UNMIK Headlines 29 December
Mustafa: There will be no new elections (Zeri)
Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, told the paper that he is against the extraordinary elections while calling on the opposition to prepare for the elections of 2018. He said the opposition should work more during this time and convince citizens that they can govern better. He again invited the opposition to address their objections through political dialogue. Meanwhile, talking about the decision of the Constitutional Court, Mustafa said that its remarks will make it easier for the government to work on the matter. "Based on the remarks of the Constitutional Court, now it will be much easier to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, which again will be sent to court for another review. Each point of the statute will be in full accordance with the Constitution,” Mustafa said. While mentioning the policy of zero tolerance against organized crime and the economic development which will be a priority for 2016, Mustafa also promised the transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into Kosovo Armed Forces.
Thaci: It is not my life’s ambition to become president (Epoka e Re)
In an interview for RTV Dukagjini, Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Hashim Thaci said that he does not view the post of the Kosovo president as his life’s ambition but added that the coalition agreement with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) should be fully respected. “I think election of the president should be a situation of political and civic spectre unification and in no way of unreasonable frictions and clashes,” said Thaci. He said the Constitutional Court’s “advisory” opinion on the legality of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities will be respected by the Government of Kosovo but at the same time ruled out the renegotiation of the agreement with Serbia. “We have taken on our international obligations by signing the agreement on normalization of relations with Serbia,” he stressed.
Without Association/Community, Thaci cannot become president (Koha)
Pristina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti said that the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Hashim Thaci cannot become president of Kosovo without the votes of the Serbian List MPs which he cannot secure if the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities is not established. “If Thaci does not become president, then Isa Mustafa will not remain prime minister either,” said Ahmeti.
Austria has not applied for Kosovo’s dialing prefix (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports on the front page that according to the agreement reached between Pristina and Belgrade, Austria was supposed to apply on 15 November to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to secure a dialing prefix for Kosovo. This however did not happen and according to the head of the Kosovo negotiating team Edita Tahiri, Serbia is to blame for the delays. Tahiri stressed that the Kosovo side has received assurances from the EU that Austria will apply on Kosovo’s behalf on 1 January 2016 so that the prefix could be issued by March.
Serbs jeopardizing the functionalization of court in Mitrovica North (RTK)
The President of the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC), Enver Peci, said yesterday that only a small number of applicants responded to the job vacancy for judges at the Mitrovica Basic Court. According to him, most of the posts are reserved for Serbs who, according to the Brussels Agreement, should work at the Mitrovica Basic Court. But their decree has been delayed because Serbs are asking for additional conditions. “The Brussels Agreement foresees that the president of the Mitrovica Basic Court to be appointed from the Serbian community. This condition has been fulfilled. In the meantime, Serbs made a request asking also the administrator of this Court to be from the Serb community. We strongly opposed this request,” Peci said.
Government of Kosovo receives €29million loan from EBRD (Koha Ditore)
The Government of Kosovo and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement for a 29 million euro loan that the EBRD will pledge for rehabilitation of regional roads. Minister of Infrastructure Lutfi Zharku said they expect more agreements with EBRD and the European Investment Bank in the coming period.