Headlines - 25.04.2017

• National unification “clashes” Thaci with Hahn (Epoka e Re)
• Intense preparations for elections underway (Koha Ditore)
• Musliu: Vucic knows there will be Albanian national unification (Kosova Sot)
• Serwer: “Great Albania”, sign of frustration with EU (Zeri)
• EU will not drop border demarcation condition (Zeri)
• Coalition to break next Saturday, elections on 4 June (Gazeta Metro)
• PDK’s Krasniqi considers elections could be the solution (Klan Kosova)
• “Assembly and government out of function” (Epoka e Re)
• Ramush Haradinaj gains Albanian citizenship (Epoka e Re) 

Kosovo Media Highlights 

National unification “clashes” Thaci with Hahn (Epoka e Re)

The EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, said that the statements of Kosovo and Albanian leaders on unification of Albanians are unacceptable, unnecessary and counterproductive. I added that it would have been wrong to think that such statements could make pressure on EU membership. However, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci reacted to Hahn’s statement saying that such statement proves that the EU lacks leadership and vision to concretize European perspective for Kosovo. He added that there is no greater or smaller Albania, there is only Albania and Kosovo. According to Thaci, in the best case, Europe does not care about Kosovo and in the worst one, it does not even want to hear about Kosovo.

Intense preparations for elections underway (Koha Ditore)

The paper reports on the front page that Kosovo institutions have stepped up actions that are expected to culminate in early elections. President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, has called a meeting with the head of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Valdete Daka on Monday and expects to hear from her whether the CEC would be ready for organising new elections. 

Musliu: Vucic knows there will be Albanian national unification (Kosova Sot)

Albanian representative from the Presevo Valley, Jonuz Musliu, told Kosovo media that Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic knows that there will be Albanian national unification. “They didn’t believe Kosovo would become independent and yet it did,” said Musliu adding however that unification requires a great deal of will and work.

Serwer: “Great Albania”, sign of frustration with EU (Zeri)

Balkans expert and professor at  Johns Hopkins University, Daniel Serwer, said that  recent statements from leaders in Tirana and Pristina over Albanian unification are caused by frustration with the slowness of the European Union integration processes. At the same time, Serwer noted, it is true that the Western Balkans countries have not done enough on political and economic reforms. Serwer warned that any attempt at redrawing current borders in the Balkans would lead to an overall reorganization, which he said could not be done in a peaceful way. 

EU will not drop border demarcation condition (Zeri)

The paper quotes analysts on the front page as saying that the EU will not drop border demarcation as a criteria for visa liberalisation and that Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, who travelled yesterday to Brussels for this purpose, is unlikely to win over the EU and secure conditional visa liberalisation for Kosovo. Analysts consider that Mustafa’s trip to Brussels has more to do with his efforts to preserve the current ruling coalition.

Coalition to break next Saturday, elections on 4 June (Gazeta Metro)

Based on close sources to both parties, the portal reports that the governing coalition between the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will end this weekend. According to Gazeta Metro, on Saturday, both parties will appear with statements which will inform the public opinion that coalition deriving from 2014 elections has ended. Later on, based on legal deadlines, early elections will be set for 4 June, as reported earlier by the same portal. 

PDK’s Krasniqi considers elections could be the solution (Klan Kosova)

Kosovo’s Minister of Agriculture, who is also deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Memli Krasniqi, told Klan Kosova that there is nothing wrong for coalition partners to sit and discuss going for new elections as a possibility of overcoming the blocked situation. “It is not a sin to go for elections, if they are the best solution,” Krasniqi said. “If a majority reaches a moment of status quo, which could give the impression of blockade and lack of progress, then it is the responsibility of the majority to stop and think what is not working and what should be changed,” Krasniqi said. 

“Assembly and government out of function” (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo Assembly MP from the Vetevendosje movement, Rexhep Selimi, told the paper that he believes that Kosovo will very soon go for early general elections. According to him this will happen due to the fact that the Assembly and the government are out of function. He assessed that the coalition government cannot resist any more, therefore, PDK and LDK leaders have started with un-proclaimed campaigning. He added that this illegal campaign cannot save the two parties from defeat. He also informed that Vetevendosje has supported NISMA’s initiative for the motion of no confidence on Mustafa’s government. 

Ramush Haradinaj gains Albanian citizenship (Epoka e Re)

The President of Albania, Bujar Nishani, signed on Monday the decree of Albanian citizenship for former Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, and his spouse, Anita Haradinaj. The decree was published on Monday on the official web-page of the Albanian Presidency.