UNMIK Headlines 5 September
Breedlove: KFOR will stay in Kosovo as long as required (dailies)
NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Philip Breedlove said during a joint press conference with the KFOR Commander, General-Major Guglielmo Luigi Miglietta that KFOR will stay in Kosovo as long as it is required. Breedlove did not answer the question if KFOR has responsibility for the murders after the war, which will be investigated by the Special Court. Asked about the danger of extremism, he said that NATO would be vigilant towards any influence, be it from radical Islam or non-Islam, that bring violence. Speaking about the recent agreements reached between Pristina and Belgrade in Brussels, he said that these agreements prove the importance of the dialogue as the key factor for success.
KFOR Commander responded to the questions of the journalists regarding the Serb battalion at the Kosovo Security Force. “As you know, transformation of KSF into Kosovo Armed Force is not any more a KFOR matter, it is a political one. It is not under our mandate…we now support KSF,” Miglietta said.
Dellawie: America was and will be with Kosovo (dailies)
The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo said an in exclusive interview given to the public broadcaster RTK, that the United States interest for Kosovo was and will remain very high. According to him, the three priorities of the U.S. for Kosovo are economic development, strengthening of the rule of law and promotion of regional security. Speaking about the agreements reached between Prisina and Belgrade, Delawie congratulated the government of Kosovo for its achievements, and the general development of democracy. “Our interest is promotion of an integrated Europe and Kosovo’s story fulfills this. Only last week, we had three delegations in a month and a half. The U.S. is here also through KFOR. We are building the new Embassy, which shows our determination. We are very careful from the first day that we entered Kosovo,” Dellawie said.
Normalization of relations with Kosovo, mandatory for Serbia (Kosova Sot)
The German Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michael Roth, said in an interview for this daily that the political dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade is making the relations more clear each day. Roth considers that the recent reached agreements in Brussels are a historic step. “I am pleased that Serbia and Kosovo with the mediation of Frederica Mogherini managed to fill in essential gaps for implementation of the 2013 Agreement for normalization of the relations. With the agreements for the Association of Kosovo Serbs, the issue of the telecommunication and energy, difficult issues of bilateral relations can be clarified. This of course does not mean that after the agreements of the last week the job is done. In the contrary the reconciliation should initially implement at all levels,” Roth said. He added that the relations with Kosovo play an important role in the discussions between Serbia and the EU. “It is clear that Serbia and Kosovo should normalize their relations through a legally mandatory regulation prior to Serbia’s membership at the EU,” Roth said.
The U.S. support Kosovo’s membership at UNESCO (Bota Sot)
Kosovo has received good news in the verge of the meeting of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which will meet on 3 October. The U.S. mission at the UNESCO posted on its Twitter account a picture from the meeting of the U.S. Ambassador Crystal Nix-Hines with Kosovo’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Petrit Selimi, citing the U.S. Ambassador as saying that she is pleased to express to Selimi the U.S. support for Kosovo’s membership at UNESCO.