UNMIK Headlines 18 December
Thaçi won’t break coalition with Pacolli (Zëri)
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, is not willing to break the coalition with Behxhet Pacolli’s New Kosovo Alliance, even if the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo joins the ruling coalition. PDK officials said that Thaçi will keep both Pacolli and Haradinaj as deputy prime ministers.
“We welcome the enlargement of the coalition, but the AKR will continue to be part of the government, and Deputy Prime Minister Pacolli will keep his current post,” PDK parliamentary group chief Adem Grabovci said. “It is not necessary to give the prime minister post to AAK because we have Prime Minister Thaçi, who has proven to be very successful.”
PDK to AAK: Kosovo has PM (Koha Ditore)
Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi’s PDK and Ramush Haradinaj AAK continue their “game” regarding the possibility to create a new governing coalition. Representatives of PDK and AAK stated on Monday that they are for a wider governing coalition; however each of them wanted the position of Prime Minister. “Kosovo has its Prime Minister and he has been assessed as the best one by those most successful. We have entered a process that is more important and I believe that neither [journalists] nor citizens of Kosovo are interested to make movements because, even if we wanted, it is not allowed and not productive,” stated PDK chief Adem Grabovci after the regular meeting of the Assembly Chairmanship.
Former SHIK members sentenced to 54 years in prison (dailies)
The district court in Pristina convicted five former members of the ex-Kosovo Intelligence Service (SHIK) on Monday for crimes of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. The Court convicted five members of this service with 54 years in prison. The judicial body, led by Judge Tore Thomassen, convicted Shpresim Uka with 15 years in prison for the murder of Ibush Kllokoqi in June 1999 and the attempted aggravated murder of Adem Salihaj. Sadik Abazi was convicted with 12 years in prison, Bekim Syla with 12 years in prison, Shaban Syla with 8 years in prison, and Driton Hajdari with 7 years in prison. Uka was determined to be the leader of this group by the court.
Ivanovic: Autonomy only solution! (Zëri)
“Under no circumstance will Northern Serbs integrate in Pristina’s institutions because they don’t believe in them. Therefore, in order for this issue to be resolved, there needs to be a solution that is acceptable for both parties and would be autonomy for northern Mitrovica,” Oliver Ivanovic, former state secretary for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, said in an interview.
Ivanovic said the north remains a political problem and that it needs to be addressed in the dialogue in Brussels. “Autonomy for the north – I think this would satisfy Serbs in the north. This needs to be acceptable for Albanians too, because autonomy would not mean Kosovo’s partition, as the majority of Albanians fear,” he added.
Selimi: Ramush don’t go! (Epoka e Re)
In a front-page interview, Vetëvendosje MP Rexhep Selimi called on AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj not to join a coalition government with the ruling PDK, but rather to engage in bringing down the current Government. Selimi said there are two ways to bring down the Government. “First, the Government needs to realize that it is conducting bad governance and resign. Second, opposition parties must join forces and bring down the government,” he added. “Ramush Haradinaj and AAK need to seek votes from the people, not from government officials, because the people will give them what they deserve.”
If Kosovo fulfills conditions, it can expect SAA (Koha Ditore)
Lucinda Creighton, the Irish Minister for European Affairs, expressed her optimism that the EU would be able to launch EU accession talks with Serbia and Stabilisation Association Agreement discussions with Kosovo during the Irish EU chairmanship. She made this statement in a joint press conference with her Cypriot counterpart Andreas Mavroyaniss.
EULEX rejects charges against Pacolli (Koha Ditore)
EULEX mission rejected the Anti Corruption Agency’s charges against Deputy Prime Minister Behgjet Pacolli. Pacolli’s lawyer, Gazmend Nushi, demanded that the Anti Corruption Agency apologize for this charge.
Reactions toward attacks against LGBT community (Koha Ditore)
The attack on Friday against the launch issue party hosted by the magazine Kosovo 2.0 and the attack on Sunday evening in the offices of Libertas – an NGO that protects the rights of the LGBT community – were condemned by Kosovo institutions, international embassies in Kosovo, political parties, and civil society groups of 33 member organizations; a full investigation of these incidents has been requested. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in a press release, condemned the violent behavior towards the team at Kosovo 2.0. The American Embassy in Pristina released a statement on behalf of Ambassador Tracy Ann Jacobson condemning the violence for both incidents. This attack has also been strongly condemned by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which funded the Kosovo 2.0 event.
Grabovci: We are friends with Krasniqi (Express)
The chief of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party of Kosova, Adem Grabovci, made a statement on Monday regarding the telephone tapping scandal. Although, he did not mention whether he has apologized to Assembly Chairperson Jakup Krasniqi for the words he used against him, he stated that they are friends. “We have very good relations with the Assembly Chairperson; we respect each other and we have built relations at a very early stage. We are old friends,” said Grabovci.