• Veseli: Prime minister’s post will not be rented out anymore (RFE)
• Mustafa: Tariff mustn’t be lifted although it has brought Kosovo no good (media)
• Mustafa: I did not know I would be re-elected, I was ready to withdraw (T7)
• The President’s “silent” agreement on new elections (Koha)
• Limaj: Relations with AAK were damaged after secret meeting in Berlin (Bota)
• KLA associations: First specialist chambers indictments in September (Zeri)
• Molliqaj: PSD will be determinant in future elections (media)
• Skopje’s court: Morina should not be extradited to Serbia (Epoka e Re)
• Condemnations for the killing of a woman in Prizren (media)
• Blic: Trump sets new deadline for the solution of Kosovo’s issue (Blic, Klan)

Veseli: Prime minister’s post will not be rented out anymore (RFE)

Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) Kadri Veseli said he is against a technical government and that elections are the only way out of the current crisis. He said the PDK has twice given up the post of prime minister to another party which he described at ‘renting it out’ but that this will no longer be the case. “People that have no citizens’ trust, no legitimacy, and no responsibility, have failed both times.”

Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Veseli said that he has received “concrete offer from certain political parties which today speak about red lines only for the sake of scoring with the public opinion.” This offer, according to Veseli, specified that he would become prime minister of Kosovo until 2021 but that “I was determined to head to elections.”

With regards to the dialogue with Serbia, Veseli said PDK has a clear platform. “Country’s sovereignty and integrity are inviolable, no one can dare mention Mitrovica in the dialogue, let alone manipulate it. Mitrovica is sacred.”

Mustafa: Tariff mustn’t be lifted although it has brought Kosovo no good (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Isa Mustafa said on Wednesday that the import tariff on Serbian goods should not be lifted although it has brought no good to Kosovo. “Serbia does not deserve the lifting of the tariff. The tariff can be lifted only when certain conditions are met and when Serbia implements the agreements we have reached. When Serbia backs down from the campaign against Kosovo, we can sit down and talk. We have no reason to lift the tariff when Serbia is acting even worse than before. The tariff was introduced, and it put us in an inconvenient position with our partners. When we form the government, we will complete all reciprocity measures,” Mustafa said.

Mustafa: I did not know I would be re-elected, I was ready to withdraw (T7)

Isa Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), said on Wednesday that there were no official candidates running for the leader prior to the Convention of his political party on August 3.

“In the contacts that I had with them, none of them, in any case, said that they are interested to run,” Mustafa said referring to Lutfi Haziri, Agim Veliu and Vjosa Osmani. “Haziri stated publicly that he preferred an agreement, if not, then he is ready to run. The others said what they said to the media, but not in private conversations,” he added.

Mustafa said that after the elections at LDK branches and subbranches, he has told his colleagues that he was ready to give way, and that whoever wants to run, to get ready. “I was ready to withdraw ever since I returned from Germany,” he said.

The President’s “silent” agreement on new elections (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that according to political commentators in Pristina any attempt to create a technical government and avoid early parliamentary elections is a political bluff. Kosovo President Hashim Thaci’s office has not said if it has stopped consultations with political parties after Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Kadri Veseli refused to announce a new candidate for Prime Minister and legal experts argue that this implies a silent agreement with the Kosovo Assembly Presidency’s decision to dissolve the Assembly.

Limaj: Relations with AAK were damaged after secret meeting in Berlin (Bota)

Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) leader Fatmir Limaj said on Wednesday that relations between his party and the Haradinaj-led Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) were damaged after a secret meeting that Haradinaj’s advisors had in Berlin with Serbian officials. Limaj said he was not informed about the meeting. “It could have gone differently,” he said.

KLA associations: First specialist chambers indictments in September (Zeri)

Head of the Kosovo Liberation Army veterans’ association, Hysni Gucati, claimed that the Specialist Chambers in The Hague will file first indictments come September, although he admitted this information was not confirmed. “The number of invitations from the Specialist Chambers to war veterans is increasing daily and the number has reached more than 90, almost 100,” he said adding that there are more former KLA fighters who have received invitations for interview but have not made them public yet.

Molliqaj: PSD will be determinant in future elections (media)

General Secretary of the Social-Democratic Party (PSD) Dardan Molliqaj took to Facebook to write that his political party will be the one to determine future government of Kosovo.

“PSD will be the determining subject. During the last two years, PSD has been the most attacked subject by the government and opposition. It is clear to me why do they attack: PSD has been the determining subject of all the political processes of the last two years. PSD, as a power of knowledge and vote, will determine the winner and future government. But above all, PSD will determine the political discourse of the future in Kosovo. No attack and slander can stop PSD on its political determination, which is based on our social-democratic and anti-populist conviction. Time runs fast, and everything will be obvious soon,” Molliqaj wrote.

Skopje’s court: Morina should not be extradited to Serbia (Epoka e Re)

Skopje’s Criminal Court has concluded that Tomor Morina, former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) detained on an international arrest warrant, should not be extradited to Serbia. The court said conditions for Morina’s extradition have not been met and has forwarded the case to the Supreme Court of North Macedonia for deliberation. Morina will remain in detention until a final ruling.

Condemnations for the killing of a woman in Prizren (media)

Kosovo leaders have condemned the killing of a woman in Prizren, suspected to have been carried out by her husband. Koha Ditore notes that this is the fourth murder of a woman in Kosovo in 2019.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has called the act unacceptable and said domestic violence should end. “Let this be a call to action not only for the judicial institutions but for the whole society,” he said. Outgoing Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj expressed condolences to the families of the victim. Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli has strongly condemned the murder calling it unacceptable. He said women in Kosovo have been subjected to discrimination, abuse and violence. “Negligence and indifference of state law enforcement institutions to threatened women or women's calls for help will not be tolerated,” Veseli wrote on his Facebook account. Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti condemned the murder. “Another woman killed. Once again by her husband. Once again state mechanisms somehow passive. This time in Prizren. The place in Kosovo changes but not Kosovo itself,” he wrote on Facebook. Kosovo’s Ambassador to the U.S., Vlora Citaku said now is not the time for sympathies but for revolt.

The Office for Gender Equality within the Prime Minister’s Office said deplored the act and saying such cases are unacceptable for the whole society of Kosovo not just the relevant institutions. “Acts of violence and its perpetrators should be criminally prosecuted by the judicial institutions and morally by the whole of our society,” it said in a statement.

The OSCE mission in Kosovo has also condemned the case saying domestic violence can only be combatted by concerted efforts of institutions and the general public. “As we express our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the victim, we call on the law enforcement and judicial institutions to respond swiftly and resolutely in respect of the victim and for justice to be served.”

Blic: Trump sets new deadline for the solution of Kosovo’s issue (Blic, Klan)

Serbia’s daily Blic reported that the United States of America have set a new deadline for the solution of the problem between Kosovo and Serbia. Based on its sources, this daily reported that Trump’s administration is doing the utmost to resolve everything by June 2020. This daily also reported that the U.S. has objected harshly the future elections boycott by the Serbian opposition and that they will try to convince them to become part of the process during the following months.