Headlines - 13.03.2013 Brussels denies Nikolic through Pristina (Koha Ditore) The Kosovo Government claims to have received a rebuttal from Brussels against Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic’s statement who said that Pristina gave in to the issue of competencies of the association of Serb municipalities. Bekim Çollaku, senior advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, said on Monday that a senior EU official told him about the rebuttal. “I personally contacted Mr. Fernando Gentilini, who has attended all the meetings for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. He confirmed to me that in yesterday’s meeting Baroness Ashton never mentioned that the Kosovo side gave in on any matter, which was referred in President Nikolic’s statement after the meeting,” Çollaku said. Nothing special (Express) The Association of Serb Municipalities that might be established, if the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is reached, would have a President, Assembly, Council, and the Board. This mechanism is expected to be created according to the law on local self-government, endorsed at the Assembly of Kosovo, three days after the declaration of independence, on 20 February 2008. The Association of municipalities currently functions and involves a majority of the leaders elected at a local level. Sources said that the Association is a solution offered by Baroness Ashton and that, while the Kosovo party accepted the solution, Serbia still insists on finding a solution out of Kosovo’s laws. Posselt: Package is sufficient for the north (Express) German Deputy at the European Parliament Bernd Posselt said that Serbia’s platform for municipalities with a Serb majority should be rejected. According to him, Ahtisaari’s Package is a very good offer for the rights of the Serb minority in the north. He added thatSerbiawill not be able to become a member of the European Union without recognizing the independence of Kosovo. Posselt assesses that the Constitution of Kosovo drafted based on Ahtisaari’s Package is in line with the rights of the Serb minority in Kosovo. Posselt said the same Package should be used for the south of Serbia.  Selimi: No reason to talk to Ashton (Epoka e Re) Member of Kosovo Parliament from the Vetëvendosje Movement Rexhep Selimi said in an interview that his party would not meet EU High Representative Catherine Ashton during her upcoming visit to Pristina. “We have made our position clear from the very beginning. We will not discuss the issue of dialogue with Ashton, Dacic, or Thaçi. It is not in the interest of the Vetëvendosje Movement to meet Ashton about the issues that she is coming to Kosovo. She has nothing to do with us and there’s no point in meeting us. On this issue, she shouldn’t be meeting with other political parties either,” Selimi said, adding that Ashton was coming to Kosovo to pressure and offer support to Prime Minister Thaçi.  AKI deputy director resigns (Zëri) Latif Merovci, deputy director of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI), resigned a few days before he was supposed to brief a parliamentary committee on the activities of the agency. AKI kept the resignation secret from the public. Florin Krasniqi, chairman of the parliamentary committee that oversees the work of AKI, said: “I don’t want to speculate but someone needs to explain why the deputy director resigned. This is shocking, because he resigned only one day before he was scheduled to brief the committee. As chairman of the committee, I would be more relaxed if he had resigned after briefing the committee. What concerns me is that this is the second highest official of the agency, a person with much information about developments in and outside the country. I think this should be a concern for the entire political landscape and the people in general.” USA and EU against Assembly discussions on “Kiçina” case (Koha Ditore) The US and EU have called on the Kosovo Assembly not to interfere in the justice system. Representatives of USA and EU in Kosovo said it is unacceptable to interfere in the justice system. The reactions came one day after the Presidency of the Assembly decided on Friday to discuss the “Kiçina” case. Kosovar deputies expected to discuss the trial and conviction of Arsim and Burim Ramadani, and of Jeton and Arben Kiçina, sentenced with 106 years in prison for the murder of the Hajra family, including a three month-old child in 2001, in Drenas. “United States of America is concerned over the actions of municipal officials and deputies of the Kosovo Assembly for the reopening and discussing court decisions. Such actions do not only threaten the independence and integrity of the judiciary of Kosovo, but also undermines the rule of law and respect for court decisions,” read the American embassy statement. Meanwhile EU representative in Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar, said that the EU reiterates that judicial processes should be free from political interferences. He said that it should be a clear division of competencies: judiciary, Government, and Assembly. Increased support for march against corruption (Koha Ditore) Two political parties and more than 20 non-governmental organizations will be joining the protest, organized by The Organized Citizens Group, regarding the displeasure of the irregularities in energy billing, but also towards all negative phenomena stemming from the central and local governance. Protesters will gather on Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. before the KEK building and march towards the Ministry of Economic Development and Kosovo Government.