• Haradinaj: We should not dare keep border idea alive (media)
• Veseli writes to EP and Quint countries about Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo (media)
• Pacolli: Visa liberalization this year, no withdrawals of recognitions (RTK)
• Thaci a no-show at hearing on deportation of Turkish nationals (media)
• Women and children repatriated from Syria, released (media)
• Problems with certification of Serbian List (RTK)
• Jahjaga: I presented the situation of sexual violence survivors in New York (Klan)
• U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee to hold session on Kosovo wartime victims (Zeri/Insajderi)
• Baudouin: Europe is afraid of border changes (Koha)
• Media: Sylejman Selimi appointed ambassador to Albania
• “Albania to form task force to strengthen Kosovo’s international position” (media)

Haradinaj: We should not dare keep border idea alive (media)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, said he will travel to Berlin for the meeting of the Western Balkans leaders with unshakable positions on the dialogue with Serbia and correction of borders.

“With regards to my position and that of Kosovo, you know there are no changes there. The meeting is already called by Merkel ad Macron. EU delegations and institutions will be there, we do not have a say on who is going to participate. Mine and Kosovo’s position are the same, they did not change,” Haradinaj said. ‘Discussions on the territory were a mistake. It is good that they are overcome, and we should not dare to keep it alive as a topic,” he added.

Haradinaj said his criticism of the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini is not personal and that what he objects to is the course the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia took during her leadership. “I have no objections as to who leads it. I object to the principles of the dialogue,” he said adding: “Instead of discussing about recognition, as the only outstanding issue, the dialogue turned into a discussion on borders and territories.”

Veseli writes to EP and Quint countries about Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo (media)

Kosovo Assembly President Kadri Veseli wrote a letter to the European Parliament and Quint countries on Tuesday about Serbia’s crimes in Kosovo during the 1998-1999 war, most news websites report.

Veseli mentioned numerous massacres and crimes committed by Serbia in Kosovo, saying that it is internationally known that Albanians were victims and target of systematic violence under Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal regime.

He said around 1 million Kosovars were forced to flee, and around half a million were internally displaced. “In total, 90 percent of the Albanian population became refugees or IDPs. Over 13,000 people were killed, including 1,230 children”.

“In light of the 20th anniversary of the end of the Kosovo war and the tendencies to deny war crimes committed or revise the sad history of the war in Kosovo, I would like to extend a request to commemorate our plight and suffering,” Veseli wrote in his letter. “On behalf of the Kosovo Assembly, I would like to call on you and your fellow parliamentarians to acknowledge the historic injustice done against my people. This could be done through a resolution noting and condemning the crimes against humanity that took place in Kosovo. This would follow the precedent already set in several countries in relation to other instances of intolerable mass violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide”.

Pacolli: Visa liberalization this year, no withdrawals of recognitions (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said in a meeting with the Kosovo Assembly’s European Integration Committee on Tuesday that he is confident Kosovo will get visa liberalization this year.

He also told members of the committee that they should not worry about withdrawals of recognitions of Kosovo as an independent state, as no official decision has been received and Kosovo continues to be recognized by 116 states. “You will see that we will receive visits from the very countries that were rumored to have withdrawn their recognitions,” Pacolli said.

Thaci a no-show at hearing on deportation of Turkish nationals (media)

President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci failed for the fourth time to take part in the hearing of the Kosovo Assembly committee investigating the deportation of six Turkish nationals back to Turkey which wanted them in connection to alleged links with Gulen organisation.

Chair of the committee, Xhelal Svecla, said that Thaci’s office asked for the meeting to be rescheduled for 26 April. The members of the committee as a result postponed the meeting and also decided to interview again the head of the Kosovo Police at the time of the deportation, Shpend Maxhuni and former head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, Driton Gashi. Svecla said Maxhuni and Gashi are being invited because of their “contradictory” statements.

Women and children repatriated from Syria, released (media)

32 women and 74 children repatriated over the weekend from Syria have been released from the Admission Centre for Foreigners, Kosovo’s Special Prosecution confirmed. All 32 women are currently under investigation by Kosovo authorities for suspected participation in terrorist groups.

Officials from the Special Prosecution told Radio Free Europe in Albanian that the above women were subject of previous investigations but those were suspended as the suspects were inaccessible. Now that they have been brought back to Kosovo, the investigations resumed.

