Headlines - 03.04.2017

• Vucic claims victory in Serbian presidential elections (dailies)
• Government ready to submit border deal to Assembly (Koha Ditore)
• Haliti: Government will not submit border deal without securing votes (Zeri)
• COMKFOR: Kosovo army, political issue (Zeri)
• Haradinaj doubts France will extradite him to Serbia (Telegrafi)
• Apostolova: Freedom of expression, the most cherished European value (Zeri)
• Turkey concerned Thaci’s son is attending Gulen school (Koha Ditore) 

Kosovo Media Highlights

Vucic claims victory in Serbian presidential elections (dailies)

The papers report that based on preliminary results from yesterday’s presidential elections in Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic has won 56 percent of the votes and will not face a counter candidate in a run-off. Koha Ditore writes that Vucic has managed to reconfirm huge popularity he has been enjoying in Serbia over the last years. The paper also writes that in Kosovo, around 41,000 Serb voters cast their ballots out of 105,000 registered voters. Kosova Sot says that the government of Kosovo continued the “bad” tradition of allowing Serbian elections take part in its territory and this, according to the paper, shows Kosovo has not managed to consolidate its statehood and is still indecisive when it comes to Serbia’s undermining its sovereignty.   

Government ready to submit border deal to Assembly (Koha Ditore)

The paper writes on the front page that the government of Kosovo seems to be ready to submit the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro to the Assembly for ratification despite not being certain it will receive the necessary votes to pass. This, according to sources that spoke to the paper, is expected to happen in the coming days. The fact that the coalition partners do not have the necessary votes, writes the paper, was evident in Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s recent speech at the congress of European People’s Party where he urged the EU to allow the people of Kosovo visa-free travel while the government of Kosovo would continue working towards ratification of the border agreement.

Haliti: Government will not submit border deal without securing votes (Zeri)

Kosovo Assembly’s Vice President and senior official from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Xhavit Haliti, told Lajmi he believed the government would not resubmit the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro to the Assembly before making sure it has all the votes it needs to ratify it. He said he was not aware the government was planning to submit the deal this week.

COMKFOR: Kosovo army, political issue (Zeri)

KFOR Commander Giovanni Fungo said in an interview with the paper said that authorities in Pristina have made it clear they wish the Kosovo Security Force (KSF) continued its cooperation with KFOR but he warned that if the Force’s mandate is transformed as per the initiative of President Hashim Thaci, NATO will have to review its level of commitment in Kosovo. However, the issue of Kosovo army, according to COMKFOR, is a political issue in which KFOR is not involved.

Haradinaj doubts France will extradite him to Serbia (Telegrafi)

The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, said in an interview to AFP that he doubts French authorities would decide to extradite him to Serbia on Thursday when his next hearing is scheduled in the court of Colmar. Haradinaj said the decision on his extradition could take two or more weeks but that he did not think the court would send him to Belgrade to stand trial.

Apostolova: Freedom of expression, the most cherished European value (Zeri)

The Head of the EU Office in Kosovo and Special Representative, Nataliya Apostolova, said on the occasion of the International Fact-Checking Day that the freedom of expression is one of the most cherished values of the European Union. “It is very important for us to financially and politically support this freedom of the media which is based on checking of facts,” Apostolova said.

Turkey concerned Thaci’s son is attending Gulen school (Koha Ditore)

An Austrian legislator has presented what he claims are memos from Turkish consulates and embassies in 35 world countries part of a surveillance network aimed at undermining organizations loyal to the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Turkey believes was behind last year's coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Kosovo report warns that the Gulen movement is gaining influence through its schools, an observation also found in documents from other countries. It says the son of President Hashim Thaci is among the “children of the important families of Kosovo politics and business” attending such schools.