EU warns Belgrade and Pristina of deteriorating relations (Koha Ditore)
The European Union is trying to find out the truth behind the decision not to allow Serbian political representatives from visiting Kosovo during the election campaign. Brussels officials could not say more except “we are carefully observing developments on the matter”. Brussels however is alarmed by statements by Serbian officials who said they would abandon the process of dialogue and by the non-participation of the Serbian delegation at the meeting of the working groups in Brussels on Thursday.

Baroness Ashton has invited Kosovo and Serbia prime ministers to Brussels on Monday and this proves Brussels’ fears that the election campaign in Kosovo and eventual elections in Serbia could threaten not only future agreements but also agreements that have been achieved so far.

An official statement from Brussels confirms the meeting with Thaçi and Dacic on Monday and mentions as reasons “progress in the implementation of the agreement” and “preparations for the November elections”. Sources in Brussels however confirmed to the paper that the meeting has been summoned to calm the situation after disagreements over visits by Serbian officials to Kosovo.

Kuçi: Dacic will not enter Kosovo during election campaign (Koha Ditore)
Serbia’s Prime Minister Ivica Dacic will not be able to visit Kosovo during the election campaign for the upcoming November local elections. Dacic can only make visits of religious nature. Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi, the government official who has the right to allow or reject visits by Dacic or other Serbian officials, said he would turn down every request for visits during the election campaign. Kuçi made these remarks on Thursday, on the same day that Dacic threatened to bring down everything achieved so far in dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, in the event he is not allowed to enter Kosovo.

On Thursday, Bekim Çollaku, top advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, said the government did not make the decision to ban Dacic from entering Kosovo. Kuçi on the other confirmed the ban on Dacic. “Mr. Dacic requested to visit Kosovo tomorrow. We have rejected this request and requests for other visits with the justification that during the election campaign we will not allow interferences in our internal process. His requests for visits during the election campaign will be turned down; others will be reviewed individually, according to the nature of the visits. Political visits will not be allowed,” Kuçi said.

Thaçi: Ban on Dacic, an action by autonomous institutions (Koha Ditore)
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci commented on Thursday on the government’s decision to ban Serbia’s Prime Minister Ivica Dacic from campaigning in Kosovo for the November elections. Thaçi said the ban is a decision based on Kosovo’s laws and its constitution and that it is aimed at having a successful elections process.

“We have our constitutional and legal responsibilities … We want to have a successful elections process. I am confident that all will take part in the elections and that the four northern municipalities will be integrated. We have shown readiness and our constitutional responsibilities are to resume work in implementing all agreements and projects achieved so far. Therefore, we have worked and we will continue to be careful before the international community, the European Union and the United States of America. Under these circumstances, we have moved wisely and with cautious steps and the decisions of Kosovo institutions were autonomous,” Thaçi was quoted as saying.

Asked if EU High Representative Catherine Ashton will call for a new round of talks between Kosovo and Serbia, Thaçi said the process of implementing agreements is underway and has not been completed yet. “We are in the active process of implementing all agreements. The process of good neighborly relations has not been concluded yet. We are creating good neighborly relations that set a standard for the European future of Kosovo and Serbia. We have established good relations with Macedonia and other countries in the region. We are also concluding the demarcation process with Montenegro,” he added.

Serb Orthodox Church calls on Serbs to take part in elections (Zëri)
Sava Janjic, archdeacon of the Decan Monastery, said on Thursday that the Serb Orthodox Church has called on Kosovo Serbs to take part in the November elections in order to create better conditions for themselves. “Boycott is counterproductive,” Janjic wrote on his Twitter account. Commenting on the Kosovo Government’s ban on Serbian officials from campaigning in Kosovo, Janjic said this was a discouraging act for Serb voters.

Parallel voting list for four municipalities in the north (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that Kosovo Election Commission together with Civil Central Extract has received from the Civil Registration Agency a special list with the names of 12 thousand Serbs who are not citizens of Republic of Kosovo. Inclusion of these names, which is the request of Belgrade, with the data of identification cars of former Yugoslavia and Serbia, is done with the aim of their involvement in the voting lists. However, the article 5 of the law for general elections emphasizes that the right to vote has every person who is registered as Kosovo citizen in Civilian Central Register. Agency of Civil Registration has requested from CEC to review the list and to decide about it as soon as possible.

Together with the extract that contains the names of all Kosovo citizens with the right of vote, in the same CD as a special table, Civil Registration Agency has included also 12 thousand names of persons who are not citizens of Republic of Kosovo, but, which they have as personal number JMBG (Yugoslavian identification number) and a 10 digit numbers that has been placed by Civil Registration Agency. CEC members said that such action is in contradiction with Constitution and the law on elections, and this means a parallel voters list for four municipalities in the north.

The voters in this list it has been said that they are allegedly living in northern part of Kosovo, but they have not registered earlier.

Germany and UK want EULEX to keep its competencies (Tribuna)
Based on a diplomatic document that this daily claims to possess, Germany and United Kingdom agree for EULEX to change after the end of the second mandate, however, according to these two leading countries of the European Union, the mission should not stop its work without completing its initiated tasks, especially the war crime cases. Therefore, says this daily, the work of the mission will continue despite political developments related to the mandate and actions of the Government of Kosovo, which are seen by Brussels as efforts to create facts in the field for the conclusion of the mission, but which appear to be vain.