• Limaj: Mutual recognition, territory is non-negotiable (RTK)
• France has no red lines on Kosovo – Serbia agreement (media)
• Vucic: Delays in dialogue with Kosovo may inflame the region (Reuters/media)
• Montenegrin FM: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to end in mutual recognition (media)
• Veseli: Kosovo committed to cultivate good neighborly relations (RTK)
• Mustafa criticizes those who left Kosovo isolated (RTK)
• KFOR refutes Drecun: False information cause fear and danger (media)
• EU Office wants investigation into brawl between Serb officials (Express)
• Special Court announces new invitations for interviews (Lajmi)
• “EU is colonizing Kosovo north with Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia” (Express)

Limaj: Mutual
recognition, territory is non-negotiable (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and co-head of
the state delegation for talks with Serbia, Fatmir Limaj, said on Thursday that
Kosovo’s position in the EU-brokered dialogue is clear: mutual recognition with
Serbia. Limaj said this position is clear and that Kosovo’s territory is
non-negotiable. He made these remarks during a public debate on Kosovo’s
platform for dialogue. “I don’t understand all the noise in Belgrade. They know
that Kosovo is an independent state and that it has its own Constitution … We
go to Brussels for mutual recognition. Kosovo is inseparable, and its territory
cannot be negotiated. There is no sense without mutual recognition,” Limaj
added. Koha Ditore covers the public debate under the
front-page headline Both Albanians and Serbs are against Kosovo’s partition.

France has no red lines on Kosovo – Serbia agreement (media)

Most
news websites report that French Ambassador to Serbia, Frederick Mondoloni,
said on Thursday that France does not have red lines for a final settlement between
Serbia and Kosovo and that it would support any agreement that the parties
reach. “We are neither in favor nor against border changes. If a solution is
acceptable for both parties and it brings stability to the region, we will
accept it,” Mondoloni said in an interview to TVN1.

Vucic:
Delays in dialogue with Kosovo may inflame the region (Reuters/media)

Aleksandar
Vucic, President of Serbia, told Reuters that every day of delays could create
conditions in which one spark could set the region on fire. “The Western
countries should know that,” Vucic added.

“Our
accession to the European Union depends on the dialogue with Pristina and
whether one day we will manage to reach a deal,” Vucic said, adding that he
expected Germany, France or the EU to become more active in the negotiating
process.

“I think
we will see some of their initiatives in the near future,” he said, without
elaborating.

Gazeta
Express covers Vucic’s remarks under the headline France
and Germany with new initiative to unblock Pristina – Belgrade dialogue?

Montenegrin
FM: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to end in mutual recognition (media)

Foreign
Minister of Montenegro, Srdjan Darmanovic, said in a visit to Kosovo that his
country supports any option that would lead to normalisation of relations
between Kosovo and Serbia but that border correction “is not the best idea”.

“We see
there are different concepts regarding the outcome, one of them being
correction of territories. We do not interfere in internal affairs of two
countries, but we have some concerns over the territory correction idea. It is
not the best idea but if our neighbours agree to it, we have no problem with
it,” Darmanovic said at a joint press conference with his Kosovo host, Foreign
Minister Behgjet Pacolli. He noted that Montenegro wishes the outstanding
issues between Kosovo and Serbia to be resolved in the best way possible and
achieve mutual recognition at the end of the process.

On the
first anniversary of Kosovo ratifying border demarcation agreement with
Montenegro, Darmanovic said the problem has been resolved: “We don’t see it as
an open issue between the two countries.”

Pacolli
on his part said the meeting with his Montenegrin counterpart focused on
bilateral cooperation. “We are two countries that know how to approach
cooperation and we are in the lead because there is no open issue among us,” he
said.

Pacolli
hailed Darmanovic’s statement that dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina
should end with recognition saying this is also Kosovo’s end-goal. “Almost
every country in the region suggests the same outcome and we believe therefore
that Serbia will realise that its future without recognition of Kosovo is a
dark one,” Pacolli said. “Serbia should not hinder neighbouring countries from
following the western course and I reemphasised that Serbia and B&H should
fix their broken political compass,” Pacolli added.

In
Pristina, Darmanovic also met Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and
Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli.

