deepening of relations between Kosovo and NATO. However, Hoxhaj did not specify what kind of relations he was referring to.

Nitaj: Prime Minister’s meeting with opposition should have a name (RTK)

Muharrem Nitaj, Spokesperson of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), wrote on his Facebook account that the key sponsors of the current version of demarcation between Kosovo and Montenegro, failed to ratify the agreement. “Anyone who has a brain is aware that the Prime Minister withdrew the draft law from voting because he did not have sufficient votes and not because of the created conditions,” he wrote. “Therefore this is the most recent situation on demarcation and any initiative of the Prime Minister to meet the opposition on this issue, should have a name,” Nitaj wrote. “Dishonest and irresponsible handling of this matter has rolled the country back  one year and there is no space for a single mistake,” Nitaj wrote.