• Dialogue under Mogherini’s mandate failed (Koha)
• Hoxhaj: Now is the time for a final agreement with Serbia (RTK)
• Kosnett: U.S. supported NATO to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo (media)
• Calls for war against corruption overshadow the import tariff (Zeri)
• Veseli meets in Skopje with Talat Xhaferi (media)
• Primakov: Moscow will defend Belgrade’s right in Kosovo (Klan Kosova)
• “The north is being colonized, 300 houses are built at Sunny Hill” (Zeri)

Dialogue under Mogherini’s mandate failed (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that a final settlement between Kosovo and Serbia under the mandate of EU High Representative Federica Mogherini is not on the horizon. Political commentators in Pristina argue that, despite optimistic statements by Mogherini and other EU officials that an agreement between the two sides could be reached by the middle of this year, this is not very likely. Political analyst Behlul Beqaj told the paper on Sunday: “the normalization of relations between Serbs and Albanians cannot be achieved with personal objectives. Hashim Thaci believed he could be saved from The Hague, Mogherini believed she could win the Nobel Prize, and Aleksandar Vucic believed he would become more important and successful than Milosevic”. Ramush Tahiri, a political analyst, said “Mogherini has done her job” and that the approach toward the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue will be known after the new elections in the EU. Tahiri further argued that dialogue will not resume before September, “because there has been a clash in Kosovo”.

Hoxhaj: Now is the time for a final agreement with Serbia (RTK)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj said on Sunday that Kosovo achieved its freedom thanks to the United States of America and the European Union, and that it needs to safeguard its friendship and good relations with its allies.

Hoxhaj also said that now is the time for a final settlement between Kosovo and Serbia, “so that we can focus on economic and social development, as a country with full recognition and with membership to the United Nations”.

Kosnett: U.S. supported NATO to stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo (media)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett, said on the 20^th anniversary of NATO’s Operation Allied Force that twenty years ago, the U.S. and other NATO allies intervened to stop a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Kosovo. “This anniversary prompts us to reflect on the human cost of the conflict then, and the pain that so many people feel even today.”

“And I call on both governments to renew efforts to pursue justice for victims of wartime crimes. For only by forthrightly confronting their past can the people of Kosovo and Serbia hope to build society where all communities live together with peace and dignity,” Kosnett said.

Calls for war against corruption overshadow the import tariff (Zeri)

The paper reports in its leading front-page story that international pressure on the Kosovo government to lift the import tariff on Serbian goods had reached its peak in late February and early this month, but last week there were no such calls. The U.S. and UK ambassadors in Pristina last week made repeated calls on Kosovo’s institutions to fight corruption and nepotism and did not mention the import tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods. Some political commentators in Pristina believe that because of political developments in Serbia and in the European Union, with upcoming elections in May, the issue of the import tariff is being sidelined for now.

Veseli meets in Skopje with Talat Xhaferi  (media)

The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo Kadri Veseli, took to Facebook to inform that he met on Sunday in Skopje with the Speaker of the Parliament of Northern Macedonia Talat Xhaferi.

Veseli said Northern Macedonia has given a special contribution by opening way of cooperation with NATO forces, which twenty years ago reached Kosovo from there. He also expressed gratitude to the Albanians in this country who sheltered and helped families from Kosovo.

Primakov: Moscow will defend Belgrade’s right in Kosovo (Klan Kosova)

Yevgeny Primakov, member of the Russian Duma told Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti that “Russia will support any request of Belgrade made to Moscow and will respect Serbia’s right in the southern province.

Russia is a guarantee that Serbia will not lose in this process,” he added.

“We will support any action of your state leadership on the fate of Kosovo, if it is approved by political consensus and if this solution does not cause a civilian conflict. Russia is the most important property and personal security of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” he said.

“The north is being colonized, 300 houses are built at Sunny Hill” (Zeri)

Halit Barani, head of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms in Mitrovica, told the paper on Sunday that Serbia is colonizing the northern part of Mitrovica and Zvecan by bringing people from Serbia there.

“This is pure colonization and Serbia is openly doing this. ‘The Sunny Hill’ is a project that is bringing to the north Serbs that have never lived there. Meanwhile, Albanians are not allowed to build in their properties in the north and are not allowed to return to their properties that are usurped by Serbs,” Barani argued.