Headlines - 24.09.2013

Ready for elections, but not now (Tribuna)

The paper reports on the front page that senior representatives of all the bigger parties in Kosovo said they are willing to go to parliamentary elections, but not this year. Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and his government can remain calm for some time, as opposition parties the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) do not plan to call of vote of confidence. These two parties, similar to all other parties, said they don’t fear early parliamentary elections but that now is not the right moment to hold such elections.

PDK parliamentary chief Adem Grabovci said on the matter, “We don’t fear early general elections. We are prepared to go to elections at any given time, whenever the opposition wants this. But I don’t believe it is in the country’s interest to go to early elections.” 

Forged applications arrived from Serbia (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that applications of Serb voters outside Kosovo signed only from one person, applications containing forged documents and those bearing suspicious stamps have arrived at the Kosovo Central Election Commission on the last day of the deadline for the voter registering outside Kosovo. Many applications that have arrived in the address of the CEC have been signed by a single person. There are such applications that have been stamped with the date 17 September 2022.

Vetëvendosje accuses OSCE and Serbia for “forging” applications in order to increase the number of Serb voters. OSCE says that they only forward applications to CEC. OSCE officials and CEC officials did not want to comment fur such applications that have arrived from Serbia. However, CEC promised that no application will pass through without being verified. 

Hoxhaj: Belgrade is the address for revealing the murder in the north (Koha Ditore)

Kosovo Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said that it belongs to the Government of Serbia to explain last week’s murder of EU officer in north of Kosovo. In an interview for The Wall Street Journal, Minister Hoxhaj said that only Belgrade can fully reveal this event and added that although there is no direct evidence which connects Belgrade with the murder of the 35 year-old customs officer from Lithuania, several year of effective control of Belgrade in the north of Kosovo means that Serb authorities should explain everything they know about groups or individuals in that region and who could be involved. “Serbia has correct answer about people, about structures of organized crimes in the north, about the motives of these people,” said Hoxhaj in the interview. 

Serbia does not stop funding Kosovo Serbs (Tribuna)

Serbian Government’s Minister for Kosovo, Aleksandar Vulin, said the government in Belgrade would not stop funding Kosovo Serbs. “This is one way to show that the Government of Serbia supports its people and that it is serious when it says that it wants Serbs to remain and survive in Kosovo,” Vulin said during a visit to Mitrovica. “Without the government of Serbia, the life of Serbs in Kosovo, both south and north of the River Ibër, would be impossible.”

Çeku, (il)legal candidate for Pristina mayor (Koha Ditore)

Legal experts and representatives are disputing Agim Çeku’s candidacy for Pristina mayor arguing that he was not a resident of the capital in the three last years. KTV has reported that though Çeku may be residing in Pristina for a long time, his official status of residence bears the date of September 2013. Çeku said everyone knows that he has been living in Pristina since the end of the war in 1999 and that his residency in Fushë Kosova, where he was until recently registered, was only temporary.

Central Election Commission officials however denied the claims that Çeku’s candidacy is illegal. “When we made the verification based on the information of candidates that have applied for mayors, we concluded that Mr. Agim Çeku is a resident of Pristina,” said CEC’s Miradije Mavriqi.

KLA war veterans threaten elections (Zëri)

KLA war veterans are reported to have threatened Kosovo institutions that they will block polling centres on election day if by then their verification process is not concluded. Former fighters accused the Government of Kosovo for not keeping its promise made over a year ago. However, head of the council for protection of rights of KLA fighters, Xhevdet Qeriqi, said they have not yet come out with an official position but added that the revolted veterans are looking into all options. 

Çitaku: SAA negotiations will conclude in spring (Tribuna)

Kosovo’s European Integration Minister Vlora Çitaku will be the chief negotiator for the Stabilization/Association Agreement with the European Union. In an interview for the paper, she said SAA negotiations are only the first step of talks between aspiring countries and the EU within the long process of integration.

“No one can endanger our path toward the European Union. We ourselves determine the pace of our progress toward EU integration by meeting the necessary criteria. We have our obligations and our agenda as the state of Kosovo and we are committed to meeting every requirement and implementing every reform in order to secure a fast and qualitative pace toward EU integration,” Çitaku said.

Çitaku also said, “the growing number of illegal immigrants in the EU is really a challenge for the process of visa liberalization that we are actively addressing on several fronts. First, we have an awareness-raising campaign that we have been implementing for over a year now. At the same time the process of repatriation of illegal immigrants is continuing without any major problems. Third, you have witnessed the actions of Kosovo Police in fighting traffickers of human beings, destroying criminal groups and arresting criminals.” 

Thaçi asks for recognition from Libya (dailies)

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi asked the Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan for his country to recognize independence of Kosovo and thus join other democratic countries that have done so. Thaçi stressed that Kosovo was one of the first countries in the region to have expressed support for the Arab Spring and also supports Libya’s efforts to overcome the transitional stage as swiftly as possible. 

Krasniqi denies forming a party (Lajm)

Kosovo Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi dismissed reports that he is about to form a new party named Democratic Renewal of Kosovo. “The papers have formed the party, not me”, said Krasniqi.