• Thaci insists on Presevo Valley joining Kosovo (Bota Sot)
• Haradinaj: Big decisions on Kosovo to be made in Pristina not elsewhere (media)
• Thaci: No reconciliation without resolving fate of missing persons (media)
• Collaku: Momentum for agreement with Serbia this year is lost (media)
• Assembly to debate setting up war crimes tribunal on Thursday (media)
• Citaku: I spoke to President Trump about U.S. involvement (Telegrafi)
• No dialogue, Serbia continues provocations (Zeri)
• Debate: Border change, not an option for Kosovo-Serbia agreement (Epoka/Koha)
• Judah: Merkel buried border correction idea (media)
• Hoti: It was proved that U.S. were involved in the Berlin Summit (media)
• Almost 60,000 registered voters for Sunday elections in the north (media)
• PSD MP, Dardan Molliqaj, arrested then released yesterday (media)
• Government adopts regulation reorganizing Ministry of Defense (Koha)
• Another Kosovar killed in Syria (media)

Thaci insists on Presevo Valley joining Kosovo (Bota Sot)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci continues to insist on Presevo Valley joining Kosovo saying such a move is legitimate and corrects ‘historic injustices’.

“This attempt has halted sophisticated implementation of the north of Kosovo being handed over to Milan Radojcic, initially through Trepca assets, to move later to the transformation of state assets into municipal ones (the four northern municipalities) and has also prevented plans for dual sovereignty and association with executive mandate, based on Republika Srpska model, namely regional autonomy,” Thaci wrote on Facebook.

“I continue to strongly believe that the Presevo Valley should join Kosovo and to achieve this goal we need to be united. Possible missing out on this opportunity would be an irreparable historic mistake,” Thaci concluded.

Haradinaj: Big decisions about Kosovo to be made in Pristina not elsewhere (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj said in a visit to his party – the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) – branch in Vitia that he has managed to transfer the main issues on Kosovo from the table of the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and of the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic back to Pristina. He said Kosovo as a sovereign country had handed over the power of big decisions to Mogherini and Vucic, something he managed to undo.

“This was a bit difficult, to change the order of some things without angering anyone, but luckily we managed to do this without great damage, or as the people would say: without a thorn in the foot,” Haradinaj said.

Thaci: No reconciliation with Serbia without resolving fate of missing persons (media)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci said yesterday during a commemoration event in the village of Korishe that there can be no reconciliation with Serbia until the fate of the missing persons is resolved.

“I am happy the Assembly of Kosovo has been put in motion by drafting a resolution condemning genocide committed in Kosovo by Serbian forces and by seeking justice for the committed crimes. We do not want reconciliation with Serbia without the resolution of the fate of the missing persons, without justice being delivered. The whole world will find out about what Serbia has done,” he said.

Thaci added that he was in Korishe to pay tribute to martyrs who laid down their lives “as a direct product of systematic violence orchestrated by the state of Serbia.” “Women, children and elderly were killed in circumstances that forced them flee their homes, their land, and were forcibly loaded into trailers, captured and blocked until the moment of what happened,” Thaci said.

Collaku: Momentum for agreement with Serbia this year is lost (media)

Bekim Collaku, Chief of Staff in the Office of Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, said on Monday that the momentum for a final peace agreement with Serbia this year has been lost. “The momentum for an eventual agreement between Kosovo and Serbia has been lost,” he said. Collaku added that as a result it would make no sense now to remove the import tariff on Serbian goods, which delayed the dialogue between the two countries. “If this government and this coalition resisted the positive pressure from the U.S. [on the tariff] in order to make way for dialogue, then what is the justification for this to happen now that the momentum for an eventual agreement has been lost. This is why I believe that the tariff must remain in force,” he added.

Assembly to debate setting up war crimes tribunal on Thursday (media)

The presidency of the Kosovo Assembly decided to hold a session on Thursday to discuss the setting up of a tribunal that would try war crimes committed in Kosovo by Serbian forces.

Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli spoke about the establishment of a commission that would work on documenting Serbian crimes in Kosovo and would also initiate the establishment of an international tribunal. “I presented today before the presidency of the Kosovo Assembly the proposal to hold a parliamentary session this Thursday for establishment of a state commission whose mission would be to confirm, research and classify the genocide perpetrated during the last war in Kosovo,” Veseli told reporters after the meeting of the presidency yesterday.

Veseli said the process may take time but will happen and added that no one can deny atrocities committed in Kosovo. “The Serb state has committed genocide and has to be held responsible for it,” Veseli added.

Citaku: I spoke to President Trump about U.S. involvement (Telegrafi)

Kosovo’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vlora Citaku, took part at an iftar dinner hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House.

