Headlines - 02.09.2016

• PM Mustafa withdraws demarcation agreement from Assembly (media)
• Lunacek and Fajon: Assembly’s decision regrettable (Epoka e Re)
• Thaci: MPs are threatening state interests (dailies)
• Veseli’s announcement on developments at the Assembly (Koha)
• Zbogar: Demarcation, a special condition for visa liberalisation (Lajmi)
• Vetevendosje’s Sejdiu calls for early elections (Telegrafi)
• Genocide lawsuit against Serbia, Thaci’s unfulfilled promise (Koha)

PM Mustafa withdraws demarcation agreement from Assembly (media)

All daily newspapers report on their front pages that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa withdrew the border demarcation agreement from the agenda of the Assembly on Thursday. Under the headline ‘Mustafa keeps demarcation alive’, Koha Ditore notes that Mustafa avoided the failure of the agreement by removing it from the voting procedure. “If the vote would have taken place, the agreement would not have been ratified as the ruling coalition lacked the required 80 votes to pass an international agreement. In that event, the government would have been forced to renegotiate the agreement with Montenegro. The opposition meanwhile had two interpretations of the event. The Vetevendosje Movement said that the demarcation has failed. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and Initiative for Kosovo said the withdrawal of the law was unjustified and accused the government of trying to buy time and apply more pressure on MPs to vote in favour of the agreement,” the paper notes. Zëri, under the headline ‘Borders dictated by Serbia’, reports that the absence of 11 Serbian List MPs forced the government to withdraw the demarcation deal from the agenda, while Vetëvendosje declared it a victory for the citizens of Kosovo. Epoka e Re reports on the front page  ‘A brilliant victory by the opposition’. The paper also notes that the opposition thanked the people and several LDK and PDK MPs for being against the demarcation agreement, whereas the government said that the agreement will not be reviewed or renegotiated. Kosova Sot meanwhile predicts that “the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities could share the same fate as the demarcation agreement with Montenegro”. Bota Sot reports that hundreds of protesters celebrated in front of the Kosovo Assembly after the government withdrew the agreement from the assembly’s agenda.

Lunacek and Fajon: Assembly’s decision regrettable (Epoka e Re)

The European Parliament Rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, and the Rapporteur for visa liberalisation, Tanja Fajon, expressed regret over the postponement of the ratification of the border agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro. They both appealed to Kosovo to fulfill its conditions for visa liberalisation. “I strongly regret postponement vote MNE border demarcation by the Kosovo Assembly; EP is serious in supporting Kosovo. Kosovo needs to fulfill both remaining benchmarks for visa liberalisation; European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) plans to go ahead with vote on Monday,” Lunacek wrote on her Twitter account. Fajon wrote: “I regret today's postponement in Kosovo Parliament. We need all our voices to move ahead with demarcation Agreement. I remain committed to the process. My plan is to go ahead with visa-free travel vote for Kosovo in LIBE on Monday”.

Thaci: MPs are threatening state interests (dailies)

Commenting on the postponed vote on the demarcation deal, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said on Thursday that “circumstances that are resulting in further delays in the implementation of the national agenda for international agreements is of serious concern to the citizens of Kosovo and Euro-Atlantic partners”. “The reluctance of elected representatives unjustly threatens the national interests related to visa liberalisation and the formation of the Kosovo Army. With these delays, we are leaving our international partners without arguments to support us in achieving our goals and major interests,” President Thaci said.

Veseli’s announcement on developments at the Assembly (Koha)

The President of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli said that Thursday’s session proves that parliamentarianism in Kosovo is the only winner of a tiring debate, with or without arguments of this or that sort. “Definition of the borders of Kosovo state is a need and historical achievement of the state building process, confirmed by resistance of Kosovo population, negotiating processes (Rambouillet, Vienna, Brussels), and obligations towards us and the others, neighbors, international partners and Kosovo itself as a factor which joins the family of nations and states by taking over obligations and privileges from this historical process,” Veseli said. “It is legitimate to support party interests at a parliamentary battle, but what is of worth in a historical court is national interests. I, as President of the legislature, with such a complex duty, want to thank first of all MPs of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and its structures for a unified stance and all the parliamentary, institutional and state actors, especially the Kosovo Police,” Veseli wrote.

Zbogar: Demarcation, a special condition for visa liberalisation (Lajmi)

“The demarcation of the border between Montenegro and Kosovo is a matter that has to be resolved in Kosovo’s path towards visa liberalisation,” former EU Special Representative to Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar, said on Thursday. In an interview for Jeta ne Kosove, Zbogar stressed that demarcation and prioritization of high profile corruption are two of the conditions that are not fulfilled by Kosovo in in order to move freely.

Vetevendosje’s Sejdiu calls for early elections (Telegrafi)

Vetevendosje deputy leader, Dardan Sejdiu, told Rrokum TV on Thursday that Prime Minister Isa Mustafa withdrew the demarcation agreement with Montenegro from the assembly’s agenda, “because he does not have the courage to do anything without Serbia’s blessing”. According to Sejdiu, the only solution to the current situation are early parliamentary elections.

Genocide lawsuit against Serbia, Thaci’s unfulfilled promise (Koha)

The paper reports in one of its front-page stories that Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci, keeps saying that Kosovo will sue Serbia for the genocide committed against the Albanian population during the 1998-1999 war. “Kosovo’s institutions are making serious preparations to address international justice about Serbia’s genocide in Kosovo,” President Thaci said last week during a visit to a martyrs’ memorial complex in Shtime. The paper recalls that Thaci made a similar statement in July during an interview for Danas, when he said that Kosovo’s institutions were preparing a genocide lawsuit for several years now. Meanwhile, Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice said if there is political readiness and commitment by other institutional representatives, it is ready to prepare the genocide lawsuit against Serbia at the International Court of Justice.