UNMIK Headlines 24 September
Next Assembly session on 2 October (dailies)
Newspapers report today that the chairperson of the constitutive session of Kosovo Assembly, Flora Brovina, announced that the next session will be held on 2 October. Meanwhile, if there is no compromise, the session is likely to begin and end in the same way as the previous two. International officials are reiterating they will not intervene in an effort to break the deadlock while yesterday, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) through its candidate for speaker, Arsim Bajrami, offered a compromise involving a comprehensive government with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and Isa Mustafa as Assembly Speaker. Epoka e Re on the front page quotes Brovina as saying that she did not call the session this week because of President Jahjaga’s visit to the US. She said there cannot be a discussion in the constitutive session which the post-election coalition bloc has requested. According to her, this can be done only by the President. Brovina said that it would be unreasonable to go into the session without an agreement, because only PDK has the right to propose the candidate for assembly speaker.
Carolan negotiating return to Constitutional Court (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports on the front page that the US judge, Robert Carolan, who recently resigned his post at the Constitutional Court is now negotiating terms for his possible return. While Carolan said he was handing over his resignation for personal reasons, there were reports in the media that he was not happy with the salary of the new contract offered to him. International sources say that the salary issue has now been resolved and there are minor outstanding matters to address before the US judge signs a new contract with the Constitutional Court.
The burden of pulling Kosovo out of the crisis falls on Jahjaga (Tribuna)
Based on the sources of this daily, President Atifete Jahjaga will have full support of the international community to undertake the required steps to resolve the political crisis if parties fail to find a solution, including calling extraordinary elections. However, even in this case, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the coalition bloc should elect a temporary Speaker in order to dissolve the Assembly as a necessary step which leads to the new elections. Sources did apparently not hide the fact that to the diplomatic corps, a coalition between the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) would have been the most preferred option.
President Jahjaga to represent Kosovo at the UN General Assembly (Lajm)
Kosovo will not be officially participating in the general discussion of the 69th session of UN General Assembly that will be held from 24-30 September. However, Kosovo president, Atifete Jahjaga, has started her US visit with meetings. Yesterday, she met with General Secretary of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Madani, with whom she talked about present developments in Kosovo. She said that successful finalization of recognition of Kosovo from all countries of OIC would help Kosovo in international scene, in particular in its membership in the UN and other international organizations. OIC General Secretary, Iyad Madani, said that they will continue to support Kosovo in all fields. He said that members of OIC who still did not recognize Kosovo are reviewing possibilities to undertake such a step, but said that this is a long process.
Borchardt: Arrests, warning to those who draw youth into terrorism (Koha)
In an interview for the paper, outgoing chief of EULEX, Bernd Borchardt, said that the arrest of several imams in Kosovo should serve as a warning to those who wish to draw the youth into terrorist activities. “I am very pleased that Kosovo authorities are addressing the terrorism issue on their own”, said Borchardt. He said however that while EULEX prosecutors are working on a number of cases relating to religious terrorism, the recent arrests are not related to them. Asked how much has his objectives been met during his term in office, Borchardt replied, “I would say our glass is at least three-fours filled because, at the end of the day, had it been full we would not be staying here”.
Cliff: Political deadlock endangers SAA (Kosova Sot)
British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ian Cliff, said that political leadership in Kosovo should solve the problems as fast as possible regarding establishment of new institutions as the failure to do so, endangers integration path in the European Union. According to him, politicians in Kosovo should look towards Brussels and especially towards countries that are not very much sympathetic towards Kosovo. “With this they would have the possibility to say that Kosovo is not a real state, it cannot solve its political problems and because of this we should stop signing Stabilization Association Agreement (SAA),” said Cliff.
Isa Mustafa sobers up (Lajm)
Leader of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa, is against the blackmail and threats towards individuals and institutions. Without naming persons who blackmailed and threatened, Mustafa said that assembly and the government should be established based on the election results and political will of the majority. Mustafa’s reaction came immediately after media reported that the head of Kosovo Constitutional Court, Enver Hasani, denounced being threatened and blackmailed. In his reaction the head of LDK writes that manipulations and blackmailing of individuals and institutions which should be independent does not contribute to the process of establishing new institutions.