Alongside a picture on Facebook where she is seen sitting next to President Trump, Citaku wrote that she told the U.S. president about religious tolerance in Kosovo and also discussed with him the direct involvement of the U.S. in important processes for Kosovo.

“I also informed him in detail about the challenges we are currently facing in Kosovo and we spoke of the necessity of the U.S.’s direct involvement in the important processes our new country is going through,” Citaku wrote.

No dialogue, Serbia continues provocations (Zeri)

Zeri writes on the front page that while the dialogue for normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia has stalled for several months now, Serbia is continuing provocations against Kosovo, the most recent being the detention of Serb officials working for the government of Kosovo as they were trying to enter Serbia.

Analysts consider that such actions do not contribute to the process of normalisation of relations. Ramush Tahiri said the detention of Kosovo Serb officials by Serbian border authorities was not related to any suspicion the persons committed unlawful act but it was because they were not ‘obedient’ to the policies of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “Serbia is violating the Brussels agreement in this respect,” Tahiri said.

Debate: Border change is not an option for Kosovo-Serbia agreement (Epoka/Koha)

The idea of border changes as part of the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia was opposed yesterday at a debate organised by the European Policy Institute of Kosovo (EPIK).

Taulant Kryeziu from the EPIK institute said Serbia should be made aware that any agreement involving territorial changes would be unacceptable and that this should be defined as one of the limitations which the Kosovo negotiating team should not cross.

Former head of the Kosovo’s Constitutional Court, Enver Hasani, said border correction does not solve anything and in fact only complicates relations between the people. “A European solution that is not based on territorial crippling but in the rule of law, respect for human rights and minorities should be promoted instead,” Hasani said.

At the same time, political analyst Belul Beqaj said the final agreement with Serbia needs to be harmonised with all political factors in Kosovo. He said that the differences of views between Kosovo leaders is a serious obstacle while Jeta Krasniqi from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) said that Assembly should play central role in the process of dialogue with Serbia.

Judah: Merkel buried border correction idea (media)

British publicist and analyst, Tim Judah, in an interview to N1 TV station, said the idea for border correction between Kosovo and Serbia is no longer on the table as it was stopped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the recent summit in Berlin. “This doesn’t mean that the border correction topic will not return one day, because it was mentioned in the last 30 years. But I think that it has been stopped for the time being,” Judah said. He further argued that border changes would have negative consequences for the whole region. “I don’t think it is worth touching borders, because this is a great threat,” Judah added.

Hoti: It was proved that U.S. were involved in the Berlin Summit (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) parliamentary group chief, Avdullah Hoti, said on Monday that the U.S. were involved in the recent Berlin Summit. Hoti took to Facebook to write: “Credible institutions of allied countries that have an impact on Kosovo’s present and future, refuted today claims by President Hashim Thaci that the United States were not involved in the Berlin Summit. Such claims by President Thaci are a deception of the public. For quite some time now, the President is acting in full opposition with his constitutional duties and the interests of the country”.

Almost 60,000 registered voters for Sunday elections in the north (media)

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has certified the final list of voters for extraordinary elections in four northern municipalities set to take place this Sunday. 57,983 persons have the right to vote, 970 more than in local elections in 2017.

Enis Halimi, CEO of the CEC Secretariat, said that there will be four press conferences during the voting day, the first being at 8 a.m. and the last once preliminary results are ready.

PSD MP, Dardan Molliqaj, arrested then released yesterday (media)

Online media outlets reported yesterday about the arrest of Dardan Molliqaj, MP from the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in Pristina.

Kosovo Police confirmed the arrest and said it was carried out in line with an arrest warrant issued by the Pristina Basic Court. The Basic Prosecution said Molliqaj is wanted in connection obstructing official persons in performing official duties. Molliqaj is suspected of attacking a police officer in 2015. Meanwhile, PSD issued a statement saying Molliqaj was arrested in connection to his alleged role during a Vetevendosje protest in 2015 and called for his immediate release.

Molliqaj was later in the day released through regular procedure.

Government adopts regulation reorganizing Ministry of Defense (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that the Kosovo Government has adopted a regulation for reorganizing the Ministry of Defense, which will have 66 departments, four directories, 34 sectors, 7 units and nine offices. According to the new regulation, the Ministry will also have intelligence mechanisms and bodies for inspections and investigations.

Another Kosovar killed in Syria (media)

Most news websites report that another Kosovo Albanian has been killed in the fighting in Syria. Gazeta Express reports that the victim is Rron Emini, a 23-year-old from Pristina, who joined the terror organization ISIS [Al-Nusra] three years ago. Kosovo’s Minister of Justice, Abelard Tahiri, confirmed the information.