Headlines - 06.08.2013 OSCE to collect Kosovo votes in Serbia (Tribuna) The Kosovo delegation in talks with Serbia is reported to have agreed to the OSCE being granted additional competencies in the local elections process and will now be in charge of organising the voting of Kosovo Serbs living in Serbia. In this regard, the OSCE will open a collecting center in Serbia where Kosovo Serbs can submit their ballots. The arrangement was agreed on the reasoning that there is no cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia postal services. Head of Kosovo Central Elections Commission Valdete Daka confirmed OSCE’s new role. “We are not dealing with a new agreement but we only elaborated on an existing item of the agreement regarding voting outside of Kosovo,” she said. Daka stressed that OSCE will continue to have the same role in Kosovo as in the past. Talks with Serbia continuing (Zëri) Kosovo and Serbia working groups are continuing their talks in Brussels with focus on OSCE’s role in organization of local elections in northern municipalities. Drin Zeka, advisor to chief negotiator Edita Tahiri, said that the implementation of Integrated Border Management agreement is also on the table of talks. “The dialogue has not been blocked, it is ongoing,” said Zeka. 11 million ready for the Fund (Kosova Sot) The paper reports that the customs fees collected at border crossing gates 1 and 31 are increasing and that from January onwards, these two customs points have gathered over 11.2 million euro. These funds are intended to go to the economic development fund for the north. According to the agreement between prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, this fund will be created and managed by three representatives, one from the Kosovo Government, one local Serb representative and the third will be a representative from European Union. Court to render verdict on Amnesty Law by 16 September (Lajm) Constitutional Court has confirmed that the Amnesty Law is being reviewed by its experts and that decision will be reached within the legally-defined timeframe. Article 43.3 of the Law on Constitutional Court stipulates that the institution is to decide on a case within 60 days from the day it was submitted. This, according to the paper, means that the Court will have to announce its verdict by 16 September. Scandal diplomacy weakens image of Kosovo (Koha Ditore) Sources told the paper that a year ago there was a request from the Kosovo Presidency to remove Urtak Hamiti from the embassy’s post in Zagreb because he attended a dinner with Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga in a drunken state but the Foreign Ministry failed to act. At the same time, a Kosovo diplomat, Fatmire Musliu, known as a PDK militant and sister of MP Ganimete Musliu, in 2012 physically assaulted Ambassador of Kosovo to Berlin, Vilson Mirdita. He requested help from German police. According to opposition all these scandals are a consequence of degrading and politicizing of Kosovo’s Foreign Service. Gashi: Arrest of Hamiti, unlawful (Epoka e Re) Head of Commission for Legislation in Kosovo Assembly and LDK MP, Arben Gashi, evaluates that Croatian authorities had no rights to arrest deputy ambassador, Urtak Hamiti. Gashi said that under the law, an ambassador or deputy ambassador can be detained only if caught in the act of committing an offense. “Croatia did not have the right to arrest Urtak Hamiti because he had diplomatic immunity. For other issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible,” said Gashi.