Illegals remain illegal (dailies)

Koha Ditore quotes Kosovo Government officials as saying that all the mayors that are not ready to respect the laws and constitution of Kosovo will be considered illegal. But they have asked the help from Brussels as a third party. Albanian elected deputies in north Mitrovica said that the mayor of Mitrovica, Krstimir Pantic, started a “provocation” campaign and “humiliating” campaign against them. Instead of Kosovo symbols, the mayors of the Serb list are using Serb nationalistic symbols.

Tribuna under the headline Pristina complains to the EU, writes that Kosovo Prime Minister, Hashim Thaçi as the head of Kosovo delegation in political dialogue and his deputy Edita Tahiri, as the head of the delegation in technical level, have addressed on Wednesday complaints in different levels in the EU. Thaçi complained over the evaluation made for Serbia and Tahiri for the acts of the newly elected mayors in the north.

Kuçi: It is difficult to build the future in peace with Serbia (Epoka e Re)

Official Pristina expressed concern regarding the statement of Serbia’s Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic, that the state that he represents is not responsible for the committed crimes in Kosovo. According to Kosovo officials, such position represents a problem on building normal relations between the two populations. “Such violent acts, to the extent of genocide and with logics of the burned land, were projected and decided by the institutions of Serbia, and they were also committed by Serbia’s state institutions and people who represented the implemented policy,” stated Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hajredin Kuçi. “Without distancing (from the old Serbian policy,) it is difficult to build the future in peace and trust among nations.”

Zbogar: Reserved seats are necessary (Zëri)

EU Special Representative to Kosovo Samuel Zbogar said that extension of the mandate of reserved seats for community representatives at the Kosovo Assembly will have a positive impact on implementation of 19 April agreement and on integration of the Serb community. He told the paper that the decision is up to Kosovo not international community but added that “the original idea for reserved seats had to do with enabling a best possible integration of Serbs in the Kosovo society and if this process worked well for Serbs south of River Ibri, the same process is needed for the Serbs in the north”, said Zbogar.

Ivanovic: Serb municipalities begin work with Belgrade funds (Zëri)

Leader of the Civic Initiative in the north of Kosovo, Oliver Ivanovic, is quoted as saying that the money from the Serbian Government will be used by local leadership in the north of Kosovo until the Association of Serb Municipalities is up and running. He said Serbia did not agree during Brussels talks to stop funding for Kosovo “but agreed to do this in a transparent manner meaning that from now on the Kosovo Ministry of Finance will be able to see where this money is going”.

Lushtaku released in time for the swearing in ceremony (dailies)

Skenderaj municipality does not need to go to extraordinary elections for the head of municipality as the re-elected mayor, Sami Lushtaku, was granted temporary release from detention so that he can make the oath before the deputies of municipal Assembly. An Appeal Court panel decided last night to release Lushtaku from detention to attend the swearing in ceremony.

Beqiri: Let’s go with elections, we do not violate the Constitution (Epoka e Re)

Head of LDK parliamentary group Ismet Beqiri stated that it is better for the country to go with extraordinary elections, then to violate the laws and the Constitution of Kosovo, during the endorsement of the Law on budget and selling of 75 percent of PTK’s share. “To us, if it comes to this, it is better to go with extraordinary elections than to violate the Constitution and the Laws in power. LDK cannot become part of the violation of the Constitution and the Laws on behalf of the position that the country would be endangered by extraordinary elections,” said Beqiri. He informed that LDK deputies will not stay at the session, if the budget law goes to the Assembly with the amendment on sale of PTK shares.

Internationals don’t want political interference in PAK (Koha Ditore)

Members of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo Board got split into two groups – internationals and locals – during the debate over the selection of a new PAK director, Ujkan Bajra, who is currently head of the Agency’s internal auditing department.

The Board initially agreed on two candidates and was supposed to call both for interviews but at the last moment, the local representatives tried to change the list and when internationals spotted that there was interference from outside, they opposed Bajra’s appointment.