Veseli:
Kosovo committed to cultivate good neighborly relations (RTK)

Kadri
Veseli, Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, hosted today a meeting with the
Montenegrin Minister of Foreign Affairs, Srdjan Darmanovic. They discussed
relations that Kosovo and Montenegro have built as well as possibility for
their enhancement in all spheres of cooperation, for the benefit of the
citizens of both countries.

Veseli
said Kosovo remains committed to cultivation of its policy for good neighborly
relations with all countries of the region, including Montenegro, in function
of strengthening regional stability and speedy European integration. Darmarovic
expressed satisfaction for his visit to Kosovo and stressed the need for
further cultivation of the cooperation between Pristina and Podgorica.

He
said his visit to Pristina is a message of this cooperation and aims pushing
forward advance of these inter-state and inter-parliamentary relations between
Kosovo and Montenegro.

Mustafa criticizes
those who left Kosovo isolated (RTK)

Isa
Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has criticized
politicians who according to him, left Kosovo citizens without visas. On the first anniversary of the endorsement of the
demarcation of the border with Montenegro, he wrote: “all of you should admit
that you were only after votes and power. Admit your guilt which prevented the
citizens from visa liberalization because of your ego,” Mustafa wrote. He
further recalled the teargas at the Assembly, Molotov and stones thrown on the
government building, injured police officers, protests, mortar attack on the
Assembly of Kosovo, attacks on his escort, etc. “And today? Nothing,” concludes
Mustafa.

KFOR refutes
Drecun: False information cause fear and danger (media)

KFOR
spokesman Vincenzo Grasso denied a statement by Milovan Drecun, chair of the Serbian
Parliament’s Council for Kosovo, who said that the joint military exercise of Albanian
and Kosovo troops is aimed at intimidating the Serb people and that KFOR is
keeping silent over this. Grasso said in an interview to Danas that
the objective of the military trill was to improve search and rescue capacities
in mountainous terrain.

“Spreading
false information causes fear among the people and it also poses a threat to
create an environment in which even an isolated incident can escalate,” Grasso
added.

EU
Office wants investigation into brawl between Serb officials (Express)

The
European Union Office in Kosovo has requested complete investigation on the
case of physical confrontation between Serb politician Slobodan Petrovic and
officials of the Serbian List.

“We are
aware of the reported incident, which happened yesterday in Pristina. We expect
from Kosovo authorities to commence a thorough investigation, to find facts,”
is said in a response of the EU Office given to Gazeta Express.

Special
Court announces new invitations for interviews (Lajmi)

Invitations
from the Hague’s Specialized Prosecution continue to arrive in Kosovo, and they
are not being made by phone calls any more, but in a written form, reports
lajmi.net.

According
to accredited lawyers a major number of witnesses has been interviewed so far,
and the major number of witnesses comes from Serbia. Many of them did not make
their invitations public. The lawyers said their interviews started since 2014.

In a
response to this portal, Special Chambers Spokesperson Christopher Bennet said
the investigation on the Dick Marty’s report are still ongoing. “Specialist
Prosecution Office is continuing with its investigations related to the
accusations deriving from Parliamentary Assembly Report of the European Council
on “Inhuman treating of people and illegal trafficking of human organs in
Kosovo,” was said in Bennet’s reply.

According
to him, the Specialist Prosecution has the authority to bring decisions for the
start and conclusion of its mandate.

“Among
other things, the Prosecution has the authority to request presence and
interrogation of the suspects, victims and witnesses, to gather and analyze
information and evidence and to make decisions on start, continuance and
conclusion of criminal procedures. It seeks to keep individuals responsible for
crimes that its mandate covers,” Bennet noted further.

“EU is
colonizing Kosovo north with Serbs from Bosnia and Croatia” (Express)

Mitrovica
South Mayor Agim Bahtiri took to Facebook on Thursday to criticize the European
Union for not taking into account the requests of Albanians to return to their
homes in the mainly Serb-inhabited northern part of Kosovo. Bahtiri said around
13,000 Albanians, who were expelled from their homes, have never returned. He also
added that “to make matters worse, the EU has started implementing a
multi-million project” for the return of Serbs, “but in reality, this will
involve the return of Serbs who never lived in Kosovo”.