Koha Ditore reports on page four that the prosecution has requested house arrest for the 11 Kosovar women that were recently repatriated from Syria, as they are suspected of having been part of terrorist organizations.

On Saturday, Kosovo institutions repatriated 110 citizens from the conflict zones in Syria. Of this number, 74 were children, 32 women and four men. The men were arrested immediately upon entering Kosovo.

Problems with certification of Serbian List (RTK)

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) did not manage to conclude certification of the political entities for participation in the extraordinary elections of four northern municipalities.

Representatives of the Vetevendosje Movement at CEC would not vote certification of the Serbian List if this entity does not in advance fulfil some of the requested conditions, respectively if they did not distance themselves from the resignation letters of the four former mayors, who referred to Kosovo as ‘Kosovo and Metohija.’

Two thirds of the votes of CEC members are required in order for the Serbian List to be certified, or votes of eight out of nine current members of CEC. Kosovo’s Certification is becoming impossible as President Hashim Thaci has not nominated all the CEC members.

Jahjaga: I presented the situation of sexual violence survivors in New York (Klan)

Atifete Jahjaga, former President of Kosovo and founder of Jahjaga Foundation, took part in the Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the UN Security Council.

Speaking from New York, Jahjaga said that she presented at the debate the situation of survivors of sexual violence in Kosovo and expressed concern over Kosovo’s non-inclusion at the UN report on sexual violence in conflicts. “On behalf of the sexual violence survivors in Kosovo and citizens I asked we be included in future reporting because we still have no one convicted of these crimes,” she said.

“Our mere presence in the events of the German mission here at the United Nations is important as it is a message of support for Kosovo and the survivors of sexual violence. Kosovo is still not a member of the UN and considering this fact, it is continuously trying to find alternative ways to have our voice and that of sexual violence survivors be heard,” Jahjaga added.

U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee to hold session on Kosovo wartime victims (Zeri/Insajderi)

Kosovo’s Ambassador to the U.S. Vlora Citaku announced that the U.S Committee on Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing session on Kosovo wartime victims. “Tuesday, 30 April, Committee on Foreign Affairs, will organise a full hearing session on wartime victims in Kosovo and their plight for justice,” Citaku wrote on Facebook. Among the participants in the hearing will be former Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga and Vasfije Krasniqi-Goodman, survivor of sexual violence during conflict in Kosovo.

Baudouin: Europe is afraid of border changes (Koha)

Jacques Baudouin, publicist and former advisor to the French Government, said on Tuesday in Pristina that “Europe is afraid of border changes”. During a meeting with students of the Faculty of Philosophy, Baudouin argued that at a time when border changes have become part of the political speech, European countries are not united on this matter. “Germany is against it. France hesitates. Great Britain is dealing with its own matters,” he said.

Baudouin further said that Europe started dealing with Kosovo rather late and added that Kosovo should have been part of the Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia in 1995. “But Europe intervened when this was needed. France was the second force in the bombing campaign,” he said, commenting on the NATO air raids that helped end the conflict in Kosovo.

Baudouin said the future of Kosovo and Serbia is in the European Union and he encouraged youths to work and try to make Kosovo like Europe and not try to leave the country. “Kosovo and Serbia will not be accepted in Europe tomorrow. The doors are closed. They first need to reach an agreement,” he said.

Media: Sylejman Selimi appointed ambassador to Albania

Media are reporting that Sylejman Selimi, former Kosovo Liberation Army commander convicted of war crimes, has been appointed at Kosovo’s Ambassador to Albania, a post he occupied before being indicted. There has been no official confirmation of the said appointment but Selimi’s attorney, Tome Gashi, told Insajderi that this would be “normal” development considering that his client held the post in the past and that based on legal provisions, he is not banned from taking on such appointments.

“Albania to form task force to strengthen Kosovo’s international position” (media)

Albania’s Foreign Minister, Gent Cakaj, said on Tuesday evening that “the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Ministry will establish a task force aimed at strengthening Kosovo’s international position with the most qualified diplomats from Kosovo and Albania”. During an interview to TV Klan, Cakaj said Albania and Kosovo will very soon have joint embassies. “We will look into the possibility of exchanging professional and diplomatic staff in the ministries. There will also be a joint calendar articulated between the foreign ministries of Kosovo and Albania,” Cakaj added.